Iran retaliates as Trump vows to hit ‘hard’

Iran launched attacks on US bases in the Gulf region in retaliation for the latest round of US strikes, which came after Donald Trump said he would hit the country “hard”.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) confirms retaliatory strikes have been launched against US forces in the region, specifically mentioning bases in Kuwait and Bahrain, according to Iranian news reports.

US Central Command (Centcom) said it had completed its second consecutive day of “self-defense strikes”, launched on Thursday local time after Trump said Tehran had taken “too long to make a deal” to end the war.

In response, Iran said it had attacked US military bases in Bahrain and Kuwait, the same two targets of retaliatory Iranian strikes conducted the day before.

The escalation of tit-for-tat attacks in recent days has tested a fragile ceasefire agreed between the two countries in April.

After the latest US attack, explosions were heard in cities the south of Iran, near the Strait of Hormuz where US forces hit air defence, radar and other sites on Tuesday.
During Wednesday’s flare-up, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) also said it had struck ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

That came after Iranian state media reported that the Strait of Hormuz was “completely closed to all type of vessel”. Centcom, however, said “commercial ships are continuing to transit in and out of the Strait of Hormuz”.

Two oil tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz were hit by Iran’s navy, Iranian state media reported, although there was no immediate confirmation.