DUBAI, July 18: Hostilities in the Middle East intensified on Saturday after a seventh straight night of US attacks on Iran, with Tehran threatening a "full-scale offensive" in response and the strategic Strait of Hormuz remaining virtually closed.
Here are the latest developments:
- Bahrain 'thwarted' Iranian attacks -
Bahrain's army said its "air defence systems thwarted" a wave of Iranian attacks on Saturday, as an AFP journalist in Manama reported hearing blasts after sirens sounded.
- Iran hits Kuwait power, water plant -
Kuwait said Iran struck another of its power and water plants, leading to the deactivation of several power generation units, a day after a similar attack.
- Seventh night of US strikes on Iran -
US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on X that it "hit surveillance sites, military logistics infrastructure, underground weapons storage and maritime capabilities" as American forces concluded strikes on Iran for the seventh consecutive night.
US-Iran strikes: latest developments
- Tankers 'hit mines' -
Two oil tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz struck mines, according to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards -- an assertion denied by the US military.
The Guards said the tankers that hit mines were directed by "deceptive American intelligence agencies" and had caught fire.
CENTCOM issued a brief denial.
The Guards said separately that they had "stopped" four ships attempting to transit the strategic passage.
- Gulf countries hit -
Iran's army said it struck US military targets in Kuwait and Jordan in response to American attacks.
The targets in Kuwait were tied to the Al-Adiri camp and Ali Al-Salem base. The targets in Jordan were fuel tanks at the Al-Azraq base.
- Kuwait, Jordan respond -
Kuwait's army wrote on X on Saturday that explosions might be heard as a result of "air defence systems intercepting hostile targets".
Jordan's army said it had shot down 10 Iranian missiles with no casualties or damage.
- Bahrain base targeted -
The Iranian army said it targeted an air base in Bahrain used by the United States, according to state television.
Air raid sirens were sounded in Bahrain, which hosts a major US naval base, according to the country's interior ministry.
Bahrain and Qatar earlier said they had intercepted missiles.
- Casualties reported -
Iranian state-controlled IRNA news agency said on Saturday that US strikes had killed three people and wounded eight in Hormozgan, a province in the country's south.
- Blasts in central Iran -
Five explosions were heard in the central Iranian city of Yazd shortly after US strikes were announced, according to the IRNA state news agency.
Mehr, another state-controlled agency, reported explosions "in several provinces in the south" of the country.
- 'Full-scale offensive' -
Tehran threatened to resume "full-scale offensive operations" if US strikes continue over the coming days, Major General Mohsen Rezaei said, according to state-controlled news agency IRIB.
"Iran will no longer limit itself to retaliatory, like-for-like responses... and no political border will be safe," he said.
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