Kuwait closed its airspace Thursday local time due to “Iranian aggressions” as it intercepted “hostile aerial targets,” following U.S. strikes against Tehran.
Israel’s Home Front Command also warned of launches from Lebanon toward several communities in northern Israel.
Iran “struck and destroyed eighteen important targets” belonging to U.S. forces at Kuwait’s Ali Salem and Ahmad al-Jaber air bases, as well as the Sheikh Issa air base in Bahrain, according to the state run Tasnim news agency.
The media adviser to Bahrain’s king said the country’s air defense systems had intercepted and destroyed “Iranian aerial attacks.” Earlier in the day, Bahrain’s interior ministry had urged civilians to head to a safe place.
The escalation follows U.S. attack on multiple targets in Iran Wednesday stateside at President Donald Trump‘s direction, following “Iran’s unwarranted and continued aggression.”
Centcom said strikes were completed at 9:04 p.m. ET Wednesday, adding it hit Iranian military surveillance capabilities, communication systems, and air defense sites. U.S. forces fired on Iranian targets that “posed a threat to U.S. forces and international commercial ships transiting regional waters.”
Iranian state media earlier reported that Iran had targeted U.S. ships in the Strait of Hormuz with missile and drone attacks. Later, Reuters reported that Iran’s top military command completely closed the Strait of Hormuz, warning that any vessel attempting to cross would be targeted.
Trump later told Fox News that he spoke directly with Iranian officials, who he said asked him to stop the strikes. He said the bombing would stop shortly and that the Israelis were not involved in the strikes, but left the door open for further military action, according to Fox.
In response to a question about whether the ceasefire was over, Trump reportedly said that it was the most violated ceasefire in history.
The strikes come after Trump said earlier Wednesday that the U.S. would hit Iran “very hard” again, escalating his public threats as he pressed Tehran to sign a deal.
“We hit them hard yesterday, and we’re going to hit them hard again today,” Trump said at a White House signing event for the Secure America Act. “We’re going to be attacking them and attacking them very hard.”
Trump said Iran “should sign the deal” and said that the U.S. wants an agreement “that’s meaningful and works.”
“We’ll see what happens with the deal,” Trump said.
In response Wednesday afternoon, the head of the national security commission in Iran’s parliament, Ebrahim Azizi, wrote that “this time, the war won’t be limited to the region,” in a post on X.
The comments come after Trump warned on Truth Social that Iran had taken too long to negotiate and would “pay the price” amid escalating military tensions between Washington and Tehran.
“Iran’s Military is a complete and total mess,” Trump wrote Wednesday morning. “Much of it, like their Navy and Air Force, doesn’t even exist anymore — They have been completely defeated. Iran is all talk and no action.”
Oil prices rose and U.S. stock futures fell after Trump’s comments, with U.S. crude climbing nearly 2% to $89.72 per barrel and Brent rising 1.3% to $92.74. The Dow Jones Industrial Average has dropped more than 600 points since the remarks.
“It’s a military operation,” Trump said, repeating his assertion that oil prices will return to the levels they were at before the war began in February. “When it’s over, you will see oil drop to where it was before.”
Oil could hit $150 per barrel within the next couple of months if the fighting in the Middle East continues, as inventories are now at very low levels, Claudio Galimberti, chief economist at Rystad Energy, told CNBC earlier this week.
Tensions in the Middle East escalated Tuesday after U.S. forces launched strikes against Iran, which U.S. Central Command said were “in response to yesterday’s downing of a U.S. Army Apache helicopter.”
Iran has not directly claimed responsibility for downing the helicopter. Iranian state broadcaster IRIB reported that no offensive military operations had been carried out in the strait in the previous 24 hours.
The Iranian Foreign Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
