US launches new strikes on Iran over Hormuz attacks

Bahrain's Defense Force said on Thursday its air defense systems intercepted and destroyed several Iranian missile and drone attacks targeting the kingdom earlier in the day.

The military said Iran was continuing "its systematic hostile approach" through missile and drone attacks targeting civilians in Bahrain and described the attacks as "a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law."

It said all military units remained on high alert and urged the public not to approach suspicious objects that could be remnants of the attacks.

Iran sent separate letters to the UN Security Council president and UN Secretary General António Guterres on Thursday, accusing the United States of launching widespread military attacks on Iranian territory.

Iran’s UN Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani said the attacks violated the UN Charter, Iran’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and Washington’s international obligations.

He said the strikes also breached Article 2(4) of the UN Charter and Clause 1 of the memorandum of understanding between Tehran and Washington.

A plane carrying the coffin of Iran’s former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei left Najaf in Iraq for Mashhad in northeastern Iran on Thursday, Iranian media reported.

Officials in the Chabahar Free Trade Zone said on Thursday that they began moving imported cars from warehouses as US strikes hit areas around the southeastern Iranian port city.

A free zone official said about 300 vehicles had been removed from warehouses, with another 100 expected to be cleared and transferred by early morning.

Iran's army said on Thursday it launched drone attacks on US military targets in the Persian Gulf region, including a Patriot air defense system in Kuwait, an early warning satellite site in Qatar and US military fuel storage facilities in Bahrain.

The army said the attacks were carried out in response to US attacks on Iran and vowed to continue operations.

Passenger trains on Iran’s Tehran-Mashhad route were disrupted on Thursday after a strike hit part of the railway line, Iran’s state railway company said.

It said passengers from halted trains would be transferred to Mashhad by road.

Ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz came to a near standstill on Thursday, Bloomberg reported.

Movements that could be observed were largely along an Iran-approved route closer to the northern side of the waterway, the report said, citing ship-tracking data.

The US-supported Omani corridor was quiet, according to the report.

Iran’s hardline Kayhan daily on Thursday called on diplomatic officials to announce an end to negotiations with Washington, saying missiles would now decide the outcome of the confrontation.

The newspaper, whose editor-in-chief is appointed by the office of Iran’s Supreme Leader, said US President Donald Trump would be forced to “beg” because oil prices would rise.

A photo shared on social media shows a large banner threatening US President Donald Trump hanging from a hotel building in Mashhad, northeast Iran.

The banner reads “We will kill Trump” in English, with the same message written below in Persian.

Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson said on Thursday that NATO allies that provided territory, bases or infrastructure for US-Israeli strikes on Iran shared responsibility for the war and its consequences.

Esmaeil Baghaei said NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte’s remarks showed Europe was not impartial in the US-Israeli strikes.

He also accused Rutte of trying to justify NATO’s role through praise for Washington.

Rutte said on Wednesday that new US attacks on Iran were “absolutely necessary” after Washington accused Tehran of violating the ceasefire, adding that the US had to “forcefully react” when Iran attacked ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

He also said NATO allies had supported the earlier US operation in Iran by providing European airports and infrastructure, comments Tehran cited as evidence that Europe shared responsibility for the war.