(AFP) – Here are the latest developments in the Middle East war on Monday:
– **Trump-Netanyahu call**
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he had spoken with Donald Trump and that the US president believed the countries’ military gains in Iran could be converted into a negotiated agreement that protected Israel’s interests. “President Trump believes there is a chance to leverage the tremendous achievements of the (Israeli military) and the US military in order to realise the war’s objectives in an agreement — an agreement that will safeguard our vital interests,” Netanyahu said in a video statement.
– **Israel strikes Beirut suburbs**
An Israeli strike hit Beirut’s southern suburbs, state media reported, hours after the Israeli army issued a warning for residents of the area to evacuate. AFPTV’s live broadcast showed a cloud of smoke over the southern suburbs, which are considered a stronghold of Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.
– **Pakistani, Iranian leaders speak**
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said he had spoken with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on “the grave situation in the Gulf region”, and promised Pakistan was committed to playing “a constructive role in advancing peace”.
– **Israeli interceptor system malfunctions**
A malfunction in Israel’s “David’s Sling” aerial interceptor system allowed two Iranian ballistic missiles to strike the south of the country, wounding dozens of people over the weekend, the military confirmed. The system is a key component of Israel’s multi-layered air defence shield.
– **Israel strikes Guards’ site**
The Israeli military announced it struck a site in Tehran belonging to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and used for directing battalions of the Basij paramilitary force. The hit came days after Israel announced it had “eliminated” the intelligence chief of the Basij in a strike that had also killed the force’s top commander, Gholamreza Soleimani. Israel has been targeting the Basij force as part of efforts to undermine the Iranian authorities’ grip on power.
– **UK summons Iran envoy**
Britain’s foreign ministry summoned Iran’s ambassador to London, Seyed Ali Mousavi, criticising what it called Tehran’s “reckless and destabilising actions” in the UK and overseas. “The summons follows the recent charging of two individuals, one Iranian national and one British-Iranian dual national, under the National Security Act, on suspicion of providing assistance to a foreign intelligence service,” a Foreign Office spokesperson said.
– **’Point of no return’**
The International Committee of the Red Cross demanded a halt to the “war on essential infrastructure” in the Middle East, warning of potential “irreversible consequences” including harm to nuclear facilities. “What we have seen in recent days in the Middle East risks reaching a point of no return,” ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric warned in a statement.
– **UK sends Gulf air defences**
Britain is sending short-range air defence systems to the Middle East to counter Iranian missile attacks, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said. “We’re deploying short range air defence systems to Bahrain at speed,” Starmer told a parliamentary committee, adding that Britain was “doing the same with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia”.
– **Targeting Hormuz ‘economic terrorism’**
The chief of the UAE’s state energy company ADNOC slammed Tehran’s effective blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, which has caused a surge in oil prices, as “economic terrorism against every nation.” “No country should be allowed to hold Hormuz hostage,” Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber said in virtual remarks to the annual CERAWeek conference in Houston.
– **Trump claims ‘regime change’ in Iran**
Trump announced “very good” talks with an unidentified Iranian official after abruptly shelving plans to attack the Islamic republic’s power plants. Trump made clear the talks — denied by Tehran — were not with Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, but with people he described as “very reasonable”, and said so many top officials had already been killed in the conflict that “there’s automatically a regime change”.
– **Oil disruption ‘temporary’**
US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said oil market disruptions are “temporary,” as costs surge on the back of the war.
© 2024 AFP
