Iranian attacks damaged a power generation and water desalination complex in Kuwait and triggered air defences in Jordan and Bahrain on Sunday, hours after the US carried out an eighth consecutive night of military strikes on Iran.
The escalation came hours after Washington announced that two US soldiers were killed and another was missing after an Iranian attack on Jordan.
The US and Iran have exchanged attacks daily after the effective collapse of a ceasefire agreement signed last month, with their growing confrontation over control of the Strait of Hormuz fuelling fears of a broader regional conflict.
The US Central Command said its latest wave of strikes began at 6pm ET on Saturday (2am on Sunday, UAE), and was intended to "punish" Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for the attack that killed US troops in Jordan, and to "further degrade Iran's ability to threaten commercial shipping" in the strait. The Centcom announced an end to the attacks on Iranian military coastal surveillance and air defence sites five and a half hours later.
Kuwait's Electricity and Water Ministry said a power-generation and water-desalination plant was struck on Sunday for the second time in two days, causing a fire and affecting electricity supply.
The ministry blamed the incident on continuing Iranian attacks, saying emergency plans had been activated to protect the national power grid while firefighters and technical teams worked to contain the damage and restore the affected infrastructure.
Air-raid sirens sounded across Jordan on Sunday afternoon, shortly after the Israeli military reported detecting an Iranian attack aimed at the kingdom's southern port city of Aqaba, near the Israeli city of Eilat.
Jordan's Armed Forces said air defences intercepted and destroyed three Iranian missiles aimed at the kingdom, while a fourth landed in a remote area in the south. There were no casualties or material damage.
The attack followed conflicting reports over the status of Aqaba's airport and port. The US Embassy in Amman said Jordanian authorities had evacuated both sites after a "specific and credible threat" and warned Americans against travelling there.
Jordanian officials denied the claim. Government spokesman Mohammad Al Momani said that both sites remained operational and that no threats had been registered by the authorities.
Bahrain also reported intercepting and destroying a number of missile and drone attacks aimed at the kingdom earlier on Sunday. Air-raid sirens were activated nationwide and officials urged residents to move to the nearest safe location. The Bahrain Defence Force said all units remained on high alert. No information was provided on casualties or damage.
The UAE condemned Iran's attacks on Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan. "These aggressive attacks constitute a blatant violation of the sovereignty of these brotherly nations and a threat to their security and stability," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
Meanwhile, Iranian media reported a strike on the under-construction Darkhovin nuclear power plant in Khuzestan province.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said it was investigating the reports and noted that the plant was still in the early stages of construction and contained no nuclear material during its most recent inspection.
The agency said the reported attack posed no radiological risk and that it had contacted Iranian authorities for further information.
Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation condemned what it described as a US attack on the site, calling it a breach of international law.
The conflict began on February 28 when the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran, saying they aimed to curb Tehran's nuclear and missile programmes and weaken its regional allies. In response, Iran effectively blocked the strait by laying sea mines and attacking vessels attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz, cutting off about one-fifth of global energy supplies, and heightening concerns about inflation and global economic stability.
Iran also attacked neighbouring Gulf states, saying it was aiming at US military bases but also hitting critical infrastructure, raising fears of triggering a wider regional war, and declared that it would control the passage through the strait.
On Sunday, two out of four vessels that attempted to cross the strait were involved in "accidents" while two others turned back, the IRGC Navy said in a statement reported by Iran's Tasnim news agency.
It said the four ships switched off their navigation systems and ignored warnings from the IRGC Navy's Strait of Hormuz control centre as they attempted to leave the waterway via a route not approved by Iranian authorities.
The Gulf Co-operation Council and the EU on Saturday condemned Iran's attacks on its neighbours and commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, and stressed the importance of ensuring freedom of navigation through the international waterway.
In a joint statement at the High-Level Forum on Regional Security and Co-operation in Brussels, the two sides reaffirmed that freedom of navigation, including the right to freely traverse the strait, was protected under international law.
