In the biggest test yet of their fragile truce, the United States and Iran have traded significant military strikes across the region.
The fragile truce between the US and Iran faces its biggest test yet after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) launched retaliatory strikes targeting 85 US military sites across Bahrain and Kuwait, including an air base hosting American forces, in response to a previous wave of US strikes.
An American official confirmed that the US military launched the wave of strikes, hitting more than 80 targets including air defenses, coastal radar sites, and over 60 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) small boats as a “punishment” for recent Iranian attacks on three commercial tankers transiting the strategic Strait of Hormuz. Alongside the military action, Washington immediately revoked a temporary sanctions waiver that had allowed Iran to sell oil in US dollars under their interim ceasefire agreement. Following the dual announcements of the heavy military bombardment and the reimposed energy sanctions, global oil prices surged by over 3%.
As alliance leaders gathered for the NATO summit in Turkey, Secretary-General Mark Rutte praised a wave of multi-billion-dollar defense contracts aimed at boosting collective military capabilities a key demand of U.S. President Donald Trump, who nonetheless criticized European allies for not backing the U.S. against Iran.
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However, the summit was quickly overshadowed by renewed geopolitical friction when Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen was forced to reiterate that Greenland is “not for sale,” pushing back against Trump’s renewed assertions that the strategic Arctic island should be under U.S. control.
