Dubai: Iran’s president rejected a demand by the United States for an unconditional surrender Saturday and apologised for Iran’s attacks on regional countries, as Israel and the United States kept up their airstrikes targeting the Islamic Republic.
Gulf countries say they have intercepted more ballistic missiles and drones launched from Iran.
Saudi Arabia said it stopped four drones attacking the country’s massive Shaybah oil field, the second attack within hours. Flights in and out of Dubai International Airport were interrupted after passengers were ushered down into train tunnels as several blasts were heard and the alert sounded.
Meanwhile, Israeli warplanes hammered Beirut and Tehran. Death toll continued to rise Saturday with at least 1,230 people killed in Iran, more than 200 in Lebanon and around a dozen in Israel, according to officials. Six US troops were reported killed.
US President Donald Trump’s administration approved a new USD 151 million arms sale to Israel after Trump said he would not negotiate with Iran without its “unconditional surrender.”
Here is the latest:
Israel launched an operation in Lebanon to find information on a missing pilot
The Israeli military says its special forces conducted an operation deep inside Lebanon in an attempt to gather information about an Israeli navigator who has been missing for nearly 40 years.
The Israeli army’s Arabic spokesman posted on X that no evidence was found related to Israeli pilot Ron Arad, who was captured alive after his fighter jet crashed over southern Lebanon in 1986.
According to Lebanon’s state media, Israeli forces landed in the eastern Lebanese town of Nabi Chit late Friday and were intercepted by members of the militant Hezbollah group, triggering a gunfight that lasted until the early hours of Saturday.
Ron Arad was believed to have been held in Nabi Chit until 1988, when he went missing.
An Iranian cleric warns that Khamenei’s successor should be named quickly
A prominent cleric in Iran, Ayatollah Nasser Makarem Shirazi, urged the country’s Assembly of Experts to act quickly and name a new supreme leader, likely in response to the ongoing political confusion.
Buildings associated with the 88-cleric panel have been hit by airstrikes in the war, likely slowing any meeting of the group.
“The timely realisation of this important matter will lead to national authority and the best possible organisation of affairs,” Shirazi said in a statement.
Qatar Airways operates limited flights to Doha
Qatar Airways says it will operate six flights into Doha on Sunday through a “safe corridor,” as the country’s airspace remains closed.
The state-owned airline said the flights will come from five European cities as well as Bangkok.
Israel says it struck Hezbollah targets in southern and eastern Lebanon
The latest wave of Israeli airstrikes included targets in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley, the Israeli military said.
The Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah said its fighters clashed with an Israeli force that landed there late Friday. Israel hasn’t commented on the fighting in the Bekaa Valley.
The military also said its Saturday strikes hit rocket launchers, weapons storage facilities and two command centres of Hezbollah’s Radwan Force in southern Lebanon.
Bahrain says it repelled fresh missile and drone attacks
Bahrain’s military intercepted two missiles and a drone on Saturday, the Defence Ministry said.
That brought the total to 86 missiles and 148 drones that have been intercepted over Bahrain since the US and Israel launched a war against Iran last weekend.
AP