Iran struck three targets outside the core US-Hormuz fight within a single 24-hour window. The Kuwaiti-flagged tanker Kaifan was hit by drone or missile ~8nm northeast of Limah, Oman, at 20:10 UTC Monday; the crew abandoned ship after an engine-room fire, with multiple injuries reported. It is one of at least eight commercial vessels struck since the truce collapsed ~Jul 7, the count itself still contested across outlets. Kuwait summoned Iran's ambassador in protest.
The same night, Iran hit Kuwaiti power and desalination plants for a fourth consecutive day, forcing generating-unit shutdowns. Kuwait's government has called for electricity rationing in peak summer heat. ~90% of the country's drinking water comes from desalination, so a sustained power loss threatens the water supply directly, not just the grid.
Iran also struck Bahrain's Sakhir airbase and Juffair, plus targets in Jordan, alongside CENTCOM's 10th consecutive night of strikes on Iran.
The pattern reads as horizontal escalation: Tehran is spreading cost across US-hosting Gulf states rather than confining strikes to tanker traffic. Watch for a Kuwaiti water crisis triggering a wider GCC response, further hits on Bahrain, the UAE, or Qatar, and a possible fourth tanker strike at the current pace of ~1 every two days.