Explosions Reported Near U.S. Base in Irbil Amid Escalating U.S.-Iran Tensions

An AP journalist heard at least seven explosions and saw smoke rising Friday morning near a military base hosting U.S. forces in the northern Iraqi city of Irbil. The city is in the country’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region. The explosions began at around 9:30 a.m. local time, according to the Associated Press journalist in the area. The journalist observed at least four plumes of black smoke rising into the sky from areas near or inside the base. There was no immediate information on casualties or the cause of the explosions, and Iraqi and U.S. officials did not immediately comment.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Bahrain activated its sirens early Friday, warning residents to shelter from detected fire hours after the U.S. military said it had wrapped up its 13th night of strikes against Iran.

The Gulf states have come under frequent fire over the past week as the U.S. and Iran exchange escalating strikes in fighting that began with a struggle over control of the strategic Strait of Hormuz. Iranian state media reported that four people had been killed and nine injured in the bombardment.

The previous day, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels said they targeted two Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea, potentially widening the Iran war as international oil topped $100 a barrel.

U.S. Central Command said the latest barrage was designed to “further degrade Iran’s ability to threaten civilian mariners and commercial vessels transiting regional waters” as the Americans push to regain control over the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and gas transited in peacetime. It said the strikes ended shortly before 5 a.m. local time Friday.

Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi of Iraq, which has close ties to both the U.S. and Iran, was in Tehran on Thursday to call for peace and dialogue. He promised not to allow Iraqi territory to be used for attacks on Iran, his office said. Al-Zaidi met with Trump earlier this month in Washington.

US strikes sites across Iran

U.S. strikes hit a naval base for the Revolutionary Guard in the north of Iran, the Iranian semiofficial news outlets Fars and ISNA reported Friday morning. Blasts overnight were also reported on Iran’s Qeshm Island, home to stores of naval assets including drone boats that Iran can use to attack vessels on the Strait of Hormuz, as well as in Isfahan province, where there is a major Iranian air base as well as one of Iran’s nuclear sites. More strikes reportedly hit Iran’s southwest Khuzestan province and southern Fars province.

Four people were killed and five wounded in a U.S. missile attack on the outskirts of Ahvaz on the Karun River, Iranian state media said. An attack in Lorestan province in Western Iran injured two, state media said, while two more were injured by explosions in the port city of Bandar Abbas, a critical hub for moving military supplies as well as trade cargo.

Meanwhile, the Houthis threatened to shut down another key trade route with the world economy already reeling from Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

The Bab el-Mandeb Strait at the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, is a vital shipping chokepoint connecting the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden. Around 12% of the world’s trade, including a fourth of global container traffic, passes through there, moving between Europe and Asia via Egypt’s Suez Canal.

The Houthi attacks put at risk oil shipments from Saudi Arabia’s Yanbu port on the Red Sea and present a “double whammy” on top of the disruption in the Strait of Hormuz, said maritime data and analysis firm Lloyd’s List Intelligence. Saudi Arabia has diverted millions of barrels a day of oil exports to Yanbu via an overland pipeline as the war has bottled up the Persian Gulf.

President Donald Trump threatened “major military punishment” against the Houthis if their attacks on ships continue.

As the rhetoric escalated, so did economic fallout. The price of Brent crude oil, the international standard, spiked more than 6% to about $100 a barrel. That’s the highest level since May, before the two sides reached a preliminary peace agreement last month that has since collapsed.

Both sides dig in over Strait of Hormuz

Iran says it has the right to manage traffic and potentially charge fees in the Strait of Hormuz, which was open to all toll-free before the war. It has attacked ships using a route through the strait that is overseen by U.S. forces and intended to be outside Tehran’s control.

Trump said on social media Thursday that sanctioned Iranian funds in the possession of the U.S. will cover the expense of fixing boats damaged in the war.

“Please let this statement serve to represent, until further notice, that from this point forth, any and all damages done to Ships, Cargo, or anything related thereto, will be paid for by Iranian Money that the United States has in its possession, and controls,” Trump said.

It was unclear what legal mechanisms Trump would use to access and spend the funds, but he said that doing so would be “the fair and equitable thing to do.”

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi condemned the suggestion, writing on X that “once governments normalize confiscation, no one’s assets are safe. Ensuing chaos will not be pretty or peaceful.”