Iran claimed responsibility for new attacks in the Middle East on Friday, after denying reports that a new peace deal from the United States was delivered to, and rejected by, it.
Tehran targeted strikes on U.S. assets in Bahrain, Jordan, and Kuwait, according to Iran. The drone strikes targeted Bahrain’s Sheikh Isa Air Base and Jordan’s Al-Azraq Air Base, according to Iran’s Press TV. Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targeted the control tower of the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet in Bahrain, according to the semi-official agency Tasnim. The Revolutionary Guard also targeted three ammunition and equipment storage facilities at Kuwait’s Al-Adairi Base, Tasnim said.
The development comes after the U.S. carried out a 13th consecutive night of strikes on Iran on Thursday, targeting the country’s drone sites, command centers, and other targets “to further diminish the threat Iran poses to civilian mariners and commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz.”
It also comes after the New York Times reported that a new U.S. peace proposal was delivered to Iran by Iraq. Both Iran and Iraq rejected the reporting. Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al Zaidi said the details “bear no relation to reality” and called on all media outlets to “refrain from circulating unverified information or information attributed to anonymous sources.”
Tehran called it “misleading,” according to Iranian state media IRNA.
President Donald Trump met with al Zaidi last week and then flew to Tehran to meet with top Iranian officials, including President Masoud Pezeshkian, top negotiator Brig. Gen. Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, according to the New York Times. There, al Zaidi shared a short-term peace agreement from the U.S. that Iran promptly rejected, saying it is not interested in a temporary deal that leaves the question of control over the Strait of Hormuz unresolved, according to the report.
“The problem is not passing messages,” Araghchi reportedly said. “The problem is America’s outlook, which is illogical, greedy, and controlling.”
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Amid the tit-for-tat strikes between the U.S. and Iran on Thursday and Friday, Araghchi reiterated that Tehran would retaliate against countries assisting Washington.
“Any participation, cooperation or assistance in committing aggression against Iran will create international responsibility for the relevant parties,” Araghchi said at a foreign ministers meeting in Kyrgyzstan on Friday.
Iranian officials warned neighboring countries housing U.S. assets and military bases to stay at least 500 meters away from any building housing U.S. soldiers.
“We warn the general public in countries where American soldiers are stationed to immediately stay out of a radius of 500 metres from the places where American soldiers are hiding, in order to be safe,” the Guard said.