The United States and Iran have launched fresh attacks on each other in the Gulf region overnight, further straining a fragile ceasefire and talks aimed at ending the war.
In response to the downing of a US military helicopter, the US military struck Iranian air defence, ground control stations and surveillance radar sites near the Strait of Hormuz, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on X.
Tehran then attacked US bases in the Gulf region and in Jordan, including with ballistic missiles, according to Iranian media. Kuwait's air defences were in operation, the army said, while sirens also sounded in Bahrain.
The US military described its strikes as a "proportional" response to Iran's downing of an Apache helicopter off the coast of Oman. US forces remained prepared to defend themselves against "unjustified Iranian aggression," CENTCOM said.
Earlier, US President Donald Trump had blamed Iran for the downing of the helicopter and announced retaliation. He later described the US response to Iran's actions as "very strong, very powerful."
According to US media reports, the attacks in Iran were carried out in three waves and targeted around 20 sites.
Iranian media reported explosions in the city of Sirik on the Strait of Hormuz and on Qeshm island, among other places. There were also reports of impacts in the area around the city of Bandar Abbas.
According to Iran's Tasnim news agency, two water tanks were hit in a district of Sirik, disrupting the local drinking water supply.
The US military described the strikes as self-defence, while Iran's military called that a "flimsy" pretext.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi threatened counterstrikes in response to the bombardment.
"Our Powerful Armed Forces will leave no attack or threat unanswered," he wrote on X.
"Leave our region if you want to be safe. History of the Persian Gulf has many chapters on dire fates of intruding outsiders," Araghchi added.
A short time later, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) carried out a drone attack on the headquarters of the US Navy's Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, according to Iranian media.
A base in Jordan was also attacked, the reports said. Broadcaster Al Jazeera reported early Wednesday, citing the Jordanian military, that five Iranian missiles had been intercepted.
None of the reports could initially be independently verified.
Meanwhile, sirens sounded in Bahrain for the second time early in the morning. The island nation, like Kuwait and other Gulf states, had already come under Iranian fire several times. They all host US military bases located only a few hundred kilometres from the Islamic Republic.
Despite the renewed attacks, Trump told ABC News in a telephone interview - apparently referring to difficult negotiations with Tehran on ending the war - that there was a "deal that was very good." He said it would probably still hold.
Trump had promised a swift victory at the start of the Iran war in late February, but efforts to end the war and reopen the strategically important Strait of Hormuz to shipping have been stalled for weeks, despite his repeated expressions of optimism.
