The US and Israel are planning what would be one of the harshest bombing campaigns to date against energy infrastructure targets in Iran, multiple sources told CBS News, with strikes possible throughout the weekend.
There was some discussion about trying to conclude by the time financial markets open Monday because of concern about how the bombings will affect the US and global economy, but an end point wasn't locked in, stated the report.
The Israelis have been notified and are coordinating with the United States, according to multiple U.S. sources. The president has yet to give the final 'go' orders for the strikes, the sources said.
A joint operation would mark Israel's return to combat operations which it had halted during the US-brokered truce. Iran has not hit Israel since the MoU fell apart and the US restarted combat operations in early July.
Meanwhile, Iran's military has accused the US of "escalating tensions" in the Middle East Saturday and warned countries in the region against co-operating with Washington during the ongoing conflict, reported AFP.
"The United States is rapidly moving down the path of escalating tensions in the region," said Ali Abdollahi, head of Iran's military central command. "Any country serving as defensive shield for criminal and aggressive America will be engulfed by the flames of war."
A senior Iranian official said Tehran has prepared a "comprehensive response" to the attacks the US and Israel are reported to be planning against the country's energy infrastructure.
The unnamed official told Iran's semi-official Tasnim News Agency the possible US-Israeli attacks would be a "form of recklessness," because Iran has prepared "a comprehensive response plan that includes the vital infrastructure of the Zionist regime and US energy infrastructure in the region."
"We are fully prepared to carry it out," the official added.
As the Middle East war tensions simmer, Kuwait's military said early Saturday that its air defenses intercepted drone attacks from Iran.
In a statement, Kuwait's army said that its air defences are currently confronting hostile drone attacks following the sinful Iranian aggression."
"The General Staff of the Army notes that any explosion sounds heard are the result of air defense systems intercepting the hostile attacks," it added.
Meanwhile, oil prices rose on Friday after Iran said it had stopped two vessels seeking to exit the Strait of Hormuz, underscoring concerns over global energy supplies following a drone attack on ships in a Mediterranean Egyptian port this week.
Iran said four other tankers turned back after its forces intervened, although the Iranian reports could not be independently confirmed.
Two large tankers carrying oil loaded from the Gulf were recorded passing through the strait, a narrow waterway between Iran and Oman that normally carries about one-fifth of the world's energy shipments.
Two other commodities vessels also transited, according to shipping data from Kpler, which does not capture vessels that have been transiting the strait with their transponders off.
Iran has blocked most shipping through the Strait of Hormuz since the start of the five-month-old conflict while its Houthi allies in Yemen this month began threatening the Bab el-Mandeb, the strait at the other end of the Red Sea from the Suez Canal, another export route for Saudi crude.