Iran, US and Gulf states report new military and diplomatic moves

Several governments and armed groups reported new developments linked to the war in the Middle East.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they attacked and destroyed several American military assets in Jordan. The Guards said the targets included a radar for the US THAAD missile defence system, a Patriot system, a C-RAM radar and a helicopter hangar.

Iran's army and Revolutionary Guards also issued separate statements claiming attacks on several US bases in Kuwait. They named Ali Al Salem base, Camp Udairi, Camp Doha, Camp Arifjan and a telecommunications tower.

Saudi state media, citing an official source, reported that a vessel belonging to a Saudi company was hit while travelling through the Red Sea. The report came after Yemen's Tehran-backed Houthi rebels said they had struck tankers in the waterway. The Houthis had threatened to blockade Saudi ports on the Red Sea, a key oil-shipping route, while the five-month war had already led to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

US Central Command said on Wednesday that the United States had launched strikes against Iranian military targets for a 12th consecutive night. Iranian state media reported early Thursday, Tehran time, that Ramshir and Ahvaz in southwest Iran were under missile attack by what it called the US enemy. Authorities in Bushehr province, on Iran's Gulf coast, also reported an attack there by a US missile.

The United States said it had reached a civilian nuclear cooperation deal with Saudi Arabia. Washington said the agreement would set up a civilian nuclear programme in the Gulf country and include safeguards against nuclear proliferation. The US Energy Department said the agreements created a legal basis for a long-term, multi-billion-dollar partnership covering economic, strategic and nonproliferation objectives.

Kuwait's army said early Thursday that its air defences were responding to hostile drones after several days of Iranian strikes on the country. It said any explosions heard would be from air defence systems intercepting hostile targets.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran would answer any attack on its infrastructure with a similar response. He said Iran's defence doctrine was “eye for an eye” after Washington threatened to bomb a bridge or power plant for every ship targeted in the Strait of Hormuz.

US President Donald Trump said the United States would destroy one Iranian bridge or power plant for each Iranian attack on a ship in the Strait of Hormuz. He said he was “not finished” with the war, which he said had cost Washington $37.5 billion. Trump made the warning on Wednesday, the same day he attended the return of four more US service members killed in the war.