Iran launched missile and drone strikes on US military bases in Bahrain, Kuwait, and Jordan early Tuesday in retaliation for a third consecutive night of American strikes on Iranian territory. The attack marks a significant widening of the conflict’s geographic scope and confirms that Iran is prepared to turn every country hosting US forces into a battleground.
The IRGC said it had targeted US military sites in the three countries as a “punitive response” to American strikes on southern Iran. In Bahrain, air-raid sirens sounded as drones and missiles approached the US Fifth Fleet base. The Bahrain Defense Force confirmed the attacks, with smoke rising over Manama after interceptors engaged incoming drones.
In Kuwait, Iran hit an American Patriot air-defense system, one of the most sensitive assets the US deploys in the Gulf. In Jordan, the IRGC said it struck the Al Azraq Air Base with 10 ballistic missiles. Jordan’s military said its air defense systems intercepted and shot down eight missiles, with debris falling but no casualties reported.
Iran’s army also launched drone strikes against US sites in Qatar, though Doha did not confirm any breach of its airspace. The Interior Ministry issued a security alert urging residents to stay indoors.
The attacks signal a clear shift in Iranian strategy. Having lost much of its conventional navy and suffered heavy damage to its missile infrastructure, Iran has chosen to expand the conflict to US partners in the region. The message to Gulf states, already reluctant hosts of American forces, is that the price of supporting the US campaign is measured in missiles landing on their soil.
The escalation came after President Trump announced the reinstatement of a naval blockade of Iran and declared the US “guardian” of the Strait of Hormuz. The interim deal that paused hostilities in April has entirely collapsed. The 60-day negotiation period is turning into an all-out exchange of strikes across the Gulf.
Kuwait and Saudi Arabia had already closed their airspace to US aircraft after earlier Iranian retaliatory strikes. The UAE has quit OPEC and threatened to leave the Arab League. Now Bahrain and Jordan, two of the most reliable US partners in the region, are taking direct hits.
For the Gulf states, the calculus is brutal. If they host US forces, Iran strikes them. If they ask the US to leave, they lose their security guarantor against a hostile neighbor. The war has become their war, whether they wanted it or not.