Paris (France) (AFP) – Here are the latest developments in the Middle East war:
**- UN atomic watchdog alert**
The UN atomic watchdog on Saturday said it was looking into a report by Iran that the Natanz nuclear site was attacked in the war with the United States and Israel. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) head Rafael Grossi repeated a “call for military restraint to avoid any risk of a nuclear accident,” the agency posted on X.
**- Iran ‘unsuccessfully’ targets US-UK base**
Iran was “unsuccessful” in striking the joint UK-US Indian Ocean military base at Diego Garcia, a UK official source confirmed to AFP on Saturday, after the Wall Street Journal reported Tehran fired two ballistic missiles at the facility. Diego Garcia is around 4,000 kilometers (2,500 miles) from Iranian territory, suggesting Tehran has missiles with longer ranges than previously thought, the report said. The UK source indicated that the attempted strike took place before the British government announced Friday it would allow the United States to use some of its bases to target Iranian sites threatening the vital Strait of Hormuz shipping lane.
**- Israel threatens step-up**
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz warned that the United States and Israel would intensify their strikes on Iran in the coming week starting Sunday. “This week, the intensity of the strikes to be carried out by the IDF and the US military against the Iranian terror regime and the infrastructure on which it relies will rise significantly,” Katz said in a statement issued by the defence ministry on Saturday.
**- Wartime Eid**
Thousands of Muslims held Eid al-Fitr prayers in Iran on Saturday to mark the end of the Ramadan fast against the backdrop of the Middle East war, as state television footage showed. Iran, a majority-Shia nation, marked the end of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan a day after most other Muslim countries, which are mainly Sunni.
**- Drone kills Iraq intelligence officer**
An Iraqi officer was killed, the intelligence agency said, with security and emergency service sources indicating that another person had been wounded on Saturday in a drone attack targeting an Iraqi intelligence services building in an upscale Baghdad neighborhood. Another drone, filming the operation, crashed into a private sports club popular with Iraqi elites and foreign diplomats, according to a security source.
**- Putin’s best wishes**
Russian President Vladimir Putin sent his best wishes Saturday for the Persian New Year, Nowruz, to Iran’s leaders and its people, assuring them of Moscow’s support as they fight the Middle East war. “Vladimir Putin wished the Iranian people strength on overcoming these severe trials and emphasised that during this difficult time, Moscow remained a loyal friend and reliable partner of Tehran,” a Kremlin statement said.
**- US-Israeli hit on Iran atomic facility**
The United States and Israel struck Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility on Saturday, said the Islamic republic’s atomic energy organization, which reported no radioactive leak. “Following the criminal attacks by the United States and the usurping Zionist regime against our country, the Natanz enrichment complex was targeted this morning,” the organization said in a statement carried by the Tasnim news agency.
**- Iran warns UAE**
Iran’s military warned the United Arab Emirates on Saturday against allowing attacks from its territory on two disputed islands in the Gulf, near the strategic Strait of Hormuz. The Abu Musa and the Greater Tunb islands, which are controlled by Iran but claimed by the UAE, have long been a source of dispute between the two countries.
**- Arab nations slam Israel on Syria**
Saudi Arabia’s foreign ministry condemned on Saturday Israel’s strikes on Syrian army camps as “aggression,” joining other Arab nations and Turkey in calling on the international community to intervene. The Turkish foreign ministry earlier called the Israeli attack “a dangerous escalation” that must be stopped, while Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, and Kuwait all joined in condemning the Israeli strikes.
**- Iran’s Hormuz offer to Japan**
Iran is willing to help Japanese ships sail the Strait of Hormuz, a vital route for global fuel supplies, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Kyodo News in an interview published on Saturday. In the telephone interview conducted on Friday, Araghchi denied closing the passageway, saying instead that countries attacking Iran face restrictions while others were being offered assistance. He added that Iran was prepared to ensure safe passage for Japan.
**- Israel strikes Tehran**
The Israeli military said it launched strikes on “regime targets” in Tehran early Saturday.
© 2024 AFP
