The United States bombed Iran for the sixth consecutive night on Friday, with Tehran accusing it of targeting civilian targets, while several countries allied with Washington in the Middle East reported attacks targeting them.
• Also read: Iran and United States sink into war, infrastructure attacked according to Tehran
• Also read: The war between Iran and the United States takes hold, Hormuz almost paralyzed
The American army claimed, on Iran, for its part, reported bombings on bridges, a port, an airport and a train station.
Tehran said Friday morning that American strikes on its territory since June 22 had left 38 dead and more than 400 injured, according to a report from the Ministry of Health.
“If the Americans strike the infrastructure of the Islamic Republic, then all the infrastructure in the region will become legitimate targets for Iran,” threatened an Iranian army spokesperson, quoted by state television.
The armed forces of Jordan, Kuwait and Qatar announced that they faced air attacks at dawn on Friday, and warning sirens were sounded twice in Bahrain.
A spokesperson for the Iranian army, quoted by state television, claimed that the Islamic Republic had targeted American military sites in Kuwait using explosive drones.
For their part, the Iranian Revolutionary Guards assured that they had attacked in Syria an “enemy special operations command center” in the Al-Tanf region, bordering Iraq, as well as American radars in Oman. These two countries did not immediately confirm such strikes.
Iranian state media reported numerous explosions in different areas of the south of the country overnight.
“The attacks continue and they are so violent that my hands are shaking,” Hani, a 34-year-old Iranian professor living in the southwestern city of Ahvaz, told AFP.
According to Iranian state television, US forces bombed two bridges in the Bandar Khamir region, killing seven, as well as a train station in Bandar Abbas and the Iranshahr airport. The control tower of the port of Chabahar was “completely destroyed” according to the Irna agency.
Bushehr hit
Bushehr, a port city located on the southwest coast where the country’s only nuclear power plant is located, was struck for the second time in a few hours, according to the city’s governor, cited by the Irna agency.
President Donald Trump had threatened during the week to strike the country’s bridges and power plants if the Iranians did not return to the negotiating table.
Clashes resumed on July 7 after attacks on ships in the Gulf, blamed on Iran. The strikes since then are unprecedented since the April ceasefire, undermining diplomatic efforts to bring a lasting end to the conflict.
Triggered on February 28 by Israeli-American bombings, it left thousands dead, mainly in Iran and Lebanon, and continues to shake the world economy.
The foreign ministers of China and Pakistan, the latter country mediating the discussions, called on Friday the belligerents to resume negotiations within the framework of the memorandum of understanding signed in mid-June, which was shattered.
Iran’s chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, had previously warned that a deal “only makes sense when its clauses are valid and implemented.”
Islamabad also called for a “return to normal in the Strait of Hormuz”, once again blocked by Iran last weekend. In response, the United States reinstated its blockade of Iranian ports.
Donald Trump “always remains open to diplomacy at the same time,” White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said Thursday. According to her, the Iranians “have let the president know that they still want to make a deal. We’re talking to them, but, again, the president is not going to let them shoot at ships in the strait without consequences.”
In the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied gas (LNG) transited before the war, traffic has become rarer.
Oil prices remain relatively stable despite the situation, with a barrel of Brent around $85 on Friday.
