US Expands Attacks on Iran, Which Calls Strait of Hormuz a ‘Red Line’ As It Retaliates
When the US and Israel launched the war on Iran on February 28, Tehran effectively closed the strait to shipping traffic.
Dubai: The United States intensified its strikes on Iran Thursday, hitting targets farther north and firing into a ship the US accused of trying to break its naval blockade on the Islamic Republic. Iran retaliated by launching missiles and drones at US allies in the region, and warned its attacks may escalate.
The interim ceasefire agreed to last month has collapsed, and the region risks tipping back into all-out war after days of back-and-forth strikes by the US and Iran as they wage for control over the Strait of Hormuz.
For the first time in this latest round of violence, strikes also reached into areas around Iran’s capital, Tehran, showing a widening set of targets for the Americans.
When the US and Israel launched the war on Iran on February 28, Tehran effectively closed the strait to shipping traffic, a move that sent the price of oil, fertiliser and many other goods soaring far beyond the region and gave Iran major leverage in negotiations.
Col. Ebrahim Zolfaghari, a spokesperson for the Iranian military’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, threatened that Iran could launch widespread attacks on all the infrastructure in the region if the US acts on President Donald Trump's repeated warnings that America could hit Iranian bridges and power plants.
Under no circumstances and in no way will we allow America, as a foreign and extraregional country, to interfere in the Strait of Hormuz, he added. This is Iran’s invincible red line.
Both the US and Iran launch attacks as blockade is reimposed. The US strikes early on Thursday hit around Tehran, state media reported. It also reported that American attacks targeted Semnan province, home to Irans ballistic missile production and space program.
Iranian media also reported strikes Thursday around the provinces of Hamedan, Hormozgan, Khuzestan, Lorestan, Markazi, and Sistan and Baluchestan, as well as on Iran’s Qeshm island, near the Strait of Hormuz.
