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The US struck Iran and Tehran hit back at American allies in the Gulf on Thursday, as the foes battled over the vital Strait of Hormuz in the renewed Middle East war despite a call from mediator Pakistan to resume talks.
Iran said it targeted radar systems, an air defence system, and fuel storage facilities at the Ali al-Salem air base in Kuwait, as well as US military installations at Sheikh Isa Airbase in Bahrain. However, both Bahrain and Kuwait have accused the Islamic republic of targeting civilian sites.
The renewed fighting comes despite a June agreement for a 60-day truce aimed at reaching a permanent end to the war and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran warned Thursday that it would “crush” key targets in the Middle East if Mr Trump’s threats to target the country’s infrastructure in the coming days are carried out.
In a statement published on Telegram on Thursday morning local time, a spokesperson for Iran’s top military command said that if Mr Trump’s threats were implemented “everything that is still intact … that is, all the infrastructure in the region – will be crushed under the steel blows of the powerful armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran; so that no trace of them remains and it is as if they never existed in the first place.”
They added that “under no circumstances and in no way will we allow America, as a foreign and extra-regional country, to interfere in the Strait of Hormuz.”
“This is Iran’s invincible red line,” the spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, a giant billboard depicting Mr Trump lying dead in an open coffin has appeared in the heart of Tehran.
The display, erected in the Iranian capital’s Islamic Revolution Square, features the words “We Kill Trump” in English alongside the provocative image.
It comes just days after mourners at funeral ceremonies for senior Iranian figures were filmed chanting for the deaths of Mr Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US Senator Lindsey Graham.
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