Drone and rocket strikes killed nine members of an Iranian Kurdish armed opposition group in Iraq's Kurdistan region on Friday, the exiled party said, blaming the attack on Iran.

In Erbil, the capital of Kurdistan, the US-led anti-jihadist coalition shot down several drones in the second such incident in the city this week.

The attacks, which the Kurdish government also blamed on Tehran, come against the backdrop of renewed military escalation between the United States and Iran, Iraq's main allies.

During the Middle East war, the Kurdistan region, which hosts US troops and foreign oil companies as well as exiled Iranian Kurdish rebels, has been a target for attacks carried out by Iran and pro-Iran Iraqi armed groups.

(AFP)

The United States expanded its airstrike campaign against Iran early Friday by hitting more bridges, energy sites and collapsing a tower at a key Iranian port, part of U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats to start striking infrastructure to pressure Tehran to ease its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran launched new missile attacks against U.S.-allied nations in the Middle East, including Qatar, a key mediator in the war. It also damaged a power and water desalination plant in Kuwait — something crucial in the small, desert nation.

The interim ceasefire agreed to last month has collapsed, and the region has endured days of back-and-forth attacks by the U.S. and Iran as they battle for control of the strait. Iranian officials say U.S. strikes have killed dozens of people and wounded hundreds of others, with new casualties reported in Friday’s strikes.

(AP)

The commander of the Aerospace Force in Iran's Revolutionary Guards vowed Friday that Tehran would not halt its attacks in the region until the US stopped striking Iran's southern coastline and the Strait of Hormuz.

In a social media post, Majid Mousavi said "Tehran and the south are one and indivisible as Iran", adding that "effective and targeted strikes from across Iran against the enemy will continue" until attacks on "the southern coastline and the Strait of Hormuz" cease.

(AFP)

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said Friday that they had targeted US radar systems and military aircraft in Qatar to "punish the aggressor" following overnight US strikes on Iran.

"In continuation of last night's retaliatory operations, the brave fighters of the IRGC's Aerospace Force... carried out a heavy and surprise attack on the US airbase at al-Udeid, Qatar, to punish the aggressor and the child-killing US military," the IRGC said in a statement.

(AFP)

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they destroyed "several US refuelling aircraft and fighter jets" and caused "serious damage to many more".

The IRGC said they had also attacked a US special operations command centre at al-Tanf in Syria in retaliation for the killing of Iranian soldiers in Iranshahr, state media reported.

Iran has also called on Jordanians to target "the interests of the aggressive and anti-Islamic Americans" in their country.

Iran has said that it had struck US military aircraft stationed in Jordan with ballistic missiles and drones in retaliation for overnight American strikes.

In a statement, Iran's Revolutionary Guards claimed they destroyed "several US refuelling aircraft and fighter jets" and caused "serious damage to many more".