More Shooting from Iran to US Navy and Arab Allies

Vessels anchored in the Strait of Hormuz as seen from Musandam, Oman, on Tuesday.Credit...Reuters

The latest violence between the United States and Iran threatened a cease-fire and risked further stoking tensions in the region.

By Eric Schmitt

Reporting from Washington

New York Times 

 

American forces intercepted several Iranian missiles and attack drones fired at Persian Gulf countries and the Strait of Hormuz on Friday, U.S. Central Command said, in the latest spasm of violence to threaten the fragile cease-fire between the two countries.

Iran fired seven ballistic missiles toward Kuwait and Bahrain — six were shot down and one fell short — hours after U.S. forces downed four Iranian one-way attack drones that were launched toward the strait, Central Command said on social media.

Central Command said that the attack drones “posed an immediate threat to regional maritime traffic.” U.S. forces subsequently struck Iranian coastal surveillance radar sites in Goruk and on Qeshm Island, off the coast of Iran, to thwart more attacks, the military said.

Friday’s attack followed a familiar pattern in recent days. About two hours after Central Command announced it had downed the Iranian drones, Kuwait’s military said that its air defenses were intercepting hostile drones and missiles. The Kuwaiti statement, issued early Saturday local time, did not say from where the drones and missiles were launched. Bahrain’s interior ministry said warning sirens were activated early Saturday but did not mention what triggered them. 

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps said early Saturday local time that it had responded to U.S. attacks in Sirik and on Qeshm Island by striking “enemy bases” in the region. The statement, published by Iranian state media, said the Revolutionary Guards had launched ballistic missiles at the Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait and the U.S. Navy Fifth Fleet’s facilities in Bahrain. It warned of a stronger response if such U.S. strikes happened again.

Central Command said the Iranian attacks were swatted away with no damage to U.S. bases or harm to American personnel. “American forces remain vigilant and postured to respond to unjustified Iranian aggression in self-defense,” the military said.

U.S. forces in the past month have helped coordinate the passage of more than 100 commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz — into and out of the Persian Gulf — a U.S. official said on Friday, even as travel through the waterway remains risky amid stalled negotiations to end the war. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters.

The back-and-forth military volleys late Friday risked rekindling tensions in the region just two days after one civilian was killed and dozens of others were injured at Kuwait’s international airport, after Iran fired a barrage of missiles and drones at the country. It was one of the most significant Iranian strikes and the first known fatality in a Gulf nation since the cease-fire took effect in early April.

Since the beginning of the war, Iran has also struck major energy facilities, ports and hotels in Gulf countries as it seeks to punish U.S. allies and increase economic pressure on the Trump administration. The attack on Wednesday involved 13 ballistic missiles and 17 drones, Kuwait said. 

U.S. Central Command said on Wednesday that Iran had also fired missiles and drones at Bahrain, another U.S. ally in the Gulf, as well as at civilian sailors in nearby waters. None of those strikes hit their targets, the military said.

Although U.S. and Iranian attacks have slowed significantly since the two sides announced a cease-fire, they have not stopped, with both sides declaring they are defending themselves.

In its statement on Wednesday, for instance, U.S. Central Command said that it had conducted “self-defense strikes” on an Iranian military ground control station on Qeshm Island.