Iran escalates the war with a series of attacks on Jordan and Bahrain, in response to new American strikes. The tension across the Middle East echoes the critical flashpoints of last March, as the U.S., Iran, and Israel continue exchanging fire despite a ceasefire agreement that was supposed to hold.
In the wake of U.S. strikes on Tehran, Iran launched a wave of missile attacks on military bases in Bahrain, Kuwait, and Jordan. The Jordanian military announced that it intercepted at least 20 missiles fired by Iran, with injuries and shrapnel damage reported as a result.
In Bahrain, a child sustained minor injuries, while casualties were also recorded inside Iran itself. India, meanwhile, confirmed the deaths of three of its sailors following a U.S. strike on the tanker Settebello, which Washington says was transporting oil to Iran in violation of a naval blockade.
Iran has warned of total destruction if the attacks continue and announced it will once again close the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S., for its part, maintained that the tanker was struck as part of enforcing the blockade.
Strikes on Jordan, Bahrain, and Kuwait
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced it had struck Al-Azraq Air Base in Jordan. According to the IRNA news agency, across two waves of operations, “eighteen significant targets” belonging to American forces were hit, including bases Ali Al-Salem and Ahmad Al-Jaber in Kuwait and the Sheikh Isa Air Base in Bahrain.
Bahrain’s Interior Ministry confirmed that an 11-year-old girl was lightly injured, while debris from intercepted drones caused fires and damage to homes and vehicles in Manama and the city of Hamad.
Kuwait announced that it had reopened its airspace, which had been temporarily shut down following the Iranian attacks. The country’s civil aviation authority stated that air traffic had returned to “normal operations.”
Casualties in Tehran, Strike in the Gulf of Oman
In the greater Tehran area, at least three people were wounded by American strikes, according to the Fars news agency. The attacks primarily targeted southern Iran, but areas near the capital were also affected, including Karaj, Nazarabad, and Pisva.
Separately, an Iranian cargo vessel was struck by a U.S. projectile in the Gulf of Oman. The 150-ton ship was carrying essential goods, and according to Iranian authorities, all five crew members were rescued by passing vessels.
Israeli Strikes in Lebanon
An Israeli drone struck a home in the Maqasid neighborhood of Nabatieh, in southern Lebanon, triggering a fire that destroyed the house and several nearby vehicles. Overnight, Israeli artillery shelled areas surrounding Nabatieh, including residential zones and the vicinity of hospitals.
Despite Donald Trump’s assurances that a peace agreement is “right around the corner,” the Middle East is once again being pulled into a cycle of escalation, with the U.S. and Iran trading threats and firepower.
