Trump ‘surprised’ by retaliation as Iran opens drone hunt for ‘US terrorists’ (PHOTOS, VIDEOS)
- 48 minutes ago
- 8 min read
Source: RT News
Tehran has warned civilians in neighboring states to stay away from any US-linked facilities
Iranian forces have reportedly launched new missile and drone attacks on multiple US military bases across the region, with Tehran warning civilians to stay away from Americans as the war with the United States and Israel shows no signs of abating.
American facilities in Iraq, Bahrain, and Kuwait have all come under attack as the conflict has entered its 16th day, according to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
“Our deadly drones are searching point by point for the hiding places of US soldiers in the region, and upon obtaining intelligence they will precisely strike each and every American terrorist in the area,” a spokesperson for Iran’s top military command added.
President Donald Trump said that Iran’s retaliatory strikes on allies hosting US bases in the Middle East were “the biggest surprise I had of this whole thing.”
Here are the latest developments as RT continues to bring you up to date:
Iran’s Kharg Island was “totally demolished,” but “we may hit it a few more times just for fun,” President Donald Trump has stated, raising fears of a deeper shock to global energy supplies if the infrastructure on Iran’s main oil export hub is damaged.
Trump demanded earlier in the day that China, Japan, and other nations relying on oil shipments through the strategic Strait of Hormuz deploy their naval units to protect maritime traffic. Iran says the waterway remains open and safe to pass – but only to “friendly” nations.
Tehran mocked Washington for “begging” for help, after its security umbrella promised to regional allies has “proven to be full of holes.” Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi urged neighboring states hosting US military bases to “expel foreign aggressors,” who are “inviting rather than deterring trouble.”
Follow our live coverage below for continuous updates. You can also read our previous updates here.
15 March 2026
03:51 GMT
The Department of War has published a video of a US Air Force B-52 Stratofortress taking off for a night mission against Iran. “Strikes from US forces continue to be unpredictable, dynamic, and decisive,” CENTCOM said in a post on X.
03:40 GMT
The IDF has detected a new barrage of missiles launched from Iran toward Israel, warning citizens to seek shelter as air defense systems are “operating to intercept the threat.”
03:25 GMT
A senior Yemeni Houthi military commander has warned that the group could block another strategic waterway to assist Iran in fighting off the ongoing US-Israeli attack, according to Press TV.
“Once the decision to intervene is made, the first measure could be the official declaration of a naval blockade against the United States and the Zionist regime,” Abed al-Thawr said on Saturday. “Merchant vessels and warships, including aircraft carriers, destined for US soil and the occupied territories could therefore be stopped.”
The Bab el-Mandeb Strait is a vital maritime chokepoint through which an estimated 10% of global seaborne oil trade passes. The Houthis had previously imposed a similar naval blockade on Israeli-owned or Israeli-affiliated ships in the Red Sea in solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip during Israel’s military campaign there.
02:34 GMT
The spokesman for Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters has accused the United States and Israel of deploying a rebranded copy of Iran’s Shahed-136 drone – designated “Lucas” – to carry out attacks on civilian infrastructure in regional countries as part of a deliberate false-flag operation aimed at framing the Islamic Republic.
“As the Islamic Republic of Iran has repeatedly announced, it only targets the objectives, centers, and interests of the United States and the Zionist regime, and assumes full responsibility for any location it targets by issuing an official statement,” the spokesman declared.
However, there was a series of “suspicious attacks” in recent days on facilities in friendly neighboring countries, including Turkey, Kuwait, and Iraq, which Western media outlets immediately attributed to Iranian forces, the spokesman said.
01:54 GMT
Iran’s top military command has issued a warning to civilians in neighboring states, urging them to stay away from American soldiers and US-owned military and industrial facilities.
“Our deadly drones are searching point by point for the hiding places of terrorist US soldiers in the region, and upon obtaining intelligence they will precisely strike each and every American terrorist in the area,” a spokesperson for the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters said.
“We ask the people living near industrial areas in which Americans are shareholders, or individuals who are close to the hiding places of American terrorist soldiers, to move away from those areas to avoid being harmed.”
01:24 GMT
President Trump has claimed that Iran’s retaliatory strikes against Washington’s regional allies hosting US military bases were “the biggest surprise I had of this whole thing.”
“I was very surprised,” Trump told NBC News, claiming that the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and others “got shot at unnecessarily.”
00:57 GMT
The US Central Command has shared new footage of its sorties, saying American forces “continue to degrade Iranian military capability.”
00:48 GMT
Formula One has announced that the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix will not take place in April due to the ongoing war in the region, confirming the decision in a statement on Sunday.
“While alternatives were considered, no substitutions will be made in April,” Formula One’s governing body, the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), said in a statement.
Both races are regular fixtures on the Formula One calendar, with Bahrain initially scheduled as the fourth Grand Prix this season on April 10-12, followed by the Saudi race a week later. The Formula 2, Formula 3, and F1 ACADEMY rounds have also been cancelled.
00:29 GMT
The IRGC has shared new footage of its strikes against US and Israeli positions, showing drones taking off from undisclosed locations.
14 March 2026
23:48 GMT
President Trump has claimed that Iran’s Kharg Island was “totally demolished” in the US bombing raid on Saturday – but suggested “we may hit it a few more times just for fun.”
“We’ve totally decimated it,” the president told NBC News. “Except, as you know, I didn’t do anything having to do with the energy lines, because having to rebuild that would take years.”
The island, located in the northern Persian Gulf approximately 30 kilometers (20 miles) off the coast of mainland Iran, hosts a vital oil terminal responsible for almost 90% of the country’s maritime oil exports.
Tehran threatened to turn all US-linked oil infrastructure across the Middle East into a “pile of ashes” if Washington targets its oil facilities. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps acknowledged that the island’s military infrastructure was damaged but dismissed Trump’s claims of its complete destruction.
23:23 GMT
The Israeli Home Front Command has instructed residents to seek shelter in a protected space and remain there until further notice, after the military detected several missile launches from Iran. “Defensive systems are operating to intercept the threat,” the IDF said.
23:18 GMT
Switzerland has rejected at least two US requests to fly spy planes through its airspace, while approving a maintenance flight and two transport aircraft flights scheduled for Sunday, citing its neutrality laws amid the ongoing war in the Middle East.
“The law of neutrality prohibits overflights by parties to the conflict that serve a military purpose,” the federal government in Bern said in a statement Saturday. Permitted flights include humanitarian and medical transports, including the evacuation of the wounded.
For future requests, the council said it will only approve flights “demonstrably unrelated to the conflict” and will reject requests that exceed “normal traffic levels” if their purpose cannot be determined.
22:54 GMT
Several drones struck Kuwait International Airport – which serves as a major U.S. air logistics hub and hosts the 387th Air Expeditionary Group – and damaged its radar system, according to the country’s civil aviation authorities.
“Kuwait International Airport was targeted this evening by several drones, which damaged the airport’s radar system,” spokesperson for Kuwait’s Directorate General of Civil Aviation, Abdullah Al-Rajhi, said in a statement on X.
Authorities did not provide details on the extent of the damage, after videos circulated by pro-Iranian sources showed over two dozen explosions in the area.
22:33 GMT
The US Victoria base near Baghdad International Airport has reportedly come under a missile strike, with videos circulated by local pro-Iranian sources showing fire and smoke rising from the facility.
22:21 GMT
Israel allegedly informed Washington that it is running critically low on long-range missile interceptors and is “coming up with solutions to address” the shortage as the war with Iran stretches into its 16th day, US officials told Semafor.
READ MORE: US burning through ‘years’ of munitions in Iran war – FT
While the official insisted that American stockpiles remain sufficient, reports suggest Washington is quietly redeploying assets from other regions. South Korean President Lee Jae-myung said this week that US air defense weapons stationed at Osan Air Base may have been transferred to the Middle East, acknowledging Seoul’s opposition but noting it cannot “fully enforce” its position.
President Donald Trump has touted a “virtually unlimited” US munitions supply, even as observers caution that stockpiles are lower than desired. The Pentagon maintains it has “everything it needs” to execute its missions, but its Gulf allies are reportedly facing shortages, forced on a daily basis to intercept hundreds of missiles and cheap drones targeted at US bases on their territory.
21:53 GMT
The Strait of Hormuz remains open for international shipping, except for vessels belonging to the United States, Israel, and their allies, a senior commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy, Alireza Tangsiri, has said.
READ MORE: Iranian envoy signals safe passage for Indian ships through Strait of Hormuz
“The Strait of Hormuz has not been militarily blocked and is merely under control,” the statement said.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi similarly told US media earlier in the day that the strategic waterway is closed only to hostile nations.
“It is only closed to the tankers and ships belonging to our enemies, to those who are attacking us and their allies. Others are free to pass,” Araghchi said.
21:46 GMT
“The touted US security umbrella has proven to be full of holes and inviting rather than deterring trouble. The US is now begging others, even China, to help it make Hormuz safe,” Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said on X, calling on “brotherly neighbors to expel foreign aggressors, especially as their only concern is Israel.”
21:42 GMT
President Trump has promised to “coordinate” with foreign states that agree to send their military vessels to the Strait of Hormuz “so that everything goes quickly, smoothly, and well.”
“The United States of America has beaten and completely decimated Iran, both militarily, economically, and in every other way, but the countries of the world that receive oil through the Hormuz Strait must take care of that passage, and we will help — A LOT!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
In a previous post, the US president said: “Hopefully China, France, Japan, South Korea, the UK, and others that are affected by this artificial constraint will send ships to the area so that the Hormuz Strait will no longer be a threat by a nation that has been totally decapitated.”
