Manny Ita –
Israel launched fresh attacks early Thursday on targets in Lebanon and said it intercepted missiles fired from Iran as the widening conflict involving the United States and Israel continued to destabilise parts of the Middle East, with new developments also reported in Iraq.
Iranian news agency Tasnim News Agency reported that several explosions were heard in Tehran on Thursday and that Iran had activated its air defence systems after launching several rounds of missiles toward Israel earlier in the day.
An airstrike carried out before dawn hit a Hezbollah stronghold in the suburbs of Beirut. The Iran-backed group has vowed to avenge the death of Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the opening stages of the war last Saturday. Israeli authorities said residents had been warned to evacuate the area before the strike and added that the country’s defence systems were working to intercept another wave of missiles launched from Iran despite earlier claims by the U.S. military that Iran’s capabilities had been severely weakened.
Iran has pledged retaliation for the attacks and has launched missiles across the region. Its elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced Wednesday that it had closed the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic shipping route linking the Gulf to global markets through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s crude oil passes.
“The Americans’ mischief and deceit could lead to the collapse of the entire military and economic infrastructure of the region,” the Iranian military command said in a statement.
Energy intelligence firm Kpler said oil tanker movements through the Strait of Hormuz had fallen by about 90 percent since the escalation began. Meanwhile, United Kingdom maritime authorities reported a large explosion near Kuwait early Thursday, with oil seen spilling into Gulf waters.
In Iraq, a nationwide electricity blackout occurred after a sudden drop in gas supplies to a key power plant, according to the Iraqi electricity ministry. Authorities said it was not immediately clear whether the outage was connected to the ongoing conflict.
Iran also carried out a strike Wednesday in the autonomous Kurdish region of northern Iraq, killing a member of an exiled Iranian Kurdish group, a representative said. The attack came amid reports that the United States was considering arming Kurdish fighters to infiltrate Iran.
“Separatist groups should not think that a breeze has blown and try to take action,” said Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council. “We will not tolerate them in any way.”
Two fighters aligned with Iran were also reported killed in a separate strike on their base inside Iraq.
The United States said one of its submarines torpedoed an Iranian naval vessel off the coast of Sri Lanka, marking the first time the United States had sunk a ship in combat since the World War II era. The vessel, identified as the IRIS Dena frigate, had been on a friendly visit to India when it was struck.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters the ship “thought it was safe in international waters,” describing the operation as a “quiet death.” He added, “We are fighting to win.”
Sri Lankan officials said at least 87 people were killed in the strike and 61 others remained missing, while 32 sailors were rescued, many with injuries, according to the country’s Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath.
Iran’s official news agency IRNA reported that 1,045 military personnel and civilians had been killed since the conflict began, though the figures could not be independently verified. Iranian authorities also said more than 150 people, including many children, died after a strike hit a school in the southern town of Minab, with state television showing mourners gathered around bodies wrapped in white shrouds. Independent verification of the casualty figures was not immediately possible.
U.S. officials said six American soldiers had been killed since the start of the war.
In another development, a missile launched from Iran was intercepted by a NATO air defence system as it headed toward the airspace of Türkiye. Turkish authorities said the missile had been intended for a British base in Cyprus but had deviated from its course.
Türkiye summoned the Iranian ambassador following the incident, and Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi during a telephone call that “any steps that could lead to the spread of conflict should be avoided.”
Iranian missile and drone attacks have also caused alarm across Gulf states, including Dubai and Riyadh. Authorities in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Qatar said they intercepted several Iranian missiles on Wednesday, including a drone reportedly aimed at Saudi Arabia’s major Ras Tanura refinery.
In Kuwait, authorities confirmed the death of an 11-year-old girl who was struck by falling shrapnel following one of the attacks. Across Gulf countries, at least 13 people — including seven civilians — have been killed since the conflict began, while commercial air travel in the region has faced widespread disruptions.
The United States said it had begun charter flights to evacuate American citizens from the region after urging them to leave. Similar evacuation efforts have also been initiated by France and Britain. Qatar announced it was evacuating residents living near the U.S. embassy in Doha after Iranian strikes targeted the Gulf state in retaliation for U.S.–Israeli military operations.
