The US and Israel on Feb 28 launched what they described as a “pre-emptive” joint strike against Iranian targets, with Trump announcing start of “major combat operations”
A meeting of the foreign ministers of the regional countries, hosted by Saudi Arabia, has condemned Iran’s retaliatory campaign against Gulf countries, calling on the country to “immediately” cease the aggression
Trump has threatened to destroy Iran’s key South Pars gas field if there are further attacks against Qatar’s main gas plant
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has said its latest wave of attacks has targeted central and southern Israel, including Tel Aviv, as well as US bases across the region, reports Al Jazeera, citing the Fars news agency.
United Arab Emirates (UAE) President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and US President Donald Trump have discussed developments in the region and their repercussions for regional and international peace during a phone call, reports Al Jazeera, citing WAM.
The two leaders also discussed the “blatant and continuous Iranian aggressions against the UAE and other countries in the region, which target civilians, civilian facilities, and infrastructure, representing a violation of the sovereignty of these countries and international laws”, WAM reported.
Trump condemned these attacks, emphasising Washington’s solidarity with the UAE and the countries of the region, and “its full support for them in defending their territories, stability, and security”.
The European Union (EU) has called for a “moratorium” on strikes against energy and water facilities in the US-Israeli war on Iran, reports AFP.
“The European Council calls for de-escalation and maximum restraint, the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure and full respect of international law by all parties,” the bloc’s leaders said in conclusions adopted at summit talks in Brussels.
EU leaders further condemned “any acts that threaten navigation or prevent vessels from entering and exiting the Strait of Hormuz”.
And they welcomed “the increased efforts announced by member states, including through strengthened coordination with partners in the region, to ensure freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, once the conditions are met”.
European Union (EU) leaders have vowed to “fully mobilise” to prevent “uncontrolled migratory movements” towards the 27-nation bloc, as the Iran war sparks concerns of a repeat of the 2015 migration crisis, reports AFP.
“To avoid a similar situation, the EU is ready to fully mobilise its diplomatic, legal, operational and financial tools to prevent uncontrolled migratory movements to the EU and preserve security in Europe,” the leaders said after talks on the Middle East at a summit in Brussels.
“The security and the control of the European Union’s external borders will continue to be strengthened.”
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has warned that if the world would not stand firm against the US aggression, “its flames will burn many”.
“The nature of the zionist regime is state terrorism. Yet US aggression against Iran and the assassination of the martyred leader sets a new precedent in international disputes that will destroy global legal norms. If the world fails to stand firm [against this crisis], its flames will burn many,” he posted on X.
Isreali Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he he believes pipelines should be built to transport Middle East oil and gas across the Arabian Peninsula and up to Israeli ports to avoid threats by Iran in the Hormuz Strait and other Gulf waters, reports Reuters.
Netanyahu said that he believed alternative routes to Hormuz would need to be found, appearing to point to a potential benefit for Israel from a prolonged closure of the choke point.
“Just have oil pipelines, gas pipelines, going west through the Arabian Peninsula, right up to Israel, right up to our Mediterranean ports and you’ve just done away with the choke points forever,” Netanyahu said.
“I see that as a real change that will follow this war.”
The US military has claimed it struck Iran’s surface-to-surface missile plant Karaj.
The plant was used to “assemble ballistic missiles that threatened Americans, neighbouring countries, and commercial shipping,” the US Central Command claims.
Qatar’s energy minister has said the attacks on the country’s energy installations will slash the export capacity of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) by 17 per cent, costing an estimated loss of $20 billion in annual revenue, reports AFP.
“The damage sustained by the LNG facilities will take between three to five years to repair. The impact is on China, South Korea, Italy and Belgium,” said energy minister Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi in a statement.
“This means that we will be compelled to declare force majeure for up to five years on some long-term LNG contracts,” the minister added, referring to the legal term meaning events beyond its control may lead it to miss export targets.
Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Ismail Baghaei has emphasised the “urgent need for regional countries to prevent the continued use of their territory and facilities by America and the zionist regime for conducting military aggression against Iran”.
He also termed the remarks made by the foreign minister of Saudi Arabia at the Arab-Islamic countries’ summit “unfair, one-sided, and contrary to the requirements of a responsible approach toward regional developments”, a statement on the foreign ministry’s X account said.
It added that the spokesperson clarified: “No party can ignore the clear fact that the root cause of the current crisis in the region is the imposed war by America and the Zionist regime, and these two regimes use military bases and facilities stationed in regional countries to plan, execute, and support their aggressive actions against Iran.”
Baghaei, emphasising Iran’s inherent right to defend itself against “military aggression by America and the Zionist regime”, noted that according to the principles of the United Nations Charter and international law, including General Assembly resolutions 2625 and 3334, no country is permitted to place its territory and facilities at the disposal of third parties for military aggression against another country.
The US military’s request for $200 billion in additional funding for the war on Iran has met stiff opposition in the US Congress, reports Reuters.
Democrats and even some Republicans questioned the need for the money after large defense appropriations last year.
Trump has not yet sent a request for the Senate and House of Representatives to approve the huge sum and his administration made clear the number could change.
“We just heard that the Pentagon is putting forward a request for $200 billion more for this war. How on Earth are we going to pay for that? It is absolutely ridiculous,” Democratic Representative Pramila Jayapal of Washington said in a speech in the House.
Republican Senator Susan Collins, who chairs the Appropriations Committee, told reporters on Wednesday night the total is “considerably higher than I would have guessed, but I don’t know how it’s broken down.”
Early indications suggest that the war will be the most expensive for the US since the long conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot will go to Israel on Friday, in an unscheduled visit, after visiting Beirut as part of efforts to secure a ceasefire in Lebanon, Reuters reports.
The French foreign ministry added, as it announced Barrot’s visit, that Barrot would discuss regional security and humanitarian aid issues, and attempts to de-escalate the conflicts in the Middle East with Israeli authorities.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has hailed his close cooperation with US President Donald Trump on the war in Iran, AFP reports.
“I don’t think any two leaders have been as coordinated as President Trump and I. He’s the leader. I’m, you know, his ally,” the Israeli prime minister has said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reiterated in a press conference that the war on Iran aims to remove the nuclear and ballistic missile threats “before they’re buried deep underground and become immune from aerial attack”, Al Jazeera reports.
He has also said it will create conditions for the Iranian people to “grasp their freedom to control their destiny”.
Netanyahu has said Israel and the US were “destroying the factories that produce the components to make missiles, wiping out their industrial base in a way we didn’t before”, claiming that Iran’s “command and control structure is in utter chaos”.
He added that Israel was “helping in its own way, in intel and other means” the American effort to open the Strait of Hormuz, and explained that price spikes “go up and come down”.
The Israeli prime minister says he us “seeing cracks” in the Iranian leadership, with the country’s new supreme leader yet to make a public appearance, AFP reports.
“I’m not sure who’s running Iran right now. Mojtaba, the replacement ayatollah, has not shown his face. What we see is that there is a lot of tensions inside the people who are edging for the top,” Benjamin Netanyahu has said in a televised press conference.
“We’re seeing cracks, and we’re trying to propagate them as fast as we can, not only in the top command, we’re seeing cracks in the field.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that Israel had acted unilaterally in striking Iran’s massive South Pars gas field, AFP reports.
“Israel acted alone against the Asaluyeh gas compound… President Trump asked us to hold off on future attacks, and we’re holding out,” he has said at a televised press conference.
