In a statement on July 9, the Iranian Army said the fresh operation came in response to the US military attacks on parts of Iran and on Army units.

According to the statement, large numbers of various attack drones targeted a Patriot air defense system in Kuwait, a satellite antenna serving as an early warning site in Qatar, and fuel storage facilities belonging to the US military in Bahrain.

The Army said the operation was part of its ongoing campaign against American military bases in the region following the latest US aggression.

It stressed that the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran, acting under the command of the Commander-in-Chief, Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Mojtaba Khamenei, will not under any circumstances allow the "reckless" US president to achieve his objectives.

The latest drone operation followed an earlier retaliatory strike by the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), which announced that its naval and aerospace forces had launched a joint missile and drone operation against four major US military bases in Kuwait and Bahrain after American attacks on several parts of Iran. The IRGC said it struck key infrastructure at the Arifjan and Ali al-Salem bases in Kuwait and the Juffair and Sheikh Isa bases in Bahrain, warning that any further US aggression would trigger broader and more crushing responses against American military installations across the region.

The IRGC also said the latest US attacks came after American aircraft struck several areas in Iran's southern coastal provinces, targeting civilian infrastructure and killing one person, while also attacking a bridge in the northern province of Golestan. It described the renewed US aggression as a hasty reaction to the massive turnout of mourners during funeral processions in Iraq for martyred Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei.