Tehran demands reparations to end conflict

Bahrain’s Interior Ministry said early Thursday morning that Iran had targeted fuel tanks in Muharraq Governate, northeast of the country’s capital, Manama.

Iran has targeted oil and gas infrastructure and refineries in Gulf Arab countries since the US and Israel launched the war. 

Shortly after making the announcement on X, the ministry warned people to head to a safe place as sirens sounded. 

It was the second time in the night from Wednesday to Thursday that Bahrain warned of Iranian attacks.

US Senator Chris Coons said media reports estimating the Iran war cost the United States $11.3 billion ($9.8 billion) in the first six days were “roughly accurate.” 

Coons, a Democrat, sits on the subcommittee that deals with defense appropriations.

US media reported that a preliminary Pentagon report estimated the war with Iran cost at least $11 billion in the first six days. 

The Pentagon provided the estimate in a briefing earlier this week.

Coons said on Wednesday evening he believed the “current total operating number is significantly above that” when asked by a reporter if the $11.3 billion figure took into account costs such as the US military buildup in the Middle East. 

The Pentagon had previously reported spending $5 billion on munitions alone over the first weekend of the Us-Israel war with Iran. 

The Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group also launched dozens of rockets at Israel from Lebanon.

The attacks on Israel overnight from Wednesday to Thursday were part of a “joint” operation between Iran and Hezbollah, according to a statement posted by Iran’s Tasmin news agency on X. 

Emanuel Fabian, defense correspondent for the Times of Israel, posted that the IDF had previously said “it had no intelligence indicating that concurrent fire from Iran and by Hezbollah in Lebanon is a ‘coordinated’ effort.”

The Iranian missiles “fired during the Hezbollah rocket barrage were all intercepted by air defense systems,” according to Fabian. He added that Hezbollah fired some 150 rockets at northern Israel.

Israelis were later permitted to leave shelters after being given the all-clear. 

In a message posted on Telegram at 12.50 a.m. local time (2250 GMT/UTC), the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said people could “leave protected spaces in all areas of the country.”

Two foreign tankers carrying Iraqi fuel oil were subjected to unidentified attacks inside territorial waters, causing them to catch fire, Iraq’s director general of the General Company for Ports, ​Farhan al-Fartousi, was cited by Reuters news agency as saying.

Iraq evacuated ​the 25 crew members ⁠from ​the ​two vessels and fires were still burning on both ​ships, ⁠he added.

Video footage circulating on social media shows a tanker set ablaze. DW has not been able to independently verify the veracity of the video.

US President Donald Trump claimed to have “won” the Iran war but said the US military will stay in the fight to finish the job.

“You never like to say ​too early you won. We ​won,” ‌Trump told a campaign-style rally in Hebron, Kentucky. “In the first hour it was ‌over.”

Trump and officials in his administration have offered contradictory statements about the war’s goals.

The president earlier this week said the US won “in many ways, but we haven’t won enough.”

“We don’t ⁠want ​to leave early do ​we?” Trump said at the rally in Kentucky. “We got to finish the ​job.” He said the ‌US has “virtually destroyed Iran.” 

He appeared to signal the US would continue the fight for now, saying, “We ⁠don’t want ​to go back every two years,” he said. 

Although it is a strategic rival to the United States and a declared ally of Iran, China has remained on the sidelines since the US and Israel launched their war against Iran.

As global tensions over war and the economy rise, stability in the Middle East remains vital to Beijing. Analysts suggest China’s response may hint at deeper calculations about its political interests and global partnerships.

Sirens went off in Bahrain on Wednesday evening, warning citizens to head to the nearest safe location, Bahrain’s Interior Ministryposted to X.

“The alarm siren has been activated. Citizens and residents are requested to remain calm, head to the nearest safe location, and follow updates through official channels,” it said. 

The UN Security Council has adopted a resolution demanding a halt to Iran’s “egregious attack” on its Gulf neighbors.

 “The international community is resolute in rejecting these Iranian attacks against sovereign countries that are threatening the stability of the peoples, especially in a region of strategic importance to global economy, energy, security, and security of global trade,” said Bahrain’s UN ambassador, Jamal Alrowaiei.

The resolution also “condemns any actions or threats by the Islamic Republic of Iran aimed at closing, obstructing, or otherwise interfering with international navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.”

The resolution was adopted with 13 votes in favor and none against. Russia and China abstained.

Resolution ‘politically motivated,’ Iran says

Iran’s UN ambassador called the resolution politically motivated.

“Today’s action represents a blatant misuse of the Security Council mandate in pursuit of the political agendas of certain members, the various states responsible for the brutal war of aggression against my country,” Amir Saeid Iravani told the Council.

Some 30 German ships representing over ten shipping companies are stuck in the middle of the war zone in the Persian Gulf, the German Shipowners’ Association (VDR) told economy magazine Wirtschaftswoche.

“Merchant ships are civilian vessels with unarmed crews and can hardly protect themselves against military attacks,” said VDR’s Carsten Duif, stressing the critical situation the ships face.

Of great concern are the possible Iranian sea mines in the maritime region. VDR has called for Germany to join other countries in coordinating defensive measures to protect the ships.

Wirtschaftswoche reported that while the German navy does have mine countermeasure vessels for use against mines, there are currently no plans to deploy them in the conflict zone.

“At the end of the day, I see only a diplomatic solution to this question of safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, not a military one,” the magazine quoted German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul as saying.

Israeli strikes against the Iran-backed Hezbollah group have led to a mass movement of people within the country.

More than 800,000 people have been displaced, with aid groups warning about a new humanitarian crisis in the country.

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Lebanon’s Health Ministry said 634 people, including 91 children, have been killed and more than 1,500 wounded in Israeli strikes since March 2. 

Another 800,000 people remain displaced, the country’s social affairs minister, Haneen Sayed, said.

Israel has pounded the southern suburbs of Beirut and southern Lebanon in recent days in areas where Hezbollah has its greatest influence.

That came after the militia group fired rockets at Israel which in turn was a response to US-Israeli strikes that killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Israeli military on Wednesday hit an apartment block in central Beirut, Lebanese authorities said, further widening attacks in the capital beyond Hezbollah-controlled suburbs.

President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he was not worried about Iran-backed attacks on US soil.

When ​asked on Wednesday if he was worried that Iran could retaliate by striking on US soil, Trump told reporters, “No, I’m ​not.”

It all comes after the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) warned of Iranian drones potentially striking ‌the US western coast,  according to a report by broadcaster ⁠ABC News.

The west coast state of California said it had elevated its security since the start of the conflict.

“The ⁠Governor’s ​Office of Emergency Services is actively working with ​state, local and federal security officials,” said Diana Crofts-Pelayo, a spokesperson for California Governor Gavin Newsom.

A threat assessment produced by the Department ⁠of Homeland Security said ​Iran and its proxies “probably” pose a threat of targeted attacks on the US, although they deemed a large-scale physical strike as unlikely.

Ukraine said its anti-drone experts have begun working in three Gulf states targeted by Iranian attacks.

The Iran war has tested the US and Gulf nations’ ability to combat swarms of cheap drones. But these drones have become a staple of the modern battlefield during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Iran has launched so many drones across the region at once that some managed to slip through defenses, including a strike that killed six US soldiers in Kuwait.

“Three of our teams have gone — strong teams of experts, military personnel, engineers, different people. Today the military are already communicating and already working,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters.

A Ukrainian government spokesman confirmed separately that the three countries were Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

To destroy Russian drones, Kyiv uses a mix of cheap drone interceptors and electronic jamming tools. In exchange for its anti-drone expertise, Ukraine has proposed swapping its interceptors for the expensive air-defence missiles that the Gulf is currently using to down Iranian drones.

Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, the top Shia Muslim cleric in Iraq, on Wednesday wished Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei success as he succeeds his late father. 

“As we commemorate the late leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, we hope that his honorable successor will find success and guidance in serving the great Iranian people, repelling absolute evid and preserving national unity and harmony,” Sistani said. 

Shia Muslims constitute the majority of Iraq’s population, if to a slightly less pronounced extent than they do in Iran. 

Mojtaba Khamenei is the second child of Ali Khamenei. As well as his father, the 56-year-old’s parents, wife, sister and one of his children were killed in the US-Israeli strikes on Iran in recent weeks.

President Donald Trump, who was speaking to the press outside the White House, was asked directly if the US could claim victory if the new supreme leader remains the son of the late Ali Khamenei.

Trump avoided the question, saying verbatim, “I don’t want to comment on that. I don’t want to comment.”

The US president previously said it would be unacceptable to have Mojtaba Khamenei as the new supreme leader.

Mojtaba is the second son of the late supreme leader and has operated in the shadows of his late father.

Trump was also asked about what more needed to be done militarily to end the war with Iran, to which he said, “More of the same.”

According to CNN, he pointed to losses for Iran’s navy, air force, anti-aircraft apparatus and leadership.