The Revolutionary Guard threatens to target American ships in Kuwaiti and Bahraini ports and progress in Iran-Oman talks on the Strait of Hormuz
Quick Look
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard threatened to target American ships in Kuwaiti and Bahraini ports in response to American attacks on Iranian oil tankers, while Iran and Oman announced significant progress in talks on managing the Strait of Hormuz, with continued regional tensions and the closure of the strait to international navigation since February 2026.
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Why It Matters
Tensions between Iran and the United States have escalated since February 2026 after a US-Israeli attack on Iran, which led to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz to international navigation, with the exchange of military threats and diplomatic attempts to resolve the crisis through talks with Oman.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard said on Tuesday that ships in Kuwaiti and Bahraini ports hosting Americans will be targeted in response to the US attacks on Iranian oil tankers.
In a statement reported by state media, the Revolutionary Guards Navy urged all ship crews to evacuate.
Reuters quoted a US official as saying: “We targeted several Iranian tankers linked to the Revolutionary Guard in response to new attempts to launch missile attacks on a US Navy warship.”
Tasnim News Agency said that US military forces targeted an oil tanker near Khark Island, and that the attack did not result in casualties, and its crew was evacuated.
The Iranian Radio and Television Corporation said that the United States attacked another oil tanker near Iranian Jask waters.
The Iranian Mehr News Agency reported that explosions were heard in parts of Khark Island, and Fars Agency also reported that explosions were heard on an island in southern Iran.
Khark Island, located in the Arabian Gulf, northeast of the port of Bushehr, is the main outlet for most oil exports from Iran.
Today, through Chief of General Staff Ali Abdullahi, Tehran issued a warning to the United States to target military bases in the region if its forces were exposed to Iranian oil tankers.
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Abdullahi said that the US military issued a warning to Iranian oil tankers to evacuate them before bombing them, and therefore announced that “any attack on Iranian oil tankers will lead to the targeting of US force bases in the region by the Iranian armed forces,” according to what was reported on state television.
Earlier today, the naval forces of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard announced the seizure of an American submarine.
Reuters quoted an unidentified American official as saying that the unmanned submarine broke down in the Middle East more than a day ago, and that it is “an old model and does not carry secret sonar equipment.”
“Significant progress” in talks between Iran and Oman
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi indicated on Tuesday that “significant progress” had been achieved in talks with Oman regarding the management of the strategic Strait of Hormuz, according to a statement issued by the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at a time when South Korea announced that it had not taken a decision regarding the deployment of its forces in the Strait.
Iranian officials recently said that the agreement between Iran and Oman may be signed “in the coming days.”
For weeks, Iran and the Sultanate have been discussing the future of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz corridor. Tehran announced progress in agreeing on a temporary route for ships to cross.
But Iranian officials stressed that the Strait will not be reopened until the United States responds to Iranian demands, including lifting sanctions on the oil sector, releasing Iranian assets frozen abroad, and lifting the naval blockade of ports.
Iran and the Sultanate of Oman - the two countries bordering the Strait of Hormuz - have indicated their desire to collect fees from ships crossing the strait.
The United States, the Gulf states, and other parties refuse to impose any financial sums for ships crossing the strait.
No decision to deploy South Korean forces in the Strait of Hormuz
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South Korea announced on Tuesday that it had sent a fact-finding team to “assess the situation on the ground” in the Strait of Hormuz, and confirmed that it had not taken any decision regarding the possibility of deploying forces there.
The South Korean Ministry of Defense said, "The team was sent to study the regional situation and security conditions, and its mission does not presuppose the actual deployment of forces."
She added, "No decision has been made regarding the deployment of forces."
This comes after Tehran warned that any South Korean military contribution to the conflict would have "dangerous consequences."
“Any deployment of military forces or participation by other countries in operations” in the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz “can only be viewed as direct support for the party responsible for that aggression, and will have serious consequences,” Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said in a Korean-language post on the
Baghaei warned Seoul against giving in to what he described as “American pressure and intimidation.”
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly pressured his ally, South Korea, to provide assistance in the war, but Seoul denied that Washington had asked it to deploy forces by a specific date.
South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported, citing officials, that the fact-finding team left for the UAE over the weekend, to assess operational conditions regarding the possible deployment of forces.
The team is expected to return to South Korea this week at the earliest, according to the agency.
The Ministry of Defense refused to comment on the mission’s report, in response to a question from Agence France-Presse.
The vital commercial Strait of Hormuz remains closed to international navigation since the US-Israeli attack on Iran in February, amid faltering talks between the two sides (American and Iranian) to agree on a comprehensive and final ceasefire and reopen the entire waterway to commercial ships and oil tankers.
US President Donald Trump said in recent days that US forces helped facilitate the passage of ships through the strait "at a rate of 30 ships per night."
Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Mohsen Rezaei, responded on Sunday, saying that Washington tries every night to help five or six ships cross, but "usually these ships are hit."
Pezeshkian: “Iran will continue to resist until the aggressors regret it.”
On the internal level, the Iranian Tasnim News Agency reported the killing of Abdul Raouf Ishaqi, a military commander in the mobilization forces - Basij - in Baroud district in Sistan and Baluchestan province, without publishing any details.
Reuters reported that Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Tuesday that his country will continue to resist with all force until the “aggressors” feel remorse and until its rights are preserved.
Pezeshkian said in a post on the
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
The Revolutionary Guard will continue to target ships linked to the United States if attacks on Iranian tankers continue
Likely · Within weeks
Iran and Oman's talks on the Strait of Hormuz will continue and may lead to an interim agreement in the coming days
Possible · Within days
Open Questions
- What guarantees will Iran and Oman provide to ensure freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz?
- Will the United States follow through on its threats to continue helping ships cross despite Iranian attacks?
- What is the expected reaction from the Gulf states to the Revolutionary Guard’s threat to target American ships in their ports?
- Will South Korea continue to send fact-finding teams or will it make a decision to deploy forces in the future?






