Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps threatened on Wednesday to halt energy exports from the Middle East in response to the renewed U.S. naval blockade.
“The export of oil and gas from the region will be either for everyone or for no one,” the IRGC said in a statement carried by state media.
The IRGC said separately that it attacked U.S. military assets in Bahrain and Kuwait on Tuesday evening and overnight.
“Several weapons and parts storage sheds for enemy ships and aircraft” were destroyed at the Isa Air Base in Bahrain during “a simultaneous missile and drone operation,” the IRGC said in a statement carried by state outlet IRNA.
The IRGC claimed its forces also “destroyed or damaged a number of drones by attacking the ramp where the enemy MQ9 drones were deployed at the Ali Salem base in Kuwait.”
Bahrain’s Ministry of Interior confirmed that air-raid sirens were activated around 8 p.m. and again at 3 a.m. local time.
Meanwhile, the Kuwaiti Armed Forces said on Tuesday night that its air defenses engaged five cruise missiles, one ballistic missile and 33 attack drones. “The Iranian aggression resulted in the targeting of several vital and civilian facilities, while shrapnel fell in various locations across the country, causing material damage,” it said.
A vessel belonging to the Kuwaiti Naval Force was also targeted, wounding four service members, who received medical treatment. Their condition was reported as stable.
Air-raid sirens sounded again around 3:15 a.m. local time in Kuwait, with the military confirming that air defenses were “confronting hostile drone attacks following the treacherous Iranian aggression.”
The attacks came hours after U.S. Central Command announced that its forces “resumed the naval blockade against vessels transiting to and from Iranian ports and coastal areas” at 4 p.m. Eastern on Tuesday.
“There are currently more than 20 U.S. Navy warships and hundreds of military aircraft operating across the Middle East. American forces remain vigilant, lethal, and ready,” CENTCOM stated.
The U.S. military also struck dozens of Iranian regime targets near the Strait of Hormuz and along the country’s southern coast on Tuesday, marking the fourth consecutive day of strikes.
U.S. fighter jets, drones and naval vessels launched precision munitions against Iranian missile and drone sites, naval assets and coastal defense systems during the seven-hour operation, which CENTCOM said sought to “further degrade Iran’s ability to threaten commercial shipping and civilian crews.”
