Iran fires missiles at Gulf allies as US launches second round of strikes

An 11-year-old girl was injured in Bahrain from debris resulting from missile interceptions; cars and homes were damaged.
Iranian officials called asking him to stop; he refused and threatened more strikes.
Trump's account of a direct communication during the operation, unverified by independent sources.
Mark

So we have two rounds of strikes now—what triggered the first one?

Mimi

The source doesn't actually say. It mentions the first wave happened a day earlier, and Iran responded to that with missiles. But what started it all isn't in the reporting.

Luke

That's a real gap. We're reading about the second act without knowing the first act. The reader doesn't know if this was provoked or preemptive.

Mark

Fair. So what do we know about the damage?

Mimi

In Bahrain, an eleven-year-old girl was hurt by debris from their own air defenses—not from the Iranian missiles themselves. Cars and homes were damaged. Jordan says it intercepted all twenty missiles with no casualties. Kuwait closed airspace but said nothing about what happened.

Luke

So the only confirmed injury is from friendly fire, essentially. That matters for how we understand the scale of this.

Mark

And the American strikes—what did they actually hit?

Mimi

CENTCOM says surveillance, communications, and air defense. The Revolutionary Guard claims a manufacturing complex, barracks, and a Guard base near Tehran. Explosions were heard in Tehran, Bandar Abbas, and other southern areas.

Luke

But no independent confirmation of damage. We're taking both sides at their word about what was hit and how badly.

Mark

Trump made some pretty specific claims.

Mimi

Forty-nine Tomahawk missiles, he said. And that Iranian officials called him asking him to stop, and he threatened to bomb them again if they didn't accept his peace proposal.

Luke

Those are extraordinary claims. A direct call from Iranian officials during active strikes? That needs corroboration. We have only Trump's account.

Mark

So we don't actually know if that happened.

Luke

Correct. It's what Trump said happened. That's different from what happened.

  • A second wave of American airstrikes hit Iranian surveillance, communications, and air defense systems in the early hours of Thursday, with explosions reported as far as Tehran and the Strait of Hormuz coast.
  • Iran struck back within hours, firing missiles at Bahrain, Jordan, and Kuwait — the same three US-allied neighbors it had targeted the day before, signaling a deliberate and repeating pattern of retaliation.
  • Jordan intercepted all twenty incoming Iranian missiles with no casualties, but in Bahrain an eleven-year-old girl was wounded by debris from the very defensive fire meant to protect her, and homes and cars were damaged across the country.
  • Kuwait closed its airspace for hours, underscoring how the conflict is radiating outward and disrupting civilian and commercial life across the Gulf even where missiles cause no direct harm.
  • Trump claimed Iranian officials contacted him mid-strike to beg him to stop, that he refused, and that further bombardment awaits unless Tehran accepts American peace terms — an unverified assertion that raises the stakes of every hour that passes without agreement.

In the second day of a rapidly deepening confrontation, American forces struck Iranian military infrastructure before dawn, and Iran answered by launching missiles at three Gulf nations allied with Washington — Bahrain, Jordan, and Kuwait. The cycle of action and retaliation has drawn civilian life into its orbit: an eleven-year-old girl in Bahrain was wounded by debris from her own country's defensive fire. As President Trump claims Iranian officials pleaded for a halt while he threatened further strikes pending acceptance of a peace proposal, the region finds itself navigating the narrow and treacherous passage between negotiation and open war.

Before dawn on Thursday, American forces carried out a second round of airstrikes against Iran, spending roughly four hours dismantling military surveillance equipment, communications networks, and air defense systems. Explosions were heard across Tehran and along the southern coast near the Strait of Hormuz. Iran's Revolutionary Guard later claimed the strikes hit a manufacturing complex, a military barracks, and a Guard base outside the capital, though independent confirmation of the damage remained elusive.

Iran's response came swiftly. Missiles were fired at Bahrain, Jordan, and Kuwait — the same three US-allied Gulf nations struck the previous day. Jordan's military intercepted all twenty incoming projectiles headed toward an area housing American troops, and no one was killed. Kuwait closed its airspace for several hours without disclosing further details. Bahrain fared worse: an eleven-year-old girl was wounded by debris from the defensive fire used to shoot down the incoming missiles, and the same fragments damaged cars and homes across the country — a reminder that even successful interceptions carry a human cost.

US Central Command framed the American strikes as a necessary answer to Iran's 'unwarranted and continued aggression.' President Trump, watching from the White House Situation Room, told Fox News that forty-nine Tomahawk missiles had been launched and that fighter jets had destroyed radar and air defense systems throughout the Persian Gulf region. He also claimed that Iranian officials had reached out to him during the strikes asking him to stop — a request he said he refused, warning of heavier bombardment to come unless Tehran accepted an American peace proposal. The claim could not be independently verified, but it captured the volatile mixture of military force and high-stakes diplomacy now defining the crisis.

The escalation moved into its second day before dawn broke over Tehran. American forces launched airstrikes across Iran early Thursday morning, targeting military surveillance equipment, communications infrastructure, and air defense systems. The operation lasted roughly four hours. Within hours, Iran responded by firing missiles at three neighboring countries aligned with the United States: Bahrain, Jordan, and Kuwait—the same trio it had struck a day earlier.

Jordan's military said it successfully intercepted twenty Iranian missiles headed toward a region where American troops are stationed. No one was killed in that interception. Kuwait shut down its airspace for several hours following the attack but released no details about damage or casualties. The situation in Bahrain proved different. The country's Interior Ministry reported that an eleven-year-old girl was wounded by debris from defensive fire aimed at intercepting the incoming Iranian missiles. The same debris damaged cars and homes across the country.

US Central Command described the American strikes as a response to what it characterized as Tehran's "unwarranted and continued aggression." The operation targeted what the military called the Iranian regime's military surveillance capabilities, communication systems, and air defense infrastructure. Explosions were heard across Tehran itself, as well as in Bandar Abbas on the coast and other southern areas near the Strait of Hormuz, though specific targets and the extent of damage remained unclear in the immediate aftermath.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard, the paramilitary force that answers to the country's supreme leader, later claimed that American forces had struck a manufacturing complex, a military barracks, and a Guard base located outside Tehran. The full scope of damage to Iranian military capabilities was not immediately confirmed by independent sources.

President Trump, monitoring the operation from the White House Situation Room, told Fox News that American forces had launched forty-nine Tomahawk missiles at targets inside Iran while fighter jets destroyed radar and air defense systems throughout the Persian Gulf region. Trump also made a striking claim: that Iranian officials had directly contacted him during the strikes to ask him to stop the bombing. He said he had refused and threatened to "bomb the s— out of them tomorrow night" unless Tehran accepted an American peace proposal. The claim could not be independently verified and represented Trump's account of a private communication.

Iranian officials directly asked Trump to stop the bombing while he monitored the operation in the White House Situation Room, and he vowed to 'bomb the s— out of them tomorrow night' if Tehran did not agree to a US peace proposal.
— President Trump, in an interview with Fox News during the ongoing strikes
Möchten Sie die ganze Geschichte? Das Original lesen bei New York Post ↗
Kontakt FAQ