The tanker Belma, sanctioned by the US, was fired on by US aircraft deep in the Persian Gulf, the US regional military command Centcom said on X. The supertanker allegedly ignored warnings that it was violating the blockade by sailing towards the island of Kharg, where Iran's most important oil port is located.
An Iraqi security source told AFP that a drone hit a ship outside the port in the southern Iraqi province of Basra. The ship was “transporting American-made cars” and was sailing from the United Arab Emirates, the source said.
“All infrastructure”
Early on Thursday, the US attacked Iranian command centres, air defence facilities, and missile and drone resources, according to Centcom on X.
A spokesman for Iran's military headquarters is warning, according to news agencies, that the country will target "all infrastructure in the region" if the United States, for its part, follows through on its threats to attack Iranian infrastructure.
Iran has also asked the Houthi movement to be ready to close the oil transport route in the Red Sea if the United States strikes Iranian energy infrastructure, sources told Reuters.
In Iran's capital Tehran, air defences have been activated, the state-run Irna news agency reported, according to AFP. Explosions have also been heard in other areas of the country's north and west.
More than 300 people have been injured and 35 killed in US attacks on Iran in recent days, CNN reports, citing the Iranian Ministry of Health.
Communication and fuel
Authorities in Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan confirm that the countries have been subjected to Iranian attacks. The Kuwaiti army writes on X that any explosions are the result of air defences “shooting down the hostile attacks.”
Kuwait's military said on Thursday that its air defences were "fighting hostile drone attacks as a result of Iranian aggression."
In Jordan, Iran has targeted drone attacks against communications systems and fuel facilities belonging to the US military, the Iranian army said, according to AFP.
Bahrain, Kuwait and Jordan host US military bases and have been repeatedly targeted by Iranian attacks.
