Iran launched immediate retaliation, striking Bahrain and Kuwait, where U.S. military bases are located, shortly after coming under a large-scale U.S. airstrike.
According to AFP and other outlets, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said in a statement broadcast on state television Sunday that it had struck U.S. military facilities in Bahrain and Kuwait. "As an initial response to this aggression, the IRGC Navy and Aerospace Force jointly conducted missile and drone operations, striking 85 major U.S. military facilities in the two countries," the IRGC said, adding that it had also shot down one U.S. MQ-9 drone.
Bahrain and Kuwait came under missile and drone attacks in the early hours of the day and responded by mobilizing air defenses. The Kuwaiti military said on the social media platform X that "air defenses are responding to hostile missile and drone attacks," and that "the explosions being heard are occurring as the air defense systems intercept enemy attacks." Bahrain's Interior Ministry issued an air raid warning around the same time and said on X, "We ask citizens and residents to remain calm and take shelter in the nearest safe location." Foreign media reported that multiple explosions were heard in Bahrain.
The attack was a tit-for-tat retaliation carried out just hours after U.S. forces struck more than 80 military targets inside Iran in response to Iran's attacks on merchant ships in the Strait of Hormuz. When the U.S. airstrikes began, Iran's military had warned it would deliver a "lethal response." On the issue of passage through the Strait of Hormuz, Iran's military also asserted that it "will not tolerate U.S. interference," claiming that the only route available to merchant ships and tankers is "the route set by Iran."
Earlier, U.S. forces said they had carried out precision strikes on more than 80 targets inside Iran—including air defenses, command-and-control facilities, coastal radar stations, anti-ship missile assets, and small IRGC vessels—in response to Iran's attacks on three merchant ships in the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. said Iran's attacks on the merchant ships violated a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on ending hostilities between the two countries, and it proceeded with the airstrikes on Iran and revoked its exemption from oil sanctions. Iran, on the other hand, claimed that the U.S. had broken the agreement first and vowed retaliation, raising concerns that the two sides may again clash militarily.
