Fresh attacks spread across Gulf region

As fresh hostilities between Tehran and Washington spilled over across the region, US military bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan and Iraq came under intensified retaliatory attacks, following reported casualties in Iran.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said on Wednesday that the United States' "catalogue of atrocities against Iran was now complete", citing an attack on a residential home in Sirik where families were celebrating a wedding.

More than 50 people were killed and wounded, he said, adding that the "cruelty cannot be separated from the chain of atrocities that preceded it in Minab, Lamerd, Qeshm and elsewhere, nor from the strikes on military targets that were dressed in deceptive justifications".

"More dangerous than the bomb itself is the normalization of bombing; and more dangerous than silence is the conversion of silence into legitimacy," he said, adding that Iran "will respond to these savage crimes with firmness".

Iranian media also reported strikes on Konarak, Bandar Abbas, Jask, Asaluyeh and Ahvaz. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Wednesday that four members of its Aerospace Force were killed in a US attack on locations in Kermanshah Province, the Tasnim News Agency reported.

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that the country was striking Iranian targets near the Strait of Hormuz.

The strikes were "in retaliation for the Iranians' failed attempt at adding sea mines to the strait" and "the Iranians shooting eight missiles, all successfully knocked down, at our military base in Jordan", Trump said.

If Iran retaliates, "they will be hit again at a much harder and higher level", he said.

The US Central Command announced it completed a wave of strikes against Iranian military targets on Tuesday, including air defense sites, radar systems, maritime assets and facilities, and mine-laying capabilities as well as communication sites.

Elsewhere, the General Command of the Bahrain Defense Force said Iran continues its "systematic hostile approach" through attacks targeting civilians in the country. The Ministry of Interior issued alerts of potential threat and danger, urging citizens to remain calm and follow news through official channels.

In Kuwait, authorities said on Wednesday that firefighting teams had brought a fire under control at a residential complex in the capital after it was targeted by an Iranian drone, Kuwait News Agency reported.

The IRGC announced strikes on the US Ali Al-Salem base in Kuwait, and drone attacks on US bases in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

Qatar's Foreign Ministry on Wednesday condemned Iran's renewed attacks on Jordan, Bahrain and Kuwait. The ministry said it considers the continued attacks "a dangerous escalation that could complicate de-escalation efforts and undermine diplomatic and political initiatives aimed at restoring security and stability in the region".

Return to diplomacy

Also on Wednesday, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim urged the US and Iran to halt further escalation and return to diplomacy, saying the world "must not be made to pay the price for a wider regional war".

"The party with the greatest capacity to shape events bears a particular responsibility to exercise restraint and prevent further escalation. The sovereignty of other states cannot be cast aside. No military objective justifies exposing civilians to an expanding conflict," he said.

"Economic measures that inflict hardship on civilians and impede diplomatic engagement risk exacerbating rather than resolving this crisis," he added.

Meanwhile, Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman Tahir Andrabi told reporters on Wednesday that despite recent escalations, Islamabad remains hopeful and will continue to strive for dialogue and diplomacy between the United States and Iran.

Contact the writers at jan@chinadailyapac.com