American forces targeted Qeshm Island for the second time this week to prevent an alleged immediate drone threat

Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) has said it targeted American military assets in the region, after the US Department of War carried out strikes against Iranian installations on Qeshm Island and in the coastal county of Sirik.

American forces intercepted "four Iranian one-way attack drones" launched toward the Strait of Hormuz, US Central Command said on X on Friday, claiming the drones posed "an immediate threat to regional maritime traffic."

"US forces subsequently struck Iranian coastal surveillance radar sites in Goruk and on Qeshm Island to defend against further attacks," CENTCOM said. It added that American forces remain "postured to respond to unjustified Iranian aggression in self-defense."

Iran retaliated hours later, targeting "two US air bases in Kuwait and the remaining important facilities in the US Navy's Fifth Fleet in Bahrain" with ballistic missiles, according to the IRGC. Authorities in both countries reported that their air defenses engaged incoming threats, but there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.

The incident closely resembled the exchange of fire earlier this week, when the US targeted Qeshm in what CENTCOM described as "self-defense strikes on an Iranian military ground control station."

At the time, the IRGC similarly retaliated with ballistic missile and drone strikes on US military installations in Kuwait and Bahrain. The US insisted all projectiles were either intercepted or fell short of their targets. However, one of the drones hit a terminal at Kuwait International Airport, killing one person.

Qeshm Island lies in the Strait of Hormuz off Iran's southern coast, near the entrance to the Persian Gulf. Shipping through the crucial oil and gas maritime artery has effectively been blocked since the US-Israeli attack, with Iran threatening US-linked vessels and Washington targeting Iranian-linked shipping.

The escalation has further strained a fragile ceasefire reached in April after more than a month of hostilities triggered by US-Israeli attacks on Iran. Washington and Tehran have been negotiating a memorandum of understanding intended to extend the truce and restart talks on Iran's nuclear program.

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that the ceasefire with Iran remained in effect despite the latest exchanges. "It's a different part of the world," Trump told reporters. "I'd say in that part of the world, ceasefire is when you're shooting in a more moderate manner."

(RT.com)