Iran attacks Bahrain, Kuwait after U.S. strikes
by Darryl Coote · UPIJuly 8 (UPI) -- Iran's military said Wednesday it conducted retaliatory strikes against the United States, targeting dozens of U.S. assets in Bahrain and Kuwait, as the fight over control of the Strait of Hormuz threatened to escalate the war.
In a statement carried by state-run Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting, Iran's Armed Forces said they had attacked 85 "key U.S. military installations" at Salman Port and the 5th Fleet, both in Bahrain, and Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait.
The statement was followed by a second one announcing a "new wave" of missiles targeting U.S. bases in Bahrain.
The extent of the damage, if any, was not immediately clear, but the Kuwait Army confirmed in a statement that its air defenses were confronting "hostile missile and drone attacks."
"We will not allow U.S. interference in the affairs of the Strait of Hormuz," Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, Iran's top military command body, said in a statement. "Transit through the SoH is only permitted via the routes designated by Iran."
The strikes came hours after the U.S. military announced late Tuesday the completion of its attacks in Iran, a response to three commercial vessels being struck while transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
The maritime chokepoint has become a dangerous fault line in the war between the United States and Iran.
Washington is seeking to re-establish navigational freedom within the strait, while Iran is attempting to exert and maintain control of the waterway it has sought to exercise since the war began. Neither side appears to be budging, threatening the end of cease-fire negotiations and a return to all-out war.
Both sides accuse the other of violating conditions of the memorandum of understanding they agreed to implement last month to halt the fighting. Indirect negotiations held early this month in Doha produced little to no progress and the renewed fighting may upend the process altogether.
After three commercial vessels were recently struck while transiting the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. military said it hit more than 80 targets inside Iran.
Before launching its retaliatory attacks early Wednesday, Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters vowed in a statement carried by state-run Fars News Agency that it would "give a crushing response to America's aggression and terrorist action."
It said that "under no circumstances" would it allow U.S. interference in the affairs or management of the Strait of Hormuz.