Iran Guards warn civilians as US-Iran war developments widen

Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned civilians in the Middle East on Friday to stay away from US forces after Iran said it attacked American military bases in the region.

In a statement carried by state television, the Guards warned people in countries where American soldiers are stationed to remain outside a 500-metre radius from places where US soldiers are located.

UN rights chief Volker Turk called for countries involved in the war to help evacuate and repatriate about 6,000 sailors stranded in the Strait of Hormuz. His spokeswoman Shabia Mantoo said in Geneva that parties to the conflict should urgently facilitate safe passage for stranded seafarers to evacuate and disembark, and should ensure delivery of critical supplies.

Iran's Guards said Friday they had targeted and destroyed a data centre in Bahrain belonging to Amazon. Iranian state media reported the claim. The Guards had previously said on Wednesday that they targeted the data centre. Amazon and Bahraini authorities had not commented on Iran's claims, according to the source.

Several blasts were heard near Erbil airport in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, which hosts US-led coalition troops, an AFP journalist said. The journalist said the explosions were heard after air defences were activated, and also reported seeing drones over the city and smoke rising in the airport area. Erbil is home to a major US consulate complex.

Iranian state media reported that the United States struck an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps naval forces headquarters in Zibakenar, in the northern province of Gilan. Ali Bagheri, the deputy governor of the province, was quoted by the official IRNA news agency as saying American projectiles damaged equipment at the complex.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in Kyrgyzstan that Iran would hold accountable any country that assists the United States in an attack on Iran. He said any participation, cooperation or assistance in aggression against Iran would create international responsibility, and that Iran reserved the right to take necessary measures in self-defence.

Iran's army said it carried out drone strikes against several American military facilities and bases in Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait. It said explosive drones were launched at Isa Air Base in Bahrain, at aircraft and maintenance hangars and a barracks at Jordan's Al-Azraq base, and at US military sites in Kuwait. The Guards said they targeted Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait and claimed to have destroyed an ammunition depot and caused US personnel casualties.

Iranian state media reported that an overnight US attack on Khuzestan province killed at least four people and wounded five. Valiollah Hayati, deputy governor of the province, was quoted by IRNA as saying four people were killed and five injured. The US military said it was attacking Iran for the 13th night in a row, with strikes aimed at military targets and at reducing Iran's ability to attack shipping. Iranian state media said missiles hit Ahvaz, near the Iraqi border, and that explosions were heard in Bandar Abbas and Omidiyeh.

Tehran also criticised US President Donald Trump's threat to use frozen Iranian assets to pay for damage to ships and cargo in the region, calling it an incendiary precedent.