The United States bombed targets inside Iran for a second night in a row, and Iran answered by firing missiles and drones at Kuwait and Bahrain — pushing an already-fragile ceasefire to the edge of collapse and rattling the world's most important oil route.
What the US hit
US Central Command said its forces struck multiple military sites along Iran's southern coast — radar and surveillance installations, air-defence positions, and missile and drone storage near the Sirik and Qeshm coastal area. Washington framed the strikes as a direct response to Iranian drone attacks on commercial ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, after tankers were hit on consecutive days. President Trump took a hard line publicly, warning in stark terms that Iran would pay and threatening to finish the job.
How Iran responded
In the early hours, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it launched missiles and drones at US-linked military sites in the Gulf. Kuwait and Bahrain both reported incoming attacks; in Bahrain, authorities said a drone struck a residential building in Muharraq. The IRGC claimed it hit a US air base in Kuwait and the American Fifth Fleet's base in Bahrain, though those specific claims could not be independently verified. Iran also warned that any further violations would bring the whole diplomatic process to a halt.
A ceasefire coming apart
This is the latest and most dangerous fraying of a truce that was only ever holding by a thread. The broader war began in late February 2026, and a memorandum signed in mid-June was meant to wind it down and keep oil moving through Hormuz. Instead, both sides now accuse each other of breaking it — and with this weekend's exchange, the fighting has stretched into its fourth month with no clear off-ramp. Talks between the US and Iran are still, on paper, due to resume in Switzerland.
Why this matters to India
The Strait of Hormuz is the planet's single most important oil chokepoint — roughly a fifth of the world's oil passes through this narrow gap. India imports most of its crude, and a large share of it (plus LPG cooking gas) sails through Hormuz. When this waterway looks unsafe, global oil prices jump — and that can feed straight into petrol, diesel and cooking-gas costs, and broader inflation, here at home. A war thousands of kilometres away can quietly show up at your local pump.
For now, the immediate worry is escalation: each round of strikes invites the next, and the closer the fighting creeps to Hormuz itself, the twitchier oil markets get. Whether the Switzerland talks can pull both sides back — or whether this tips into something bigger — is the question hanging over the week.