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IRGC retaliates in Gulf
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it targeted infrastructure and facilities at US bases in Kuwait and Bahrain, vowing not to "leave the US military's aggressions unanswered."
“Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Thursday that it targeted infrastructure and facilities at US bases in Kuwait and Bahrain, vowing not to "leave the US military's aggressions unanswered”
In a statement shared by Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB, the IRGC said the US violated its promises by conducting strikes in southern coastal provinces of Iran and warned that "if it repeats its aggression, our crushing responses will be extended to other US bases in the region."
The IRGC said its naval and aerospace forces, in a joint missile and drone operation, struck key infrastructure and facilities at two US-occupied colonial bases in Arifan and Ali al-Salem in Kuwait, and Jafair and Sheikh Isa in Bahrain, just hours after the enemy's attacks.
The developments came after Iranian media reported a new wave of US strikes late Wednesday targeting several locations in southern and southeastern Iran, and the US military’s Central Command said American forces had launched additional strikes against Iran to further degrade its ability to threaten freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.
In parallel, Al Jazeera reported that the US launched dozens of strikes on Iran early on Wednesday in retaliation for Tehran’s attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, sparking fears of a renewal of all-out war.
Trump, MoU, and casualty claims
Al Jazeera reported that President Donald Trump told reporters at a NATO summit in Ankara, Turkiye, that he thinks the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Iran is “over” and that he believed peace talks were a “waste of time.”
In the same account, Al Jazeera said Trump called the Iran leadership “scum,” while the US military’s Central Command (CENTCOM) said it launched strikes on “over 80 targets” on Tuesday in Iran in response to attacks on commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
Al Jazeera also reported that the IRGC said one of its members was killed by “enemy drones,” and that both sides blamed each other for breaking earlier agreements outlined in the MoU that initiated a 60-day peace negotiation process three weeks ago.
The BBC reported that Iran says 14 people have been killed in the past two days, while the US says it hit 90 military targets, some near the Strait, and added that Iran’s foreign ministry denounced the latest US strikes as a "grave war crime".
The BBC further said Iran’s health ministry reported 14 people had been killed and 78 people injured across five provinces, and that Iran’s parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf wrote on X that America "still hasn't learned that bullying and breaking promises are no longer cost-free."
Shipping, strikes, and regional fallout
The BBC reported that observers saw a "dramatic" drop in the number of ships travelling through the Strait of Hormuz, and Intertanko marine director Phil Belcher said the number of ships travelling through the Strait via the southern route closer to Oman was now in "single figures" following the step up in hostilities.
Belcher told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the overall daily figure of about 30 ships was down from about 70 a week ago and well below the normal number of 130 ships seen before the Iran war began earlier this year, linking the change to the cycle of violence during the MoU talks.
The BBC said state media reported targets near the Bushehr nuclear power plant were hit, citing the deputy governor of the province, and that Iran said it targeted US assets in Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar in response.
Later on Thursday, the BBC reported that Tehran launched more strikes on sites in Kuwait, Jordan and Iraq, and that Gulf nations reported Iranian attacks after the US strikes, including explosions in Bahrain’s capital Manama and Kuwait intercepting missiles and drones.
In parallel, the IRGC said it had responded to US assets in neighbouring countries as sirens went off in Bahrain and Kuwait early on Wednesday, while the US Central Command warned more strikes were imminent if Iran continued to act "outside of agreements" under the MoU’s 60-day free passage framework.
