Iran Gulf Energy Threats: Regional Strikes and Export Warnings | JP
Iran launched additional missile and drone attacks across the Gulf following the latest American strikes, widening a confrontation that is increasingly threatening U.S. bases, regional governments and global energy supplies.
Iranian forces claimed to have targeted American-linked military facilities in Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan. The full extent of the damage remained unclear, and not every Iranian claim was independently confirmed.
Bahrain hosts the headquarters of the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet, while Kuwait contains several major American military installations. Jordan also hosts U.S. forces and logistical facilities used in regional operations.
Missile and drone alerts were reported across parts of the Gulf as Iran continued its effort to impose a regional cost on countries facilitating the American campaign.
The attacks followed two waves of U.S. strikes against Iranian command centers, missile and drone systems, air defenses and coastal facilities.
American operations have concentrated heavily on areas connected to the Strait of Hormuz, including Greater Tunb Island and Bandar Abbas. Washington says those sites have been used to threaten commercial shipping.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps responded with an explicit warning aimed not only at the United States but at the entire global energy market.
“The export of oil and gas from the region will be either for everyone or for no one,” the Guards declared.
The statement reflects Iran’s longstanding strategy of threatening regional energy flows when its own exports are placed under pressure.
The Strait of Hormuz remains one of the most important maritime energy corridors in the world. Even limited disruptions can increase shipping costs, insurance rates and global oil prices.
The danger has grown following the restoration of an American blockade on vessels traveling to and from Iranian ports.
U.S. forces have already disabled an empty oil tanker approaching Kharg Island, Iran’s primary oil-export terminal. Tehran views the blockade as an act of economic warfare and has warned that it will retaliate against American interests and countries assisting Washington.
Iranian authorities have also reported growing casualties from the latest American attacks.
Iranian state media said a strike against a barracks belonging to the 388th Mechanized Infantry Brigade in Sistan and Baluchestan province killed seven soldiers and wounded others. Iranian officials said more than 35 people had been killed and over 300 injured during the latest round of U.S. operations, although those totals could not be independently verified.
The escalating exchanges have left little visible space for diplomacy.
President Donald Trump insists Iran is seeking negotiations, but Iranian officials say military attacks and the blockade will not compel them to accept American terms.
Instead, both sides appear to be increasing pressure.
Washington is systematically attacking Iran’s coastal military network and threatening its energy infrastructure. Tehran is responding by targeting U.S.-linked facilities throughout the Gulf and threatening the wider flow of oil and gas.
That creates a dangerous equation: the harder the United States attempts to isolate Iran economically, the more Tehran may try to demonstrate that the rest of the region cannot remain economically protected from the war.