Paris (France) (AFP) – Here are the latest events in the Middle East war:
– **Iran says will keep fighting**
Iran can fight an intense war against the United States and Israel for at least six months, the Revolutionary Guards stated. “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,” said Guards spokesperson Ali Mohammad Naini, according to the Fars news agency.
– **China says no reason for war**
China’s top diplomat Wang Yi said the war in the Middle East should “never have happened.” “This is a war that should never have happened,” he told a press conference in Beijing, 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 sites across southern Lebanon. The Israeli military stated it conducted a “precise strike” in Beirut targeting commanders from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. In southern Lebanon, where Israel has been engaged in combat with the Iran-backed group Hezbollah, eight people were reported killed in strikes on more than 20 towns and villages.
– **Iran unleashes barrage**
Gulf states and Israel have reported missile and drone attacks originating from Iran. Saudi Arabia confirmed intercepting a drone attack targeting the diplomatic quarter in Riyadh, with no casualties or damage reported. Meanwhile, Kuwait stated that Iranian drones had targeted fuel tanks at the nation’s international airport.
– **Trump blames Iran for school strike**
US President Donald Trump attributed a deadly strike on an elementary school in the southern Iranian town of Minab, which Iranian officials claim killed at least 150 people, to Iran. “We think it was done by Iran. Because they are very inaccurate, as you know, with their munitions,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. A New York Times investigation has suggested that the US military was most likely responsible.
– **Kurdish offensive?**
Trump also expressed his disapproval regarding Kurdish forces launching an offensive against Iran, amidst speculation that they might leverage the war to seek greater autonomy. “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.” On Thursday, Trump had told Reuters that he would be “all for” an offensive by Iranian Kurdish fighters supporting the US-Israeli war. Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan warned that a potential civil war in Iran would represent “the most dangerous scenario.”
– **Netanyahu vows ‘all our force’**
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu affirmed that Israel would continue its war with Iran “with all our force” as part of “a systematic plan to eradicate the Iranian regime.” He mentioned that US and Israeli airstrikes had achieved “almost complete control of the airspace” over Tehran. Israel’s military reported carrying out approximately 3,400 strikes on Iran since the conflict’s onset on February 28.
– **Tehran oil depots hit**
US and Israeli strikes targeted an oil depot in Tehran, marking the first reported assault on Iran’s oil infrastructure. The depot was in close proximity to a key oil refinery, although the ILNA news agency indicated that the refinery’s facilities were not damaged. Strikes also affected a depot in northwestern Tehran, according to an AFP journalist who witnessed flames and smoke emanating from the site. Additionally, Israel claimed to have struck 16 military aircraft belonging to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps in overnight strikes on Mehrabad airport in Tehran.
– **Kuwait cuts crude production**
Kuwait’s national oil company announced on Saturday a reduction in crude production due to Iranian attacks and threats to the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial transit point for Gulf hydrocarbons. The “precautionary reduction in crude oil production and refining throughput” will be evaluated as the situation evolves.
– **Italy sends frigate**
Italy is dispatching a frigate to safeguard Cyprus following a drone strike on a British base on the Mediterranean island, aiming “to ensure the security of the European Union’s borders,” as stated by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. “But our position is very clear: Italy is not part of the conflict and does not intend to become part of it,” she added.
– **Iran sailors in Sri Lanka**
Sri Lanka announced it would treat Iranian sailors rescued from a torpedoed frigate in accordance with international law, as a minister indicated that Washington is pressuring Colombo not to repatriate them. The South Asian nation recovered 32 sailors and 84 bodies from the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena, which was sunk by a US submarine just off Sri Lanka’s southern coast.
© 2024 AFP
