US renews strikes on Iran to 'punish' IRGC for troops' killing; Tehran targets American bases in Kuwait

The United States launched new strikes on Iran early on Sunday after the US military earlier announced that two US military personnel were killed in Jordan and another was missing following an Iranian attack.

Later, Iran’s army said it had targeted two US bases in Kuwait with drones in response to American attacks on Iranian territory.

The Islamic republic’s army said it carried out “large-scale attacks with kamikaze drones against the US military’s ammunition depot at Camp Udairi and the Patriot radar system and air surveillance radar at Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait”, according to a statement carried by the state broadcaster.

Before the US strikes, Iran’s supreme leader said Washington would pay for “seeking to escalate the conflict”.

US Central Command said in a statement that the airstrikes began at 6pm ET (2200 GMT), at President Donald Trump’s direction.

“The strikes are designed to further degrade Iran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and swiftly punish Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) forces who launched attacks against American service members in Jordan last night,” it said, without providing further details.

Iran’s Mehr news agency said the US carried out an attack near Sirik in southern Iran, adding that no casualties or damage to infrastructure have been reported.

Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported that at least six missiles hit Qeshm Island, and the explosions were heard in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas early Sunday.

The US and Iran have intensified attacks since an interim ceasefire deal signed a month ago fell apart last week, raising the possibility of a return to all-out war.

Centcom said the deaths of two US troops occurred on Friday and that a third US service member was missing in action.

The announcement brought the number of US service members killed since the US-Israeli war on Iran began to 16, while more than 420 have been wounded.

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth posted on X: “Their sacrifice only stiffens our resolve.”

Iran targeted US Gulf allies and Jordan on Saturday after US attacks on Iranian bridges, power facilities and other infrastructure.

In a written statement carried by the official social media accounts of Iran’s supreme leader and Iranian state media, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said US actions have shown that Trump’s signature was “utterly worthless and devoid of credibility.”

The statement warned of “even heavier costs and further humiliation” for the United States.

Major General Mohsen Rezaei, a senior military adviser to Khamenei, warned that Tehran would resume “full-scale offensive operations” if US strikes continued in the coming days.

“Iran will no longer limit itself to retaliatory, like-for-like responses,” the general said, according to state media.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The conflict, which began when the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran at the end of February, both hoping to disable Tehran’s missile programme, has led to major disruption to energy supplies, fears over global inflation and a battle for control of the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian strikes reported in Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan

On Saturday, Kuwait came under sustained attack, with the armed forces saying they had intercepted Iranian ballistic missiles and drones, and that some firefighters and oil sector workers had been injured while responding to the attacks.

Iran’s IRGC said it had struck a US military support centre at Kuwait’s Camp Arifjan and destroyed a radar facility at Ali Al Salem Air Base.

Kuwait Petroleum Corporation later said one of its oil facilities had been hit in “repeated Iranian attacks”, causing significant damage and some injuries, according to the state news agency.

The IRGC also targeted a site in Bahrain where US combat aircraft were gathered at Sheikh Isa Air Base and an intelligence data centre, Iranian media said.

The Guards also destroyed at least two US fighter aircraft and three other aircraft during a missile and drone attack early on Saturday on the US base in Al Azraq, Jordan, according to Iranian state TV.

Saudi Arabia’s early warning system issued alerts early on Saturday urging residents of Al-Kharj and Yanbu to seek shelter. Al-Kharj, east of Riyadh, is home to a military base that hosts US troops, while Yanbu, on the Red Sea, has a key oil export terminal.

The IRGC made no mention of any attack on Saudi Arabia.

The US State Department issued a worldwide travel alert for Americans abroad on Saturday, citing heightened tensions in the Middle East “with the potential for unforeseen escalation”.

The advisory said flight cancellations and periodic airspace closures could disrupt travel.

Battle for control of Hormuz

Earlier, US Central Command said it had hit Iranian surveillance sites, military logistics infrastructure, underground weapons storage and maritime capabilities. US airstrikes early on Saturday killed three people and wounded eight others in the southern Hormozgan province, which borders the Strait of Hormuz, while two bridges and a road tunnel were damaged, Iranian state TV reported.

Iran’s Health Ministry said on Saturday that 50 people had been killed and more than 500 wounded in US strikes on the country over the past three weeks.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei accused the United States of seeking control over the Strait of Hormuz, which usually handles around one-fifth of the world’s oil supply.

Both sides have taken aim at shipping traffic, with the US saying it is enforcing a naval blockade and Iran saying it targets vessels violating its rules on navigating the strait.

Additional input from AFP ...