Iran said it had attacked US bases and helicopters in a „regional country“ using missiles and drones in retaliation. Centcom said Tehran fired two missiles at Kuwait and three at Bahrain, all of which broke apart or were intercepted.
Kuwait‘s army later said Iranian drones had hit its international airport, causing „significant“ building damage and injuries to a number of people.
(3 June 2026 01:18 BST)
Earlier, the IRGC said that it responded to American attacks by targeting a US base in the region.
„We targeted the US Fifth Fleet headquarters with missiles and drones in response to the attack on Qeshm Island,“ it said.
Naval Support Activity Bahrain (or NSA Bahrain) is a United States Navy base situated in the Kingdom of Bahrain and is home to U.S. Naval Forces Central Command and United States Fifth Fleet.[2][3]
(3 June 2026, 03:10 BST)
Centcom said it “downed multiple drones and ensured no American personnel or assets were harmed”.
The reported attack followed claims by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) that it had targeted US military assets in Kuwait and Bahrain in retaliation for a US strike on Qeshm Island.
Earlier, Centcom said it had conducted a “self-defence” strike against an Iranian ground control station on the island.
(2 June 2026 23:37 BST)
Explosions were heard in the area of Iran‘s Qeshm Island early on Wednesday, Mehr news agency reported, citing local sources and residents.
(2 June 2026 22:27 BST)
US forces fired a missile at a ship that was attempting to sail to an Iranian port in violation of an American blockade, disabling the vessel, the US military said on Tuesday.
The Botswana-flagged M/T Lexie – an unladen oil tanker – „ignored repeated warnings“ over a 24-hour period, and an American warplane „ultimately disabled the vessel by firing a Hellfire missile into the ship‘s engine room“, the US military‘s Central Command said in a statement.
The US military says it “redirected” 109 commercial vessels in the Arabian Sea to enforce President Trump’s blockade of ships travelling to and from Iranian ports via the Strait of Hormuz.
The blockade of the strait and Gulf of Oman began on April 13 and has provoked an energy crisis with severe global economic consequences
Head of CENTCOM Admiral Brad Cooper said earlier on Monday that the US military had destroyed six Iranian small boats and intercepted missiles and drones fired at US warships, as he acknowledged that the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) had acted to stop Washington’s attempts to break Iran’s control over the Strait of Hormuz.
An Iranian military source also said that „the first shots have been fired“ at U.S. naval vessels attempting to enter the Strait of Hormuz.
„Iran is fully prepared for every scenario and the Americans know that Iran will not allow Trump to bully its way through,“ the Iranian military source told Tasnim News Agency.
The ship, M/V Touska, connected to the sanctioned Iran Shipping Lines, was intercepted by US forces on April 19 near Iran’s Chabahar port in the Gulf of Oman. According to US Central Command, the flagged vessel ignored repeated warnings for nearly six hours before American forces boarded and took control, accusing it of violating a US-imposed naval blockade on Iranian ports.
US officials confirmed that 22 crew members have now been handed over to Pakistan for repatriation, while six others—identified by Iranian state media as family members, were quietly transferred to another country days earlier. The vessel itself is in the process of being returned to its original owners.
“We will maintain and manage the security of the Strait of Hormuz with all our might and we announce to all commercial ships and tankers to refrain from any action to transit without the coordination of the armed forces stationed in the Strait of Hormuz so that their security is not jeopardised,” the military said.
“We warn that any foreign armed force, especially the aggressive US army, will be attacked if they attempt to approach and enter the Strait of Hormuz.”
Analysts do not expect the destroyers to be escorting merchant ship convoys through the strait.
The mission, beginning Monday, “will support merchant vessels seeking to freely transit through the essential international trade corridor,” CENTCOM said in a statement Sunday evening.
“Our support for this defensive mission is essential to regional security and the global economy as we also maintain the naval blockade,” said Adm. Brad Cooper, CENTCOM commander.
US military support for the effort will include guided-missile destroyers, more than 100 land- and sea-based aircraft, and 15,000 service members, the statement said.
A US official told CNN that “Project Freedom” is not an escort mission.
The UK‘s main stock indexes dipped on Monday in broad-based losses as fears that the U.S.-Iran ceasefire could collapse weighed on sentiment.
The U.S. seized an Iranian cargo ship and traffic through the Strait of Hormuz remained largely halted, sending crude oil prices more than 5% higher.
“Deep historical mistrust in Iran toward U.S. gov conduct remains, while unconstructive & contradictory signals from American officials carry a bitter message; they seek Iran’s surrender. Iranians do not submit to force,” the president wrote.
Speaking to reporters on Monday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said the United States is not serious about negotiations with Iran, and that Tehran had no plans to take part in a second round of talks with Washington.
Iran has announced it will not participate in the second round of direct talks with the United States scheduled in Pakistan, amid an already fragile standoff between the two countries.
US armed forces fired a five-inch gun at the engine room of Iranian-flagged container ship Touska to disable the vessel before boarding and seizing the ship as part of the US blockade of Iran’s ports.
AIS data appears to show the vessel was around 40 nautical miles from Iran‘s Chabahar port at the time of the incident.
US Central Command posted a video on twitter showing Touska viewed from the deck of a US Navy ship.
Speaking from the Oval Office, Trump said, „We‘re talking to them. They wanted to close up the strait again — you know, as they‘ve been doing for years — and they can‘t blackmail us.“
Iran says it has closed the Strait of Hormuz again, calling the decision a response to a continued blockade of its ports by the United States.
18 April 2026 13:24 BST
Since the US imposed a blockade on Iranian ports and coastal areas earlier this week, 23 ships have complied with US forces orders to turn back toward Iran, the US military said on Saturday.
TAMPA, Fla. — U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) forces will begin implementing a blockade of all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports on April 13 at 10 a.m. ET, in accordance with the President’s proclamation.
The blockade will be enforced impartially against vessels of all nations entering or departing Iranian ports and coastal areas, including all Iranian ports on the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman. CENTCOM forces will not impede freedom of navigation for vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz to and from non-Iranian ports.
Additional information will be provided to commercial mariners through a formal notice prior to the start of the blockade. All mariners are advised to monitor Notice to Mariners broadcasts and contact U.S. naval forces on bridge-to-bridge channel 16 when operating in the Gulf of Oman and Strait of Hormuz approaches.
The US announced its blockade after talks with Iran failed to secure a lasting peace deal to end hostilities in the Middle East.
Following a meeting between US and Iran negotiators in Pakistan‘s capital Islamabad, President Donald Trump said the US would start „BLOCKADING any and all Ships trying to enter, or leave, the Strait of Hormuz“.
The US Central Command (Centcom) later confirmed its forces would enforce the blockade „impartially“ on vessels leaving and entering Iranian ports, including those located in the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman.
“The permission for the transit of any vessel (in the strategic waterway) is within the authority of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Lieutenant Colonel Ebrahim Zolfaqari said in a statement released on Sunday.
Separately, the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Navy announced that any attempt by military vessels to pass through the Strait of Hormuz will face a harsh confrontation.
As the two sides met in a marathon session, the U.S. military announced two of its warships had transited the strait and operated in the Persian Gulf as part of a broader operation to clear the vital trade corridor of sea mines that were laid by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
Iranian forces have threatened to fire on ships that try to transit the strait without their permission. There were no immediate reports of Iranian forces firing on the two U.S. Navy destroyers.
We have a short statement from the spokesperson of the Iranian military’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters.
“The claim by the CENTCOM commander regarding the approach and entry of American vessels into the Strait of Hormuz is strongly denied,” the spokesperson said.
“The initiative for the passage and movement of any vessel is in the hands of the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”
The ship‘s name carries deep historical resonance. It honours the Battle of Derna (1805) during the First Barbary War (Tripolitan War).
In one of the young United States‘ first overseas land battles, a small force of US Marines, soldiers, and international mercenaries led by William Eaton marched across the desert and captured the Libyan port city of Derna from forces of the Pasha of Tripoli.
The victory helped force a peace treaty, ending tribute demands on American shipping and securing safer Mediterranean trade routes.
Amid rising speculation over a possible US ground operation against Iran, the amphibious assault ship USS Tripoli, carrying nearly 1,800 Marines, has been deployed to the Indian Ocean, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a social media post.