World

IRAN CALLS US STRIKES CEASEFIRE BREACH

People walk past a billboard depicting the late leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and the late Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on a street in Tehran. — Reuters
 
People walk past a billboard depicting the late leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, and the late Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on a street in Tehran. — Reuters

Iran condemned on Saturday a nighttime US attack on coastal radar installations in the Gulf, calling it a 'flagrant' violation of the ceasefire in place since April.
The foreign ministry said it was an attack 'on the national sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic republic', denouncing Washington's 'hostile and provocative behaviour'.
The US military believes the four Iranian drones were targeting regional maritime traffic, a US official said. US Central Command said on X that the US then struck Iran's surveillance sites in Goruk and Qeshm Island, which are both on the Strait of Hormuz.
Meanwhile, Iran launched fresh aerial attacks on Bahrain and Kuwait early on Saturday, after the United States said it had struck the Islamic republic.
Bahrain, home to the headquarters of the US Fifth Fleet, denounced the attacks against its territory and neighbouring Kuwait.
Manama said the two Gulf countries intercepted seven missiles fired by Iran and described the attacks, the second against both nations since Wednesday, as 'blatant aggression' and 'a flagrant violation of the sovereignty of both countries'.
Kuwait also condemned the attacks, saying they were a 'direct threat' to the 'lives of citizens and residents' and represented a 'dangerous escalation... at a time when the international community is making unremitting efforts to stop combat operations'.
Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Qatar also condemned the attacks on Kuwait and Bahrain.
In Bahrain's capital Manama, a journalist reported hearing three explosions and the interior ministry announced air raid sirens had sounded across the country.
Later, Bahrain's military said in a statement it had been 'able to intercept and destroy three missiles and a number of drones'.
In Kuwait, a journalist reported hearing repeated blasts near the country's international airport, which had been struck on Wednesday in an attack blamed on Iran that killed one person.
'We woke up to a huge explosion. The explosions were very loud,' Reem, an Egyptian mother of two, said, referring to the Saturday attacks. 'My children were terrified, and I couldn't calm them down,' she added.
Kuwait's military said it had 'engaged seven hostile ballistic missiles this morning within Kuwaiti airspace'.
It added that some interceptions over residential areas caused falling debris which 'resulted in material damage but no casualties'.
In the hours after the barrages, Kuwait's aviation authority announced the resumption of air traffic, saying 11 Kuwait Airways and Jazeera Airways flights had been diverted during an airspace closure due to the Iranian attack.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had targeted 'enemy bases' with missiles after the US military said it struck radar sites in Iran and downed drones headed towards the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
US Central Command (CENTCOM) said six of the missiles fired towards Kuwait and Bahrain were downed, while the seventh 'did not reach its intended target'. — AFP