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AP, DUBAI, United Arab Emirates
Iran launched a drone assault targeting Bahrain while a ship in the Strait of Hormuz separately came under attack yesterday, likely Tehran’s response to overnight airstrikes by the US.
The attacks across the Persian Gulf show the danger of the Iran war again spinning out of control, even after Iran and the US reached an interim deal to try and agree on a final accord to end the conflict.
Washington had launched its airstrikes in response to an Iranian drone attack on a ship trying to get out of the strait on Thursday, continuing a string of attacks that have shaken the uneasy ceasefire in the war.
Photo: Reuters
Meanwhile, a multinational maritime body overseen by the US Navy said it would expand a route near Oman in the strait to allow for inbound and outbound traffic — likely setting up a new flashpoint with Tehran.
That Iran targeted Bahrain likely was not coincidental. The kingdom has been one of the strongest critics of Iran and is home to the US Navy’s 5th Fleet. It just hosted US Secretary of State Marco Rubio for a meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council’s foreign ministers, which ended with a call for an end to Iran’s attacks and the strait to be completely open.
The Bahraini Ministry of Foreign Affairs said a “number of Iranian drones” targeted the country and called the attack “a flagrant threat to the security of citizens and residents.”
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard earlier said it had targeted several locations “of the US terrorist army in the region.”
It did not name what areas were targeted.
The US military’s Central Command said the military struck Iranian missile and drone locations and coastal radar sites in the overnight strikes.
US Vice President J.D. Vance on Friday said Iran should “pick up the phone” if there are disagreements about the ceasefire agreement, and that “violence will be met with violence.”
The US and Iran are still negotiating terms of the deal, including issues such as getting ships through the key strait and addressing the future of Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium. Under the interim deal, the two sides have 60 days to work out the details.
Meanwhile, the British military’s UK Maritime Trade Operations center said that a tanker was attacked yesterday in the strait.
The crew was safe and no environmental damage was reported, it said.
No one immediately claimed the strike, but suspicion immediately fell on Iran.
Just after the report of the ship attack, the Joint Maritime Information Center, overseen by the US Navy, said the route near Oman’s shores is expanding to allow for inbound and outbound traffic.
Ebrahim Azizi, who heads the Iranian parliament’s national security commission, said: “the Strait of Hormuz is governed by Iran, so: Respect the rules.”
The US and Gulf Arab states have rejected Iran’s demands. The strait is considered around the world as an international waterway, despite being the territorial waters of Iran and Oman.
In its announcement, the Joint Maritime Information Center warned that the threat in the region to ships was “substantial.”
“Mariners are advised of the existence of mines and should expect a naval presence as clearance operations continue,” the center added.
