Drones attack Iran's neighbors as Tehran tests Trump's latest pause

The waterway, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas trade passes during peacetime, has been a focal point of the conflict. The violence further strains an interim deal that had paused hostilities and set a 60-day negotiation window over Iran’s nuclear program and other issues. Talks have stalled as fighting over the strait has intensified, and the ceasefire has been repeatedly rattled by drone attacks in the Gulf since May.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump, who reinstated a blockade of Iranian shipping on Tuesday, threatened to strike Iran’s power plants and bridges if Tehran did not return to the bargaining table. “We’re going to knock out all their power plants. We’re gonna knock out their bridges unless they get to the table and negotiate,” he said in a Fox News interview. The IRGC, meanwhile, warned that if Washington continued to control maritime passages, it would shut down other energy lines, declaring regional energy exports would be “for everyone or for no one.”

Iran launched ballistic missiles and drones at U.S. allies Bahrain and Kuwait early Saturday, according to the Bahraini government, drawing retaliatory strikes from American forces in the latest test of a shaky ceasefire. The Iranian attacks targeted U.S. military installations, including the Fifth Fleet’s command-and-control facilities in Bahrain and a U.S. base in Kuwait, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed. Kuwait’s army said its air defences repelled “hostile” drone assaults, while Jordan reported shooting down three Iranian missiles.

U.S. Navy Adm. Brad Cooper, head of Central Command, confirmed Iran had launched dozens of missiles and drones at neighbouring Gulf Arab countries. The U.S. military responded by striking Iranian drones and radar sites, Central Command said. The strikes followed a seven-hour wave of American attacks on Iranian missile and drone sites, naval capabilities, and coastal defence systems, which the command said were meant to “further degrade Iran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping and civilian crews.”