Paris (France) (AFP) – Here are the latest developments in the Middle East war:
– **Trump says Iran gave US ‘gift’**
US President Donald Trump said Iran gave him a “very big present” related to the Strait of Hormuz, “worth a tremendous amount of money”.
– **US to deploy 82nd Airborne: media**
The United States is planning to send some 3,000 soldiers from its elite 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East to support operations against Iran, US media reported.
– **US in Iran talks ‘right now’: Trump**
Trump said negotiations with Iran to end the Middle East war were under way “right now,” adding Tehran wants to make a deal “so badly.”
– **Hezbollah backs Iran diplomat**
Hezbollah called Lebanon’s decision to expel the newly appointed Iranian ambassador a “national and strategic sin,” and demanded authorities “immediately reverse” the move.
– **China FM encourages talks**
China’s top diplomat told his Iranian counterpart in a phone call that “talking is always better than to keep fighting” after Tehran denied Trump’s claim that negotiations had taken place. “It is hoped that all parties can seize every opportunity and window for peace and start the peace talks process as quickly as possible,” Wang Yi told Abbas Araghchi, according to a Chinese foreign ministry statement.
– **Explosions near Beirut**
Explosions rocked several areas north of Beirut that had been spared in the ongoing Israel-Hezbollah war, according to residents and local media, with a military official saying the blasts likely came from an intercepted Iranian missile. “A number of citizens sustained minor injuries from flying shrapnel,” according to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency.
– **UAE says contractor killed**
The UAE defense ministry said that a Moroccan contractor with the Emirati military was killed in Bahrain in an Iranian attack, with Manama saying the man had been assisting the local armed forces.
– **Islamabad talks offer**
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said Islamabad is prepared to host negotiations to stop the US-Israeli war with Iran, after mounting speculation it could act as a mediator.
– **G7 war discussion**
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet G7 counterparts in France on Friday to discuss the war, the State Department said. While all G7 nations are close US allies, none has unambiguously offered support for the offensive on Iran, angering President Donald Trump.
– **Iran arrests**
Iranian authorities said that 466 people have been arrested, accused of seeking to destabilize the country through their online activity. The exact nature of the online activity nor the dates of the arrests were provided. The internet has been shut down in Iran since the start of the war on February 28.
– **Iran security chief**
Iran named a former Revolutionary Guards commander, Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, as head of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, succeeding Ali Larijani, who was killed last week in an Israeli strike.
– **Gulf ‘breakdown’**
The Gulf states will need to re-evaluate their shared security after the war, which has resulted in a “breakdown of the security system,” a Qatar foreign ministry spokesman said.
– **Isfahan strikes**
Israel’s military said that it had completed a “large wave of strikes in Isfahan”.
– **’Security zone’**
Israel said its military will seize control of an area 30 kilometers (20 miles) into Lebanon as a “security zone,” as it presses its fight against Iran-backed Hezbollah. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told AFP that Israel should “refrain” from that measure, warning it would have “major humanitarian consequences”.
burs/pdw/giv
© 2024 AFP
