Tehran targets Bahrain, Kuwait after U.S. strikes and limits Iran's oil sales over ship attacks
The U.S. military attacked Iran on Wednesday (July 8, 2026) after it said Tehran struck three ships in the Strait of Hormuz, part of an
The U.S. military attacked Iran on Wednesday (July 8, 2026) after it said Tehran struck three ships in the Strait of Hormuz, part of an American effort that also revoked the Islamic Republic's ability to openly sell crude oil in the world market. Iran retaliated with strikes targeting Bahrain and Kuwait. The regional crossfire raised the risks that an interim agreement to halt fighting in the war could break down, putting West Asia again at risk of a wider conflict. However, the fire followed a pattern of similar attacks during the deal's shaky ceasefire and neither country immediately signalled they had step away from the negotiating table. The attacks on shipping and the resulting strikes came during the dayslong funeral for Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed February 28 in the war's first moments at age 86. The funeral, which ends on Thursday (July 9, 2026), had been thought to be a period of lower tensions — though mourners have repeatedly called for the killings of U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Negotiations to reach a final deal had been due to start after Khamenei's burial and focus on the toughest matters, including fully reopening the strait and rolling back Tehran's disputed nuclear programme. But the new attacks threw that into question. “The era of bullying and extortion is over,” Iran's Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf wrote on X. “It leads nowhere. We don't fold.” Overnight U.S. strikes target Iran The U.S. military's Central Command said American forces launched the strikes “to impose heavy costs for targeting and attacking commercial shipping crewed by innocent civilians in an international waterway.” It said it hit Iranian targets including air defence systems, radars and more than 60 small boats used by Iran's Paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.
Those boats have been key in harassing ships in the strait. The U.S. Military remains “postured and prepared to hold Iran accountable when the agreement is not adhered to or obeyed,” it added, saying this round of attacks had ended. Iran acknowledged the strikes, but offered no word on any losses. Iranian state media reported the sound of explosions in Bandar Abbas, Qeshm and Sirik. On Wednesday (July 8, 2026) morning, both Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet, and Kuwait, home to U.S. Army forces, sounded missile alerts. The Guard issued a statement acknowledging targeting U.S. military installations in both countries. “The child-killing and “terrorist” U.S. Army, openly violated the ceasefire and violated the Islamabad understanding by launching an airstrike on a number of coastal bases and civilian stations on the coasts of Hormozgan and Mahshahr provinces,” it said, without addressing the attacks on ships in the strait. Bahrain sounded its alert a second time later on Wednesday (July 8, 2026) morning. A similar spate of Iranian attacks on shipping and U.S. retaliatory strikes occurred late last month — which similarly drew Iranian attacks on Bahrain and Kuwait. Wednesday's (July 8, 2026) strikes also came as Mr. Trump was in Turkiye for a summit of the NATO Military Alliance. U.S. revokes license for the sale of Iranian oil. The U.S. also revoked a license that authorised the sale of Iranian oil as part of the interim deal. That had allowed Iran for the first time in years to conduct oil sales openly on the international market for U.S. dollars.
The BriefWire