Explosions break out near US base in northern Iraq
Explosions struck near a US military base in Iraq's Irbil after Washington completed another wave of airstrikes on Iran. The escalating conflict widened with Houthi threats, shipping disruptions, soaring oil prices, and growing tensions over control of the strategic Strait of Hormuz
Irbil: A series of explosions broke out near a military base hosting US forces in northern Iraq, hours after the US military said it had wrapped up its 13th night of strikes against Iran.
A journalist with the Associated Press heard at least seven blasts around 9:30 am local time in the city of Irbil, the capital of Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region, and observed at least four plumes of black smoke rising into the sky from areas near or inside the base after.
The US and Iran have exchanged escalating strikes in fighting that began with a struggle over control of the strategic Strait of Hormuz. Iranian state media reported that four people had been killed and nine injured in the US bombardment.
US Central Command said the latest barrage was designed to “further degrade Iran’s ability to threaten civilian mariners and commercial vessels transiting regional waters” as the Americans push to regain control over the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and gas transited in peacetime. It said the strikes ended shortly before 5 am local time Friday.
Bahrain activated its sirens twice later that morning, warning residents to shelter from detected incoming fire. Gulf states have also come under frequent fire over the past week.
The previous day, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels said they targeted two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, potentially widening the Iran war as international oil topped USD 100 a barrel.
Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi of Iraq, which has close ties to both the US and Iran, was in Tehran on Thursday to call for peace and dialogue. He promised not to allow Iraqi territory to be used for attacks on Iran, his office said. Al-Zaidi met with Trump earlier this month in Washington.
US strikes sites across Iran
US strikes hit a naval base for the Revolutionary Guard in the north of Iran, the Iranian semiofficial news outlets Fars and ISNA reported Friday morning. Blasts overnight were also reported on Iran’s Qeshm Island, home to stores of naval assets including drone boats that Iran can use to attack vessels on the Strait of Hormuz, as well as in Isfahan province, where there is a major Iranian air base as well as one of Iran’s nuclear sites. More strikes reportedly hit Iran’s southwest Khuzestan province and southern Fars province.
Four people were killed and five wounded in a US missile attack on the outskirts of Ahvaz on the Karun River, Iranian state media said. An attack in Lorestan province in Western Iran injured two, state media said, while two more were injured by explosions in the port city of Bandar Abbas, a critical hub for moving military supplies as well as trade cargo.
Meanwhile, the Houthis threatened to shut down another key trade route with the world economy already reeling from Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
The Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, is a vital shipping chokepoint connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. Around 12 per cent of the world’s trade, including a fourth of global container traffic, passes through there, moving between Europe and Asia via Egypt’s Suez Canal.
The Houthi attacks put at risk oil shipments from Saudi Arabia’s Yanbu port on the Red Sea and present a “double whammy” on top of the disruption in the Strait of Hormuz, said maritime data and analysis firm Lloyd’s List Intelligence. Saudi Arabia has diverted millions of barrels a day of oil exports to Yanbu via an overland pipeline as the war has bottled up the Persian Gulf.
President Donald Trump threatened “major military punishment” against the Houthis if their attacks on ships continue.
As the rhetoric escalated, so did economic fallout. The price of Brent crude oil, the international standard, spiked more than 6 per cent to about USD 100 a barrel. That’s the highest level since May, before the two sides reached a preliminary peace agreement last month that has since collapsed.
Both sides dig in over Strait of Hormuz
Iran says it has the right to manage traffic and potentially charge fees in the Strait of Hormuz, which was open to all toll-free before the war. It has attacked ships using a route through the strait that is overseen by US forces and intended to be outside Tehran’s control.
Trump said on social media Thursday that sanctioned Iranian funds in the possession of the US will cover the expense of fixing boats damaged in the war.
“Please let this statement serve to represent, until further notice, that from this point forth, any and all damages done to Ships, Cargo, or anything related thereto, will be paid for by Iranian Money that the United States has in its possession, and controls,” Trump said.
It was unclear what legal mechanisms Trump would use to access and spend the funds, but he said that doing so would be “the fair and equitable thing to do.” Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi condemned the suggestion, writing on X that “once governments normalise confiscation, no one’s assets are safe. Ensuing chaos will not be pretty or peaceful.”
