Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf declared Wednesday that the United States is waging an "existential war" against the Islamic Republic, accusing U.S. forces of deliberately killing children and families. "If a power acts like Satan, picks targets like Satan, and kills like Satan, it's Satan," he said in remarks citing specific strikes in the Iranian coastal province of Hormozgan.
Ghalibaf pointed to three incidents: a strike on a school in Minab, an attack on a sports hall in Lamerd, and a strike on a wedding in Kouhestak. He accused U.S. and Israeli forces of joint responsibility, writing on social media that "the era of bullying and extortion is over."
The remarks came as two oil tankers were struck by mines in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday. The Islamic new Guard Corps said the vessels were traveling an unauthorized route, their crews abandoned them after U.S. military personnel encouraged them to do so, and American forces took control of the ships. The IRGC said it had previously warned shipping companies against using the mined channel and would implement "additional punitive measures" against companies allowing their vessels to be directed by the United States.
Two Filipino crew members died in a security incident aboard the vessel SIDR, operated by Saudi shipping company Bahri, while transiting the Strait of Hormuz on Aug. 31, the company confirmed Wednesday. Bahri did not specify the cause but described it as a security incident during transit.
The Strait of Hormuz carries roughly 20 percent of the world's seaborne oil and is the only maritime exit for crude exports from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Iraq. Iran has long threatened to close it in the event of military escalation, and the current mining campaign represents the most direct action against commercial shipping in years.
In Israel, Defense Minister Israel Katz said Wednesday the government was preparing for the possibility of an Iranian strike during the upcoming Jewish holidays. "The prime minister and I are following this on a daily basis together with the IDF, sometimes in the middle of the night on the red phone," Katz said at a conference hosted by Ynet and Yedioth Ahronoth. "We are not taking any information lightly. We do not want to be surprised. We are prepared."
Katz said Israel was deferring to the United States to lead strikes on Iran because of Washington's interests in Hormuz and regional energy security. "If they attack us, we will respond with great force, independently of anyone else," he said. He also stated that Operation Rising Lion destroyed Iran's nuclear program and that Israel was monitoring for any attempt to rebuild it. "We will not allow Iran to have nuclear weapons," Katz said. "If something like that happens, and President Trump says the same thing, then we will likely attack together."
Qatar called Wednesday for an immediate halt to all military operations and attacks threatening regional security and stability. The statement placed Doha among Gulf states seeking to arrest escalation, though Qatar did not name any party by name.
Police in Anar, in Iran's southeastern Kerman Province, arrested a person Wednesday on charges of "disturbing public opinion and supporting anti-government elements online," the county police commander said. The arrest underlined domestic pressure on dissent as the external conflict intensifies.
The IRGC statement on the tanker mines did not address claims that Iranian forces had attacked ships in the strait, instead framing the incident around what it described as U.S. deception of the vessels' operators. The warning of further "punitive measures" against shipping companies suggested the IRGC intends to maintain control over which routes through the strait it considers authorized and to enforce that control through mines already laid in the waterway.
