Iran strikes targets in Gulf after US hits 90 sites; India urges calm
An immediate flashpoint between the two countries is the opening of the Strait of Hormuz
The US carried out strikes on Iran for the second consecutive day while Tehran retaliated by targeting American bases in Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait.
Both sides have threatened to escalate the strikes, raising fears of deepening of the oil crisis as the vital Strait of Hormuz is seeing a low volume of shipping.
Iran accused the US of striking near its Bushehr nuclear power plant.
New Delhi said it was “deeply concerned” over the recent attacks and escalation of tensions in West Asia. Terming the developments “a risk undermining regional peace, security and stability”, the Ministry of External Affairs said, “India calls upon all parties to exercise restraint, de-escalate tensions and ensure protection of civilians as well as the uninterrupted flow of energy supplies and commerce.”
The US military’s Central Command said early on Thursday that it had completed “an additional round of strikes against Iran … to further degrade Tehran’s ability to attack commercial shipping and innocent civilian mariners in the Strait of Hormuz”. The US said “90 Iranian military targets have been hit, including air defence systems, coastal surveillance assets, missile and drone storage sites, naval capabilities and military logistics infrastructure along Iran’s coastline”.
Centre letting oil firms profit: Kejriwal
AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal alleged on Thursday that the Centre is allowing oil companies to make ‘illegitimate profit’ and that fuel prices should be reduced. He said the government should cut petrol prices from Rs 102 per litre to Rs 82 per litre.
The US attacked eastern Iranian cities of Iranshahr, Bandar Abbas, Konarak, Chabahar and Bushehr, as well as Aqqala in northeastern Iran. One firefighter was killed in an attack on the Iranshahr airport, Iran state news agency IRNA reported.
Iranian officials told the Fars News Agency that attacks on Chabahar included strikes on a maritime control tower and a depot. Iranian state media also reported that a railway bridge had been targeted in Aqqala.
Hours after the US strikes, Iran launched missiles on American bases in Bahrain and Kuwait. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned a future response could extend to other US bases in the region if it continued its attacks.
Ebrahim Rezaei, a spokesman for the Iranian Parliament’s National Security Committee, warned of a response. “Wait for the hard slap by Iranians,” he wrote on X.
An immediate flashpoint between the two countries is the opening of the Strait of Hormuz. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Speaker of Iran’s Parliament, said the Strait of Hormuz “will only open with ‘Iranian arrangements’, not American threats”.
The US has maintained that the MoU, inked on June 17, requires unfettered passage to all vessels.
Since the signing of the MoU, opening a 60-day window to allow for peace negotiations, the US has insisted that any spike in conflict is the result of Iran exercising sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, which the White House insists is an international waterway and necessary for the global economy.
Speaking to reporters on board Air Force One, US President Donald Trump said, “We just hit them very hard, and I say we hit them 20 to 1.” He added that every time “they hit us, we’re going to hit them 20”.
