DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran launched a new wave of attacks against Israel, American bases and countries around the region Thursday, while warning the U.S. would “bitterly regret” torpedoing an Iranian warship and calling for “Trump’s blood.” Tehran’s expanding retaliatory strikes and increasing shows of defiance came even as Israel hammered it for a sixth day.
The war has escalated each day, expanding well beyond the Gulf. On Thursday, Azerbaijan accused Iran of attacking it with drones — though Tehran denied launching them. A day earlier, the U.S. said it sank an Iranian frigate in the waters off Sri Lanka.
All the while, Israel and the U.S. have battered Iran with nationwide strikes, targeting their military capabilities and security forces. Iran’s attacks have targeted their Arab neighbors, disrupted oil supplies and snarled global air travel.
In launching the war Saturday, the U.S. and Israel targeted Iran’s leadership, missile arsenal and nuclear program. Leaders have also suggested that toppling the government is a goal — and Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed on the first day of strikes. But the exact aims and timelines have repeatedly shifted, and the conflict increasingly appeared to be open-ended.
The war has killed more than 1,200 people in Iran, more than 70 in Lebanon and around a dozen in Israel, according to officials in those countries. It has disrupted the supply of the world’s oil and gas, snarled international shipping and stranded hundreds of thousands of travelers in the Middle East.
Israel announced multiple incoming missile attacks and air sirens sounded in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and Gulf countries also reported coming under fire.
In Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, a drone was shot down near the Al Dhafra Air Base, which hosts U.S. forces, and shrapnel fell to the ground, authorities said. Six people were wounded.
Qatar evacuated residents near the U.S. Embassy in Doha as a temporary precaution and later reported a missile attack on the city. Saudi Arabia said it destroyed a drone in its province bordering Jordan.
The Israeli military said it launched attacks in Lebanon on the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group — which attacked Israel in the opening days of the war — and that a wave of strikes on Iran had hit long-range ballistic missile launch sites and other targets.
A drone crashed Thursday near the airport in Nakhchivan, a region of Azerbaijan bordering the north of Iran that is separated from the rest of the country by Armenia. Another drone fell near a school and two civilians were injured, Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry said.
Source: WPLG
