Iran said it launched retaliatory strikes on U.S. interests in the Middle East on Saturday as Bahrain said it was targeted by an Iranian drone attack, marking the latest threat to a ceasefire and ongoing talks toward a broader peace.
The statement from Iran’s Foreign Ministry that it had struck U.S. assets came a day after the United States hit Iranian missile and drone storage locations.
Saturday saw the third day in a row of hostilities over the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for global commerce. Traffic through the strait slowed sharply during the four-month U.S.-Iran war, causing oil prices to surge.
Energy costs have eased since the ceasefire was reached earlier this month, but differences over Iran’s ability to control traffic through the strait have led to the recent clashes.
Both sides have accused the other of violating the memorandum of understanding signed by the two countries. The 14-point deal to end the war paved the way for a further 60-day period of technical negotiations to work out some of the thorniest details.
The U.S. said Friday’s strikes were retaliation for an Iranian attack on a commercial ship exiting the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday.
In another incident on Saturday, U.K. Maritime Trade Operations — a monitoring agency run by the British Navy — reported a tanker in the Strait of Hormuz was damaged after it was hit by an “unidentified projectile.” All crew were reported safe, it said. No one claimed responsibility.
The agency’s Joint Maritime Information Center raised the security threat level to “substantial,” citing the strikes on merchant ships and mines in the strait.
The target and location of the strikes Tehran announced Saturday remained unclear. The U.S. military did not immediately confirm whether U.S. military assets in Bahrain came under fire, but Bahrain’s Foreign Ministry said it was targeted early Saturday by Iranian drones.
It condemned Iran’s “continued attacks, at a time when regional and international efforts are moving toward de-escalation,” without elaborating on whether the drones were intercepted or any damage occurred. The ministry did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the attacks, which were also condemned by the United Arab Emirates.
Bahrain is home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet and has been repeatedly subject to Iranian attacks over the course of the war. This week it hosted U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who met with Gulf allies to reassure them that the U.S. was committed to regional stability.
On Saturday, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps threatened further clashes in a statement claiming strikes on U.S. military targets, without specifying details.
“In the event of a repeat of aggression, our response will be more extensive,” it said in comments reported by Iran’s semiofficial Tasnim news agency.
Vice President JD Vance said in a post on X on Friday that if Iran had “disagreements about how the MOU is being applied, they can pick up the phone.”
“But violence will be met with violence,” he added.
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