NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte described renewed US attacks on Iran as absolutely necessary.
“When you have a ceasefire and Iran essentially violates it, I think it is critically important for the United States to respond firmly,” he told reporters on the second day of NATO's Ankara summit.
The United States said it struck more than eighty Iranian targets in response to Iranian fire against commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.
Tehran subsequently said it had attacked US bases in Kuwait and Bahrain.
An Agence France-Presse journalist heard explosions across Bahrain after air-raid sirens sounded, with strong blasts in the north.
Bahrain's previous reported Iranian attack was on 28 June, when it announced interceptions of drones and missiles.
Iran claimed responsibility for the new Bahrain strikes, calling them retaliation for US bombing and a violation of the agreement intended to end the war.
An army statement carried by IRNA said drones had attacked US forces at Sheikh Isa base in response to the American attack and breach of the 17 June agreement.
US restores oil sanctions
Washington also restored sanctions on Iranian oil after the commercial-shipping attacks.
Both sides accused the other of violating the memorandum signed on 17 June to end the war that began with US–Israeli attacks on 28 February.
The memorandum principally provides for reopening Hormuz, through which the report says around 20% of the world's crude oil and liquefied gas normally passes, and lifting US sanctions on Iranian oil.
The UK Maritime Trade Operations agency reported on Tuesday that three commercial vessels had been hit within 24 hours in the strait.
Qatar and Saudi Arabia attributed two of those attacks to Iran.
Competing military claims
CENTCOM said US forces launched powerful strikes after Iranian attacks and a flagrant ceasefire breach, hitting more than eighty targets, including air-defence systems.
Iranian media reported explosions near Hormuz on Tuesday.
Iran's Foreign Ministry warned Washington against violating the memorandum and said Tehran would take decisive action to protect its interests and national security.
Hours later, the Revolutionary Guards said they had hit 85 installations at US bases in Kuwait and Bahrain.
A statement carried by state broadcaster IRIB described a joint naval and aerospace missile-and-drone operation against strategic US facilities and claimed an MQ-9 drone had been shot down.
Kuwait's armed forces also said they were responding to drones and missiles, without identifying their origin.
“Iran's activities in the strait are completely unacceptable to the United States and will not go unpunished,” an unnamed US official said after a Treasury document prohibited new transactions involving Iranian hydrocarbons.
Amid the renewed tension, US WTI crude rose 2.63% to $72.29 a barrel as Asian markets opened.
