The United States and Iran exchanged fire across the Middle East on Wednesday, as officials in both nations called into question diplomatic efforts to stop the war as it threatens to again spin out of control.
The U.S. launched an 11th night of airstrikes on the Islamic Republic, hitting targets across the nation as air defence systems opened fire over the capital, Tehran. It wasn’t immediately clear what specific targets the Americans went after in these nighttime strikes.
Iran retaliated with missile and drone fire targeting Jordan’s port city of Aqaba, once again attacking just on the doorstep of Israel. The U.S. has been using Israel’s main Ben-Gurion International Airport to host its refueler aircraft and has put fighter jets at bases in the country, but Iran has been hesitant to strike for fear of bringing the Israeli military back into the conflict.
A missile alert sounded in Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia warned residents of the Persian Gulf city of Dammam to seek shelter. Iran has repeatedly attacked Gulf countries in response to U.S. airstrikes. Saudi authorities later lifted the warning in Dammam, saying the danger had passed, without elaborating.
Meanwhile, shipping remains largely stalled through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all oil and natural gas traded passed in peacetime. Iran’s attacks on shipping in that waterway sparked the recent series of attacks, and the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels of Yemen are now threatening Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea as well.
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That pressure pushed benchmark Brent crude above US$94 a barrel in trading, again straining global energy supplies and raising the cost of gasoline in the United States ahead of midterm elections this fall.
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Uncertainty about future of U.S. war on Iran -
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2 U.S. soldiers killed by Iranian strikes in Jordan identified -
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US soldier killed in Iraq during controlled detonation of downed Iranian drone -
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Trump warns Iran ‘better behave’ as countries trade strikes in Middle East -
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Gas prices in the GTA rise again amid U.S.-Iran instability
Attacks shake Iran and Jordan
Missile alert sirens sounded Wednesday in Jordan’s port city of Aqaba. Jordan’s military said it intercepted four missiles in the Iranian attack, while two others fell in “uninhabited areas.” Plumes of smoke could be seen overhead in Aqaba in videos filmed by people in the nearby Israeli city of Eilat. Jordan said it also intercepted four Iranian drones.
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The U.S. military said earlier Wednesday that it had completed an 11th night of strikes on Iran. Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported that explosions rocked Bushehr, East Azerbaijan, Hamadan, Hormozgan, Ilam, Khuzestan and Sistan and Baluchistan provinces. The U.S. said its targets included aircraft hangars and drone storage sites.
Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard insisted the country’s retaliatory attacks would continue.
Before the latest strikes, Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni visited Pakistan, a key mediator in the conflict, seeking to revive diplomacy. But it was unclear what new arrangement might be reached to end the war, which lately has become a battle for control over the Strait of Hormuz.
Speaking from the Oval Office on Tuesday, Trump gave a dim view on possible talks, saying the U.S. had “no interest in meeting.” He signaled that U.S. forces could soon target an area of Iran close to one of its main sites for enriching uranium.
At a regional summit in the Philippines, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio denounced Iran’s actions in the strait.
“If we create a precedent in the Middle East where a nation state can decide that they are going to control an international waterway, charge a toll and if you don’t pay them, blow up your ships, we have created a very dangerous precedent which will repeat itself in other parts of the world, including in this region,” he said.
The U.S. in response to Iran’s attacks restarted a blockade of Iranian ports, turning around vessels engaged in trading Iranian oil.
Yep, now that Iran has their ‘Made in China’ rocket and missile resupply completed, they can get back to firing at civilian targets in the middle east.
Rubio: “If we create a precedent in the Middle East where a nation state can decide that they are going to control an international waterway, charge a toll and if you don’t pay them, blow up your ships, we have created a very dangerous precedent which will repeat itself in other parts of the world, including in this region,”
Not “if”, america has created that precedent.
Since trump has “no interest in meeting” for possible talks, it could be this situation is going to drag on for quite some time. At least they’re consistent in making a mess of things, when militarily involved in other countries.
Amazing. Tolls are exactly what Trump contemplated. Why is Rubio so against tolls now? – because someone other then the US is in control.
I thought Trump claimed the nuclear capability was eliminated during his air strike campaign. He claimed the same thing in February. Now he is thinking we will fall for him ‘getting close to nuclear facility’ that has been wiped out twice already? Nope. The world is not that gullable. (some are…)
Global – do report it right. The use response to a single rogue attack was to blockade the strait. The result is way beyond retaliation. It is the act of a tyrant being challenged.
Wipe.Iran off rhe planet
Go a long way towards achieving peace in the world
Iran that supposedly has no military left for a few months now according to orange man seem to be pulling alot of missiles out of their ass.