TEHRAN/KUWAIT CITY/AMMAN/WASHINGTON/BAGHDAD – Iran's main military command, Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, warned early Wednesday that if the United States attacks Iran's nuclear and other sensitive sites, Tehran will expand its strikes and target US and its allies' interests across the region, Iranian state media reported.
The warning came in a statement carried by Iranian media in response to a threat by US President Donald Trump earlier in the day, in which he said US forces would "pretty soon" strike an Iranian nuclear facility reportedly located beneath a mountain in the central province of Isfahan.
The headquarters said the US had threatened to attack Iran's nuclear and sensitive centers, adding that if the US Army enters such a phase, Iran will consider it as an expansion of the war in the West Asia region and launch a "powerful attack" against the interests of the US, its allies and supporters.
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Meanwhile, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced in a statement published on its official news outlet Sepah News late Tuesday that its forces had destroyed an early warning radar system and a number of tactical radars around the Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait, as well as another radar system on Bubiyan Island earlier that day.
The US has launched several waves of strikes against Iran's southern provinces over the past few days, saying the attacks were in response to Iranian forces targeting vessels in the Strait of Hormuz and were intended to "degrade Iran's ability to threaten commercial shipping."
Iran has responded with waves of missile and drone attacks targeting US military bases and facilities across the region.
The escalation comes despite a peace memorandum of understanding signed on June 18 under which the two countries were scheduled to hold negotiations within 60 days to reach a final agreement.
Kuwait says Iranian attacks hit desalination plants
Kuwait's Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy said in a statement that several power generation and water desalination plants in Kuwait were attacked on Monday evening, triggering fires at multiple facilities.
As a precaution, several electricity generating units were taken offline to protect equipment and maintain the stability of the country's electricity and water supply systems, the ministry said, adding that damage assessment, repair and rehabilitation work are underway.
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The ministry did not specify the number or locations of the affected plants, nor did it report any casualties.
Recent strikes on Kuwait have targeted some vital infrastructure, including oil facilities and power and water desalination plants, according to Kuwaiti authorities.
Jordan intercepts drones, missiles
On Tuesday, the Jordan Armed Forces said its air defense systems intercepted and shot down three Iranian missiles. It said in another statement that it "neutralized" five drones launched from Iran overnight and Tuesday morning.
No casualties or damage were reported, the statements said.
Iran struck for 11th consecutive night
US forces on Tuesday began striking military targets in Iran for the 11th consecutive night, the US Central Command said.
The strikes, which began at 7 pm ET (2300 GMT), were "designed to continue degrading Iran's ability to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz," the command said in a post on X.
Trump said earlier in the day that Washington has no interest in holding talks with Iran unless Tehran is prepared to engage in what he called "meaningful" negotiations.
The US military will strike Pickaxe Mountain in central Iran "pretty soon," he said, referring to a fortified underground facility that Tehran declared to the International Atomic Energy Agency in 2020 as the future site of an advanced centrifuge assembly plant.
Hegseth: Iran war cost $37.5b
In Washington, the Pentagon's latest estimate puts the cost of the US war against Iran at $37.5 billion so far, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Tuesday as the Trump administration seeks more funding for the conflict.
Supplemental funding for the war with Iran is "urgent, necessary," Hegseth testified during a Senate budget hearing.
"Without these funds, we face critical shortfalls," Hegseth asserted.
His remarks came as Republican lawmakers sought congressional approval for Trump's proposed $1.5-trillion defense budget.
In June, White House Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought told lawmakers that the war with Iran cost US taxpayers around $30 billion.
Hegseth was also pressed over reports that the Pentagon had delayed disclosing US military injuries from recent fighting with Iran. Nearly 100 US troops have been injured since July 7, according to the Pentagon.
Iranian warning for Bulgaria
In Tehran, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei on Tuesday warned Bulgaria against letting the US use its territory and facilities for military operations against Iran.
He issued the warning in an interview with the official news agency IRNA while reacting to remarks by Bulgarian Prime Minister Rumen Radev, who said on Monday that his government had received a note from the US asking for permission to deploy up to eight tanker aircraft at Bezmer Air Base to support US operations in the Middle East, and that Bulgaria's Council of Ministers would later submit a proposal to the parliament seeking approval in that regard.
Baghaei called on the Bulgarian parliament to refrain from granting permission for the US deployment, and turning the country into an "accomplice of aggressors and criminals."
He said under UN General Assembly Resolution 3314, "making the territory of one state available for use by another state in order to commit an act of aggression against a third state is considered an act of aggression."
Iran's Araghchi protests French diplomats' ‘unconventional’ actions
Also on Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi protested what he described as the "unconventional" actions of two French diplomats who were reportedly detained in Tehran on Sunday, during a phone call with his French counterpart.
According to a statement from the Iranian Foreign Ministry, Araghchi told French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot that the diplomats' actions were "in contradiction with diplomatic norms and unacceptable."
He stressed that foreign missions must observe the host country's laws and regulations and remain committed to established diplomatic principles and norms. He urged the French government to prevent the recurrence of such actions and take necessary measures in that regard.
Araghchi also addressed the situation of the Strait of Hormuz, saying the waterway's closure is a "direct consequence" of the US violation of its commitments under the peace memorandum of understanding signed with Iran in June, as well as actions that have heightened regional tensions.
Barrot said in a statement on Monday that two French embassy officials had been detained and mistreated in Tehran the day before, adding they had been held and interrogated for hours.
He said the two officials were safe and expected to return to France within hours. Describing the incident as "shocking," he said he had warned Araghchi that it "cannot go without consequences."
The French Foreign Ministry on Tuesday summoned Iran's charge d'affaires in Paris over the incident.
4 drones shot down near US consulate in Iraq's Erbil
On Tuesday evening, air defense systems at the US consulate in Erbil, the capital of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, shot down four drones targeting the facility, according to a local security source.
The Kurdish security source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity that the air defenses intercepted four drones before they could reach their target, adding that initial reports indicated no casualties.
Earlier in the day, Ahmed Hoshyar, director of Erbil International Airport, announced a temporary suspension of flights due to a wave of drone attacks targeting the city. Operations resumed shortly afterward.
The US Consulate in Erbil has witnessed frequent drone attacks in recent days. The US Central Command confirmed Sunday that a US service member was killed and another wounded in action in northern Iraq during a controlled detonation of unexploded ordnance from a downed Iranian one-way attack drone on Saturday.
