Iran threatens US sites in Middle East if tankers come under fire | US-Israel war on Iran
According to the news in the Iranian media on Saturday, while the Iranian Revolutionary Guard threatened to target US sites in the Middle East if its tankers were fired upon, Washington waited for Tehran’s response to its latest negotiating position.
A day after the United States attacked two Iranian tankers in the Gulf of Oman, the force said, “Any attack on Iranian tankers and merchant ships will result in a heavy attack on one of the American hubs and enemy ships in the region.”
Donald Trump said on Friday that he was waiting for Iran’s response to Washington’s latest peace deal proposal “so-called tonight”.
But although Tehran sent a response to Pakistani mediators, there was no public sign of this, and Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi reportedly questioned the credibility of the US leadership.
“The recent escalation of tensions in the Persian Gulf by American forces and their numerous actions to violate the ceasefire have raised doubts about the American side’s motivation and seriousness towards diplomacy,” he said in a meeting with his Turkish counterpart, according to Iran’s ISNA news agency.
A US warplane on Friday opened fire on and disabled two Iranian-flagged tankers that Washington accused of defying its blockade of Iranian ports. An Iranian military official told local media that the navy responded with attacks.
This follows a flare-up the night before in the Strait of Hormuz, the vital international sea lane that Iran seeks to control in order to collect tolls and exert economic influence over the United States and its allies.
The US says Tehran’s control of a key oil route is unacceptable.
Washington, through Pakistani mediators, sent Iran a proposal to extend the ceasefire in the Gulf to allow talks on a final settlement of the conflict that was sparked by the US-Israeli attack on Iran 10 weeks ago.
French broadcaster LCI correspondent Margot Haddad said on Saturday that Trump told her in a brief interview that he was still waiting to learn Iran’s response “very soon.”
An Iranian foreign ministry spokesman said Friday that the proposal was still “under review.”
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Saturday with the leader of Qatar, a key intermediary in Washington’s dialogue with Iran, to discuss “maintaining close coordination to deter threats and promote stability and security in the Middle East,” the State Department said.
Qatar Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani met the other day with US vice president JD Vance to discuss Pakistan-led efforts to broker a lasting peace.
Iran’s attacks on sites in Qatar during the war pointed to the wealthy emirate’s role as home to a major US air base.
Oil slick visible off Kharg Island
Meanwhile, satellite images showed a distinctive oil slick spreading off the coast of Iran’s Kharg Island, a major oil export terminal for Iran.
It was not immediately clear what caused the apparent leak, which occurred off the island’s west coast and covered more than 52 square kilometers (20 square miles), according to global monitor Orbital EOS.
The Observatory on Conflict and Environment, a UK-based non-governmental organisation, told AFP that the oil slick had “significantly diminished” by Saturday and may have been caused by leaking oil infrastructure.
Kharg Island is at the heart of Iran’s oil export industry, the cornerstone of its battered economy, and lies far north of the narrow Strait of Hormuz in the Gulf.
Following the start of the war on February 28, Iran largely closed the strait, causing turmoil in global markets and causing oil prices to rise.
The United States later imposed its own blockade of Iranian ports in response, and Trump this week abandoned a short-lived U.S. naval operation to reopen the strait to commercial ships.
Conflict on the Lebanese front
A parallel ceasefire on the Lebanese front of the war is also under tension due to daily clashes between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah.
Officials said at least nine people were killed in Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon on Saturday, while state media reported airstrikes targeting a highway south of Beirut outside the militant group’s traditional strongholds.
The new attacks were some of the most intense since the start of a three-week ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
Hezbollah has said it has targeted troops in northern Israel with drones at least twice in response to ongoing attacks.
The Israeli military said several explosive drones were launched into Israeli territory, leaving one reservist seriously injured and two others moderately injured.
The new attacks come as Lebanon and Israel, which have been officially at war since 1948, are due to hold direct talks in Washington next week; Hezbollah vehemently opposes this.
