Trump warns U.S. may return to war as Iran strikes escalate

Donald Trump warned the United States could be forced back into war as Iranian drone and missile attacks continued into Sunday and pushed a fragile interim peace deal toward collapse. The latest exchange was the worst escalation since the June 17 agreement and put planned talks in Qatar at risk.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it launched strikes on U.S.-linked military sites in Kuwait and Bahrain in response to American airstrikes on Iranian targets. Kuwait said its air defenses intercepted Iranian drones and two missiles, while Bahrain said the attack damaged a residential building near Bahrain International Airport in Muharraq Governorate. U.S. officials said there were no American casualties.

The fighting widened after a tanker was struck Saturday in the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important oil shipping lanes. Britain’s maritime security agency said the vessel was hit by an unidentified projectile, a development that intensified fears around a chokepoint that handles a major share of global crude traffic and can quickly ripple through energy markets well beyond the Persian Gulf.

The weekend escalation left the ceasefire under severe strain only 11 days after it was signed. It also deepened the pressure on diplomats trying to keep channels open between Washington and Tehran while the two sides traded fresh blows. The renewed violence revived the same danger Trump had highlighted in earlier warnings, including the long shadow of the U.S. killing of Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani in 2020, a flashpoint that still shapes the political and military calculus on both sides.