MANAMA – People in Bahrain and Kuwait awoke on July 8 to the now familiar sound of warning sirens and explosions in the distance, as Iranian strikes again dashed hopes of a return to normalcy.
The latest round of strikes pushed US President Donald Trump to declare the ceasefire was “over”, raising fears of renewed conflict in the Gulf, long seen as a safe haven.
As the two major powers fought, two small Gulf states paid the price.
“We want the situation to stabilise, we want our normal lives back. I run a business, and continued instability does me no good,” Adel Mohammed, a Bahraini man in his 60s, told AFP.
“The fact that Bahrain continues to be subjected to Iranian attacks makes me angry – it’s completely unacceptable,” he said.
An AFP correspondent in Manama heard repeated explosions in the early hours of the morning, as air-raid sirens sounded three times.
The strikes on Kuwait and Bahrain came following attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz blamed on Iran that drew US retaliation against the country.
Iran said it targeted US assets in Kuwait and Bahrain, two countries that it has hit repeatedly during the Middle East war and despite a ceasefire.
The tit-for-tat attacks were beginning to form a familiar pattern.
On June 28, Iran said it had hit US bases in Kuwait and Bahrain in retaliation for US strikes on its territory that followed an Iranian attack on a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz.
On June 11, days before the United States and Iran signed their memorandum of understanding, Iran struck bases in Kuwait and Bahrain in response to American strikes that followed Iranian navy attacks on two ships trying to sail through the waterway.
‘We don’t want war to return’
Some residents are now worried about a return to hostilities in the Gulf after Trump told reporters on July 8 that the “ceasefire is over”, though he left the door open to more talks.
“We do not want war to return to the region. We have already been through a harrowing time, and we do not want the crisis to start all over again,” said Sawsan Deif, a Saudi homemaker in her 50s living in Bahrain.
Farther north in Kuwait, Ola Hashem had just flown in to visit her Jordanian relatives when she awoke to the sounds of sirens.
“This has made me feel anxious. I’m inclined to leave as soon as possible,” the 40-year-old told AFP.
Sayed Mohammed, an Egyptian resident of Kuwait, said the attacks broke a calm spell that lasted less than two weeks.
“We had hoped calm would last, but the renewed attacks have revived anxiety among the public. We hope this situation resolves quickly.” AFP
