Airstrikes in southwest Iran killed 3, wounded others: state media

Dubai, Apr 5 (AP) Airstrikes in southwest Iran have killed at least three people and wounded others, according to Iranian state media.

The attack took place in the same area where a missing American crew member is believed to be.

Meanwhile, the commander of the joint military command, Gen Ali Abdollahi Aliabadi, said his country will target all infrastructure used by the US military in the region, as well as Israel’s infrastructure, if aggression against Iran escalates.

His comments on Saturday evening, carried by state media, came a few hours after Trump warned Tehran to open the Strait of Hormuz or face devastating consequences.

“The doors of hell will be opened to you” if Iran’s infrastructure is attacked, Aliabadi said in response to Trump’s

renewed threat, state media reported.

The war began with joint US-Israel strikes on Feb 28 and has killed thousands, shaken global markets, cut off key shipping routes and spiked fuel prices. Both sides have threatened, and hit, civilian targets, bringing warnings of possible war crimes.

“Time is running out – 48 hours before all Hell will reign down on them,” Trump said via social media, as he re-upped a previous April 6 deadline for opening the shipping channel.

5 varsity professors, 60 students killed since war started: Iranian official —————————————————————————— Iran’s Minister of Science, Research and Technology Hossein Simaei Sarraf spoke to reporters Saturday while checking the aftermath of strike on a university research centre in southern Tehran.

A laser and plasma research centre at the prestigious Shahid Beheshti University was damaged Friday following an airstrike.

“The enemy with no roots in history, culture and civilisation is acting worse than (humans living) in the stone age and attacks a scientific centre,” he told reporters while standing in the midst of the wreckage.

AP video from the scene shows fallen ceilings and walls, blown out windows and damaged equipment.

It wasn’t clear if the strike was carried out by the United States or Israel or why the centre was targeted. Iranian media did not report any casualties.

Since 2011, Shahid Beheshti University has been sanctioned by the EU for its involvement in nuclear weapons development.

AP witnesses destruction at Shiite religious complex in Zanjan ——————————————————————– Residents in the northwestern Iranian city told the AP an airstrike that hit the Grand Husayniyya of Zanjan on March 31 also caused damage to a library and clinic within the complex where people used to get treated for free.

Part of the Husayniyya, a congregation hall for Shiite commemorations and rituals, is centuries old.

Damage could be seen in the building’s golden dome and nearby minaret during a visit Saturday. A nearby building within the complex was heavily damaged. Workers were still cleaning up debris.

Jaafar Mohammadi, director general of cultural and Islamic guidance in Zanjan province, said the strike killed two people, including the caretaker of the library, Alirezza Soubatlo, and a volunteer with the Iranian Red Crescent Society.

The library was home to more than 35,000 books, many of which are very old and handwritten. (AP) SCY SCY