(AFP) – Here are the latest events in the Middle East war on Monday:
– **Putin backs new ayatollah**
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin pledged his “unwavering support” to Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, appointed after his father and predecessor was killed in U.S.-Israeli strikes. “At a time when Iran is confronting armed aggression, your tenure in this high position will undoubtedly require great courage and dedication,” the Russian leader added.
– **One killed in Israel**
Israel’s first responders said a man was killed by shrapnel as several blasts rocked central Israel, shortly after the military reported detecting new missiles launched from Iran. More than 10 explosions were also heard by AFP journalists in Tel Aviv.
– **Iran blames Europe**
Iran said European countries including France had created the conditions that led to the United States and Israel attacking the Islamic republic, accusing them of not standing up to Washington’s “bullying”.
– **Tehran explosions**
Heavy explosions rocked the Iranian capital, AFP journalists said, though it was not immediately clear what was targeted.
– **Qatar arrests 313**
Qatari authorities have arrested more than 300 people for sharing images and “misleading information” during days of attacks by Iran, the interior ministry said.
– **Israel strikes Lebanon**
An air strike hit Beirut’s southern suburbs, with live AFPTV footage showing large plumes of smoke rising from the area, after Israel warned it would target branches of a firm linked to Hezbollah. The Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group earlier said it was engaging Israeli forces who landed in eastern Lebanon overnight by helicopter across the Syrian border.
– **Stocks fall**
European stock markets slid at the open on the back of surging energy prices caused by the war, after Japan’s Nikkei index of stocks closed down more than five percent and South Korea’s Kospi by nearly six percent.
– **China on new leader**
China said it opposes any targeting of Iran’s new supreme leader, after the Israeli military threatened to target any successor to his slain father, Ali Khamenei. The younger Khamenei’s appointment was purely an internal matter, foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told reporters.
– **European gas spikes**
European gas prices soared as much as 30 percent. The Dutch TTF natural gas contract, considered the European benchmark, jumped to 69.50 euros ($80), before paring gains slightly.
– **Bahrain oil force majeure**
An Iranian strike targeting Bahrain’s sprawling Al Ma’ameer oil facility caused a fire at the complex along with material damage, state media said. After waves of Iranian strikes targeted the country’s energy installations, Bahrain’s state-owned Bapco energy company declared force majeure — the latest Gulf producer to activate the legal clause.
– **Saudi intercepts drone attack**
Saudi Arabia’s defense ministry said it had thwarted a drone attack targeting the Shaybah oil field in the kingdom’s east, near the Emirati border, while the foreign ministry condemned Iran’s retaliatory strikes as “reprehensible”.
– **HRW: Israel used white phosphorus**
Human Rights Watch accused Israel of “unlawfully” using white phosphorus over residential parts of the southern Lebanese town of Yohmor last week. White phosphorus, a substance that ignites on contact with oxygen, can be used as an incendiary weapon and can cause fires, horrific burns, respiratory damage, organ failure, and death.
– **32 injured in Bahrain**
Bahrain’s health ministry said that an Iranian drone attack on the island of Sitra overnight wounded 32 civilians, all of them Bahraini citizens.
– **New Gulf attacks**
Several explosions were heard in the Qatari capital Doha, AFP journalists said, as Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Kuwait all reported new attacks.
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© 2024 AFP
