US and Iran trade attacks as Khamenei is buried
The US and Iran again traded strikes in exchanges that continued into Thursday, as observers reported a "dramatic" drop in the number of ships traveling through the Strait of Hormuz. The US says it hit 90 military targets, some near the Strait. Iran says 14 people have been killed in the past two days. State media also reported that targets near the Bushehr nuclear power plant were hit, citing the deputy governor of the province. The US has not commented on the latest strikes. Iran said it targeted US assets in Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar in response. Later on Thursday, Tehran launched more strikes on sites in Kuwait, Jordan, and Iraq, state-linked media reported.
Separately, huge crowds gathered as Iran's late supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was buried after six days of funeral events. The "body of the martyred leader of the Islamic Revolution was buried in the memorial hall of the shrine of Imam Reza," state broadcaster IRIB reported, according to AFP. With crowds waiting outside and listening to prayers, the flag-covered coffin was carried into the shrine of Imam Reza in his home city of Mashhad in eastern Iran. There was no sign of his son and successor Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not been seen in public since he was reportedly seriously wounded in the same attack that killed his father.
The crowds waved Iranian flags, while some were pictured holding signs carrying death threats directed at US President Donald Trump. Khamenei was killed on 28 February during the first hours of US and Israeli strikes against Iran. Iran's foreign ministry denounced the latest US strikes as a "grave war crime", describing the US administration as "evil and psychopathic". Bridges and a railway route connecting Tehran to the city of Mashhad, where the late supreme leader's funeral is being held, were also damaged, the foreign ministry said. Iran's health ministry said 14 people had been killed and 78 people injured across five provinces.
Gulf nations reported Iranian attacks following the US strikes, with explosions in Bahrain's capital Manama, Kuwait intercepting missiles and drones, and Qatar issuing a security alert. Later on Thursday, explosions were heard in Iran's southern port of Konarak, with a local official telling Iran's official news agency a navy site was attacked by an "enemy". However a US defense official told the BBC it had not carried out any strikes in Iran in recent hours.