Daily Tribune‘If the Americans strike the infrastructure of the Islamic republic, then all infrastructure across the region will become legitimate targets.’
Fuel prices have spiked again after the United States launched strikes on Iran after the latter attacked vessels on a route skirting the Strait of Hormuz, prompting retaliatory attacks by Iran on US infrastructure in neighboring Gulf states.
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TEHRAN (AFP) — The United States and Iran traded attacks on Friday, with Tehran targeting American assets across the Middle East in the biggest escalation since the two foes returned to outright war.
A month after they agreed a memorandum of understanding aimed at ending the conflict that began in February, the two sides have intensified fighting with strikes on targets around the region.
Iran on Friday accused US forces of hitting civilian infrastructure including an airport, a railway station and two bridges, with state media reporting at least eight dead and 20 injured in overnight attacks.
It signalled an apparent expansion of American strikes with a focus on Iranian infrastructure, but there was no immediate comment from US officials.
Iran had previously threatened to retaliate against any infrastructure attacks, and on Friday launched strikes across the region in what appeared to be the largest exchange of fire since the deal was signed last month.
“I officially declare that if the Americans strike the infrastructure of the Islamic republic, then all infrastructure across the region will become legitimate targets for Iran,” Iranian state TV quoted a senior armed forces spokesperson as saying late Thursday.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards later said they had attacked two US radar sites in the Gulf sultanate of Oman as well as Al-Tanf military base in Syria, which US forces said they withdrew from earlier this year.
Jordan’s military said it shot down three Iranian missiles, reporting no casualties, while Kurdish forces in Iraq said the US-led coalition there shot down several drones over Erbil.
Strikes in Iraq’s Kurdistan region also killed eight members of an Iranian Kurdish armed opposition group, the exiled party said, blaming the attack on Iran.
A battle over the strategic Strait of Hormuz has rekindled the war, with Tehran and Washington trading fire for six days running.
Iran’s health ministry said Friday that at least 38 people had been killed and more than 400 injured in the country since fighting resumed.
Tehran claims control over Hormuz, which is a key shipping route for the global oil and gas trade, but it was open for free passage before the war.
