Tehran: Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said on Thursday they had launched strikes against United States military bases in Bahrain and Kuwait in retaliation for recent American air strikes, according to a statement broadcast by state television network IRIB.

The Guards stated that they targeted "key infrastructure and facilities" at the US bases of Arifjan and Ali Al Salem in Kuwait, as well as Juffair and Sheikh Isa in Bahrain, using a combination of missiles and drones. The military force also warned that its retaliatory operations would expand to encompass other installations across the region should the United States repeat its attacks.

The escalation came after the United States launched new air strikes hitting Iran early Thursday, triggering retaliatory Iranian fire directed at Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar. The crossfire has once again jeopardised an interim agreement intended to establish a pathway to conclude the conflict engulfing the Persian Gulf.

The operations commenced hours after US President Donald Trump stated that recent Iranian assaults on ships in the Strait of Hormuz marked the conclusion of the fragile ceasefire. The US military targeted a range of military positions and port facilities early Wednesday following Iran’s targeting of several commercial vessels off the coast of Oman, which had also provoked an Iranian military response at the time.

With inputs from AFP