The US military said it struck Iranian coastal radar and surveillance sites after shooting down drones launched by Iran toward the Strait of Hormuz. According to the US military, four Iranian drones were targeting regional maritime traffic. A US official told Reuters that American forces believed the drones posed a threat to shipping in the area.
US Central Command said on X that it subsequently targeted Iran’s surveillance facilities in Goruk and Qeshm Island, both located along the Strait of Hormuz.
In response, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had targeted US bases in Kuwait and Bahrain and fired on four tankers attempting to cross the strait without its permission. Kuwait’s state media reported that air defence systems intercepted missile and drone attacks, while authorities in Bahrain sounded sirens and urged residents to seek shelter.
Kuwait and Bahrain condemned the attacks. Kuwait’s foreign ministry described the Iranian strikes, including the latest attack early on Saturday, as a “blatant act of aggression” that ignored international calls to halt such actions and posed a direct threat to citizens, residents and regional security.
Iran later said it had struck US bases in both countries with ballistic missiles. However, the US military said six missiles were intercepted and a seventh failed to reach its target.
The latest escalation comes as Washington and Tehran remain engaged in largely indirect negotiations aimed at securing an interim agreement to halt the three-month-old war, while leaving contentious issues such as Iran’s nuclear programme for future talks. Despite periodic negotiations, both sides have failed to reach a breakthrough.
Tehran is seeking access to billions of dollars in oil revenue, waivers on sanctions affecting crude exports, the lifting of a US blockade on its ports and leverage over the Strait of Hormuz. Iran has effectively blocked the strategic waterway, through which about one-fifth of the world’s oil previously transited before the war.
Iranian state media reported that Pakistan’s Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, whose country has been mediating efforts to end the conflict, was travelling to Tehran on Saturday. Islamabad did not immediately confirm the report.
US President Donald Trump is facing increasing domestic pressure over rising fuel prices and calls to end the conflict. Speaking to NBC’s “Meet the Press”, Trump said that although most of Iran’s missile and drone manufacturing facilities had been destroyed, Tehran still retained part of its arsenal.
“They have some missiles, they have some drones. I would say percentage wise, maybe 21%-22% of their missiles. It’s a lot of missiles, but it’s not what it was when we first attacked,” Trump said, according to excerpts released by the network on Friday.
When asked why Iran’s leadership was reluctant to strike a deal despite the pressure it faced, Trump said: “Because they are strong. They’re proud. There are things they never thought they’d be doing that they’re going to have to do, they’ve got no choice, and it takes a little while.”
The war began after the US and Israel launched military action against Iran on February 28. Tehran subsequently attacked Gulf states hosting US military bases and largely halted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
The conflict has pushed up global oil prices and disrupted supply chains. The United Nations World Food Programme warned on Friday that rising fuel and transport costs were pushing millions of people closer to hunger.
Mohsen Rezaei, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, told CNN on Friday that any peace agreement depended on the Trump administration unfreezing $24 billion in Iranian assets. He also warned that the United States would “enter into a dark corridor” if it resumed attacks.
Fighting also intensified in Lebanon. Iran-backed Hezbollah said on Friday that it had carried out two attacks on Israeli troops in southern Lebanon. Lebanese security services reported Israeli airstrikes on several towns across the region.
Iran reiterated its support for Hezbollah and demanded that Israel withdraw from Lebanon. Tehran has made a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah a condition for any peace agreement with Washington.
Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem this week rejected a US-brokered agreement between Israel and the Lebanese government intended to halt the fighting. The deal did not provide for an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, and Hezbollah was not a party to the negotiations.
Israel has said its forces will neither withdraw from Lebanon nor halt military operations there, despite growing friction with the United States.
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