Paris (France) (AFP) – Here are the latest developments Wednesday in the Middle East war:
– **NATO allies discuss Hormuz**
NATO chief Mark Rutte said allies were in talks on the “best way” to re-open the Strait of Hormuz, the key oil corridor where Iran has choked off much of the world’s oil supply.
– **Iran confirms spy chief death**
Iran’s president confirmed what he called the “cowardly assassination” of the country’s top intelligence official, Esmail Khatib. Israel’s defence minister announced earlier that Khatib had been killed in an Israeli strike.
– **Germany ‘would have advised against’ war**
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Berlin “would have advised against” starting a war with Iran, had it been consulted by the US or Israel. While Tehran “bears responsibility” for the current crisis in the region, Merz said, Berlin had “made it clear that we still have many questions regarding this war,” and Israel and the US had shown “no convincing plan as to how this operation could succeed”.
– **Qatar condemns gas field attacks**
Doha condemned Israeli attacks on facilities linked to Iran’s massive South Pars gas field — an extension of Qatar’s own North Field — as “dangerous and irresponsible”. Iran’s military said it would in turn “severely strike” energy infrastructure across the Gulf. Gas imports in neighbouring Iraq, highly dependent on Iran’s gas, were immediately halted, authorities said, adding that it would have a knock-on effect on power supplies there.
– **Oil jumps**
Oil prices surged after the Israeli strike on South Pars. Brent North Sea crude jumped over five percent to $108.60 per barrel, while the main US oil contract West Texas Intermediate climbed 1.9 percent to $98.01.
– **Nuclear plant hit**
The UN nuclear watchdog said Iran reported a strike on the country’s only operational nuclear power plant but that it caused no damage. Russia, which helped build the plant and has staff on site, said it had received a report of a missile strike on the plant’s inner perimeter and called the attack “completely unacceptable”.
– **Russia condemns Larijani killing**
Russia condemned the killing of Iranian security chief Ali Larijani after ally Tehran vowed retaliation for the death of the military official whom Israel claimed to have killed in an airstrike. “We firmly condemn actions aimed at harming the health and, even more, the killing of the leadership of sovereign and independent Iran,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
– **Women footballers return**
The Iranian women’s national football team, including several players who withdrew an asylum bid in Australia, crossed the Turkish border back into Iran. Seven members of the delegation had sought sanctuary in Australia last week after being branded “traitors” in Iran for refusing to sing the national anthem before their opening game at the Women’s Asian Cup. Five later changed their mind while two chose to remain in Australia.
– **Iran funerals**
Iran was due to hold funerals in Tehran for slain security chief Ali Larijani and another powerful figure killed by Israel, Gholamreza Soleimani, the head of the Basij paramilitary force.
– **Swede executed for spying**
Iran executed a Swedish citizen, Sweden’s foreign minister said, after Iranian authorities announced they had carried out capital punishment for an alleged Israeli spy. “It is with dismay that I have received information that a Swedish citizen was executed in Iran earlier today,” Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said in a statement.
– **Beirut strikes**
A new Israeli strike hit central Beirut’s Zuqaq al-Blat neighbourhood, state media reported, the second on the densely populated area since the early morning. Lebanon’s health ministry said at least 12 people had been killed in central Beirut, as the war between Israel and Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah continued.
– **’Limited’ Iraq oil exports**
Iraq announced it had resumed limited oil exports of 250,000 barrels per day through the Turkish port of Ceyhan, bypassing the Gulf after the country’s output plunged due to disruptions in the crucial Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively shut.
– **War ‘will hit all’**
Iran’s top diplomat said the repercussions of the war in the Middle East would be felt globally. “Wave of global repercussions has only begun and will hit all — regardless of wealth, faith, or race,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted on X. Iranian army chief Amir Hatami threatened to launch a “decisive and regrettable” retaliation for the killing of security chief Larijani.
– **Gulf interceptions**
An Iranian projectile struck near Australia’s military headquarters for the Middle East in the United Arab Emirates, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said. The Saudi defense ministry said it had intercepted a ballistic missile near Prince Sultan Air Base, which houses US military personnel. The country later said it had intercepted two drones targeting the diplomatic quarter of its capital, Riyadh. Kuwait’s air defenses responded to a rocket and drone attack, according to authorities from both countries. Qatar’s defense ministry also said it intercepted a missile attack, as blasts were heard in Doha.
– **Two killed near Tel Aviv**
A barrage of missiles from Iran killed two people near Tel Aviv, Israeli medics said, bringing the death toll from missiles fired on the country to 14.
© 2024 AFP
