War widens to include Iranian-backed militias
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates—Iran and Iranian-backed militias fired missiles at Israel and Arab states, apparently hitting the US Embassy compound in Kuwait, while Israel and the United States pounded targets in Iran as the war expanded on Monday with statements of defiance and increasing casualties.
The US military said Kuwait had “mistakenly shot down” three American F-15E Strike Eagles during a combat mission while attacks from Iranian aircraft, ballistic missiles and drones were underway.
At least 555 people have been killed in Iran so far by the US-Israeli campaign, the Iranian Red Crescent Society said, and more than 130 cities across the country have come under attack. Eleven people have been killed in Israel and 31 in Lebanon, according to authorities there.
Friendly fire hits US aircraft
Lebanon’s government said Hezbollah’s overnight attack against Israel were “illegal” and demanded the group hand over its weapons. Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said only the state can decide whether to go to war or peace, and called on the Lebanese military to prevent the firing of projectiles and detain anyone involved.
In Kuwait, fire and smoke rose from inside the US Embassy compound. It wasn’t exactly clear where in Kuwait the US aircraft were shot down, but the US Central Command said all six pilots ejected safely and are in stable condition. “Kuwait has acknowledged this incident, and we are grateful for the efforts of the Kuwaiti defense forces and their support in this ongoing operation,” it said.
Iranian state television claimed Iran had targeted US aircraft, without elaborating. Before the embassy compound was hit, the United States issued a warning to Americans in Kuwait to take cover and for others to stay away.
On Monday afternoon, multiple airstrikes hit Tehran, Iran’s capital, while top Iranian security official Ali Larijani vowed on X that “we will not negotiate with the United States.”
Oil infrastructure targeted
In Iraq, a pro-Iranian militia claimed responsibility for a drone attack targeting US troops at the Baghdad airport, the day after it said it fired at a US base in the city of Irbil in the north, and Cyprus said a drone attack targeted a British base on the Mediterranean island nation.
Israel and the United States bombed Iranian missile sites and targeted its navy, claiming to have destroyed its headquarters and multiple warships.
World markets were rattled by the fighting and oil prices soared.
Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura oil refinery came under a drone attack on Monday, with defenses downing the incoming aircraft, a military spokesperson told the state-run Saudi Press Agency.
Online videos from the site appeared to show thick black smoke rising after the attack. Even successfully intercepted drones cause debris that can spark fires and injure those on the ground.
‘Significant escalation’
Ras Tanura, near the city of Dammam in eastern Saudi Arabia, is one of the world’s largest with a capacity of over half a million barrels of crude oil a day. It was temporarily shut down as a precaution after the attack, Saudi state television reported.
Oman said a bomb-carrying drone boat exploded against Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman on Monday, off the coast of the sultanate’s capital of Muskat, killing one mariner. The state-run Oman News Agency said the dead crew member was from India.
Earlier in the day, debris fell on Kuwait’s Ahmadi oil refinery, injuring two workers, after drones were shot down, the state-run KUNA news agency reported.
Iran’s decision to expand its attacks to major regional oil infrastructure adds a new element to the war gripping the Middle East, directly targeting the lifeblood of the area’s economy.
“The attack on Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura refinery marks a significant escalation, with Gulf energy infrastructure now squarely in Iran’s sights,” said Torbjorn Soltvedt, an analyst at the risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft.
“An extended period of uncertainty lies ahead as Iran seeks to impose a heavy economic cost by putting tankers, regional energy infrastructure, trade routes and US security partners in the crosshairs,” he added.
‘Global backlash’
Iran has also threatened ships in the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all oil traded passes. Several ships have been attacked as well.
Sascha Bruchmann, a defense analyst with the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Bahrain, told The Associated Press (AP) that Iran’s goal in hitting energy infrastructure is to “cause global backlash.” So far, however, “this is not the wholesome destruction of critical infrastructure the Iranian regime seeks,” Bruchmann said.
An Iranian claim
Iran’s Ambassador to the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, Reza Najafi, told reporters that the US-Israeli airstrikes had targeted Iran’s Natanz nuclear enrichment site on Sunday.
“Again they attacked Iran’s peaceful safeguarded nuclear facilities yesterday,” he said. “Their justification that Iran wants to develop nuclear weapons is simply a big lie.”
Israel and the United States have not acknowledged strikes at the site, which the US bombed back in the 12-day war between Iran and Israel in June. The Israeli military also did not immediately comment on Najafi’s allegation.
