These Are the Places Where the Iran War’s Outcome Is Decided: Iran targets American sites in Bahrain and Kuwait.

 

"Iran fired a barrage of missiles and drones across the Persian Gulf overnight on Wednesday in retaliation for the latest wave of American attacks in a seemingly unyielding cycle of attacks and counterattacks between the two countries.

 

Iran’s armed forces said they were targeting U.S. military installations in Bahrain and Kuwait, setting off air-raid sirens in both countries.

 

The U.S. military’s Central Command, which oversees Middle East operations, did not immediately comment.

 

The attacks were an escalation after weeks of occasional exchanges of fire despite a nominal truce that Iran and the United States signed last month.

 

U.S. officials hoped the cease-fire would fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the vital waterway that Iran blockaded after the war began in February. But ships in the strait have come under fire in attacks widely blamed on Iran, prompting U.S. retaliation. Iran has then responded by attacking American installations in the Persian Gulf, eroding hopes for a speedy return to normal life there.

 

Before Iran’s strikes on Wednesday, U.S. forces attacked Iran overnight, hitting dozens of sites, in response to the bombardment of three commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz this week. Iran has not claimed responsibility for the attacks, and its military condemned the U.S. strikes as an “overt act of aggression,” vowing “a crushing response.”

 

Hours later, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said that it had targeted 85 U.S. military sites in Bahrain and Kuwait. In a statement carried by Iranian state television, the Revolutionary Guards claimed to have attacked the Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait, as well as the U.S. Fifth Fleet’s naval base and Khalifa Bin Salman Port in Bahrain.

 

The Iranian military also shot down an American MQ-9 drone, the Guards said.

 

A U.S. military spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.” [1]

 

1. Iran targets sites in Bahrain and Kuwait. Boxerman, Aaron; Mahoozi, Sanam.  New York Times (Online) New York Times Company. Jul 8, 2026.