US bombs Iranian military sites; Kuwait hit by drone
The United States said on Monday that it bombed radar and drone sites in Iran after Tehran shot down an American drone over the weekend. Iran then said it launched a strike of its own, and Kuwait reported incoming fire.
The nominal ceasefire between Iran and the US has been repeatedly tested with such back-and-forth attacks, even as officials from both countries try to negotiate an end to the war.
It’s not clear how close they are to a deal - and there is always the risk that an attack could derail those talks. In the meantime, Iran has maintained its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, disrupting global energy supplies and driving up the price of fuel around the world, with far-reaching consequences. Fighting has also escalated between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, despite their nominal ceasefire. Israel has extended its occupation deep into Lebanon, and Hezbollah - which joined the war in support of its main backer, Iran - continues to launch drones into Israel.
The US military’s Central Command said it carried out the strikes in Iran on Saturday and Sunday around the city of Geruk and on Qeshm Island.
“The measured and deliberate strikes occurred ... in response to aggressive Iranian actions that included the shootdown of a US MQ-1 drone that was operating over international waters,” Central Command said.
“US fighter aircraft swiftly responded by eliminating Iranian air defences, a ground control station, and two one-way attack drones that posed clear threats to ships transiting regional waters.”
Kuwait said its air defences opened fire early Monday morning to intercept incoming drone and missile fire.
Around the same time, Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said it responded to an American attack without saying where, likely referring to the attack on Kuwait. In a statement carried by the State-run IRNA news agency, the Guard said that US forces had targeted a telecommunications tower. Kuwait is home to US Army Central, the Mideast forward command for the Army. While the US Air Force no longer flies the MQ-1 Predator, the US Army still does. Iranian state television later shared footage of the ballistic missile launch, including a close-up showing a sticker on its body depicting a bruised US President Donald Trump overlaid on a “closed” Strait of Hormuz with the caption: “Until the last American soldier leaves the region.”
The attacks represent the latest escalation between the US and Iran. Over the weekend, the US fired a missile into the engine room of a Gambia-flagged cargo ship trying to break its blockade of Iranian ports. A trickle of ships has made it out of the strait, through which a fifth of all traded oil and natural gas once passed, but pressure continues on global energy supplies, as well as on chemical fertiliser. That has led to fears of food shortages. The Gulf region produces 30 per cent of globally traded chemical fertilisers.
Trump met with advisers on Friday but has yet to decide on whether to move ahead with a deal to extend the ceasefire and reopen the strait. Iran has said the deal had not been finalised.
The US and Israel launched the war with strikes on Iran on Feb 28. Trump has offered shifting goals for the conflict, although preventing Iran from building a nuclear weapon is among them.
