Iran attacks US allies in Middle East as renewed conflict enters second week | US-Israel war on Iran

Iran has launched a wave of attacks against US allies in the Middle East as renewed US attacks on Iran enter a second week and conflicts over the Strait of Hormuz escalate.

Kuwait accused Iran of targeting civilian areas and vital infrastructure in the country, such as electricity and water desalination plants. Extremely arid Kuwait relies on desalinated water for approximately 90% of its drinking water.

The country had to briefly close its airspace as it blocked Iran’s missiles and drones, and several Kuwaiti firefighters and a worker were injured while fighting fires caused by Iranian attacks, the country said.

Bahrain also warned residents to take shelter after detecting possible drones or missiles by activating air sirens on Saturday. Jordan’s state-run Petra news agency said the kingdom’s air defense systems shot down Iranian missiles.

Iran’s attacks on US allies in the region came in response to US attacks on civilian infrastructure, including bridges and energy facilities.

The Gulf Cooperation Council secretary-general condemned the attacks, saying attacks on civilian infrastructure amounted to “war crimes.”

“Iran’s actions constitute an extremely dangerous escalation, a serious violation of international law and the United Nations (UN) Charter, as well as war crimes requiring international accountability and prosecution, given the deliberate targeting of infrastructure and civilian facilities,” Jasem Mohamed al-Budaiwi said in a statement.

Kuwait Oil Company told reporters that reports also showed Iran targeted an oil facility in Kuwait, causing numerous injuries and “significant material losses.”

“The repeated targeting of these vital facilities demonstrates a systematic enemy approach to targeting civilian areas and vital infrastructure, endangering the lives and safety of civilians,” Kuwait’s foreign ministry said.

Late Friday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said two oil tankers piloted by “deceptive American intelligence agencies” exploded after hitting mines in the Strait of Hormuz. The US military said this claim was false.

The Revolutionary Guard also said on state television that they “intercepted” four ships trying to pass through the critical waterway and destroyed at least two US warplanes and three other aircraft during a missile and drone attack on a US base in Azraq, Jordan, early Saturday.

The IRGC said a US military support center at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait was hit and a US radar facility at Ali Al Salem air base in the country was destroyed.

The Revolutionary Guard also targeted an area where US warplanes gather and an intelligence data center at Bahrain’s Sheikh Issa air base, Iranian state media reported.

US Central Command said the attacks, which began for the seventh consecutive night at 7pm last night, were designed to “continue to disrupt Iran’s military capabilities”.

The US managed to strike Iran’s “surveillance sites, military logistics infrastructure, underground weapons depots and maritime capabilities” overnight, the US military said in a statement on Saturday morning.

Iranian media reported that explosions were heard or attacks were carried out in the cities of Sirik, Ahvaz and Yazd.

According to Iran’s health ministry, US strikes have killed 50 people and injured more than 500 since fighting resumed. The country acknowledged for the first time the US’s “successful attacks on energy infrastructure” on Friday, when Iran’s Ministry of Energy called on people to use less energy in the southern provinces where “extreme heat is experienced”. The ministry did not specify what was hit.

Major General Mohsen Rezaee, a senior military adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, said Tehran would resume “full-scale offensive operations” if US attacks against it continued for another two or three days.

“Iran will no longer limit itself to retaliatory, similar reactions… and no political border will be safe,” Rezaei said, according to Iranian news agency IRIB.