US resumes naval blockade against Iranian ports - CENTCOM

US forces helped defend Kuwait against a steady stream of Iranian retaliatory attacks on Tuesday, including by using Patriot missile systems from a strained US stockpile, CNN reported, citing two US officials.

US forces also carried out additional strikes on military targets in Iran earlier Tuesday to eliminate emerging threats, one of the officials said.

An Iranian attack struck a Kuwaiti navy vessel on Tuesday, injuring four armed forces personnel, Kuwait’s military said in a statement.

The injured personnel received medical treatment and were in stable condition.

Kuwait’s armed forces detected and intercepted one ballistic missile, five cruise missiles and 33 drones during Tuesday’s attacks, which targeted several vital and civilian facilities and caused material damage from falling debris.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said no oil or gas would be exported from the region as long as US “evil actions” continued, Iranian state media reported Tuesday.

The IRGC also said US “aggressions” would only delay the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

It added that its attacks on US facilities in Kuwait and Bahrain were carried out in response to US attacks on Iran.

No country or entity should be allowed to charge vessels a fee for transiting the Strait of Hormuz, US President Donald Trump told reporters on Tuesday.

"I don't think anybody should be able to charge a fee," Trump said.

"I don't like the concept of a fee, but at the same time, it's not fair that we're protecting this Strait for the entire world," he added.

Trump also said that Iran’s military power was “just a tiny fraction” of what it had been four months earlier.

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the Strait of Hormuz was open to all shipping except vessels traveling to or from Iranian ports or carrying Iranian cargo.

“The Strait of Hormuz is open to ALL Ship traffic except for Iran — and that is because of their lying, violent, malicious leadership, which is taking them down the path of TOTAL DESTRUCTION,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Trump added that oil was “flowing like never before” and that a proposed 20% US reimbursement fee would be replaced by “massive” trade and investment deals with Persian Gulf states.

He also said “the days of Iran killing hundreds of thousands of people” were over and that Iran would “never have a nuclear weapon.”