DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran launched attacks against U.S.-aligned countries in the Gulf early Wednesday, following overnight American military strikes that Iranian authorities said killed people attending a wedding celebration.

The renewed hostilities brought an end to roughly a month of relative calm between Washington and Tehran and intensified concerns over how the conflict can be brought to an end. The war has pushed oil prices higher, disrupted markets around the world and created growing political difficulties for President Donald Trump’s Republican Party as the November midterm elections approach.

Tensions have been building since the weekend, when U.S. forces struck Iranian rocket launchers on an island in the Strait of Hormuz. The American military said the launchers were intended to be used to deploy mines into the strategically important waterway. Iran responded with missile attacks against U.S. military installations in Jordan, but those missiles were intercepted.

The prolonged confrontation is placing additional strain on American military capabilities while pressure on the Trump administration grows in Washington. Iran, meanwhile, is confronting severe economic difficulties, including a weakening currency. Hamidreza Azizi, a senior Iran analyst at the Crisis Group, said neither government can sustain the current situation indefinitely while remaining caught between open warfare and a ceasefire.

“At some point, one of the sides may see a need to escalate in order to break this cycle,” he cautioned. “So that could bring the two sides to a point that they have been trying to avoid until now, which is a full-scale war.”

Gulf nations intercept Iranian attacks

Iranian drones were also launched toward Kuwait late Tuesday, with Kuwaiti defenses intercepting them. A day earlier, the United Arab Emirates reported that it had stopped an Iranian drone over its territorial waters.

Bahrain, home to a major U.S. naval installation, said its air-defense systems intercepted incoming Iranian fire early Wednesday. Bahrain’s military accused Tehran of carrying out “attacks targeting civilians” in a statement.

Kuwait’s government communications center separately reported that an Iranian drone struck a residential complex in the capital shortly after dawn, triggering a fire. Authorities said firefighters brought the blaze under control and reported no deaths or injuries.

Mohsen Rezaei, the recently appointed head of Iran’s powerful Supreme National Security Council, issued a defiant warning on X, promising that Tehran’s evolving approach to warfare, diplomacy and economic resistance would undermine its opponents.

“You will soon see that Iran’s new strategy on the battlefield, in diplomacy, and in confronting the economic blockade will shatter your foundations,” Rezaei said.

The latest exchanges underscore the growing danger that the conflict could expand beyond direct U.S.-Iranian hostilities and increasingly draw neighboring Gulf states into the fighting. With military resources under pressure, Iran facing worsening economic conditions and tensions rising across the region, the possibility of a broader confrontation remains a central concern.