These strikes demonstrate that Iran can still penetrate US air defenses and inflict casualties despite repeated US strikes on Iranian drone and missile launch sites, storage facilities, and command and control centers. Satellite imagery also shows that Iran attacked King Faisal Air Base and another Jordanian airfield, where Iranian strikes reportedly damaged several US Army UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters. Iran continued to claim attacks on US bases and military assets in Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, and Qatar on July 20 and 21.
Iran is attacking critical infrastructure in Kuwait to impose direct civilian and economic costs on states that host US forces and pressure them to curtail US military operations. Iran is broadening the costs of the war beyond military facilities by targeting infrastructure that supports essential civilian services. Iran likely calculates that sustained disruptions to electricity and water supplies will increase domestic pressure on Kuwait to restrict US operations from Kuwaiti territory.Institute for the Study of War (@TheStudyofWar)Iran continues to use force to impose its control over the Strait of Hormuz and compel vessels to follow Iranian transit restrictions. Iran rejects any alternative to its designated traffic separation scheme, particularly the southern Omani route, because it allows vessels to bypass Iranian authorization and directly undermines Iran’s claim to control maritime traffic through the strait.
Iran sees this control as its primary means of imposing costs on the United States and compelling Washington to accept Iranian demands. Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) Deputy Secretary for International Affairs Ali Bagheri Kani described the strait on July 21 as Iran’s “decisive leverage,” and argued that Iran must translate its military strength into political gains. Iran has repeatedly threatened and attacked vessels using the southern route to enforce this objective.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Organization (UKMTO) reported on July 20 that unknown projectiles struck two vessels near Oman and the United Arab Emirates, which damaged one vessel’s steering gear and forced the crew of the second vessel to abandon ship. Kuwait identified the second vessel as the Kuwaiti tanker Kaifan and reported that the likely Iranian attack injured several crew members. The Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) separately claimed on July 20 that it attacked two tankers on July 20 because they attempted to use the southern Omani route.— https://x.com/TheStudyofWar/status/2079770911717065037
