War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

Israel has struck towns in southern Lebanon, causing multiple injuries, Al Jazeera reports, citing the country’s state media National News Agency (NNA).

“Israeli enemy fighter jets struck at dawn, targeting the towns of Bafliyeh and Hanine in the Tyre and Bint Jbeil districts,” NNA said, adding that Israeli forces had hit five other towns in the south of the country.

Lebanon’s Ministry of Health has said that Israeli attacks have killed 1,001 people in Lebanon since March 2, including 79 women, 118 children and 40 healthcare workers. More than 2,584 people have been wounded.

Sri Lanka refused permission to the United States to station two of its warplanes at an airport in the island’s south in early March, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake told parliament, according to AFP.

“They wanted to bring two warplanes armed with eight anti-ship missiles from a base in Djibouti to the Mattala International Airport from March 4 to 8 and we said ‘no’,” Dissanayake said.

The US has seized four website domains it claimed were tied to an Iran-based hacking operation, in what officials describe as part of a broader crackdown on cyber activity linked to Tehran, according to Al Jazeera.

The US Department of Justice said the move formed part of “an ongoing effort to disrupt hacking and transnational repression schemes conducted by the Islamic Republic of Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence and Security”.

The Israeli military claims to have detected the launch of missiles from Iran a short while ago, with air defence systems operating to “intercept the threat”, Al-Jazeera reports.

Warning messages have been sent to members of the public via mobile phones, the military said.

“Enter protected spaces upon receiving the alert and remain in them until a new announcement. Exit from the protected space will be permitted only after receiving an explicit directive,” the military said.

Kuwait Petroleum Corporation has said that it is battling a fire at a unit of the Mina Al Ahmadi Refinery after it was hit by drone attacks, according to Al Jazeera.

It added that parts of the refinery were shut down as a precautionary measure.

“No injuries have been reported, and emergency teams are actively working to contain the situation in line with established safety standards” it said.

Bahrain’s Ministry of Interior has said that civil defence crews have now put out a fire at a company warehouse that was caused by falling shrapnel from an Iranian attack, reports Al Jazeera.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has said its proposals were actions that governments, businesses and households could take to ease the pain on consumers from the recent spike up in energy prices, according to Reuters.

The IEA said such proposals included working from home, reducing highway speed limits by at least 10 kilometres per hour, and avoiding air travel if other means of transport were available.

“We have recently launched the largest ever release of IEA emergency oil stocks and I am in close contact with key governments around the world, including major energy producers and consumers, as part of our international energy diplomacy,” said IEA executive director Fatih Birol in a statement.

Israel has carried out strikes on towns in southern Lebanon, causing multiple injuries, AFP reports.

“Israeli enemy fighter jets struck at dawn, targeting the towns of Bafliyeh and Hanine in the Tyre and Bint Jbeil districts,” the official National News Agency (NNA) reported, adding that Israeli forces had hit five other towns in the south of the country.

The cost of petrol is up by more than 20 per cent in Vietnam after the government announced an overnight hike amid fears of oil and gas shortages caused by the Middle East war, AFP reports.

Just before midnight Thursday, the Vietnamese government announced an increase in the price of 95-octane gasoline by 20pc from the weekend to 30,690 Vietnamese dong ($1.20) per litre, while diesel was up by nearly 34pc to 33,420 dong.

Drone attacks have hit Kuwait’s Mina Al-Ahmadi oil refinery, causing several fires but no casualties, state media said, citing the national oil company, according to AFP.

“The Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery… was subjected early today to several hostile drone attacks, causing fires in some of its units,” the official Kuwait News Agency said, adding that “several refinery units were shut down”.

The US is preparing to deploy about 4,000 Marines and sailors aboard three amphibious craft to help reinforce its troops fighting against Iran, Newsmax reports, citing four unnamed officials.

The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, say the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group and the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit are deploying ahead of schedule from the West Coast.

The Boxer Amphibious Ready Group is “equipped with F-35 fighter jets, missiles, and amphibious vehicles capable of launching from the ships to carry out a land assault”, Newsmax noted.

“They are expected to sail through the Indo-Pacific to the Middle East region after the Navy was ordered to heighten its posture with additional firepower,” the report said.

The Saudi defence ministry has announced the successful downing of nine more drones over the country’s Eastern Province, the latest in a night of interceptions involving more than two dozen drones, Al Jazeera reports.

Dubai’s official media office has announced successful “air interception operations” over the city, “with no injuries reported”.

The office provided no further details on the nature of the defensive operations.

The Kuwaiti army says “hostile missile and drone attacks” are being confronted, and members of the public have been asked to follow official safety instructions, according to Al Jazeera.

The sounds of explosions being heard are the result of Kuwait’s air defence systems “intercepting the hostile attack”, the military said.

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Defence has announced that it has intercepted and destroyed another drone over al-Jawf province in the north of the country, amid a continuing stream of drone attacks over several hours, Al Jazeera reports.

Hezbollah says in separate statements on its Telegram channel that it fired missiles at a group of Israeli soldiers and vehicles in al-Aadaissah, southern Lebanon, and that it launched another missile attack at soldiers in the border town of Mays al-Jabal, Al Jazeera reports.

Bahrain’s Ministry of Interior says a fire at a company warehouse broke out due to falling shrapnel resulting from “Iranian aggression”, Al Jazeera reports.

Civil defence workers have the fire under control “without any injuries”, the ministry said.

The interior ministry did not say whether the attack involved Iranian drones or missiles.

The Iraqi armed group Saraya Awliya al-Dam has stated in a post on its Telegram channel that it carried out three attacks against US bases across the country over the past 24 hours, Al Jazeera reports.

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Defence has announced that it has intercepted and downed five more drones over the Eastern Province, which is considered the economic hub of the country and location of key oilfields, Al Jazeera reports.

Oil officials in Saudi Arabia are projecting that oil prices could soar past $180 a barrel if disruptions due to the Iran war persist until late April, the Wall Street Journal reports according to Reuters.

Reuters could not immediately verify the report.

The European Commission will propose that EU countries cut taxes on electricity and subsidise prices as a quick way to soften the energy price shock caused by the US-Israeli war on Iran, Commission head Ursula von der Leyen has told a news conference according to Reuters.

“In some cases, electricity is taxed much more than gas, up to 15 times more. And this cannot be so. We will propose to lower tax rates on electricity and to make sure that electricity is taxed less than fossil fuels,” she said.

“Member states can already make use of state aid measures to compensate for the cost increases of the energy source, and we and we will further flexibilise state aid,” she said.

Emirati and Kuwaiti air defences are responding to missile attacks, Kuwait’s army and the UAE’s interior ministry have said in separate statements according to AFP.

Elsewhere in the Gulf, Bahrain’s interior ministry said air raid sirens were activated, and Saudi Arabia’s defence ministry said it had intercepted a drone in the country’s east.

UAE authorities have arrested at least five members of a “terrorist network” linked to Iran and Hezbollah, state media says according to AFP.

The alleged network had “sought to infiltrate the national economy and carry out external schemes threatening the country’s financial stability” as part of “a pre-established strategic plan in coordination with external parties linked to Hezbollah and Iran”, the official WAM news agency said, citing the UAE State Security Apparatus. The report included mug shots of five detained suspects.