Iran-USA: Strikes, Retaliation and Tankers War

Since the American strikes against Iran on Tuesday night—the first in roughly a month—tensions between the warring parties have reached a breaking point. Iran has continued its strikes throughout Tuesday night and into Wednesday, targeting neighboring countries, as it typically does whenever it comes under attack.

Jordan said it had shot down several drones. In Kuwait, a fire broke out following a drone attack, and the Iranians themselves claimed to have targeted the Al Dhafra and Al Minhad bases in the United Arab Emirates.

Later in the day, the Revolutionary Guards announced they had struck American targets in Erbil, in Iraqi Kurdistan.

The United States, which had not carried out any new strikes as of Wednesday afternoon, once again urged its nationals in the region to remain vigilant.

The American strikes from the previous evening and overnight have nonetheless left their mark. Iran reported at least eleven deaths as a result of these strikes: four at a wedding in the southeast of the country, where around fifty people were also wounded, and seven in the Khuzestan region, in missile attacks that left eight more injured. The Revolutionary Guards themselves acknowledged the deaths of four of their own members in the strikes, along with three Basij members—the notorious morality police.

Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the strikes as a "war crime." The U.S. military, while declining to comment on the matter directly, simply stated that it "never targets civilians."

However, the most striking remarks came from the Speaker of Parliament and Iran's chief negotiator with the Americans during the Islamabad talks, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf.

In a highly significant return to the vocabulary of the early days of the Islamic Revolution, the former Revolutionary Guard member labeled the United States the "Great Satan" for its attack on the wedding on Tuesday, drawing comparisons to other strikes, such as the one on a school in Minab on the first day of the war, which claimed dozens of young schoolgirls as victims. He even took a swipe at the Israelis, claiming that this Great Satan is shielding a "lesser" one.

The Israelis, who are not directly targeted in these latest strikes against Iran, nonetheless made their voice heard on Wednesday. Defense Minister Israel Katz hinted that the Israeli state has intelligence suggesting Iran is preparing to attack its territory. He assured that fighter jets are ready to scramble at the slightest Iranian provocation.

Xi's "foreign interference"

In any case, the war of words is at its peak. While the Revolutionary Guards warn their attackers of a "new strategy" aimed at "breaking the foundations of the enemy," an American official quoted by Axios has coined a new phrase to describe what the war in the Middle East has become: tanker versus tanker. Indeed, on Wednesday, U.S. armed forces targeted an Iranian oil tanker, after two vessels caught fire after striking mines.

The Strait of Hormuz remains at the heart of this conflict. And the American president, who has shown a growing habit of renaming places, has proposed calling it the "Trump Strait"…

Meanwhile, with diplomacy at a standstill, one visit drew considerable attention: Chinese President Xi Jinping's trip to Egypt on Wednesday, where he was received with great fanfare by his counterpart Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

Mr. Xi, who had previously defended China's ties with the Islamic Republic, addressed the conflict during his visit, calling for a fight against "foreign interference" in the region—a barely veiled reference to the United States.

Together with the Egyptian president, they called for "diplomatic solutions." The Chinese president also expressed his readiness to help ensure freedom of navigation in the region.

An Assad lieutenant arrested in Lebanon

On the other front of this war, in southern Lebanon, Israeli strikes show no sign of letting up, particularly around the strategic hill of Ali el-Taher. Once again, on Wednesday the Israeli army justified its strikes by citing a booby-trapped drone attack it attributes to Hezbollah — one of whose members was killed — with the group remaining silent, as it has been for several weeks now.

Lebanon was also the scene of another development on Wednesday, signaling a rapprochement between Lebanese officials and their Syrian counterparts, and the weakening of Iran's influence in the country. Authorities arrested a former colonel from Bashar al-Assad's fallen Syrian regime, a Lebanese judicial official told AFP. He had been plotting against Syria's current authorities from Beirut. Weapons were seized from him and his accomplices.

Finally, in the Palestinian territories, the situation continues to deteriorate, and Israeli statements are growing increasingly uninhibited as October's parliamentary elections approach. The Defense Minister proposed relocating the entire population out of the Gaza Strip, claiming that Israelis "are well organized to do so." Echoing those remarks, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that his army "will not withdraw" from Gaza.