Explosions were reported in Iran on Thursday, as Tehran claimed to have targeted Kurdish groups in Iraq and cautioned “separatist groups” against taking part in the escalating conflict.
The confrontation began Saturday with US-Israeli attacks that murdered Iran’s supreme commander and has extended throughout the region, causing worldwide economic pressure, energy interruptions, and travel havoc.
Iran’s retaliatory strikes have targeted many of its Gulf neighbors, which host US military sites, while Israel has bombed Lebanon and pushed troops over the border.
On Thursday, Tehran announced it had targeted Iraq-based Kurdish forces “opposed to the revolution,” as reports suggested the US was attempting to arm Kurdish rebels to infiltrate Iran.
According to a spokesman, the strikes, which killed a member of an exiled Iranian Kurdish group, came after Iranian officials issued a warning.
“Separatist groups should not think that a breeze has blown and try to take action,” said Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.
The strikes were more proof of how the conflict begun by the United States and Israel has drawn in parties from all around the region.
It has also produced market volatility and will put global economic resilience to the test “yet again,” the International Monetary Fund’s president warned on Thursday.
Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards have claimed to have closed the Strait of Hormuz, the Gulf chokepoint through which a fifth of the world’s crude oil flows, with oil ship transits down 90%, according to market intelligence firm Kpler.
US authorities, from President Donald Trump have given various reasons for beginning the war and shifting explanations of its goals.
It was launched without specific legislative sanction, but the US Senate rejected a motion on Wednesday that sought to limit Trump’s authority to continue the strikes.
