Iran attacks Gulf allies as US strikes enter 7th straight night

Iran launched fresh attacks on U.S. Gulf allies on Saturday after a seventh consecutive night of U.S. strikes on Iranian military targets, including logistics infrastructure, further escalating the conflict a week after a fragile ceasefire collapsed.

Kuwait faced sustained missile and drone attacks that struck a desalination plant and forced the suspension of operations at Kuwait International Airport.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it hit a U.S. military support center at Camp Arifjan and destroyed a radar facility at Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait.

Iranian state media also reported that the Revolutionary Guard targeted a site housing U.S. combat aircraft at Sheikh Isa Air Base in Bahrain, along with an intelligence data center.

Reuters could not independently verify the reports.

“Since there is no international institution to prevent the savagery of the U.S. military, we have no path before us except the Quranic command: ‘Whoever attacks you, attack it in the same manner,'” the Revolutionary Guard said in a statement warning U.S. allies in the region to expect more strikes.

On Friday, both sides targeted shipping traffic. The United States said it was enforcing a naval blockade, while Iran said it targeted vessels that violated its rules for navigating the Strait of Hormuz, the vital waterway through which about one-fifth of the world’s oil supply passes.

Oil prices climbed more than 4% on Friday to their highest level in more than a month, increasing political pressure on President Donald Trump as Republicans seek to retain control of Congress in the November midterm elections.

Testing the limits

Washington and Tehran have been testing the limits of escalation since their ceasefire agreement collapsed last week, raising the prospect of a return to all-out war.

Civilian infrastructure has increasingly come under attack despite concerns about potential war crimes.

Iranian media reported that several missiles struck power facilities and desalination pumps in the southern city of Jask on Saturday, citing a local official. About 10,000 people in 20 villages were left without water, according to the Tasnim news agency.

A power generation and water desalination plant in Kuwait was hit in an Iranian attack, the country’s Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy said in a statement. It was the second attack on Kuwaiti desalination facilities in two days.

U.S. Central Command said it concluded its seventh consecutive day of strikes by targeting Iranian surveillance sites, military logistics infrastructure, underground weapons storage facilities and maritime capabilities.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is concerned about the escalating conflict, particularly “attacks on civilian infrastructure in Iran and across the region,” his spokesperson said Friday.

Iranian media reported strikes early Saturday in Hormozgan province along the Strait of Hormuz. State television said three people were killed and eight were wounded, while two bridges and a road tunnel were damaged.

A day earlier, Iranian state media said U.S. strikes hit at least five bridges in the south.

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 also reported hit farther east in Iranshahr.

Trump has threatened broad airstrikes on Iran’s infrastructure and has declined to rule out a ground assault on Iran’s coast or islands. U.S. officials said attacks on southern Iran are designed in part to give Trump additional military options.

Such moves risk provoking Iran into attacking critical infrastructure in vulnerable Gulf states or prompting its allies in Yemen to further disrupt global energy supplies by attacking shipping in the Red Sea.

DAILYSABAH