Iran's IRGC Targets US Airbase in Response to New Strikes

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it targeted a US airbase in the region on Thursday in response to new strikes, marking the second armed clash between the rivals this week. The latest confrontation began with reports of explosions shortly after midnight in Iran’s southern port city of Bandar Abbas, which is home to a naval base. In a statement to the media, a US official said American forces shot down four Iranian kamikaze drones that “posed a threat around the Strait of Hormuz” and had also struck a ground control station in Bandar Abbas that “was about to launch a fifth drone.” The official described the actions as “measured, purely defensive, and intended to maintain the ceasefire.” Hours later, several missiles and drones were intercepted over Kuwait, the kingdom’s Defense Ministry said. Open-source analysts suggested online that the projectiles may have been heading toward Ali Al Salem Air Base near the Kuwaiti-Iraqi border. The IRGC later released a statement saying it targeted a US base involved in the earlier strike on a site near Bandar Abbas Airport. “The aggressor bears full responsibility for the consequences,” the statement said. The hostilities followed US “self-defense” strikes on Iranian naval vessels and sites in the southern Hormozgan province on Monday. Tehran denounced the attacks as a gross violation of the ceasefire reached on April 8. Although US officials indicated this week that the sides are close to reaching a preliminary peace agreement, there are no signs that either Washington or Tehran is willing to compromise. Both countries have accused each other of setting unacceptable terms.