Tehran Declares US Attacks an Act of Aggression
State Department issues security alerts for ten regional countries as Kuwait responds to drone attacks and a tanker is struck in the Strait of Hormuz.
State Department issues security alerts for ten regional countries as Kuwait responds to drone attacks and a tanker is struck in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran's Foreign Ministry on Friday described the ongoing naval blockade and attacks on Iranian military and civilian targets, as well as infrastructure, as an "act of aggression" and a violation of the UN Charter, reaffirming that Iran will exercise its right to legitimate self-defense. The same day, US President Donald Trump threatened new strikes on Iran, signaling that he expects US military action to continue.
Tensions between Washington and Tehran escalated over the weekend when the State Department issued new security alerts for US citizens in ten regional countries. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the alerts cover Bahrain, Israel, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, advising US citizens to be "ready to leave" due to potential flight cancellations and temporary airspace closures.
Speaking to reporters on Friday during a meeting with cabinet members at Camp David in Maryland, Trump said US forces would continue to strike Iran "very hard" until the country can no longer sustain the attacks. "We just want to win," Trump said, as reported by ABC News.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt expressed the administration's frustration, accusing Tehran of signing a memorandum of understanding on a ceasefire last month and then quickly "violating it, firing on commercial ships, and killing American soldiers." According to CNN, Trump is under significant political pressure to end a war that is deeply unpopular in the US, with only 28 percent of Americans approving of his handling of the conflict, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. The conflict has already caused economic repercussions, including rising fuel prices and global inflation.
The Kuwaiti military said on Saturday that its forces are responding to attacks by Iranian drones that struck "several vital installations," including a government building in the north of the country. A spokesperson for the Ministry of Defense, Major General Saud Abdulaziz Al-Otaibi, confirmed there were no casualties.
Meanwhile, the British navy reported that a tanker was struck in the Strait of Hormuz near the coast of Oman. According to ABC News, an unknown projectile hit the vessel on Friday at a distance of 11 nautical miles northeast of Lima, Oman, damaging the engine room. The Sydney Morning Herald cites a distance of 20 kilometers for the same incident. On Saturday, another explosion was recorded near a second tanker, 21 nautical miles (or 38 kilometers, depending on the source) northwest of the town of Khasab. Neither incident resulted in injuries. Iran has repeatedly attacked vessels attempting to pass through the Strait of Hormuz without its approval, ABC News reports.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, in talks with Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff Asim Munir and Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan, said Iran would respond decisively to any "aggression." In a conversation with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Araghchi warned that US and Israeli attacks, or the participation of regional countries in such actions, would be met with a "proportionate response," according to ABC News.
Nournews, a media outlet linked to Iran's security apparatus, said on Saturday that US attacks on Iranian energy infrastructure would trigger Iranian strikes on oil fields in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, as well as gas fields in Qatar and Israel, warning that "everything will be burned to ashes."
Yemen's Houthi rebels, backed by Iran, forced eight Saudi ships to divert from the Bab el-Mandeb strait on Friday after the group's military spokesperson, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, announced a blockade on Saudi shipping. The vessels changed course toward the Cape of Good Hope around Africa, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.
Meanwhile, in Gaza, intense Israeli strikes on Friday night into Saturday killed at least four people, according to local health officials. The attacks followed Hamas's confirmation on Friday that it would disarm, a potential breakthrough in ending the war. Egypt, a key ceasefire mediator, praised Hamas's "positive response." Israeli far-right politician Itamar Ben-Gvir called the deal "unacceptable" and said "Israel must win."
According to the Telegram channel AMK Mapping, the State Department warned diplomatic staff on Saturday to expect a "significant escalation" with Iran in the near future.
