Iran has retaliated against the United States and its allies across the Middle East after a US strike on its southern coast killed five people attending a wedding in Sirik, including a four-year-old child, and wounded dozens.
The exchange of fire was the biggest between Tehran and Washington since July, raising fears in Iran and neighbouring Arab countries of a return to full-scale war.
The retaliation came on Wednesday, a day after the US military struck Iranian air defence systems, radar systems, maritime assets, mine-laying capabilities and communications sites.
According to Middle east country the attacks hit several targets near the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran responded by targeting what it described as US assets in Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait and Iraq, saying it would continue its attacks until American forces leave the region.
“American evil in the region will be met with heavier, more widespread, and devastating responses, and any country that cooperates with the aggressive American army must accept its dangerous consequences,” Iran’s military command said.
Iran claimed it killed US forces in Jordan and at a base in northern Iraq, but US officials told Reuters that initial assessments showed no American casualties.
In Kuwait, Iran said it launched missile and drone attacks on the US Ali Al Salem Air Base and the accommodation of a US commander. Kuwait’s fire service said it extinguished a blaze at a residential complex hit by a drone.
Qatar, which hosts the largest US airbase in the Gulf, held Iran responsible for the attacks and their consequences, while Bahrain said Iranian drones were intercepted and destroyed.
US Navy Captain Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson for Central Command, said the military was aware of reports that the wedding party had been hit but denied targeting civilians.
“We are aware of reports, which originated from Iranian state media. The US military never targets civilians, unlike the IRGC,” he said, referring to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
The latest exchange marked the most serious direct confrontation between the two sides since July, when the United States halted two weeks of bombing in Iran.