Iran once again responded in all directions on Friday July 24, after another night of bombing by the United States against its soil.
According to Iranian media, the American army targeted eight provinces, notably those of Markazi, Yazd and Isfahan, further towards the interior of Iranian territory, after having mainly targeted the regions bordering the Gulf.
Tehran, for its part, claimed responsibility for attacks on installations used by the American army in Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait.
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“This morning, Arash suicide drones targeted the fuel tanks, large equipment warehouses, silos and barracks of the US terrorist army forces at the Isa air base in Bahrain,” the Iranian army said, according to state television, while Bahraini authorities said they had repelled several attacks.
On site, an AFP journalist heard loud explosions after warning sirens were triggered.
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The Revolutionary Guards, the powerful armed force of the Islamic Republic, also claimed to have caused “significant damage” to a surveillance tower of the Fifth Fleet of the US Navy, and destroyed an Amazon data center in Bahrain. Neither the e-commerce giant nor the Bahraini authorities have commented at this stage.
The Iranian army has also claimed drone attacks against Jordan where “aircraft hangars, aircraft maintenance hangars and barracks” at the Al-Azraq base were targeted.
Seven Iranian missiles and six drones were shot down, according to Jordan.
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In Kuwait, Iran claimed to have targeted the Ali al-Salem air base, destroyed US “army equipment depots” at Camp Udairi as well as military installations at the US base at Camp Arifjan.
Iran considers any installation in the Middle East made available to the US military to strike its territory as a legitimate target, and the Revolutionary Guards on Friday called on civilians in the Middle East to stay away from any site housing US forces.
“For every proud Iranian citizen of the Islamic Republic killed, an American soldier will be sent to hell,” army chief Ali Abdollahi also threatened.
Saudi strikes against Hodeidah in Yemen
Late Friday, Saudi Arabia launched strikes on the city of Hodeidah on Yemen’s west coast, controlled by Houthi rebels, rebel media said.
A security source told AFP that Houthi sites had been hit.
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During the day, Yemen’s Houthi rebels indicated that their maritime blockade against Saudi Arabia was not intended to paralyze the strategic Bab el-Mandeb strait, after a confirmed attack on a Saudi ship.
“There is no closure of Bab el-Mandeb, as some suggest,” argued Mohammed Abdusalam, a negotiator for the pro-Iranian group, adding that the rebels would limit themselves to “a blockade affecting only the Saudi side.”
The Houthi rebels announced on Monday that they wanted to hinder traffic in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden of ships from Saudi Arabia, the world’s leading exporter of crude oil. They had already done this during the Gaza war, when they carried out drone and missile attacks in the area.
Oil drops back below 100 dollars
This week, the Houthis issued radio warnings to ships in the region, threatening to target those “belonging to the Saudi enemy” who tried to force their way through. They also claimed responsibility on Thursday after attacks on two Saudi tankers.
An official Saudi source confirmed that a ship belonging to a Saudi company had been “targeted”, causing a fire, according to the official SPA agency. The other claimed attack has not been confirmed.
According to data analyzed by AFP on Wednesday, nine boats turned around following the announcement of the blockade, but some have since returned.
After soaring on Thursday, oil prices fell sharply on Friday, with the price of a barrel of Brent falling back below 100 dollars, far from the lull which followed the signing of an Iranian-American memorandum of understanding in mid-June.
With AFP
