Iran targets U.S. assets in Kuwait, Bahrain after Egypt drone attack

Iran’s army said on Friday it had launched attacks on strategic U.S. assets and military bases in Kuwait and Bahrain, following the latest wave of U.S. strikes against the Islamic Republic.

Tehran said that it targeted aircraft shelters, satellite communication systems and equipment storage facilities used by the U.S. military at Kuwait’s Ahmad al-Jaber Air Base in a drone strike, per state media.

Iran’s army also claimed Thursday to have attacked U.S. facilities at Sheikh Isa Air Base in Bahrain, targeting power generators, navigation systems and support buildings.

U.S. forces on Wednesday completed a “heavy wave” of strikes against Iran, hitting dozens of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) targets nationwide.

The latest exchange reflects a resumption of hostilities between the U.S. and Iran, while drone strikes on energy infrastructure have proliferated across the Middle East.

Egypt said Thursday that a drone hit two ships at its Mediterranean port of Damietta, triggering a fire. No one has yet claimed responsibility for the strike, which marks the first attack on Egyptian soil since the war between the U.S. and Iran started in late February.

Hamish Kinnear, Middle East and North Africa analyst at risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft, said the drone attack is a sign of Egypt’s vulnerability to a widening conflict and indicates that the choke point of the Suez Canal is also a potential target.

“The expanding geographical range of drone and missile attacks on shipping this year – which encompass the Caspian Sea, Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea, Red Sea, Persian Gulf, and the Indian Ocean – amount to a new era of maritime risk,” Kinnear said Thursday in a research note.

“The technological developments and targeting strategies pioneered in the cauldron of war in Ukraine and the Middle East are extending maritime risk well beyond established conflict hotspots,” he added.

Oil prices traded lower on Friday morning, extending recent declines, as signs of a recovery in crude flows in the strategically vital Strait of Hormuz eased supply concerns.

International benchmark Brent crude futures with September delivery traded nearly 2% lower at $87.30 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures with September delivery stood 2.3% lower at $81.71.

Speaking at the White House on Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump indicated that he’d like Congress to add tariffs on Iran to a sanctions bill against Russia and Tehran that has bipartisan support.

Those duties would have little effect because the U.S. imports next to nothing from Iran, but tacking them onto the bill could hinder the chances of it becoming law.

— CNBC’s Kevin Breuninger contributed to this report.