Paris (France) (AFP) – The latest developments in the Middle East war:
**Iran sites hit**
US-Israeli strikes on Iran targeted a nuclear plant, a petrochemical hub, a trade terminal, and a cement factory, Iranian media reported. An attack near the Bushehr nuclear power station killed one of the facility’s guards but caused no damage, the official IRNA news agency said. The UN’s IAEA nuclear watchdog stated that no increased radiation levels had been detected. The strike occurred just minutes before Russia began the evacuation of 198 more of its workers from the Bushehr plant, which it helped build and assists in operating. An attack on a petrochemical hub in the southwestern port city of Mahshahr wounded five people, according to the Fars news agency. Iranian media reported that a strike on a trade terminal in Khorramshahr, near the Iraq border, killed one person, identified as an Iraqi driver, while two Iranian workers were wounded. Another strike hit a cement factory in the southern port of Bandar Khamir, the Tasnim news agency reported. Iran’s science minister, Hossein Simai Sarraf, stated that “more than 30 universities” had been targeted since the war began.
**Ships through Hormuz**
An Indian-flagged LPG tanker transited through the Strait of Hormuz, marking the latest in a series of vessels that have successfully navigated the Gulf chokepoint in recent days. Turkey reported that a second Turkish-flagged ship also passed through the strait. Tracking data from Friday indicated that one French-owned ship and one Japanese-owned vessel had also made the crossing. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards announced they had targeted an Israel-linked ship in a drone attack at a Bahrain port, setting it ablaze. The vessel was identified as the MSC Ishyka.
**Israel tells Lebanese to evacuate**
Israel, which is simultaneously targeting the Iran-backed group Hezbollah in Lebanon, issued an “urgent warning” for residents in parts of the Lebanese city of Tyre and nearby areas to evacuate. Earlier, Lebanon’s health ministry reported that Israeli airstrikes in Tyre had wounded 11 people and damaged several buildings, including a major hospital.
**Italy PM talks energy**
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, while visiting the Gulf, held talks with Qatar’s gas-rich leader, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, regarding energy issues and “possible measures to mitigate the shocks suffered,” according to her office.
**Iraqi fighter killed**
An attack near the Syria border killed a fighter in the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) in Iraq, a former paramilitary coalition that has been blamed by the group for a US-Israeli strike. The PMF, now part of Iraq’s regular army but containing pro-Iran factions, has faced repeated targeting since the outbreak of war on February 28.
**Iran executions**
Iran executed two men convicted of membership in a banned opposition group and for actions aimed at overthrowing the Islamic republic. This execution is part of a series targeting the banned People’s Mujahedin of Iran (MEK), with four other members executed earlier in the week.
**Four injured in Bahrain**
Shrapnel from intercepted drones injured four people in Bahrain, authorities reported. Additionally, debris from these incidents hit two buildings in Dubai, one of which housed the US cloud computing firm Oracle, according to United Arab Emirates authorities.
**Peacekeepers wounded**
Indonesia condemned an “unacceptable” explosion that wounded three of its UN peacekeepers in Lebanon, just days after three other Indonesians were killed in separate incidents. The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) stated that the blast occurred inside a UN facility near El Adeisse on Friday. Indonesia emphasized the “urgent need to strengthen protection for UN peacekeeping forces.” A UN security official reported that Israeli forces had destroyed 17 surveillance cameras linked to UNIFIL’s headquarters in southern Lebanon in a 24-hour period. The bodies of the three Indonesians returned to their home country on Saturday.
**Missiles fired at Israel**
The Israeli army reported that its air defenses responded to missiles fired from Iran, which medics indicated had wounded one person. Israel’s emergency services noted that a 45-year-old man was treated for minor injuries from glass shrapnel in the central city of Bnei Brak.
© 2024 AFP
