Iran war: US military attacks Iran for sixth night running

The head of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, has said if the United States and ​Iran do not find a way to improve the transit of oil through the Strait of Hormuz, the world should be concerned about energy security.

"Oil security is ​still a critical issue," Birol told ⁠a Council ​on ​Foreign Relations event. "We ​should be ‌worried, and I am worried if ​the ⁠situation does not improve ⁠in ​the next few weeks."
 

The US military said it had boarded a vessel in the Strait of Hormuz region to "ensure full compliance" with the country's blockade on Iranian ports.

"As of today, American forces have redirected three commercial vessels trying to run the blockade, disabled one that didn’t comply, and boarded one to ensure full compliance with the ongoing U.S. naval blockade against Iran," the US Central Command (CENTCOM) posted on X.

CENTCOM also added that the Strait and the surrounding waters remain open, "except for vessels attempting to violate America's steel wall blockade."

A US strike hit the Bandar Abbas railway junction station, Iran's semi-official YJC News reported. 

According to the report, two people were injured.

The southern city of Bandar Abbas has repeatedly been targeted by US strikes in the past several days.
 

US strikes hit a bridge in the Iranian town Bandar Khamir and the Iransharh Airport, both located in southern Iran, reports in Iranian state media said.

The city of Ahvaz and the island of Qeshm were also hit.

"Three explosions were heard around the airport and at least one American enemy projectile hit Iranshahr airport," in the southeast, state television IRIB said on Telegram. 

Robert Pape, a political science professor at the University of Chicago and founding director of the Chicago Project on Security and Threats, told DW that Iran could be less than a year away from acquiring nuclear material that could be used in a bomb.

"I think in probably about 12 months or a year — it's possible even less — Iran is going to cross the nuclear threshold. And that's because it needs that for its longer-term security — and it's right on the cusp of it," Pape told DW.

Iran's nuclear program has long been a major sticking point in negotiations between Tehran and Washington.

Under a memorandum of understanding signed in June, which US President Donald Trump recently declared "over," Iran agreed not to seek nuclear weapons, a commitment Iranian officials had already made before. At the same time, Tehran maintained its right to develop nuclear energy and conduct nuclear research.

Analysts have suggested that Iran already possesses significant quantities of uranium enriched to 60%, which could be further enriched in a relatively short period. The Trump administration has called on Tehran to give up its stockpiles of enriched uranium.

Explosions have been heard in Bushehr, southern Iran, the country's official news agency IRNA reported.

The city is known for its nuclear plant, which was attacked before during Iran's wars with Israel and the US.
 

Kuwait's Defense Ministry said the country's army has intercepted 32 Iranian drones since this morning.

However, some of the Iranian attacks led to damages in "several critical institutions," with debris as a result of the drones' interception also landing in civilian neighborhoods, creating damage.
 

US Central Command (CENTCOM) says that a new wave of strikes have been launched against targets in Iran.

At 2 p.m. ET (7 p.m. GMT) today, "US forces began conducting a new wave of strikes against Iran for the sixth consecutive night to further degrade Iranian military capabilities," CENTCOM, which is responsible for military operations in the Middle East, said in a post on X.

The White House said that dialogue is continuing between the US and Iran and that a deal is not off the table.

"Iran very much continues to talk to the United States of America," ‌White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt said, adding "that they want to make a deal with us because they are suffering devastating blows."

"The reason for ​the recent strikes over the course ​of the last several days is ​because ‌Iran violated the memorandum of understanding that we struck with them," ‌she told reporters.

"Specifically, ​in the memorandum of understanding that they signed, they were not to fire ​on commercial vessels moving through the Strait of Hormuz, and unfortunately ⁠they ​have made the tragic ​decision for them to do that," Leavitt said.

The leader of the Houthi rebels in Yemen has warned that Saudi Arabia's oil facilities and infrastructure will be targeted if conflict escalates between the two sides.

"All Saudi oil facilities and vital installations are targets for our missiles and drones if it gets itself involved in a full-scale aggression against our country and moves towards escalation," Abdul Malik al-Houthi, the group's leader said in a televised address.

On Monday, the Iran-backed Houthis accused Saudi Arabia of attacking Sanaa airport, and retaliated by targeting an airport in the kingdom.

"The equation is airports for airports, ports for ports, and a blockade for a blockade," al-Houthi said.

The Saudi-backed Yemeni government based in Aden said the Monday attack was launched in order to prevent an Iranian plane from landing in Sanaa.

An eyewitness video released on Tuesday captured the moment a drone struck a warehouse in Kuwait's port town of Al Shuaiba. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards confirmed its strikes on Kuwait and Bahrain.

Jordan said they downed missiles from Iran, targeting a US airbase. The attack comes amid renewed US-Iran hostilities, raising fresh doubts over a fragile agreement reached last month to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and pause fighting.

The UN Office for Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory released a virtual report Thursday analyzing settler violence as an instrument of Israeli government policy.

The report, "Utilized, militarized, shielded: Three reasons why settler violence is state violence," draws on testimonies from Palestinian victims and documents patterns of displacement and systematic impunity. It states that settler violence advances the Israeli policy of "maximum territory with minimum population," advanced by far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, among others. The report also states that settlers are "increasingly absorbed into formal state forces or armed, funded and allowed to effectively operate as an extension of these forces."

According to UN-OCHA, at least 6,200 Palestinians have been displaced by settler attacks and access restrictions across 119 West Bank communities since early 2023, and 46 communities have been completely emptied because of settler attacks.

Under the current Netanyahu government, 104 new settlements have been established, mainly through outpost legalization or by granting existing neighborhoods settlement status. All settlements are illegal under international law, but outposts are illegal under Israeli law as well.

You can see the UN report here.

Syrian authorities have managed to intercept a cache of advanced weapons and missiles across the border from Iraq, state news agency SANA has reported.

SANA cited Syria's Interior Ministry as saying that the shipment appeared to be destined for the Hezbollah militant group.

According to Syria's General Authority of Ports and Customs, the rocket and drone shipment was hidden inside an oil tanker truck heading to the city of Baniyas.

The ports authority said it was discovered during a routine inspection at the al-Tanf border crossing between Syria and Iraq.

Meanwhile, Iraq said it would establish a high-level committee to probe the incident, with the country's military saying it would coordinate with Syrian authorities to establish the facts.

Syria's new leadership, under President Ahmad al-Sharaa, has been trying to crack down on cross-border weapons and drugs smuggling.

Hopes for a lasting ceasefire between the United States and Iran are fading. Instead of negotiations over peace, a renewed nuclear agreement, and secure maritime trade routes, military incidents are once again on the rise.

The United States has launched strikes against targets in Iran, while Tehran has responded with attacks on facilities in Gulf states allied with Washington.

At the center of the confrontation lies the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world's most strategically important maritime chokepoints and a vital artery for global energy supplies.

Shipping traffic is increasingly disrupted, and the economic consequences are already being felt worldwide. Meanwhile, Iran's new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has remained largely out of the public spotlight.

As tensions continue to grow, one critical question remains: How far is Tehran willing to go to secure control over the Strait of Hormuz, and is it Iran's most powerful leverage against the West?

In this episode of To The Point, we examine the strategic importance of the Strait of Hormuz, the latest developments in US-Iran relations, and the potential consequences for global security, energy markets, and regional stability.

The Kuwaiti military said it was responding to new Iranian drone attacks on Thursday afternoon.

The latest strikes came after Iran earlier in the day targeted US installations in the Gulf country, along with sites in Jordan and Bahrain.

"Kuwaiti air defences are currently engaging hostile drone attacks following the Iranian aggression," Kuwait's army said in a statement. 

A journalist affiliated with the AFP news agency also reported the sound of explosions near Kuwait City. 

The attacks come after Iran warned it would target infrastructure in the Gulf region if the US targeted Iranian infrastructure.