Iran hits Bahrain, Kuwait after US strikes, imperils Hormuz ceasefire talks

Dubai,UPDATED: Jun 28, 2026 16:26 IST

Iran launched drone and missile attacks on Bahrain and Kuwait on Sunday in response to US airstrikes on the Islamic Republic, while also warning that negotiations to end the war could come to a "complete halt" if Washington keeps up its attacks. The strikes added to tensions around the Strait of Hormuz and raised fresh doubts over efforts to secure a lasting ceasefire.

The latest escalation came as Iran objected to moves to reopen the Strait of Hormuz without its direct oversight. A multinational maritime body overseen by the US Navy said on Saturday it would expand a route near Oman for both inbound and outbound traffic, creating another flashpoint with Tehran as the US and Iran continue to debate the terms of an interim peace deal.

The global community has long treated the strait as an international passageway, although it lies in the territorial waters of Iran and Oman. In recent days, Iran has twice attacked vessels using a route on the Omani side of the strait backed by a United Nations agency. Iran has insisted that it alone must govern the strait, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf that once carried a fifth of the world's oil and natural gas.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi repeated that position during a visit to Iraq on Sunday. He said in Baghdad: "Any interference in this matter, any attempt to establish new or separate arrangements from those currently being carried out by the Islamic Republic of Iran, will only lead to further complications, delay the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, and increase the level of tension, just as over the past two nights we witnessed incidents in the Strait of Hormuz that led to an increase in tension and confrontation."

The United States and Iran are still discussing an interim peace deal, including shipping arrangements through the strait, lifting a US blockade and sanctions, and the future of Iran's stockpile of highly enriched uranium. Under a memorandum of understanding signed earlier this month, the two sides have 60 days to settle the details. The latest strikes have threatened that process, even before any deal can be finalised.

Kuwait said its air defences intercepted incoming Iranian drones and missiles on Sunday morning, shortly after the US strikes. The Kuwaiti military said it had detected and intercepted two ballistic missiles and that there were no reports of injuries or damage. In Bahrain, the Interior Ministry said the Iranian strikes damaged a residential building near the international airport, but no one was killed. The ministry released photographs showing the top floor of an eight-storey building destroyed, with rubble inside and windows blown out.

Bahrain hosts the US Navy's 5th Fleet, whose base there has come under repeated attack during the war. The building damaged on Sunday was not near the fleet's headquarters in downtown Manama. Bahrain's Foreign Ministry denounced what it called "a dangerous escalation that reveals that what Tehran is doing is not a passing act, nor an isolated incident, but rather a deliberate approach and a systematic pattern of repeated aggression". Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard claimed responsibility for both the Bahrain and Kuwait attacks.

The new US strikes followed more attacks and counter-attacks earlier in the weekend. The US military's Central Command said it targeted Iranian military "surveillance infrastructure, communication systems, air defence sites, drone storage facilities and minelayer capabilities" on Sunday after an attack on a ship at sea early on Saturday. The vessel, the Panamanian-flagged tanker Kiku, was carrying crude oil for Qatar's state-run energy company. Qatar has been a key mediator between Iran and the US.

In a social media post, US President Donald Trump said the US had "struck Iranian missile and drone storage locations, and coastal radar sites, for violating the Cease Fire Agreement, AGAIN!" He warned there could come a point when the US would no longer be able to be reasonable and "will be forced to militarily complete the job". He added: "If that happens, the Islamic Republic of Iran will no longer exist!" The latest incident followed a similar exchange just days earlier, when an Iranian drone hit a merchant vessel off the coast of Oman on Thursday and the US responded with strikes.

The conflict has also continued in Lebanon. Iran has repeatedly said any ceasefire must include a halt to fighting there, where Israel has been battling the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group. Days after the US and Israel launched the war against Iran, Hezbollah began firing at Israel in support of Iran, and Israel responded with an invasion that has occupied large areas of southern Lebanon and displaced hundreds of thousands of people. Israel has said it will not withdraw its troops until Hezbollah is disarmed.

Last week, Israel and the Lebanese government signed a framework agreement to end the conflict, but it did not include Hezbollah or Iran. Hezbollah criticised the deal and rejected demands to disarm. During his visit to Iraq on Sunday, Araghchi again said the US must force Israel to stop its attacks and withdraw. Israel holds around 600 square kilometres of southern Lebanon, which it says is needed as a security buffer against Hezbollah attacks. Sporadic clashes have continued, and overnight Hezbollah militants killed an Israeli soldier in the village of Deir Siryan in southern Lebanon, according to the Israeli military. There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah.

Sunday's attacks on Bahrain and Kuwait, the dispute over shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, fresh US strikes on Iranian targets and continuing violence in Lebanon have all added to pressure on a fragile diplomatic process that is still far from being settled.

With PTI Inputs

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