A channel affiliated with Iranian state television urged residents to hand over any “enemy pilot” to police and promised a reward for anyone who did, after the Islamic Republic on Friday, claimed that a US fighter pilot ejected from their aircraft over southwestern Iran, reported AP.
The channel is in Kohkilouyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province, an intensely rural and mountainous region that spans over 15,500 square kilometers (5,900 square miles), mentioned the US media outlet’s report.
An on-screen crawl earlier urged the public to “shoot them if you see them,” referring to social media footage circulating of what appeared to be US aircraft in the area.
The channel showed metal debris in the back of a pickup truck while making the announcement but provided no other immediate details.
Israel-US-Iran war
After more than a month of facing targeted assassination attempts, Iran’s leadership has shifted strategy to demonstrate it remains firmly in charge, appearing publicly among small, supportive crowds, Reuters reported earlier today.
In recent days, the country’s president and foreign minister have each been seen interacting with gatherings of several hundred people in central Tehran. On Tuesday, state television broadcast footage showing them taking selfies, speaking with citizens, and shaking hands with supporters in public spaces.
The developments follow after Iran launched a barrage of retaliatory strikes in response to US, Israel’s joint strikes on the Islamic Republic on Saturday, 28 February. Explosions were reported across Abu Dhabi, Dubai – among other key Middle East hubs, which are also home to US military bases.
The conflict is now over a month old.
Iran targets a desalination plant and a refinery
On Friday, Iran reportedly fired on targets across the region – setting Kuwait’s Mina al-Ahmadi oil refinery one fire. The state-run Kuwait Petroleum Corp. said firefighters were working to control several blazes there, reported AP.
Kuwait also said that an Iranian attack caused “material damage” to a desalination plant. Such plants are responsible for most of the drinking water for Gulf states, and they have become a major target in the war.
Tehran has kept the pressure on Israel and its Gulf Arab neighbors, despite U.S. and Israeli insistence that Iran’s military capabilities have been all but destroyed.
Iran’s attacks on Gulf energy infrastructure and its tight grip on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas transits in peacetime, have roiled stock markets, sent oil prices skyrocketing, and threatened to raise the cost of many basic goods, including food.
Spot prices of Brent crude, the international standard, were around $109 Friday, up more than 50% since the start of the war, when Iran began restricting traffic through the Strait of Hormuz.
Sirens also sounded in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia said it had destroyed several Iranian drones, and Israel reported incoming missiles.
Authorities in the United Arab Emirates shut down a gas field after a missile interception reportedly rained debris on it and started a fire.
Over 19000 casualties
More than 1,900 people have been killed in Iran since the conflict began. In a review released Friday, the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data, a U.S-based group, said they found that civilian casualties were clustered around strikes on security and state-linked sites “rather than indiscriminate bombardment” of urban areas.
(with inputs from AP)
