Iran targeted US radar and air defense installations in the Gulf on Tuesday, warning Washington of “more decisive and powerful” attacks to come as the conflict threatened to widen with a blockade of Saudi ports by Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Following the deaths of at least three US soldiers in the past several days, the United States launched a new round of attacks against Iran late Monday, which it said were “designed to further degrade Iranian military capabilities used to attack commercial shipping” in the Strait of Hormuz.
In a related development, the US State Department issued an alert urging American citizens around the world to “exercise increased caution” over the war with Iran.
The alert said that “due to heightened tensions in the Middle East, the security environment remains complex with the potential for unforeseen escalation.”
“Americans outside the Middle East should reconsider travel to and through the region,” it said, while warning of the heightened possibility of attacks targeting US diplomatic facilities “or at locations associated with the United States and Americans throughout the world.”
In the Strait of Hormuz, meanwhile, the Revolutionary Guards said Tuesday two tankers attempting to transit the strait “were hit by explosions, resulting in massive fires that brought them to a standstill”.
Earlier, UKMTO said, “”The vessel was struck by an unknown projectile. The crew safely abandoned the vessel and have been recovered by a tug boat. The fire has not been extinguished and the vessel is currently adrift. There is no reported environmental impact.”
More than a month after the signing of the memorandum of understanding to end the war between the United States and Iran, tensions continue to escalate, with US President Donald Trump warning that Iran would pay “many times over” for every American soldier killed, while Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said the conflict had become “a full-scale war“.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they hit US military targets including air defense systems in Bahrain and Kuwait, state news agency IRNA reported.
The Guards said they struck two air defense systems and a radar installation at two different US outposts in Bahrain, as well as missile defense systems and radars and satellite reception systems in Kuwait.
“With this radar sweep, the enemy should prepare for even more decisive and powerful waves of drone and missile attacks,” the Guards said in a statement carried by state news agency IRNA.
Despite the latest fighting, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said diplomatic exchanges with Washington via mediators were ongoing.
Iran’s Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni is in Islamabad for a two-day visit during which he will meet with Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and powerful army chief Asim Munir, according to Pakistan’s interior ministry.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun is set to meet with Trump in Washington on Tuesday as pressure builds for Beirut to disarm Hezbollah, Israel’s key condition before withdrawing from south Lebanon. (AFP)
