By Desmond Nleya
DUBAI- US President Donald Trump says Washington continues to hit Iran hard economically and militarily as tensions escalate across the Middle East, with fresh threats, deadly attacks and growing strategic ties between Tehran and Moscow.
Trump praised Russian President Vladimir Putin for staying out of the conflict, saying Moscow was doing “nothing” to support Iran.
His remarks came as Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Tehran, describing relations between the two countries as the closest strategic partnership in their history.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) spokesman, Brigadier-General Hossein Mohebbi, threatened to target undersea communication cables in the Strait of Hormuz if US attacks undermined Iran’s regional security.
The threat raises further concerns over the security of critical infrastructure in the strategically important waterway, through which vital energy supplies and international shipping routes pass.
In Yemen, a missile attack attributed to the Houthi movement struck a training centre in Shabwa governorate while recruits were gathering, killing 58 people and injuring more than 200, according to the governor. Many of the injured were reported to be in critical condition.
The violence also continued in Gaza, where Israeli attacks killed at least five Palestinians, including two children, according to medical sources.
The latest developments highlight the widening security crisis across the region, with military operations, threats to strategic infrastructure and mounting civilian casualties raising fears of further escalation.
