US and Iran traded Iran strikes for a second day after Donald Trump said the ceasefire was "over" and the fighting spread from Iran’s coastline to bases linked to the US military in Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar. The renewed attacks also put shipping through the Strait of Hormuz back under pressure after last month’s memorandum of understanding was meant to keep the route open.
Trump said the US attacks were "retribution for yesterday’s bombing of ships by Iran. If it happens again, it will get much worse!" CENTCOM said the US struck approximately 90 military targets, including missile and drone storage and logistics sites along Iran’s coastline. The US military said the aim was Iran’s "ability to threaten the freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz".
Iran Hits Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar
On Thursday, the IRGC said it carried out attacks on "key infrastructure and facilities" at bases used by the US military in Arifjan and Ali Al Salem in Kuwait, and Juffair and Sheikh Isa in Bahrain. The Iranian army later said its forces targeted a Patriot missile system in Kuwait, a satellite antenna in Qatar and US military fuel depots in Bahrain. Kuwait's Ministry of Defence said it was intercepting missiles and drones, while Qatar issued an "elevated security threat" alert.
That exchange widened the battlefield beyond the Strait of Hormuz itself. The attacks tied the military sites in Kuwait and Bahrain to the same maritime dispute that prompted the US strikes, with shipping and base defenses now moving in step.
Iran Targets Bushehr and Ahvaz
IRNA reported strikes on a military base in coastal Bushehr, and the military base there hosts Iran's only civilian nuclear power plant. The Iranian railway said train service on the Tehran-Mashhad line had been temporarily suspended after a railway bridge in Iran’s northeast was hit. IRIR said technical teams were on site to repair the damaged section, and buses had been arranged to transport affected passengers.
Warplanes hovered over Iran's Kish Island, and explosions rocked Bandar Abbas, Konarak and Chabahar. Part of Chabahar lost electricity. At least three people were killed in an attack on the outskirts of Ahvaz, and at least one firefighter was killed in an attack on an airport facility in Iranshahr.
Trump Leaves Talks Open
Trump told reporters on Air Force One that the Iranian side had "called a little while ago" and wanted "to make a deal so badly". He had already posted on Truth Social that the US attacks were "retribution for yesterday’s bombing of ships by Iran. If it happens again, it will get much worse!"
That leaves the ceasefire in a contradiction of Trump’s own making: he said it was "over" even as he signaled the strikes could end quickly and kept the door open to more talks. The memorandum of understanding agreed last month was supposed to extend the April ceasefire and gradually reopen the Strait of Hormuz to shipping, but the latest exchange has put that arrangement under strain again.
