WASHINGTON/CAIRO: Iran and its Arab neighbours were plunged back into war on Wednesday by the biggest exchange of fire between Tehran and Washington since July, with U.S. forces striking Iran's southern coast and Iran firing at American bases across the region.
The United States threatened more devastating strikes. Iran accused Washington of hitting a wedding party, killing five people and wounding dozens.
Asian and European stocks fell after the renewed U.S. airstrikes, which pushed oil prices back up to levels unseen since July, compounding the economic impact of a global sell-off in bonds as disrupted energy supplies fuel inflation worldwide.
The U.S. military's Central Command said it struck Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps air defences, radar systems, maritime assets, mine-laying capabilities and communications sites on Tuesday. Iranian media reported hits on multiple targets near the Strait of Hormuz - the narrow waterway where Tehran has threatened tankers attempting to pass without its permission.
Iran responded by striking what it said were U.S. assets in Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait and Iraq, and said its aim was now to drive U.S. forces out of the vast network of military bases they have maintained for decades across the Middle East.
"American evil in the region will be met with heavier, more widespread, and devastating responses, and any country that cooperates with the aggressive American army must accept its dangerous consequences," Iran's military command said.
Jordan's military said it dealt with 13 missiles, 10 of which were intercepted and three which fell in remote areas. The IRGC said it killed a large number of U.S. forces in Jordan, but U.S. officials told Reuters there had not been any casualties, according to initial assessments.
In Kuwait, Iran said it had carried out a missile and drone attack on the vast U.S. Ali Al Salem Air Base and targeted the accommodation of a U.S. commander. Kuwait’s fire service said crews put out a blaze at a residential complex early on Wednesday that was struck by an Iranian drone causing damage but no casualties.
Qatar, home of the largest U.S. airbase in the Gulf, said it "holds the Islamic Republic of Iran fully legally responsible for these attacks and their repercussions and consequences." Bahrain, which houses the regional headquarters of the U.S. Navy, said Iranian drones were intercepted and destroyed.
The IRGC said its ground forces carried out combined missile and drone attacks on U.S. bases in Erbil in northern Iraq, claiming to have killed several U.S. personnel there. Neither Iraq nor the U.S. confirmed the attack.
Iran also said two tankers had been struck by mines while being steered across the Strait of Hormuz by U.S. operatives through a channel that Tehran says it has closed.
IRAN SAYS WEDDING STRUCK
Iran reported at least 12 deaths from the night of U.S. strikes, with five people including a four-year-old said to have been killed while celebrating a wedding at a home in Sirik, a town along the coast of the strait.
Iranian media said as many as 68 people were wounded there, and released images of several injured children in hospital. Iranian officials compared the incident to a strike on a girls' school that killed 160 people on the war's first night.
Reuters was unable to independently verify the incident and U.S. officials did not comment on it. Video filmed by Iran's West Asia News Agency at the purported site showed rubble strewn across rooms and a courtyard of a home. A pair of strappy women's dress sandals lay abandoned on a blood-soaked carpet.
"I am just glad the casualties weren't even worse," said Ali Molahi, identified as the father of the bride.
CONFLICT DRAINING BOTH SIDES
The exchange of fire was the worst since July, when U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly halted two weeks of intense bombing of Iran after warnings from his military brass that they were using up munitions and running out of meaningful targets.
Iran's war-battered economy and degraded conventional forces have left it stretched thin, while Washington has used up much of its stocks of air defence munitions and burned through its precision long-range missiles.
Still, Trump, who has yet to achieve the aims he set when launching "Operation Epic Fury" in February - to end Iran's nuclear programme, deprive it of the ability to strike its neighbours and create conditions for Iranians to topple their rulers - repeated his declarations that victory was at hand.
"I like our position now much better, with almost total control of the Hormuz Strait, and their economy totally collapsing," he said on Tuesday. "They are just playing out the inevitable. When are the Iranian people going to rise up and fight?"
Iran, for its part, is determined to humble U.S. forces and emerge from the war stronger than before it, with sanctions lifted, billions in blocked funds released, and its newfound grip over the strait letting it collect fees from ships that carried a fifth of global oil before the war.
Trump agreed to many of Tehran's demands in a June deal, but the ceasefire collapsed within weeks over control of the strait, and no talks between the foes have been held since.
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