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Commercial cargo vessels and crude oil tankers sit anchored in the Gulf of Oman off the coast of Muscat, Oman, on June 21, 2026, ahead of their expected transit through the Strait of Hormuz after disruptions linked to heightened U.S.-Iran tensions.

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Iran launched missiles and drones at U.S. military sites in Kuwait and Bahrain early Sunday, sharply escalating a fragile interim peace agreement hours after President Donald Trump threatened to intensify military action against Tehran if it failed to abide by the deal.

The attacks came after days of renewed violence in and around the Strait of Hormuz, where commercial ships have come under fire despite an agreement intended to halt the fighting, reopen the key shipping route, and allow negotiations to continue.

Since then, both the U.S. and Iran have blamed each other for violating the ceasefire memorandum signed last week. 

About an hour after Trump warned that the U.S. could “militarily complete the job,” Kuwait’s army said its air defenses were responding to missile and drone attacks, while Bahrain said sirens had sounded. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said its navy and air forces had targeted U.S. military sites in both countries.

A U.S. official told Reuters that there were no reported U.S. casualties or major damage to American facilities in the Middle East, though the situation was still unfolding. Kuwait’s army said it intercepted two ballistic missiles and reported no damage or casualties.

In Bahrain, alarms sounded for a second time hours later. Authorities said an Iranian attack damaged a residential building in Muharraq province, with no casualties reported. Bahrain urged the U.N. Security Council to hold an urgent session to hold Iran accountable.

The escalation followed fresh U.S. strikes on Iranian military sites after a Panama-flagged tanker was attacked by an Iranian drone in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday. U.S. Central Command said its strikes were a direct response to continued Iranian attacks on commercial shipping and targeted military surveillance, communications, air defense, drone storage, and mine-laying facilities.

Iran said the U.S. strikes had violated the ceasefire and warned that they would bring diplomatic efforts to a halt. The IRGC navy command said American bases in the region would face further attacks in the coming days.

Bahrain hosts a key U.S. naval base in the Middle East and is one of a handful of countries in the Gulf region that have been targeted by Iran’s drone and missile attacks since the war began in late February. Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, where U.S. military assets are hosted, have also been targeted by Iranian drone or missile strikes during the war.

The renewed fighting has cast deeper uncertainty over the U.S.-Iran negotiations in Switzerland. One round of mediated talks, led by Vice President JD Vance and Iran’s parliamentary speaker, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, was held there a week ago, and Washington waived sanctions on Tehran. But the latest attacks have intensified questions about whether the interim agreement can survive.

On Friday, Vance posted on social media that “violence will be met with violence” in response to Iran’s attacks on commercial ships. 

“Iran signed a ceasefire agreement. We have honored it. If they have disagreements about how the MOU is being applied, they can pick up the phone,” Vance said on X.

Just a week ago, the U.S. and Iran agreed to reopen the Strait of Hormuz for 60 days toll-free as part of a memorandum of understanding signed by leaders of both countries, and ships began moving through the key shipping corridor through which nearly 20 percent of the world’s oil and gas pass every year.   

Although a route near Oman is being expanded for inbound and outbound traffic, traffic through the Strait remains below prewar levels, as the situation remains volatile in the area.

A Saturday attack on a tanker followed Thursday’s strike on a Singapore-flagged cargo ship, the incident that helped trigger the latest round of escalation.

The dispute over the Strait has become a central point of tension. Washington has promoted a southern lane along the coast of Oman, while Tehran wants ships to use a northern route through Iranian-controlled waters. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said responsibility for restoring maritime traffic to pre-war levels rests with Tehran and warned others not to interfere in what he described as Iran’s administration of the Strait.

Even as attacks continued Sunday, some shipping traffic moved through the area. CMA CGM said its Galapagos container ship had exited the Strait, calling it "an important milestone" in a regional situation that "remains complex and requires vigilance."

The regional ceasefire has also been strained by renewed fighting in Lebanon. Israel said Sunday that it had struck Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon on Saturday, one day after Israel and Lebanon agreed to another U.S.-brokered ceasefire intended to calm fighting there. Iran has said Israeli operations in Lebanon must stop for the broader U.S.-Iran agreement to hold.

Israel said it killed Hezbollah militants armed with rocket-propelled grenades and struck a rocket launcher in the Nabatieh area. Hezbollah did not immediately respond. Israel is not a party to the U.S.-Iran deal, but Iran has argued that Israel’s withdrawal from Lebanese territory and a halt to Israeli strikes are required under the interim agreement and that Washington is responsible for enforcing that condition.

The conflict with Iran started four months ago, when the U.S. and Israel launched a joint operation that struck hundreds of targets in Iran and killed its Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and dozens of top Iranian officials. In response, Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz and sent hundreds of ballistic missiles and thousands of drones targeting Israel and other countries in the Middle East. The conflict has deepened regional instability and uncertainty around global energy supplies.