Drones target Iraqi city where US forces are based as US-Iran fighting escalates

Drones carrying explosives have targeted a city in northern Iraq where US forces are stationed and sirens rang out in Bahrain on Friday, hours after the American military said it finished its 13th night of strikes against Iran.

The conflict has flared again over the past week, as the US pounded Iran while Tehran attacked ships in the Strait of Hormuz and targeted US assets and allies in the region.

The strait, which is a crucial passage for the world’s energy supplies, is at the centre of the latest fighting since Iranian attacks can effectively shut the waterway, sending fuel prices soaring worldwide and causing widespread economic turmoil.

The Iranian-allied Houthi rebels added further pressure this week by targeting two Saudi tankers in the Red Sea, making good on a threat to cut off an alternative route for the region’s oil.

Despite the war’s unpopularity – and its widespread damage to Iran and the global economy – the latest round of fighting has no clear off-ramp.

Iran’s Health Ministry said 55 people have been killed and more than 600 wounded in strikes in recent weeks.

The US and Israel attacked Iran on February 28 and have offered shifting goals for the war, including toppling Tehran’s government and eliminating its nuclear programme.

But the conflict has devolved into a fight for control of the Strait of Hormuz – with Iran apparently hoping to win concessions by inflicting damage on the global economy and the US trying to limit that damage.

US-led forces intercepted and shot down five explosive-laden drones over Irbil on Friday morning, according to security officials in northern Iraq.

“Fortunately, the incident caused no casualties or damage,” they said.

An Associated Press journalist heard at least seven blasts in the city, the capital of Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region, and saw at least four plumes of black smoke rising from areas near or inside a base at the city’s airport that hosts US forces.

Flights continued as normal at the airport, the state-run Iraqi News Agency reported, citing the facility’s director.

In recent years, the US maintained about 2,500 troops in Iraq for training and to conduct operations against the so-called Islamic State group with Iraq’s military. Many of those have withdrawn, but a small contingent of military advisers and others remains — many of whom have moved to Irbil.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard urged people in neighbouring countries to stay away from bases with American troops while asking people to report the places where they are stationed, according to a statement read out on state TV.

As the US has bombed Iran, Tehran has targeted several countries in the region that host American troops.

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Bahrain, which is home to the US navy’s 5th fleet, said it intercepted and shot down Iranian aerial attacks on Friday. It did not say if there were any casualties or damage.

US strikes overnight hit a naval base for the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard in the north of Iran, the semi-official news outlets Fars and ISNA reported on Friday morning.

Blasts from US bombardments overnight were also reported on Iran’s Qeshm Island, a base for naval assets including drone boats that Iran can use to attack vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, as well as in the province of Isfahan, home to a major Iranian air base and one of Iran’s nuclear sites.

More strikes reportedly hit Iran’s south-west province of Khuzestan and the southern province of Fars.

US Central Command said the latest barrage was designed to “further degrade Iran’s ability to threaten civilian mariners and commercial vessels transiting regional waters” as the Americans push to regain control over the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and gas transited in peacetime.

Iran’s ability to effectively close the Strait of Hormuz — and thus cause economic chaos far beyond the Middle East — gives it tremendous leverage in any negotiations.

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Its Houthi allies only increased that leverage when they targeted two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea on Thursday — increasing the risks of shipping through another vital route for Middle Eastern oil.

Brent crude, the international standard, topped 100 dollars a barrel in the wake of the attacks, though it has since come down.

The attacks made good on the Houthis’ threat to close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to Saudi-linked shipping. The strait at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden, and around 12% of the world’s trade, including a quarter of global container traffic, passes through there.

That passage has become ever more crucial for Saudi Arabia, which has diverted millions of barrels of oil a day to its Red Sea port of Yanbu as a way of bypassing the Strait of Hormuz.

US President Donald Trump threatened “major military punishment” against the Houthis if their attacks on ships continue.

Mr Trump also warned Iran over its attacks on ships, saying on social media on Thursday that sanctioned Iranian funds in US possession will be used to pay for fixing boats damaged in the war.

“Please let this statement serve to represent, until further notice, that from this point forth, any and all damages done to Ships, Cargo, or anything related thereto, will be paid for by Iranian Money that the United States has in its possession, and controls,” Mr Trump posted.

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It was unclear what legal mechanisms Mr Trump would use to access and spend the funds.

Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, condemned the suggestion, writing on X that “once governments normalise confiscation, no one’s assets are safe. Ensuing chaos will not be pretty or peaceful”.

The International Maritime Organisation says at least 6,000 mariners are stranded on about 400 vessels around the Strait of Hormuz.

The UN human rights chief, Volker Turk, called on Friday for “urgent action” to help them. His office said the seafarers are exposed to the fighting and some have been abandoned by their ships’ owners, leaving them to “fend for themselves without food, water, fuel, medical care, electricity or means to communicate with their families”.

Iran says it has the right to manage traffic and potentially charge fees in the Strait of Hormuz, which was open to all toll-free before the war.

It has attacked ships using a route through the strait that is overseen by US forces and intended to be outside Tehran’s control.