Iran Continues Attacks on US Facilities in Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced its forces had struck two US military radar sites in Oman on Friday (17/7). Iran also hit other US military targets in Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar on the same day. The wave of attacks against the Gulf states, according to the IRGC, was in response to the latest round of US strikes on Iranian targets. In a statement, the IRGC said its forces had “targeted and destroyed a maritime surveillance radar in the Salamah Islands and a US air surveillance radar stationed in the Ghanam area”. Omani and US authorities have yet to respond to the IRGC’s claim. On the same day, according to Iranian state television, Tehran’s military also targeted US military infrastructure in Kuwait in retaliation. The retaliatory strikes were launched after Tehran accused Washington of targeting an airport, a railway station, and two bridges in Iran, killing at least seven people. Iranian state television reported that Tehran’s forces deployed drones into Kuwait to target “locations of US forces and US military logistical support centres, which are terrorists and child-killers”. Kuwait, in a statement on Friday morning, said it was responding to missile and drone attacks, without identifying the source. Two other Gulf states, Bahrain and Qatar, also reported aerial attacks on their territories on Friday morning. Bahraini authorities activated air raid sirens and urged citizens to seek shelter after Iranian state media reported that Tehran had targeted US military helicopters and aircraft at a base. In Qatar, the Ministry of Defence announced that its military had intercepted a missile attack, while AFP journalists in the capital Doha reported hearing a series of explosions. Meanwhile, the IRGC also claimed to have struck the Al-Tanf military base in Syria, calling it retaliation for the deaths of Iranian soldiers in a US attack on the city of Iranshahr in Iran.