(AFP) – Hostilities between the United States and Iran continued overnight Friday into Saturday as both sides exchanged fire, and the strategic Strait of Hormuz remained virtually closed.
Here are the latest developments as of early Saturday:
– **Seventh night of US strikes on Iran** – US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on X that it “hit surveillance sites, military logistics infrastructure, underground weapons storage, and maritime capabilities,” as American forces concluded strikes on Iran for the seventh consecutive night.
– **Tankers ‘hit mines’** – Two oil tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz struck mines, according to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards — a claim denied by the US military. The Guards said the tankers that hit mines were directed by “deceptive American intelligence agencies” and had caught fire. CENTCOM issued a brief denial, saying on X, “Like most IRGC claims, this is false.” The Guards said separately that they had “stopped” four ships attempting to transit the strategic passage.
– **Gulf countries hit** – Iran’s army said it struck US military targets in Kuwait and Jordan in response to American attacks. The targets in Kuwait were tied to the Al-Adiri camp and Ali Al-Salem base. The targets in Jordan were fuel tanks at the Al-Azraq base.
– **Kuwait, Jordan respond** – Kuwait’s army wrote on X on Saturday that explosions may be heard as a result of “air defense systems intercepting hostile targets”. Jordan’s army said it had shot down 10 Iranian missiles with no casualties or damage. Kuwait earlier reported an Iranian attack on a power and water plant and said seven of its military personnel had been wounded in a drone attack on army facilities.
– **Bahrain base targeted** – The Iranian army said it targeted an air base in Bahrain used by the United States, according to state television. Air raid sirens were sounded in Bahrain, which hosts a major US naval base, according to the country’s interior ministry. Bahrain and Qatar earlier said they had intercepted missiles.
– **Casualties reported** – Iranian state-controlled IRNA news agency said Saturday that US strikes had killed three and wounded eight people in Hormozgan, a province in the country’s south.
– **Blasts in central Iran** – Five explosions were heard in the central Iranian city of Yazd shortly after US strikes were announced, according to the IRNA state news agency. Mehr, another state-controlled agency, reported explosions “in several provinces in the south” of the country.
– **’Full-scale offensive’** – Tehran threatened to resume “full-scale offensive operations” if US strikes continue over the coming days, Major General Mohsen Rezaei said, according to state-controlled news agency IRIB. “Iran will no longer limit itself to retaliatory, like-for-like responses… and no political border will be safe,” he said.
– **UN chief condemnation** – UN chief Antonio Guterres called attacks on civilian infrastructure in Iran and elsewhere in the region “unacceptable”.
– **Climbing toll** – Iranian state media reported Friday at least eight people killed and 20 wounded in US attacks. Iranian authorities urged citizens to cut back on electricity use, including air conditioners, after saying the grid was under strain from US strikes on power facilities.
– **Oil higher** – The virtual closure of the Strait of Hormuz sent oil higher, with Brent crude back above $88.1 a barrel at US close on Friday. “The ongoing conflict, combined with threats to major shipping routes such as the Strait of Hormuz and potentially the Red Sea, has increased uncertainty across global financial markets,” said Trade Nation analyst David Morrison.
– **Iranian Kurdish rebels hit** – Drone and rocket strikes killed nine members of an Iranian Kurdish armed opposition group in Iraq’s Kurdistan region, the exiled party said, blaming the attack on Iran.
© 2024 AFP
