The U.S. military shot down four Iranian one-way attack drones Friday that were heading toward the Strait of Hormuz and intercepted six of seven ballistic missiles Iran fired toward Kuwait and Bahrain, U.S. Central Command said.
Centcom said the U.S. military then struck Iranian coastal surveillance radar sites in Goruk, a city in Hormozgan province, and on Qeshm.
"The attack drones posed an immediate threat to regional maritime traffic," Centcom said, and it said U.S. forces hit radar sites, including an island in the strait, "to defend against further attacks."
Centcom said there were no reports of harm to U.S. personnel.
Kuwait's military said forces were intercepting missiles and drones attacking the country, and Bahrain activated air raid sirens and told residents to move to the nearest safe location and follow official instructions.
Iran's Revolutionary Guard said it targeted the Ali Al Salem airbase, which hosts U.S. forces in Kuwait, and the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet in Bahrain.
Earlier Friday, U.S. forces boarded a sanctioned oil tanker linked to Iran in the Indian Ocean as part of efforts to prevent Iran from profiting off its oil, and the U.S. military has been enforcing a blockade on Iranian ports in response to Tehran's chokehold on the corridor for global oil and natural gas shipments.
The IRGC said it had targeted U.S. bases in the Gulf in retaliation for U.S. strikes on an Iranian oil tanker and on Qeshm Island.
One person was killed and more than 60 were injured in Iranian drone strikes on Kuwait's international airport on Wednesday, local officials said.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps denied responsibility for the airport strike, saying the damage was caused by an error from a U.S. missile interceptor; Centcom called that claim false and said Iran struck the airport in a "deliberate, calculated and unjustified attack."
Centcom's initial assessments said six of the seven missiles fired at the Gulf states were intercepted and that one did not reach its target.
The exchanges came several days after other strikes that threatened a ceasefire that has been in place since April.