Iran targets bases in Kuwait & Bahrain after US radar strikes

WEST ASIA CRISIS | Washington says it shot down drones and struck Iranian radar sites as fragile ceasefire frays; Tehran sets $24bn ‘trust test’ for Trump

developments 

1. Bahrain, Kuwait sound air raid alerts
2. US says six of seven missiles intercepted
3. No casualties reported among US personnel
4. Nine killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon
5. Trump says Iran still retains more than 20% of its missile stockpile
6. Israeli strikes kill nine people in Lebanon, including soldiers
7. Agencies

Dubai / washington

Bahrain said Iran fired ballistic missiles and drones at it and Kuwait, hours after the US and Iran exchanged strikes over the Gulf, the latest in a series of flare-ups that threatened to break the fragile ceasefire. 

Air raid sirens rang out on Saturday in Bahrain and people were told to move to safety and await instructions. Kuwait's military said it was intercepting drones and missiles launched at the country.

The Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry condemned the attacks, calling them a “serious escalation” and a “flagrant violation of its sovereignty”, and said it reserved the right to defend its country.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard (IRGC) said it targeted the Ali Al Salem airbase, which hosts US forces in Kuwait, and the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.

The attacks came after the US military said it had shot down four Iranian drones launched towards the Strait of Hormuz and struck Iranian coastal surveillance radar sites in response. Iran followed hours later, saying it had targeted US bases in the region, with Kuwait and Bahrain both issuing air raid alerts.

US Central Command (Centcom) said early on Saturday Iranian attack drones “posed an immediate threat to regional maritime traffic”, while the strikes on radar installations were to “defend against further attacks”.

The US military is enforcing a blockade on Iranian ports in response to Tehran's chokehold on the strait, a crucial corridor for global oil and natural gas shipments, which has sent energy prices spiking.

Hours later, the IRGC said it had targeted “enemy bases” in the Gulf after the US strikes on Sirik and Qeshm Island.

“Iran fired seven ballistic missiles towards Kuwait and Bahrain,” Centcom said, adding, six were intercepted and a seventh did not reach its target. “There are currently no reports of harm to US personnel, and Iranian claims of damaging US Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain are false.”

Earlier on Friday, Donald Trump told reporters “the situation with Iran seems to be going quite well”.

At an event with farmers in Wisconsin, Trump said: “We’re going to come out of Iran very quickly and it’s going to be very strong one way or the other, whether it’s a piece of paper or the very tough way. Your fertiliser prices are going to go way down, just like they were four months ago.”

Asked on Friday why it was taking so long, Trump told NBC it was because it was “a very hard thing” for Iran, citing its “great independence”.

“There are things they never thought they’d be doing that they’re going to have to do. They’ve got no choice, and it takes a little while,” he said in the interview.

In other comments, Trump said Iran still had more than 20% of its missiles left, a figure for the stockpile that was higher than the 18% Trump gave last month. He has often claimed to have completely destroyed Iran’s ability to wage war.

Trump told NBC News: “They still have capacity. They have some missiles, they have some drones. I would say, percentage-wise, maybe 21%, 22% of their missiles.”

peace FUND FREEZE

Meanwhile, a senior Iranian official has said a potential peace deal between the US and Iran depends on the Trump administration agreeing to release $24 billion in frozen Iranian assets. He also warned that Washington would "enter into a dark corridor" if it resumes military action against Tehran.

"If he (Trump) wants to reach an agreement with Iran, this USD24 billion is a test of trust that Iran wants to have with Trump. This is a test that America must pass and the path will be opened," Mohsen Rezaei, a military adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, told CNN in an interview, asserting, "This is our own money, not America’s money."

Lebanese soldiers among nine killed in israeli strikes

Israeli airstrikes killed nine people in Lebanon on Satur­day, including three Lebanese army soldiers in their vehicle. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun called the strike on the army a “flagrant violation of Lebanese sovereignty and international law”.

The Israeli military said the vehicle was “moving suspiciously” towards Israeli soldiers in an area where Hezbollah operated and that it would review the incident. Israel has killed several Lebanese army soldiers and state security personnel, despite the Lebanese state not being a party to the Hezbollah-Israel war.

Earlier on Friday, Aoun criticised Iran for opposing this week’s ceasefire deal, accusing the country of fighting its wars in Lebanon and using it as a bargaining chip in negotiations.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Saturday responded to the accusation, saying “one would think it’s Iran that has occupied a fifth of Lebanon, displaced a qua­r­ter of Lebanese and is bombing his country on a daily basis”. “Had Lebanon been a bargaining chip for Iran, we’d have a deal long ago. Save Leb­a­non from your real foe, Mr President,” Araghchi said on X.

Baby killed in Gaza

Further, Israeli troops on Friday evening killed a seven-month-old Palestinian baby boy after firing at his parents’ vehicle in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.