Iran warns all US bases in region are legitimate targets amid renewed tensions

The IRGC says it had launched strikes earlier in the day against locations it identified as assembly points for US forces at Sheikh Isa Air Base in Bahrain

TEHRAN: (UrduPoint/UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News-July 8th, 2026) Iran's military warned on Wednesday that all US military bases across the region could become "legitimate targets" for drone strikes if Washington continues what Tehran describes as violations of a ceasefire agreement.

The Iranian state media reported that the military said it had launched strikes earlier in the day against locations it identified as assembly points for US forces at Sheikh Isa Air Base in Bahrain.

The statement said the operation was carried out in response to alleged US attacks on military and civilian sites in southern Iran and what Tehran claimed were repeated breaches of the ceasefire's provisions.

"The consequences of repeatedly violating the ceasefire with the United States will be that all American bases in the region become legitimate targets for the Army's drones," the military said.

Meanwhile, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte defended the latest US military action against Iran, saying the strikes were "absolutely necessary."

Speaking to reporters ahead of a NATO summit in Ankara, Rutte said that if Iran was violating the ceasefire, it was essential for the United States to respond decisively.

Separately, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed it had shot down a US MQ-9 drone over Khormoj in Bushehr province early Wednesday. Iranian state television said the drone was intercepted by air defence systems after what it described as an American aerial incursion.

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US officials had not commented on the claim at the time of reporting.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf also accused the United States of committing serious violations of the ceasefire agreement, known as the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding.

In a post on X, Ghalibaf alleged that Washington had continued threatening further military action, reimposed oil sanctions, launched attacks in southern Iran and allowed continued Israeli military operations in Lebanon.

His remarks followed a US military announcement that it had conducted a fresh round of strikes on more than 80 targets in Iran, describing the operation as retaliation for recent attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

The IRGC later said it had carried out a joint missile and drone operation targeting US military facilities in Bahrain and Kuwait, including sites it identified as Bahrain's Fifth Naval District and Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait. The Guards also reiterated their claim of downing a US MQ-9 drone during the operation.

Earlier on Wednesday, Iranian state media reported multiple explosions across southern Iran. State television said six blasts were heard in the port city of Bandar Abbas, while local media reported 10 explosions in Sirik and four more in Misin village on Qeshm Island. No official information was immediately released regarding the cause of the explosions.