While in the early hours of Wednesday, June 3, local time, Kuwait reported intercepting missile and drone attacks, air raid sirens sounded in Bahrain and explosions were heard on Qeshm Island, Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah also carried out new attacks against each other despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s promise to reduce tensions.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) announced in a statement early Wednesday, June 3, that in retaliation for a U.S. attack on an Iranian oil tanker near the Strait of Hormuz, a vessel belonging to what it described as the American-Zionist enemy, named Panaya, was targeted by IRGC Navy missiles.
The statement said that U.S. forces targeted an IRGC communications tower in southern Qeshm Island with aerial munitions and that, in response, an American air and helicopter base located in a regional country, as well as the headquarters of the U.S. Fifth Fleet, were targeted by missile and drone attacks carried out by the IRGC Aerospace Force.
The U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), in response, denied all IRGC claims regarding these attacks in a post on the social media platform X.
CENTCOM also stated that U.S. forces intercepted several Iranian ballistic missiles and drones and, in response to the Iranian regime’s attempts to attack targets across the Middle East, conducted “defensive strikes” against Qeshm Island on June 2, 2026.
The statement said that Iran’s regime launched several ballistic missiles toward neighboring countries in the region, but none reached their intended targets.
According to CENTCOM, two IRGC missiles fired toward Kuwait either veered off course or broke apart before reaching their targets. Three additional missiles launched toward Bahrain were immediately intercepted and destroyed by U.S. and Bahraini air defense systems.
CENTCOM said that shortly before the missile attacks, U.S. forces shot down three suicide drones launched by Iran’s regime toward civilian vessels lawfully transiting regional waters.
The CENTCOM statement added that U.S. forces also carried out defensive strikes against an Iranian regime military ground-control station on Qeshm Island.
The Kuwaiti military announced early Wednesday, June 3, local time, that the country’s air defenses were intercepting enemy missile and drone attacks and urged the public to follow safety and security instructions issued by authorities.
The Kuwaiti military said that any explosions heard were the result of missile interceptions.
Bahrain’s Ministry of Interior also announced early Wednesday that warning sirens had sounded across the country and urged citizens and residents to remain calm and proceed to the nearest safe location.
Meanwhile, the state-run Mehr News Agency, citing local sources and residents, reported that explosions had been heard in the Qeshm Island area.
The state-run news agency added that the exact nature of the sounds remained unclear and that no official military or law enforcement bodies had yet commented on their cause.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military announced on Tuesday that it had conducted a deadly operation in southern Lebanon in response to overnight Hezbollah attacks.
Continued Fighting in Lebanon
Despite claims that a new ceasefire had been established in Lebanon, fighting continued on Tuesday morning.
Israel continued its attacks on Lebanon, and Lebanon’s Civil Defense Organization announced that six people were killed in an Israeli airstrike Monday night on the village of Marwaniyeh in southern Lebanon.
The organization also stated that one of its facilities in the city of Nabatieh in southern Lebanon was directly targeted by an Israeli airstrike.
The Lebanese military later reported that two Lebanese soldiers were wounded in an Israeli drone strike in Nabatieh.
The Israeli military also stated that it intercepted at least two projectiles launched from Lebanon into Israeli territory overnight and that no casualties were reported.
War with Hezbollah and Negotiations with Iran’s Regime
The renewed conflict between Israel and Hezbollah is now tied to negotiations between Iran’s regime and the United States. After Tehran warned that it would withdraw from the talks if Israeli attacks on Hezbollah continued or intensified, U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Monday, June 1, following a phone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, that all shooting would cease and negotiations with Tehran would continue.
Israel’s threat to attack Beirut had caused widespread fear in the Lebanese capital, especially after Israeli forces carried out their deepest incursion into Lebanese territory in 26 years.
The U.S. Department of the Treasury also announced in a statement that the United States is imposing sanctions on Iran’s largest digital asset exchanges and their executives for supporting the Iranian regime’s terrorist activities and helping evade sanctions.
