The war unleashed by the United States and Israel is spreading from the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean.
A ballistic missile launched by Tehran towards Turkish airspace was shot down by NATO defence systems after flying over Syria and Iraq. On the opposite side of the Arabian Sea, off the coast of Sri Lanka, an American submarine struck and sank an Iranian frigate, killing at least 87 sailors and leaving more than 30 missing.
The resolution supported by Democrats to stop the American military campaign against Iran was rejected by the US Senate. The Senate rejected the attempt to curb President Donald Trump’s war against Iran, granting him what amounts to support for the military campaign that began on Saturday. The result paves the way for the rejection of a similar measure in the House of Representatives, giving the tycoon almost carte blanche to pursue his plans for conflict with Iran.
The Gulf countries continue to intercept missiles and drones launched in retaliation by Iran, as does Israel, which has, in turn, hammered the command centres of the Pasdaran and Basij and shot down an Iranian fighter jet in the skies over the capital of the Islamic Republic. The IDF is also continuing its advance in southern Lebanon, where it is engaged in “close-range clashes” with Hezbollah. In addition, thousands of Kurdish fighters based in Iraq have crossed the border to fight against the Ayatollah regime.
The US Secretary of Defence has stated that the case of the Iranian missile towards Turkey will not trigger Article 5 of NATO, which obliges allies to intervene in defence of a member under attack. The intercepted missile reportedly fell in the Turkish district of Dortyol, in south-eastern Turkey, near the border with Syria. However, sources in Ankara believe that it was not headed for Turkish territory, but for a base in Greek Cyprus, which had already been hit in recent days, and that it deviated from its course.
According to Alliance sources, it was the Turkish armed forces, which are part of NATO, that intercepted the missile.
On the same trajectory as Turkey, Iraq was plunged into total darkness by a power blackout that affected the entire country, before finding itself having to shoot down drones near Baghdad International Airport, where there is a military base that also houses an American diplomatic mission. Explosions were also heard in Erbil, in Iraqi Kurdistan. But it is still Tehran that is under the greatest military pressure. The Israeli army said it had struck an important military complex, which houses the command centres of the Revolutionary Guards, the elite Quds Force and the Basij paramilitary force. It also said it had launched a wave of attacks on ballistic and cruise missile storage sites in Isfahan and Shiraz.
Like Benjamin Netanyahu in recent days, IDF spokesman Effie Defrin also released a video in Farsi assuring Iranians that the offensive is aimed solely at the regime. A regime that is losing ground with each passing day and which, it seems, is struggling even to appoint a successor to Ali Khamenei, who was killed on the first day of the war. The name of his son Mojtaba does not appear to have been confirmed at this stage.
