War in the Middle East: latest developments
PARIS, France — Here are the latest events in the Middle East war on Thursday:
Iran vows vengeance
Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei — whose father and other family members were killed in the opening strikes of the war on Feb. 28 — vowed Thursday to avenge the Iranian casualties in the conflict against the United States and Israel, according to a statement read by a presenter on state TV.
Khamenei himself was wounded in the strikes, according to some Iranian officials and state television, and his whereabouts and details of his physical condition are unknown — leading Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu to call on him to “show his face.”
READ: Iran: War could destroy global economy, Trump vows to ‘finish’ job
Trump: war moving ‘rapidly’
US President Donald Trump told reporters the war against Iran was moving “very rapidly.”
“It’s doing very well, our military is unsurpassed,” he said at the White House, not directly responding to the latest comments from Iran’s new supreme leader.
Israel strikes Basij force
Israel’s military said it had struck checkpoints set up in Tehran by the Basij paramilitary force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards as part of efforts to undermine control by the authorities.
Two Iran-backed fighters killed in Iraq
A strike on a base occupied by a former paramilitary coalition killed at least two fighters from an Iran-backed group in the suburbs of the Iraqi capital, two faction officials told AFP.
Hormuz mines
Iran is not laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz, its deputy foreign minister asserted after Trump said US forces had struck 28 Iranian mine-laying vessels in the waterway.
He told AFP that Iran was allowing ships from some countries to cross the narrow shipping lane which has remained effectively closed during the war.
Beirut strikes
Israel continued striking Beirut as it threatened to expand operations and seize territory in Lebanon if militant group Hezbollah did not stop its attacks.
AFPTV footage showed dark smoke rising into the sky above Bashoura, in the heart of Beirut.
IEA: biggest ever oil shock
The war “is creating the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market”, as Iran’s chokehold on regional supplies forces Gulf producers to slash production, the International Energy Agency said.
An IEA market report said crude oil production was currently down by at least eight million barrels per day.
Iran ‘only targeting US bases’
Iran’s supreme leader ordered the vital Strait of Hormuz oil shipping lane to remain closed and called on Middle East countries to shut US bases they host.
Earlier Thursday, security chief Ali Larijani warned that Iran would target power grids in the region if the United States attacked the Islamic republic’s electricity supplies.
Trump rebuffs oil price concerns
Trump wrote on social media that stopping Iran from developing nuclear weapons was “of far greater interest and importance to me” than controlling oil prices.
Emergency talks on Hormuz
The International Maritime Organization announced an “extraordinary session” next week to discuss threats to shipping in the Middle East and particularly in the Strait of Hormuz.
The US military has said it is “not ready” to escort tankers through the critical waterway because all its assets are focused on striking Iran.
Israel moves deeper into Lebanon
The Israeli military moved further into southern Lebanon, telling residents to “move immediately north of the Zahrani River,” 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the Israeli border.
It said Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah had launched “approximately 200 rockets” towards it overnight, in what it said was the biggest barrage of the war so far.
Turkey warns Israel on Lebanon
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan called for an end to Israel’s bombardment of neighboring Lebanon “before it collapses,” a disaster that would “profoundly affect the entire region.”
“The government of Netanyahu is at the heart of every crisis in the region,” he told journalists.
Toll rises in Lebanon
The government in Beirut said an Israeli strike on the city centre’s seafront killed eight people, bringing to at least 687 the number of people killed in attacks from its neighbor since March 2. /das
