Irbil: Iran targeted American strongholds around the Persian Gulf Friday, while the US bombarded Iranian military sites as the rivals showed no sign of backing away from their conflict after a 13th straight night of strikes.
With fighting flaring again and diplomacy uncertain, both sides made moves suggesting an escalation was possible. US embassies in the Middle East began alerting Americans in the region that options to leave could become more limited, while Iran’s Revolutionary Guard advised residents of neighbouring countries to stay away from bases with US troops.
Vowing that Iran will not bow to US bullying, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi noted ongoing discussions with two global powers often at odds with Americans – China and Russia – and warned in an interview with the semiofficial news outlet Tasnim that the Islamic Republic is neither intimidated by threats nor will we yield to pressure.
US President Donald Trump described current negotiations with Iran as by far the most serious that we’ve seen, even as the US has launched daily strikes.
We’re locked and loaded and ready to go, but we’re talking to them, Trump told reporters Friday, adding that he’s not in a hurry to end the war.
At the centre of the fight is the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial passage for world energy supplies that has been effectively shut down by Iranian attacks, sending fuel prices soaring and causing widespread economic turmoil.
US strikes sites across Iran and countries in the region are targeted
In the northern Iraqi city of Irbil, which is home to a contingent of American military advisers, security officials said Friday that US-led forces had shot down five explosive-laden drones. Repeated blasts echoed in Irbil, the capital of Iraq’s semiautonomous Kurdish region, and plumes of black smoke were seen near its airport, where US forces are based. US military officials did not respond to a request for comment on the apparent attacks.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it had targeted the US base in Udairi, Kuwait, setting ablaze and destroying three ammunition and storage sheds. It also claimed to have struck a watchtower for the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet, based in Bahrain, which it said was damaged.
US Central Command did not respond to inquiries about the claims.
Both Bahrain and Jordan said they had intercepted aerial attacks by Iran Friday.
As a barrage of assaults was aimed at bases of the United States and its allies, the US hit a Revolutionary Guard naval base in northern Iran, according to the semiofficial news outlets Fars and ISNA. Blasts from US bombardment were also reported on Iran’s Qeshm Island, a base for naval assets including drone boats that Iran can use to attack vessels in the strait, as well as in Isfahan province, home to a major Iranian air base and one of Iran’s nuclear sites.
Additional strikes reportedly hit Iran’s southwest Khuzestan province and southern Fars province.
Central Command said the latest barrage was designed to further degrade Iran’s ability to threaten civilian mariners and commercial vessels transiting regional waters as the Americans push to reopen the strait, through which one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas transited in peacetime.
Houthi attacks give Iran more leverage in potential negotiations
A diplomatic delegation from Oman, which has been involved in mediation efforts between the US and Iran, was in Tehran Friday to discuss managing shipping traffic in the strait, according to Iran’s state news agency.
Iran’s ability to effectively close the strait – and cause economic chaos far beyond the Middle East – gives it tremendous leverage in negotiations. Its Houthi allies increased that leverage when they targeted two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea Thursday – increasing the risks of shipping through another vital route for Middle Eastern oil.
The attacks made good on the Houthis’ threat to close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to Saudi-linked shipping. The strait at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, and around 12 per cent of the world’s trade, including one-fourth of global container traffic, passes through there.
The passage has become more crucial for Saudi Arabia, which has been forced to divert millions of barrels of oil a day to bypass the strait.
Trump has threatened major military punishment against the Houthis if their attacks on ships continue.
The price of Brent crude oil, the international standard, dipped slightly Friday to about USD 96, but it is still up substantially from before the start of the war, when it was trading around USD 72 a barrel. Motorists in the US saw gas prices tick up to an average of USD 4.11 a gallon, AAA said.
No signs of diplomatic breakthrough as war’s human toll expands
Beyond the economic impact, the human toll was also apparent, with the Iranian Health Ministry reporting that 3,434 people have been killed since the war began.
In other developments, the International Maritime Organisation said at least 6,000 mariners were stranded on about 400 vessels around the Strait of Hormuz. UN human rights chief Volker Turk called for urgent action to help them. His office said the seafarers are exposed to the fighting, and some have been abandoned by their ships’ owners, leaving them to fend for themselves without food, water, fuel, medical care, electricity or means to communicate with their families.
There have been no public signs of progress in any negotiation efforts.
Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar of Pakistan, which has played a significant role in previous negotiations, met his Iranian counterpart, Araghchi, Friday. But before the meeting, Araghchi appeared to brush off any attempts at mediation, saying he did not think the conflict needed more mediators, instead insisting the US must change its position.
The US and Israel attacked Iran Feb 28 and have offered shifting goals for the war, including toppling Tehran’s government and eliminating its nuclear programme.
Israel signalled its willingness to rejoin the conflict in recent days. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said he would travel to the US next week and meet with Trump.
