Iranian forces target Bahrain and Kuwait after US hits Iran’s south
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A plume of black smoke and flames billowing over the town of Mangaf, south of Kuwait City.
PHOTO: AFP
- US forces bombed southern Iran after President Trump vowed harsh retaliation for American soldier deaths.
- Iran retaliated with drone attacks on US bases in Bahrain, Kuwait, Jordan, and targeted tankers in the Strait of Hormuz.
- Diplomatic efforts seek a ceasefire amid rising tensions and threats to vital global oil routes, with mediation talks underway.
AI generated
DUBAI – US forces bombed targets in southern Iran overnight after President Donald Trump said Tehran would pay dearly for the deaths of American soldiers, while Iran targeted US sites in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan, and a tanker was hit in the Strait of Hormuz.
The exchanges came a day after Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis said they would impose a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, opening a potential new front in the war and raising the threat to global energy supplies and trade beyond the Gulf.
Shipping companies loading or discharging cargo at Saudi ports could be targeted “in any location” by Houthis, according to an e-mail sent to companies on July 20 and seen by Reuters.
Despite the escalating cycle of attacks that has all but wrecked an interim peace agreement signed in June, signs that Tehran and Washington want to resume diplomacy kept oil prices in check.
US Central Command said it had completed its latest round of strikes on Iran, saying it hit military command centres, maritime capabilities, missile and drone launch sites, and air defence systems.
Explosions were heard around the city of Shiraz in southern Iran.
Konarak and Chabahar on the southern coast, and the city of Khorramabad and a civilian site outside the city of Abdanan, both in the west, also came under attack, according to state media.
As hostilities spread across the region, the US State Department issued a new “worldwide caution” for Americans due to “heightened tensions in the Middle East”.
Iran launched renewed attacks across the Gulf, where recent strikes on desalination facilities have raised concerns about water shortages and underscored the growing threat to civilian infrastructure.
Attacks on Kuwaiti power generation and water desalination plants on July 20 caused fires that had been extinguished by July 21, with repairs under way, the authorities said.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they targeted infrastructure in Bahrain belonging to US tech firm Amazon in retaliation for what they described as a US strike on the construction site of Iran’s planned Darkhovin nuclear power plant.
Iranian state media reported that Iran’s forces also targeted accommodation facilities used by US military personnel at Bahrain’s Sheikh Isa Air Base.
There was no immediate comment from the US military, Bahrain or Amazon on the reported incidents, which Reuters was unable to verify.
The Iranian army said it launched drone attacks against three US military bases in Kuwait on July 21.
The Revolutionary Guards said they attacked a US military site in Jordan, while Jordan said its forces intercepted and destroyed five Iranian drones.
Tankers struck
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency said on July 21 that a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz reported being struck by an unknown projectile, forcing its crew to abandon the vessel and board a lifeboat.
Also on July 21, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said two oil tankers had caught fire after explosions while attempting to transit the southern route of the strait.
It was not immediately clear when those incidents took place.
Just four commodity vessels crossed the strait on July 20, mostly using the northern shipping lane near Iran’s coast, down from seven the previous day, Kpler data showed.
Iran had been pressing the Houthis to close the Bab el-Mandeb gateway to the Red Sea if the US continued to attack Iranian power infrastructure – putting two of the world’s most vital energy arteries at risk.
A full closure of Bab el-Mandeb would reduce global oil supply by 7 per cent as it would prevent most Saudi oil exports from leaving the region, adding to the 10 per cent cut in oil flows from the war in the Gulf.
Oil markets weighed the threat to shipping against reports of diplomatic efforts to contain the conflict, with benchmark Brent crude prices easing slightly in early trading.
Diplomatic push to restore ceasefire
A senior Iranian official told Reuters on July 20 that Tehran had received a proposal from mediators for a 10-day ceasefire in efforts to salvage the interim deal, intended to pave the way to a lasting agreement to end the war that began on Feb 28 with US-Israeli attacks on Iran.
Israel has not joined the latest round of strikes on Iran. “We have no desire to insert ourselves into this, but we are prepared for any scenario,” Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said on July 21.
Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni had asked Pakistan to resume its mediation role in the conflict. He later arrived in Islamabad for further talks.
The latest phase of fighting has proved to be among the deadliest of the conflict for US forces.
US troop deaths rose to 17 over the weekend.
Trump, under mounting pressure at home over rising petrol prices since the war began, said the latest US strikes on Iran were honouring the deaths of American service members.
“Every time Iran kills an American soldier they will pay for that killing many times over!” Trump wrote on Truth Social on July 20.
The war has killed thousands of people, mostly in Iran and Lebanon.
Parts of Lebanon remain under Israeli occupation following attacks on Israel by Hezbollah fighters, who said they were acting in solidarity with Tehran.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun is due to meet Trump at the White House on July 21 to present a plan on how to disarm Iran-aligned Hezbollah and secure an Israeli withdrawal. REUTERS
