Here are the latest events in the Middle East war on Saturday:
Explosions were heard and air raid sirens sounded in Jerusalem on Saturday, AFP journalists said, as Israel and America’s war with Iran entered a second week.
At least three explosions were heard, while over the past 24 hours at least six air raid alerts have been issued across Israel.
Israel began a new wave of air strikes on the Iranian cities of Tehran and Isfahan Saturday after an overnight blitz that involved 80 fighter jets.
Israel’s military earlier said jets hit an academy of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards which “was being used as an emergency asset”.
Israeli and US attacks on the central province of Isfahan killed at least eight people on Saturday, a provincial official said.
Israel’s military said Saturday it had struck Hezbollah targets in Lebanon’s south and east, killing commanders from the Lebanese armed group, and hitting military sites including command centres.
The Israeli military said it had “completed an additional wave of strikes targeting rocket launchers, weapons storage facilities, and additional military sites belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organisation in various areas in southern Lebanon and in the Beqaa valley”.
Dubai airport, the world’s busiest for international traffic, suspended operations Saturday before partially resuming services, after an air defence interception in the area during attacks from Iran.
“We have partially resumed operations from today, 7 March, with some flights operating out of DXB and DWC,” it said, referring to Dubai’s main airport as well as the city’s Dubai World Central – Al Maktoum International.
Saudi Arabia’s Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman urged Iran to “avoid miscalculation” on Saturday, following missile and drone launches against the kingdom.
In a series of statements, the Saudi defence ministry said it had thwarted repeated missile launches at an air base which houses US military personnel and drone attacks at a major oil field.
Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Saturday that his country will not surrender to Israel and the United States.
“The enemies must take their wish for the surrender of the Iranian people to their graves,” said Pezeshkian.
He apologised to neighbouring countries for Iran’s attacks, adding “no more attacks will be made on neighbouring countries and no missiles will be fired unless an attack on Iran originates from those countries.”
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said Saturday they had targeted an oil tanker in the Gulf in their conflict with Israel and the United States.
“This morning, an oil tanker with the trade name Prima was hit by an exploding drone after ignoring repeated warnings from the IRGC naval forces regarding the prohibition of traffic and the insecurity of the Strait of Hormuz,” the Guards said in a statement carried by Tasnim news agency.
The Guards earlier said they were “waiting” for US forces to escort ships through the strait.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said Saturday they have targeted three locations of “separatist groups” in Iraq’s Kurdistan region.
“If separatist groups in the region (of Kurdistan) make any move against Iran’s territorial integrity, we will crush them,” said the Guards in a statement carried by Tasnim news agency.
Iran’s army said Saturday its navy had launched a wave of drone attacks targeting Israel as well as US bases in the UAE and Kuwait.
Foreign ministers of the Arab League will hold an emergency meeting on Sunday to discuss “Iranian attacks on the territories of several Arab countries”, the bloc’s assistant secretary-general told AFP.
The meeting, which will be held via videoconference, was requested by Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Jordan and Egypt, Hossam Zaki said.
AFP journalists heard explosions in Dubai and Bahrain’s capital, Manama, on Saturday, one week into Iran’s retaliatory attacks on targets around the Gulf.
A warning siren sounded in Manama, with Bahrain’s interior ministry urging residents in an X post to “head to the nearest safe place”.
The US State Department approved the “emergency” sale of 12,000 bomb casings to Israel on Friday the war escalates.
“The proposed sale will improve Israel’s capability to meet current and future threats, strengthen its homeland defense, and serve as a deterrent to regional threats,” the State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs said.
The Israeli military said that air defences were responding to Iranian missile attacks on Saturday that sparked air raid alerts across the country.
burs-ach/st
