October 10, 2026
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran again launched drone and missile attacks targeting Bahrain and Kuwait on Sunday. The attacks follow Iran's attacks on ships at sea on Thursday and Saturday, which led to new U.S. airstrikes against the Islamic Republic.
Efforts to reopen the Strait of Hormuz without Iran's oversight have sparked days of crossfire. A multinational maritime body overseen by the U.S. Navy said Saturday it would expand a route near Oman for inbound and outbound traffic, setting up a new flashpoint with Tehran.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi reiterated the claim on Sunday that Tehran alone must govern the strait, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf that once carried a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas.
The global community has long considered the strait an international waterway, despite its location in Iran and Oman's territorial waters. In recent days, Iran has twice attacked vessels going through a route on the Omani side during an evacuation effort backed by a United Nations agency.
The United States and Iran have been discussing the terms of an interim deal, including arrangements on the strait, the removal of a U.S. blockade on Iranian ports and sanctions on Iran, and the future of Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium. Under the memorandum of understanding signed this month, they have 60 days from that signing to work out the details.
Pakistan, a key mediator, earlier said talks would resume on Tuesday. The Trump administration said nothing has been canceled, and technical talks are on track for the coming days as planned.
The interim deal is meant to end fighting on all fronts before certain key issues can be discussed. Continued fighting in Lebanon, where an Israeli soldier was killed by Hezbollah fire early Sunday, also threatens the agreement.
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard claimed responsibility for the attacks in Bahrain and Kuwait.
Kuwait, which hosts a major U.S. military base, said air defenses intercepted Iranian drones and two missiles just after the U.S. strikes in Iran. There were no reports of injuries or damage.
Bahrain said the Iranian strikes damaged a residential building near the international airport, and no one was killed. Bahrain is home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet. The damaged building was not near its headquarters.
Bahrain’s Foreign Ministry denounced what it called “a dangerous escalation that reveals that what Tehran is doing is not a passing act, nor an isolated incident, but rather a deliberate approach and a systematic pattern of repeated aggression."
Later on Sunday, Qatar said a civilian had been killed, and another person was hurt, by shrapnel related to “military operations in the area" after a vessel didn't return at its scheduled time on Saturday. The statement did not give details.
The U.S. military’s Central Command said it struck Iranian military “surveillance infrastructure, communication systems, air defense sites, drone storage facilities, and minelayer capabilities” following an attack on a ship at sea Saturday. The Panamanian-flagged tanker Kiku carried crude oil for the state-run energy company of Qatar, a key mediator between Iran and the U.S.
The exchanges of fire began when an Iranian drone struck a merchant vessel off Oman on Thursday, and the U.S. military retaliated with strikes.
Ship traffic on the strait had increased over the past 72 hours, off both Iran and Oman, “despite the elevated threat environment,” the multinational maritime body overseen by the U.S. Navy said Sunday, adding that “U.S.-assisted commercial transits continued uninterrupted."
It said 89 such transits had been made, still below the historical average of 138 vessels a day.
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