Paris (France) (AFP) – Here are the latest events in the Middle East war:
– **Iran unleashes barrage**
Gulf states, as well as Israel, reported missile and drone attacks from Iran early Sunday. The Kuwaiti military said it was intercepting “hostile missile and drone attacks,” several hours after reporting that fuel tanks at the nation’s international airport were targeted by Iranian drones. Kuwait’s official news agency stated that a fire at the airport had been brought under control. UAE authorities confirmed that air defenses were responding to a missile and drone attack. Saudi Arabia reported that it had intercepted a drone attack targeting the diplomatic quarter in the capital, Riyadh, with no casualties or damage.
– **Israel striking targets ‘across Iran’**
The Israeli military announced it launched a wave of strikes “across Iran,” targeting “military infrastructure.” About 10 hours earlier, the military had declared strikes on “infrastructure of the Iranian terror regime in Tehran.”
– **Iran says will keep fighting**
Iran can sustain an intense war against the United States and Israel for at least six months, according to the Revolutionary Guards. “The Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran are capable of continuing at least a 6-month intense war at the current pace of operations,” stated Guards spokesperson Ali Mohammad Naini, as reported by the Fars news agency.
– **China says no reason for war**
China’s top diplomat, Wang Yi, remarked that the war in the Middle East should “never have happened.” He emphasized at a press conference in Beijing, “This is a war that should never have happened,” adding that “a strong fist does not mean strong reason. The world cannot return to the law of the jungle.”
– **Israel pounds Lebanon**
Lebanon’s health ministry reported that an Israeli strike on a hotel in central Beirut killed at least four people, following attacks on various sites across southern Lebanon. The Israeli military claimed to have executed a “precise strike” in Beirut targeting commanders from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. In southern Lebanon, where Israel has engaged with the Iran-backed group Hezbollah, the health ministry indicated that eight people were killed in strikes on over 20 towns and villages.
– **Trump blames Iran for school strike**
US President Donald Trump accused Iran of being behind a deadly strike on an elementary school in the southern Iranian town of Minab, which Iranian officials claim killed at least 150 people. “We think it was done by Iran. Because they are very inaccurate, as you know, with their munitions,” Trump remarked to reporters aboard Air Force One. However, a New York Times investigation suggested that the US military was most likely responsible.
– **Kurdish offensive?**
Trump expressed that he did not want Kurdish forces to launch an offensive against Iran amidst speculation that they might seize the opportunity to gain more autonomy during the war. “We’re not looking to the Kurds going in,” he stated. “We don’t want to make the war any more complex than it already is.” Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan warned that a potential civil war in Iran would be “the most dangerous scenario.”
– **Netanyahu vows ‘all our force’**
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged that Israel would continue its war with Iran “with all our force” as part of “a systematic plan to eradicate the Iranian regime.” He noted that US and Israeli air strikes had achieved “almost complete control of the airspace” over Tehran. The Israeli military reported it had conducted approximately 3,400 strikes on Iran since the war began on February 28.
– **Tehran oil depots hit**
US and Israeli strikes reportedly targeted an oil depot in Tehran, marking the first attack on Iran’s oil infrastructure. The depot was near a key oil refinery, but the ILNA news agency conveyed that the refinery’s facilities were unharmed. Strikes also occurred at a depot in northwestern Tehran, as confirmed by an AFP journalist who witnessed flames and smoke rising from the site. Israel stated that it had hit “a number of fuel storage facilities in Tehran” used “to operate military infrastructure.”
– **Kuwait cuts crude production**
Kuwait’s national oil company announced a reduction in crude production due to Iranian attacks and threats to the Strait of Hormuz, a vital transit point for Gulf hydrocarbons. The organization stated that this “precautionary reduction in crude oil production and refining throughput” would be reassessed as the situation evolves.
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© 2024 AFP
