The CIA wants to incite an uprising in Iran, and Iran is attacking tankers in the Strait of Hormuz. Babel has gathered the main points about the war in the Middle East as of now.
The fighting has already claimed 870 lives, the NYT reports. Most of them (787) are in Iran, including 175 killed in the attack on a girlsʼ school. 52 people have died in Lebanon. There have also been fatalities in Israel, the UAE, Bahrain and Kuwait.
Graves dug for victims of the attack on a girlsʼ school in Iran.
МЗС Ірану
The US forces have destroyed 17 Iranian ships, including a submarine, the head of the US Central Command Brad Cooper said. According to him, the US forces have struck a total of 2 000 targets, involving 5 000 troops and B-2 stealth bombers. In response, Iran launched 500 ballistic missiles and 2 000 drones.
The CIA is working with the Iranian opposition and the Kurds to provoke an armed uprising in Iran, CNN claims, citing sources. The Kurds are likely being armed to be involved in an operation in western Iran in the coming days.
One source told CNN that the idea is for Kurdish forces to take on Iranian security forces and hold them back, making it easier for unarmed Iranians in major cities to take to the streets without risking another round of violence, as happened during the unrest in January.
Another US official said the Kurds could help spread chaos in the region and drain the Iranian regimeʼs military resources. Other opinions focus on whether the Kurds could seize and hold territory in northern Iran that would create a buffer zone for Israel.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said that any new Iranian leader chosen by the current regime is unacceptable and will be "a target for destruction".
On the morning of March 4, IDF reported a 10th wave of attacks on Tehran, saying the strikes were aimed at "the infrastructure of the Iranian terrorist regime".
According to the NYT, Iranian attacks damaged structures that are part of or located near communications and radar systems at at least seven US military sites in the Middle East.
US base in Kuwait
Iranʼs IRGC has claimed full control of the Strait of Hormuz and has already attacked 10 oil tankers in it. The strait is critically important because about a fifth of the worldʼs oil and liquefied natural gas passes through it every day.
War in the Middle East
On the morning of Saturday, February 28, the United States and Israel began attacking Iran. The Israelis called the operation “Lion’s Roar”, the United States called it “Epic Fury”. In the evening, it became known about the death of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and almost 40 other senior Iranian officials. They died in Khamenei’s residence in the first minutes of the war.
Iran responded by attacking American bases in the Persian Gulf countries: Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and the UAE. Iran also attacked Israel with ballistic missiles. Some Iranian drones and missiles targeted infrastructure and residential areas in Arab countries. For example, an Iranian drone struck the largest oil refinery in Saudi Arabia. A fire broke out there, and the plant suspended operations.
Israel also attacked the Lebanese pro-Iranian Hezbollah, which retaliated and launched a ground operation.
Ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a key route through which nearly 20% of the worldʼs oil and gas exports pass, has almost ground to a halt. Markets reacted instantly, with oil, gas and precious metals rising in price.
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