‘Fighting US aggression’ – Iran blasts Gulf after American strikes

Tehran warned additional U.S. attacks would trigger wider retaliation against American military installations across the region.

By World Israel News Staff

Iran launched a large-scale barrage of missiles and explosive drones targeting U.S. military assets in the Gulf on Thursday morning, retaliating against widespread American airstrikes conducted across Iran just hours earlier.

In a statement, the Iranian military confirmed that it had targeted U.S. military installations in Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain, claiming the strikes hit an aerial early warning system in Qatar, fuel storage facilities in Bahrain and a Patriot missile interceptor battery in Kuwait using a “large number” of missiles and “kamikaze” drones.

Iranian state-controlled outlet IRNA News reported that the attacks struck “key infrastructure and facilities” associated with the American military presence in the Gulf.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) vowed to continue retaliatory operations if the United States launches additional attacks.

“The fighters of Islam will not leave the aggressions of the child-killing U.S. army unanswered,” the IRGC said in a statement.

“Should the aggression be repeated, our crushing responses will be expanded to other American bases in the region,” the statement added.

The latest exchange follows overnight U.S. strikes on dozens of targets across Iran, which Washington said were aimed at degrading Iran’s military capabilities after repeated attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian officials said at least three people were killed during the American strikes.

Hossein Kermanpour, spokesman for Iran’s Ministry of Health, told Al Jazeera that, as of Thursday morning, 47 people had been hospitalized with injuries sustained during the bombings.

Among the sites reportedly damaged was a key railway line connecting Tehran with the holy city of Mashhad, where slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is expected to be laid to rest later Thursday.

The Iranian government said repair work had already begun, describing the damage as the result of “a criminal attack by the U.S.-Israeli enemy.”

Iran’s ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravani, also submitted a letter to the U.N. accusing Washington of violating international law.

“The United States bears full and unequivocal responsibility for all consequences arising from its unlawful use of force and for the grave threat that its unlawful actions pose to international peace and security,” Iravani wrote.