Iran launched a new wave of attacks against Israel, American bases and countries around the region Thursday, while warning the US would “bitterly regret” torpedoing an Iranian warship.
Tehran’s expanding retaliatory strikes and increasing shows of defiance came even as Israel and the US hammered Iran for a sixth day.
The war has escalated each day, affecting an additional 14 countries across the Middle East and beyond. On Thursday, Azerbaijan accused Iran of attacking it with drones – though Tehran denied that.
All the while, the US and Israel have battered Iran with nationwide strikes, targeting their military capabilities leadership and nuclear programme. Israeli and American leaders have also suggested that toppling the government was a goal.
Iran’s attacks have targeted their Arab neighbours, disrupted oil supplies and snarled global air travel.
Iran remains defiant: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused the US Navy of committing an “an atrocity at sea” for sinking the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena in the Indian Ocean earlier in the week, killing at least 87 people. “Mark my words: The US will come to bitterly regret (the) precedent it has set,” he said on social media.
An Iranian cleric later called on state television for the shedding of both Israeli and “Trump’s blood.”
The war keeps expanding: Israel announced multiple incoming missile attacks and air sirens sounded in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, while Gulf countries also reported coming under fire.
In Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, a drone was shot down near the Al Dhafra Air Base, which hosts US forces, and shrapnel fell to the ground, authorities said. Six people were wounded.
Qatar evacuated residents near the US Embassy in Doha as a temporary precaution and later reported a missile attack on the city. Saudi Arabia said it destroyed a drone in its province bordering Jordan.
Bahrain says Iranian missile hit state-run oil refinery: Bahrain says an Iranian missile hit a state-run oil refinery. It said the fire Thursday night was extinguished and the refinery was still working. There were no reports of casualties.
Trump pressures Kurds to back Iran uprising: US President Trump is leaning on the Kurds as he weighs whether to send US troops into Iran.
Trump has phoned key Kurdish leaders in Iran and Iraq in recent days, offering “extensive US aircover” and other assistance if Iranian Kurdish opposition groups move to seize territory in western Iran, the Washington Post reports, citing US and Kurdish sources.