US-Iran war: latest developments

Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned civilians in the Middle East on Friday to stay away from US forces, after the Islamic republic said it attacked American military bases in the region.

Here are the latest developments in the Middle East war:

- Iran Guards warning -

Iran's Guards, the ideological arm of the military, said in a statement carried by state television: "We warn the general public in countries where American soldiers are stationed to immediately stay out of a radius of 500 metres from the places where American soldiers are hiding, in order to be safe."

- UN official calls for sailors' evacuation -

UN rights chief Volker Turk on Friday urged countries involved in the war to help evacuate and repatriate some 6,000 sailors stranded in the Strait of Hormuz.

"Parties to the conflict should urgently work to facilitate safe passage for stranded seafarers to safely evacuate and disembark, as well as ensure the delivery of critical supplies," his spokeswoman Shabia Mantoo said in Geneva.

- Iran targets Amazon data centre -

Iran's Guards said on Friday they "targeted and destroyed" a data centre in Bahrain belonging to US tech giant Amazon, Iranian state media reported.

The Guards previously said on Wednesday that they had targeted the data centre. Neither Amazon nor Bahraini authorities have so far commented on Iran's claims.

- Explosions near Iraq's Erbil -

Several blasts sounded near Erbil airport, which hosts US-led coalition troops in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, an AFP journalist said.

Explosions were heard after air defences were activated, according to the journalist who also saw drones hovering over the city, home to a major US consulate complex, and smoke rising in the airport area.

- Guards base attacked -

Iran said the US struck a Guards base in the northern province of Gilan, state media reported.

"This morning, an IRGC naval forces headquarters in Zibakenar was targeted by American enemy projectiles, which damaged some of the equipment in the complex," said Ali Bagheri, deputy governor for the province, quoted by the official IRNA news agency.

- Don't help US: Iran -

Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran would hold accountable any country assisting the US in an attack on the Islamic republic.

"Any participation, cooperation or assistance in committing aggression against Iran will create international responsibility for the relevant parties," Araghchi said in Kyrgyzstan, adding that Iran "reserves its right to take all necessary measures within the framework of self-defence".

- US bases in Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait targeted -

Iran's army said it carried out drone strikes against several American military facilities and bases in Bahrain, Jordan and Kuwait.

In a statement carried by state TV, the army said it had launched explosive drones at the Isa Air Base in Bahrain, and claimed drone attacks targeting "aircraft hangars, aviation maintenance hangars and a barracks" at Jordan's Al-Azraq base.

The army also said it had launched drones at US military sites in Kuwait.

Meanwhile, the Guards said they had targeted the Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait, claiming to have destroyed an ammunition depot and inflicted casualties among US personnel.

- Iran: US killed 4 -

An overnight US attack on Iran's southwestern province of Khuzestan killed at least four people, Iranian state media reported.

"Four of our compatriots were martyred and five others were injured," Valiollah Hayati, deputy governor of the province, was quoted as saying by IRNA.

The US military had said it was attacking Iran for the 13th night in a row, adding that strikes were aimed at military targets with the goal of diminishing Iranian ability to attack shipping.

Iranian state media reported that missiles had hit the city of Ahvaz, near the Iraqi border, and explosions were heard in the port city of Bandar Abbas and in Omidiyeh.

- Iran blasts Trump assets threat -

Tehran said that US President Donald Trump's threat to pay for shipping damage with Iranian assets was an "incendiary precedent".

Trump had said Washington would start using frozen Iranian assets to pay for "any and all damages done to Ships, Cargo or anything related" in the region.

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