Iran has significantly intensified its approach to targeting civilian infrastructure and transportation networks throughout the Gulf, launching attacks on commercial vessels and aiming at Dubai’s international airport, coinciding with new waves of strikes by US and Israeli warplanes against the Islamic Republic.
High-ranking Iranian officials adopted a defiant stance, issuing warnings of a prolonged “war of attrition” that could lead to global economic turmoil as energy supplies from the region faced severe disruptions.
As the 12-day conflict appears to reach a growing stalemate, violence persists across a broad area of the Middle East, with Israeli airstrikes aimed at what it claims are Hezbollah positions in Lebanon, alongside barrages of Iranian missiles and Hezbollah rockets directed at Israel.
Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon have resulted in the deaths of at least 634 individuals and injuries to 1,586 within a span of less than 10 days of hostilities. Over 816,700 families have been registered as displaced by the Lebanese government.
On Wednesday night, in a significant escalation, Israeli warplanes targeted Beirut’s southern suburbs and southern Lebanon following Hezbollah’s launch of drones and rockets aimed at northern Israel.
The rockets were fired simultaneously with Iranian missiles, marking the first instance of coordinated attacks against Israel by the two since the onset of the Iran war.
In the Gulf region, Kuwait reported that its air defenses successfully intercepted eight Iranian drones, while Saudi Arabia announced the interception of five drones heading towards its Shaybah oil field.
In Tehran and various other Iranian cities, large crowds gathered for the funerals of senior Iranian commanders who lost their lives in US and Israeli airstrikes since the war began.
Mourners carried caskets and displayed flags and portraits of the deceased supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the initial moments of the US-Israeli offensive.
War: Iran escalates attacks on public infrastructure, transport network across Gulf countries