ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said early Saturday that it launched ballistic missiles at US military facilities in Kuwait and Bahrain after accusing American forces of carrying out drone strikes against Iranian infrastructure and supporting vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.
Meanwhile, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said the missiles were intercepted and caused no damage.
In a statement carried by its media affiliate, Tasnim News Agency, the IRGC said that at around 1:30 am local time, “four violating tankers - provoked and guided by the aggressor US military - attempted to exit the Strait of Hormuz illegally, without coordination and in total disregard for the established warnings of the IRGC Navy.”
“One of the tankers was targeted and stopped, while the other violating vessels retreated,” the statement added.
The IRGC further claimed that US drones later struck telecommunications towers in Qeshm and Sirik, in Iran’s southern Hormozgan province.
“In response to the aggression by the child-killing US military, two US airbases in Kuwait named Ali al-Salem, as well as key remaining facilities at the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, were immediately targeted by ballistic missiles from the IRGC Aerospace Force,” the statement said.
The exchange comes amid ongoing diplomatic efforts to secure a permanent truce between the US, Israel, and Iran following a war that began on February 28 and was largely halted by a ceasefire on April 8.
Although large-scale hostilities have since subsided, tensions have persisted through maritime confrontations in the Strait of Hormuz and stalled negotiations aimed at preventing a renewed conflict.
Tehran also warned that “should these acts of evil be repeated, our response will not be limited. You will be held responsible for the consequences of the complete closure of the Strait of Hormuz to the export of oil and gas,” the IRGC said.
However, the US military disputed Iran’s account, saying American forces intercepted the incoming missiles and drones and that no damage was reported.
In a statement issued Saturday, CENTCOM said its forces “intercepted multiple Iranian ballistic missiles and drones launched by Iran toward the Strait of Hormuz and Gulf neighbors” on Saturday.
According to CENTCOM, Iran launched seven ballistic missiles toward Kuwait and Bahrain hours after US forces shot down four Iranian one-way attack drones that had been heading toward the Strait of Hormuz.
“The attack drones posed an immediate threat to regional maritime traffic,” CENTCOM said, adding that US forces subsequently struck “Iranian coastal surveillance radar sites in Goruk and on Qeshm Island to defend against further maritime attacks.”
“Initial assessments indicate six of the missiles launched by Iran were intercepted and a seventh did not reach its intended target,” the statement said. CENTCOM added that “there are currently no reports of harm to U.S. personnel, and Iranian claims of damaging U.S. 5th fleet headquarters in Bahrain are false.”
On Thursday, the US also issued a security advisory for citizens in the Middle East, warning that “the security environment remains complex and can change quickly” due to ongoing regional tensions.
Despite the latest exchange, US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that negotiations with Iran were progressing. “I hear the negotiation itself is going very well,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “I think a deal is going to be made there. That’s going to happen pretty soon.”
Earlier, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Congress on Tuesday that the US blockade of Iranian ports would remain in place as long as Iran continued to restrict access through the Strait of Hormuz.
