US-Iran Interim Deal Collapses as Both Nations Exchange Heavy Infrastructure Strikes

The United States and Iran exchanged strikes targeting infrastructure and military sites on Saturday as Tehran suspended its commitments under a month-old interim deal.

The US Central Command stated, as reported by Business Standard, that its seventh straight night of strikes hit "surveillance sites, military logistics infrastructure, underground weapons storage and maritime capabilities."

Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said on state TV that Washington violated its commitments under the deal and Tehran is "no longer implementing them."

Kuwait Suffers Severe Damage

The most significant damage on Saturday occurred in Kuwait when Iran struck a water desalination plant and an oil facility, according to the Kuwaiti authorities and the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation. Both declined to provide locations.

The strikes injured several people at the oil facility and caused a fire at the desalination plant, forcing several power generation units offline. It was the second attack against a desalination plant in two days in the tiny desert nation that depends on desalination for 90 per cent of its drinking water.

Several firefighters and a worker were injured while battling two other blazes sparked by Iranian strikes, the Kuwait Fire Force stated. Kuwait briefly closed its airspace due to missile threats, and Kuwait Airways stated it was rescheduling most flights to and from the capital.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned that countries hosting US forces should be "prepared to receive a corresponding response". Iraq stated it shot down attack drones over Irbil. Jordan's state-run Petra news agency reported the kingdom's air defence systems had downed Iranian missiles. Air sirens sounded multiple times in Bahrain throughout the day and in Saudi Arabia in the morning, their governments stated.

Heavy Toll on Infrastructure

US airstrikes hit an electricity and desalination plant in Iran's southern Hormozgan province, Iranian state TV reported. The attacks hit Bonji, a coastal village on the strait. Overnight strikes damaged two tunnels and a bridge, disrupting one of the main highways toward Bandar Abbas, Iran's main port near the narrowest part of the strait, the state-run news agency reported. Iran also reported strikes on strategic Qeshm Island inside the strait.

Iran acknowledged attacks on power infrastructure during the US airstrikes for the first time Friday when its Energy Ministry urged people to use less power in southern provinces "experiencing extreme heat". It did not specify what was hit.

Iranian authorities stated at least 50 people have been killed and more than 500 wounded in US strikes in the past three weeks, including eight killed in a strike on a bridge Friday.

The US military stated that 13 additional US service members—10 Army soldiers and three Navy sailors—had been injured since Monday, but offered no details. Since the war began, 14 US service members have been killed and 427 wounded.

Struggle for Vital Waterway

Iran effectively closed the strait to shipping traffic after the war started with US and Israeli strikes on February 28. The waterway previously carried a fifth of the world's crude oil.

The price of oil rose Friday above $86 a barrel, close to its highest level in a month, as crossings through the strait fell to a three-week low, an international shipping tracker reported. A growing amount of the region's energy is being shipped through pipelines, but not nearly enough to offset the decline in shipping.

Tehran has stated the strait must be under its sole control and that vessels should pay fees to Tehran, even though the world for decades has considered it an international waterway. Trump has returned to threatening to target power stations and bridges to try to compel Iran to loosen its hold on the strait. The US also reimposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports to halt its shipments of crude oil.

Before the war began, the US had been in talks with Iran over its nuclear programme. Trump now faces political pressure to end the war and avoid the kind of prolonged Middle East conflict he had campaigned against.