Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) said it struck "85 US military targets" in Bahrain and Kuwait with missiles and drones in an initial response to American strikes on Iranian territory, in a statement carried by state media on July 8.

The exchange marks a sharp escalation in the confrontation between Tehran and Washington, placing fresh strain on an interim deal to end the Middle East war, drawing Gulf states hosting US forces into the line of fire and pushing oil prices to their highest level in two weeks.

The US launched extensive strikes on Iran over attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz, triggering the reprisals. US Central Command (CENTCOM) said its forces had struck more than 80 targets, including Iranian air defence systems, coastal radar sites and 60 IRGC small boats, in what it called retaliation for Iran's strikes on three commercial ships in the strait.

The strikes aimed "to degrade Iran's ability to continue attacking international commerce flowing through the international trade corridor," CENTCOM said.

The IRGC said its naval and aerospace forces had hit facilities at Salman Port, the US Fifth Fleet's area in Bahrain, and Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait in a joint missile and drone operation. It also said it had downed a US MQ-9 drone that attempted to interfere with the operation.

IRGC spokesman Brigadier General Hossein Mohammadi said the drone was shot down over the southern province of Bushehr following overnight US strikes. "An MQ-9 drone was hit and brought down by fire from the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps' air defence system over the skies of Khormuj in Bushehr province," he said.

The IRGC statement said the response followed US strikes in the early hours of July 8 on coastal bases and stations in Iran's southern Hormozgan province and Mahshahr, which it said violated the ceasefire and breached what it called the Islamabad understanding. Iranian state media reported explosions around the strait, including six on the island of Qeshm, seven in the city of Sirik and more in the port of Bandar Abbas.

Independent reports said the US had also struck Kharg Island, home to Iran's largest offshore oil terminal. The claims of the strikes' scale and the ceasefire violation could not be independently verified.

Iran's chief negotiator and parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf accused the United States of "major" breaches of their memorandum of understanding, including by reinstating oil sanctions and "violating Iranian adjustments in the Strait."

The US strikes came shortly after Washington revoked a temporary sanctions waiver for Iranian oil, cancelling a licence announced in June that had allowed Iran to produce, sell and deliver crude through August 21.

"Iran's actions in the Strait were wholly unacceptable to the United States and will be met with consequences," a US official told AFP on condition of anonymity, describing the memorandum as "entirely performance-based" and warning that Tehran would benefit only if it showed "good behaviour." US negotiators were continuing to work "in good faith towards a final deal," the official said.

British maritime security agency UKMTO said on July 7 an "unknown projectile" had hit a tanker near Hormuz, causing a fire, before two more vessels were struck, at least one by a drone, Newsbase previously reported.

CENTCOM identified the ships as the Marshall Islands-flagged Al Rekayyat, the Saudi-flagged Wedyan and the Liberia-flagged Cyprus Prosperity, all struck close to Oman, according to information IntelliNews has seen.

The Al Rekayyat is Qatari, and Doha denounced the "unacceptable" attack on international maritime navigation and summoned Iran's deputy ambassador. Iran voiced "dismay" over Qatar's accusations in a statement carried by state news agency IRNA, calling the claims "unacceptable."

Oil prices jumped more than 2% in early Asian trade on July 8 to two-week highs, as the renewed attacks revived concerns over global energy supplies and the durability of the US-Iran agreement.

Under the 14-point memorandum, Iran and Oman must hold talks to define the future administration and maritime services of the strait alongside other Gulf states. Maritime traffic had tentatively resumed after the two sides signed the memorandum last month, though Iran has insisted there will be no return to pre-war arrangements under which vessels passed freely.