Iran says Gulf nations have 'responsibility' to halt US, Israeli strikes

TEHRAN: Iran’s foreign ministry warned Wednesday that its neighbours in the Gulf had a “legal and moral responsibility” to prevent American and Israeli strikes, as Tehran and Washington traded attacks.

In a statement, Iran’s foreign ministry “reiterated the legal and moral responsibility of all countries in the region (especially those located along the southern shores of the Persian Gulf) to prevent the US military and Israel from using their territory or facilities to plan, organise, execute, or support hostile actions against Iran”.

Iran attacked US bases in Jordan and Bahrain on Wednesday, the latest salvo in tit-for-tat strikes with the United States after the downing of a US helicopter over the Strait of Hormuz.

The worst bout of fighting between Washington and Tehran since their April 8 ceasefire has cast further doubt on US President Donald Trump’s earlier claim that negotiations were in their “final throes” before reaching an enduring settlement to end the Middle East war.

The fresh Iranian strikes came after the United States carried out its own attacks on the Islamic republic in response to Tehran shooting down an American helicopter.

Iranian forces fired “long-range missiles” and “targeted and destroyed four major targets” in Jordan, including F35 fighter nests at an air base and the US command centre in Al-Azraq, the country’s Revolutionary Guards said in a statement quoted by state-run IRNA news agency early on Wednesday.

Jordan’s military said it shot down five missiles from Iran, with no casualties or material damage.

The hostilities extended to other countries in the Middle East, with air raid sirens sounding in Bahrain after the Guards said they had struck another US base there.

The Kuwaiti military said its air defences were engaging “hostile aerial targets”, without immediately mentioning the aggressor, though Iran has recently carried out deadly attacks on the US ally.

The incidents came after the US military said it had “completed” what Trump portrayed as a retaliatory assault on Iran over the downing of an Apache attack helicopter.

US Central Command (CENTCOM), which oversees American forces in the Middle East, said on X that it had “struck Iranian air defense, ground control stations, and surveillance radar sites near the Strait of Hormuz with precision munitions from US Air Force and Navy fighter jets”.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had earlier threatened payback, saying on X: “The U.S. (has) opted to test our determination. Our Powerful Armed Forces will leave no attack or threat unanswered.”