DUBAI: President Donald Trump said US forces on Friday “obliterated” targets on Iran's Kharg Island, home to the main terminal that handles the country's oil exports. The speaker of the Iranian parliament had warned that such strikes would provoke a new level of retaliation.
Meanwhile, an American official said 2,500 more Marines and an amphibious assault ship are being sent to the Middle East nearly two weeks into the US-Israeli war with the Islamic Republic.
Iran has continued to launch widespread missile and drone attacks on Israel and neighbouring Gulf states, and has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's traded oil passes, even as US and Israeli warplanes pummel military and other targets across Iran.
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Trump wrote in a social media post: “The Fake News Media hates to report how well the United States Military has done against Iran, which is totally defeated and wants a deal - But not a deal that I would accept!”
Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported Israeli strikes Saturday morning on Beirut and the country's south.
The Palestinian militant group also urged regional countries to “cooperate and stop” the US and Israeli assault on Iran.
“While affirming the right of the Islamic Republic of Iran to respond to this aggression by all available means in accordance with international norms and laws, the movement calls upon the brothers in Iran to avoid targeting neighbouring countries,” Hamas said in a statement Saturday, its first since the war began on Feb. 28.
The group, which maintains close ties with Iran and Qatar, said stopping the war is in the interest of the region.
Hamas is part of the so-called Axis of Resistance, which includes Iranian-backed militant groups in the Middle East.