Beiroet, Lebanon. (Photo: AFP)
Get the latest news on the conflict in the Middle East here.
Iranians, diplomat leaves Beirut soon
More than 100 Iranians left Beirut in Lebanon overnight on board a Russian plane, a Lebanese official told AFP on Sunday.
“As many as 117 Iranians, including diplomats and embassy staff, left Beirut overnight on board a Russian plane,” the official told AFP.
The evacuation follows after Lebanon’s government on Thursday banned any activities by the corps of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard – an important supporter of the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.
The government has also introduced a visa requirement for Iranians entering the country as part of measures to put pressure on Iran-backed Hezbollah.
According to the official, the Iranian embassy informed the Lebanese authorities in advance about the evacuation operation, which was carried out via Beirut’s international airport.
The official added that the plane was en route to Turkey, but did not disclose the Iranians’ final destination.
Beirut’s airport, which is located near the city’s southern suburbs – an area that has been under Israeli airstrikes since Monday – is still operational despite the attacks. Currently, only Lebanon’s national airline, Middle East Airlines, is operating a significant number of flights.
The body of an Iranian diplomat who was killed in the attacks on the city, along with that of his wife and three children, was also on board the plane, the official said.
Meanwhile, an Israeli airstrike targeted a hotel near the seaside in Beirut overnight on Saturday – the first time since the beginning of the war that the central parts of the Lebanese capital have been hit.
The Israeli military said it had “carried out a precision strike against key commanders of the Lebanon Corps of the Quds Force of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.”
According to Lebanon’s Department of Health, four people were killed and ten injured.
The Israeli army also announced on Tuesday that it had killed a Lebanese liaison officer of the Revolutionary Guard, who was responsible for Iran’s foreign operations, in an attack on Tehran.
Lebanon | Death toll now at 394
(Photo: Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP)
The death toll following Israel’s airstrikes on Lebanon this past week stands at 394, the country’s health minister said on Sunday.
According to Rakan Nassereddine, Lebanon’s health minister, 83 children and 42 women are among the victims who have died since the attacks began.
Nassereddine sharply condemned the attacks on medical teams and ambulances at a news conference. “Nine rescue workers are among those who died,” he said.
The death toll on Saturday stood at 294 since Lebanon was involved in the regional war last Monday.
The conflict broke out after fighting between Iran, Israel and the USA and led to a larger regional war in the Middle East in the past week.
Kuwait Airport, Bahrain hit
(Photo: Jack Guez/AFP)
According to the news agency AFP, at least 16 people – eight of them civilians – have died in Gulf states since the beginning of the war.
Iran hit key infrastructure in the Gulf region on Sunday when fuel tanks at Kuwait’s international airport were attacked and a desalination plant in Bahrain was damaged. Tehran’s missile and drone attacks on neighboring countries continue for a second week.
Two border guards were killed “while performing their national duty”, Kuwait’s Interior Department said without giving further details.
Neighboring countries are currently bearing the brunt of Iran’s response to the US and Israel’s campaign of airstrikes on Iran.
According to the news agency AFP, at least 16 people – eight of them civilians – have died in Gulf states since the beginning of the war.
Massoud Pezeshkian, Iran’s president, warned on Sunday that the Islamic republic “will be forced to react” against neighboring countries if their territory is used to attack Iran.
On Saturday, the president apologized to neighboring countries with US military bases for attacks that took place on their territory.
Nevertheless, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait reported new attacks after loud explosions were heard in Dubai and Manama a day earlier.
According to the Kuwaiti military, fuel tanks at the country’s international airport were targeted in a drone attack. The official Kuwaiti news agency reported that a fire at the airport had been brought under control and that no “significant injuries” had been reported.
The army described the attack as “a direct target of critical infrastructure”.
Drone and missile threats
Kuwait’s national oil company has meanwhile announced as a “precautionary measure” that it will reduce its crude oil production after the country’s army said that several drone and missile attacks had been repelled.
Authorities also confirmed that the headquarters of Kuwait’s public institution for social security was targeted and suffered structural damage. The building would be closed to the public on Sunday.
In Bahrain, the Interior Department said an Iranian drone strike damaged a desalination plant and accused Tehran of targeting civilian infrastructure “indiscriminately”.
The corps of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said on Saturday that it had attacked the US’s Juffair base in Bahrain, claiming that this base had previously been used to attack an Iranian desalination plant.
Bahrain’s National Communications Office later said the attack had no impact on water delivery or network capacity.
Attacks in the region
Saudi Arabia’s Defense Department said on Sunday that 33 drones had been intercepted, with no reports of damage or deaths.
One of the drones targeted the diplomatic quarter of Riyadh, but was shot down without any damage or injuries, a spokesperson said. The Saudi Arabian capital and surrounding areas were targeted by 26 drones, he said.
Another drone targeted the Shaybah oil field in the south-east of Saudi Arabia.
US, Israel strike five oil sites in and around Tehran
The US and Israel hit five oil sites in and near the Iranian capital Tehran, killing four people. (Photo: ATTA KENARE / AFP)
The US and Israel hit five oil sites in and around the Iranian capital, Tehran. Four people were killed in these attacks.
The attacks were confirmed by an official to Iranian state TV on Sunday.
According to Keramat Veyskarami, the CEO of the national Iranian company for the distribution of oil products, four oil storage facilities and a transport center for petroleum products in Tehran and the Alborz province west of Tehran were attacked by “enemy aircraft”.
He added that four staff members, including two managers, died in the incident.
According to him, the facilities were damaged although the fire was brought under control.
Smoke from the fires hung over the capital and cast a dark cloud over the city as morning dawned. Residents also reported that a burning smell still hung in the air.
However, Veyskarami said Iran’s oil storage facilities have sufficient gasoline reserves.
The latest attacks follow after the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran on February 28, in which the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed.
Iran subsequently responded with drone and missile strikes, targeting Israel as well as US interests across the region.