Mashhad (Iran) (AFP) – New fighting erupted between the United States and Iran hours ahead of the burial of longtime supreme leader Ali Khamenei on Thursday, with Tehran targeting US allies in the region and American strikes hitting the perimeter of an Iranian nuclear power plant. The renewed hostilities, triggered by tensions over the Strait of Hormuz, sparked concerns of a return to full-scale war after an April ceasefire and a June US-Iran accord ended five weeks of conflict. This was the second day in a row that the decades-old foes exchanged attacks, with Iranian officials reporting the US attacks had killed 17 people.
The Islamic Republic said it had resumed its attacks targeting US assets in Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar, while sirens blared in Jordan—another US ally—where the military said it had intercepted eight missiles launched from Iran. The fighting came with Iran preparing to bury Khamenei, who was killed alongside close family members on the first day of the US-Israeli war against Iran on February 28. The last of a marathon six days of funeral ceremonies, Khamenei’s burial on Thursday in his hometown of Mashhad will be closely watched for signs of his son Mojtaba Khamenei, who has yet to appear in public since being appointed. Crowds of men and women clad in black, many urging vengeance, were already massing against the backdrop of slogans including “there will be blood,” AFP correspondents said.
The United States targeted the perimeter of Iran’s only civilian nuclear plant with a strike on Thursday, Iranian state media reported, citing the deputy governor of Bushehr province. The Iranian foreign ministry said the US attacks targeted civilian infrastructure, including railway bridges, and described the strikes as a “gross war crime.” US military officials said Thursday’s strikes hit approximately 90 Iranian military targets, including air defence systems, missile and drone storage sites. Iran’s army said it had targeted a Patriot missile interceptor system in Kuwait, an early warning system in Qatar, and fuel tanks in Bahrain with drones, as part of its attacks on US bases in the region.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards accused the United States of an “effort to overshadow” Khamenei’s funeral with its attacks on the railway bridges, which led to the suspension of rail services. After funeral ceremonies in Tehran, the clerical hub of Qom, and Iraq’s holy cities of Najaf and Karbala, a plane carrying the coffin of Khamenei landed in Mashhad on Thursday morning. The farewells to Khamenei, who ruled Iran for more than three and a half decades, have offered some insights into the shape of the new leadership who have sought to put on a united front between political and military figures.
But there has so far been no sign of Mojtaba Khamenei, who has communicated only through written statements since being named and, according to officials, was wounded in the February 28 airstrikes. In a sign of the security tensions, at least one fighter jet escorted the plane carrying Khamenei’s coffin to its final burial in Mashhad, footage from the supreme leader’s website showed. Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump used his old Air Force One plane to leave Turkey after a NATO summit instead of his new Qatari-gifted jet, a move the New York Times described as a security precaution in the current context.
The Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil and gas corridor, remains a key point of contention, with Tehran insisting on control of the waterway despite it being open to free passage before the war began. Trump said the ceasefire with Iran was “over,” but left the door open to more talks while describing the Iranian side as “sort of crazy.” Iran’s chief negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warned on X that “if you strike, you will be struck.” The Iranian military struck at least three ships in recent days, prompting extensive US strikes against Iranian targets on Tuesday. The accord last month to end the war “looks incredibly fragile,” but “neither Tehran nor Washington have better options ahead besides the diplomatic track,” said Ellie Geranmayeh of the European Council on Foreign Relations.
© 2024 AFP
