West Asia LIVE: Iran Says US Strike Targeted Perimeter Of Nuclear Plant As 14 Killed In Attacks In Two Days

Israel shared intelligence with the United States this week about a new and "specific" plan by Iran to assassinate President Donald Trump, US media reported Thursday.

The reports come as renewed US and Iranian attacks raised fears of a return to all-out war, and after Trump's puzzling use of an old plane to depart from Turkey after the NATO summit.

Washington has monitored "a steady drumbeat" of intelligence about possible plans to assassinate Trump, "but the warning from Israel was new and concerned a specific plot," CNN reported, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter.

The Wall Street Journal, also citing unidentified sources, said the intelligence described a "fresh" plot. Tehran has for years vowed to hit back at Trump for ordering the assassination of Iranian general Qassem Soleimani in January 2020, during his first term.

When AFP contacted the White House about the reports, an unidentified official pointed to Trump's remarks from Wednesday.

"They want to take out the US leader — me. I'm on whatever list. I saw this morning I'm on every single one of their lists," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he flew home from a NATO summit.

Trump used his old Air Force One plane to leave Turkey, where the summit took place, sending his new Qatari-gifted jet on ahead to Britain, where he switched planes for the journey to Washington.

The switch from the new jet on its maiden foreign trip sparked speculation it was because its security features were lacking -- particularly as the US launched fresh strikes against Iran, which borders Turkey.

The New York Times reported late Wednesday that the switch was made at the request of the US Secret Service "as a security precaution." In a press conference, Trump sidestepped safety questions but alluded to previous alleged assassination attempts by Iran.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it intercepted and destroyed a US MQ-9 drone early Wednesday using its advanced air defence system under the country's integrated air defence network, reported Tasnim News Agency.

The Jordanian military said it intercepted eight missiles fired from Iran on Thursday, while the Islamic republic said it targeted a US base there amid a new exchange of strikes between Tehran and Washington.

"Jordanian air defence systems intercepted and shot down, today, Thursday, eight missiles that were launched from Iran toward Jordanian territory," the military said in a statement.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they struck the US's "command-and-control centre in West Asia and the enemy air base in Al-Azraq, Jordan, with 10 ballistic missiles".

It added that "if the terrorist US military repeats its aggression, the other US bases in the region will not be safe from our heavy fire".

The missile fire came on a second consecutive day of tit-for-tat barrages between the US and Iran, including scores of US strikes on Iran, testing a fragile ceasefire as the foes battle over the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

Jordan's military said that their interceptions "resulted in the fall of a number of fragments, without any human casualties or material damage," and added that it will "not allow any violation of Jordanian airspace by any party".

Thousands of people filled the streets of Mashhad -- many waving the red flags that symbolise the search for vengeance in Shia Islam -- as Khamenei's body was transported there for his burial.

The burial will be the final act of a multi-day funeral, after Iran's leader for more than three decades lay in state in Tehran before being processed through the Iranian capital and the holy Iraqi cities of Najaf and Karbala.

Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations called on the UN to address the United States’ use of artificial intelligence in carrying out attacks against Iran, urging accountability for the deployment of AI in the commission of war crimes, reported Tasnim News Agency.

President Donald Trump says he believes the ceasefire with Iran is over. He says he’s not sure he wants a deal anymore and says the U.S. should “finish the job.” But he also insists that continued attacks don’t mean a return to war or long-term action.

The confusion and uncertainty in Trump’s mixed messaging and his approval of back-to-back military strikes leave major questions about what comes next in the conflict, just weeks after difficult diplomacy to reach even an initial deal between the longtime adversaries.

The whipsawing rhetoric could be a strategy to increase the pressure on Tehran to stop attacking ships transporting oil and natural gas in the Strait of Hormuz and bend to U.S. demands on its nuclear program — something Trump has tried before.

Whether it’s a negotiation tactic or a signal of an escalation in fighting, mediators are scrambling to save the interim deal and the actions risk further inflaming tensions.

The United States targeted the perimeter of Iran's only civilian nuclear plant with a strike on Thursday, Iranian state media reported, citing the deputy governor of Bushehr province.

"Several areas in Bushehr province were targeted today, including the perimeter of the nuclear power plant, a military base in the town of Choghadak and a fishing pier in the south of the province," Ehsan Jahanian said, adding there were no reports of casualties so far.

It came after residents of Choghadak, which sits a little more than 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the Bushehr plant, reported hearing several explosions. Strikes have previously landed near the power station during the Middle East war.

In April, the UN's nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, warned that attacks near the plant "pose a very real danger to nuclear safety and must stop".

The power station, built with Russian help, has one operational reactor and two further ones under construction. Russia evacuated its staff from the site during the war. Non-profit monitor ACLED has reported four strikes near the plant during the war.

The United States has resumed cash shipments to Iraq after a delay, signalling its support for Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi's administration, with the premier expected in Washington later this month, a government spokesperson said Thursday.

Iraq's revenues from oil exports are largely held at the Federal Reserve Bank in New York, under an arrangement reached after the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled former ruler Saddam Hussein.

Under the system, payments for oil are made into dollar-denominated accounts in the US which are then either used to pay for imports or flow to Iraq as cash.

Sirens blared in Jordan on Thursday, an AFP correspondent reported, hours after Iran's military said it had targeted sites in Gulf countries in retaliation for US strikes.

State broadcaster Al-Mamlaka added: "Alarm sirens sounded in Jordan on Thursday to alert citizens and urge them to follow instructions."

Several explosions were heard on Thursday in Iran's Bushehr province, home to Iran's only civilian nuclear power plant, the Fars news agency reported, hours after the United States launched strikes on the Islamic republic.

Residents of Choghadak, around 20 kilometres (12 miles) from the plant, reported hearing the blasts, but "official news about the exact location of the explosions has not yet been released", Fars said. Strikes have previously landed near the power station during the Middle East war.

World shares were mixed, and oil prices slipped on Thursday as conflict escalated in the Middle East, with Iran and the U.S. launching fresh attacks. U.S. futures were little changed.

The United States launched more airstrikes on Iran, and Iran responded by firing at Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar, a day after U.S. President Donald Trump said their temporary ceasefire was “over.”

The prospects for a lasting peace remained uncertain, with high-level talks seeking to salvage an interim agreement on ending the war still underway, according to a regional intelligence official involved in the mediation efforts who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the delicate behind-the-scenes negotiations.

At least one person was injured on Tuesday, Kuwait's defence ministry said, following the latest Iranian attack on the country.

"The injured individual is receiving the necessary medical care and is in stable condition," defence ministry spokesman Colonel Staff Saud Abdulaziz Al-Atwan said, adding that four missiles and 10 drones had been "successfully intercepted and neutralised" at dawn.

The United States launched new airstrikes against Iran early Thursday, and Tehran responded by targeting Gulf countries in an exchange of fire that threatened an interim deal intended to help end the war in the Middle East.

Back-and-forth attacks, including a day earlier, have repeatedly threatened the ceasefire, but Thursday’s appeared bigger all around, with sirens sounding at least three times in Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet headquarters, and missiles targeting Kuwait and Qatar.

The strikes came hours after U.S. President Donald Trump said recent Iranian attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz signaled the end of a fragile ceasefire and threatened to escalate the conflict if they didn't stop. That raised concerns that the region could tip back into a war that would engulf several countries and could halt energy shipments through the strait that are crucial for the global economy.

Iran's foreign ministry denounced US strikes against the country on Thursday, which it said targeted civilian infrastructure including railway bridges, as a "gross war crime".

The ministry in a statement said it "condemns in the strongest terms the aggressive attacks by the US terrorist army on several points in the southern coastal provinces and two bridges in the eastern provinces on the railway route to the holy city of Mashhad" and called the US administration "evil and psychopathic".

A plane carrying the coffin of the late Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei landed in the eastern holy city of Mashhad on Thursday, ahead of his burial, state media reported.

The official news agency IRNA shared footage of the Mahan Air flight taxiing at the airport after landing in Khamenei's home city. He was transferred from Iraq, where ceremonies took place in the holy cities of Najaf and Karbala.

The Bahraini capital Manama heard explosions on Thursday as air-raid sirens were activated for a second time, hours after Iranian attacks the night. "The siren has been sounded.. Citizens and residents are urged to remain calm and head to the nearest safe place," the interior ministry said in a post on X.

Former Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s burial ceremony, expected this morning in Iran’s city of Mashhad, has been pushed back, according to state TV

Larger-than-expected crowds that gathered in Iraq’s Najaf and Karbala delayed the funeral procession on Wednesday. The ceremony in Mashhad – Khamenei’s birthplace – is now scheduled at 14:30 local time (04:30 pm IST).

Iran's military said it had targeted sites in Kuwait, Qatar and Bahrain with one-way attack drones on Thursday in retaliation for US strikes earlier in the day, AFP reported citing state media.

The army said "in continuation of the attacks by the Islamic Republic of Iran's army on US bases in the region" it had targeted a Patriot missile interceptor system in Kuwait, an early warning system in Qatar and fuel tanks in Bahrain with "a large number of various types of army kamikaze drones".

The train service between Tehran and Mashhad has been suspended after US strikes, state TV reported, hours before late supreme leader Ali Khamenei was due to be buried in the eastern Iranian holy city.

The Islamic Republic of Iran Railways blamed "a criminal attack by the US-Israeli enemy" on the route and said it had dispatched teams to repair the damage, the state broadcaster reported, adding that road transport was being arranged for stranded passengers.

US strikes on Iran killed three people and wounded several others in the country's west, official news agency IRNA reported on Thursday, quoting a local official. Valiollah Hayati, the deputy governor of Khuzestan for security and law enforcement, told reporters that three people were killed and several wounded in the American attack on the outskirts of city of Ahvaz, the IRNA report said.

US military officials said Wednesday that approximately 90 Iranian military targets were hit in their latest strikes, targeting air defence systems, missile and drone storage sites, and other assets.

The United States "completed an additional round of strikes against Iran on July 8 to further degrade Iran's ability to attack commercial shipping and innocent civilian mariners in the Strait of Hormuz," according to a statement posted to X by US Central Command (CENTCOM). It also shared a video of the bombardments.

Iranian Parliament Speaker and one of the key negotiators in Iran-US talks, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, on Thursday warned the US that if it strikes Iran, there will be a response, while reiterating that the Strait of Hormuz will only open with "Iranian arrangement".

In a post on X, Ghalibaf wrote, "America still hasn’t learned that bullying and breaking promises are no longer cost-free. Let me put it plainly: if you strike, you’ll get hit. Don’t flail around pointlessly, or you’ll sink even deeper: the Strait of Hormuz will only open with “Iranian arrangements,” not American threats."

His remarks came hours after the US launched a new round of airstrikes targeting Iran after President Donald Trump said that recent Iranian attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz signalled the end of the fragile ceasefire.

Explosions were heard in Bahrain's capital on Thursday, AFP reported citing its correspondent in Manama. The blasts were heard moments after authorities sounded air raid sirens to warn of an attack. They followed a vow from Iran's Revolutionary Guards that they would "give a devastating response" to fresh American strikes on the Islamic republic's territory.

Kuwait's air defences were intercepting "hostile missile and drone attacks", its military said on Thursday. "The General Staff of the Army notes that any explosions heard are a result of air defense systems intercepting hostile attacks," the Kuwait military said in a post on X, without specifying their origin.

President Donald Trump warned Wednesday that the US bombing of Iran will increase significantly if Tehran continues to attack ships in the Strait of Hormuz. "This is in retribution for yesterday’s bombing of ships by Iran. If it happens again, it will get much worse!" the US president posted on social media over a picture of an apparent bombing of a site in Iran.

Trump reinforced that message when speaking with reporters aboard Air Force One, returning from a NATO summit in Turkey.

"We just hit them very hard, and I say we hit them 20 to one. Every time they hit us, we're going to hit them 20," Trump told reporters. "And we did it last night. They did a little something today, but it was really retribution for last night."

The US carried out another round of strikes on Iran on Wednesday, hours after President Donald Trump said that recent Iranian attacks on ships in the Strait of Hormuz signalled the end of the ceasefire.

Military officials said in a social media post that the strikes were intended to “further degrade” Iran’s ability “to threaten freedom of navigation” in the strait.

The action comes just a day after the US military hit a variety of military sites and port facilities following Iran’s targeting of several merchant vessels off the coast of Oman.