The United States struck a military ground-control station on Iran’s strategic Qeshm Island overnight, hours after disabling an oil tanker accused of violating Washington’s naval blockade in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran responded with ballistic missile and drone attacks targeting American military installations in the Gulf, while Kuwait’s international airport was struck, causing significant damage and injuries.
US forces launched the strike on Qeshm Island after a Hellfire missile was used to disable the M/T Lexie, a Botswana-flagged supertanker that Washington said had repeatedly ignored orders to comply with the blockade.
According to US Central Command (CENTCOM), the vessel was sailing empty toward Iran’s Kharg Island oil terminal and had refused to comply with instructions “multiple times over a 24-hour period”. The military said a US aircraft fired a Hellfire missile into the ship’s engine room, preventing it from reaching Iran.
“A US aircraft ultimately disabled the vessel by firing a Hellfire missile into the ship’s engine room, preventing the tanker from reaching Iran,” CENTCOM said.
The Lexie was the sixth vessel disabled since the blockade came into force on April 13 and the first to be struck within the Arabian Gulf, according to the US military.
Iran’s retaliation was swift. Tehran launched ballistic missiles towards Kuwait and Bahrain, both of which host American military forces. CENTCOM said two missiles aimed at Kuwait either fell short or broke apart in flight, while three missiles targeting Bahrain were intercepted by US and Bahraini air-defence systems.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) also launched armed drones across the region. CENTCOM said three drones were intercepted before they could threaten civilian shipping.
Kuwait later confirmed that Iranian drones had struck the country’s international airport, causing significant structural damage and injuring an unspecified number of people. Air traffic was suspended on Wednesday morning.
A Kuwaiti military official condemned the attacks, which wounded several people and forced the closure of the airport, according to Al Jazeera.
Brigadier General Saud Abdulaziz al-Otaibi, spokesperson for Kuwait’s Defence Ministry, described the strikes as “criminal Iranian aggression which resulted in significant material damage to the building and injuries”.
Authorities have not disclosed the number of casualties or the severity of the injuries.
The IRGC defended its actions and warned Washington against further escalation.
“Disrupting the security of the Strait of Hormuz will carry a heavy price for the aggressive US military,” the organisation said in a statement.
The latest escalation comes as diplomatic efforts to end the months-long conflict appear increasingly fragile. US President Donald Trump said only days earlier that Iran “really wants to make a deal, and it will be a good one for the USA”, but weekend negotiations reportedly collapsed over new US demands related to highly enriched uranium and renewed discussions on Iran’s nuclear programme.
Tehran rejected the proposals, accusing Washington of shifting its position during negotiations.
“Washington is constantly changing its views and putting forward new or contradictory demands,” Iran’s Foreign Ministry said.
Appearing before Congress for the first time since the conflict began, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said no sanctions relief had been offered in exchange for reopening the Strait of Hormuz. Any concessions, he said, would be “condition-based” and linked to Iran’s nuclear programme.
Rubio also declared that “the war is over” — a claim that appeared at odds with developments on Wednesday, as military exchanges continued across the Gulf and regional tensions showed little sign of easing.
