Iranians and their Arab neighbours feared a return of war on Wednesday after the biggest exchange of fire between Tehran and Washington since July, with U.S. forces striking Iran's southern coast and Iran firing at American bases across the region.
The United States threatened more devastating strikes. Iran accused Washington of hitting a wedding party, killing four people and wounding dozens.
Asian and European stocks tumbled after the renewed U.S. airstrikes, which pushed oil prices back up to levels unseen since July.
The U.S. military said it struck air defences, radar systems, maritime assets, mine-laying capabilities and communications sites on Tuesday. Iran reported hits on multiple targets near the Strait of Hormuz.
"Last night was like the end of the world," Mahmoud, 38, a municipal worker in Sirik County along the strait, told Reuters by telephone, describing attacks on the area which includes the city where the wedding was reported to have been hit.
Iran responded by striking what it said were U.S. assets in Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait and Iraq, and said its aim was now to drive U.S. forces from the vast network of military bases they have occupied for decades across the Middle East.
"American evil in the region will be met with heavier, more widespread, and devastating responses, and any country that cooperates with the aggressive American army must accept its dangerous consequences," Iran's military command said.
Iran said it killed U.S. forces in Jordan and at a base in northern Iraq, but U.S. officials told Reuters there had not been any casualties, according to initial assessments.
In Kuwait, Iran said it had carried out a missile and drone attack on the vast U.S. Ali Al Salem Air Base and targeted the accommodation of a U.S. commander. Kuwait’s fire service said it put out a blaze at a residential complex hit by a drone.
Qatar, home of the largest U.S. airbase in the Gulf, said it held Iran responsible for attacks and their repercussions. Bahrain, which houses the regional headquarters of the U.S. Navy, said Iranian drones were intercepted and destroyed.
Iran also said two tankers had been struck by mines while being steered through the Strait of Hormuz by U.S. personnel.
Washington says that despite Iranian attacks it is guiding ships through the strait: Energy Secretary Chris Wright said more than 17 million barrels of oil exited on Monday.
Saudi Arabia's national shipping company reported on Wednesday that two Filipino crew had been killed aboard an oil tanker in the strait two days earlier.
IRAN SAYS WEDDING STRUCK
Iranians were fearful that the new strikes signalled war could restart at full throttle.
“It’s very difficult to live like this. We don’t know when America will strike. My family and I are constantly worried about where will it strike,” Mahpari, 28, a woman in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, told Reuters by phone.
Iran reported at least 12 deaths from the night of U.S. strikes, with four people including a four-year-old said to have been killed while celebrating the wedding at a home in Sirik.
Earlier reports put the death toll there at five. Iranian media said as many as 68 people were wounded there, and released images of injured children in hospital.
Reuters was unable to independently verify the incident.
U.S. Navy Captain Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson for Central Command, said: "We are aware of reports, which originated from Iranian state media. The U.S. military never targets civilians, unlike the IRGC," referring to Iran's Revolutionary Guards.
Video filmed by Iran's West Asia News Agency at the purported site showed rubble strewn across rooms and a courtyard. A pair of strappy women's dress sandals lay abandoned on a blood-soaked carpet.
"I am just glad the casualties weren't even worse," said Ali Molahi, identified as the father of the bride.
Iranian officials compared the incident to a strike on a girls' school that killed 160 people on the war's first night. The Pentagon has not released the findings of an investigation into that attack, which would be U.S. military's largest civilian casualty incident in decades.
CONFLICT DRAINING BOTH SIDES
The exchange of fire was the worst since July, when U.S. President Donald Trump abruptly halted two weeks of intense bombing of Iran after warnings from his military brass that they were using up munitions and running out of meaningful targets.
Trump, who has yet to achieve the aims he set when launching "Operation Epic Fury" in February — to end Iran's nuclear programme, deprive it of the ability to strike its neighbours and create conditions for Iranians to topple their rulers — repeated his declarations that victory was at hand.
"I like our position now much better, with almost total control of the Hormuz Strait, and their economy totally collapsing," he said on Tuesday.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Washington was looking at targeting airlines, the maritime industry and digital assets as part of a campaign to increase economic pressure on Tehran.
Sources have told Reuters Trump aides were trying to keep the war quiet for now to avert a rout in congressional elections in November. Polls show Americans oppose the war by more than a two-to-one margin.
Iran, for its part, is determined to emerge from the war stronger than before, with sanctions lifted, blocked funds released, and a newfound grip over the strait letting it collect fees from ships that normally carry a fifth of global oil.
Source: Reuters
--Agencies
