This screen grab taken on July 15, 2026, from video footage released by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' Sepah News website on July 14, 2026, allegedly shows a drone being launched from an undisclosed location
Kuwait’s military on Thursday, July 16, said it was intercepting new incoming fire from Iran.
The attack by Iran comes as the United States has stepped up its attacks on the Islamic Republic as the two nations fight over the Strait of Hormuz.
The US has intensified its strikes targeting Iran over the last few days.
Meanwhile, Jordan’s state media has reported that its military intercepted eight Iranian missiles.
Iran has struck US bases in Gulf nations, including Kuwait and Bahrain, in retaliation for the attack on a children’s cancer hospital in Khuzestan province on Thursday.
According to Iranian state media, the Shahid Baghaei Hospital was temporarily evacuated after the US reportedly targeted nearby areas. The hospital treated patients with cancer and blood diseases, particularly children.
“After the aggressive attack by the criminal America on the hospital’s surroundings, we were obliged to transfer 211 hospitalised patients,” said Majid Bouadhar, the hospital director.
Only the critically ill patients remained at the facility while other family members evacuated for their children’s safety.
Earlier, the Iranian army said it launched drone attacks on Sheikh Isa Air Base in Bahrain, aimed at the communication and radar systems, such as the Patriot installations and Super Hawk radars that US forces use.
Moments after, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps issued another statement, announcing a “devastating attack” on the same base, claiming to have “completely destroyed the air reconnaissance and control radars” and “the fuel tank pumping station of the aggressor enemy’s fighter jets.”
It said the attacks were in response to the US strikes that forced the evacuation of the children’s cancer hospital in the city of Ahvaz and the attack on a water production plant for the Karbala pilgrims near the border of Ilam province. “The battle continues,” it said.
The IRGC had also claimed attacks on Kuwait and Jordan.
In Kuwait, the army said its forces targeted and destroyed the satellite communications centre and early warning radar of the US air base in Ali Al Salem and the US military pier in Ash-Shu’aybah with a combined drone and missile operation.”
It asked the people of Kuwait not to let the “enemy use your land to commit aggression and crimes against the people of Palestine, Lebanon, Iran, and Yemen.”
It demanded the US retreat from the region, calling for its expulsion as “the opening of the Strait of Hormuz is conditional on the end of America’s evils in the region.”
Bahrain’s army said Iran is continuing its “systematic hostile approach through its sinister attacks targeting civilians” in the Gulf country.
“The General Command clarifies that, with strong will and high combat readiness, the air defence systems detected, intercepted and destroyed a number of treacherous Iranian air strikes today,” its statement read.
The army asked everyone to “exercise caution and avoid approaching any unfamiliar or suspicious objects resulting from the remnants of the brutal Iranian aggression.”
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has told Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth that his nation will keep military troops in “security zones” made inside Lebanon, Syria, and the Gaza Strip.
Katz’s office, in a statement, said the two officials spoke last night and the Defence Minister “emphasises Israel’s determination to remain in the security zones in Syria, Gaza, and Lebanon in order to protect Israel’s borders and communities.”
Pakistan on Thursday urged the US and Iran to end hostilities and resume negotiations, as renewed military strikes between the two sides threatened to derail their interim peace arrangement and further destabilise the region.
Addressing the weekly media briefing, Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi acknowledged the challenges facing the interim peace deal.
The Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), signed last month, had led to the launch of technical-level talks aimed at reaching a permanent peace agreement within 60 days.
However, the process stalled after the US and Iran resumed attacks last week.
Andrabi said as hostilities have continued over the past week, “Pakistan reiterates its call on all parties to exercise maximum restraint and refrain from any actions that would further undermine peace and stability.”
Multiple statements have been issued by the Iranian military, with some even contradicting each other.
Army spokesperson Mohammad Akraminia said Tehran doesn’t want to confront its Middle East neighbours, while another army official had earlier pledged to “crush” the regional infrastructure if US hits its civilian sites.
“Iran has no intention of confronting its neighbouring countries or the Islamic nations of the region. It has consistently emphasised expanding cooperation and fostering fraternal relations with regional states,” said Akraminia.
“The armed forces regard the protection of the Iranian nation’s security, interests, and dignity as their foremost mission, and they will spare no effort in fulfilling that responsibility,” he said. “Countries from outside the region should engage with Iran on the basis of mutual respect. Iran’s Armed Forces are fully prepared to safeguard the country’s security and national interests.”
Spokesman for Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, Brigadier General Ebrahim Zolfaghari, has threatened that any US attacks on Iranian infrastructure will result in far bigger destruction in the region.
If US President Donald Trump follows through with his threats, the Brigadier said “all the infrastructure in the region will be crushed under the steel blows of the powerful armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran, so that no trace of them will remain, as if they had never existed in the first place.”
Iran will not allow US interference in the Strait of Hormuz, he said. “Under no circumstances and in no way will we allow America, as a foreign and extra-regional country, to interfere in the Strait of Hormuz. This is Iran’s invincible red line.”
India, on Wednesday, ordered ship managers, recruitment companies, and shipowners not to deploy its seafarers on ships going through the Strait of Hormuz as strikes between the US and Iran intensify.
“No deployment of Indian seafarers on vessels undertaking voyages involving passage through the Strait of Hormuz until further orders,” the Directorate General of Shipping said in an order.
In the last three days alone, two Indian seafarers have been killed in the region as tensions escalate. “In view of the heightened security situation in the Persian Gulf region … the Directorate considers it necessary to adopt enhanced precautionary measures to safeguard the interests of Indian seafarers serving on board ships operating in the region,” the order read.
Oil prices meandered, remaining at elevated levels as the US intensified its strikes against Iran, while Iran targeted missile and drone fire on Kuwait and Bahrain.
Crude oil prices on Thursday rose nearly 1 per cent to Rs 7,671 per barrel in futures trade as participants increased their positions following firm spot demand.
On the Multi Commodity Exchange, crude oil for July delivery traded higher by Rs 58, or 0.76 per cent, at Rs 7,671 per barrel in 8,789 lots.
Analysts said the rise of bets by participants kept crude oil prices higher in futures trade.
Globally, West Texas Intermediate crude was trading 0.49 per cent lower at USD 79.39 per barrel, while Brent crude declined 0.49 per cent to USD 84.53 per barrel in New York.
After two days of US-mediated talks in Rome, Lebanon and Israel took steps toward implementing “pilot zones” in southern Lebanon where Israeli forces would withdraw and turn over control to the Lebanese army, the US State Department said Wednesday, July 15.
The latest Israel-Hezbollah war began when the Lebanese militant group fired rockets into Israel days after Israel and the US launched their war on Iran on Feb 28. Israel invaded Lebanon and has since occupied a large swathe of the country’s south. Hezbollah has been vehemently opposed to the direct Lebanon-Israel talks.
The State Department said in a statement that the talks were “productive” and the parties “agreed on the structure and guidelines for the pilot zone process, to be finalised and implemented in the coming days.”
There was no immediate statement from Lebanon or Israel on the outcome of the negotiations.
Lebanon and Israel announced a “framework agreement” on June 26, laying out a plan for Israeli forces to withdraw from southern Lebanon, in exchange for the disarmament of the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group. It also envisions steps toward an eventual peace agreement between the two countries — which technically remain in a state of war nearly 80 years after Israel’s establishment.
(With inputs from agencies)
This post was last modified on July 16, 2026 5:03 pm