Israel and Iran launched attacks on each other on Saturday, as the US was sending thousands more marines to the Middle East and President Donald Trump accused Nato allies of cowardice over their reluctance to help open the Strait of Hormuz.
More than 2,000 people have been killed since the US and Israel launched a joint air assault on Iran on February 28, while Americans appear increasingly concerned at signs the war could expand further as it enters its fourth week.
Israel’s military said early on Saturday it launched strikes on “regime targets” in Tehran, after reporting several rounds of Iranian missile fire at Israel.
Israel also launched a wave of strikes on Beirut, claiming to target the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah. It came after the military’s Arabic-language spokesman issued eviction orders for parts of the Lebanese capital’s southern suburbs.
In a separate incident, Lebanese state media reported that an Israeli air strike hit a house in the southern town of Ghandouriyeh, killing one person and wounding two others.
Iran, meanwhile, attacked neighbouring Gulf states. Kuwait and Saudi Arabia reported intercepting Iranian missile and drone assault.
Kuwait’s military stated that its air defences responded to incoming missiles and drones, while Saudi Arabia’s Defense Ministry reported that at least 50 drones were intercepted over the country’s eastern region in the early morning hours.
Iran also fired two intermediate-range ballistic missiles at the US-UK military base Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, quoting US officials.
One of the missiles failed in flight, while a US warship attempted to intercept the other, though it was unclear if the interception had succeeded, the WSJ said.
Vital energy infrastructure in Iran and Gulf countries has also been attacked, and oil prices have jumped 50 per cent since the war began, threatening global economic shock.
The Strait of Hormuz, conduit for around a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies, has been effectively closed to most shipping since the US and Israel launched the war against Iran.
Several allies, who were not consulted before the war, have pledged to join “appropriate efforts” to ensure safe passage through the strait, but Germany and France have said fighting must stop first. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he would speak to Mr Trump this weekend.
Fears are growing that the Iran war shows no signs of ending soon.
The US is sending three more warships and thousands of marines to the Middle East, according to US media reports. It comes after President Trump has insisted he will not put boots on the ground in Iran.
Roughly 2,200 to 2,500 Marines from the California-based USS Boxer amphibious ready group and 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit are heading to the US Central Command area of responsibility, Reuters and the WSJ reported.
This is the second massive deployment of marines in the past week, after the Pentagon sent the 5,000-strong, Japan-based USS Tripoli and 31st MEU to the Middle East.
The US has about 50,000 troops stationed in the region. At least 13 American soldiers have been killed in the conflict so far.
Mr Trump said on Thursday that he has no intentions of deploying US soldiers to Iran.
“No, I’m not putting troops anywhere,” he told reporters. “If I were, I certainly wouldn’t tell you, but I’m not putting troops.”
Mr Trump has criticised Nato allies, accusing them of failing to support the American military in the war against Iran and complaining about rising oil prices.
“Without the USA, Nato is a paper tiger!” Mr Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social, saying alliance members “didn’t want to join the fight to stop a nuclear-powered Iran”.
Mr Trump claimed that now the conflict had been “militarily won”, allies were complaining about high oil prices while refusing to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
He described reopening the vital shipping route as “a simple military manoeuvre” that Nato countries could undertake with “very little risk”, but said they were unwilling to do so. “COWARDS, and we will REMEMBER!” he wrote.
