Paris (France) (AFP) – Here are the latest developments Tuesday in the Middle East war:
– **Israel says Larijani dead**
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Iran’s powerful national security chief, Ali Larijani, was “eliminated” in an overnight strike. Last week, a defiant Larijani made one of the most high-profile public appearances by an Iranian official since the February 28 strike that killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, attending a rally in Tehran. Israel also said it had killed the head of Iran’s Basij paramilitary force, Gholamreza Soleimani, in a “precise strike”.
– **Iraq seeks Hormuz passage**
Iraq said it was in contact with Iran to try to arrange passage for some of its oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz. “Communications are underway with the relevant authorities to authorise the passage of certain oil tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, in order that we can resume our exports,” Oil Minister Hayan Abdel Ghani told local TV station al-Sharqiya.
– **Kuwait medical staff injured**
Two medical staff were injured when shrapnel fell on an emergency medical centre in Kuwait, the health ministry said.
– **China offers help**
China announced it will provide humanitarian assistance to Middle Eastern countries, including Iran and Lebanon. “China has decided to provide emergency humanitarian assistance to Iran, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq. It is hoped this will help alleviate the humanitarian plight faced by the local populations,” foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told a press conference, without providing further details.
– **Blasts in Tehran**
Loud explosions shook Iran’s capital, an AFP journalist reported, after a night of bombing in the war with the United States and Israel. It was not immediately clear what the targets were, but the blasts were heard in Tehran city centre and followed a night of heavy explosions mixed with thunder and rain across the city.
– **Iran arrests ‘foreign spies’**
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards reported the arrest of 10 “foreign spies” in the northeastern Razavi Khorasan province but did not reveal their nationalities. The Guards stated that four among them were gathering information “on sensitive sites and economic infrastructure,” while others were linked to a “monarchist terrorist group.”
– **Oil prices jump**
The price of oil jumped more than five percent as several countries pushed back against US President Donald Trump’s demand that they help secure the key Strait of Hormuz, while Iran targeted crude-producing neighbors. At around 0615 GMT, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate was up 5.16 percent at $98.32 a barrel, while Brent Crude also rose above five percent before easing back. Meanwhile, a new drone strike hit the Fujairah oil complex on the UAE’s east coast, causing a fire but no injuries, local authorities said. The facility, which sits on the Gulf of Oman and enables the UAE to bypass the Strait of Hormuz for some exports, was already hit on Monday.
– **’Safe place’**
Qatar reported intercepting a missile attack after an AFP journalist reported hearing several explosions in Doha. In nearby Dubai, an AFP journalist heard three explosions after a mobile phone alert warned residents of the United Arab Emirates’ most populous city to “immediately seek a safe place” over “potential missile threats.” In Abu Dhabi, falling shrapnel from an intercepted missile killed a Pakistani national, city authorities said.
– **Tanker struck near Oman**
An “unknown projectile” struck a tanker off the coast of Oman, a UK maritime agency reported, noting there were no reported injuries and only “minor structural damage.”
– **Israel strikes Tehran, Beirut**
Israel’s army announced it had launched a “wide scale wave of strikes” in the Iranian capital Tehran and started striking Hezbollah targets in the Lebanese capital Beirut. Lebanese state media reported that Israeli strikes hit three neighborhoods in Beirut, including a residential apartment building. An Ethiopian woman was wounded in the Beirut strikes, media cited the health ministry as saying.
– **US embassy in Baghdad attacked**
A drone and rocket attack targeted the US embassy in Baghdad, according to a security official. The official stated that “three drones and four rockets attacked the embassy, with at least one drone crashing inside it.”
© 2024 AFP
