Tanker struck in the Strait of Hormuz as Iran and US launch attacks in region

2026-06-27T09:24:26Z

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A tanker came under attack in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, just after Bahrain said that Iran launched an attack targeting it.

The British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center reported the attack, saying the ship’s crew was safe and no environmental damage was reported.

No one immediately claimed the attack. However, Iran attacked a ship Thursday off Oman trying to get out of the Persian Gulf.

The strikes show the danger of the Iran war again spinning out of control, even after Iran and the U.S. reached an interim deal to try and reach a final accord to end the conflict.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Bahrain said Saturday that Iran launched a drone attack on the island kingdom and home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, just after Tehran said it targeted American military installations to retaliate for overnight airstrikes.

The strikes on Bahrain show the danger of the Iran war again spinning out of control, even after Iran and the U.S. reached an interim deal to try and reach a final accord to end the conflict.

The U.S. had launched its airstrikes in response to an Iranian drone attack on a ship trying to get out of the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, continuing a string of attacks that have shaken the uneasy ceasefire in the war.

That Iran targeted Bahrain likely was not coincidental. The kingdom has been one of the strongest critics of Iran. It just hosted U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio for a meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council’s foreign ministers, which ended with a call for an end to Iran’s attacks and the strait to be completely open.

A statement from Bahrain’s Foreign Ministry said a “number of Iranian drones” targeted the country. It called the attack “a flagrant threat to the security of citizens and residents.”

Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard earlier on Saturday issued a statement carried by the state-run IRNA news agency saying it had targeted several locations “of the U.S. terrorist army in the region.”

It did not name what areas were targeted.

JON GAMBRELL Gambrell is the news director for the Gulf and Iran for The Associated Press. He has reported from each of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Iran and other locations across the world since joining the AP in 2006. twitter instagram mailto