Iran has officially suspended its commitments under the interim nuclear deal with the United States as the conflict intensifies, marking another fragile thread in the fragile diplomatic framework. According to Business Standard, Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran's deputy foreign minister, told state TV that Iran is 'no longer implementing them' after the US violated its commitments under the deal signed about a month ago. This development comes as the battle over the Strait of Hormuz intensifies in a conflict increasingly focused on control of the essential waterway that previously carried a fifth of the world's crude oil. The suspension represents a significant escalation in the diplomatic standoff between the two nations.
The most significant damage occurred in Kuwait on Saturday when Iran struck a water desalination plant and an oil facility, according to Kuwait authorities and the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation. Both facilities declined to provide specific locations, but the strikes injured several people at the oil facility and caused a fire at the desalination plant, forcing several power generation units offline. This marked the second attack against a desalination plant in two days in the tiny desert nation that depends on desalination for 90 percent of its drinking water. The Kuwait Fire Force reported that several firefighters and a worker were injured while battling two other blazes sparked by Iranian strikes, with Kuwait briefly closing its airspace due to missile threats and Kuwait Airways rescheduling most flights to and from the capital.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has stepped up its warning that countries hosting US forces should be 'prepared to receive a corresponding response,' according to Iran's state TV. Iraq said it shot down attack drones over the city of Irbil, while Jordan's state-run Petra news agency reported that the kingdom's air defence systems had downed Iranian missiles, with air sirens sounding multiple times in Bahrain throughout the day and in Saudi Arabia in the morning. Iranian officials say recent US strikes have killed dozens of people and wounded hundreds in Iran, with Iranian authorities reporting at least 50 people killed and more than 500 wounded in US strikes in the past three weeks, including eight killed in a strike on a bridge Friday. The US military acknowledged that 13 additional US service members -- 10 Army soldiers and three Navy sailors -- had been injured since Monday, bringing total casualties to 14 US service members killed and 427 wounded since the war began.
The ongoing conflict has increasingly focused on the control of the Strait of Hormuz, with Iranian state television reporting that the American airstrikes caused significant damage to transport links in Bandar Khamir, located within the southern Hormozgan province. US airstrikes hit an electricity and desalination plant in Iran's southern Hormozgan province, with attacks hitting Bonji, a coastal village on the strait. Overnight strikes damaged two tunnels and a bridge, disrupting one of the main highways toward Bandar Abbas, Iran's main port that sits near the narrowest part of the strait. Iran also reported strikes on strategic Qeshm Island inside the strait. The Iranian Energy Ministry acknowledged 'attacks on power infrastructure' for the first time on Friday, subsequently advising citizens in heatwave-affected southern provinces to limit electricity consumption.
The friction has severely reduced maritime transit, with commercial vessel crossings dropping to a three-week low of just eight ships on Thursday, contributing to oil prices climbing above USD 86 a barrel on Friday. The maritime targeting underscores a broader geopolitical dispute over the waterway, as Tehran continues to maintain that the passage should fall exclusively under its domestic jurisdiction, demanding that transit vessels pay specific levies despite the global community designating the strait as an international waterway. Iran has effectively closed the strait to shipping traffic after the war started with US and Israeli strikes on February 28, sending oil prices soaring and giving Iran significant leverage in negotiations. The disrupted maritime transit represents a significant economic impact as both nations continue their military operations, with a growing amount of regional energy being shipped through pipelines but not nearly enough to offset the decline in shipping.
