U.S. strikes Iran, intercepts missiles fired at Kuwait bases

U.S. forces struck Iranian radar and drone sites over the weekend and shot down two ballistic missiles Iran fired at American bases in Kuwait on Monday, U.S. Central Command said, marking the sharpest direct military exchange between the two countries in years.

The escalation threatens to further strangle traffic through the Strait of Hormuz — the waterway that carries roughly one-fifth of the world's traded oil and natural gas — with ripple effects on fuel prices in Southern California and across the United States.

U.S. Central Command said American aircraft struck an air defense radar installation and a ground control station near Geruk, and destroyed two attack drones on Qeshm Island, on Saturday and Sunday. Central Command described the operations as "measured and deliberate" strikes carried out after Iran shot down a U.S. MQ-1 drone flying over international waters, according to The Korea Times.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard responded Monday by firing two ballistic missiles at American military installations in Kuwait. Central Command said air defense systems intercepted both missiles before they reached their targets, and no American casualties were reported. The warheads bore imagery of President Donald Trump alongside text referencing American troop withdrawal, the report said.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei signaled that any diplomatic track remained tenuous. "From the beginning, we knew — and we continue to know — that we are negotiating in an atmosphere of mistrust," Baghaei told journalists, according to The Korea Times. Trump offered a sharply different tone in a Truth Social post: "Iran really wants to make a deal, and it will be a good one for the U.S.A. and those that are with us. Just sit back and relax, it will all work out well in the end — It always does!"

A cargo vessel near Umm Qasr, Iraq was struck by a projectile and suffered a large explosion, adding to the mounting toll on Gulf commercial shipping. Lloyd's List Intelligence, as cited in the report, recorded just 36 ship transits through the Strait of Hormuz in the seven days preceding Friday — a collapse from the prewar average of more than 130 transits per day. The strait handles roughly one-fifth of the world's traded oil and natural gas.

The Gulf region supplies approximately 30 percent of globally traded chemical fertilizers, meaning a prolonged shutdown could cascade through global agriculture supply chains well beyond energy markets. Separately, fighting between Israeli forces and Hezbollah has intensified along the Lebanon border despite a nominal ceasefire still technically in force, The Korea Times reported.

Trump has not yet announced a final decision on whether to extend a ceasefire deal, according to The Korea Times, leaving the situation unresolved as both sides alternate between military exchanges and diplomatic signaling.