Fresh US strikes on Iran reignite conflict after days of relative calm

International

AFTER days of relative calm, the US and Iran are trading blows again, with Washington launching fresh strikes following an attempted attack on American forces.

US Central Command (Centcom) described the military action as a “powerful response” to Iran’s attempted attacks on US forces in the Middle East a day earlier.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it had targeted a US air base and a command centre in Jordan, portraying the strikes as retaliation for what it described as American aggression.

The IRGC also said Iranian naval forces had struck three oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz after the vessels allegedly disregarded warnings and travelled along a route Iran described as unsafe and illegal.

Hours before the US strikes were announced on Wednesday, President Donald Trump had warned that Iran would face retaliation.

According to a BBC report, Trump spoke to reporters at the White House, saying “We’re going to be hitting them very hard because it’s our turn to hit them. They know it’s coming. They asked us not to do it.”

The latest escalation follows a period in which both sides had stopped carrying out strikes as talks apparently resumed over a possible diplomatic solution. Trump described the discussions as friendly, although Tehran denied that talks were taking place.

The conflict had also widened a day earlier when the US and Saudi Arabia announced their first joint strikes against Iranian proxies in Iraq.

Centcom said the operation targeted multiple logistics and weapons sites across eastern Iraq in response to more than 30 aerial drone attacks directed by the IRGC over the previous 72 hours.

Iraq’s paramilitary Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), an umbrella group dominated by Iran-backed Shia militias, said at least 20 of its members were killed in the US-Saudi attacks on its bases.

The Iraqi presidency condemned the strikes, calling the bombing of PMF positions an unacceptable attack and a blatant violation of Iraq’s sovereignty.

Trump, however, told Fox News that the strikes had been coordinated with the Iraqi government.

The US action against Iran comes less than a week after Trump suspended an intensive bombing campaign that had continued for 13 consecutive nights.

Washington said those attacks focused on Iranian weapons and military installations, with scores of people reported killed.

The conflict began in February when the US and Israel launched military strikes against Iran. Trump had said at the time that the war would last only a few weeks. Five months later, the fighting continues without a clear end in sight.

The latest developments have also drawn Saudi Arabia deeper into the crisis. Axios reported on Wednesday, citing an unnamed US official, that Trump had met Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman, who conveyed Riyadh’s desire to de-escalate tensions. The BBC has contacted the White House for comment.

Saudi Arabia and Iran have long competed for influence in the Middle East. Riyadh, which regards itself as the leading Sunni Muslim power, and Tehran, the region’s largest Shia Muslim country, have been engaged in a decades-long struggle for regional dominance.(MyTVCebu)