The Japan Times - Iran hits US targets as Washington says probing wedding strike

The new clashes, which began with US raids on Sunday, have deepened the impasse in the six-month war, as Iran maintains a stranglehold on the strategic Strait of Hormuz and Washington presses its counter-blockade of Iranian ports.

Kuwait's army said Thursday it intercepted a missile and drone attack from Iran, with the Iranian army reporting that it hit "the Ahmad al-Jaber Air Base in Kuwait". Kuwait called the attack a "grave breach of the rules of international law".

Iran's army also said it struck Al Minhad Air Base in the United Arab Emirates, but the Gulf country reported no such attack.

The strikes came after the Iranian Red Crescent said a missile attack on a wedding in the Iranian coastal town of Kuhestak killed four people on Tuesday night, including a child, and wounded more than 50.

Vance said Washington was probing the alleged strike but cast doubt on reports out of Iran.

"I know that we're investigating," he told a White House briefing.

"I will say that the Iranian state media has not been a very good scribe about what's happened in the conflict thus far. So I'm extremely sceptical of this."

Iran's Revolutionary Guards chief Ahmad Vahidi vowed on Thursday to avenge the victims of the attack.

"The pure blood of these oppressed martyrs... will not go unanswered," he said.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) spokesman Tim Hawkins said "the US military never targets civilians, unlike the IRGC", referring to Iran's Guards.

- 'Weaker than ever' -

Extensive US bombardment of sites across Iran killed at least 19 Iranians between Tuesday and Wednesday, after President Donald Trump said his military was prepared to attack Iran "any time we want".

Iran's Tasnim news agency added on Thursday that six members of the Iranian army's naval forces were killed by US attacks this week, but it was not immediately clear if the six were among the 19 dead.

Tehran retaliated with strikes across the Middle East this week, saying it targeted US bases and forces in the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan and Iraq's Kurdistan region.

Iran's security chief Mohsen Rezaei warned the US on Wednesday that the Islamic republic had adopted a "new strategy" in the war that "will shatter your foundations".

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voiced confidence on Thursday that Iran's Islamic republic could soon fall.

"This regime is currently teetering. It is weaker than ever. It is fighting for its survival," Netanyahu said at an event with Israeli military leaders.

"I am convinced that we can remove this threat once and for all."

Aside from military action, Washington has vowed to choke Iran's economy, threatening to slap sanctions on its trade partners.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright pledged on Wednesday that a US plan for expanded sanctions targeting Iran's economic partners would deliver "absolutely maximum pressure".

- 'Truly distressing' -

Iran's top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf lashed out at Washington over the wedding attack, calling the United States "Satan".

Iranians meanwhile expressed dismay over the return to hostilities.

Hossein Moazami, 50, who is self-employed, called the attacks "truly distressing".

"I hope they all return to the negotiating table because the only people suffering from this are the Iranian people," he said.

"The Americans are on the other side of the world and nothing happens to them."

A video shared by an Iranian government account showed debris and damage at what it said was the wedding site, with people heard screaming in the background.

"It is a very saddening incident," Ali Mallahi, father of the bride, said in a video carried by state TV.

"Thank God the casualties were not higher."

The war erupted on February 28 with US-Israeli attacks on Iran that killed its supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

A fragile ceasefire collapsed in July after attacks on commercial ships in the Strait of Hormuz, through which one-fifth of world oil supplies previously flowed.

Israel's defence minister meanwhile said his country was prepared to respond "with great force" if attacked by Iran over the Jewish high holiday season, which begins in mid-September.

"For now, they are striking throughout the region except us," Israel Katz said.

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M.Ito--JT