Tehran (AFP) – Iran fired missiles across the Middle East on Tuesday as its capital was hit by fresh explosions, after US President Donald Trump threatened the country’s key oil export hub, power stations, and desalination plants. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump’s partner in attacking Iran, said more than half of his military aims had been achieved, but both leaders refused to put a timeline on an operation that has ignited a month-long regional war and jolted global markets.
As sirens rang out in Jerusalem, Israel’s military said it had responded to fresh Iranian missiles, while local Iranian media reported new explosions in Tehran that caused “power outages in parts” of the capital. Israel’s military also reported Tuesday that four more of its soldiers had been killed in combat in southern Lebanon, where the war has spilled and where they are clashing with Iranian-backed Hezbollah. Before the latest strikes on Tehran, Israel issued a warning on X to residents of an area in the west of the city saying it would “attack military infrastructure” there.
Iran, meanwhile, fired a new salvo of missiles at Gulf nations it accuses of serving as a launchpad for US strikes. In Dubai, four people were wounded by falling debris from intercepted projectiles, while an Iranian attack sparked a fire at a Kuwaiti oil tanker in the city’s port, said authorities in the financial hub whose reputation for stability has been shaken by the conflict. In Saudi Arabia, authorities said they intercepted eight ballistic missiles, hours after Iran’s top diplomat called on Riyadh to “eject US forces.”
Trump warned Monday that if Iran did not strike a war-ending deal—which included reopening the vital Strait of Hormuz shipping lane—US forces would destroy “all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!).” But the Wall Street Journal reported he also told aides he was willing to end the war even if the strait remains largely closed—likely strengthening Tehran’s control on the waterway. Refusing to back down, an Iranian parliamentary committee voted to impose tolls on vessels in the strait, the passageway through which one-fifth of global oil passes, and completely ban ships from the United States and Israel.
The strait had been open before the war, but Secretary of State Marco Rubio has recently spoken of building a “coalition” to oppose the Iranian tolling plan. “It sets an incredible precedent,” Rubio told Al-Jazeera of the tolls. “So this means that nations can now take over international waterways and claim them as their own,” Rubio said of the waterway the US president recently called the “Strait of Trump.”
Trump said the United States was speaking to a “more reasonable regime” in Tehran, which has denied any talks and accused him of lying about negotiations as cover while readying a ground invasion. For Israel’s part, Netanyahu said his military had achieved key objectives including “wiping out” industrial plants in Iran and coming “close to finishing their arms industry.” “It’s definitely beyond the halfway point. But I don’t want to put a schedule on it,” Netanyahu told US broadcaster Newsmax.
The war, and the spiraling price of oil, has been unpopular in the United States, where Rubio again said Monday that it would last “weeks” more and not months. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, whose country is feeling the economic pinch of the war, appealed directly to Trump to find an offramp. “Please, help us to stop the war; you are capable of it,” Sisi told a press conference.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, whose country is acting as an intermediary between Tehran and Washington, was set to travel to Beijing for talks Tuesday on “global issues of mutual interest” with counterpart Wang Yi. Dar hosted foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Turkey in the Pakistani capital on Sunday, saying Islamabad was ready to host talks between the United States and Iran in the “coming days.” Trump has claimed to be in direct contact with senior Iranian figures whom he has not identified publicly. But Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei again denied any negotiations, saying the United States had sent only a request to talk via intermediaries, including Pakistan.
After weeks of strikes, residents of Tehran painted a picture of a city that is still clinging to some routine despite tight security. “When I make it to a cafe table, even for a few minutes, I can almost believe the world hasn’t ended,” said Fatemeh, 27, a dental assistant. “And then I go back home, back to the reality of living through war, with all its darkness and weight.”
On another front, Israel has relentlessly pounded Lebanon, including central Beirut, as it seeks to deliver a heavy blow to Iranian ally Hezbollah, which fired rockets in response to the killing of Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei. The UN mission in Lebanon said that two Indonesian peacekeepers were killed when “an explosion of unknown origin destroyed their vehicle,” with two other peacekeepers wounded, one seriously. Another Indonesian peacekeeper was killed on Sunday.
The Israeli military said early Tuesday that it had opened an investigation to determine if it or Hezbollah was responsible. France, a key player in Lebanon, called for an urgent UN Security Council meeting, which was subsequently scheduled for Tuesday at 1400 GMT. Economy ministers and central bankers from the G7 club of rich countries, meanwhile, met in Paris to discuss the war’s consequences, with many countries introducing energy-saving measures. Market experts warned that any US ground operation or wider Iranian retaliation could send oil prices to levels not seen since the 2008 commodity boom.
Adding pressure, Yemen’s Iranian-backed Houthi rebels over the weekend fired missiles and drones at Israel, posing a threat to shipping on the Red Sea in addition to the Gulf.
© 2024 AFP
