Iran attacked US allies in the Gulf for two consecutive nights, firing drones at Kuwait and Bahrain after a US airstrike against Iran on Wednesday. After a series of attacks on Wednesday, sirens sounded in Kuwait on Thursday morning, where air defenses were intercepting missile and drone attacks during a “flagrant Iranian aggression,” the country’s Defense Ministry said in X. Iranian state media said one of the US strikes against the country on Wednesday hit a wedding party, leaving at least four people dead and dozens wounded. Fighting between the United States and Iran has escalated this week after the United States attacked Iranian rocket launchers on an island in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, saying Iran planned to use them to fire mines into the waterway. Iran retaliated by firing missiles at US bases in Jordan, all of which were intercepted. Here’s a look at the latest developments in the Iran war and across the Middle East. Full coverage can be found here. US attack hits wedding party US Central Command said its strikes focused on Iranian military targets, including air defense sites, radar systems and maritime assets. But Iranian media said a U.S. strike hit a house where a wedding was being held in Kuhestak, a small coastal town overlooking the Strait of Hormuz. Four people were killed – two women and two children, aged 4 and 16 – and at least 68 were injured, state news agency IRNA and state television said on Wednesday. Just after the attack, Ahmad Nafisi, the province’s deputy governor, told Iranian state television that five people had been killed. There was no explanation for the change. The US military said it was aware of the report but “never targets civilians.” Iran targets US allies in the Gulf Bahrain said its air defense systems intercepted several Iranian airstrikes early Wednesday, without providing further details. Iranian state media said Iran’s military had launched drone strikes against US bases in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates in response to the overnight attacks. Iran’s Foreign Ministry said Iran acted in self-defense in retaliation for US violations of Iran’s sovereignty. Monday’s attack in the Strait of Hormuz killed two Filipino sailors A Philippine official said Wednesday that two Filipino crew members were killed when a Saudi Arabia-flagged oil tanker was attacked and caught fire as it was about to cross the Strait of Hormuz. The remains of the two Filipinos and 14 Filipino crew members who survived the attack will soon be flown home, said Hans Cacdac, secretary of migrant workers in the Philippines. Some 3,000 Filipino seafarers continue to work aboard ships in the Persian Gulf, he said. No one claimed responsibility for the attack on the Saudi oil tanker. The Saudi Foreign Ministry condemned the attack and called on all parties to return to negotiations and peaceful solutions. Subscribe to Morning Wire: Our flagship newsletter breaks down the day’s biggest headlines. The ministry said the oil-rich kingdom emphasizes the need to stop escalation and respect the security of international shipping and global energy supplies. Iran has established a chokehold in the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of its peacetime oil trade passed, after the United States and Israel attacked Iran on February 28. US official says administration is pressuring nations not to deal with Iran. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Wednesday on “Fox & Friends” that several officials in President Donald Trump’s administration are talking to other nations that still do business with Iran and pressuring them to stop doing so. He avoided mentioning Russia specifically, even when asked. “My message to everyone is to stay away,” Bessent said. “We all want this conflict to end, and the quickest way to end the conflict is for no one to give any support to this regime. We are going to cut all ties they have with the outside world.” his counterpart, Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani. The ministers warned that the current escalation threatens “dire consequences for the security and stability of the region,” the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said. Iran’s currency hits record low Iran’s currency market hit a record low on Wednesday, hours after the country and the United States exchanged gunfire over control of the Strait of Hormuz. Traders in the Tehran market exchanged 2.20 million rials for one US dollar, almost 10% more than last week’s record on August 25, when one dollar sold for 2.02 million rials. The currency had already been under pressure before the United States and Israel attacked Iran. on February 28, when Iran faced double-digit inflation and negative growth. The rial has repeatedly hit new lows since the war began. Arab interior ministers condemn Iranian attacks on Arab states. The Council of Arab Interior Ministers described Iran’s attacks on Kuwait, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain as a “violation of international law.” The council said Iran’s “brutal aggression” is part of Tehran’s efforts to destabilize security and stability in the region. The council also said the attacks threaten international peace and security. Chinese and Egyptian leaders meet in Cairo Leaders from China and Egypt welcomed regional efforts to “reach political understandings” aimed at restoring peace and stability in the Middle East amid renewed escalation between Iran and the United States. President Xi Jinping of China and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi held talks in Cairo on Wednesday that focused on bilateral relations and regional and international issues. They welcomed regional efforts to ease tensions and promote “peace and stability in the Gulf and the Middle East,” according to a joint report. statement after the talks. Pakistan continues mediation efforts Pakistan said Wednesday that it remains engaged with the United States and Iran, with support from regional countries, in efforts to bring Washington and Tehran back to the negotiating table. Foreign Ministry spokesman Tahir Andrabi told a weekly news briefing in Islamabad that Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, a political and security group seen as a counterweight to U.S. global influence. A man drove into a crowd gathered in the northern Iranian city of Mashhad on Tuesday. night, killing four people and wounding more than 10, the official IRNA news agency reported Wednesday. Citing local traffic police, the semi-official Fars news agency described the incident as a traffic accident and suggested that the driver may have been under the influence of drugs or alcohol.___This story has been corrected to show that Iranian state media now reports that four people were killed in the wedding attack, not five. They gave no explanation for the change.
