Iran war live: Tehran hits back after Trump boasts he has ‘destroyed their military’ – The Independent
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It comes as the US military said it downed six Iranian missiles in the Gulf
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Tehran has hit back after Donald Trump claimed Iran’s military has been “totally destroyed” by three months of conflict in the region.
In a preview clip of a NBC interview, the US president also claimed he knows “exactly” how many missiles Iran has left, but refused to give a figure.
“I’m moving very fast, I’m into three months,” he said. “Vietnam lasted 19 years, I’m into my third month. We have totally destroyed their military.”
On Saturday, Iran’s foreign ministry warned the US will be responsible for any consequences that emerge from its “illegal actions” in the current conflict.
It comes after the US military said it downed six Iranian ballistic missiles launched towards its Gulf allies, while a seventh missile failed to reach its target.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps said it targeted a US airbase in Kuwait and the US Navy’s 5th Fleet in Bahrain, according to Iranian state media.
The attack came on Friday just hours after the US military also shot down four Iranian attack drones headed towards the Strait of Hormuz, with US Central Command saying they “posed an immediate threat to regional maritime traffic”.
US forces struck Iranian coastal radar sites on Saturday after shooting down drones launched by Iran toward the Strait of Hormuz, the US military said, in the latest escalation complicating efforts to end the war between the two countries.
The military believes the four Iranian drones were targeting regional maritime traffic, a US official told Reuters.
US Central Command said on X that the US then struck Iran’s surveillance sites in Goruk and Qeshm Island, which are both on the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran’s foreign ministry said the US action broke an April 8 ceasefire, adding that repeated such violations showed Washington had no intention of reducing tensions. It warned that the United States would bear responsibility for the consequences of its “illegal actions” and any further escalation.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had attacked US bases in Kuwait and Bahrain in retaliation for U.S. strikes and fired at four tankers trying to cross the strait without its permission.
Kuwait’s army said on Saturday it engaged seven ballistic missiles that entered the country’s airspace early in the morning and passed over several residential areas, resulting in the fall of some debris.
The army added that the Iranian attack caused material damage but no casualties. In Bahrain sirens sounded and residents were urged to seek shelter.
Despite concerns that the ceasefire could collapse, Trump told reporters on Friday that “the situation with Iran seems to be going quite well.”
He told an event that “we’re going to come out of Iran very quickly and it’s going to be very strong one way or the other, whether it’s a piece of paper or the very tough way.”
US and Iranian negotiators reached a tentative agreement a week ago to extend the ceasefire by 60 days and start a new round of talks on Iran’s nuclear program.
But Trump has called for unspecified changes and Iranian officials have shown no public sign of agreeing to the deal.
Asked on Friday why it was taking so long, Trump told NBC’s Meet the Press it was because “it’s a very hard thing for them.”
He added that the Iranians still have 21 to 22 per cent of their missiles. One of the war’s stated aims was destroying Tehran’s missile program.
The ongoing fighting in Lebanon, where Israeli forces have seized large swathes of the south while saying it targets the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group, also challenges efforts to end the Iran war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran has demanded that any lasting truce extend to Lebanon.
The Trump administration has touted the latest ceasefire agreed to earlier in the week by the Lebanese government and Israel after US-brokered talks in Washington. However, Hezbollah has rejected the agreement.
Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon on Saturday killed nine people including three members of the Lebanese military, the Lebanese army and state media said. Israel’s military said it was reviewing the incident and that it operates against Hezbollah and not the Lebanese army.
Iran fired ballistic missiles and drones toward Bahrain and Kuwait early on Saturday, Bahrain’s government said, adding that they were intercepted.
It called on Tehran to immediately cease attacks on Gulf neighbors that it deemed a “serious escalation.”
Iran’s foreign ministry said the US had attacked surveillance facilities on Qeshm Island and near Sirik that it said were used to protect borders and “ensure the security of navigation in international waters.”
Tehran called the attack a violation of the fragile ceasefire.
The latest exchange of fire came as the Trump administration pressed Iran to make a deal to end the war that has strained the global economy and threatened a hunger crisis in some of the world’s most vulnerable countries.
A seven-month-old Palestinian baby boy has been killed after Israeli troops reportedly fired on his parents’ vehicle in the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
Sam Fahd Abu Haikal died on Friday evening, with his parents also wounded, while they were driving in the Tel Rumeida area, south of Hebron City.
The official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported that the infant sustained critical injuries after being struck in the jaw by the same bullet that wounded his mother. He later succumbed to his injuries. His father, Fahd Abdul Aziz Abu Haikal, a lecturer at Bethlehem University, was shot in the hand. The family was travelling from Bethlehem to visit relatives in Hebron when soldiers opened fire, the agency stated.
Read the full article below.
Lebanese army commander General Rudolf Haykal has left on a visit to Pakistan, Lebanon’s army said on Saturday, amid Pakistani efforts to mediate an end to the US-Israeli conflict with Iran that has also spilled into Lebanon.
The army said the visit was at the invitation of Haykal’s Pakistani counterpart, but did not immediately provide further details on its purpose or duration
Tensions in the Gulf escalated on Friday after the US military confirmed it shot down four Iranian drones launched towards the Strait of Hormuz. American forces subsequently struck some of the Islamic Republic’s coastal surveillance radar sites in response.
US Central Command stated the drones “posed an immediate threat to regional maritime traffic,” an incident that jeopardises an already shaky ceasefire amid increased pressure on Iran from the Trump administration.
Hours later, Iran retaliated by firing seven ballistic missiles towards Kuwait and Bahrain. The US military reported that “Initial assessments indicate six of the missiles launched by Iran were intercepted and a seventh did not reach its intended target.”
You can read the full report below:
Iranian state media reported that Mohsin Naqvi, the interior minister of Pakistan, which has been mediating an end to the conflict, was on his way to Tehran on Saturday.
A Pakistani source said Naqvi would carry a message from Pakistan to the Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei.
It comes as both countries continue to point fingers over who holds responsibility for delays to a peace agreement.
Iran’s foreign ministry said on Saturday the US has “repeatedly” violated ceasefire conditions, adding Washington will be responsible for any consequences of its “illegal actions”.
The US has consistently said a deal is close but that it will not allow Tehran to have access to a nuclear weapon.
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