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The United States said on Monday it had bombed radar and drone sites in Iran after Tehran shot down an American drone over the weekend, prompting Iran to launch a retaliatory strike and Kuwait to report incoming missile and drone fire.
The latest exchange highlighted the fragility of the ceasefire between Washington and Tehran, which has come under repeated strain despite ongoing negotiations aimed at ending the conflict.
The US military's Central Command said it carried out strikes on Saturday and Sunday near Geruk and on Qeshm Island in response to the downing of a US MQ-1 drone operating over international waters.
"The measured and deliberate strikes occurred in response to aggressive Iranian actions," Central Command said, adding that US aircraft destroyed Iranian air defences, a ground control station and two attack drones that posed threats to shipping in regional waters.
Kuwait said its air defences intercepted incoming drones and missiles early Monday. Around the same time, Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard announced it had responded to an American attack, though it did not specify the target. Iranian state media said US forces had struck a telecommunications tower.
Iranian state television later broadcast footage of a ballistic missile launch, including imagery depicting US President Donald Trump alongside a "closed" Strait of Hormuz and the slogan: "Until the last American soldier leaves the region."
The Strait of Hormuz remains largely under Iranian control, disrupting global energy supplies and fuelling concerns over rising fuel and fertiliser prices. The waterway previously handled about a fifth of the world's traded oil and natural gas.AP