Iran attacks U.S. military sites in Gulf after U.S. strikes

Iranian forces launched retaliatory attacks on U.S. military infrastructure in several Gulf states on Thursday, July 9, 2026, marking a significant escalation that has critically undermined a three-week-old ceasefire. The strikes, which targeted facilities in Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain, came in response to a major U.S. bombardment of Iranian territory a day earlier and coincided with the burial of Iran's slain Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The U.S. Central Command said its forces struck approximately 90 Iranian military targets on Wednesday, July 8, including air defense systems, coastal surveillance assets, and missile and drone storage sites. U.S. officials stated the operation was a response to Iranian attacks on three commercial tankers in the Strait of Hormuz earlier in the week, actions intended to keep the vital waterway open. President Donald Trump, speaking at a NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, declared the interim ceasefire agreement with Iran to be effectively over. He wrote on his Truth Social platform that the U.S. strikes were "in retribution for yesterday's bombing of ships by Iran," adding, "If it happens again, it will get much worse!"