Iran Retaliates After US Strikes, Targets American Bases Across Gulf

Iranian forces struck American military infrastructure across neighbouring Gulf states on Thursday, hours after Washington carried out fresh strikes on Iran's southern coast and eastern provinces, deepening the crisis around a three-week-old ceasefire.

The exchange came as Iran prepared to bury its slain Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, at Mashhad's holiest shrine, marking the end of a week of mass mourning. Khamenei was killed in a US airstrike on the war's opening day, February 28.

Oil prices, which had jumped on fears the renewed strikes would disrupt global supply, eased back on Thursday as traders tried to gauge whether the flare-up was a temporary tactical move or signalled the ceasefire's total breakdown, Reuters reported.

The US military said its latest strikes were intended to keep the Strait of Hormuz open after Iran had targeted three tankers in the waterway. The action followed comments from President Donald Trump suggesting he considered the interim truce finished.

Iranian officials reported 14 deaths and 78 injuries across five provinces from the American strikes, according to state media, with one attack reportedly hitting a rail bridge used for trade with Russia and China. Explosions were also heard in Bushehr province, home to a Russian-built nuclear plant.

Strikes on Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain

Iran's army said it had targeted US Patriot defence systems in Kuwait via drones, an early-warning site in Qatar, and a fuel depot in Bahrain. Kuwait confirmed intercepting a cruise missile, three ballistic missiles and ten drones, with one person hurt by falling debris. Qatar, host to the region's largest US base, urged a return to diplomacy and condemned the separate attacks on commercial shipping in Hormuz.

Iran has not claimed responsibility for the tanker strikes, though analysts believe Tehran uses such pressure to strengthen its negotiating position. The strait normally carries around a fifth of the world's oil supply, and Iran has effectively controlled it since the war began, forcing a standoff with US forces.

US Central Command said it had hit roughly 90 Iranian military sites, including air defences, missile storage and naval assets, describing the action as accountability for attacks on shipping. Trump, attending the NATO summit in Ankara, said he doubted the situation would escalate into full-scale war, insisting any fallout would be brief. One tanker, the Qatari-flagged Al Rekayyat, remains stranded off Oman after a fire following Tuesday's strike, though its cargo is reportedly secure.