U.S. strikes Iranian military sites after attacks on commercial ships

American military aircraft struck Iranian surveillance infrastructure, communication systems, air defense sites, drone storage facilities and minelayer capabilities in the Strait of Hormuz region. The strikes followed Iranian attacks on two commercial vessels.

The Panama-flagged oil tanker M/T Kiku was hit by a one-way attack drone on Saturday, and the commercial ship M/V Ever Lovely was targeted the previous week.

Ceasefire breakdown The exchanges mark a breakdown of a memorandum of understanding reached earlier this month that called for a halt to hostilities and reopening of the Strait of Hormuz during 60 days of nuclear negotiations. Iranian officials disputed statements that Iran had agreed to admit U.N. inspectors at sensitive nuclear sites.

Iranian response and regional impact Hours after the U.S. strikes, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard claimed responsibility for attacks on Kuwait and Bahrain. Kuwait’s military said air defenses intercepted two ballistic missiles with no injuries or damage reported.

An Iranian strike damaged the top floor of an eight-story residential building near Kuwait’s international airport. Bahrain’s Interior Ministry said no one was killed. Bahrain’s Foreign Ministry condemned what it called a “deliberate approach and a systematic pattern of repeated aggression” by Iran.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, speaking Sunday in Baghdad, declared that Iran alone controls the Strait of Hormuz and warned that outside interference would only deepen the crisis.