Iran has pledged to continue its attacks across the region for as long as it faces assaults, as the Middle East conflict expanded to new fronts with its Houthi allies targeting Saudi shipping in the Red Sea.
The fighting resumed after a ceasefire of only a few weeks, plunging the region and global energy markets back into turmoil amid a struggle between Iran and the United States for control of the strategic Strait of Hormuz. This week, the Houthis entered the fray, claiming to have struck two Saudi oil tankers after announcing a blockade of the kingdom’s ports.
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Sirens in Bahrain
Sirens sounded in Bahrain, the interior ministry said, with AFP correspondents hearing the alerts in the capital Manama, as the country comes under daily Iranian attacks.
“The siren has been sounded… Citizens and residents are urged to remain calm and head to the nearest safe place,” the ministry said in a statement.
Jordan, Kuwait intercepts
The Jordanian and Kuwaiti militaries reported intercepting fresh salvos of Iranian missiles and drones on Thursday, with Iran’s army and Revolutionary Guards saying they had targeted US assets in the countries.
Jordan’s army said it had shot down three Iranian missiles on Thursday morning, while a fourth fell in an uninhabited area. Kuwait’s military said overnight that it was also intercepting “hostile drone threats”, without specifying their target.
Oman wants Houthi-Saudi talks
Oman, a key mediator between Yemen’s Houthis and Saudi Arabia, said it was working to resume talks after the Iran-backed rebels hit a Saudi ship in the Red Sea a day earlier.
Oman’s foreign ministry voiced “great concern” at the situation in the Red Sea, adding it was “currently working in coordination with its brothers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Yemeni parties, and the UN Special Envoy for Yemen with the aim of resuming the political process and roadmap to achieve security and stability in the region”.
Iran vows more retaliation
The Iranian army said Thursday that it would continue its strikes around the region until the attacks on Iran stopped, state television reported.
“The armed forces’ retaliatory attacks will continue as long as the US attacks on the country’s infrastructure and coastal areas continue,” said army spokesperson Mohammad Akraminia according to state TV, adding that the country was ready for “every enemy scenario”.
Rubio: Houthis ‘suckered’
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday that Yemen’s Houthi rebels had been “suckered” into attacking Red Sea shipping by Iran.
“The Houthis largely were smart and stayed out of all this throughout the conflict, but they now apparently have gotten themselves suckered into this, going after Saudi Arabia and their ships,” Rubio said on the sidelines of a Southeast Asian summit in Manila.
Iran hits US equipment in Jordan
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said that they had attacked and destroyed several American military assets in Jordan, including a radar for the US THAAD missile defense system, a Patriot system, a C-RAM radar and a helicopter hangar.
Iran strikes US bases in Kuwait
Iran’s army and its Revolutionary Guards in separate statements claimed attacks on several US bases in Kuwait, including the Ali Al Salem base, Camp Udairi, Camp Doha, Camp Arifjan and a telecommunications tower.
Saudi tanker hit in Red Sea
A vessel belonging to a Saudi company was hit while transiting the Red Sea, Saudi state media reported, citing an official source, after Yemen’s Tehran-backed Houthi rebels claimed it struck tankers in the waterway.
The Houthis had threatened to blockade Saudi ports on the Red Sea — a key route for oil shipments — while the five-month war had already led to the effective closure of the vital Strait of Hormuz.
US strikes more Iranian targets
The United States launched strikes against Iranian military targets for a 12th consecutive night, US Central Command announced Wednesday.
Iran state media reported early Thursday Tehran time that the cities of Ramshir and Ahvaz, in the country’s southwest, were under “missile attack by the US terrorist enemy,” while authorities in Bushehr province, along Iran’s Gulf coast, reported an attack there by a US missile.
Rubio says Saudis seek ‘peaceful, civil nuclear program’
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday that a landmark nuclear cooperation pact with Saudi Arabia would result only in a peaceful, civilian atomic program.
“Suffice it to say that any agreement that we’re going to make with any country in the world on civil nuclear energy is going to be one that will have safeguards in place to ensure that it can’t be turned into a weapons program,” Rubio said on the sidelines of a Southeast Asian summit in Manila.
“Saudi Arabia seeks to have a peaceful, civil nuclear program,” he told reporters, noting a similar deal was in place with the United Arab Emirates.
By Agence France-Presse
