Iran launches attacks on American military facilities in Bahrain and Kuwait after fresh US strikes – Middle East crisis live

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said this morning they targeted American ⁠military facilities in Bahrain and Kuwait, ⁠destroyed radar systems in Oman and ​struck fuel tanks and ammunition depots at Prince Hassan air base in Jordan as part of its retaliatory strikes against the US. Jordan said a few hours ago that it intercepted and downed four missiles fired from Iranian territory, while Kuwait’s military said it was intercepting “hostile aerial targets” in the country’s airspace. The strikes marked an escalation in the recent tit-for-tat attacks between the US and Iran as Tehran seeks to assert sovereignty over the strategic strait of Hormuz, which it sees as its biggest leverage in negotiations with Washington. Explosions at an unknown location following what US Central Command (Centcom) said were strikes on Iran. The screengrab was taken from a video released on 12 July 2026. Photograph: US Central Command/Reuters The Iranian attacks on US-allied countries across the region came in retaliation to overnight US strikes on “dozens” of Iranian sites, including air defence systems, radar sites, missile and drone equipment and small boats. “The strait of Hormuz is a vital maritime corridor for global trade,” the US military’s Central Command said. “Iran does not control it.” But Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, which controls the country’s ballistic missile arsenal, rejected the US statement, saying the strait “is our territory” and it would not allow Washington’s “illegal interference in it”. Iran and the US are nearly midway through the 60-day period of an interim deal that was supposed to set-up talks for a permanent end to the war launched by the US and Israel in late February. Instead, it has devolved into a series of attacks over the strait, through which one fifth of the world’s oil and gas usually flows, and its future. The US president, Donald Trump, suggested last week that the interim deal in the war was “over”. But mediators – including Pakistan, Qatar and Egypt – have continued efforts to reach a final agreement. Cargo ships anchoring near the strait of Hormuz off the UAE’s eastern coast on Sunday. Photograph: AFPTV/AFP/Getty Images In other key developments: The US said it had struck Iran early on Sunday after the IRGC fired on a Cyprus-registered container ship they claimed was sailing an “unauthorised route” through the strait of Hormuz. According to state media, the IRGC then said they had hit a second vessel, accusing it of “violating regulations”. A short time later, US Central Command said its forces had carried out a round of strikes against Iran, attacking at least 140 targets. Iran launched missiles and drones at its Gulf neighbours yesterday in retaliation to US strikes and announced the closure of the strategic strait of Hormuz until further notice. Donald Trump later rejected Iranian claims to have closed off the strait, insisting it was open to commercial traffic even though the US-run Joint Maritime Information Center said traffi