Paris (France) (AFP) – Here are the latest developments in the Middle East war:
**’Non-hostile vessels’ can transit Strait of Hormuz**
Iran has said “non-hostile vessels” can transit the Strait of Hormuz, according to a statement released to the International Maritime Organization (IMO).
**Missiles target Israel**
Israel’s military warned late Tuesday that Iran had fired missiles towards the country and that anti-missile defences were active, following a day of more than a dozen missile alerts. Shortly after, sirens sounded in Jerusalem and a blast was heard in the city, while a loud explosion was also heard in the skies over the West Bank city of Jericho.
**Iraq summons US, Iran diplomats after deadly strikes**
Iraq said it would summon the US charge d’affaires and the Iranian ambassador after deadly strikes blamed on their countries, as Iraqi authorities granted targeted former paramilitary groups the “right to respond”.
**Iran says strike hit Bushehr nuclear plant**
The UN nuclear watchdog said Iran had informed it that “another projectile hit the premises” of the Bushehr nuclear power plant on Tuesday, without damaging it.
**Trump says Iran gave US ‘gift’**
US President Donald Trump said he was upbeat about a negotiated deal with Iran after its surviving leadership gave him a “very big present” related to the Strait of Hormuz, “worth a tremendous amount of money”. He earlier said negotiations to end the Middle East war were underway “right now,” adding that Tehran wants to make a deal “so badly”.
**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.
**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, France encourage talks**
China’s top diplomat Wang Yi told his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi in a phone call that “talking is always better than to keep fighting,” after Tehran denied Trump’s claim that negotiations had taken place. Separately, French President Emmanuel Macron called on Iran to “engage in good faith” in talks to end the war, after a call with his Iranian counterpart, Masoud Pezeshkian.
**Explosions north of 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.
**Iran arrests**
Iranian authorities said that 466 people have been arrested, accused of seeking to destabilize the country through their online activity.
**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.
**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”.
© 2024 AFP
