Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal Affairs Kazem Gharibabadi has said Tehran has “suspended” its commitments under the Islamabad MoU signed with the US after Washington “violated” the agreement, Fars news agency reports.
“We have suspended our commitments under the Islamabad Memorandum,” Fars quoted Gharibabadi as saying. He said the US had “violated and suspended all its commitments under the framework” of the MoU.
“We have also suspended our commitments; we are not implementing them and are focused on defending the country,” the minister added.
US attacks take out 116 telecommunication towers in southern Iran
Hormozgan’s chief of communications and information technology says the US’s overnight attacks disrupted telecommunications in Bandar Abbas and Hajiabad, in the northern part of the province, Al Jazeera reports.
After the US attacks, 116 telecommunication towers were taken out of service, and fixed-line, mobile, and internet services are currently experiencing disruptions in some areas of the northern province, reports Iran’s Tasnim news agency. US hit 95 locations in Iran’s Khuzestan in last 10 days, says provincial official.
Valiollah Hayati, the deputy governor of Khuzestan for security affairs, says the US has attacked at least 95 locations in the province in southwestern Iran in the last 10 days, Al Jazeera reports.
The US hit 12 counties of Khuzestan province “which demonstrates the boundless criminality of the enemy”, Hayati told Iran’s Tasnim news agency. At least eight civilians were reported to be killed.
Kuwait accuses Iran of targeting civilian sites, vital infrastructure
Kuwait accused Iran of targeting civilian sites and vital infrastructure in the country, after reporting attacks on an oil facility and a power and water plant, according to AFP.
“The repeated targeting of these vital facilities reveals a systematic hostile approach targeting civilian sites and vital infrastructure that endangers the lives and safety of civilians,” the foreign ministry said.
Earlier, Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Saturday that two oil tankers transiting through the Strait of Hormuz hit mines and exploded, as bombing intensified in the Middle East for the seventh consecutive night Friday, with Iran reporting three deaths from US strikes and retaliating with attacks on several US military sites in Kuwait and Jordan.
The Guards in a statement published by state news agency IRNA, without identifying the tankers, said "An hour ago, two oil tankers, which were trying to pass through the minefield south of the Strait of Hormuz by deceptive American intelligence agencies, exploded and caught fire."
"To protect their capital and, more importantly, their lives, the sailors should not be deceived and enter the minefield," they said.
US Central Command (CENTCOM) issued a brief denial, saying on X, "Like most IRGC claims, this is false."
The Guards said separately on Saturday that they had "stopped" four ships trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz.
"In the past hours, four violating ships with the support of the terrorist US army were trying to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, and all four ships were stopped in place during a combined missile and drone operation," the Guards said in a statement carried by the state broadcaster.
Iran has again virtually closed the Strait of Hormuz for a week.
It is seeking to control the vital waterway and has been warning tankers and cargo ships to only use channels close to its coastline, to the north of the strait, and not southern corridors the United States has been attempting to protect.
The US, in response to Iran's threats to shipping in the strait, reimposed a navy blockade against Iranian ports. It has also been carrying out nightly airstrikes on targets in Iran aimed at weakening Tehran's abilities to monitor and threaten the strait.
Iran hits US targets in Kuwait, Jordan
Iran's army said it struck US military targets in Kuwait and Jordan in response to American attacks, according to a statement carried by the Iranian state broadcaster on Saturday.
In Kuwait, Iranian forces targeted an ammunition depot at the Al-Adiri camp, the headquarters buildings and ammunition depots at the Ali Al-Salem base and several communication bridges.
In Jordan, fuel tanks at the Al-Azraq base were also targeted, the state broadcaster said on Telegram.
Kuwait's army wrote on X on Saturday that explosions may be heard as a result of "air defence systems intercepting hostile targets".
Air raid sirens were also sounded in Bahrain, which hosts a major US naval base, according to the country's interior ministry.
US strikes Iran military, maritime sites
The US military said it had concluded strikes on Iran for the seventh consecutive night Friday, adding that it had hit several targets aimed at degrading Iranian military capabilities.
"US Central Command (CENTCOM) hit surveillance sites, military logistics infrastructure, underground weapons storage, and maritime capabilities," the military said in a post on X.
Kuwait says Iran hit second power, water plant
Kuwait accused Iran of targeting civilian sites and vital infrastructure in the country, after reporting attacks on an oil facility and a power and water plant. "The repeated targeting of these vital facilities reveals a systematic hostile approach targeting civilian sites and vital infrastructure that endangers the lives and safety of civilians," the foreign ministry said.
Kuwait on Saturday said Iran struck another of its power and water plants, leading to the deactivation of several power generation units, a day after a similar attack.
"Another electricity and water distillation plant was targeted by a hostile attack that led to a fire erupting in one of the plant's components," which resulted in the deactivation of some power generation units, the ministry of electricity and water said in a statement.
Meanwhile Bahrain's army said its air defences repelled on Saturday a wave of Iranian attacks, as an AFP journalist in Manama reported hearing blasts after sirens sounded.
"Air defence systems thwarted" the attacks, the army said in a statement, adding that they "intercepted and destroyed a number of treacherous Iranian aerial assaults".
Kuwait's fire service said Iranian attacks on Saturday sparked fires at two locations in the country, with several firemen injured, after an attack was reported at a power and water plant.
The fire service said on X that it was dealing with "two fires that erupted in two different locations" following the latest Iranian attacks, adding that this "resulted in injuries among firemen and a worker", who were taken to receive care.
Jordan shoots down 10 Iran missiles
Jordan's army said on Saturday it had shot down 10 Iranian missiles with no casualties or damage, as Tehran retaliated against American strikes by pressing attacks on US allies.
"Air defense systems... intercepted 10 Iranian missiles that had entered Jordanian airspace and were targeting the Kingdom's territory (which) were intercepted and shot down," the army said in a statement, adding that there were no casualties or material damage.
Iran army targets Bahrain air base
The Iranian army said on Saturday that it had targeted an air base in Bahrain used by the United States in response to American strikes, according to Iran's state broadcaster.
Attack drones targeted "aircraft shelters and parking areas, fuel storage tanks of the US military at Sheikh Isa Air Base, as well as several connecting bridges in Bahrain," the army said, adding that the base in southern Bahrain is "one of the most important operational and logistical centres" for the US military in the region.
US, Iran intensify attacks
Bombing intensified in the Middle East for the seventh consecutive night, with Iran reporting three deaths from US strikes and retaliating with attacks on several US military sites in Kuwait and Jordan.
US forces reported striking Iran with attacks designed to "continue degrading Iranian military capabilities," according to a statement by US Central Command shared on X.
In the biggest escalation since the foes resumed hostilities, Iran accused US forces of targeting civilian infrastructure, including an airport, a railway station and two bridges, and said it had struck US assets across the region.
US President Donald Trump has previously threatened to hit Iranian infrastructure, but there was no confirmation from the US side on Friday that US forces have begun to do so.
Major General Mohsen Rezaei, a senior military advisor to Iran's supreme leader, said Tehran will resume "full-scale offensive operations" if US strikes against it continue for another two or three days.
"Iran will no longer limit itself to retaliatory, like-for-like responses...and no political border will be safe," Rezaei said, according to the Iranian news agency IRIB.
The war began on February 28 with deadly US-Israeli strikes on Iran, which retaliated by effectively closing the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping channel for much of the world's oil, and launching attacks on Israel and American interests across the Gulf.
David Khalfa, a Middle East specialist at the Jean-Jaures Foundation, a Paris-based think-tank, noted that a "widening range of strategic infrastructure" is now 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.
- 'Punish the aggressor' -
Iran's energy ministry urged citizens to reduce their electricity use and switch off air-conditioners in peak hours -- even as temperatures in some areas soared -- after the power grid came under strain from what it said were US strikes on energy facilities.
Iran's military had threatened infrastructure across the region in the event of any attacks on its own, and on Friday launched widespread strikes.
In Kuwait, where Tehran said it targeted US military sites, the electricity ministry said an Iranian attack damaged a power and water plant and urged users to ration electricity.
The Kuwaiti military said several troops had been wounded when Iranian drones targeted a number of its bases and camps.
Iran's Guards said they had targeted US radar systems and military aircraft in Qatar to "punish the aggressor", with Doha saying it had intercepted a missile attack.
Iran's Guards said they had attacked two US radar sites in Oman and the Al-Tanf military base in Syria. A Syrian military source denied there had been an attack and US forces said they had withdrawn from the base earlier this year.
- UN chief condemnation -
UN chief Antonio Guterres called attacks on civilian infrastructure in Iran and elsewhere in the region "unacceptable".