Iran’s supreme leader on Saturday vowed to deliver the United States “unforgettable lessons,” as Washington confirmed its first military fatalities since hostilities between the two nations resumed.
The threat came a month after Tehran and Washington had signed a preliminary agreement aimed at ending their conflict, an arrangement both sides have since abandoned. Iran said it struck infrastructure across the Gulf region in retaliation for a week of escalating American attacks, which it said had damaged an airport, a railway station and several bridges.
Kuwaiti authorities said Iran struck an oil facility along with a power and water plant in the country. In Bahrain, the army said its air defences intercepted a wave of Iranian strikes. Tehran also launched attacks in Jordan, where US Central Command said two American service members were killed on Friday while responding to Iranian ballistic missile and drone strikes; a third remains unaccounted for.
Mojtaba Khamenei, who assumed Iran’s supreme leadership after his father was killed in the opening strikes of the US-Israeli campaign on February 28, said the continuing attacks on Iran had “once again demonstrated to everyone the worthlessness of the American president’s signature.” In a statement carried by state television, he said the United States “should know that the dear Iranian nation and the axis of resistance have unforgettable lessons to offer it” if it continued to pursue war.
Major General Mohsen Rezaei, a senior military adviser to Khamenei, said Iran would launch “full-scale offensive operations” should US strikes persist, according to state media. He said Tehran would no longer confine itself to proportional, retaliatory responses.
Kuwait accused Iran of targeting civilian and critical infrastructure sites. Residents described rising anxiety over the prospect of a prolonged conflict. Hassan Rayan, 61, said demand for water and canned goods had risen sharply since the morning amid fears over disruptions to services and supply chains. Ali Mahmoud, 46, said streets and beaches remained largely empty despite the public holiday.
Iran’s army said it had targeted a US-linked air base in Bahrain, according to state broadcasting. Iranian state media also reported that fuel tanks at Jordan’s Al-Azraq base had been hit. A day earlier, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had attacked US aircraft stationed in Jordan using missiles and drones. Jordan’s military said it intercepted ten missiles on Saturday and at least three the previous day.
Efforts by mediators to return both sides to negotiations have so far failed to gain traction. US President Donald Trump this week threatened further strikes on Iranian infrastructure, though Washington has not confirmed whether such action has begun.
Deputy Iranian Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said Saturday that the United States was “not getting anywhere with these aggressive actions,” telling state television that Washington had violated and abandoned all commitments under the preliminary agreement, prompting Iran to do the same.
Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported that US strikes killed three people and wounded eight others in the southern province of Hormozgan. In Khuzestan province, the deputy provincial governor said US forces had struck 95 locations across 12 cities over the preceding ten days, killing eight people, according to Iran’s Tasnim news agency.