Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced Wednesday that it had carried out a sweeping missile and drone assault against 85 U.S. military bases and installations in Bahrain and Kuwait, saying the operation was in direct retaliation for American airstrikes conducted overnight inside Iran.

According to a statement published by Iranian state media, the IRGC said its naval and aerospace units launched the coordinated attack after accusing the United States of breaching a ceasefire. The announcement came after U.S. forces reportedly struck 80 targets across Iranian territory overnight, an action Tehran characterized as a “decisive response.”

The IRGC also asserted that its air defense systems successfully downed an American MQ-9 Reaper drone over southern Iran, calling the incident part of its response to what it described as ongoing U.S. military activity over the Gulf. In a separate report, Iranian state media said one member of the IRGC Navy was killed in an attack allegedly carried out by “enemy drones.”

Mohsen Rezaei, a senior adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader, claimed that President Trump is preparing for additional military action against Iran. “We believe the United States intends to resume its military operations, but we are prepared for all scenarios,” Rezaei said in remarks carried by Iranian media.

The latest escalation has fueled growing anxiety throughout the Gulf region. Anwar Gargash, diplomatic adviser to the president of the United Arab Emirates, said Iran’s attacks on commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, along with repeated strikes directed at Bahrain and Kuwait, showed that Tehran was not genuinely seeking to reduce tensions.

Writing on X, Gargash said countries across the region “cannot remain targets of Iran’s wavering between the logic of escalation and the path of reason, stability and peace,” adding that Iran’s recent actions had severely damaged prospects for ending the conflict.

At the same time, Iran’s Foreign Ministry argued that alleged violations of agreements regulating maritime traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, combined with ongoing Israeli military operations in Lebanon, had effectively rendered the interim agreement meaningless.

{Matzav.com}