US strikes expand to northern Iran as Tehran fires on Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan – Middle East crisis live

Iran’s army spokesperson Mohammad Akraminia said Tehran did not want to confront its regional neighbours, despite an earlier statement by another military official threatening to “crush” infrastructure across the Middle East.

“Iran has no conflict with the neighbouring and Islamic countries of the region and has always emphasised the development of cooperation and brotherly relations with the countries of the region,” he said, according to Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency.

Iran has warned it would retaliate if its infrastructure is attacked, after Trump threatened that the US military could target Iranian bridges.

In a statement carried by state media, Ebrahim Zolfaghari, a spokesperson for the Iranian military’s Khatam al-Anbiya central headquarters, said “all infrastructure in the region will be crushed”.

He also said Iran would never allow the US to interefere with the strait of Hormuz.

“Under no circumstances and in no way will we allow the United States, as a foreign and extra-regional country, to interfere in the strait of Hormuz. This is Iran’s inviolable red line.”

Pakistan has called on the US and Iran to end the violence and resume negotiations as stipulated in the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed in June with Islamabad’s mediation.

“While the implementation of the MoU is facing challenges, Pakistan will continue to encourage all sides to end the violence and resume technical level talks in accordance with the MoU,” Tahir Andrabi, spokesperson for the Pakistani foreign ministry, said at a press briefing today.

Jonathan Yerushalmy

The US has fired on an oil tanker attempting to reach Kharg Island in the strait of Hormuz as part of its blockade on Iranian ports, as Tehran came under attack for the first time in this latest round of strikes.

The US said on Thursday morning it had disabled an unladen oil tanker, during a fifth day of strikes, firing Hellfire missiles into the ship’s smokestack after it ignored multiple warnings.

On Wednesday evening, the US targeted coastal defences and missile sites, hours after a separate round of strikes that hit cruise missile storage and launch sites on Iran’s Greater Tunb Island in the morning.

The US also hit targets further north, with state media reporting strikes on the country’s capital, Tehran, and reports of air defences being heard throughout the city early on Thursday.

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Welcome to our continuing live coverage of the Middle East crisis.

The US military says it carried out a fresh wave of strikes against Iranian targets to degrade the country’s ability to threaten ships transiting the strait of Hormuz, while Iran launched retaliatory attacks on US allies in the region.

US Central Command (Centcom) said targets included the southern port city of Bandar Abbas – home ⁠to key ​facilities belonging to the Iranian navy and Revolutionary Guards – in the strikes overnight to Thursday morning local time. “The US military is holding Iran accountable at the commander in chief’s direction,” it said, referring to president Donald Trump.

Iranian state media said the strikes also hit around Tehran – the first time the capital has been targeted in the latest round of attacks.

Iran targeted US-allied Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan with missiles and drones in retaliation.

Centcom said US aircraft fired missiles into an oil tanker’s smokestack in the Hormuz strait, disabling the vessel, after it ignored multiple warnings as it tried to violate the US naval blockade of Iran’s ports.

In other key developments:

• Trump ⁠said ⁠he did not ​like giving deadlines ⁠when asked by ⁠reporters if Tehran ‌had a ‌deadline before the US started attacking Iranian bridges, as he has threatened. “They know ​the story … ​They ​better ​behave,” ​he said.

• Tehran’s top negotiator said that ⁠if Iran ⁠did ​not benefit from its memorandum of ⁠understanding with the US, “we have no reason ⁠to adhere to such an ​understanding”. Iran had “never welcomed war, nor do we now”, ⁠said Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the parliamentary speaker. He called on Iranians to continue with their armed resistance but to also “use the tools of diplomacy and negotiation to achieve and consolidate national interests”.

• Iranian state media reported explosions in several cities amid the latest US strikes, including Bandar Abbas, Rask, Chabahar and Ahvaz as well as Semnan province, home to the country’s ballistic missile production and space programme. Reports also cited blasts around southern sites including Qeshm and Bandar Imam Khomeini, as well as in Bushehr, home to Iran’s only civilian nuclear plant.

• The US strikes hit an Iranian army barracks, killed at least seven troops and wounded hundreds of people across the country, according to Iranian officials. There was no immediate word on casualties from Iran’s strikes, but its health ministry said at least ۳۰ people had been killed and ۲۶۰ injured in southern Iran in US attacks in recent days.

• Iran’s army said it used kamikaze drones to target US military communication systems and fuel storage facilities in Jordan. The Jordanian military said it shot down eight missiles Iran launched at the kingdom.

• Trump thanked Iran for allowing an American citizen he says was “wrongfully detained in December of ۲۰۲۴” to leave the country. “She is now safely outside of Iran, and in good condition,” he said, while the woman was named by her lawyer as Dena Karari, a dual American and Iranian citizen.

• Oil prices continued to rise amid the latest waves of escalation, with Brent crude oil – the international standard – trading above $۸۵ a barrel on Wednesday. That’s more than ۱۵% higher than the price before the war but still well below the nearly $۱۲۰ reached at the peak of the conflict.