Iran has launched missile and drone strikes against US military assets in Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, vowing retaliation for a deadly attack on a wedding in Iran that Tehran blamed on Washington.
The fresh escalation came as US Vice President JD Vance confirmed that Washington was investigating the alleged wedding strike but expressed scepticism over Iran’s account.
The clashes have intensified the six-month conflict that began with US raids on Sunday, with Iran maintaining a stranglehold over the strategic Strait of Hormuz while Washington continues its counter-blockade of Iranian ports.
Kuwait’s army said on Thursday that it intercepted a missile and drone attack from Iran. Iran’s army, however, said it had struck US assets at the Ahmad al-Jaber Air Base “with missiles and drones”.
Kuwait condemned the strikes as a “grave breach of the rules of international law”.
Iran’s army also claimed it had struck Al Minhad Air Base in the United Arab Emirates, although the UAE reported no such attack.
Iran Vows Revenge For Wedding Strike
The latest strikes followed a report by the Iranian Red Crescent that a missile attack on a wedding in the Iranian coastal town of Kuhestak killed four people, including a child, on Tuesday night and wounded more than 50 others.
Vance said Washington was investigating the reported attack but questioned the credibility of information coming from Iranian state media.
“I know that we’re investigating,” he told a White House briefing.
“I will say that the Iranian state media has not been a very good scribe about what’s happened in the conflict thus far. So I’m extremely sceptical of this.”
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards chief Ahmad Vahidi vowed that those killed in the wedding attack would be avenged.
“The pure blood of these oppressed martyrs… will not go unanswered,” he said.
US Central Command spokesman Tim Hawkins rejected the accusation against Washington, saying the US military “never targets civilians, unlike the IRGC”.
Conflict Intensifies Across Region
Extensive US bombardment of sites across Iran killed at least 19 Iranians between Tuesday and Wednesday, following President Donald Trump’s warning that the US military was prepared to attack Iran “any time we want”.
Iranian news agency Tasnim reported on Thursday that six members of Iran’s naval forces were killed by US attacks this week, although it was not immediately clear whether they were among the 19 reported deaths.
Tehran has retaliated with strikes across the Middle East, saying it targeted US bases and forces in the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan and Iraq’s Kurdistan region.
Vance, however, said he “wouldn’t call it a war”, claiming that “right now, there is no active shooting”.
He acknowledged that fighting had flared in some areas but said major combat operations lasted only six weeks after the US-Israel war began on February 28.
Iran’s security chief Mohsen Rezaei warned Washington on Wednesday that Tehran had adopted a “new strategy” that “will shatter your foundations”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, expressed confidence that Iran’s Islamic Republic could soon collapse.
“This regime is currently teetering. It is weaker than ever. It is fighting for its survival,” Netanyahu said at an event with Israeli military leaders.
“I am convinced that we can remove this threat once and for all.”
Beyond military operations, Washington has also threatened to intensify economic pressure on Iran by imposing sanctions on its trade partners.
Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Wednesday that a US plan to expand sanctions targeting Iran’s economic partners would deliver “absolutely maximum pressure”.
Iranians Voice Fear As Fighting Returns
Iran’s top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf criticised Washington over the wedding attack, calling the United States “Satan”.
The renewed fighting has also triggered concern among Iranians.
Hossein Moazami, 50, a self-employed man, described the attacks as “truly distressing”.
“I hope they all return to the negotiating table because the only people suffering from this are the Iranian people,” he said.
“The Americans are on the other side of the world and nothing happens to them.”
A video shared by an Iranian government account showed debris and damage at what it identified as the wedding site, with people heard screaming in the background.
Ali Mallahi, the bride’s father, described the incident as deeply distressing in a video carried by state television.
“It is a very saddening incident,” he said.
“Thank God the casualties were not higher.”
The conflict erupted on February 28 with US-Israeli attacks on Iran that killed its supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
A fragile ceasefire collapsed in July following attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of the world’s oil supplies previously flowed.
Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz said his country was prepared to respond “with great force” if Iran attacked during the Jewish high holiday season beginning in mid-September.
“For now, they are striking throughout the region except us,” Katz said.
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