United News of Bangladesh

Iran launched a drone attack targeting Bahrain on Saturday while a commercial vessel in the Strait of Hormuz also came under attack, in what appeared to be Tehran's response to overnight U.S. airstrikes on Iranian targets. The latest incidents have heightened fears of a renewed escalation in the Gulf despite an interim agreement between Washington and Tehran aimed at ending the conflict and paving the way for a final accord. The U.S. strikes came after an Iranian drone attack on a vessel attempting to leave the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, extending a series of confrontations that have undermined the fragile ceasefire. Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet and one of Iran's strongest regional critics, condemned the drone attack. In a statement, Bahrain's Foreign Ministry said a number of Iranian drones targeted the kingdom, describing the attack as "a flagrant threat to the security of citizens and residents." Earlier on Saturday, Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard said it had targeted several locations linked to the "U.S. terrorist army in the region," but did not specify the sites. Separately, the British military's United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said a tanker was attacked in the Strait of Hormuz. The crew was reported safe and no environmental damage was recorded. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, though suspicion quickly fell on Iran. Following the incident, the U.S. Navy-supervised Joint Maritime Information Center announced an expansion of a maritime route near Oman's coast to facilitate both inbound and outbound shipping traffic. Iran has insisted that vessels transiting the strait comply with its directives and has warned that it could begin charging transit fees in the strategic waterway, through which around one-fifth of the world's oil and natural gas supplies traditionally pass. The United States and Gulf Arab states have rejected Tehran's demands, maintaining that the Strait of Hormuz is an international waterway despite lying within the territorial waters of Iran and Oman. The Joint Maritime Information Center warned that the threat to commercial shipping in the region remains "substantial" and advised mariners to exercise caution due to the presence of mines and ongoing naval clearance operations.