K-Points

U.S. Strikes Darkhovin Nuclear Plant and Civilian Sites in Iran; Israel Ramps Up Bombardment of Gaza and Lebanon

The United States continued its military operations against Iran by bombing the under-construction Darhovin Nuclear Power Plant in southwestern Iran, as well as desalination pumps and electrical infrastructure in the village of Bunji, in Jask. The strikes cut off water supplies to 20 villages.

"The supply of drinking water to 20 villages with a population of approximately 10000 people has been completely disrupted," said Hamzeh Pour, chief executive of the Hormozgan Water and Wastewater Company, speaking to Iran’s Tasnim News Agency.

Pour described the strikes as "a series of crimes and terrorist attacks," adding that a seawater pumping station and a power transformer serving the Bunji desalination plant had been "completely destroyed." He added, "These villages are facing a severe water shortage."

Many analysts believe that U.S. strikes on civilian infrastructure signal American defeat and frustration, particularly in light of what they describe as heavy and effective Iranian retaliation against U.S. assets and bases, as well as Iran’s full control of the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) issued a warning to countries hosting U.S. military forces, urging them to prepare for a "corresponding response." In a statement, the IRGC said these countries should "activate their civil defence units to protect their citizens and move them away from potential military targets," accusing them of allowing their territory to be used as "launchpads for aggression against Iran."

The IRGC claimed it had used missiles and drones to strike Camp Arifjan in Kuwait, the Ali Al Salem Air Base, U.S. naval facilities at Mina al-Ahmadi port, and military installations in Bahrain. Bahraini authorities repeatedly sounded air raid sirens, while Kuwaiti forces said they were intercepting incoming missiles and drones.

Senior Iranian military official Major-General Mohsen Rezaee stated that Tehran would "abandon its restrained military posture" if U.S. attacks continued. "Iran will no longer limit itself to retaliatory, tit-for tat responses... and no political border will be safe," Rezaee said, according to IRIB News Agency.

"Until now, we have not focused on expanding the war, nor on launching an invasion. Until now, the goal deterrence, to put an end to the conflict," he said, adding that "the policy of negotiating during war is over."

Separately, Israel has carried out a series of strikes in several locations in the Gaza Strip and southern Lebanon, causing damage and killing numerous civilians. According to Al Mayadeen, Israeli occupation forces conducted mass demolitions at dawn on Sunday in the southern Lebanese towns of Kfar Tebnit, Deir Siryan, and Haddatha.

This comes as southern Lebanon continues to experience a series of Israeli attacks on multiple towns, including shelling, demolition, and bulldozing operations carried out by Israeli forces in several villages.