Iran vows revenge as U.S., Israel strikes deepen Gulf crisis

A written statement, read on state television, said revenge was "the demand of the nation" and "must certainly" happen. Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei threatened vengeance for the killing of his father and predecessor, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as the confrontation around the Strait of Hormuz moved into another retaliatory cycle.

The fighting began on February 28, 2026, when U.S. and Israeli strikes killed Ali Khamenei and other senior Iranian figures. Since then, the conflict has shifted between U.S. strikes on Iranian targets, Iranian attacks on U.S.-linked sites in Kuwait, Bahrain and other Gulf locations, and efforts to keep the waterway open after attacks on three cargo ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz.

The U.S. military carried out fresh strikes on Iran on July 8 to protect shipping through the strait, and Iran answered with attacks on Kuwait and Bahrain. Qatar's military intercepted incoming Iranian fire during one later wave, and officials in the United Arab Emirates intercepted incoming fire as well.

Iranian officials used funeral and commemoration events for Ali Khamenei in early July to keep the dead leader at the center of the crisis. The United States Navy's Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain and bases in Kuwait and Qatar are within reach of further retaliation.