The United States launched powerful air strikes targeting an ammunition depot suspected of containing Iran’s enriched uranium, while an Iranian drone attacked a large oil tanker near the Strait of Hormuz.
Former President Donald Trump shared footage of the US airstrike in Isfahan on his Truth Social platform. The video depicted 2,000-pound bombs triggering a series of explosions that lit up the night sky.
Trump’s social media post did not accompany the video with any detailed information about the colossal blast.
An American official confirmed to The Wall Street Journal that the footage represented the bunker-busting strikes on Isfahan.
The airstrikes followed reports that Trump was contemplating a military operation involving special forces penetrating deep into Iran to capture its enriched uranium stockpile at locations including Isfahan.
Fire-tracking satellites from NASA suggest the explosions happened near Mount Soffeh, an area believed to have military positions.
The videos show massive fireballs and secondary explosions, common with ammunition, igniting in a blaze. Iran has not formally acknowledged the attack.
Isfahan is home to one of three uranium enrichment sites bombed by the US during the 12-day war between Iran and Israel in June last year.
The US and Iran traded blows late Monday, as Iranian drones hit a huge Kuwaiti oil tanker near the Strait of Hormuz while the Americans bombarded an Iranian ammunition depot
Donald Mr Trump posted video of the US strike in the city of Isfahan to his Truth Social page, showing the 2,000lb bombs that set off a series of explosions in the night sky
Amid the bunker buster attack on Isfahan, an Iranian drone stuck a fully loaded Kuwaiti tanker carrying 2million barrels of oil near the Strait of Hormuz – sparking fears of an oil spill in the Persian Gulf.
The apparent strike on the Al Salmi tanker is just the latest in a string of assaults on merchant vessels by missiles or explosive air and sea drones in the Gulf and Strait of Hormuz since the US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28.
Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) said early on Tuesday that the Al Salmi was struck in an Iranian attack while anchored at Dubai port in the United Arab Emirates, causing damage to the vessel and a fire onboard.
It warned of a possible oil spill in surrounding waters, Kuwaiti state news agency KUNA reported.
Dubai authorities said maritime firefighting teams successfully put out the blaze, which was sparked by a drone attack, and continued to assess the situation, adding that no injuries were reported and all 24 crew members were safe.
Brent crude futures were up over 2 per cent at $115.17 per barrel in early Asian hours after the news of the attack on the tanker in Dubai, but retreated a little after reports Wednesday night that Mr Trump is willing to end the war even if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed.
Work is underway to assess damage to the tanker, said KPC, which according to Lloyd’s List Intelligence data is the parent company of Al Salmi’s registered owner and commercial operator.
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An American official confirmed that the uncaptioned video was of the Isfahan strikes and that the US used the bunker busters
The Kuwaiti Oil Tanker Company (KOTC) ship Al Salmi in a 2011 video showing off its building and launch
The tanker was loaded with 2million barrels of oil from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, according to data from Lloyd’s and TankerTrackers. Lloyd’s listed the destination as Qingdao, China.
Iranian officials could not be immediately reached for comment. It is not yet independently confirmed that Iran struck the tanker.
It comes as Gulf allies of the United States, led by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, are urging Mr Trump to continue prosecuting the war, arguing that Tehran hasn’t been weakened enough by the monthlong campaign, according to US, Gulf and Israeli officials.
After private grumbling at the start of the war that they were not given adequate advance notice of the US-Israeli attack and complaining the US had ignored their warnings that the war would have devastating consequences for the entire region, some of the regional allies are making the case to the White House that the moment offers a historic opportunity to cripple Tehran’s clerical rule once and for all.
Officials from Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Bahrain have conveyed in private conversations that they do not want the military operation to end until there are significant changes in the Iranian leadership or there’s a dramatic shift in Iranian behavior, according to the officials, who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The push from the Gulf nations comes as Mr Trump vacillates between claiming that Iran’s decimated leadership is ready to settle the conflict and threatening to further escalate the war if a deal is not reached soon.
Mr Trump on Monday threatened widespread destruction of Iran’s energy resources and other vital infrastructure, potentially including desalination plants that supply drinking water, if a deal to end the war is not reached ‘shortly.’
Iran, meanwhile, struck a key water and electrical plant in Kuwait, and an oil refinery in Israel came under attack.
Kuwait Petroleum Corporation said the Al Salmi was struck in an Iranian attack while anchored at Dubai port in the United Arab Emirates
Israel and the US launched a new wave of strikes on Iran, as the war raged with no end in sight.
Earlier comments to the Financial Times suggested American troops could seize Iran’s Kharg Island oil export hub.
Mr Trump has repeatedly claimed to be making diplomatic progress – though Tehran denies negotiating directly – while ramping up his threats and sending thousands more US troops to the Middle East.
Mr Trump told the New York Post that the US is negotiating with Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf.
The former Revolutionary Guard commander, who has taunted the US on social media, dismissed the talks facilitated by Pakistan as a cover for the latest American troop deployments.
In a social media post, Mr Trump said ‘great progress is being made’ in talks with Iran to end military operations.
But he said if a deal is not reached ‘shortly’, and if the Strait of Hormuz is not immediately reopened, the US would broaden its offensive by ‘completely obliterating’ power plants, oil wells, Kharg Island and possibly even desalination plants.
The strait is a crucial waterway through which a fifth of the world’s oil is shipped in peacetime.
The laws of armed conflict allow attacks on civilian infrastructure such as energy plants only if the military advantage outweighs the civilian harm, legal scholars say.
It’s considered a high bar to clear, and causing excessive suffering to civilians can constitute a war crime.
The US already has targeted military positions on Kharg. Iran has threatened to launch its own ground invasion of Gulf Arab countries and to mine the Persian Gulf if US troops set foot on its territory.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said Tehran had received a 15-point proposal from the Mr Trump administration containing ‘excessive, unrealistic and irrational’ demands, while denying there had been any direct talks.
Qalibaf, the parliament speaker Mr Trump says he is negotiating with, said Iranian forces were ‘waiting for the arrival of American troops on the ground to set them on fire and punish their regional partners forever,’ according to state media.
Twice during Mr Trump’s second term, the US has attacked Iran during high-level diplomatic talks, including with the February 28 strikes that started the current war.
The attacks come just a day after Mr Trump said that he could ‘take the oil in Iran’ and boasted that he can invade Kharg Island ‘easily’.
It comes as the number of US troops in the Middle East swelled to 50,000, roughly 10,000 more than usual.
The war continues into its second month, with the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz remaining the biggest issue toward ending it
Tehran has promised to set American soldiers on fire should the US President order a ground invasion of the country, after the Pentagon drew up plans for potential raids on Kharg Island – the Islamic Republic’s main oil export hub – and attacks on coastal sites near the Strait of Hormuz.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Mr Trump said his ‘preference would be to take the oil’, comparing the potential operation to Venezuela where Washington intends to control the oil industry ‘indefinitely’ following its seizure of strongman leader Nicolás Maduro in January.
His comments came as the US-Israeli war on Iran stretched into its fifth week, deepening the crisis in the Middle East with the price of oil soaring more than 50 per cent in a month.
On Monday morning, Brent crude rose above $116 a barrel in Asia, near its highest level since the conflict began on February 28.
‘To be honest with you, my favorite thing is to take the oil in Iran but some stupid people back in the US say: “Why are you doing that?” But they’re stupid people,’ Mr Trump said.
Such a move would involve raiding Kharg Island, the ‘crown jewel’ of the regime where 90 per cent of its oil is loaded on to tankers.
The arrival of 2,500 Marines and another 2,500 sailors is keeping the number of US soldiers in the Mideast region at over 50,000, while last week the Pentagon also ordered about 2,000 soldiers from the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division to the region in order to give Mr Trump additional military options.
Mr Trump has previously promised he was ‘not putting troops anywhere’ amid apparent divisions in his MAGA base over foreign military engagements and the need for congressional approval.
