Iran threatens regional strikes if US hit civilian sites

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Witnesses said booms were heard in downtown Dubai in the United Arab Emirates on Thursday. 

Iranian news agencies on Thursday reported that the United States launched strikes around Iran's Gulf island of Qeshm near the Strait of Hormuz, as renewed hostilities flared between Washington and Tehran.

Fars news agency reported an "American missile strike in the vicinity of Qeshm", citing local authorities, while Tasnim news agency said one of its correspondents reported locations around Qeshm "were struck by projectiles from the American enemy".

US arms deliveries to Estonia that were temporarily suspended due to the Iran war are now expected to arrive in the Baltic country in the coming months, Estonian Defence Minister Hanno Pevkur told public broadcaster ERR on Thursday.

Reuters reported in April, citing sources familiar with the matter, that US officials informed European counterparts that some previously contracted weapons deliveries were likely to be delayed because the Iran war was drawing on weapons stocks.

Estonia's President Alar Karis said in late April that his country had been informed of delays related to HIMARS rocket systems.

"At the moment, logistical details are being agreed upon when it will be possible to send the plane to pick it up," Pevkur told ERR.

But while most of the agreed arms supplies are now expected to take place, U.S.-made ATACMS missiles are still pending as these are closely related to U.S. operations in Iran, Pevkur said.

The Lebanese Health Ministry said on Thursday that the number of those killed in the country by Israel strikes from 2 March has risen to 4,324, as well as 12,224 wounded.

Lebanon and Syria will in the coming months begin revising decades-old trade agreements to revive their economic relationship following the ouster of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad in 2024, Lebanon's economy minister told Reuters on Thursday.

Amer Bisat, who said the countries could eventually aim for a larger bilateral trade deal, spoke a day after holding talks with his Syrian counterpart in Damascus.

The two countries have been undertaking a reset in ties since the end of nearly half a century of Assad family rule that saw Syrian troops stationed in Lebanon for almost 30 years.

"That economic relationship needed to be reset, and it has the potential of being the most important bilateral relationship for both countries," Bisat said.

Lebanon shares a 375-kilometre (230-mile) border with Syria to its north and east and has relied on Syrian land routes to truck exports to Jordan and the Gulf.

Syrian exporters have also used Lebanon as a primary export corridor, particularly during the 14-year war that ended with Assad's ouster.

At its peak, total trade between the two countries was just under $800 million. Last year, trade volume was around $250 million, according to Bisat, who said the relationship "should be measured in the billions" instead.

As a first step, a committee set up in early July would review more than 40 pacts and memoranda of understanding agreed with Assad-era Syria that covered investment frameworks, visa and tax regimes and other dimensions of Syrian-Lebanese trade.

Bisat said the review could take several months but that a bigger trade deal could take longer.

Such a deal would need to address logistical hurdles to land transport and tackle tariffs that are "not uniform," Bisat said. "Lebanese exporters pay an export tariff and the Syrians don't," he added.

Yemen's Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi said on Thursday that all Saudi oil and other vital facilities would be targets for the group's missiles and drones if Riyadh involved itself in what he described as "comprehensive aggression" against Yemen and moved toward escalation.

The Houthis fired missiles at Saudi Arabia after they accused the kingdom of bombing an airport under their control on Monday, breaking a four-year truce in the conflict between the two sides.

Syria said on Thursday it had foiled an attempt to smuggle weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon by seizing a shipment that included missiles at its border with Iraq.

"Specialised units thwarted an attempt to bring in a shipment of sophisticated weapons and missiles through the Syrian-Iraqi border," a source from the interior ministry was quoted as saying by Syria's official Sana news agency.

"Initial investigations established that the shipment was intended to transit through Syria for the benefit of the terrorist militia Hezbollah," the source added.

Syrian authorities are hostile to Hezbollah, which was an ally of former president Bashar al-Assad before he was ousted in 2024.

They have previously announced several other seizures of weapons they say were bound for the Iran-backed group, but Thursday's announcement is the first involving the border with Iraq.

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi ordered the formation of an inquiry commission and Iraqi authorities will "coordinate" with Syria on the matter, the Iraqi government's security media cell said in a statement.

The statement said Iraqi authorities would "hold those responsible for any negligence accountable, in order to ensure the safety and security of the shared border and prevent any attempt to undermine national security".

Since an Islamist coalition took power in Syria in 2024, the authorities say they have dismantled several Hezbollah-linked cells preparing attacks in Syria, but Hezbollah has denied the accusation.

The group has been weakened by the war it has waged against Israel since March in support of Iran.

US President Donald Trump has recently floated the idea of Syria intervening in Lebanon against Hezbollah.

But Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has said he has no interest in taking military action, despite Trump's suggestions.