DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Iran launched another wave of attacks Thursday targeting Israel, U.S. bases, and regional countries, warning that the United States would “bitterly regret” sinking an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean. In the same period, Israel reported strikes on multiple sites in Iran and Lebanon.
Israeli authorities announced incoming missile alerts, with air raid sirens sounding in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Iranian state media reported additional strikes on U.S. installations in the region. Over the past 24 hours, Israel said it had hit 80 Hezbollah-linked targets in Lebanon and carried out attacks on long-range ballistic missile launch sites and other strategic locations in Iran.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi condemned the U.S. Navy for sinking the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena, which resulted in at least 87 Iranian casualties. “Mark my words: The U.S. will come to bitterly regret (the) precedent it has set,” he wrote on social media.
Ayatollah Abdollah Javadi Amoli made one of the few clerical statements during the conflict, calling for the “shedding of both Israeli and Trump’s blood.” “Fight the oppressive America, his blood is on my shoulders,” he said, marking a rare public call for violence from a senior Shiite cleric.
The conflict, which began Saturday with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iranian leadership, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as missile and nuclear facilities, has already claimed more than 1,200 lives in Iran, over 70 in Lebanon, and around a dozen in Israel. It has disrupted global oil and gas supply chains, international shipping, and stranded thousands of travelers in the Middle East.
Regional spillovers were reported Thursday. In Azerbaijan’s Nakhchivan exclave, a drone crash near a school injured two civilians. In Abu Dhabi, six people were wounded when a drone was shot down near the Al Dhafra Air Base, which hosts U.S. forces. Qatar evacuated residents near its U.S. Embassy following a reported missile attack, and Saudi Arabia intercepted a drone near its border with Jordan.
Commercial shipping was also affected. A tanker near Kuwait’s coast suffered an explosion, though the cause remains unclear. Previous attacks have targeted the Gulf of Oman and the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil passes.
Oil prices have surged, with Brent crude rising about 15% since the start of hostilities, after U.S. stock markets rebounded briefly following earlier reports of economic stability.
Sri Lankan authorities confirmed that 32 crew members were rescued from the sunken IRIS Dena, with 87 bodies recovered. Araghchi said the vessel had a crew of nearly 130. U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed that an American submarine had fired the torpedo.
Despite these developments, U.S. and Israeli officials report that Iranian missile and drone launches have declined after key ballistic missile sites were destroyed. Israel’s Homefront Command announced eased restrictions, allowing workplaces to reopen near shelters, though schools remain closed.
In Lebanon, Israeli strikes killed at least eight people, including two at a building in the Beddawi refugee camp and three on a coastal highway. Earlier drone strikes in Beirut’s southern suburbs killed three and wounded six, targeting Hezbollah members, according to the Israeli military.
Edgardo Hernal started college at UP Diliman and received his BA in Economics from San Sebastian College, Manila, and Masters in Information Systems Management from Keller Graduate School of Management of DeVry University in Oak Brook, IL. He has 25 years of copy editing and management experience at Thomson West, a subsidiary of Thomson Reuters.
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