Paris (France) (AFP) – New strikes were reported on Tuesday across the Middle East, including Israeli bombardment of Lebanon and a drone attack on the US embassy in Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh. The conflict started with US and Israeli strikes on Iran over the weekend, which sparked retaliatory Iranian attacks across the region, and showed no sign of abating as it entered its fourth day.
Here are the latest developments:
– **Iran threatens US, Israel with ‘gates of hell’**
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards warned they would unleash more intense attacks on the United States and Israel as the war raged for the fourth day. “The enemy must await continuous punitive attacks; the gates of hell will open more and more, moment by moment, upon the United States and Israel,” spokesman Ali Mohammad Naini told state TV.
– **Israeli troops move in to create south Lebanon ‘buffer’**
Israeli forces advanced into a border area in Lebanese territory, a Lebanese army source told AFP, shortly after the Israeli defense minister instructed his troops to “take control of additional strategic positions in Lebanon.” “Israeli ground forces advanced from Kfar Kila and the Khiam plains,” along the Lebanon-Israel border, the source said, requesting anonymity and expressing concern over “Israel’s attempt to establish a broad security belt in south Lebanon.” Israeli military spokesman Effie Defrin said the aim was to create a buffer zone “between our residents and any threat.”
– **Iran nuclear site damaged**
The United Nations nuclear watchdog said the key Iranian nuclear site of Natanz suffered “recent damage,” a day after Tehran said the underground uranium enrichment plant was attacked. “Based on the latest available satellite imagery, IAEA can now confirm some recent damage to entrance buildings of Iran’s underground Natanz Fuel Enrichment Plant. No radiological consequence expected,” the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in a post on X.
– **Explosions in Manama and Doha**
AFP journalists in the Bahraini and Qatari capitals heard more explosions on Tuesday, as Iran carried out a fourth day of attacks in Gulf countries. The correspondents said they heard several blasts in Manama and air raid sirens sounded, while explosions were also heard in Doha.
– **UN says 30,000 displaced in Lebanon**
The escalation of Middle East hostilities has displaced at least 30,000 people in Lebanon, the UN refugee agency said in Geneva.
– **Blasts in Jerusalem**
A series of overhead explosions were heard from Jerusalem on Tuesday, AFP journalists reported, after the Israeli military said it had detected fresh missiles launched from Iran and was “operating to intercept the threat.”
– **Explosions in Tehran**
Loud explosions were heard in northern Tehran, but it was not immediately clear what was hit, AFP journalists said. Iranian media also reported explosions in Karaj city, outside Tehran, as well as the central city of Isfahan. The Israeli military said it had carried out air strikes on Iran’s presidential office and the National Security Council building in Tehran.
– **Iran Red Crescent says 787 killed**
The Iranian Red Crescent said that more than 780 people have been killed nationwide since the US and Israeli strikes began. AFP was not in a position to verify the figure.
– **New gas price surge**
European gas prices jumped another 30 percent on Tuesday morning, after surging on Monday over supply disruptions. The Brent crude price was meanwhile up 4.41 percent at $81.17 per barrel in afternoon trade in Asia. Stocks extended their losses.
– **Drones hit Amazon data centres**
Tech giant Amazon said two of its data centres in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) had been “directly struck” by drones, disrupting cloud services in parts of the Middle East. A facility in Bahrain was also damaged by “a drone strike in close proximity,” the provider said.
– **Trump says US-UK ties damaged**
US President Donald Trump said the US-UK relationship was “not like it used to be,” amid a major transatlantic fallout over Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s initial refusal to let the United States use British military bases. In an interview with Britain’s Sun newspaper, Trump said Starmer “has not been helpful,” adding: “It’s very sad to see that the relationship is obviously not what it was.”
– **France deploys jets over UAE**
France has deployed Rafale fighter jets over the United Arab Emirates to protect its naval and air bases against Iranian attacks, said Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot.
– **China urges Hormuz safety**
China called on all sides involved in the Middle East war to maintain safety in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route for oil and gas, urging “all parties to immediately cease military operations.”
– **Drones in UAE, Oman, Iraq**
Debris from a drone interception caused a fire at an oil industry zone in the UAE city of Fujairah on Tuesday, authorities said, adding that operations had resumed once the fire was contained. Drones also targeted an Omani port, hitting a fuel tank, state media reported, saying the damage had been contained “without any human casualties.”
– **Israel responds to latest strikes**
Just after midnight local time on Tuesday (2200 GMT Monday), Israel’s military said it was working to intercept a large wave of missiles launched from Iran targeting multiple locations, including Jerusalem.
– **US embassy in Riyadh hit**
Two drones hit the US embassy in the Saudi Arabian capital and sparked a fire, a Saudi defense ministry spokesman said. The embassy confirmed it had been attacked. The Saudi foreign ministry condemned “the heinous attack,” describing it as “cowardly and unjustified.”
– **Trump: US to retaliate ‘soon’**
Trump suggested on Monday that the United States would retaliate “soon” after its embassy in the Saudi capital was struck by two suspected Iranian drones. Speaking to the NewsNation network, Trump said “you’ll find out soon” how the United States would respond, without providing further detail.
– **US warns citizens in Middle East to ‘depart now’**
The US State Department urged Americans to leave much of the Middle East, including Egypt and the Gulf states, due to the US-Israeli war on Iran.
© 2024 AFP
