Israel launches new wave of air strikes on Tehran

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - TEHRAN — Israel’s military said it launched a new wave of strikes on Iran on Friday after US President Donald Trump claimed talks on ending the war were going well and gave Tehran more time to open the Strait of Hormuz, though there have been no signs of Iran backing down.

With stock markets reeling and economic fallout from the war extending far beyond the Middle East, Trump is under growing pressure to end Iran’s chokehold on the strait, a strategic waterway through which a fifth of the world’s oil is usually shipped.

A brief military statement said Israeli forces “completed a wide-scale wave of strikes targeting infrastructure of the Iranian terror regime in the heart of Tehran.”

The military said in a separate statement that it had also struck “ballistic missiles and aerial defense systems production sites across Iran.”

It reported hitting missile launchers and storage sites in western Iran, as well as missile production sites in the capital.

Israel said on Thursday that it had “blown up and eliminated” the Revolutionary Guards’ naval commander, Alireza Tangsiri, and several senior officers.

Smoke also rose over Beirut, although Israel did not immediately report hitting the Lebanese capital, while air raid sirens sounded in Israel as the military said it was working to intercept Iranian missiles. Iran kept firing missiles and drones at its Gulf Arab neighbors, with sirens warning of attacks in Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

Saudi Arabia’s Defense Ministry said it shot down both missiles and drones targeting the capital Riyadh.

Kuwait said both its Shuwaikh Port in Kuwait City and the Mubarak Al Kabeer Port to the north, which is under construction as part of China’s “Belt and Road” initiative, had sustained “material damage” in attacks.

It appeared to be one of the first times a Chinese-affiliated project in the Gulf Arab states came under assault in the war.

After Wall Street’s worst day since the war began, Asian shares mostly fell Friday over growing doubts about the chances of de-escalation.

Oil prices rose again, the Brent crude, the international standard, at $107 a barrel in morning trading, up more than 45% since Israel and the US attacked Iran on Feb. 28 to start the war.

Iran’s stranglehold on shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, has caused growing concerns of a global energy crisis, and appears part of a strategy to get the US to back down by roiling the world economy.

Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff said Washington had delivered a 15-point “action list” to Iran for a possible ceasefire, using Pakistan as an intermediary. The list includes restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program and re-opening the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran has rejected the US offer and put forth its own five-point proposal, which includes reparations and recognition of its sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz.

Diplomats from several countries have been trying to organize a direct meeting between envoys from the US and Iran, possibly in Pakistan.

Egypt’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement Friday that the country’s foreign minster, Badr Abdelatty, held phone calls the day before with his Turkish and Pakistani counterparts as part of their “intensive efforts” to organize the talks.

Abdelatty said he hoped the tri-country effort would result in “gradual de-escalation efforts that would ultimately lead to the end of the war.”

As the diplomatic efforts went on, a group of US ships drew closer to the region with some 2,500 Marines. Also, at least 1,000 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne — trained to land in hostile territory to secure key territory and airfields — have been ordered to the Middle East.

Meanwhile, the UN Security Council is to hold closed consultation on Iran on Friday, according to two UN diplomats who spoke on condition of anonymity because the meeting is not public.

They added that Russia had asked for the meeting on US-Israeli attacks on civilian infrastructure in the country, and that the US, which holds the Security Council presidency, had scheduled it.

Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, said the humanitarian organization’s teams in Iran have reported that “countless homes, hospitals and schools have been damaged or destroyed,” and that nearly every neighborhood in Tehran has sustained damage.

“Civilians are paying the highest price for this war — it must end” he said in a statement.

The International Organization for Migration said Friday that 82,000 civilian buildings, including hospitals and the homes of 180,000 people have been damaged in Iran so far.

“If this war continues, we risk a far wider humanitarian disaster,” Egeland said. “Millions could be forced to flee across borders, placing immense pressure on an already overstretched region.”

The Israeli army said Thursday it had deployed the 162nd Division into southern Lebanon, joining thousands of troops that were moved there after the war erupted. Israel says the open-ended invasion is aimed at protecting its northern border towns from Hezbollah attacks and uprooting the militant group from the area.

Eighteen people have died in Israel, while four Israeli soldiers have also been killed in Lebanon. Two Israeli soldiers were severely injured in Lebanon on Friday during an “operational accident,” the military said.

Authorities said more than 1,100 people have died in Lebanon and more than 1,900 people have been killed in Iran.

At least 13 American troops have been killed and four people in the occupied West Bank and 20 in Gulf Arab states have also died.

In Iraq, where Iranian-supported militia groups have entered the conflict, 80 members of the security forces have been killed.