Iran has launched fresh strikes against US military positions in Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, saying the attacks were in retaliation for a deadly strike on a wedding in southern Iran, while Washington says it is investigating the incident.
Iran said it targeted US military bases in Kuwait and the UAE on Thursday, escalating tensions in the six-month conflict as Tehran seeks to retaliate for an attack it says killed civilians at a wedding.
The latest clashes followed US military raids on Sunday and have further complicated efforts to resolve the conflict. Iran continues to exert pressure on shipping through the strategic Strait of Hormuz, while Washington maintains its counter-blockade of Iranian ports.
Kuwait’s military said it intercepted an incoming missile and drone attack from Iran. Tehran’s military, however, said it successfully struck US facilities at the Ahmad al-Jaber Air Base “with missiles and drones”.
Kuwait described the incident as a “grave breach of the rules of international law”.
Iran’s military also claimed it had attacked Al Minhad Air Base in the UAE, although authorities in the Gulf nation did not report an attack.
The strikes followed a claim by the Iranian Red Crescent that a missile hit a wedding in the coastal Iranian town of Kuhestak on Tuesday night, killing four people, including a child, and injuring more than 50 others.
US Vice President JD Vance said Washington was investigating the reported attack but expressed doubts about Tehran’s account.
“I know that we’re investigating,” he told a White House briefing.
“I will say that the Iranian state media has not been a very good scribe about what’s happened in the conflict thus far. So I’m extremely sceptical of this.”
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards chief, Ahmad Vahidi, vowed that those killed in the alleged attack would be avenged.
“The pure blood of these oppressed martyrs… will not go unanswered,” he said.
US Central Command (CENTCOM) spokesman Tim Hawkins defended the US military, saying “the US military never targets civilians, unlike the IRGC”, referring to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The latest escalation comes after extensive US bombardment of targets across Iran killed at least 19 people between Tuesday and Wednesday.
President Donald Trump had earlier warned that the US military was prepared to attack Iran “any time we want”.
Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported on Thursday that six members of the country’s naval forces had also been killed in US attacks during the week. It was unclear whether those deaths were included in the reported figure of 19.
Tehran has responded with attacks across the Middle East, saying it has targeted US troops and bases in the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan and Iraq’s Kurdistan region.
Vance, however, said he “wouldn’t call it a war,” insisting that “right now, there is no active shooting.”
He acknowledged that “there have been places where this has flared up” but maintained that major combat operations lasted only six weeks following the US-Israeli offensive against Iran that began on February 28.
Iran’s security chief, Mohsen Rezaei, warned Washington on Wednesday that Tehran had adopted a “new strategy” in the conflict that “will shatter your foundations”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, expressed confidence that Iran’s Islamic Republic could soon collapse.
“This regime is currently teetering. It is weaker than ever. It is fighting for its survival,” Netanyahu said at an event with Israeli military leaders.
“I am convinced that we can remove this threat once and for all.”
Beyond military operations, Washington has also threatened to intensify economic pressure on Tehran by imposing sanctions on countries and businesses that maintain economic ties with Iran.
US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Wednesday that a new US sanctions strategy targeting Iran’s economic partners would deliver “absolutely maximum pressure”.
Iran’s top negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, criticised Washington over the reported wedding attack and described the United States as “Satan”.
The renewed violence has also caused concern among Iranians, with many expressing frustration over the return to conflict.
Hossein Moazami, a 50-year-old self-employed man, described the attacks as “truly distressing”.
“I hope they all return to the negotiating table because the only people suffering from this are the Iranian people,” he said.
“The Americans are on the other side of the world and nothing happens to them.”
A video released by an Iranian government account showed debris and damage at what it identified as the wedding venue, with people reportedly heard screaming in the background.
“It is a very saddening incident,” Ali Mallahi, the bride’s father, said in a video broadcast by Iranian state television.
“Thank God the casualties were not higher.”
The conflict began on February 28 when US and Israeli forces launched attacks against Iran, killing its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
A fragile ceasefire later collapsed in July following attacks on commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial global energy route through which one-fifth of the world’s oil supplies previously passed.
Meanwhile, Israel’s defence minister said his country was prepared to respond “with great force” if Iran attacks during the Jewish high holiday season, which begins in mid-September.
“For now, they are striking throughout the region except us,” Israel Katz said.
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