A man stands near the crater the day after an Israeli airstrike targeted the Qasmiyeh Bridge, located on a main highway linking villages in the Tyre district with others farther north, after Israel said the bridge was being used by Hezbollah, in southern Lebanon on March 23, 2026. The Lebanese president on March 22, 2026, slammed Israeli strikes on bridges and other infrastructure in the country’s south, calling such attacks a “prelude to a ground invasion”. Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war on March 2, when pro-Iran Hezbollah launched rockets towards Israel in response to US-Israeli strikes that killed Iranian supreme leader on February 28, 2026. (Photo by Kawnat HAJU / AFP)
Iran on Monday threatened to deploy “naval mines” in the Gulf if the United States and Israel were to attack any of its coasts or islands.
“Any attempt by the enemy to attack Iranian coasts or islands will naturally, and in accordance with established military practice, lead to all access routes and communication lines in the Persian Gulf and coastal areas being mined with various types of naval mines, including drifting mines deployable from the coasts,” said the country’s defence council in a statement carried by state media.
The defence council — which operates under the Supreme National Security Council — was formed after Iran’s 12-day war with Israel in June 2025.
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