US, Iran ramp up regional threats as tensions deepen

Iran and the United States traded blows for the sixth day with Tehran warning it would obliterate all remaining infrastructure in the region as Washington launched a new wave of strikes.

Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan were among the countries that continued to thwart Iranian retaliatory attacks, with Jordanian air defenses saying they had downed at least eight missiles launched from Iran on Thursday.

The US Central Command, or CENTCOM, said it ended an evening wave of strikes against Iran at 9 pm Eastern Time on Wednesday.

"US forces struck Iranian command centers, air defense sites, missile and drone capabilities, and coastal surveillance facilities to further degrade Iran's ability to threaten innocent mariners crewing commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz. CENTCOM used precision munitions to hit targets in multiple locations, including Bandar Abbas," it said.

"Earlier this morning, American forces struck coastal defense and cruise missile sites on Greater Tunb Island during a 90-minute wave. The US military is holding Iran accountable at the Commander in Chief's direction," it added.

Iranian media reported that US forces struck multiple sites across Iran's southern provinces overnight and forced the emergency evacuation of a children's cancer hospital in Ahvaz, Khuzestan Province.

Earlier this week, US President Donald Trump threatened to expand his country's military strikes unless Iran returns to the negotiating table.

"Next week it gets really bad for them because next week comes the power plants," he said in an interview with Fox News. "We're gonna knock out all their power plants. We're going to knock out all their bridges unless they get to the table and negotiate."

Ebrahim Zolfaghari, spokesman for Iran's Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, warned of obliterating all remaining infrastructure in the region if Trump's threats are implemented.

The US continues its "lawlessness and destabilization" of the region, he said, emphasizing that under no circumstances would Tehran allow Washington, as a foreign and extra-regional power, to interfere in the Strait of Hormuz, calling it Iran's "unbreakable red line".

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said earlier that the country has no plans to return to talks with the US as long as Washington continues to violate its commitments under the Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding to which both agreed last month.

Less traffic

According to a Reuters report, fewer vessels traveled through the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, the first day after the US reinstated its naval blockade on Iranian ports.

Nine vessels crossed the strait that day, mostly on the Iranian route, down from 13 on Monday, according to data from shipping tracker Kpler.

Amid the blistering exchange of words and attacks between Washington and Tehran in the past few days, Iranian military spokesman Mohammad Akraminia claimed his country has no intention of confronting its neighbors, Al Jazeera reported.

"The armed forces regard the protection of the Iranian nation's security, interests and dignity as their foremost mission, and they will spare no effort in fulfilling that responsibility," he said.

Akraminia also urged countries outside the region to engage with Iran based on mutual respect.

Meanwhile, Pakistan said it will push the US and Iran to halt their attacks and resume talks under the memorandum of understanding it helped mediate.

Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Tahir Andrabi told reporters on Thursday that while the implementation of the MoU was facing challenges, Pakistan will continue to encourage all sides to end violence and resume technical-level talks.

Contact the writers at jan@chinadailyapac.com