This Saturday, Iran intensified its offensive against U.S. allies in the Gulf by launching fresh attacks in response to a barrage of consecutive American strikes on Iranian military targets, including key logistical hubs.
Kuwait found itself under heavy assault on Saturday as a desalination plant was hit, and missile and drone threats forced the temporary suspension of operations at Kuwait International Airport.
The Revolutionary Guards of Iran claimed responsibility for hitting a U.S. military support center located at Camp Arifjan and for obliterating a radar installation at Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait.
According to reports from Iranian state media, the Revolutionary Guards also targeted Sheikh Isa Air Base in Bahrain, aiming at a facility housing U.S. combat aircraft and an intelligence data center.
As of now, Reuters has been unable to independently verify these reports.
“Since there is no international institution to prevent the savagery of the US military, we have no path before us except the Quranic command: ‘Whoever attacks you, attack it in the same manner’,” the Guards said in a statement warning US allies in the region to expect more strikes.
On Friday, both sides took aim at shipping traffic, with the US saying it was enforcing a naval blockade, while Iran said it targeted vessels that violated its rules on navigating the Strait of Hormuz, the vital waterway for one-fifth of the world’s oil supply.
Oil prices climbed more than 4 per cent on Friday to their highest level in more than a month, applying political pressure on US President Donald Trump as his Republican Party tries to hold on to power in November’s congressional elections.
Washington and Tehran have been testing the limits of escalation since their ceasefire agreement collapsed on 8 July, raising the prospect of a return to all-out war.
Civilian infrastructure has increasingly been subjected to attack despite concerns about potential war crimes.
A power generation and water desalination plant in Kuwait was hit in an Iranian attack, the country’s electricity, water and renewable energy ministry said in a statement. It was the second attack on Kuwaiti water desalination sites in two days.
Earlier, Iranian media reported that several missiles struck power facilities and desalination pumps in the southern city of Jask on Saturday, citing a local official. Some 10,000 people in 20 villages were without water, Tasnim news agency reported.
Iranian media also reported enemy strikes early on Saturday in coastal Hormozgan Province on the Iranian side of the Strait of Hormuz. State TV said three people were killed and eight wounded while two bridges and a road tunnel were damaged.
There were also reports of explosions heard or strikes carried out in Sirik, Ahvaz, Yazd, Jask and Khorramabad. At least five bridges were struck in the south in US attacks, it said, while seven people were reported killed in attacks on bridges in the southern port of Bandar Khamir, where a train station was also hit.
An airport was reported hit further east and away from the coast in Iranshahr, in a province bordering Pakistan.
Trump has threatened to launch broad-based air strikes on Iran’s infrastructure and has also declined to rule out a ground assault on Iran’s coast or islands. US officials have said attacks on southern Iran are designed in part to give Trump options.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres was concerned about the escalation, particularly “attacks on civilian infrastructure in Iran and across the region,” his spokesperson said.
US concludes seventh day of strikes
The US military’s Central Command earlier said it concluded its seventh consecutive day of strikes by hitting Iranian surveillance sites, military logistics infrastructure, underground weapons storage and maritime capabilities.
“US forces employed fighter aircraft, aerial drones, and warships in addition to other assets,” Central Command said in a statement. “More than 50,000 American service members are operating across the Middle East and remain vigilant, lethal, and ready.”
Central Command said its targets included “military logistics infrastructure”, the first time it mentioned infrastructure in more than a week.
The US said its forces redirected four commercial vessels, disabled one, and boarded another to enforce its naval blockade of Iran.
In turn, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said four vessels violating its rules on shipping traffic were stopped from going through the strait with a combined missile and drone operation.
Armed men seized another vessel off Yemen, raising concern over security in the Middle East’s other big choke point for oil shipments at the mouth of the Red Sea.
Iran’s state television quoted the Revolutionary Guards as saying that until US “aggression” comes to an end, it will not be possible to export chemical fertilisers or even a “single drop of oil and gas” from the region.
Mohsen Rezaei, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, warned on Friday against US escalation or any attempt to seize Iranian territory.
In addition, Iranian media, citing Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, reported that two oil tankers exploded and caught fire after passing through a mined route south of the strait. The US military labelled that report as false.