US strikes Iran's Bandar Abbas, Chabahar ports after 3 soldiers killed; Iran hits HIMARS in Kuwait, Bahrain

The United States has launched a new round of military strikes against Iran following the deaths of three American soldiers in separate Iranian attacks over the weekend, and Iran has responded by striking US military assets in Bahrain and Kuwait.

US Central Command announced on X that the operation was launched under direct orders from the Commander in Chief. The strikes targeted Iranian military command centres, maritime capabilities, missile and drone launch sites, and air defence systems, all with the stated aim of degrading Iran's capacity to attack commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

Explosions reported across southern Iran

Shortly after CENTCOM's announcement, Iran's State TV reported an explosion in Bandar Abbas, the strategic port city home to key Iranian naval facilities overlooking the strait. Iran's Mehr News Agency reported that air defence systems near the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant were subsequently activated.

Iranian media also reported multiple explosions in the southeastern cities of Chabahar and Konarak — both strategically significant, with Konarak hosting an Iranian naval base and Chabahar serving as one of the country's most important commercial ports. Al Jazeera, citing Fars news agency, said a series of blasts were also heard on Qeshm Island.

Iranian state broadcaster IRIB posted a photograph on X showing a burning ship, captioning it: "The consequences of trusting the US; scenes from the Strait of Hormuz hours ago."

Three US soldiers killed

The latest round of strikes followed the Pentagon's confirmation that three US service members had been killed over the weekend in Iranian attacks — two at a US military base in Jordan, and one in northern Iraq. The deaths mark one of the deadliest episodes for American forces since the current phase of the conflict began.

President Trump responded on Truth Social with a direct warning. "Every time Iran kills an American Soldier they will pay for that killing many times over! This directive has been passed on to Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Daniel Caine, and every Leader in the Military," he wrote.

Iran's retaliatory strikes across the Gulf

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it carried out three waves of missile and drone strikes on US military assets in Bahrain and Kuwait, describing the action as retaliation for recent American strikes on Iranian territory.

The IRGC's Sepah News outlet claimed the first wave destroyed drone maintenance and repair hangars at Al-Sakhir Air Base in Bahrain. The second wave allegedly targeted US facilities housing Task Force 59 vessels at Salman Port in Bahrain, causing heavy damage to the vessels. Iran's army separately claimed it struck US HIMARS missile systems at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait using ground-to-ground missiles, describing it as the 18th phase of its "Thunder" military operation.

The latest exchanges have significantly broadened the geographic scope of the conflict, with incidents now spanning multiple locations across southern Iran, Bahrain, and Kuwait.