Bahrain says air defences intercept Iranian aerial attacks

The developments unfolded along three parallel fronts: Iranian attacks on US facilities across the Persian Gulf, continued US strikes inside Iran and an intensifying contest over control of the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran said it launched drone attacks on US facilities in Kuwait and Bahrain early Friday, after a sixth consecutive night of American strikes on Iranian military targets.

Iran’s army said it targeted US force deployment and logistics centers in Kuwait, Iran’s IRGC-affiliated Fars news agency reported.

In Bahrain, the army said it struck US helicopters and reconnaissance aircraft at Sakhir Air Base. Sirens sounded in the country for the second time on Friday, according to the Interior Ministry.

In Qatar, several booms were heard after the government sent a second security alert to mobile phones, Reuters reported. The Defense Ministry said Qatar was intercepting several air attacks, while the Interior Ministry said a child was injured by shrapnel from an intercepted missile.

US Central Command has not confirmed the reported attacks in Kuwait or Bahrain.

At the same time, US forces continued striking targets in southern Iran.

CENTCOM said US fighter jets, drones and warships used precision munitions to hit dozens of military targets, including coastal surveillance and air defense sites, logistics infrastructure and maritime capabilities near Bandar Abbas and on Qeshm Island.

Hamshahri, a newspaper owned by Tehran Municipality, reported that five bridges in Hormozgan province were hit in the latest wave of attacks.

The death toll from strikes on bridges in Bandar Khamir rose to seven, Iran’s IRGC-affiliated Tasnim news agency reported. Iranian media also reported damage to a power substation on Kish Island and attacks on transport infrastructure in Bandar Abbas and Bandar Khamir.

The reports could not be independently verified.

Control over Strait of Hormuz

As the two sides exchanged attacks on land, their confrontation also deepened at sea.

CENTCOM said US forces redirected three commercial vessels attempting to breach the naval blockade against Iran, disabled another that failed to comply with orders and boarded the M/T Wen Yao in the Gulf of Oman to verify compliance.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth shared an image from the boarding and wrote that Iran “does not control” the Strait of Hormuz.

CENTCOM said the strait and surrounding waters remained free and open, except for vessels attempting to violate what it called the US “steel wall” blockade.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, however, said Tehran remained in full control of the waterway and would prevent oil and gas exports through it for as long as US attacks continued.

Trump cast the military and maritime operations as signs of US momentum.

“You will see the fruits of that labor very, very shortly,” he said after declaring that Washington was “winning big in Iran.”

The possibility of a wider regional conflict emerged more clearly on Friday, when the Revolutionary Guards said they had struck a US special operations command center in Syria’s al-Tanf region, destroying a radar system and several helicopters and killing US personnel.

US Central Command has not confirmed the report.

Police said Vahid Aberi, of Liverpool, was charged under Section 3 of the National Security Act 2023 with assisting a foreign intelligence service. They said the foreign state to which the investigation relates is Iran.

Aberi was arrested on Wednesday in the Birmingham area and taken to a West Midlands police station. Officers also carried out searches at addresses in Birmingham and Liverpool.

He was remanded in custody and was due to appear before Westminster Magistrates' Court on Friday.

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  UK says support for Iran's IRGC outlawed under new state threats law

Police say no direct threat identified

Commander Helen Flanagan, head of Counter Terrorism Policing London, said the investigation reflected what she described as a sustained increase in national security casework.

"We have seen a significant and sustained increase in the tempo of our work in national security investigations in recent years," she said in a statement.

She said police had "intervened to disrupt suspected activity linked to foreign intelligence services" but declined to comment further on the allegations because criminal proceedings had begun.

Flanagan added that police had not identified any direct threat to the public, nor any threat to a community or individual, in connection with the investigation.

The charges were authorised by the Crown Prosecution Service.

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  Romanian men get combined 20 years over Iran International journalist attack

Scrutiny of alleged Iran-linked activity

The case comes as Britain has intensified efforts to counter what it says is hostile activity linked to Iran.

Earlier this month, a London court sentenced two Romanian nationals to a combined 20 years in prison for stabbing Iran International journalist Pouria Zeraati outside his home in Wimbledon in 2024. The judge accepted the prosecution's case that the attack was carried out on behalf of the Iranian state. Iran has previously rejected accusations that it has been involved in attacks or plots in Britain.

Separately, the British government announced this week that it intends to designate Iran's Revolutionary Guards under new state threats legislation. If approved by parliament, supporting or assisting the group under the new legal framework could carry a prison sentence of up to 14 years.

The government has said the designation is separate from proscription under Britain's terrorism laws and is intended to address foreign state-backed activity, including espionage, interference, sabotage and physical attacks.

British authorities have repeatedly said they have disrupted a number of alleged Iran-linked plots in recent years. Iran has previously dismissed British allegations that it has directed hostile activity in the UK.

Pakistan is planning to buy more liquefied natural gas as the conflict involving Iran disrupts shipments through the Strait of Hormuz from Qatar, its main supplier, Bloomberg News reported on Friday.

The government is finalizing a plan to buy at least one additional LNG cargo from the spot market for delivery in July and as many as six cargoes for August, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.

The purchases would come as disruption around the Strait of Hormuz raises concern over the availability of Qatari LNG supplies and forces Pakistan to seek more expensive cargoes on the spot market.

Iranian state media said US strikes hit the maritime control tower in the southeastern port city of Chabahar for the third time in more than a week on Friday.

Images circulating on social media and carried by Iranian media appeared to show the tower had collapsed.

The Etemad newspaper said the Chabahar maritime control tower was a maritime infrastructure that played an important role in safely guiding marine traffic, monitoring the port area and coordinating search-and-rescue operations.

Iran said the United States struck an area in the Veysian district of Chaghani County in the western province of Lorestan on Friday.

Lorestan Deputy Governor for Political Affairs said the attack targeted one location in Veysian, according to the semi-official ISNA news agency.

The official said authorities were assessing the strike and that more details would be announced after further investigations.