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Trump threatens more strikes
U.S. President Donald Trump threatened more attacks on Iran on Wednesday, saying Washington could hit Iran “anytime we want” as the death toll from the latest U.S. strikes rose to 18 and at least 108 others were wounded.
“Washington could hit Iran “anytime we want””
Al Jazeera reported that Trump’s threat came after the U.S. and Iran exchanged their biggest barrage since July, with U.S. military strikes hitting cities and areas along Iran’s southern coast near the blockaded Strait of Hormuz, including a wedding party in Kuhestak.
Iran’s health minister Mohammad-Reza Zafarghandi said the victims included two children, and Al Jazeera said one was a four-year-old killed in the strike on the wedding party in Kuhestak in Sirik county.
Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei described the Kuhestak attack as a “war crime” and said, “The civilians are real. The victims are real”, while Trump said the strikes “took out all of the new equipment that they tried to build along the Strait of Hormuz”.
Al Jazeera also said Iranian media reported that the funeral for the four Kuhestak victims will be held on Thursday, as the six-month war continued to roil politics and oil markets.
Retaliation and competing claims
Al Jazeera said Iran retaliated with attacks on U.S. bases across the Middle East, including Bahrain, Iraq and Jordan, after Trump told reporters at the White House, “We hit them very hard last night”.
CBS News reported that a U.S. military spokesman said Central Command was looking into reports that the U.S. hit a wedding party, while CBS added that the spokesman said the “U.S. military never targets civilians.”
Al Jazeera quoted Esmaeil Baghaei calling the Kuhestak attack a “war crime” and rejecting U.S. claims that it does not target civilians, while CBS News framed the U.S. position as denying civilian targeting.
In parallel, Al Jazeera said Iranian officials described the Kuhestak strike as killing at least four people and wounding dozens more, and CBS News said Iranian authorities claimed the strike killed at least four people and wounded dozens more.
The dispute over what the U.S. hit and whom it targeted unfolded as Trump said the U.S. was prepared to do another strike “anytime we want,” and as Iranian officials and media continued to describe the wedding-party attack in Sirik county.
Oil, shipping, and next moves
Al Jazeera said the war’s impact included a spike in oil prices and political problems for Trump’s Republican Party ahead of November midterm elections, and it tied the latest escalation to Brent crude climbing to about $95, up more than 30 percent from the start of the war.
“Brent crude oil, the international standard, has climbed to about $95”
Al-Monitor reported that oil prices rose by more than 4% after U.S. strikes on Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps sites in southern Iran, with Brent crude rising by 4.33% to $94.42 per barrel as of 2 p.m. EDT.
Al Jazeera said Tehran shut the Strait of Hormuz in response to U.S. and Israeli strikes on February 18 that began the war, and it added that only a handful of vessels now pass through each day while Iran continues to target ships attempting the crossing.
Al-Monitor said the strikes were carried out in response to Iranian missile attacks on commercial ships, and it described explosions reported around Bandar Abbas, as well as in Chabahar and on Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz.
Al Jazeera also said Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps told Iranian media that two oil tankers struck mines and were disabled while attempting an unauthorised transit, while the Persian Gulf Strait Authority added 11 more ships to its blacklist for alleged “noncompliance” this week.