Iran has launched overnight attacks on US bases in several countries in the Middle East. Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan say they have been warned of attacks and that air defenses have been activated.
The strikes come in response to US strikes that began late on Tuesday. The US military command Centcom said the United States had carried out new air strikes against Iran “on the orders of the commander in chief.” The announcement came hours after Donald Trump claimed that Iran had shot down a US Apache attack helicopter.
Trump: The response should be strong
"This is a response to what they did to our helicopter last night, and I believe the response should be very strong, very powerful, and that's exactly what this is," Trump told ABC News on Tuesday night.
Iranian pro-regime media reported overnight that several locations on the country's coast near the Strait of Hormuz, including the island of Qeshm, had been hit. An hour later, the Revolutionary Guard responded by targeting a US base in Bahrain with drones, followed by attacks on several countries in the Middle East. According to the Revolutionary Guard, a total of 21 US targets were attacked overnight, a claim denied by the US, The New York Times reports.
Flight alerts have sounded in Bahrain after the drone wave from Iran and people have been urged to seek shelter.
US: Unjustified Iranian aggression
The US military describes the night's attack as "a proportionate response to unjustified Iranian aggression." At the same time, the Revolutionary Guard claims that the American attacks were carried out under "false pretexts" and states, among other things, that a telecommunications mast in the country was damaged.
Around 3 a.m. local time in Sweden, the United States announced that the night's attacks on Iran had been completed and that they had targeted, among other things, radar and air defense facilities.
According to Trump, the downing of the American helicopter occurred during a patrol overnight Tuesday. The crew escaped without injury.
