Tehran (AFP) - On Thursday, Iran launched new attacks in the Gulf that it said targeted American interests, and vowed to avenge the killing of four people during a wedding party in a bombing attributed to Washington, which said it was investigating the matter.

Published on: 03/09/2026 - 08:13 Last updated: 03/09/2026 - 21:24

President Donald Trump warned Tehran on Wednesday that the United States was ready "to launch another attack any time we want," after a new night that witnessed American bombing of various sites, killing at least 19 people. Iran responded with widespread attacks in the region, and threatened “wider” strikes if Washington continued targeting it.

In the midst of an exchange of strikes this week, four people were killed and about 70 injured during a wedding in the Sirik province in southeastern Iran, which Washington accused of launching the attack.

Tehran vowed to avenge the victims of the strike.

Revolutionary Guard Commander Ahmed said in a statement broadcast on state television on Thursday, “The pure blood of these martyrs (...) will not be in vain, and we will definitely avenge it.”

In the first comment on the strike, US Vice President Jay DeVance said that the United States was investigating it, but “questioned” the Iranian story.

“I know we are investigating the matter,” Vance told reporters at the White House. “What I will say is that the Iranian state media has not yet been a reliable transmitter of what is happening in this conflict. So I am very skeptical about that.”

In addition, the Iranian Tasnim Agency reported on Thursday that six members of the Iranian army’s naval force were killed in American strikes carried out on Tuesday.

It was not clear whether the six naval personnel were among the 19 dead.

Earlier Thursday, the Iranian army announced that it had targeted American bases in Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.

He said in a statement that missiles and drones targeted satellite communications systems, equipment warehouses, and hangars for American fighter planes at Ahmed Al-Jaber Air Base in Kuwait.

He added that missiles and drones targeted positions of American forces and radar systems at Al Minhad Air Base in the Emirates.

After a month of relative calm in the war that broke out with the US-Israeli attack on Iran on February 28, the military escalation returned on Sunday with an exchange of strikes, at a time when the diplomatic track is still faltering.

The US military launched two rounds of strikes on Sunday and Tuesday evening. The first wave targeted an attempt to plant new mines in the Strait of Hormuz, while the second wave targeted “air defense sites, radar systems, naval assets and installations, mine-laying capabilities, and communications sites,” according to the US Central Command (Centcom).

Oil is "almost" back via Hormuz

Tehran responded with a wave of attacks on “American bases and interests in the region” and warned any country against cooperating with Washington.

Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Mohsen Rezaei, threatened the United States with a "new Iranian strategy."

The escalation contrasts with the Trump administration's announcement in recent weeks to amend its strategy with Iran, prioritizing economic pressure on Tehran and the countries that continue to deal with it.

The US President faces difficulty in finding a settlement to the costly war that is unpopular with Americans, especially with the approaching midterm congressional elections in November.

The Strait of Hormuz, vital for global energy supplies, is a major point of attraction in the conflict, after Iran closed it since the start of the war, to which Washington responded by blockading the ports of the Islamic Republic.

The dispute over the Strait led to a rise in global energy prices.

The day after the US President proposed calling Hormuz “Trump Strait,” Tehran announced that two oil tankers caught fire after colliding with mines, after the Greek Marisex Agency for Maritime Affairs reported before the start of the US strikes on Tuesday that two tankers were hit by “projectiles of unknown origin” as they were leaving the strategic waterway.

Regarding the transit of energy resources through Hormuz, Vance said Thursday that the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz has returned “almost” to pre-war levels.

He said, "If we go back three months ago, how much was the amount of oil and gas passing through the strait in light of the Iranian threats? Really nothing. Now, it has almost returned to what it was before the outbreak of the conflict."

Oil prices rose again in light of the escalation, exceeding $95 per barrel.

Drop "at hand"

Washington and Tehran established a ceasefire in April, which was confirmed in a memorandum in June. But the understanding collapsed in early July, and the two sides have exchanged blows intermittently since then.

Despite its participation in starting the war, Israel remained far from the recent rounds of escalation. Tehran also excluded it from its responses to the Iranian attacks, which were limited to the Gulf states and Jordan.

In what reflects the Hebrew state's view of the war's goals, its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that overthrowing the Islamic Republic, Israel's arch regional enemy, is "within reach."

He expressed to military leaders, "I am convinced that we can remove this threat once and for all, that is, overthrow this regime. This is the central mission that still awaits us, but it is close. It is not impossible. It is within reach."

He added, "The regime is currently reeling. It is weaker than ever, and is fighting to survive."

Defense Minister Yisrael Katz had threatened Iran to respond forcefully to any attack it might launch against the Hebrew state, while stressing that there were no plans to "join the war at the present time."

Katz said that US economic sanctions on Iran have proven effective, but he warned that pressure may push Tehran to take escalatory steps.

He stated during a ceremony held in his ministry, "We see indications that the severe economic pressure they are subjected to, and the fear of the outbreak of a popular movement and the collapse of the regime, may push them to take escalatory steps."

© 2026 AFP

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