President Donald Trump has been trying to force Iran to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz for months, turning to everything from airstrikes and naval blockades to negotiations and threats to destroy a “whole civilization.”

But restoring oil tanker traffic in the vital Middle East shipping corridor to prewar flows likely will require a much bigger armada of U.S. warships if not tens of thousands of American troops on Iranian soil, experts say. Despite on-and-off fighting, Iran can still target vessels in the narrow Persian Gulf waterway with drones and missiles that have been hidden in a country a third of the size of the continental United States.

A Liverpool man has been charged on suspicion of spying for Iran after an investigation by counter-terror police.

Vahid Aberi, 39, was arrested on Wednesday in the Birmingham area on suspicion of assisting a foreign intelligence service.

Bahrain’s Defence Force said it had intercepted and destroyed several Iranian aerial attacks on Saturday, accusing Tehran of continuing its “systematic hostile approach” by targeting civilians in the kingdom.

In a statement on X, the General Command of the Bahrain Defence Force said its air defence systems had “intercepted and destroyed a number of the treacherous Iranian aerial attacks”, adding that all branches and units remained “at the highest levels of readiness” to defend the country.

The military urged residents not to approach any suspicious objects or debris left behind by the attacks and to report them immediately, saying specialist teams were prepared to deal with them safely.

It added that “the deliberate use of missiles and drones to target civilians and private property constitutes a blatant violation of international humanitarian law.”

A US strike on a desalination plant in Iran’s Jask county has disrupted drinking water supplies to 20 villages with a combined population of about 10,000.

The attack hit water desalination pumps in the coastal village of Bunji, an Al Jazeera report citing Tasnim news agency said. Hamzeh Pour, chief executive of the Hormozgan Water and Wastewater Company, said the pumping station drawing seawater into the plant and a power transformer were “completely destroyed”.

Pour described the strikes as “a series of crimes and terrorist attacks” and said the affected villages were facing “a severe water shortage” after the destruction of the facilities.

A fire broke out at a power generation and water desalination plant after an Iranian attack, Kuwait’s Ministry of Electricity said on Saturday, hours after authorities said the facility had been damaged in the latest wave of strikes.

The ministry said the blaze had broken out at the station following the attack but did not immediately identify the affected plant or provide details on casualties.

Earlier, it said the strike had damaged facilities and disrupted several electricity generation units.

Tehran says it has launched strikes targeting US aircraft in Bahrain, following a seventh consecutive night of American airstrikes on Iran.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed it had targeted “the site where US combat aircraft were gathered” at Bahrain’s Sheikh Isa Air Base, according to Iranian state media.

The IRGC also claimed it struck an “intelligence data centre” at Batelco in Bahrain, as well as a US naval fuel-support pier at Al Ahmadi Port and a US “signals and communications centre” in Kuwait.

Iran has warned that countries hosting US forces could face “corresponding responses” if their territory is used to launch attacks on Iran.

US companies signed roughly $60bn in agreements and partnerships with the Iraqi government on Friday, including deals intended to create alternative routes for shipping oil out of the Persian Gulf.

It’s not clear when the oil deals will be able to create viable alternatives to the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of the world’s oil flows.

Kuwait Airways said it had rescheduled most of its flights after take-off and landing operations at Kuwait International Airport were temporarily suspended.

In a statement posted on X, the airline said the disruption followed what it described as “hostile missile and drone attacks” after “criminal Iranian aggression” on Saturday.

It urged passengers to check for updates, saying notifications and text messages would be sent to the phone numbers linked to their bookings.

The airline said the changes had been made to prioritise the safety of travellers.