Iran has targeted a US airbase as the two sides have periodically exchanged fire
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Iran targeted a US air base on Thursday after the US military attacked one of its fighter jets near the Strait of Hormuz, with a flare-up of conflict that has dashed hopes of a peace deal and sent oil prices soaring again.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it targeted the US base for what it described as a US attack early this morning near Bandar Abbas Airport, Tasnim media reported.
The IRGC did not identify the base.
But Kuwait – which has a large US base – said on Thursday it was responding to Iranian missile and drone attacks, which its foreign minister condemned as a major escalation and a clear violation of its sovereignty and security. The minister demanded that Iran immediately and unconditionally stop the attack, saying that it has fully captured Tehran.
US officials said Wednesday night in Washington that the military had launched several strikes in Iran. On Monday, the US said it had taken what the Pentagon called “defensive action” against missile launch sites and mine-laying boats in southern Iran.
The US military intercepted five one-way attack aircraft launched by Iran, and prevented the launch of 6 aircraft from the Iranian control base in Bandar Abbas, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a post on Thursday.
Oil prices rebounded, with US crude futures up nearly 3 percent after falling 5 percent on Wednesday, while stocks fell and the dollar rose on fading investor confidence in a peace deal that many see as key to reducing the risk of global inflation.
Iran represents Oman
The war has killed thousands and sent electricity prices to their highest since it began in Feb. 28 for US and Israeli strikes.
Israel, which has been fighting Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorists in southern Lebanon, has also reported loud reports of hostile airstrikes in northern Israel. The Israeli military said it carried out a strike on Thursday in the Lebanese capital, Beirut.
US President Donald Trump has repeatedly said that the end of the war is near, but he told the media at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday that he was not satisfied with the agreement with Iran. He dismissed an Iranian state TV report that it had found an unofficial draft of a deal to restore shipping across the strait to pre-war levels within a month, with Iran and Oman jointly controlling the traffic.
Trump has said that no single country will be able to control the waterway, and appeared to threaten Oman, a country with which the US has had military and economic ties for decades.
“These are international waters and Oman will behave like everyone else or we will have to blow them up,” he said. “They understand that, they will be fine.”
Oman has not said anything about the idea of joint control of the strait with Iran, saying it has discussed freedom of navigation with it.
The White House and Oman’s embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In the meantime18:28Will the US-Iran deal happen?
There were reports over the weekend about an imminent deal to end the US war with Iran – but those hopes were dashed by Monday’s new airstrikes. What happened to the talks between Washington and Tehran? And what does it mean for the war between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon? Guest speaker Catherine Cullen talks to Gregg Carlstrom, Middle East correspondent for The Economist; and Hussein Ibish, senior scholar in residence at the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington, DC
Tehran condemned the US attack on Bandar Abbas, and expressed solidarity with Oman.
Continued sanctions, the dismantling of Iran’s nuclear power and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which hosted a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas before the war, are at the forefront of negotiations to end the three-month conflict.
The waterway is covered by international law that guarantees foreign ships the right of passage.
Meanwhile, the US Treasury Department added the Persian Gulf Strait Authority, an Iranian body established to manage the crisis, to the list of sanctioned individuals and organizations deemed to threaten US national security.
The founding director of the Munk School, Janice Stein, says that the US-Israeli war with Iran is an unfortunate situation, with neither side’s objective being achieved.
Iranian media reported on Thursday that Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei sent a letter to parliament, asserting that Iran has been weakened by war and urging lawmakers to preserve the country’s unity, repair damage and deal with hardship, inflation and corruption.
A report by Iranian state TV the previous day said that any deal to return the ships would also require the US to withdraw troops from the vicinity, and that the issue of US forces in the region needed further discussion. The White House dismissed the report as “a complete liar.” Tehran did not comment.
The Iranian TV report did not mention Iran’s nuclear program, which the US wants dismantled.
Iranian sources have said talks on the nuclear issue will come to a second round of talks – something that may not be acceptable to some of Trump’s closest supporters. Iran says its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only.
“The bottom line is that Iran will not have a nuclear weapon,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said at a cabinet meeting.
