Iran attacked American bases in Jordan and Bahrain on Wednesday, warning its Gulf neighbours that they had a “responsibility” to stop the United States and Israel from using their territory to strike Iran.
The strikes came after the US carried out attacks on Iran in response to the downing of an American helicopter, straining a ceasefire that took effect in April.
The exchange drew international calls for restraint on the eve of the World Cup, which the US is co-hosting and Iran is participating in.
It has also cast doubt on US President Donald Trump’s claim that negotiations on an enduring settlement to end the Middle East war were in their “final throes”.
The conflict, which began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran in February, threw the region into chaos and rattled global markets before the shaky truce began.
In Bahrain, an AFP correspondent in the capital Manama said several loud explosions could be heard, as Iran’s Guards said they had struck a US base there.
Iranian forces also fired “long-range missiles” at US targets in Jordan, the Revolutionary Guards said on Wednesday.
Jordan’s military said it shot down five missiles, with no casualties or material damage, while Bahrain said it intercepted and destroyed “several Iranian aerial attacks”.
Elsewhere, the Kuwaiti military said its air defences were engaging “hostile aerial targets”. Iran has recently carried out deadly attacks there, too.
Iran’s foreign ministry “reiterated the legal and moral responsibility of all countries in the region (especially those located along the southern shores of the Persian Gulf) to prevent the US military and Israel from using their territory or facilities to plan, organise, execute, or support hostile actions against Iran”.
The developments came after the US military said it had “completed” what Trump portrayed as a retaliatory assault on Iran over the downing of an Apache attack helicopter.
US Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees American forces in the Middle East, said on X that it had “struck Iranian air defence, ground control stations, and surveillance radar sites near the Strait of Hormuz”.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had earlier threatened payback, saying that his country’s military would “leave no attack or threat unanswered”.
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