Iran, U.S. strikes ramp up as Tehran declares peace deal abandoned

Workers clean up wreckage around a damaged bridge, following U.S. airstrikes carried out a day earlier, in Hormozgan Province, Iran. Photo by Photo credit: Morteza Akhoundi/Getty Images

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Iran unleashed heavy attacks on Gulf neighbours in retaliation for the latest US strikes as Tehran said it was suspending its commitments under the interim peace deal.

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Kuwait suffered one of its heaviest barrages since the Middle East conflict began in late February, including its airport and an oil facility, triggering multiple rounds of sirens from around dawn on Saturday. Iran also struck Jordan and Qatar, all sites of U.S. military installations.

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Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said the deal crafted under Pakistani mediation — a 60-day ceasefire while the U.S. and Iran negotiated terms for reopening the Strait of Hormuz and curtailing Iran’s nuclear program — had been effectively abandoned.

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“The U.S. trampled on and stopped all of its commitments, and under the memorandum known as the Islamabad memorandum of understanding we too have stopped all our commitments and we’re not currently implementing them,” Gharibabadi said on state TV Saturday.

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A week of back-and-forth strikes by both sides has expanded beyond strictly military targets to include bridges, utilities and port facilities, suggesting little prospect of a return to the fragile ceasefire signed last month.

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According to Iranian officials, the US has attacked civilian water desalination plants, bridges and more than 100 telecommunications towers. They also said 50 people have been killed and more than 500 injured in US attacks since June 27.

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The U.S. Central Command did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

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Kuwait Petroleum Corporation said an unspecified oil site sustained “significant material losses” from Iranian attacks, resulting in an evacuation and a number of injuries, according to the state-run Kuwait News Agency. Kuwait Airways rescheduled most of its flights, while the Ministry of Electricity and Water said firefighting was underway at a power and desalination plant struck by Iran.

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Kuwait’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the attacks and said repeated targeting of vital installations “reveals a systemic aggressive approach that targets civilian assets, endangering the lives and safety of civilians,” in flagrant violation of international law.

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U.S. Central Command earlier said that a seventh night of strikes against the Islamic Republic concluded at 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday, after its forces hit surveillance sites, military logistics infrastructure, underground weapons storage and maritime capabilities.

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The targeting of civilian infrastructure marks an expansion of the post-deal strikes by both sides, suggesting little prospect of a return to the fragile ceasefire. The worsening hostilities are still far from the scale seen at the height of the war in March and early April. Then, the US and Israel were bombarding Iranian cities on a mass scale and Tehran was firing thousands of drones and missiles at Gulf Arab states and Israel.