A destroyed building in a residential area after strikes on Iran in Tehran.
Image: Xinhua
US-Israeli strikes hit the Iranian port city of Bandar Khamir near the strategic Strait of Hormuz yesterday, killing five people, Iranian state media reported.
The IRNA news agency said four people were wounded in the strike.
A series of loud explosions was heard across the Iranian capital. The blasts were heard in northern Tehran and smoke was seen rising from impacted areas.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said yesterday they launched missile and drone strikes on aluminium plants in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, targeting what they described as industries linked to the US military.
In a statement carried by Iranian state broadcaster IRIB, the Guards said they hit an aluminium facility in the UAE and Aluminium Bahrain’s main plant, calling both sites “industries affiliated with and connected to the US military and aerospace sectors in the region”.
The Israeli army announced the death in combat of a soldier in south Lebanon – the fifth in Lebanon since Hezbollah launched new rocket attacks on Israel on March 2.
Twenty-two-year-old Sergeant Moshe Yitzchak Hacohen Katz came from New Haven, Connecticut. The Pentagon is preparing for weeks of ground operations in Iran – potentially including raids on Kharg Island and coastal sites near the Strait of Hormuz – though US President Donald Trump has yet to approve any deployment, the Washington Post reported.
Any ground operation would stop short of a full-scale invasion, instead involving raids by special operations forces and conventional infantry troops, the Post said, citing unnamed officials.
Kuwait’s military said it was responding to “hostile missile and drone” threats.
“The general staff of the Kuwaiti Armed Forces confirms that any explosions that may be heard are the result of air defence systems intercepting hostile targets,” it posted on social media.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard yesterday threatened to target US universities in the Middle East, while saying US-Israeli strikes had destroyed two Iranian universities.
The Guard demanded a US condemnation of the bombing of universities by noon today.
Pakistan will host foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkiye in Islamabad yesterday and today for discussions “on a range of issues, including efforts to de-escalate tensions in the region”, the foreign ministry said.
Islamabad has emerged as a facilitator between Iran and the US, serving as an intermediary for messages between the two sides.
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels joined the month-old Middle East war at the weekend, claiming two missile attacks on Israel.
Until the weekend, they had sat out the latest conflict, but had warned they would join it if they were targeted or Iran continued to come under attack.
Hundreds gathered in Tel Aviv and some other Israeli cities on Saturday to protest the Middle East war, in unauthorised demonstrations that security forces sought to disperse.
AFP