A series of mysterious, unclaimed airstrikes that hit Iran after the US said it finished its attacks have again raised questions of who else may be targeting the Islamic Republic.
The strikes Thursday, just as Iran prepared to bury the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, hit areas across southern Iran. The country’s theocracy hasn’t directly blamed anyone for the strikes, though one lawmaker issued a warning to the United Arab Emirates over allegedly providing support to the United States in its campaign against Iran.
Gulf Arab states, which repeatedly have been targeted by Iran since the war began Feb. 28, did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday over the strikes. The attacks come as they and the US insist the Strait of Hormuz must be open and free to ships to transit. Iran insists the strait, through which about a fifth of all oil and natural gas passes, must now be under its sole control and that vessels should begin to pay fees to Tehran – even though the world for decades has considered it an international waterway.
Iran’s grip on the strait during the conflict led to an global energy crisis, though oil prices have sharply dropped since wartime highs of $120 a barrel.
Israel, which took part in the Iran war, also has not claimed any recent attacks on Iran.
The US military’s Central Command said Thursday around 6:30 a.m. local Iran time that it had concluded a round of strikes that saw some 90 targets hit. Shortly after that, Iranian news outlets and state media reported a series of airstrikes and explosions targeting the country´s Bushehr and Sistan and Baluchestan provinces, the cities of Ahvaz and Chabahar and other areas.
Central Command did not respond to a request for comment over the additional strikes.
Iran responded to the strikes Thursday by launching a wider volley of attacks across the Mideast, targeting Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait and Qatar. Missile alert sirens sounded in the four countries, sending people to seek shelter. One person was reportedly hurt in Kuwait as air defense systems targeted the incoming fire across the region.
The leader of the UAE, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, traveled to Kuwait immediately after the Iranian attack for a meeting with the small, oil-rich nation’s ruling emir. Gulf Arab countries also held calls with Qatar’s foreign minister, who has been deeply involved along with Pakistan in mediating talks between Iran and the US over the interim deal now in place to halt the return of open warfare.
During the Iran war, officials say both Saudi Arabia and the UAE launched airstrikes targeting Iran, after Tehran struck energy sites in their countries.
Israel, which under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has engaged in an intense campaign against Iran, has not attacked the Islamic Republic since June. Israel also broadly immediately claims its attacks on Iran.
Israel’s government said Netanyahu spoke with Trump on Thursday night, with Trump updating Netanyahu “on American moves in the Gulf.”
Israel Katz, Israel’s defense minister, also renewed threats that his nation stood ready to confront Iran if needed.
The Israel military “is on alert and ready to renew the campaign, to reestablish aerial superiority, and to carry out a blue-white (Israeli) strike in Iran to remove threats, even for a third time,” Katz told a military ceremony. “If we will have to return, we will return with even greater force.”
On Friday, Iranian state media quoted Esmail Kousari, a member of the Iranian parliament’s national security committee and a former commander in the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, as warning the UAE would “pay the price for its cooperation with the United States.” He accused the Emirates of having a “behind-the-scenes” role in the recent US attacks.
Iran repeatedly accused Gulf Arab states of actively supporting the US war effort, something they denied during the war. The US since the 1991 Gulf War has maintained a broad footprint of military bases across the Gulf Arab states, including in Bahrain, which is home to the US Navy’s 5th Fleet headquarters.
Meanwhile, Iran insists it must be the sole controller of the Strait of Hormuz. But the US is continuing to urge mariners to travel on a southern route through Oman’s territorial waters to avoid Iran.
The Joint Maritime Information Center, a multinational body overseen by the US Navy, issued a new advisory Friday urging ships to travel that route. A similar message for ships to use that route sparked an Iranian attack on Tuesday that saw three vessels hit.
“Notwithstanding recent unprovoked attacks on merchant vessels, mariners are reminded that the southern route of the (strait) has been expanded and remains available for all traffic,” the maritime center said.