Iran hits US targets as Washington probes wedding strike
Iran said it struck US military bases in Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates on Thursday and promised to avenge a wedding attack it blamed on Washington, while US Vice President JD Vance said the alleged strike was under investigation.
The latest clashes, which started with US raids on Sunday, have hardened the deadlock in a war now in its sixth month. Iran still holds a tight grip on the Strait of Hormuz, and Washington is pressing its counter blockade of Iranian ports.
Kuwait’s army said Thursday it intercepted a missile and drone attack from Iran. The Iranian army said it hit Ahmad al Jaber Air Base in Kuwait. Kuwait called the attack a grave breach of the rules of international law.
Iran’s army also said it struck Al Minhad Air Base in the United Arab Emirates. The Gulf state reported no such attack.
The claims followed word from the Iranian Red Crescent that a missile attack on a wedding in the coastal town of Kuhestak on Tuesday night killed four people, including a child, and wounded more than 50.
Vance said Washington was looking into the alleged strike but doubted reports coming from Iran. I know that we are investigating, he told a White House briefing. I will say that the Iranian state media has not been a very good scribe about what has happened in the conflict thus far. So I am extremely sceptical of this.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards chief Ahmad Vahidi vowed Thursday to avenge those killed. The pure blood of these oppressed martyrs will not go unanswered, he said.
US Central Command spokesman Tim Hawkins said the US military never targets civilians, unlike the IRGC.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran was weaker than ever. Extensive US bombardment of sites across Iran killed at least 19 Iranians between Tuesday and Wednesday, after President Donald Trump said his forces were ready to attack Iran any time we want.
Iran’s Tasnim news agency said Thursday that six members of the Iranian army’s naval forces were killed by US attacks this week. It was not immediately clear if those six were among the 19 dead.
Tehran answered with strikes across the Middle East this week, saying it targeted US bases and forces in the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan and Iraq’s Kurdistan region.
Iran’s security chief Mohsen Rezaei warned the United States on Wednesday that the Islamic Republic had adopted a new strategy in the war that will shatter your foundations.
Netanyahu still sounded confident Thursday that the Islamic Republic could soon fall. This regime is currently teetering. It is weaker than ever. It is fighting for its survival, he said at an event with Israeli military leaders. I am convinced that we can remove this threat once and for all.
Beyond the fighting, Washington has pledged to choke Iran’s economy and threatened sanctions on its trade partners. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Wednesday that a US plan for wider sanctions on Iran’s economic partners would deliver absolutely maximum pressure.
Iran’s top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf attacked Washington over the wedding strike and called the United States Satan.
Ordinary Iranians voiced dismay at the return of heavy fighting. Hossein Moazami, 50 and self employed, called the attacks truly distressing. I hope they all return to the negotiating table because the only people suffering from this are the Iranian people, he said. The Americans are on the other side of the world, and nothing happens to them.
A video shared by an Iranian government account showed debris and damage at what it said was the wedding site, with screaming heard in the background. It is a very saddening incident, Ali Mallahi, father of the bride, said in a video carried on state television. Thank God the casualties were not higher.
The war began on 28 February with US Israeli attacks on Iran that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. A fragile ceasefire broke down in July after attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, through which about one fifth of world oil supplies used to pass.
Israel’s defence minister said his country was ready to answer with great force if Iran struck during the Jewish high holiday season, which starts in mid September. For now, they are striking throughout the region except us, Israel Katz said.
