Iran launches retaliatory strikes on US targets in the Middle East

At least 20,000 Iranians have lost access to drinking water after two reservoirs were struck, Iran’s state-affiliated Tasnim news agency reported Wednesday, citing an official.

The reservoirs were responsible for providing drinking water to the town of Kouhestak and 10 surrounding villages, Hamzehpour said.

Emergency measures, including water delivery by tanker trucks and the deployment of temporary replacement pumping systems, are currently underway, Tasnim said, adding that the damage to the infrastructure is estimated at approximately 140 billion tomans, or $795,000.

CNN has reached out to US Central Command (CENTCOM) for comment on the the strikes.

Electronic bulletin boards on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Wednesday.

Oil prices are wavering, as traders weigh the impact of a fresh round of attacks between the United States and Iran against hopes of an imminent deal to end the conflict.

Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, edged 0.22% higher to $91.65 a barrel shortly after 4 a.m. ET. West Texas Intermediate, the US benchmark, was broadly flat at $88.25 a barrel.

Brent closed at its lowest level since mid-April Tuesday, as investors “latched onto comments” by President Donald Trump that the United States and Iran were in the “final throes” of a deal, Deutsche Bank analysts wrote in a note.

Iran and the United States then traded fresh strikes early Wednesday following the downing of a US army helicopter. But a US official told CNN the Trump administration believes the strikes won’t hinder war talks.

“The ceasefire between US and Iran is being tested,” Mohit Kumar, chief European economist at Jefferies wrote in a note. “On the positive side, statements from both sides do not suggest that escalations are likely to continue. Talks are ongoing,” he added.

Bahrain intercepted “a number of” Iranian strikes on Wednesday, its Defence Force said in a statement.

The Defence Force condemned Iran’s “attacks with missiles and drones targeting civilians in the Kingdom of Bahrain,” describing them as a violation of international humanitarian law.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said earlier Wednesday it had targeted the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, where video geolocated by CNN appears to show a flash coming from the vicinity of the US naval facility in Manama.

Iran also said it targeted a US base in Jordan, where authorities said they intercepted five missiles. Kuwait authorities, meanwhile, said they were intercepting “hostile aerial targets.” The attacks come after the US launched a wave of strikes on Iran in response to the downing of a US Army helicopter.

A satellite image of Yemen with the Gulf of Aden to the south.

The crew of a cargo ship has reported an “exchange of fire” with an armed group that approached on a small boat off the coast of Yemen, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said Wednesday.

The small boat, with six armed people onboard, turned away after exchanging fire with the cargo ship’s armed security team, the UKMTO said.

The incident took place in the Gulf of Aden, 88 nautical miles southwest of Balhaf, Yemen, the maritime organization said, adding that authorities were investigating.

UKMTO did not say who was responsible for the fire, but urged vessels to transit through the area with caution.

The organization recently warned that piracy activity in the Gulf of Aden and the Somali Basin remained “elevated,” saying there were indications of at least one active group of pirates in the area.

On Monday, Yemen’s Houthi rebels also threatened to target “Israeli maritime navigation” in the Red Sea, on the other side of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait –– a key shipping route that Iran has repeatedly threatened to close during the course of the war with the US and Israel.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) said it launched missiles and drones on US targets early Wednesday morning after American attacks on Iran, which were themselves a response to the downing of a US Army helicopter.

The IRGC said it targeted a US military base in Jordan – where the military said it had intercepted five Iranian missiles – as well as the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, where video geolocated by CNN appears to show a flash coming from the vicinity of a US base. Sirens sounded in Kuwait, where authorities said they were intercepting “hostile aerial targets.”

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi previously said no US attack would be left “unanswered.”

After the US launched strikes, explosions were heard in Qeshm Island, Bandar Abbas, Sirik, Minab and Jask county –– strategic locations around the Strait of Hormuz.

Qeshm Island is considered part of Iran’s “arch defense” near the Strait of Hormuz. Bandar Abbas hosts a key Iranian naval and air base. Jask country also has a naval presence and is a home to a key shipping port.

Here’s what else to know:

A man checks a fallen rocket half-buried in the ground on the outskirts of Jericho, West Bank following strikes from Iran, on June 8.

Iran’s strikes on Israel this week were some of its most audacious attempts to redefine the boundaries of a confrontation that for decades has largely been fought through proxies, covert operations and carefully calibrated retaliation.

By targeting Israel in response to attacks in Lebanon, Tehran appeared to be signaling that its red lines no longer stop at its own borders – and that its leaders are ready to take greater risks.

The move suggests a broader shift in Tehran, where a new generation of leaders is increasingly abandoning the cautious, reactive approach that long defined the Islamic Republic’s strategy towards its adversaries. Rather than relying primarily on deterrence and strategic patience, they now appear more willing to take risks and to deploy Iran’s military, economic and regional leverage to shape events in the Middle East.

It is also the same Iranian leadership that US President Donald Trump has described as “more rational” and “pretty reasonable.”

Iran also appears to be testing the US-Israel alliance and exploiting growing differences between the two countries over the conflict’s endgame. Trump has publicly broken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on several occasions in recent weeks, insisting that a diplomatic agreement with Tehran is within reach and asserting that Israel “won’t have any choice” but to accept it.

Iran may have succeeded in forcing Washington to make a choice between supporting Israel’s military freedom of action and preserving a diplomatic track with Tehran.

Read the full analysis.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi attends a press conference in New Delhi, India on May 15.

Iran’s foreign ministry has called the most recent US strikes on Iran a “clear violation” of the country’s national sovereignty and warned Middle Eastern countries hosting US troops that they might be targeted if Iran is attacked again.

“(Iran’s armed forces) inflicted heavy damage on US bases and assets in the region that served as the origin of these attacks,” a ministry statement said, adding that Iran “will not hesitate to target the source of attacks.”

Iran launched strikes on targets in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan on Wednesday, after the US struck Iranian sites near the Strait of Hormuz in what it said was retaliation for the downing of an Army Apache helicopter.

It’s unclear if any US facilities in the region sustained damage in the latest attacks, but air defenses were activated in all three nations. CNN has sought comment from US Central Command.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has held phone calls with his counterparts in Saudi Arabia and Turkey following the US attacks, the ministry said in a separate statement.

Ripple effects from the war in Iran are threatening millions more of the most vulnerable people with crisis levels of hunger or worse, World Food Programme (WFP) acting Executive Director Carl Skau told CNN.

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has driven up the cost of fuel exponentially, making the organization’s operations far more costly. The escalating fuel costs have also driven up the price of food around the world. And critically needed supplies of fertilizer from the Gulf to plant crops in places like Sudan have been stymied by the snarling of the critical waterway.

It is a devastating mix for an organization that was already having to make unimaginable choices due to significant cuts in funding.

The WFP relies on donations from governments and has seen an immense drop in funding across the board, including from its top donor, the United States. As of Monday, the US’s 2026 contribution was around $731 million. In 2024, it was more than $4 billion.

Skau explained that in the world’s poorest countries, “when the price of food goes up 20-30%, well, they eat 20-30% less.”

In March, the humanitarian organization warned that 45 million more people will face acute hunger by July if the price of oil remains above $100 a barrel.

Even if the Strait of Hormuz were to reopen tomorrow, Skau said, the impact would continue to be felt longer-term.

Read the full story.

An oil pumpjack is seen in Santa Fe Springs, California, US, on May 4.

Oil stockpiles in the world’s wealthiest nations haven’t been this low since George W. Bush was in the White House, the US Energy Department’s forecasting arm said Tuesday.

According to the Energy Information Administration, global oil inventories are expected to tumble by 6.3 million barrels per day this quarter and by another 7.66 million in the third quarter.

The energy system has had to aggressively drain commercial and emergency stockpiles because the Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed.

As a result, oil inventories in the 38 wealthy nations that make up the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) are at their lowest level since 2003, according to EIA.

OECD member countries include the United States, Canada, Japan, Israel, South Korea, France and the United Kingdom.

Other countries have increasingly turned to US oil to replace Middle Eastern crude sidelined during the crisis.

US crude oil and petroleum product net exports surged to a record of 5.8 million barrels per day in April, the EIA said. Officials expect net exports to average 4.2 million barrels per day this year, up sharply from 1.4 million last year.

Jordan has intercepted five missiles from Iran, its military said Wednesday morning, after Iran said it had targeted a US base in the nation.

The attack on Jordan appears to be the first time the Arab nation has been directly targeted since the ceasefire between the US and Iran came into effect in April.

“The interception resulted in falling shrapnel, with no human injuries or material damage reported,” the statement said.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they targeted a base at Al Azraq in northern Jordan with long-range solid-fuel missiles, saying they had destroyed hangars housing F-35 figher jets, Iran’s state-affiliated Fars News Agency reported.

No photographic evidence has been provided to back up the claim. CNN has reached out to US Central Command for comment.

In February, the US deployed at least 18 US F-35 Lightning II stealth fighters to Muwaffaq Salti Air Base, near Al Azraq.