Iran attacked U.S. military bases in Kuwait, despite President Donald Trump threatening further strikes in a fresh flare-up six months into the war.

Mr. Trump said his military was prepared to attack Iran “any time we want” after extensive U.S. bombardment of sites across the country left at least 19 Iranians dead.

Tehran retaliated by hitting U.S. military targets across the West Asia, including in Kuwait, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region.

The clashes deepen the ongoing impasse in the war, as Iran maintains a stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz oil export route and the U.S. presses its counter-blockade of Iranian ports.

AFP

The United Arab Emirates on Tuesday (August 18, 2026) accused Iran of firing two ballistic missiles at its territory, marking the first time the Defence Ministry detected a barrage aimed at the country in months.

“UAE air defences detected two ballistic missiles launched from Iran toward the country, with the first falling outside the country’s territorial waters, while the second fell within the territorial waters,” said a statement posted by the Defence Ministry on X.

But Iran denied launching missiles towards the United Arab Emirates.

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The UAE accused Iran of targeting a tanker belonging to its state-owned oil company in the Strait of Hormuz, even as both Iran and Oman suggested talks on administering the vital waterway were progressing.

Iran has imposed an effective blockade of the strait and wants to charge users for passage, repeatedly attacking ships it accuses of attempting to circumvent its preferred route.

The U.S. vehemently opposes any Iranian tolls in the strait, though a June deal struck by the warring parties does allow Tehran to hammer out arrangements for the “future administration” of Hormuz in conjunction with fellow coastal state Oman.

Continued attacks in the strait, which was free to transit before the war, led to the collapse of an April ceasefire, and mediators have since urged both sides to return to the terms of the June memorandum.

-AFP

Civilians carry coffins draped in the Iranian flag in Mosul, Iraq
| Photo Credit: AP

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto leader, in a phone call with President Donald Trump raised concerns about the U.S. potentially escalating the conflict with Iran, according to a person familiar with the leaders’ discussion.

The discussion, which was first reported on by Axios, comes as Mr. Trump weighs whether to carry out new strikes on Iran.

The Saudis, according to the person briefed on the substance of the call but not authorised to comment publicly, are concerned that if the U.S. targets Iran’s energy infrastructure or carries out massive strikes on other key infrastructure that Tehran could respond by carrying out attacks on the kingdom’s and other Gulf countries’ energy infrastructure.

-AP

Iran has warned that it is fully prepared to target key Israeli infrastructure and U.S. energy installations across the region if it comes under attack, amid reports that Washington and Tel Aviv may be coordinating fresh military operations against the Islamic Republic.

A senior Iranian security official told Tasnim News Agency that Western media reports regarding prospective strikes on Iranian infrastructure represented “a kind of madness”.

According to Tasnim, the official stated that Tehran has formulated comprehensive retaliatory strategies encompassing strikes on critical installations in Israel and U.S. energy assets across West Asia, asserting that Iran maintains complete readiness to execute these measures if provoked.

-ANI

The U.S. military yesterday said it had launched a new wave of attacks against Iran, after renewed fighting over the Strait of Hormuz saw several of Washington’s Gulf allies targeted by incoming fire.

The latest salvo by U.S. forces began at 2100 GMT yesterday, Central Command (CENCTOM) said on X, after earlier announcing approximately 140 strikes the previous night.

The flare-up is the latest to undermine an interim agreement between Washington and Tehran aimed at ending their war, which has caused global economic shockwaves since it began in late February.

Oil prices, which have tumbled since the announcement of the agreement, rose over 3.5% when futures trading opened today in Tokyo, with the U.S. benchmark WTI jumping above $74 a barrel.

– AFP

Mourners stand next to a portrait of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed on February 28 in Israeli and U.S. airstrikes, during a funeral procession on the day of his burial, in Mashhad, Iran, July 9, 2026.
| Photo Credit:
Reuters

Iran on Friday (July 10, 2026) laid to rest its former supreme leader Ali Khamenei over four months after his killing in an airstrike, as two days of U.S. and Iranian attacks raised fears of a return to all-out war.

Khamenei’s flag-covered coffin was carried aloft into the shrine of Imam Reza in his home city of Mashhad in eastern Iran as a sea of people waited outside and listened to prayers, with no sign of a public appearance by his son and successor Mojtaba Khamenei.

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Parliament speaker and chief negotiator in talks with the United States, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, powerful chief justice Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, and Khamenei’s eldest son Mostafa Khamenei were all present at the shrine, with some senior figures weeping over Khamenei’s coffin, state TV images showed.

Back-and-forth attacks from U.S. and Iran, including a day earlier, have repeatedly threatened the ceasefire. But Thursday’s appeared bigger all around, with sirens sounding at least three times in Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet headquarters, and missiles targeting Kuwait and Qatar.

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U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a media conference at the end of the NATO summit as Secretary of State Marco Rubio, right, and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth listen in The Hague, Netherlands, June 25, 2025.
| Photo Credit:
AP

Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar sounded missile alert sirens early Thursday (July 9, 2026) morning warning of an Iranian attack after the United States launched a new round of airstrikes targeting Iran.

Also Read | How India withstood the crisis in West Asia

There was no immediate word of damage in the three Gulf Arab countries. Kuwait’s military said it was actively intercepting incoming drones and missiles.

On Wednesday (July 8), Iran launched attacks on Bahrain and Kuwait over an earlier round of U.S. airstrikes against Iran. The latest U.S. strikes began Wednesday, hours after U.S. President Donald Trump said that recent Iranian attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz signalled the end of the fragile ceasefire.

Also Read | Is the U.S.-Iran agreement falling apart?

Meanwhile, oil prices rose on Thursday after the U.S. launched fresh strikes against Iran, denting hopes for ‌an end to the Iran war and for the full reopening of the Strait ⁠of Hormuz, a chokepoint for one-fifth of pre-war global oil supplies.

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Iran’s foreign ministry said yesterday that the United States has repeatedly violated their agreed memorandum of understanding, and warned of retaliation following Washington’s strikes on targets in the Strait of Hormuz.

“Iran is issuing a serious warning about the consequences of America’s breach of the treaty, and will take decisive measures to protect its interests and national security,” the ministry said in a statement posted to Telegram by IRIB News.

– AFP