US strikes Iran from south to north after Trump threats over Red Sea shipping
By Eman Abouhassira, Yasmine Ghania and Ahmed Elimam
DUBAI, July 24 (Reuters) - U.S. missiles struck targets across Iran on Friday after President Donald Trump vowed "major military punishment" for Tehran and its Houthi allies in Yemen for extending the Middle East war to a second major shipping chokepoint, the mouth of the Red Sea.
Two weeks after the collapse of an interim truce meant to end the war, the Iranian armed forces responded by firing at U.S. bases in neighbouring Arab countries and warning people there that they may strike non-military buildings used by U.S. personnel.
The Houthis, who control northern and western Yemen, have announced a naval blockade on Saudi Arabia, which has diverted millions of barrels of oil each day by pipeline to the Red Sea to skirt Iran's near-total blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
The entrance to the Gulf has so far been the focus of a war that has killed thousands in almost five months, stoked global inflation and fanned fears of an economic downturn.
PAKISTAN EXPLORING PATH FOR TALKS, SOURCES SAY
The Houthi fighters struck two Saudi tankers on Thursday in the Red Sea's Bab el-Mandeb strait, boosting oil prices 7% to top $100 per barrel for the first time since May.
However, by around 1600 GMT on Friday, Brent futures were down more than $4 to a little over $96.
Sources said Pakistan was exploring a path towards a resumption of stalled talks between the U.S. and Iran over ending the war, following a push initiated by China.
Exploratory discussions took place during a visit by Iran's Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni to Islamabad this week — his second within the last 10 days, three Pakistani sources said.
All three sources cautioned that the obstacles to any talks with the U.S. remained high.
TANKERS REROUTING, SHIPPING INSURANCE GOES UP
Meanwhile, the Houthi attacks forced several other tankers to turn around and head north through the Suez Canal, potentially using a much longer route to reach Asia by sailing around Africa.
Shipping insurance costs through the southern Red Sea doubled for some companies on Thursday, sources said.
Still, half of the 18 ships exiting Bab el-Mandeb on Thursday were carrying crude oil, including two Chinese supertankers. The number of tankers crossing through the Strait of Hormuz fell to just one on Thursday, the lowest since May 7.
The Iranian and Omani foreign ministers discussed security developments and maritime navigation in the Strait of Hormuz that runs between the two countries in a phone call, a statement on Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi's Telegram channel said.
IRAN THREATENS U.S. FORCES
Trump said on social media that he would hold Iran accountable for any further attacks by Yemeni fighters, "and major military punishment will be inflicted upon Iran and, of course, the Houthis, themselves".
He told Axios he was considering re-launching major combat against Iran. "They haven't received enough pain yet," the U.S. news outlet quoted him as saying.
In a statement on X, the Iranian health ministry said 59 people had been killed and 666 wounded since the resumption of clashes with U.S. forces in late June.
Iranian media cited the head of Iran's top joint military command as saying Iran would kill a member of the U.S. forces for every Iranian killed.
The war has led to the deaths of 18 U.S. service members. The Pentagon said on Monday that 100 service members had been injured since July 7 and 96% have returned to duty.
U.S. WARNS CITIZENS IN MIDEAST TO EXERCISE CAUTION
The Iranian army said it had attacked U.S. military equipment depots at Al-Adiri, officially named Camp Buehring, in northern Kuwait, and the positions of U.S. troops at Camp Arifjan and at Camp Doha, near Kuwait City.
In the early evening, Kuwait said its air defences were intercepting "hostile" targets launched from Iran.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had significantly damaged a surveillance tower used by the U.S. Fifth Fleet in Bahrain.
They also said they had attacked a U.S. barracks and fighter jets in Jordan, and a U.S. barracks and spy balloon as well as Patriot air defences in Erbil in Iraq's Kurdish region, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.
Jordan's army said it had downed seven Iranian missiles and six drones, state TV reported, and that the attack had caused no material damage or casualties.
The U.S. embassy in Baghdad said U.S. citizens in the Middle East should exercise caution and remain on heightened alert.
U.S. MISSILES HIT A GUARDS HQ, MEDIA SAYS
U.S. missiles struck a Revolutionary Guards Navy headquarters in the Ziba Kenar area of the Caspian Sea province of Gilan, according to a security official in Gilan quoted by Iranian media. Provincial authorities said U.S. projectiles had also struck the port city of Bandar Anzali, according to the ILNA news agency.
Four people were killed and five injured in a U.S. attack on the Iranian city of Ahvaz, the state broadcaster IRIB said.
In a statement carried by Iran's Fars news agency, the Revolutionary Guards warned the populations of Gulf countries of potential strikes against U.S. military personnel who may be using "buildings in cities as locations to direct their crimes".
(Additional reporting by Jasper Ward; Writing by Andrei Khalip and Alison Williams; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Sanjeev Miglani)
