The United States military says it defeated a wave of Iranian missile and drone attacks across the Gulf on Tuesday and struck a military site on Iran’s Qeshm Island.
US Central Command (CENTCOM) said Iran fired several ballistic missiles at regional neighbours, but none reached their targets. Two missiles aimed at Kuwait fell short or broke apart in flight, while US and Bahraini air defences intercepted three missiles launched at Bahrain, the command said.
Kuwait’s military said its air defences were actively engaging hostile missiles and drones. CENTCOM added that a later wave of Iranian drones targeting US forces in Kuwait also failed, with several shot down. It said American forces downed three more attack drones heading toward civilian vessels in regional waters.
In response, CENTCOM said it carried out a self defence strike on an Iranian military ground control station on Qeshm Island, which sits in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital route for global oil and gas shipments. The command reported no injuries to US personnel and said its forces had “successfully defeated multiple Iranian ballistic missiles and drones.”
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), in a statement carried by state media, claimed it had struck US installations in retaliation for the Qeshm strike, including the headquarters of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet in Bahrain. CENTCOM rejected the claim as false and insisted every Iranian attack on American forces had failed.
Separately, CENTCOM said US forces disabled an oil tanker accused of trying to breach an American blockade by sailing toward an Iranian port. Earlier reporting indicated that US forces had also intercepted other vessels in the region.
A ceasefire between the United States and Iran has held in recent months, though tensions have persisted as talks toward a more durable agreement have stalled.
