War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

Kuwait’s military says it was responding to renewed missile and drone salvos as Tehran pressed its attacks against Gulf countries and the United States expanded its strikes across the Islamic republic.

“Kuwaiti air defences are currently confronting hostile missile and drone attacks,” the Gulf state’s army said in a statement blaming Iran, while an AFP journalist confirmed hearing explosions in Kuwait City. In neighbouring Bahrain, air raid sirens also sounded, according to the island kingdom’s interior ministry.

A deal to secure an Israeli withdrawal from south Lebanon and the disarmament of Hezbollah faces its first test on the ground, as the Lebanese army begins taking charge of security in three southern villages, Washington says according to AFP.

The United States said operations had started in “pilot zones” in Froun, Srifa and Zawtar al-Gharbiya “in accordance with the Trilateral Framework and under the auspices of the Military Coordination Group for Lebanon”.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei says the US has targeted Iran’s civilian facilities and infrastructure in several provinces during its ongoing military aggression, revealing “America’s destructive logic”, according to Tasnim news agency.

“We condemn the attacks on infrastructure in the strongest possible terms,” Baqaei said in his weekly press conference. “Today we stand alongside the people of southern Iran not as a slogan, but out of friendship. Our coasts are not distant frontiers; they are the closest place to the hearts of Iranians.”

He also praised the resilience of the southern population, lauding the Iranian military forces for protecting the country.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree says the continued blockade of Yemen’s Sanaa airport “is unacceptable and cannot be tolerated”, according to Al Jazeera.

Saree vowed to retaliate “to the blockade with a blockade and to respond to all escalation with escalation”.

“The Yemeni Armed Forces affirm their complete readiness for all options and any foolish act committed by the reckless Saudi enemy,” said Saree.

“We call upon the people of our great nation to continue the general mobilisation and general call to arms, and to be fully prepared for all scenarios and developments, and to support the fronts with fighters.”

Yemen’s Houthi rebels have announced a maritime embargo of their foe Saudi Arabia, after the pair traded fire last week for the first time in years, AFP reports.

The rebels “declare a maritime embargo against the criminal Saudi enemy, based on the equation of ‘an eye for an eye,’ effective immediately upon the issuance of this statement,” military spokesman Yahya Saree said.

Bahrain says Iranian drones have targeted its air navigation systems, though traffic remains unaffected, AFP reports.

“As a result of a hostile Iranian act of aggression against the Kingdom of Bahrain, civil air navigation systems serving the Bahrain Flight Information Region were targeted by hostile drones. However, air navigation operations remained unaffected,” Bahrain’s civil aviation body said in a statement.

“Flights and air traffic” were proceeding normally, it added.

In the week leading up to the Iranian attack on Friday that killed two US soldiers and left one service member missing in Jordan, Iran carried out three other strikes against US forces in the country, The New York Times has reported.

Those attacks injured dozens of US service members and damaged several helicopters, NYT said citing several US officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss operational matters.

“But the Pentagon did not disclose the earlier strikes, nor the casualties and damage they inflicted,” it added.

Iran’s Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni is set to travel to Islamabad today, a Pakistani interior ministry source says according to AFP.

The source confirmed to AFP that the minister would have talks with Pakistani officials, but did not elaborate on whether the trip was linked to Pakistan’s long-running mediation efforts to end fighting between the United States and Iran.

Iran’s top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has said the US keeps “bringing new military equipment to the region” despite insisting they want to stop the war.

“Americans keep bringing new military equipment to the region and claim they’re after stopping the war. They’ve bet on our intelligence being as brief as their own IQ,” Ghalibaf wrote on X.

“We’ve reached the stage of mastery in recognising these American games, and on that basis, we’ve prepared ourselves. Actions must confirm claims, not contradict them,” he added.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has said his country was in a “full-scale war” with the United States and that Tehran should accept the repercussions of the conflict, AFP reports.

“The reality is that today the Islamic Republic of Iran is engaged in a full-scale war,” Pezeshkian said, adding that “we must be realistic and accept the natural consequences of this resistance”, according to a presidency statement.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has met the newly appointed Pakistani ambassador to Iran, Imran Ahmed Siddiqui, Tehran Times reports.

Seoul’s foreign ministry has advised short-term visitors to evacuate the Middle East immediately, Al Jazeera reports.

“Given that most Middle Eastern countries have been under a Level 3 Travel Advisory, which recommends that travellers leave unless necessary, since March, short-term visitors are advised to depart promptly unless they have compelling reasons to remain,” Second Vice Foreign Minister Kim Jina has said.

He has also called for heightened vigilance to ensure the safety of Korean vessels operating in the Red Sea during recent tensions involving Yemen’s Houthis and Saudi Arabia.

Iran has not violated any of the 14 clauses of the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding with the US, Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian says, as reported by Tasnim.

“Today, we are in a state of war, and managing the country with the same usual rules and procedures of the past is no longer possible.”

The dollar has been broadly ⁠steady as uncertainty about the outlook for the conflict in the Middle East has kept traders cautious, Al Jazeera reports.

The dollar index, which ⁠measures the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, was down 0.1 per cent at 100.72.

“Markets, I think, have become somewhat more comfortable with the range of risks to be priced in, and until something happens that catches traders by surprise, we’re just not going to see a huge amount of volatility for the Middle East,” says Nick Rees, head of macro research at Monex Europe.

“It’ll ‌keep markets nervous. It’ll keep markets cautious. But I think we’re really going back to where we were, not in April but in May, where volatility ground lower because we saw just a general lack of conviction on where things were going to trade next.”

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson has made the remarks after being asked by reporters whether the door to talks with the US is now closed, Al Jazeera reports.

“I reject the duality of either war or diplomacy. Diplomacy is a tool through which we pursue our national interests, just like war,” he has said.

“Just as the armed forces are steadfast in the field of defence, diplomats are also obliged to protect the country’s rights in the area of negotiations despite the enemy’s cunning and pressure.”

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard says its ground forces rely on “up-to-date equipment, continuous training, and improving operational capacity” and are “at the highest level of readiness” against any US infiltration, Al Jazeera reports.

“The constant vigilance of the armed forces and their continuous readiness guarantee the country’s sustainable security, and this readiness is pursued with seriousness in all operational sectors,” an IRGC statement cited by Tasnim news agency said.

Brigadier-General Ruhollah Nouri, the IRGC’s deputy ground forces commander, said Iranian forces are prepared to “neutralise any enemy incursion immediately”.

Iran urged the United Nations nuclear watchdog to condemn US strikes that it said targeted the Darkhovin nuclear power plant under construction in the country’s southwest, AFP reports.

“Iran… expects the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) Board of Governors and the Director General of the IAEA, who from time to time makes political statements regarding the Iranian nuclear issue, to clearly state their position on this matter in condemning the US crime,” Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said at a press conference in Tehran attended by AFP.

Iran says it will not allow the vital Strait of Hormuz to be used by its foes to threaten the country’s security, reports AFP.

“We must not allow this waterway to be misused again to threaten Iran’s security and national interests,” said foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei at a press conference in Tehran attended by AFP, adding the country was “determined to take the necessary measures” to safeguard its sovereignty.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Baqaei has repeated Tehran’s stance that “there is no ambiguity” in the text of the Memorandum of Understanding signed with the US, Al Jazeera reports.

“The text of the Memorandum of Understanding is a short text and has 14 clauses,” he has told reporters in the Iranian capital.

The official adds: “We had said from the very beginning that the responsibility for the future management of the Strait of Hormuz lies with Iran, and this issue will be pursued in consultation with Oman and through dialogue with regional countries.”

“The text is completely clear, and there is no excuse for America to break the treaty,” Baqaei says.

Iran says that diplomatic exchanges with the United States via mediators are ongoing despite US military strikes on the country, AFP reports.

“We have been informed by mediators, we have received messages — without going into details — but the main point is that the diplomatic apparatus has been active in recent days and ideas have been conveyed to us by certain mediators,” says Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei at a press conference in Tehran.

South-east Asia’s top diplomats will express alarm over renewed hostilities in the Middle East when they gather in the Philippine capital on Tuesday for talks to be joined by western and Asian counterparts, including from the US, China, Russia and the EU, according to The Guardian.

Foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) will first meet among themselves in Manila on Tuesday to discuss — among other main concerns — the US-Iran hostilities that have triggered fears of a return to a full-blown war.

They plan to issue a joint statement expressing alarm over the developments and urge both sides to resume talks, two south-east Asian diplomats told the Associated Press.

One person has been killed and several others injured after the US army attacked, according to Al Jazeera.

Majid Farshi, director general of crisis management at East Azarbaijan province, told the state news agency IRNA that the strike in the early hours of the day targeted a military area in the southwest of Tabriz city, located in northwestern Iran.

A vessel was struck by an unknown projectile 8 nautical miles (14.8 km) northwest of Oman’s Kumzar, overlooking the Strait of Hormuz, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency said, adding that the vessel is currently adrift, according to Reuters.

The crew safely abandoned the vessel and have been recovered by a tug boat, UKMTO said after reporting earlier that the vessel was on fire.

The fire has not been extinguished, but no environmental impact was reported, UKMTO said.