Swapna Kumbar , Bengaluru - Iran launched drone and missile attacks on Bahrain and Kuwait after the U.S. military carried out fresh strikes on 10 targets in Iran, further straining the fragile ceasefire. The latest exchange marks a sharp escalation in the conflict and raises fresh fears of a wider regional confrontation.

According to reports, U.S. Central Command said its navy and air force struck military targets at multiple locations in and near the Strait of Hormuz, including surveillance infrastructure, communications systems, air-defence installations, drone storage sites and minelayer capabilities. Washington said the operation was a response to an Iranian drone attack on a commercial vessel, while the strikes came on a day when the ceasefire was already under severe pressure from renewed violence. The U.S. also said it had hit 10 targets in Iran, underscoring the scale of the retaliatory operation.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard then claimed responsibility for attacks on U.S. military sites in Bahrain and Kuwait, saying the strikes were retaliation for the American assault. In Kuwait, an attack on the international airport earlier in the crisis had already killed one person and injured dozens, and Bahrain said it intercepted missiles and drones aimed at civilian and military targets. The latest barrage has once again put Gulf security and U.S. military bases in the region at the center of the conflict.

With both sides accusing each other of violating the ceasefire, the West Asia conflict is moving into another dangerous phase. The attacks on Bahrain and Kuwait show how quickly the fighting can spread beyond Iran and the Strait of Hormuz into the wider Gulf.