The strikes came hours after President Trump said recent Iranian attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz signaled the end of the fragile ceasefire. The U.S. struck a variety of military sites and port facilities early Wednesday following Iran's targeting of several merchant vessels off the coast of Oman, sparking Iranian fire then as well.
But Thursday's attacks appeared bigger all around, with sirens sounding at least twice in Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet headquarters. There was no immediate word of damage in the three Gulf Arab countries. Kuwait’s military said it was actively intercepting incoming drones and missiles. Iran's Revolutionary Guard claimed attacks on Bahrain and Kuwait.
Military officials said in a social media post that the latest strikes were intended to “further degrade” Iran's ability “to threaten freedom of navigation” in the strait, through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil and natural gas passed before the war began with U.S. and Israeli attacks on Feb. 28.
Iranian state media reported explosions in several locations, including Bushehr, home to Iran's nuclear power plant complex, and the southern port cities of Chabahar, Konarak, Bandar Abbas and Sirik. In Iranshahr, authorities said a strike killed a firefighter at an airport.
For the first time since April, it also appeared the U.S. strikes targeted Iranian bridges. State media reported a strike on a railway bridge in Iran's northeastern Golestan province. The Guard said two bridges had been attacked on the way to Mashhad, where officials plan to bury the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Thursday. It wasn't clear if the Golestan attack was the same one mentioend by the Guard.
