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The US conducted fresh strikes on Iran last night, just hours after President Donald Trump declared an interim agreement to end the war with Iran was "over."
Officials said the strikes were aimed at degrading Iran's ability to threaten freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.
On Tuesday, Iran had attacked three cargo ships in the strait.
US Central Command later confirmed: "The United States is holding Iran accountable for recent unjustified aggression against commercial shipping and civilian crews freely navigating a vital international waterway."
And Iranian media threatened that Tehran's armed forces would launch a "massive" attack on US Army bases in the region - which eventually culminated in waves of drones and missiles hitting facilities in Kuwait and Bahrain.
Earlier today, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that the Iran will not respond to "vulgarity with vulgarity”.
The comment comes after US President Donald Trump called Iran’s leaders "scum" at a Nato summit in Ankara, Turkey, today.
Mr Araghchi said: "Addressing the civilised and courageous nation of Iran with derogatory language does not diminish its greatness.
"Iranians are known for their civility, culture, and strong moral values. We do not answer vulgarity with vulgarity, but with action: fearlessly and with great valour."
Earlier today at the summit, President Trump said: "They’re scum. You know what scum is? They’re scum. They’re sick people. They’re led by sick people, and they’re vicious, violent people."
Smoke rising from a port in Kuhestak in Iran's Hormozgan Province after US strikes.
|REUTERS
'This is in retribution for yesterday’s bombing of ships by Iran,' the President blasted
|TRUTH SOCIAL/REALDONALDTRUMP
In a flare-up that sent oil prices skyrocketing by around seven per cent, Iran said it had struck US military sites in Bahrain and Kuwait.
The American response to that hit 80 Iranian targets.
But the newest wave of US strikes was greater in number than Tuesday's, an American official told Reuters.
Another US official told Axios the attacks included coastal radars, anti-ship missiles and air defence systems linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Then, the strikes hit - with the US President pouring scorn on Iran.
LATEST FROM IRAN:
President Donald Trump took aim at the Iranian regime
|GETTY
"This is in retribution for yesterday’s bombing of ships by Iran. If it happens again, it will get much worse!" he said.
He also began sharing a string of images and videos, apparently from inside Iran, showing the strikes ripping through the Islamic Republic late on Wednesday night.
Explosions were heard in Iran's Abu Musa island in the Gulf of Persia with the IRGC's barracks in Bushehr also on fire.
Blasts then rocked an international airport believed to be partially run by the group.
Those looked to mark the first time that Iranshahr, located further inland than other targets, had been struck since the beginning of the war.
In the dead of night, Kuwait's army said Iranian missile and drone attacks were underway.
The assault appeared to be raining down across multiple Gulf states, with sirens blaring in in Bahrain and Kuwait, before an all-clear notice was issued in Qatar after a threat was "eliminated".
Mr Trump said the reignition of conflict was "not really a war", but instead a "de-nuking" of the country.
Donald Trump shared a string of photos and videos from Iran on Wednesday night
|TRUTH SOCIAL/REALDONALDTRUMP
Mr Trump shared this photo and warned: 'If it happens again, it will get much worse'
|TRUTH SOCIAL/REALDONALDTRUMP
Iran's Foreign Minister claimed his people were 'known for their civility, culture, and strong moral values'
|TRUTH SOCIAL/REALDONALDTRUMP
“This is really not a war so much. It's a de-nuking of Iran, de-nuclearisation of Iran," he told reporters on board Air Force One.
"So this is all about taking nuclear weapons, not allowing Iran to have nuclear weapons, and everybody should like that."
Control of the strait, through which a fifth of global oil supplies pass, has given Tehran immense leverage over the US.
While Iran has not claimed responsibility for the attacks, analysts say Tehran uses such actions to reinforce that leverage as it negotiates a long-term peace deal with the US.
Iranian state media has claimed shrapnel from US strikes on southern Iran hit a hospital in the city of Chabahar, near the border with Pakistan.
President Trump said earlier today: "If we make a deal with Iran I'm not sure that will stick. I found them to be very dishonourable people."
However, the President, who has repeatedly threatened to escalate military action before backing off, said he did not expect a return to full-fledged war.
It was not clear whether the negotiations on reaching a permanent deal would continue.