In retaliation for the strikes, Iran said it had launched drones at U.S. naval targets in Bahrain and fired missiles at American military facilities in Jordan. Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait all said they had intercepted incoming Iranian attacks, and a U.S. official said there were no reports of American casualties or damage to bases in the region.
The attacks inflamed tensions between Iran and Arab states in the Persian Gulf that host American military bases and have been repeatedly targeted by Iranian fire. Bahrain’s military described the barrage as “treacherous,” and the foreign ministers of Arab states in the Gulf called on Iran to immediately stop its attacks on their countries.
“Persistence in this aggressive approach will only lead to further isolation,” the ministers said in a joint statement after a meeting in Bahrain.
On Tuesday, the U.S. military, which has been enforcing a blockade on ships entering and leaving Iranian ports, said it had disabled a vessel registered in Palau, an island nation in the Pacific Ocean, by firing into its engine room. It said the crew had repeatedly failed to obey American orders not to proceed toward Iran through the Gulf of Oman. On Wednesday, India said that three of the 24 Indian crew members on board the vessel, the Settebello, were missing, and summoned a top U.S. diplomat in New Delhi to protest the attack.
American forces disabled another Palau-flagged vessel, the Marivex, on Monday. It, too, carried 24 Indian crew members, and it, too, was accused by the U.S. military of violating the blockade. The crew members sent frantic SOS messages for more than two hours before they were rescued by helicopter and taken to Masirah Island, off Oman’s coast.
“The continuing incidents of attacks on shipping in the region are deeply worrisome and a direct result of the ongoing conflict in the region,” India’s foreign ministry said in a statement. “We reiterate our call for immediate de-escalation of tensions, and the conclusion of ongoing negotiations for a diplomatic solution so that peace and stability can return to the region.”
Reporting was contributed by Farnaz Fassihi, Vivian Nereim, Pragati K.B., Shirin Hakim, Leily Nikounazar and Michael Levenson.
