War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

Asked why US President Donald Trump is refusing to accept responsibility for the Minab school strike, which left 168 people dead at the start of the Iran war, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says the matter remains under investigation.

“All I can speak to is what the president has said, as I speak on his behalf. The investigation continues and we would defer you to the Department of War for further questions,” she replies.

Pressed on why Trump continues to deny that the US was responsible, Leavitt reiterates that the matter is under investigation.

“I think the president feels that way because he knows that our military always acts in good faith and never targets civilians and children, unlike the other side in this conflict, Iran, which is well-known for killing women and children and innocent people in their country for a long time,” she adds.

Israeli forces have “carried out a large explosion operation” near the town of Zawtar al-Gharbiyyeh in southern Lebanon, Al Jazeera reports citing Lebanon’s NNA.

The Bahrain coastguard has imposed new restrictions on vessel traffic within the country’s territorial waters, Al Jazeera reports citing an official announcement.

The directive prohibits the movement of all vessels starting at 6:30pm (8:30pm PKT) and ending at 4am (6am PKT).

Iran’s top negotiator, Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, says the country has “no choice but to rely on our own strength and become stronger”, adding that the US “seeks to hit Iran and advance its interests whenever it can”, Al Jazeera reports.

“This is not limited to war, negotiations, or just this current US president,” he says in a statement issued on social media. “So our view of war or negotiations must be based on national interests and security, realistic and long-term; therefore, we have no choice but to rely on our own strength and become stronger.”

According to Reuters, witnesses say they have heard explosions in downtown Dubai.

US missiles have hit locations near Iran’s port city of Bandar Abbas, al Jazeera reports citing the country’s Fars news agency.

“According to the Hormozgan Governorate, in the new US attacks on the province, no injuries or damage to residential and commercial infrastructure have been reported,” Fars reports, adding that the attack took place between 6:20pm and 6:40pm local time (7:50pm and 8:10pm PKT).

The media relations office of Hezbollah in Lebanon has strongly denied reports on the seizure of weapons by Syrian forces on the Syria-Iraq border, in an official statement carried by Iran’s Tasnim news agency, according to Al Jazeera.

Hezbollah calls the accusations “fabricated and baseless narratives aimed at tarnishing the image of the resistance movement”. The statement says the reports serve US and Israeli objectives in the region.

UAE-based Dana Gas, the operator of northern Iraq’s Khor Mor gas field, has shut down its main production facilities due to credible security threats and escalating regional tensions, Al Jazeera reports citing a company spokesman.

The suspension has reduced power generation capacity in the Iraqi Kurdistan region by 2,500 megawatts, according to the electricity ministry. The Khor Mor field, with its large gas reserves, is the main producer of the region’s electricity.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has accused the United States of committing war crimes, saying strikes on “vital infrastructure” and threats to attack bridges and power plants show “the criminal intent of the US ruling body to commit heinous crimes”, Al Jazeera reports.

In a statement on Telegram, Araghchi says the US attacks are “undoubtedly a flagrant violation of the United Nations Charter and the fundamental principles of international law”.

He adds that such acts amount to “serious international crimes” under the fundamental principles of international criminal law, including the four Geneva Conventions of 1949, further stating that “all governments are obligated to prosecute and punish those who commit such crimes”.

Araghchi also accuses American officials of “absurd rhetoric and diabolical threats,” saying the hostility is aimed at the Iranian people “for insisting on their independence, legitimate rights, and human dignity”.

He warns that those responsible “cannot evade legal responsibility … by claiming to be acting on the orders of their superiors”.

US projectiles have struck an area near Iran’s Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz, Anadolu reports citing Iran’s Mehr news agency.

Yemen’s Houthi rebel leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi says that all Saudi oil and other vital facilities will be targets for the group’s missiles and drones if Riyadh involves itself in what he described as “comprehensive aggression” against Yemen and moves toward escalation, Reuters reports.

The US House of Representatives has defeated an amendment to cut off aid to Israel, despite nearly half of Democrats supporting it, reflecting a growing rupture between US progressives and Israel, Reuters reports.

The House has voted 314 to 104 to defeat the measure, offered as an amendment to a State Department spending bill by Republican Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky.

However, 103 Democrats and one Republican have backed it, a sharp departure from years in which bills supporting Israel passed almost unanimously.

Syria claims it has foiled an attempt to smuggle weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon by seizing a shipment that included missiles at its border with Iraq, AFP reports.

“Specialised units thwarted an attempt to bring in a shipment of sophisticated weapons and missiles through the Syrian-Iraqi border,” a source from the interior ministry is quoted as saying by Syria’s official SANA news agency.

“Initial investigations established that the shipment was intended to transit through Syria for the benefit of the terrorist militia Hezbollah,” the source adds.

Iraq’s ports authority says that despite a drone falling on a tanker outside Iraqi port limits, unloading and cargo-handling operations are continuing without interruption, Anadolu reports citing the Iraqi News Agency (INA) said.

The authority said port operations remained normal and that there had been no suspension of activity, INA adds.

Separately, Iraq’s Oil Ministry says that crude oil loading operations from the country’s southern ports are continuing and that there has been “no stoppage,” according to the agency.

The ministry said it is investigating the fall of an unidentified object on one of the tankers, INA adds.

The leader of Yemen’s Houthi rebels has threatened Saudi Arabia after days of fighting between the two countries, Al Jazeera reports.

In a televised address, Sayyed Abdul-Malik Al Houthi has blamed the Saudi leadership for advancing US and Israeli objectives in the region.

“The United States and Israel are the source of evil and instability in the world,” al-Houthi says.

He adds that the US, Israel and their allies “fuel instability through warmongering and the plundering of the wealth of nations, from Palestine to other regions”.

Al Houthi also says that Israel’s aim of changing the map of the Middle East to create a “Greater Israel” is the “driving force behind all the wars in the region”.

“This axis has no respect for international agreements and United Nations resolutions, but also boasts of genocide against nations and the destruction of civilisations,” Al Houthi adds.

He alleges that Saudi Arabia’s attacks on Yemen have been ongoing for years, have no legal justification, and are “carried out within the framework of alignment and loyalty to the United States and Israel”.

Iran has asked Yemen’s Houthi rebels to stand ready to close the Red Sea oil route if the United States strikes Iranian power infrastructure, posing a potent new threat to global energy supplies, three sources claim to Reuters.

The idea has been discussed within Tehran’s leadership, and the message has been conveyed to the Houthis, two senior Iranian sources and a regional source familiar with the matter claim, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The sources add that the Houthis had been informed recently of Tehran’s request, which has not been previously reported. They have not outlined how it was conveyed or whether it was after US President Donald Trump’s threat to attack Iranian power infrastructure on Tuesday.

Oil prices have risen by more than 1 per cent as concerns over energy supplies increase after intensifying strikes in the Middle East, and as Iran asks Yemen’s Houthis to stand ready to close the Red Sea oil route, Reuters reports.

Brent crude futures are up 93 cents, or 1.09pc, to $85.88 a barrel as of 6:45pm PKT, while US West Texas Intermediate futures are up 89 cents, or 1.12pc, to $80.49 a barrel.

Russia is in touch with Iranian officials regarding the ongoing escalation with the US, Al Jazeera reports quoting Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

“All of this is fraught with continuing negative consequences for the global economy, which cannot [help] but cause concern,” Peskov says, calling the economic situation “rather dire”.

Peskov has given no details of the contact but tells reporters that Iranian authorities have not requested a phone call with President Vladimir Putin.

Russia has called on Iran and the US to refrain from escalation.

Kuwait has condemned Iranian attacks on its own territory, as well as that of Bahrain and Jordan, as a “flagrant violation of their sovereignty and the integrity of their territories and as a direct threat to their security and stability and the safety of their peoples”.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs affirmed Kuwait’s full solidarity with the two brotherly countries and its standing by their side and its support for all measures they take,” the Kuwait News Agency reports citing a statement.

Air strikes have been carried out around the Deir neighbourhood in southern Lebanon’s Nabatiyeh despite an ongoing ceasefire, Al Jazeera reports citing the official National News Agency (NNA).

NNA says that Israeli warplanes have carried out two air strikes targeting the town, and sounds of explosions were heard with thick smoke rising from the struck areas.

Bahrain faces renewed aerial attacks from Iran, its military says, as Tehran and Washington exchange strikes in a battle for control of the vital Strait of Hormuz, AFP reports.

Bahrain says its air defences have dealt with a previous round of Iranian attacks, with warning sirens sounding in the capital, Manama.

Iran says it targeted US military installations at Sheikh Isa Airbase in Bahrain.

Oil prices have steadied after the United States and Iran exchanged fresh strikes, AFP reports.

Brent North Sea Crude is down 0.3 per cent at $84.71 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate remains unchanged at $79.60 a barrel.

Kuwait’s military says it is responding to renewed Iranian aerial attacks as Iran and the United States exchange strikes over control of the vital Strait of Hormuz, AFP reports.

“Kuwaiti air defences are currently engaging hostile drone attacks following the Iranian aggression,” Kuwait’s army says in a statement as an AFP journalist reports sounds of explosions near the Gulf state’s capital, Kuwait City.