Kuwait says Iranian strikes targeted navy vessel, wounded four troops
An Iranian attack struck a Kuwaiti navy vessel on Tuesday, injuring four armed forces personnel, Kuwait’s military said in a statement.
The injured personnel received medical treatment and were in stable condition.
Kuwait’s armed forces detected and intercepted one ballistic missile, five cruise missiles and 33 drones during Tuesday’s attacks, which targeted several vital and civilian facilities and caused material damage from falling debris.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said no oil or gas would be exported from the region as long as US “evil actions” continued, Iranian state media reported Tuesday.
The IRGC also said US “aggressions” would only delay the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
It added that its attacks on US facilities in Kuwait and Bahrain were carried out in response to US attacks on Iran.
No country or entity should be allowed to charge vessels a fee for transiting the Strait of Hormuz, US President Donald Trump told reporters on Tuesday.
"I don't think anybody should be able to charge a fee," Trump said.
"I don't like the concept of a fee, but at the same time, it's not fair that we're protecting this Strait for the entire world," he added.
Trump also said that Iran’s military power was “just a tiny fraction” of what it had been four months earlier.
US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the Strait of Hormuz was open to all shipping except vessels traveling to or from Iranian ports or carrying Iranian cargo.
“The Strait of Hormuz is open to ALL Ship traffic except for Iran — and that is because of their lying, violent, malicious leadership, which is taking them down the path of TOTAL DESTRUCTION,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Trump added that oil was “flowing like never before” and that a proposed 20% US reimbursement fee would be replaced by “massive” trade and investment deals with Persian Gulf states.
He also said “the days of Iran killing hundreds of thousands of people” were over and that Iran would “never have a nuclear weapon.”
Private photos of women posted on Telegram channels in Iran's western Lorestan province have triggered widespread fear and prompted more than 200 complaints, with authorities saying three people accused of running the channels have been arrested on Tuesday.
“The scope of this case is extensive, and more than 200 complaints have so far been filed with the provincial prosecutor's office,” Lorestan prosecutor Ali Hassanvand said.
Three of the channels' main operators had been identified and detained, Hassanvand said.
Police in Lorestan had announced a day earlier that Telegram channels were publishing citizens' private photos with "immoral" content to attract followers and, in some cases, extorting victims and their families by demanding cryptocurrency payments.
Fears over women's safety
Shargh newspaper reported that the channels had attracted tens of thousands of members by publishing women's photos alongside insults, defamatory content and extortion demands.
The newspaper cited social media posts alleging that five girls had died by suicide and another had been killed by her father after their images were circulated. Those reports have not been officially confirmed.
An unnamed women's rights activist in Lorestan told Shargh the incident had heightened fears among women in the province.
“You have to live here and know the families to understand the consequences,” the activist said. “Some women in our province have become so frightened that they have removed their photos even from domestic and foreign messaging apps. Publishing a woman's picture in our city could cost her life.”
Women's rights advocates have long warned that weak legal protections and the persistence of so-called honor killings leave women exposed to violence in parts of Iran.
Extortion spreads beyond Lorestan
Saeed Sozangar, a network security instructor, told Shargh the channels appeared to be motivated by extortion and revenge, warning that some victims' lives could be at risk.
He said similar networks had also been identified in the cities of Malayer, Bukan and Kermanshah, suggesting the activity extended beyond Lorestan.
A citizen who contacted Iran International said the channels copied publicly available profile pictures of women without mandatory hijab from social media accounts and reposted them with highly insulting captions. The source added that anonymous submission links encouraged users to send photos of other women.
Similar channels, according to the citizen, have also appeared in Khuzestan, Kermanshah, Hamedan and Tehran provinces.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Iran’s leaders on Tuesday that any renewed attack on Israel would draw a stronger response than before.
“Do not count on there being calm if you attack us,” Netanyahu said in a conference in the Negev city of Dimona. “Do not count on this being a repeat. Because it will not be a repeat.”
“The last one was powerful enough. This will be something different, more powerful,” he added.
Netanyahu said the days when Israel could be attacked without responding “twice as hard” were over.
