Iran widens retaliation after fresh US strikes

The United States and Iran traded their heaviest blows since July on Wednesday, with US forces striking targets along Iran's southern coast and Tehran retaliating against American military positions across the Middle East, raising fears of a renewed full-scale war.

The United States said it had targeted Iranian air defences, radar systems, maritime assets, mine-laying capabilities and communications sites near the Strait of Hormuz, after accusing Tehran of attempting to deploy new mine-laying equipment.

Iran responded with attacks on US military positions in Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Iraq, according to statements from its military and Revolutionary Guards.

President Donald Trump said the renewed US campaign against Iran would not continue for "too long", but warned Washington was prepared to launch further attacks whenever it chose.

"We took out all of the new equipment that they tried to build along the Strait of Hormuz - some defensive, some offensive," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. "It was a very heavy attack last night, and we're prepared to do another one any time we want."

Trump said Iran had been trying to build a rocket capable of dropping mines and that US forces had destroyed it. He added that Iranian efforts to restore radar and missile systems had also been targeted.

Iran's army said dozens of attack drones targeted radar systems and US positions at the Al Dhafra and Al Minhad bases in the UAE, as well as positions at Bahrain's Sheikh Isa Air Base.

The Revolutionary Guards said it also targeted US forces in Kuwait, Jordan, Bahrain and Erbil in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region. It added missiles and drones struck US bases in Erbil, destroying a maintenance centre, warehouses and the guidance system of a US surveillance aerostat.

Iran's military command said its aim was to drive US forces from their network of military bases across the region and warned that American actions would be met with "heavier, more widespread, and devastating responses".

Iranian claims of casualties inflicted on US forces were not confirmed. US officials told Reuters that initial assessments showed no American casualties from the attacks in Jordan and northern Iraq.

The latest escalation is the worst since July, when Trump halted two weeks of intense US bombing of Iran after military officials warned that forces were using up munitions and running out of meaningful targets.

Iranian authorities said the latest US strikes killed civilians as well as military personnel. Iran's Red Crescent Society (IRCS) said four people, including a child, were killed and more than 50 wounded in an attack on a wedding in southern Sirik county.

The IRCS called for legal action following the strike in a letter to the International Criminal Court, Al Jazeera reports. Iranian media showed images of injured children in hospital after the strike hit a wedding gathering at a home in Sirik. The US military has denied targeting civilians.

State media separately reported that seven people were killed and eight wounded in US missile strikes on three locations in the southwestern province of Khuzestan. Iran's health minister later said 18 people had been killed and 108 injured in the latest wave of US strikes.

The Revolutionary Guards said four of its aerospace force personnel were killed in a US attack in Kermanshah province, while three Basij paramilitary personnel were reported killed in attacks on Lavan Island in the Gulf.

The fighting has also heightened concern over the Strait of Hormuz, through which about a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas shipments passed before the conflict. Iran said two tankers were struck by mines while being guided through the strait by US personnel.

Trump, meanwhile, again claimed the waterway was under US control and suggested renaming it the "Trump Strait". "Now that we have it under USA control, should we change the name Hormuz Strait to TRUMP STRAIT???" he wrote on Truth Social. The White House later posted a map marking the waterway as "Trump Strait" and added: "It's got a nice ring to it."

The escalation rattled financial markets, with Asian and European stocks falling and oil prices volatile as investors assessed the possible impact of renewed fighting on the global economy.

Iran's currency also fell to a record low of more than 2.2 million rials per US dollar, according to two websites tracking the free market. The rial has lost about 10% of its value in the past week.

The conflict has also raised political concerns in Washington ahead of November's congressional elections. Sources told Reuters that Trump aides were seeking to keep the war quiet for now amid concern that continued hostilities could hurt Republicans at the polls.