The military confrontation between the United States and Iran entered a new phase of escalation on Thursday, after Washington launched a second wave of strikes on Iranian military targets, and Tehran responded with attacks on US bases in Kuwait and Bahrain.
The exchange came hours after President Donald Trump declared that the memorandum of understanding which had paused the war last month is “over,” while shipping through the Strait of Hormuz came to a near-total standstill.
US Central Command announced it had completed a new round of strikes on roughly 90 Iranian military sites—air-defense systems, coastal surveillance posts, missile and drone storage facilities, naval assets, and logistics infrastructure along Iran’s southern coast—aimed at “degrading Tehran’s ability to attack commercial shipping through Hormuz.”
This followed a Tuesday round of strikes on more than 80 targets, including dozens of Revolutionary Guard speedboats, launched after three commercial vessels were struck while transiting the strait earlier that week. Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) answered with strikes on Kuwait and Bahrain.
Iranian media reported explosions in Bandar Abbas, Konarak, Chabahar, and Iranshahr, and state broadcasters said a railway bridge near the northeastern city of Aq Qala was damaged.
Reuters, quoting US military forces, described the latest wave as broader in scope than the previous day’s strikes, with US officials saying the targets included coastal radar systems, anti-ship missile batteries, and air-defense installations.
In response, the IRGC announced a joint missile-and-drone strike on Camp Arifjan and Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait, as well as Sheikh Isa Air Base and the Al Juffair area of Bahrain, home to the US Fifth Fleet’s headquarters. It warned that the attacks would expand to other US bases if Washington retaliated.
Air-raid sirens sounded across Bahrain and Kuwait after the attack. Kuwait’s military said its air defenses were intercepting “hostile” missiles and drones, while Bahrain’s Interior Ministry urged residents to take shelter.
Amid the escalating tensions, shipping through the Strait of Hormuz came to an almost complete halt on Thursday. Vessel-tracking data showed that what traffic remained was concentrated along an Iran-designated route near the northern side of the strait, while the US-backed Omani shipping lane sat largely empty—with only one sanctioned supertanker leaving the Gulf and one Iranian-flagged container ship observed in transit.
Hours after declaring that the memorandum of understanding was “over” and warning Tehran that further attacks on shipping would draw a “far worse” response, Trump said Iranian officials had since been in touch with Washington and signaled a willingness to reach an agreement. He said he would not rule out further contacts, though he questioned whether any new deal would hold.
Iran’s Parliament Speaker and chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said the strait would reopen only on Iranian terms, accusing Washington of intimidation and warning that whoever “strikes will be struck back.”
Qatar, which has served as a key mediator throughout the conflict, moved to contain the fallout: Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani spoke by phone with his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi. Qatari and Iranian statements on the call said both sides stressed the need for dialogue and for honoring the memorandum of understanding, with Doha renewing its condemnation of the attacks on commercial vessels in the strait.
The indirect talks between Iran and the US, hosted in Qatar, have stalled in recent days without progress. They originated from a framework agreement reached in Switzerland on June 21, following the Doha round of talks that had sought to build on that agreement.
