The United States and Iran exchanged missile and drone strikes on Friday, while a senior Iranian military advisor threatened to escalate offensive operations if the US strikes continue.
اضافة اعلان
The US military announced on Friday that it is conducting a new series of strikes on Iran for the seventh consecutive night.
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) stated on the X platform that the new strikes began "at 19:00 GMT." It added that they "aim to continue degrading Iranian military capabilities."
The Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) reported that five explosions were heard at dawn on Saturday in the central city of Yazd.
In the largest escalation since hostilities resumed between the two sides, Iran accused US forces of targeting civilian infrastructure, including an airport, bridges, a port, and a train station.
The official news agency (IRNA) reported that eight people were killed and 20 others were injured in attacks targeting these facilities overnight.
During the week, US President Donald Trump had threatened to strike bridges and power plants in Iran if an agreement is not reached.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres stated on Friday that attacks on civilian infrastructure are "unacceptable," after Iran accused the United States of targeting bridges and transportation hubs.
General Mohsen Rezaei, military advisor to Iran's Supreme Leader, vowed that Iran would enter an "all-out offensive phase" if US strikes continue for two or three days.
Rezaei said, according to Iranian state television, that Iran would not settle for "a reciprocal response (...), and there will be no political boundary that provides safety for the forces facing Iranian attacks."
Similarly, the commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Aerospace Force, Majid Mousavi, warned on Friday that Tehran would not halt its attacks in the region until the United States stops its strikes on Iran's southern coast and the Strait of Hormuz.
State television quoted an Iranian military spokesperson as saying, "If the Americans target the infrastructure of the Islamic Republic, all infrastructure in the region will become legitimate targets for Iran."
The IRGC announced on Saturday that two oil tankers exploded and caught fire while attempting to "cross a minefield south of the Strait of Hormuz after falling victim to deception and disinformation by US intelligence agencies," according to a statement carried by IRNA.
Rationalizing Energy Consumption
Kuwait announced on Friday that one of its power generation and water desalination plants was hit by an Iranian attack that caused a fire and damage, calling on citizens to "rationalize electricity consumption during this exceptional phase."
Temperatures on Friday reached 48°C in Kuwait and 45°C in southwestern Iran.
Earlier, the armed forces in Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar—all close allies of the United States—announced that they had intercepted aerial attacks at dawn on Friday.
The Kuwaiti military reported casualties within its ranks. In a post accompanied by photos on X, it stated that the Chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant General Fahd Saad Al-Shuraian, visited "a number of injured personnel from the Kuwaiti Land Force, who were wounded when several facilities and camps belonging to the Kuwaiti army were targeted by hostile drones this morning (Friday) following the heinous Iranian aggression."
In Qatar, a child was injured by shrapnel, while the IRGC announced that it targeted the US Al Udeid Air Base, claiming it destroyed radar systems and military aircraft there "to punish the aggressor."
Tehran had previously stated that US strikes since June 22 had left 38 people dead and more than 400 injured.
The Iranian armed forces said they targeted US military sites in Kuwait with booby-trapped drones and bombarded US aircraft in Jordan using ballistic missiles and drones, in response to the overnight US shelling.
Strikes Announced in Syria
The IRGC also announced that it targeted the "enemy's Special Operations Command Center" in the Al-Tanf region of Syria near the Iraqi border, as well as US radars in Oman.
However, a Syrian military source denied to AFP that the Al-Tanf base had been shelled.
The United States had announced in February the withdrawal of its forces from this base and handed it over to Syrian authorities.
Meanwhile, nine members of an Iranian Kurdish opposition party were killed in a dawn bombardment on Friday on their camp in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq, the party told AFP, holding Iran responsible for the attack.
Idris Kolhazi, a leader in the Iranian opposition Komala Party (Revolutionary Organization of the Toilers of Kurdistan), said that Iranian forces shelled the camp, located near Sulaimaniyah—the second-largest city in Iraqi Kurdistan—with missiles and drones at 4:30 AM (01:30 GMT).
In Erbil, the Kurdish Counter-Terrorism Service announced that coalition forces shot down eight explosive-laden drones at dawn on Friday over the city, which houses a major US consulate complex.
Later, a Kurdish security official told AFP that five more drones were intercepted.
Vessel Hit
The war in the Middle East broke out on February 28 following joint Israeli-US strikes on the Islamic Republic, leaving thousands dead in Iran and Lebanon, and continuing to shake the global economy.
The foreign ministers of China and Pakistan called on the warring parties on Friday to resume negotiations within the framework of the memorandum of understanding signed in mid-June, which later collapsed. Pakistan is acting as a mediator in the talks.
The Speaker of the Islamic Consultative Assembly and Iran's chief negotiator, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, had previously stated that "the memorandum of understanding only gains meaning when its clauses are in effect and being implemented."
Islamabad also called for a "rapid return to normalcy in the Strait of Hormuz," which Iran closed again late last week. In response, the United States reimposed its blockade on Iranian ports.
Shipping traffic has dropped in the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas passed before the war.
A ship was hit by an "unidentified projectile" off the coast of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO).
The attack, which occurred on Thursday 19 nautical miles from the Omani city of Khasab, resulted in "minor structural damage," according to the agency's statement, which noted that the crew is "safe" and the vessel is "proceeding to its next port of call."
On the other hand, oil prices remained relatively stable despite the developments, with Brent crude reaching around $85 a barrel on Friday.
AFP
