Bahrain intercepted an Iranian aerial attack early Wednesday, as Tehran continued to fire on allies of the United States in the Gulf region despite threats from President Donald Trump to escalate American military attacks.
Bahrain, which hosts an important US naval base, said its air defense systems intercepted incoming fire from Iran, accusing Iran of ‘attacks targeting civilians’ in a statement issued by its military.
After a respite of more than a month, fighting between the US and Iran has been increasing since the weekend after the American military hit Iranian rocket launchers on an island in the Strait of Hormuz and Iran retaliated by firing missiles at American bases in Jordan, which were all intercepted.
The renewed violence threatens to threatens to fully reignite a conflict that is now in its seventh month and has led to a spike in oil prices, roiled the global economy and is posing increasing political problems for Trump’s Republican party ahead of November midterm elections.
Since the fighting resumed, the price of Brent crude oil, the international standard, climbed above $95, up more than 30 per cent from the start of the war.
Ahead of the morning attacks on Bahrain, Iran fired missiles at Jordan and drones at Kuwait all of which were intercepted.
On Monday, the United Arab Emirates said it had intercepted an incoming Iranian drone over its waters as well.
The US Central Command said it had completed the latest barrage against Iranian military targets including air defense sites, radar systems and maritime assets.
Smoke in the sky in Bahrain following Iranian drone and missile attacks on September 2
President Donald Trump threatened to escalate American military attacks
Grabs from video posted September 1st, 2026 of United States strikes against Iran
A map showing US attacks on Iran and retaliatory strikes
One US strike hit a home hosting a wedding, according to Iranian media. At least five people were killed, including a child, and wounding at least 68 others, according to Iranian officials.
Iran’s top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf on Wednesday called the US ‘Satan’ after the attack in the country’s south.
‘Minab school: children massacred. Lamerd sports hall: kids slaughtered. Kouhestak wedding: children killed with families. If a power acts like Satan, picks targets like Satan, and kills like Satan, it’s Satan. Shields a junior Satan that does the same? It’s THE Great Satan,’ said Ghalibaf in a post on X.
The US military said it was aware of the report but that it ‘never targets civilians.’
In a statement, the Iranian army said ‘dozens of the army’s attack drones… have targeted radar systems and the positions of US forces at the Al Dhafra and Al Minhad bases in the United Arab Emirates’.
It said it also targeted ‘radar installations and gathering points’ of US forces at Bahrain’s Sheikh Isa Air Base.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards meanwhile said they targeted US forces in Kuwait, Jordan, Bahrain and Erbil in Iraq’s Kurdistan region.
They added on Wednesday that four personnel were killed in a US attack on the western province of Kermanshah.
‘Four fighters of the IRGC Aerospace Force in Kermanshah province were martyred in an attack by the US regime,’ the Guards said in a statement carried by Fars news agency, using their acronym.
During last month’s the lull in fighting, the US ramped up economic pressure on Iran, which is suffering from soaring inflation, negative growth and a collapsing currency, as Washington sought to win concessions to fully open the Strait of Hormuz to international shipping traffic.
About a fifth of the world’s traded oil was shipped through the key waterway before Israel and the US attacked Iran on February 28 and Iran largely shut it down.
Despite many pronouncements from Washington that the strait is open, only a handful of ships are making the passage each day and Iran has regularly attacked vessels.
In launching its latest attacks, US Central Command said it was responding to Tehran trying to hit commercial ships and American forces in the Middle East.
Grabs from video posted September 1st, 2026 of United States strikes against Iran
People drive near a billboard depicting US President Donald Trump on a building in Tehran, Iran
A drone view shows vessels near the Strait of Hormuz
Late Tuesday, Trump said he would not force Iran to the bargaining table.
‘I couldn’t care less if they sign a worthless, to them, agreement. I like our position now much better, with almost total control of the Strait of Hormuz, and their economy totally collapsing.
‘They are just playing out the inevitable. When are the Iranian people going to rise up and fight?’ Trump wrote on social media.
Earlier, Trump had appeared to pivot toward trying to bend Iran to his will through economic sanctions.
He warned that if Iran retaliated for the new strikes, ‘they will be hit again at a much harder and higher level.’
In other developments in the region, a car struck a gathering of supporters of Iran’s government and armed forces in the northeastern city of Mashhad overnight, killing four people and injuring more than 10, several Iranian media reported on Wednesday.
A car traveling at high speed first collided with another vehicle, lost control and then veered into the crowd after hitting safety barriers and traffic signs, Noor News reported, citing Mohsen Mousa-Abadi, head of Razavi Khorasan Province’s traffic police. The driver was arrested.
