🔴Middle East live: Kuwait says intercepting Iran drone attacks as explosions heard in Bahrain

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Middle East live: Kuwait says intercepting Iran drone attacks as explosions heard in Bahrain

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This screen grab taken from UGC video footage posted on social media on July 18, 2026, shows a plume of black smoke and flames billowing over the town of Mangaf, south of Kuwait City.

FILE PHOTO: This screen grab taken from UGC video footage posted on social media on July 18, 2026, shows a plume of black smoke and flames billowing over the town of Mangaf, south of Kuwait City. © AFP

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they hit US military targets in Kuwait on Monday, including an early-warning radar system that they alleged had been “completely destroyed” in a statement reported by state news agency IRNA. Meanwhile, explosions were heard over Manama in Bahrain after the city’s air raid sirens sounded. Follow our liveblog for all the latest updates.

 

One person killed in US strikes on northwest Iran, state media says

US strikes overnight in northwestern Iran killed at least one person and wounded several more, state media reported.

“One person was martyred and several others were injured in a terrorist and aggressive American attack on an area southwest of Tabriz on Monday morning,” said Majid Farshi, head of crisis management of East Azerbaijan province, quoted by state news agency IRNA.

Explosions heard in Bahrain’s Manama after air raid sirens sound

Explosions were heard in the Bahraini capital Manama on Monday morning after air raid sirens were triggered, AFP journalists reported.

“The siren has been sounded, citizens and residents are urged to remain calm and head to the nearest safe place,” the Gulf state’s interior ministry wrote on X.

Sirens sound again in Bahrain, interior ministry says

Kuwait says its air defences are working to intercept incoming Iranian fire

Kuwaiti air defences were “engaging hostile drone attacks” from Iran, the Gulf state’s military.

“The General Staff of the Army notes that any explosions heard are a result of air defense systems intercepting the hostile attacks,” the Kuwait Army said in a post on its official X account. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said earlier Monday they had hit US military targets in Kuwait.

Iran Guards say hit US military targets in Kuwait

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they hit US military targets in Kuwait, including an early-warning radar system that was “completely destroyed”, in a statement reported by state news agency IRNA.

Iranian forces “completely destroyed a US early-warning radar system in a drone strike”, the Guards alleged.

“In a separate attack, they struck an equipment and aircraft parts warehouse and an MQ-9 drone hangar at Ali Al Salem Air Base, setting several drones on fire.”

US Central Command says it successfully completed the ninth consecutive evening of strikes against Iran, July 19, at 10 pm ET.

The US military said Monday it ended its latest round of airstrikes targeting Iran.

The US military’s Central Command said it targeted “Iranian military command centers, air defense and coastal surveillance sites, maritime capabilities, missile and drone launch sites and communications networks.”

There was no immediate word from Iran on any casualties or damage from the attacks. Iranian state media reported explosions being heard in southern and northwestern Iran.

Rubio says Iran using Hormuz as leverage, calls on other countries to ‘step up’

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said late Sunday that Iran is using the Strait of Hormuz as leverage in the ongoing Middle East conflict, adding that other countries needed to step up pressure to protect global shipping.

“It’s clear that Iran, at least some people in Iran, want to control the straits and hold that as leverage against the world,” Rubio told reporters ahead of traveling to the Philippines for a meeting of foreign ministers with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

“The United States will do and continue to do what it needs to, to protect global shipping, but other countries need to begin to step up and provide, whether it’s hardware or finances, to help carry that burden,” he continued.

Iran Guards say targeted US planes at Jordan’s Aqaba airport

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said Monday that they had targeted US military aircraft stationed at Aqaba Airport in Jordan and caused “severe damage” to some of them, state media reported.

American heavy transport aircraft and command and control aircraft “were targeted with ballistic missiles, causing severe damage to a number of them”, the Guards said in a statement carried by Iran’s state broadcaster.

Iran’s Guards say two oil tankers ‘exploded’ in southern Strait of Hormuz

The ⁠Islamic Revolutionary ​Guard Corps said on Monday ​that two oil tankers had exploded and been immobilised after attempting to ​transit ‌what it ⁠described as an unsafe southern route through ‌the Strait of Hormuz, alleging they ⁠had been encouraged by the US military to ​use the

passage.

The Guards said the waterway would remain unsafe as long ​as what it called US “aggression” ​in the region ​continued, warning that “this passage will not be safe ​for the transit of petrochemical products, nor even a single drop of oil and ⁠gas.”

They told the U.S. military to ⁠prepare ​for a “punitive operation.”

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards say Strait of Hormuz will not be safe for petrochemical products or “single drop of oil and gas” transit as long as US actions in region continue.

Brent crude climbs above $90 a barrel, highest level since June

Trump says US hitting Iran ‘very hard’ to honor Americans killed

US President Donald Trump said Sunday the latest military strikes on Iran were being carried out in honor of US service members killed in recent days.

“We hit them very hard again tonight, and we did that in honor of the, probably three, it’s probably three great patriots,” Trump told reporters as he returned to Washington following the World Cup final.

Trump said “we feel very badly,” when asked about the military fatalities, adding that those who died were fighting so that “Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.”

US embassy in Bahrain says Iran may seek to target sites in central Manama

The ⁠US ​embassy ​in Manama said ​on Monday ‌it ⁠had ‌information suggesting ⁠Iran may ​seek to ‌target unspecified locations ‌in ​central Manama and urged ​Americans ​in Bahrain ​to remain ​vigilant.

British military says a ship is ablaze in the Strait of Hormuz near the coast of Oman

 A ship caught fire early Monday in the Strait of Hormuz near the coastline of Oman, the British military said.

The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center issued a warning about the fire, saying it was unclear what sparked the blaze.

The US military has been encouraging ships to use a route near Oman to transit the Strait of Hormuz. Iran has responded with attacks targeting those vessels, insisting it must have control over the crucial waterway through which a fifth of all oil and natural gas traded once passed in peacetime.

Kuwait army says intercepting Iranian drone attacks

Kuwaiti air defences were “engaging hostile drone attacks following Iranian aggression”, the army said early on Monday.

“The General Staff of the Army notes that any explosions heard are a result of air defense systems intercepting the hostile attacks,” the Kuwait Army said in a post on its official X account.

US military says beginning ninth night of strikes on Iran

Few tankers enter Hormuz to load oil, data shows

The ⁠number of ​ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz stayed low ​during the weekend as the United States and Iran intensified attacks in the Middle East, shipping data ​showed ‌on Monday.

Four vessels made ⁠the crossing on Sunday, down from eight the previous day, ‌data from LSEG showed. At least three ⁠oil products tankers and one Very Large Crude Carrier have entered

the strait since ​Friday to load oil, the ‌data showed.

There have been no visible liquefied natural gas tankers passing through the strait since Thursday.

Iran Guards announce attack on ‘enemy’ command centre in Syria

Iran‘s Revolutionary Guards said Monday they had launched a “surprise attack” on an enemy command centre in Syria, in a statement reported by state news agency IRNA.

They announced “a surprise attack on the enemy special operations command center in the Al-Tanf region of Syria in revenge for the blood of martyred soldiers of Iranshahr”, a city in southeast Iran, in an IRNA statement posted on Telegram

Air raid sirens sound in Bahrain, says interior ministry

Bahrain’s interior ministry said overnight Sunday to Monday that its air raid sirens had sounded.

“The siren has been sounded,” it said in a statement posted on X. “Citizens and residents are urged to remain calm and head to the nearest safe place.”

The island kingdom of Bahrain, host of the US Fifth Fleet, has been targeted by Iranian strikes in recent days.

Kuwait and Bahrain, which host US military installations, have borne the brunt of attacks by Iran on its Gulf neighbours since hostilities resumed this month despite a ceasefire and memorandum of understanding between Washington and Tehran. 

Bahrain has accused Iran of targeting civilians in its attacks.

US announces another troop death as Israel warns Tehran’s attacks are coming close

The United States announced another death of a service member as it launched more airstrikes at Iran on Sunday in response to the killing of US troops, and Iran fired missiles toward Jordan that risked widening the conflict into neighboring Israel.

Step by step, the US and Iran have returned closer to all-out war as last month’s interim deal meant to permanently end the fighting has crumbled and shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has largely stalled. Both sides have targeted civilian infrastructure relied on by millions of people.

The US military said the service member was killed in Iraq on Saturday during the “controlled detonation” of a downed Iranian drone.

Yesterday’s key developments:

  • A ⁠US ​service ​member was killed on Saturday “during ​a ‌controlled ⁠detonation ‌of unexploded ordnance” in ⁠northern Iraq, US ​Central ‌Command (CENTCOM) has said in a statement.
  • US Secretary of State Marco Rubio praised Lebanon for its “move towards peace” after meeting with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in Washington.
  • Israel‘s defence minister has said his country will respond powerfully to any attack by Iran, after Israeli and Jordanian forces intercepted an Iranian missile launched towards the Jordanian city of Aqaba.

(FRANCE 24 with Reuters, AP and AFP)

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