The US has intensified its attacks on Iran, hitting targets near Tehran and striking a ship it accused of trying to break its blockade, while Iran retaliated by firing missiles and drones at US allies in the regionSix consecutive days of back-and-forth attacks threaten to pull the region back into a total war and cast serious doubt about an interim deal reached last month meant to achieve a permanent peace.The attacks have been accompanied by escalating rhetoric from both sides, as the US enforced its naval blockade and Iran said it had shut the strait of Hormuz, which before the conflict handled around a fifth of global oil and gas exports.
The US launched its latest wave of strikes on Iran early on Thursday, hitting areas around Tehran for the first time in the current round of fighting, as well as striking other provinces, Iranian state media reported. The US also said it fired on a tanker sailing towards Kharg island, Iran’s biggest oil export terminal. US Central Command said it fired a Hellfire missile at the ship after it “ignored multiple warnings.”An image from US Central Command showing an attack on an unknown location in Iran. Photograph: US Central Command/ReutersUS attacks had killed more than 35 people and wounded more than 300 others in recent days, Iranian authorities said.Tehran accused the US of carrying out a “barbaric attack” after a cancer hospital in south-west Iran was evacuated because of strikes nearby.“This barbaric attack, reminiscent of Israel’s atrocities against healthcare facilities, caused severe suffering and anxiety upon the hospitalised children,” Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson said on X. Esmaeil Baghaei added that “211 patients undergoing chemotherapy” were evacuated.Another image released by the US military showing a missile being launched at Iran. Photograph: US Central Command/ReutersIran responded on Thursday with missiles and drones targeting Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait, which host US bases. Iraq’s prime minister, Ali al-Zaidi, also said there was an overnight drone attack on the city of Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan. The attack, which was intercepted, came as al-Zaidi pledged to disarm non-state armed groups during a trip to the US.Iraqi authorities also suspended crude oil loading at all Iraqi terminals on Thursday after a drone crashed into an oil tanker in Basra without causing damage, Reuters reported.Iran warned that it could expand its attacks in the region in response to comments from Donald Trump, the US president, that he could attack power plants, bridges and a nuclear facility. “All the infrastructure in the region will be crushed under the steel blows of the powerful armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” said Col Ebrahim Zolfaghari, an Iranian military spokesperson.
