US bases in Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain see another night of retaliatory Iranian strikes

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC) said it launched retaliatory attacks targeting US military bases in Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan early Thursday, after the US said it struck multiple targets in Iran.

It’s the second day in a row Iran has targeted American bases in the region in response to US strikes. President Donald Trump said the first night of strikes was in retaliation for the downing of an Army helicopter, but cited slow progress in war talks when announcing the second round.

He said Iran would “pay the price” after taking “too long to negotiate a deal” and that all Tehran has to do is “start signing a paper.”

Trump warned strikes could resume tomorrow if a deal isn’t reached. He said top Iranian officials asked him to halt the latest attack, according to Fox News.

• US bases under attack: In Jordan, Americans were warned to take cover. The IRGC claimed it “destroyed facilities and a large number of fighter aircraft” at the Al-Azraq air base, state media reported. Kuwait closed its airspace and air defenses are engaged with “hostile objects,” state media reported, citing the country’s army. Sirens sounded in Bahrain, according to the country’s Ministry of Interior.
• Iran threatens Strait of Hormuz: The oil trade chokepoint, which has been almost entirely shut since the war began, will be “closed to all vessels,” the IRGC said. US Central Command pushed back on the Iranian claim, saying that commercial ships continue to transit in and out of the strait – which the IRGC denied. A senior Iranian military official, IRGC aerospace commander Seyed Majid Mousavi, warned that Iran could turn the Middle East “into hell” if the strait is made insecure.
• US targets: US Central Command said it “launched strikes on Iranian military surveillance capabilities, communication systems, and air defense sites across Iran.”
• Impact in Iran: Explosions were heard again across much of Iran after the US launched strikes, Iranian state media has reported. Blasts were heard in cities near the capital Tehran, including Abyek, Qarchak, Minab, Nazarabad, Karaj. Other locations lay further south, close to the Strait of Hormuz, including Sirik, Bandar Abbas, Qeshm, and Kharg Island –– a critical oil hub in the Persian Gulf. Explosions were also heard in the city of Shiraz, in Fars province.