The US-Iran war was widening its circle of civilian harm on Saturday in ways that stretched across the entire region. In Iran, residents described relentless bombing that had killed more than 1,400 people, with at least 15 more dying when an Israeli strike hit a factory in Isfahan that made refrigerators and heaters. In Lebanon, 31 paramedics had been killed in Israeli strikes on Hezbollah, with health officials and aid groups demanding accountability. In the UAE, Iranian missiles struck near Fujairah’s oil port, threatening the livelihoods of tens of thousands of workers in the maritime sector.
None of these were traditional military targets in the conventional sense. A refrigerator factory, a ship-refuelling port, an embassy compound in Baghdad — the conflict was increasingly blurring the line between military operations and civilian infrastructure. Iran’s military had explicitly threatened to strike any Gulf energy or economic facility with American ties, effectively putting civilian workplaces across the region in the line of fire. The breadth of the targeting was generating growing criticism from humanitarian organisations monitoring the conflict.
US warplanes continued to strike Kharg Island on Saturday. President Trump said in public remarks the island had been effectively demolished and called on allied nations to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz. He named China, France, Japan, South Korea, and the UK. Iran had closed the strait since February 28, pushing oil prices toward $120 per barrel. Trump threatened to destroy Iran’s remaining oil infrastructure if the blockade continued, raising the prospect of yet more civilian economic harm.
Israel conducted dozens of raids inside Iran beyond the Isfahan strike. Iran fired rockets at Israel in return. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth claimed Iran’s leadership was “desperate and hiding” and wounded. Iranian officials confirmed Khamenei’s injury but called it minor. The International Crisis Group assessed the regime as intact. The USS Tripoli and 2,500 additional US marines were heading to the region, adding further military presence to an already militarised environment.
The total human toll of the war was staggering. More than 1,400 Iranians had been killed in sustained bombing. Thirteen Israelis and roughly 20 Gulf residents had died. Lebanon had seen 800 killed and 850,000 displaced. Six US troops died in a military aircraft crash in Iraq. The US embassy in Baghdad was struck, and Americans in Iraq were ordered to leave. As the war’s circle of civilian harm expanded, the question of how it would ultimately be brought to an end remained unanswered and increasingly urgent.