Iran says at least 50 people have been killed and more than 500 injured in strikes by the United States this month, as an Iranian negotiator says their memorandum of understanding (MoU) is effectively “suspended” amid US violations.
On Saturday, Iran’s Health Ministry reported the number of casualties from attacks since July 6 , hours after the US military’s Central Command (CENTCOM) launched a seventh consecutive night of raids on targets across Iran.
They left 10,000 people without water after a desalination plant was hit, Iran said. Tehran retaliated by launching another wave of drones and missiles at US-allied Gulf states.
“The US has violated and suspended all its commitments within the framework of the Islamabad MoU,” said Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Kazem Gharibabadi, in comments reported by the Fars news agency on Saturday.
As a result, Tehran has “likewise suspended all our own commitments” and implementation of the agreement and is “busy defending the country”, he added, who took part in technical talks on the agreement earlier this month.
Gharibabadi’s statement appears to snap another fragile thread as the war shows no end in sight. Meanwhile, the battle over the Strait of Hormuz iIran attack in Jordans intensifying, the global economy is on high alert and widening strikes threaten civilians and services, including desalination plants for drinking water.
Meanwhile, Iran launched more attacks on Washington’s Gulf allies and Jordan on Saturday after a seventh straight night of US strikes on Iranian military targets, escalating the war one week after a ceasefire collapsed.
Kuwait came under sustained attack, with a desalination plant hit and operations at Kuwait International Airport suspended due to repeated missile and drone threats.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had struck a US military support centre at Camp Arifjan and destroyed a radar facility at Ali Al Salem Air Base. Kuwait Petroleum Corporation later said one of its oil facilities had been hit in “repeated Iranian attacks”, causing significant damage and some injuries, according to the state news agency.
Kuwait’s armed forces said they had intercepted Iranian ballistic missiles and drones early on Saturday, adding that a number of firefighters and oil sector workers had been injured while responding to the attacks.
Iran’s Health Ministry said on Saturday that 50 people had been killed and more than 500 injured in U.S. strikes over the past three weeks, the semi-official ILNA news agency reported.
The IRGC targeted a site in Bahrain where US combat aircraft were gathered at Sheikh Isa Air Base and an intelligence data centre, Iranian state media reported.
The Guards said they had also destroyed at least two US fighter aircraft and three other aircraft during a missile and drone attack early on Saturday on the US base in Al Azraq, Jordan, according to Iranian state TV.
US Central Command (Centcom) has issued a statement saying two military personnel stationed in Jordan were killed in action in Iranian missile and drone strikes. “Additionally, one service member is currently missing in action,” the statement, posted on X, reads.
“Four American service members were medically evacuated to Jordanian hospitals. They have since been discharged. Other personnel who were evaluated for minor injuries have returned to duty,” it adds.
Iran also launched attacks on Saudi Arabia for the first time in about three months, according to two people familiar with the matter, triggering early warning alarms in Al-Kharj, east of the capital Riyadh, and at Yanbu on the kingdom’s Red Sea coast. The people said one attack had targeted the Prince Sultan Air Base in Al-Kharj, which hosts US forces.
Saudi state media did not elaborate on what triggered the early warnings and the government media office did not respond to a request for comment. The IRGC made no mention of any attack on Saudi Arabia.
Oil prices rose more than 4% on Friday to their highest level in more than a month, adding to political pressure on ?US President Donald Trump as his Republican Party tries to hold on to power in November congressional elections.
Iranian media reported strikes in Hormozgan Province on the Strait of Hormuz early on Saturday. State TV said three people were killed and eight wounded while two bridges and a road tunnel were damaged.
US officials have said the strikes on southern Iran are designed partly to provide options for Trump, who has also declined to rule out a ground assault on Iran’s coast or islands.
The attacks risk provoking Iran to mount further attacks on the vital infrastructure of Gulf states, or renewed efforts by Tehran’s allies in Yemen to disrupt global energy supplies by targeting Red Sea shipping.
Meanwhile, Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei has said that since the US is seeking to escalate the conflict and incur “even heavier costs and further humiliation, it should know that the noble nation of Iran and the Resistance Front have unforgettable lessons in store for it”.