Tehran says it is no longer honoring a month-old interim agreement with Washington as attacks on military sites, transportation routes, energy facilities and desalination plants intensify around the Strait of Hormuz.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.
Iran suspended its commitments under an interim agreement with the United States on Saturday as both countries expanded attacks against military targets and critical infrastructure, further diminishing prospects for an end to the war.
Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi accused Washington of violating the agreement, which was signed approximately one month ago as part of an effort to move the conflict toward a permanent resolution.
The United States failed to honor its obligations, and Iran is “no longer implementing them,” Gharibabadi told Iranian state television.
No new developments were announced concerning mediation efforts.
The diplomatic breakdown came as the conflict increasingly centered on the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that carried about one-fifth of the world’s crude oil before the war began. Attacks across the region have damaged military installations, transportation networks, oil infrastructure and facilities that provide drinking water to civilian populations.
U.S. Central Command said early Saturday that American forces had completed a seventh consecutive night of strikes.
The targets included “surveillance sites, military logistics infrastructure, underground weapons storage, and maritime capabilities,” according to the command.
Iranian strikes caused extensive damage in Kuwait, where an oil facility and a desalination plant were hit, according to Kuwaiti authorities and the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation. Officials did not disclose the locations of either facility.
Several people were injured at the oil installation. A fire at the desalination plant forced multiple power-generation units out of service.
The attack was the second strike against a Kuwaiti desalination facility in two days. Kuwait relies on desalination to provide approximately 90% of its drinking water.
The Kuwait Fire Force reported that several firefighters and one worker were injured while responding to two additional fires caused by Iranian attacks.
Kuwait temporarily closed its airspace because of missile threats. Kuwait Airways subsequently announced that most flights entering or departing the capital were being rescheduled.
The effects of the attacks extended across several neighboring countries.
Iraqi authorities said air defenses intercepted attack drones over Irbil. Jordan’s state-operated Petra news agency reported that the kingdom’s defenses shot down Iranian missiles.
Warning sirens sounded repeatedly in Bahrain throughout Saturday and in Saudi Arabia during the morning, according to the two governments.
Iran also reported damage from American strikes against civilian and industrial infrastructure.
Iranian state television said U.S. forces struck an electricity facility and a desalination plant in the southern province of Hormozgan.
The state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported that the Bonji desalination plant was destroyed, interrupting water service to approximately 10,000 people. Another desalination facility on Qeshm Island, strategically located inside the Strait of Hormuz, was damaged.
American attacks also targeted transportation routes serving Bandar Abbas, Iran’s principal port near the narrowest section of the strait.
Overnight strikes damaged two tunnels and a bridge along one of the main highways leading to the port, according to IRNA. The agency later reported that three bridges were struck Saturday, including one located on a route to Bandar Abbas.
Iran publicly acknowledged damage to its electricity system for the first time Friday. The Iranian Energy Ministry referred to “attacks on power infrastructure” while asking residents in southern provinces “experiencing extreme heat” to reduce electricity consumption.
The ministry did not identify the facilities that were struck.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned that nations allowing U.S. forces to operate from their territory should be “prepared to receive a corresponding response,” according to Iranian state television.
Iranian authorities said American strikes had killed at least 50 people and wounded more than 500 during the previous three weeks. The reported death toll included eight people killed Friday when a bridge was struck.
U.S. officials said 13 additional American service members had been injured since Monday. The wounded included 10 Army soldiers and three Navy sailors, but officials released no additional information about the circumstances.
Fourteen U.S. service members have been killed and 427 wounded since the war began, according to the figures provided.
The conflict started with American and Israeli strikes against Iran on Feb. 28. Tehran subsequently moved to effectively close the Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping, sending oil prices sharply higher and providing Iran with leverage in negotiations.
Iran has asserted that the strait should be under its exclusive control and that vessels using the passage should pay fees to Tehran. The waterway has long been treated internationally as an open maritime route.
Iranian forces have fired on ships in recent days, while the number of vessels crossing the strait dropped to a three-week low, according to an international shipping tracker.
President Donald Trump has renewed warnings that the United States could strike additional Iranian bridges and power stations in an effort to force Tehran to loosen its control of the waterway.
During the past week, the United States also reimposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports to prevent the country from exporting crude oil.
Energy producers have diverted more shipments through regional pipelines, but existing pipeline capacity has not been sufficient to replace the volume normally transported by sea.
Before the fighting began, the United States and Iran had been negotiating over Tehran’s nuclear program. Those talks have been overtaken by a widening military confrontation that now threatens drinking-water systems, international shipping and the global energy market.
Trump is also facing pressure to end the war before it develops into the type of extended Middle Eastern conflict he had campaigned against.
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