U.S. Bombs Iranian Radar And Drone Sites After Iran Targets Troops In Kuwait

The United States said Monday it bombed radar and drone sites in Iran after Tehran shot down an American drone over the weekend, and Iran then said it targeted American soldiers in Kuwait with missiles that the U.S. says it shot down.

The U.S. military’s Central Command said it carried out the strikes in Iran on Saturday and Sunday around the city of Geruk and on Qeshm Island, hitting air defenses, a ground control station and two attack drones it said threatened ships in the region.

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Central Command said the “measured and deliberate strikes occurred ... in response to aggressive Iranian actions that included the shootdown of a U.S. MQ-1 drone that was operating over international waters.”

The Associated Press reported that the nominal ceasefire between Iran and the U.S. has been repeatedly tested with back-and-forth attacks, even as officials from both countries try to negotiate an end to the war.

The Hill reported that on Sunday night U.S. forces “successfully intercepted two Iranian ballistic missiles targeting American forces based in Kuwait,” adding that “These missiles were immediately defeated and no American personnel were harmed.”

Kuwait said its air defenses opened fire early Monday morning to intercept incoming drone and missile fire, while Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said it responded to an American attack without saying where, likely referring to the attack on Kuwait.

In a statement carried by the state-run IRNA news agency, the Guard said that U.S. forces had targeted a telecommunications tower, and Iranian state television shared footage of the ballistic missile launch with a caption about a “closed” Strait of Hormuz.

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The Guardian reported that Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, said: “The ceasefire between Iran and the US is unequivocally a ceasefire on all fronts, including in Lebanon.”

The Guardian also quoted Trump telling NBC News: “I think it’s fine if they’re done talking.”

DW reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would “continue to operate as planned in southern Lebanon,” while also warning that if Hezbollah does not stop firing at “our cities and citizens – Israel will strike terrorist targets in Beirut.”

The AP reported that Iran has maintained its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz, disrupting global energy supplies and driving up the price of fuel around the world, with far-reaching consequences.

The Associated Press said only 36 ships transited the waterway in the seven days leading up to Friday, compared to an average of more than 130 ships per day before the war began, and that a fifth of all the world’s traded oil and natural gas once passed through the strait.

The AP added that the closure has put pressure on chemical fertilizer, generating fears of food shortages, and said the Gulf region produces 30% of globally traded chemical fertilizers.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reported that EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said any temporary understanding between the US and Iran must be followed by deeper talks about Tehran’s nuclear stockpile and other critical issues, calling it a “tenuous diplomatic opening.”

NBC News said negotiations over a broader agreement are dragging on amid disagreements on the future of Iran’s nuclear and missile programs, while Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said “no final result has been reached.”