Hostilities in the Middle East intensified on Saturday after a seventh straight night of US attacks on Iran, with Tehran threatening a “full-scale offensive” in response and the strategic Strait of Hormuz remaining virtually closed.
Here are the latest developments:
Bahrain ‘thwarted’ Iranian attacks
Bahrain’s army said its “air defense systems thwarted” a wave of Iranian attacks on Saturday, as an AFP journalist in Manama reported hearing blasts after sirens sounded.
“Air defense systems thwarted” the attacks, the army said in a statement, adding that they “intercepted and destroyed a number of treacherous Iranian aerial assaults”.
Iran hits Kuwait power, water plant
Kuwait said Iran struck another of its power and water plants, leading to the deactivation of several power generation units, a day after a similar attack.
“Another electricity and water distillation plant was targeted by a hostile attack that led to a fire erupting in one of the plant’s components,” which resulted in the deactivation of some power generation units, the Ministry of Electricity and Water said in a statement.
The fire service said on X that it was dealing with “two fires that erupted in two different locations” following the latest Iranian attacks, adding that this “resulted in injuries among firemen and a worker”, who were taken to receive care.
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 — an assertion 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.
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 the 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 might 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.
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 on Saturday that US strikes had killed three people and wounded eight 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.
Iran accused US forces of targeting civilian infrastructure, including an airport, a railway station and two bridges, and said it had struck US assets across the region. President Donald Trump has threatened to hit Iranian infrastructure, but there was no confirmation from the US side.
David Khalfa, a Middle East specialist at the Jean-Jaures Foundation, a Paris-based think tank, noted that a “widening range of strategic infrastructure” is being drawn into the conflict. “The paradox is that, while the conflict continues to escalate, neither side has a strategic interest in allowing this dynamic to continue. Yet both perceive any compromise as a form of capitulation,” Khalfa said.
By Agence France-Presse
