Supreme leader says Iran will teach US unforgettable lessons, Trump’s signature worthlessn Iran launches attacks across Middle East US hits Iran for seventh consecutive night At least 50 killed in US strikes on Iran in war’s latest phase Kuwait, Iran each reported hits on desalination plants.
WASHINGTON/TEHRAN/DUBAI – The United States and Iran exchanged strikes aimed at infrastructure and military targets on Saturday as their battle over the Strait of Hormuz intensified, with the US shifting dozens of additional refueling aircraft to Israel, as US President Donald Trump weighs launching another massive bombing offensive against Iran.
Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said on Saturday that US President Donald Trump’s signature is “worthless and unreliable” after repeated violations of the memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran.
Iranian supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei vowed to teach the US “unforgettable lessons” as renewed hostilities flared on Saturday, saying Washington’s attacks in spite of a framework deal to end the war showed Donald Trump’s signature to be worthless.
“Now that the American enemy seeks to incite war and bear its most serious consequences, it should know that the dear Iranian nation and the axis of resistance have unforgettable lessons to offer it,” he said, in a statement carried by state TV, adding that US violations of the deal “once again demonstrated to everyone the worthlessness of the American president’s signature.”
The region has endured days of back-and-forth attacks in a conflict increasingly focused on control of the strait. The collapse of an interim ceasefire leaves no clear end in sight for the war that the US and Israel began more than four months ago.
The US Central Command said early Saturday that its seventh straight night of strikes had hit “surveillance sites, military logistics infrastructure, underground weapons storage, and maritime capabilities.” Kuwait said Saturday it was intercepting Iranian missiles and drones, while Iraq said it had shot down attack drones over the city of Irbil. Saudi Arabia reported attacks for the first time in months. Jordan’s state-run Petra news agency said that the kingdom’s air defense systems had downed Iranian missiles, while air sirens sounded in Bahrain, according to the government there.
Iranian officials say recent US strikes have killed dozens of people and wounded hundreds, with new casualties reported Friday, when the US military also acknowledged more injured service members.
Both sides also took aim at shipping traffic, with the US saying it was enforcing a naval blockade while Iran said it targeted vessels that violated its rules on navigating the Strait of Hormuz, the vital waterway for one-fifth of the world’s oil supply.
The US military’s Central Command said Saturday it concluded its latest round of attacks by hitting surveillance sites, military logistics infrastructure, underground weapons storage and maritime capabilities.
“US forces employed fighter aircraft, aerial drones, and warships in addition to other assets,” Central Command said in a statement. “More than 50,000 American service members are operating across the Middle East and remain vigilant, lethal, and ready.”
Iranian media reported on Saturday that several missiles struck power facilities and desalination pumps in the southern Iranian city of Jask, citing a local official. The official said drinking water had been cut off in villages in Jask due to the attack.
The US said its forces redirected four commercial vessels, disabled one, and boarded another to enforce its naval blockade of Iran.
In turn Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said four vessels violating its rules on shipping traffic were stopped from going through the strait with a combined missile and drone operation.
In addition, Iranian media, citing Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, reported that two oil tankers exploded and caught fire after passing through a mined route south of the strait. The US military labelled that report as false.
The US military’s Central Command said its targets included “military logistics infrastructure,” the first time it mentioned infrastructure in more than a week.
Iranian media reported enemy strikes early on Saturday in coastal Hormozgan Province on the Iranian side of the Strait of Hormuz. State TV said three people were killed and eight wounded while two bridges and a road tunnel were damaged.
Iranian media reported explosions heard or strikes carried out in Sirik, Ahvaz, Yazd, Jask and Khorramabad late Friday or early Saturday.
On Friday, Iranian state media said at least five bridges were struck in the south in US attacks. Seven people were reported killed in attacks on bridges in the southern port of Bandar Khamir, where a train station was also hit. An airport was reported hit further east and away from the coast in Iranshahr, in a province bordering Pakistan.
Kuwait shuts airspace amid strikes
Iran announced attacks on Gulf countries that host US airbases, including Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and Jordan, in addition to a US vessel in the northern Indian Ocean. Saudi Arabia’s civil defense issued early warnings, the first in several months, in at least two places but had yet to report any damage. Earlier in the war, Iran hit some of the oil-rich kingdom’s energy facilities.
Kuwait came under sustained attack, with Iranian forces saying they targeted an ammunition depot in the Al-Adiri camp, the headquarters buildings and ammunition depots in the Ali Al-Salem base and several communication bridges.
Authorities in Kuwait said one of the country’s power generation and water desalination stations had been hit in an Iranian attack, causing damage, a fire and the disruption of a large number of electricity generation units.
A desalination plant was also reportedly hit, and Kuwait Petroleum Corporation later said one of its oil facilities had been hit in “repeated Iranian attacks,” causing significant damage and some injuries, according to the state news agency.
“The repeated targeting of these vital facilities reveals a systematic hostile approach targeting civilian sites and vital infrastructure that endangers the lives and safety of civilians,” Kuwait’s foreign ministry said.
Kuwait Airways later said it had rescheduled most flights after the country temporarily suspended operations at Kuwait International Airport following Iranian missile and drone attacks.
The airline had earlier said the rescheduling was due to the closure of Kuwaiti airspace.
Saudi Arabia attacked for 1st time in 3 months
Iran also launched attacks on Saudi Arabia for the first time in about three months, according to two people familiar with the matter, triggering early warning alarms in Al-Kharj, east of the capital Riyadh, and at Yanbu on the kingdom’s Red Sea coast.
The people said one attack had targeted the Prince Sultan Airbase in Al-Kharj, which hosts US forces.
Saudi state media did not elaborate on what triggered the early warnings and the government media office did not respond to a request for comment. The IRGC made no mention of any attack on Saudi Arabia.
In Jordan, fuel tanks at the Al-Azraq base were also targeted, the state broadcaster said on Telegram.
The Sheikh Isa Air Base in Bahrain was also targeted, the Iranian army said, adding that it “is “one of the most important operational and logistical centres” for the US military in the region. Reportedly, two US service members were killed and one was missing after Iranian attack in Jordan.
State news agency IRNA reported the Iranian navy fired a shore-to-sea cruise missile towards what it called a hostile US vessel in the northern Indian Ocean. Iran’s army said the missile launch caused “fear and panic” and forced the vessel to move out of range of Iran’s navy.
Iranian authorities said at least 46 people have been killed and more than 400 wounded in recent US strikes, including eight killed in a strike on a bridge Friday.
US officials acknowledged 13 additional US service members — 10 Army soldiers and three Navy sailors — had been injured since Monday, but offered no further details. Since the war began, 14 US service members have been killed and 427 wounded.
Iran has suspended its commitments under the deal reached with the United States a month ago, deputy foreign minister Khazem Gharibabadi said.
The memorandum of understanding between the two sides ended weeks of fighting and opened space for detailed talks but has collapsed under exchanges of fire between Iran and the US.
“We were in negotiations. Unfortunately, it was the Americans themselves who, in fact, took these aggressive actions, in violation of their own commitments,” Gharibabadi told Iran’s state broadcaster on Saturday.
As a result, “We have suspended all of our commitments and are, in fact, no longer implementing them,” he said.
His remarks are another sign that negotiations between Iran and the US, through the mediation of Qatar and Pakistan, are moribund.
Last week, US President Donald Trump said he thought that the ceasefire was “over” after an Iranian drone attack on a ship transiting the Strait of Hormuz.
“What we are now faced with is defending our country,” Gharibabadi said. “We will do so firmly and decisively, and I think the Americans have once again received their response — that these aggressive actions by them will get them nowhere.”
Earlier this week, Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said Tehran would continue to respond “firmly” to US strikes and had no plans for negotiations.
“We currently have no plans for negotiations and remain focused on defending the country,” Baghaei told reporters in Tehran on Wednesday.
At least 12 people were killed in Iran by US strikes in the last day, taking the total death toll to 50 since this latest phase of the war began, according to the Iranian Health Ministry.
At least 500 people have additionally been injured in US strikes since June 27, when the fragile ceasefire in the region first began to fray, said Hossein Kermanpour, a ministry spokesperson.
Five women and two children are among those who have been killed in the last month, he said.
