Wars 2026 02/28 Israel-Iran War 3.0

[Saif]

China, Pakistan call on US, Iran to cease fire, resume talks

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar in Shanghai Thursday, with both sides calling on the United States and Iran to cease fire and resume talks as soon as possible. The two sides expressed deep concern over the deteriora

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

China, Pakistan call on US, Iran to cease fire, resume talks

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Pakistan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar in Shanghai Thursday, with both sides calling on the United States and Iran to cease fire and resume talks as soon as possible.

The two sides expressed deep concern over the deterioration of the situation in Iran, calling on parties concerned to immediately cease hostilities, surmount difficulties, remove disruptions, resume contacts and dialogue, and strive to reach a comprehensive peace agreement through negotiations. They also urged the international community to continue lending support to such efforts, reports Xinhua.

Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said that the first-phase memorandum of understanding (MoU) reached between the United States and Iran did not come easily. It represents the outcome of bilateral negotiations and also owes much to the joint efforts of the international community, with Pakistan playing an indispensable coordinating and mediating role, he added.

Wang said the core provisions of the MoU serve not only the fundamental and long-term interests of the parties concerned but also met the shared expectations of the international community, and thus deserved to be cherished and safeguarded with utmost care.

Noting that all parties should honor their commitments and abide by the provisions of the MoU, Wang said that China would, as always, support Pakistan's mediation efforts and continue to play a constructive role in facilitating the de-escalation of the situation in its own way.

Dar gave a briefing on Pakistan's recent efforts and thanked China for its understanding and support. He said Pakistan would forge ahead against difficulties and keep actively promoting peace talks.​

 

[Saif]

Escalation fears mount as US hits bridges and Iran strikes desalination plant

Oil prices jump and global markets fall as both sides widen the scope of their attacks

www.thedailystar.net

Escalation fears mount as US hits bridges and Iran strikes desalination plant

Oil prices jump and global markets fall as both sides widen the scope of their attacks

Reuters, Dubai

The United States struck bridges and an airport in Iran today, provoking Tehran to respond by hitting a power and desalination plant in Kuwait, as the warring foes risked further escalation by expanding their targets to include infrastructure.

At sea, where the renewed conflict has again cut off energy supplies from the Gulf, the US Marines boarded a tanker near the Strait of Hormuz. Another vessel was seized by armed men off Yemen, raising concern over security in the Middle East's other big choke point for oil shipments at the mouth of the Red Sea.

Washington and Tehran have been testing the limits of escalation since their ceasefire agreement collapsed last week, raising the prospect of a return to all-out war.

As reports of today's escalation emerged, benchmark Brent crude oil prices surged by more than 3% to near $87, the highest level since an interim agreement a month ago aimed at ending the war. Global share prices fell, with Wall Street opening sharply lower.

US President Donald Trump has threatened to launch broad-based air strikes on Iran's infrastructure and has also declined to rule out a ground assault on Iran's coast or islands. US officials have said attacks on southern Iran are designed in part to give Trump options.

Such moves risk provoking Iran to escalate in turn by hitting the vital infrastructure of vulnerable neighbouring Arab states, or having its allies in Yemen further disrupt global energy supplies by attacking shipping from the Red Sea.

BRIDGES HIT IN IRAN, PLANT HIT IN KUWAIT

In the latest strikes, the US military's Central Command included "military logistics infrastructure" in the list of targets it said it had hit, the first time it has mentioned infrastructure in more than a week.

Iranian state media said at least five bridges had been struck in the south. Seven people were reported killed in attacks on bridges in the southern port of Bandar Khamir, where the train station was also hit. An airport was reported hit further east and away from the coast in Iranshahr, in a province bordering Pakistan.

Reuters was unable to confirm details of the reports, which also described other deadly attacks, including one which killed a woman and wounded her child in the port of Bandar Abbas.

In response, Iran announced attacks on Gulf countries that host US airbases, including Bahrain, Qatar, and Kuwait.

Authorities in Kuwait said one of the country's power generation and water desalination stations had been hit in an Iranian attack, causing damage to facilities, a fire, and the disruption of a large number of electricity-generating units.

Firefighters brought the blaze under control, while technical teams began assessing the damage, securing the station and working to restore power generation as soon as possible, the Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy said.

The rich Arab Gulf states depend on plants that produce electricity and remove salt from seawater to make their desert cities habitable. When Iran hit a Kuwaiti desalination plant on March 30, it was seen as a major escalation that helped push the United States to declare the war's first ceasefire a week later.

FEUD OVER STRAIT

Iran said it had struck US bases in Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain, and a US radar station in Oman. Explosions were heard in the Qatari capital Doha, where the interior ministry said a child was wounded by shrapnel.

Iran also said it fired at Syria, apparently for the first time in the war, targeting what it described as a US special forces base in Tanf, which Damascus and Washington say US forces vacated earlier this year. A Syrian military source said the strike hit near the base and caused no damage or casualties. CENTCOM said no US troops were killed or captured.

Last month's interim agreement to end the war has collapsed since July 7, when Iran struck ships in the Strait of Hormuz and the United States responded with air strikes. Iran has since announced the closure of the strait, and Washington has reimposed its own blockade of Iranian ports.

In the latest action at sea, the US military said it had boarded a tanker to enforce the blockade, releasing photos of Marines rappelling down from a helicopter onto the deck, where one posed in front of an Iranian flag.

Beyond the Gulf, armed assailants boarded and seized a small chemical tanker off Yemen in the Gulf of Aden, close to the mouth of the Red Sea.

One maritime security source said the incident appeared to be related to Somali piracy rather than action by Iran's Yemeni allies, the Houthis. But security sources in the Horn of Africa have spoken in the past of concern about the potential for the Houthis to assist, encourage or arm pirates in the area.

While Iran and the United States have exchanged strikes daily since last week, they have so far stopped short of escalating beyond parameters set earlier in the war, when civilian infrastructure and major economic targets were mostly deemed out of bounds because of the threat of retaliation.

Iran has said that it would attack civilian infrastructure across the Middle East if Trump follows through on threats to attack Iran's infrastructure.

It has also signalled that it could prod its Houthi allies in Yemen to close another key strait: the Bab al-Mandeb at the mouth of the Red Sea, potentially cutting off the main alternative route for Middle East oil bypassing the Gulf. Sources have told Reuters Iran has already instructed the Houthis to act if Washington attacks Iran's infrastructure.​

 

[Saif]

Two US service members in Jordan killed in Iranian attack, US says

Two US military personnel ‌in Jordan were killed on Friday ⁠as they defended against an attack by Iranian missiles and ‌drones, ⁠the US Central Command said ⁠in a statement on ⁠Saturday.

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Two US service members in Jordan killed in Iranian attack, US says

Iranian missiles are launched, as Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had carried out attacks against a US base in Jordan and 21 other targets in the Gulf on Wednesday in retaliation for American strikes around the Strait of Hormuz, from a location given as Tehran, Iran, released June 10, 2026, in this still image taken from a video.

Two US military personnel ‌in Jordan were killed on Friday ⁠as they defended against an attack by Iranian missiles and ‌drones, ⁠the US Central Command said ⁠in a statement on ⁠Saturday.​

 

[Saif]

Iran hits Gulf states and Jordan after seventh night of US strikes

Iran launched more attacks on Washington's Gulf allies and Jordan on Saturday after a seventh straight night of US strikes on Iranian military targets, escalating the war one week after a ceasefire collapsed. Kuwait came under sustained attack, with a desalination plant hit and operations at Kuwai

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Iran hits Gulf states and Jordan after seventh night of US strikes

Smoke rises from an explosion at an unknown location, during what US Central Command (CENTCOM) says are strikes on Iran, in this screen grab taken from a handout video released Jul 17, 2026.

Iran launched more attacks on Washington's Gulf allies and Jordan on Saturday after a seventh straight night of US strikes on Iranian military targets, escalating the war one week after a ceasefire collapsed.

Kuwait came under sustained attack, with a desalination plant hit and operations at Kuwait International Airport suspended due to repeated missile and drone threats.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had struck a US military support centre at Camp Arifjan and destroyed a radar facility at Ali Al Salem Air Base. Kuwait Petroleum Corporation later said one of its oil facilities had been hit in "repeated Iranian attacks", causing significant damage and some injuries, according to the state news agency.

Kuwait's armed forces said they had intercepted Iranian ballistic missiles and drones early on Saturday, adding that a number of firefighters and oil sector workers had been injured while responding to the attacks.

Iran was responding to US attacks on bridges, power facilities and other infrastructure.

"Since there is no international institution to prevent the savagery of the US military, we have no path before us except the Quranic command: ‘Whoever attacks you, attack them in the same manner'," the IRGC said in a statement warning US allies in the region to expect more strikes.

Iran's Health Ministry said on Saturday that 50 people had been killed and more than 500 injured in US strikes over the past three weeks, the semi-official ILNA news agency reported.

The IRGC targeted a site in Bahrain where US combat aircraft were gathered at Sheikh Isa Air Base and an intelligence data centre, Iranian state media reported.

The Guards said they had also destroyed at least two US fighter aircraft and three other aircraft during a missile and drone attack early on Saturday on the US base in Al Azraq, Jordan, according to Iranian state TV.

Reuters could not independently verify the reports.

Saudi Arabia Attacked

Iran also launched attacks on Saudi Arabia for the first time in about three months, according to two people familiar with the matter, triggering early warning alarms in Al-Kharj, east of the capital Riyadh, and at Yanbu on the kingdom's Red Sea coast.

The people said one attack had targeted the Prince Sultan Air Base in Al-Kharj, which hosts US forces.

Saudi state media did not elaborate on what triggered the early warnings and the government media office did not respond to a request for comment. The IRGC made no mention of any attack on Saudi Arabia.

Oil Prices Climb

Oil prices rose more than 4 percent on Friday to their highest level in more than a month, adding to political pressure on US President Donald Trump as his Republican Party tries to hold on to power in November congressional elections.

Washington and Tehran have been testing the limits of escalation since their ceasefire agreement fell apart last week, raising the prospect of a return to all-out war.

On Friday, both sides took aim at shipping traffic, with the US saying it was enforcing a naval blockade while Iran said it targeted vessels that violated its rules on navigating the Strait of Hormuz, the vital waterway for one-fifth of the world's oil supply.

Iranian media reported that several missiles had struck power facilities and desalination pumps in the southern city of Jask on Saturday, citing a local official.

Some 10,000 people in 20 villages were without water, Tasnim news agency reported. The governor of Jask later said emergency water deliveries had begun to the affected villages.

A power generation and water desalination plant in Kuwait was hit in an Iranian attack, the country's Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy Ministry said in a statement. It was the second attack on Kuwaiti water desalination sites in two days.

Kuwait's Foreign Ministry said Iran's targeting of vital infrastructure endangered civilians and violated international law, adding it held Tehran fully responsible for the attacks.

Earlier, the US military's Central Command said it had completed its seventh consecutive day of strikes by hitting Iranian surveillance sites, military logistics infrastructure, underground weapons storage and maritime capabilities.

Infrastructure Strikes Kill Civilians in Iran

Iranian media reported strikes in Hormozgan Province on the Strait of Hormuz early on Saturday. State TV said three people were killed and eight wounded while two bridges and a road tunnel were damaged.

A day earlier, Iranian state media said US strikes hit at least five bridges in the south. Seven people were reported killed in attacks on bridges in the port of Bandar Khamir, where a train station was also hit. An airport was reported hit in Iranshahr further east.

US officials have said the strikes on southern Iran are designed partly to provide options for Trump, who has also declined to rule out a ground assault on Iran's coast or islands.

The attacks risk provoking Iran to mount further attacks on the vital infrastructure of Gulf states, or renewed efforts by Tehran's allies in Yemen to disrupt global energy supplies by targeting Red Sea shipping.​