Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar sounded missile alert sirens early Thursday after the United States launched a fresh round of airstrikes on Iran, raising fears that the war could flare up again. There was no immediate word of damage in the three Gulf Arab countries, while Kuwait’s military said it was actively intercepting incoming drones and missiles.
The latest escalation followed Iranian attacks on Bahrain and Kuwait on Wednesday over an earlier round of US strikes. The new US action began later on Wednesday, hours after President Donald Trump said recent Iranian attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz signalled the end of the fragile ceasefire.
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The renewed fighting came just a day after the US military struck a range of military sites and port facilities following Iran’s targeting of several merchant vessels off the coast of Oman. Military officials said in a social media post on Wednesday that the latest strikes were intended to “further degrade” Iran’s ability “to threaten freedom of navigation” in the strait, through which a fifth of the world’s traded oil and natural gas passed before the war began with US and Israeli attacks on February 28.
Iranian state media reported explosions in several places, including Bushehr, home to Iran’s nuclear power plant complex, and the southern port cities of Chabahar, Konarak, Bandar Abbas and Sirik.
After leaving a NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, Trump posted several videos on his social media site of what he said were explosions in Iran and issued another warning to the Islamic Republic. “This is in retribution for yesterday’s bombing of ships by Iran. If it happens again, it will get much worse!” Trump wrote.
Earlier in the day, Trump had said the latest back-and-forth fighting would not lead to “long-term” military action. “Anything that happens is going to happen very fast,” he said, while also suggesting the US military might “just finish the job.” He also repeated earlier threats to target Iran’s civilian infrastructure, including electric plants and desalinisation plants, and to seize the oil-production hub of Kharg Island.
After three tankers were hit on Tuesday, the US launched strikes on Iran, and Iranian forces retaliated by attacking American military sites in the Persian Gulf. Iran has said the interim ceasefire deal gives it the right to manage traffic through the strait. Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, a key negotiator in talks aimed at ending the war permanently, wrote on X: “The era of bullying and extortion is over. It leads nowhere. We don’t fold.”
Trump added to concerns that the war could restart by saying the interim agreement to pause fighting was “over”, though he said negotiations could continue. Attacks have repeatedly threatened the shaky ceasefire, and his remarks added to the uncertainty as oil prices rose after he spoke. “For me, I think it’s over,” Trump said when asked about the status of the ceasefire. Referring to talks, he added: “They can talk, but I think they’re wasting their time.”
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi, also a top negotiator, replied on X that Trump’s remarks “are not a sign of power but an admission of the failure” of US policy towards Iran. Trump has threatened at other points in the war, including last month, to seize Kharg Island, through which about 90 per cent of Iranian oil exports pass.
The fresh attacks on ships in the strait, despite negotiations, could point to differences within Iran’s leadership. Hard-liners want lasting control over the waterway, a crucial route for global fuel shipments and a key point of pressure against the West, while pragmatists want a permanent peace deal to lift sanctions and ease economic pressure. Talks on a final agreement were due to begin after the dayslong funeral for Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed on February 28 in the opening moments of the war. The funeral ends on Thursday and had been expected to be a period of lower tensions. The talks are meant to focus on the hardest issues, including fully reopening the strait and rolling back Tehran’s disputed nuclear programme.
On Tuesday, the US military’s Central Command said American forces struck Iranian targets including air-defence systems, radars and more than 60 small boats used by Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. Those boats have been central to threatening ships in the strait, and Iran’s ability to nearly halt shipping through the waterway during the war was seen as its biggest strategic advantage.
On Wednesday morning, both Bahrain, which hosts the US Navy’s 5th Fleet, and Kuwait, which hosts US Army forces, sounded missile alerts. The Revolutionary Guard said it had targeted US military installations in both countries. Kuwait said it intercepted two ballistic missiles and 13 drones launched by Iran, while the Kuwaiti Electricity Ministry said several lines were out of service after shrapnel fell on them.
The latest exchange has left the ceasefire under fresh strain, with US strikes, Iranian retaliation and attacks on shipping all deepening uncertainty around the planned talks and the future of the Strait of Hormuz.
With PTI Inputs
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
