Paris Soir - Iran threatens 'unforgettable lessons', as two US troops killed

A month after the foes signed a now-abandoned preliminary deal aimed at ending their war, Tehran struck infrastructure around the Gulf in retaliation for a week of intensifying US attacks, which Iran said had hit an airport, a railway station and bridges.

Iran hit an oil facility in Kuwait as well as a power and water plant, authorities in the Gulf state said, while in Bahrain the army said air defences repelled a wave of Iranian attacks.

Tehran also launched fresh strikes in Jordan, where the US military's Central Command said two service members were killed on Friday as they "defended against Iranian ballistic missile and drone attacks". It said another service member was still missing in action.

Iranian supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who took over from his father after he was killed in the opening salvo of US-Israeli strikes on February 28, said the ongoing attacks on his country "once again demonstrated to everyone the worthlessness of the American president's signature".

"Now that the American enemy seeks to incite war and bear its most serious consequences, it should know that the dear Iranian nation and the axis of resistance have unforgettable lessons to offer it," he added, in a statement carried by state TV.

Major General Mohsen Rezaei, a senior military adviser to Khamenei, warned that Tehran would resume "full-scale offensive operations" if US strikes continued in the coming days.

"Iran will no longer limit itself to retaliatory, like-for-like responses," Mohsen said, according to state media.

Kuwait accused Tehran of targeting civilian sites and vital infrastructure, with residents voicing fears that the renewed hostilities might drag on.

"The demand for water and canned goods has increased since this morning amid fears that services or supply chains will be affected," Kuwait resident Hassan Rayan, 61, said Saturday.

Fellow resident Ali Mahmoud, 46, noted that "the streets and beaches were almost empty, even though it is a holiday".

- 'War crimes' -

The Iranian army said it had targeted an air base used by the United States in Bahrain, another US ally in the Gulf, according to the state broadcaster.

And in Jordan, the Iranian state broadcaster reported that fuel tanks at its Al-Azraq base were targeted. The day before, the Revolutionary Guards said they had attacked US aircraft stationed in the country with missiles and drones.

The Jordanian army said it had shot down 10 missiles on Saturday, and at least three the day before.

Hope for a political settlement to the war has fallen by the wayside, though mediators have attempted to bring both sides back to the negotiating table.

US President Donald Trump this week threatened to hit Iranian infrastructure, although there has been no confirmation from Washington since then that US forces have begun to do so.

Deputy Iranian foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi told state TV on Saturday that Washington was "not getting anywhere with these aggressive actions".

"America has violated and stopped all its commitments under that memorandum of understanding, and we have also stopped all our commitments," he added.

- Compromise as 'capitulation' -

Iranian state news agency IRNA reported Saturday that US attacks killed three people and wounded eight in the southern province of Hormozgan.

In Khuzestan province, the deputy provincial governor said the US had attacked 95 locations in 12 cities over the past 10 days, according to Iran's Tasnim news agency, with eight people killed.

Iran also said the supply of drinking water to several villages in the south had been cut off, accusing the US of striking power facilities and desalination plants in the village of Bonji, according to Tasnim.

Iran's energy ministry urged citizens to reduce electricity use and switch off air conditioners in peak hours after the power grid came under strain.

The health ministry said Friday that 50 people had been killed since the renewed fighting broke out and more than 500 injured.

David Khalfa, a Middle East specialist at the Paris-based Jean-Jaures Foundation, said a "widening range of strategic infrastructure" was being drawn into the conflict.

"The paradox is that, while the conflict continues to escalate, neither side has a strategic interest in allowing this dynamic to continue. Yet both perceive any compromise as a form of capitulation," Khalfa told AFP.

The latest bout of violence was sparked by Iranian attacks on ships in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, a vital transport lane for Gulf energy exports that Iran seeks to control.

Iran closed the strait after the war broke out in late February with US-Israeli strikes, and control over the route has become leverage in negotiations with the US, which recently reimposed its own blockade of Iran's ports.

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I.Moreau--PS