Iran renews attacks on Gulf states after another night of US strikes

(Reuters)

DUBAI, July 18 – Iran launched renewed attacks ​on U.S. Gulf allies on Saturday after a seventh straight night of U.S. strikes targeting Iranian military sites including logistics infrastructure, ‌escalating the war one week after a fragile ceasefire agreement fell apart.

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 Revolutionary Guards said they struck a U.S. military support centre at Camp Arifjan and destroyed a radar facility at Ali Al Salem Air Base in ​Kuwait.

Iranian state media reported that in Bahrain, the Revolutionary Guards targeted a site where U.S. combat aircraft were gathered at Sheikh Isa Air ​Base and an intelligence data centre.

Reuters was not able to verify the reports.

“Since there is no international institution to prevent ⁠the savagery of the U.S. military, we have no path before us except the Quranic command: ‘Whoever attacks you, attack it in the same manner’,” the ​Guards said in a statement warning U.S. allies in the region to expect more strikes.

On Friday, both sides took aim at shipping traffic, with the U.S. 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.

Oil prices climbed more than 4% on Friday to their highest level in more than a month, applying political pressure on U.S. President Donald Trump as his Republican Party ​tries to hold on to power in November congressional elections.