U.S., Iran exchange strikes over Strait of Hormuz, damaging key Kuwaiti infrastructure

U.S., Iran exchange strikes over Strait of Hormuz, damaging key Kuwaiti infrastructure JON GAMBRELL AND TOQA EZZIDIN DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES THE ASSOCIATED PRESS PUBLISHED 2 HOURS AGO UPDATED 34 SECONDS AGO Open this photo in gallery: Pro-government demonstrators gather at a square in Tehran, Friday, as the U.S. and Iran exchanged strikes in an escalating conflict centred on the Strait of Hormuz. VAHID SALEMI/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS SHARE SAVE FOR LATER Listen to this article Learn more about audio Log in or create a free account to listen to this article. The United States and Iran exchanged strikes aimed at infrastructure and military targets on Saturday as an Iranian negotiator said Tehran had suspended its commitments under the interim deal with the U.S. – snapping another fragile thread as the war shows no end in sight. The battle over the Strait of Hormuz intensified in a conflict increasingly focused on control of the essential waterway that previously carried a fifth of the world’s crude oil. The widening strikes threatened civilians and services to them, while the global economy again was on alert. The U.S. Central Command said early Saturday that its seventh straight night of strikes hit “surveillance sites, military logistics infrastructure, underground weapons storage, and maritime capabilities.” The U.S. has violated its commitments under the deal that was signed about a month ago and now Iran is “no longer implementing them,” Kazem Gharibabadi, Iran’s deputy foreign minister, told state TV. There was no new word on mediation efforts. Kuwait sees the most striking damage The most significant damage on Saturday occurred in Kuwait when Iran struck a water desalination plant and an oil facility, according to the Kuwait authorities and the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation. Both declined to provide locations. The strikes injured several people at the oil facility and caused a fire at the desalination plant, forcing several power generation units offline. It was the second attack against a desalination plant in two days in the tiny desert nation that depends on desalination for 90 per cent of its drinking water. Several firefighters and a worker were injured while battling two other blazes sparked by Iranian strikes, according to the Kuwait Fire Force. Kuwait briefly closed its airspace due to missile threats, and Kuwait Airways said it was rescheduling most flights to and from the capital. Iran targets several Mideast nations The…