Iran says it targeted American base after fresh US strikes

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it targeted an American air base in the region after fresh US strikes on southern Iran overnight. The IRGC did not say where the base was, but Kuwait said it had intercepted "hostile missile and drone threats". The US military said Iran had launched a ballistic missile towards Kuwait that was successfully intercepted by Kuwaiti forces.

The Iranian missile launch came after the US shot down Iranian drones over the Strait of Hormuz and struck a military site in Bandar Abbas. The US said the strikes were conducted in self-defence. The IRGC said the attack on the US air base took place in the early hours of Thursday morning and targeted the site as it was "the source" of earlier US strikes on Iran. US Central Command (Centcom) said Iran's attack on Kuwait was an "egregious ceasefire violation" that occurred "hours after Iranian forces launched five one-way attack drones that posed a clear threat in and near the Strait of Hormuz". All the drones were intercepted and a sixth drone launched from an Iranian ground control site in Bandar Abbas was also prevented. Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baqai condemned the US strikes and said they constituted a violation of the ceasefire, adding that the Islamic republic would "take all necessary measures to defend its national sovereignty". Kuwait's foreign affairs ministry strongly condemned what it termed "criminal Iranian attacks that targeted" its territory.

Earlier this week, the US confirmed a previous round of "self-defence" strikes on southern Iran on Monday in which they targeted Iranian missile sites and boats attempting to lay mines in the Strait. Centcom said those strikes were designed "to protect our troops from threats posed by Iranian forces". The US also imposed sanctions on the "Persian Gulf Strait Authority". During a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump said that Iran is "negotiating on fumes". Israel launched the war against Iran alongside the