JERUSALEM / TEHRAN: A day after Iranian forces launched a punishing series of retaliatory attacks against Israel, the country’s president said that “threats and terror” would only make the country more unified.
The message from Masoud Pezeshkian came after Trump threatened to attack Iran’s power plants if the Strait of Hormuz was not fully reopened, and called on other nations to help end the closure.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said that Washington is “already starting to see them (Nato) answer the president’s call” on unblocking the Strait of Hormuz.
After US President Donald Trump slammed Nato allies as “cowards” and urged them to secure the Strait of Hormuz, a statement from the leaders of mainly European countries — including the UK, France, Italy and Germany, but also South Korea, Australia, the UAE and Bahrain — “express[ed their] readiness to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the Strait”.
But in a post on X, Pezeshkian has said Iran will “firmly confront delirious threats on the battlefield”, adding that the Strait of Hormuz “is open to all except those who violate our soil”.
The Israeli military also claimed to have struck a facility inside a Tehran university allegedly used “to develop nuclear weapon components and weapons”.
Iran hits back
Two Iranian missiles struck southern Israel on Saturday, injuring more than 100 people, tearing open the facades of buildings and leaving large craters.
Hours earlier, 33 were wounded in nearby Dimona, where footage showed a large hole gouged into the ground next to piles of rubble and twisted metal.
Dimona hosts a facility widely believed to be the site of the Middle East’s only nuclear arsenal, although Israel has never admitted to possessing nuclear weapons.
Iran said the targeting of Dimona was retaliation for Israeli strikes on its Natanz nuclear facility.
Following the Natanz attack, UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi reiterated his call for “military restraint to avoid any risk of a nuclear accident”.
Gulf states
Iran’s claims that all six Gulf Cooperation Council member states are responsible for military operations are “baseless”, the bloc’s Secretary‑General Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi has said, Al Jazeera reported.
Albudaiwi also reiterated his strong condemnation of Iran’s “continued blatant and treacherous attacks on GCC member states, including the deliberate targeting of infrastructure and oil facilities”.
His comments come amid a growing rift between Iran and the Gulf countries — Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, the UAE, Kuwait and Oman.
The UAE said it faced aerial attacks after Iran warned it against allowing strikes from its territory on disputed islands near the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
Saudi Arabia’s defence ministry also said that a drone has been intercepted and destroyed over the country’s eastern region.
Qatar is said to be closely watching out for further attacks by Iran after the air strikes on its Ras Laffan liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility, an official says.
“We are currently focused on defending our country and addressing the situation following the LNG attacks. We are not currently engaged in any mediation efforts,” a Qatari diplomat told Al Jazeera.
If the war in the Middle East drags out for more than six months, economies around the world will suffer “real impacts”, AFP reported, quoting the head of French oil giant TotalEnergies.
“If it’s more than six months, we will have some real impacts. All the economies of the world will be damaged,” Chief Executive Officer Patrick Pouyanne has said in an interview with Chinese state broadcaster CGTN.
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