Middle East war latest: Here’s what happened overnight
· Citizen
Here is the latest from the war in the Middle East:
Dubai building hit by debris from attack: media office
A building in central Dubai was hit by debris from an intercepted attack, the government media office said on Friday, after blasts shook the Middle East financial hub.
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An AFP correspondent described hearing a huge double blast that rattled buildings and left a large cloud of black smoke hanging over a central district.
Dubai’s media office confirmed a building had been struck. The United Arab Emirates’ air defences have intercepted more than 1,500 Iranian drones and nearly 300 missiles during the Middle East war.
French soldier killed in attack in Iraqi Kurdistan
A French soldier was killed in an attack in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region, President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday, confirming the first French military death in the Middle East war.
Since US-Israeli strikes on Iran last month engulfed the Middle East in war, multiple attacks attributed to pro-Iranian factions have targeted the region where foreign forces are based as part of an international anti-jihadist coalition.
The member of the armed forces “died for France during an attack in the Erbil region of Iraq,” Macron posted on X, adding that several soldiers were also wounded.
He did not say who was behind the attack.
Earlier, a pro-Iranian Iraqi group warned that French interests in the region were now targets after the arrival of a French aircraft carrier to “the area of operations of the American Central Command.”
Israeli military says struck Hezbollah member in Beirut
An Israeli strike hit a member of Iran-backed group Hezbollah in Lebanon’s capital, the military said on Friday.
“A short while ago, the IDF struck a Hezbollah terrorist in the area of Beirut,” the Israeli military said in a statement.
Iranian media reports several explosions in Tehran
US and Israeli strikes hit parts of Tehran on Friday, Iranian media reported, adding that homes shook from the blasts.
“The intensity of the explosions was such that residents of these areas reported their houses shaking. No further details have been provided about the extent of damage or possible casualties,” Iran’s Fars news agency reported.
Moscow says global energy market ‘cannot remain stable’ without Russian oil
Russia’s economic envoy Kirill Dmitriev said Friday that the global energy market “cannot remain stable” without his country’s oil.
His comments came after the United States said it would temporarily allow the sale of Russian oil that is at sea, as energy prices soared after US-Israeli strikes on Iran plunged the oil-rich Middle East into war.
“The United States is effectively acknowledging the obvious: without Russian oil, the global energy market cannot remain stable,” Dmitriev posted on Telegram.
US refueling plane crashes in Iraq –
An American KC-135 aerial refuelling aircraft crashed in western Iraq while a second plane involved in the incident landed safely, the US military said.
“One of the aircraft went down in western Iraq, and the second landed safely. This was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire,” said US Central Command, which is responsible for American forces in the Middle East.
Iran vows vengeance
Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei, whose father and other family members were killed in the opening strikes of the war on February 28, — vowed Thursday to avenge the Iranian casualties in the conflict, according to a statement read by a presenter on state television.
Khamenei himself was wounded in the strikes, according to some Iranian officials and state TV. His whereabouts and details of his physical condition are unknown, prompting Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu to call on him to “show his face.”
Trump: war moving ‘rapidly’
US President Donald Trump told reporters the war against Iran was moving “very rapidly.”
“It’s doing very well, our military is unsurpassed,” he said at the White House, not directly responding to the latest comments from Iran’s new supreme leader.
Israel strikes Basij force
Israel’s military said it had struck checkpoints set up in the Iranian capital Tehran by the Basij paramilitary force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards as part of efforts to undermine control by the authorities.
Later, the Israeli military said it launched a new broad wave of strikes in Tehran on Thursday evening, pressing ahead with its campaign against Iran for a 13th day.
Iraq-Syria border strikes
Air strikes killed at least 11 Iran-backed fighters in Iraq on Thursday near the Iraqi-Syrian border and in the capital Baghdad, senior security and armed faction officials told AFP.
Iraqi authorities denounced the “blatant attacks” on bases that belong to the Hashed al-Shaabi, a former paramilitary group now integrated into the regular army, which also encompasses brigades from Iran-backed armed groups.
Hormuz mines
Iran is not laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz, its deputy foreign minister said, after Trump said US forces had struck 28 Iranian mine-laying vessels in the waterway.
He told AFP that Iran was allowing ships from some countries to cross the narrow shipping lane that has remained effectively closed during the war.
Beirut strikes
Israel continued striking Beirut as it threatened to expand operations and seize territory in Lebanon if the militant group Hezbollah did not stop its attacks.
AFPTV footage showed dark smoke rising into the sky above Bashoura, in the heart of Beirut.
IEA: biggest oil shock ever
The war “is creating the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market”, as Iran’s chokehold on regional supplies forces Gulf producers to slash production, the International Energy Agency said.
An IEA market report said crude oil production was currently down by at least eight million barrels per day.
Israel moves deeper into Lebanon
The Israeli military moved further into southern Lebanon, telling residents to “move immediately north of the Zahrani River”, 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the Israeli border.
It said the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah had launched “approximately 200 rockets” towards it overnight, in what it said was the biggest barrage of the war so far.