Parts of a missile fired by the Houthis fall on the outskirts of Jericho in Israel (AFP).
After US President Donald Trump issued a strong threat to Tehran to launch a “very strong” attack if a peace agreement could not be reached, US aircraft launched “defensive strikes” against “multiple” targets inside Tehran.
Fars Agency reported hearing explosions on Qeshm Island and activating air defenses there, while other Iranian reports spoke of four explosions in the city of Sirik and Minab in Hormozgan Governorate. Iranian television also announced hearing explosions in Bandar Abbas.
Trump announced on Wednesday that the United States would launch a “very strong” attack on Iran if a peace agreement could not be reached.
Trump told reporters at the White House: “We will attack them, and it will be very forceful,” referring to Iran shooting down an Apache helicopter in the Strait of Hormuz.
For its part, Axios, quoting a senior American official, revealed that the recent American strikes against targets inside Iran were designed with the aim of strengthening Washington’s negotiating position and restoring part of its influence in the ongoing talks with Tehran, while at the same time ensuring that the process remains limited and studied in a way that does not lead to deaths or undermine the chances of reaching an agreement.
But Iran’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Amir Saeed Irani, stressed before the Security Council that a sustainable agreement to end the war cannot be reached through threats, intimidation, and the use of force, and urged the United States to refrain from threats like those made by Trump today.
On Wednesday morning, Tehran attacked American bases in Jordan, Bahrain and Kuwait with missiles and drones, saying that it was a response to American strikes that affected its territory after Washington accused it of shooting down a military helicopter over the Strait of Hormuz.
On the other hand, the Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman said that the US army deliberately targeted vital civilian water infrastructure in Sirik at dawn today, considering that targeting water tanks in the city of Sirik was a war crime and not collateral damage.
“An-Nahar” keeps pace with the developments of the Iran war, moment by moment… Follow us on our website or via the “WhatsApp Channel” 👇
