U.S. launches new airstrikes on Iran and Tehran fires back at Gulf Arab states

Key developments are emerging from the global stage. launches new airstrikes on Iran and Tehran fires back at Gulf Arab states July 9, 20261:46 AM ET By The Associated Press A mourner holds a portrait depicting Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, top, and his late father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as mourners wait for the funeral procession for the elder Khamenei outside the Imam Hussein Shrine in Karbala, Iraq, Wednesday, July 8, 2026. Khalil Hamra/AP hide caption toggle caption Khalil Hamra/AP DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The United States launched new airstrikes against Iran early Thursday, and Tehran responded by targeting Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar in crossfire that again threatened an interim deal intended to help end the war in the Persian Gulf. Politics Trump says ceasefire with Iran is 'over' as NATO summit wraps The strikes came hours after U.

President Donald Trump said recent Iranian attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz signaled the end of the fragile ceasefire. struck a variety of military sites and port facilities early Wednesday after Iran targeted several merchant vessels off the coast of Oman, sparking Iranian fire then as well. But Thursday's attacks appeared bigger all around, with sirens sounding at least twice in Bahrain, home to the U.

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Navy's 5th Fleet headquarters. There was no immediate word of damage in the three Gulf Arab countries. Kuwait's military said it was actively intercepting incoming drones and missiles.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard claimed attacks on Bahrain and Kuwait. strikes hit more targets The U. military's Central Command said it hit some 90 targets across Iran, releasing black-and-white footage of what appeared to be strikes on an airport runway and missile launchers.

forces remain vigilant, lethal, and prepared to execute operations directed by the Commander in Chief," it added. says the strikes were intended to "further degrade" Iran's ability "to threaten freedom of navigation" in the strait, through which a fifth of the world's traded oil and natural gas passed before the war began with U. and Israeli attacks on Feb.

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Iranian state media reported explosions in several locations, including Bushehr, home to Iran's nuclear power plant complex, and the southern port cities of Chabahar, Konarak, Bandar Abbas and Sirik. In Iran's southwestern Khuzestan province, at least three people were killed, state media reported. In Iranshahr, authorities said a strike had killed a firefighter at an airport.

Those fatalities followed at least nine people being killed in Wednesday's strikes in Iran. For the first time since April, it also appeared the U. strikes targeted Iranian bridges.

State media reported a strike on a railway bridge in Iran's northeastern Golestan province, and the Revolutionary Guard said two bridges had been attacked on the route to Mashhad, where officials plan to bury the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Thursday.

The story has become one of the most prominent items on the global agenda.