Explosions were heard near Iran’s Qeshm Island early Wednesday as Kuwait’s military said it was intercepting incoming Iranian missiles and drones, the latest flare-up in a U.S.-Iran conflict that has strained a fragile ceasefire and kept the Strait of Hormuz closed for more than three months.

Iran’s semiofficial Mehr News Agency reported explosion-like sounds in the vicinity of Qeshm, an Iranian island near the strategically vital strait, citing local sources and residents. The cause was not immediately clear, and Iranian authorities did not release details on casualties or damage.

The blasts came shortly after Kuwait’s armed forces announced that its air defenses were responding to hostile missile and drone threats and warned that any explosions heard were the result of interception efforts. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed three missiles struck the Gulf country. There was no immediate confirmation of impacts or injuries.

Unconfirmed reports also pointed to a wider regional spread. Sirens were reported sounding in Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, and additional accounts described missile and drone activity directed at Erbil in northern Iraq. Neither could be independently verified, and officials had not confirmed the reports.

The exchange marks an escalation from when U.S. Central Command said American forces intercepted two Iranian ballistic missiles targeting bases in Kuwait at 11 p.m. Sunday, with no personnel harmed. CENTCOM said it remained vigilant against Iranian aggression while continuing to support ceasefire efforts. Iranian state-linked sources have said the attacks targeted U.S. military installations in the country.

The renewed fighting followed a U.S. strike on commercial shipping. CENTCOM said Tuesday that the Botswana-flagged tanker M/T Lexie was transiting international waters toward Kharg Island, one of Iran’s main oil export terminals, when American forces intercepted it. The command said the crew ignored repeated warnings over a 24-hour period before a U.S. aircraft disabled the vessel by firing a Hellfire missile into its engine room. Officials said the tanker was unladen and carrying no cargo at the time.

The strike was the latest enforcement action under a U.S.-imposed maritime blockade. The blockade began April 13, and American forces have since disabled six commercial vessels and redirected 122 others, according to CENTCOM. The seaport at Kharg Island handles up to 90 percent of Iran’s oil exports.

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly a fifth of the world’s oil normally flows, has sent global energy prices sharply higher. The latest attacks came as Iranian and U.S. negotiators signaled that talks were continuing, even as both sides traded strikes.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)