Iran vows revenge after world's largest gas field attacked, strikes hit Gulf facilities

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US President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened to destroy Iran's key South Pars gas field if there were further attacks against Qatar's main gas plant.

Trump confirmed on his Truth Social platform that Israel had struck the South Pars field but said the United States "knew nothing" of the attack, which spurred Iran to launch an attack on Qatar's Ras Laffan facility.

"NO MORE ATTACKS WILL BE MADE BY ISRAEL pertaining to this extremely important and valuable South Pars Field unless Iran unwisely decides to attack a very innocent, in this case, Qatar - In which instance the United States of America, with or without the help or consent of Israel, will massively blow up the entirety of the South Pars Gas Field at an amount of strength and power that Iran has never seen or witnessed before," the US president wrote.

Qatar's state-run energy firm said new strikes on the Gulf nation's main gas hub on Thursday caused "extensive" damage.

QatarEnergy said in a statement that early Thursday "several of its Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) facilities were the subject of missile attacks, causing sizeable fires and extensive further damage" after a previous attack.

The company noted that the earlier attack on the Ras Laffan Industrial City on Wednesday had already caused extensive damage to a gas-to-liquids facility.

U.S. President Donald Trump said late on Wednesday the attack on Iran's South Pars gas field was carried out by Israel, and the U.S. and Qatar were not involved in it.

"The United States knew nothing about this particular attack, and the country of Qatar was in no way, shape, or form, involved with it, nor did it have any idea that it was going to happen," Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Iranian state television said Thursday that a missile struck Qatar's main gas facility again, hours after it was hit in a destructive strike that Doha said caused extensive damage.

"Qatar's Ras Laffan refinery Hit by Missile Again, burning," the state-run Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting posted on Telegram.

UAE calls Iranian attacks targeting its Habshan gas facility and Bab oil field "a dangerous escalation."

Saudi Arabia says after Iran's attacks overnight: "What little trust there was before has completely been shattered."

Iran fired missiles and drones at oil and gas facilities in the kingdom, which the Saudi defence ministry said were intercepted. One video shared online of a large fire ball claims to be from Riyadh.

BREAKING: Iranian missiles have struck multiple points in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. pic.twitter.com/QniAO2PPDE

— Clash Report (@clashreport) March 18, 2026

Qatar dealing with fire at Ras Laffan industrial area after Iranian strike, no injuries reported: interior ministry

A projectile has hit a vessel off the coast of the United Arab Emirates near the Strait of Hormuz, causing a fire, a British naval maritime security agency said Thursday.

The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said it had received a report at 2300 GMT on Wednesday "that a vessel has been hit by an unknown projectile which has resulted in a fire on board" off the UAE port of Khor Fakkan in the Gulf of Oman.

A drone attack targeted an Iraqi naval forces base near Umm Qasr port Wednesday evening, with no casualties or damage reported, according to security sources.

Saudi Arabia reserves the right to take military actions "if deemed necessary" following Iranian attacks on Gulf countries, the kingdom's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said early on Thursday.

France's foreign minister will visit Lebanon on Thursday, the ministry told AFP, after the EU called on Israel to stop its military strikes on the country.

The visit by Jean-Noel Barrot "underlines France's support and solidarity with the Lebanese people, dragged into a war they didn't choose," the foreign ministry said.

Barrot is due to meet with Lebanon's president, prime minister and parliament speaker and comes after he spoke by phone with his Israeli and US counterparts.

U.S. President Donald Trump does not want any further strikes on Iranian energy infrastructure after Israel's attack on the South Pars gas field on Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing U.S. officials.

Trump, who knew about the Israeli strike on South Pars in advance, supported it as a message to Tehran over its blocking of the Strait of Hormuz, and could again be open to targeting more Iranian energy facilities depending on Tehran's future actions in the waterway, the Journal said.

Reuters could not immediately verify the report.

A man was killed in central Israel after the latest round of Iranian missile fire, medics said Thursday, describing the victim as a "foreign worker."

The Magen David Adom emergency services said they responded to an area where "metal shrapnel was scattered across the scene," and found a man "unconscious and suffering," who they later pronounced dead.

Iran warned on Wednesday that it would destroy the oil and gas industry of its Gulf neighbours, which it considers American interests, it its own energy sector is harmed again.

"We warn you once again that you made a big mistake in attacking the energy infrastructure of the Islamic Republic, the response to which is being implemented," the Revolutionary Guards announced, in a statement carried by Iranian media.

"If it is repeated again, further attacks on your energy infrastructure and that of your allies will not stop until it is completely destroyed, and our response will be much more severe than tonight's attacks."

Four Palestinian women were killed in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday by falling shrapnel, emergency responders said, shortly after Israel's military reported another Iranian missile barrage.

The Palestinian Red Crescent confirmed four fatalities, all women, and six injuries ranging from moderate to minor, in the Beit Awa area near Hebron, marking the first Palestinian deaths in the ongoing Middle East war.

The Palestinian medics said the deaths were caused by "shrapnel falling."

Shortly before the deaths were confirmed, Israel's military said it had identified "missiles launched from Iran toward the territory of the State of Israel," adding that it was "operating to intercept the threat."

Iraqi air defences intercept and shoot down a drone approaching the Baghdad airport: security sources

The Iraqi armed group Kataib Hezbollah said on Wednesday it would suspend attacks on the U.S. embassy for five days with conditions.

The conditions listed by the group in a statement included Israel's halt of displacing and striking residents of Beirut's southern suburbs and a commitment to not shelling residential areas in Baghdad and other provinces.

Qatar's foreign ministry on Wednesday ordered Iran's military and security attaches along with their staff to leave the country within 24 hours, following an attack on its massive natural gas facility.

"Both the military attache and the security attache in the embassy, in addition to those working in the two attache offices, persona non grata, and requests that they leave the state's territories within a maximum period of 24 hours," the ministry said, in a social media post.

The Saudi defence ministry said it thwarted a second drone attack on a gas plant in the east, amid increased Iranian strikes on Gulf states' energy infrastructure.

Three people were killed after an Iranian missile attack near Hebron in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Red Crescent said Wednesday.

The Israeli military said Wednesday it had launched airstrikes in northern Iran for the first time since the war began on February 28.

"The Israeli Air Force, acting on navy and IDF intelligence, began striking targets in northern Iran for the first time during Operation Roaring Lion," the military said.

Israeli media reports said the air force was striking Iranian navy vessels at the port city of Bandar Anzali, on the coast of the Caspian Sea.

The European Union on Wednesday called on Israel to cease its military campaign in Lebanon, after the latest Israeli strikes on Beirut.

"The EU is deeply concerned about the ongoing Israeli offensive in Lebanon which already has devastating humanitarian consequences and risks triggering a prolonged conflict," a spokesperson said in a statement.

"Israel should cease its operations in Lebanon," she said.

"We condemn Hezbollah's decision to plunge Lebanon into this war, its refusal to hand over arms and its continuation of indiscriminate attacks against Israel," the spokesperson said.

"The attacks on civilians, civilian infrastructure, healthcare personnel and facilities, as well as UNIFIL are unjustified and unacceptable and should stop immediately."

Four people were injured when shrapnel from a ballistic missile interception fell on a residential area of the Saudi capital Riyadh on Wednesday, the civil defence said.

"Four residents sustained injuries, and limited material damage occurred, as a result of shrapnel falling onto a residential area in Riyadh following the interception of a ballistic missile," said a civil defence statement on X.

Qatar's state-run energy company said on Wednesday that fires set by Iranian strikes on its main gas facility had caused "extensive damage", after Tehran said it would retaliate in kind for an attack on its own energy infrastructure.

"QatarEnergy confirms that Ras Laffan Industrial City this evening has been the subject of missile attacks," the firm said in a statement. "Emergency response teams were deployed immediately to contain the resulting fires, as extensive damage has been caused. All personnel have been accounted for and no casualties have been reported at this time."

The European External Action Service (EEAS) has expressed deep concern over the ongoing Israeli offensive in Lebanon, calling on Israel to immediately cease its military operations.

At the same time, the EU has strongly condemned Hezbollah’s actions, criticising the Iran-backed group for plunging Lebanon into war, refusing to disarm, and carrying out indiscriminate attacks against Israel.

The EEAS also welcomed the Lebanese authorities' call for direct negotiations with Israel, viewing it as a constructive step toward de-escalation and a potential path to stability in the region.

The Israeli military said on Wednesday it would not stop its "series of eliminations" of senior Iranian officials, after the country announced it had killed Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib.

Khatib's killing came soon after Israel killed Iran's powerful security chief Ali Larijani, and another powerful figure, Gholamreza Soleimani, head of the Basij paramilitary force.

"Over the past 24 hours, we have continued to track down and eliminate senior officials of the regime, murderers responsible for numerous terrorist operations," military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin said in a televised briefing. "We will continue to hunt down all of the regime's senior officials. The series of eliminations will not stop."

Qatar said on Wednesday that Iranian attacks on its main gas facility situated on its north coast were a "direct threat to its national security".

"Qatar expresses its strong condemnation and denunciation of the brutal Iranian attack targeting Ras Laffan Industrial City... Qatar considers this assault a dangerous escalation, a flagrant violation of its sovereignty, and a direct threat to its national security," the Gulf state's foreign ministry said in a statement.

Ras Laffan is home to the world's largest liquified natural gas production facility.

Saudi Arabia said it destroyed a drone headed towards a gas plant on Wednesday, as Iran threatened to attack Gulf energy infrastructure in retaliation for a US-Israeli strike on its own facilities.

"A drone attempting to approach a gas factory in the Eastern Province was intercepted and destroyed; the interception and destruction operation resulted in no damage," the Saudi defence ministry said.

Spain plans to evacuate and relocate troops deployed in Iraq in the coming days due to the conflict in Iran and the wider Gulf region, Defence Minister Margarita Robles said on Wednesday.

Around 300 Spanish troops are deployed in Iraq, both as part of an international coalition against the Islamic State group formed in 2015 under Operation Inherent Resolve and a separate NATO mission advising Iraqi government forces since 2018.

The ministry had already said on Sunday that a special forces unit comprising 71 soldiers had been temporarily relocated from their base given the impossibility of carrying out tasks such as training Iraqi counter-terrorism forces.

Robles did not elaborate on where the troops would be moved to.

Iraq has been drawn more into the conflict. A drone attack in the north killed a French soldier and wounded six others last week. 

Iran's new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei said Wednesday in a written message that the killers of security chief Ali Larijani, who died in an Israeli strike, "will have to pay for it".

"Without a doubt, the assassination of such a figure attests to his importance and to the hatred that the enemies of Islam harbour toward him," Mojtaba Khamenei said, in a message published on his official Telegram channel on the day of Larijani's funeral in Tehran.

"Every drop of spilled blood comes at a price, and the criminal murderers of these martyrs will soon have to pay it," added Mojtaba Khamenei, who has yet to appear in public after taking office following the killing of his father, ex-supreme leader Ali Khamenei at the start of the war.

Qatar's interior ministry said on Wednesday that an Iranian attack set a fire at the Gulf state's main gas facility, situated on its north coast.

"Civil defence is dealing with a fire in the Ras Laffan area following an Iranian targeting," the ministry said in a statement after Tehran said it would target energy infrastructure across the Gulf following a US-Israeli attack on its own gas facilities.

عاجل: وزارة الداخلية القطرية تعلن تعرض منشأة رأس لفان (أكبر منشأة للغاز الطبيعي المسال في العالم) لهجوم إيراني.

اندلاع حريق كبير في المنشأة pic.twitter.com/PY53kqu75i

— الأحداث العالمية (@A7DATH_M) March 18, 2026

Israel's military chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir on Wednesday criticised a recent rise in settler attacks in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, calling the violence against troops and civilians "morally and ethically unacceptable".

At least six Palestinians have been killed in attacks by Israeli settlers in the West Bank since the start of March, according to an AFP tally. Military raids have killed hundreds over the past few years, and the Gaza war killed more than 72,000 Palestinians.

"Recently there has been an increase in nationalist crime incidents, some of which are directed against our troops and toward civilian populations," Zamir said, referring to Palestinians living in the territory, as he visited the Central Command.

"I call on all authorities in the country to act against this phenomenon and stop it before it is too late," he said, in a statement issued by the military.

"Anyone who believes these actions contribute to security is mistaken - they are morally and ethically unacceptable and cause extraordinary strategic damage to the efforts of the IDF," he said.

Saudi air defences dealt with a "ballistic threat" in Riyadh on Wednesday, state TV said, after several loud booms were heard and some of the city's residents received phone alerts for the first time warning them of a hostile aerial threat.

It was followed up by a message saying the threat had passed, urging residents not to approach "the impact site". Further details about the incident were not immediately available.

The Gulf kingdom has come under attack by hundreds of Iranian missiles and drones since the U.S-Israeli war on Iran began last month, the vast majority of which authorities say have been intercepted.

But Wednesday's attack marked the first time many in the city had heard blasts or received a warning.

Two witnesses said they saw what appeared to be missile interceptions on the city's western edge, near the Diplomatic Quarter housing foreign missions.

The attack came hours before Saudi Arabia was set to host a consultative meeting of foreign ministers from a number of Arab and Islamic countries to discuss ways to support regional security and stability amid the Iran war.

(Reuters)

 Hezbollah condemned Wednesday Israel's killing of Iranian national security chief Ali Larijani, calling it "cowardly".

"We in Hezbollah, as we condemn this cowardly assassination and the ongoing criminal American-Israeli aggression, affirm that the assassination of leaders will neither break the will of the Islamic Republic nor undermine the determination of its leadership, its people, and its fighters," the Iran-backed group said.

Larijani, one of the most powerful men in Iran, was killed in an Israeli air strike, Tehran confirmed Tuesday.

(AFP and TNA staff)

Multiple loud explosions echoed over the Saudi capital Riyadh on Wednesday, according to AFP journalists in the city.

The Gulf kingdom has been regularly targeted by Iranian missile and drone attacks, including some aimed at Saudi Arabia's massive energy installations and the capital's diplomatic quarter.

(AFP)

Israel's defence minister said the military had destroyed two bridges spanning the Litani River in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, alleging they were being used by Hezbollah.

"The IDF today struck and destroyed two additional bridges over the Litani River that were used for smuggling weapons and for Hezbollah operatives moving south," Minister Israel Katz said in a statement.

"This is a direct action against Hezbollah's use of Lebanon's state infrastructure to advance terrorist activity and also a clear message to the Lebanese government: the State of Israel will not allow such a reality."

Earlier on Wednesday, the military had warned residents in the vicinity to evacuate, saying it planned to strike the crossings.

(AFP)

The Israeli military told AFP on Wednesday that "debris" had hit Ben Gurion Airport following Iranian missile fire, without specifying when the incident had occurred.

Israeli media reported that private planes parked at the international airport near Tel Aviv had sustained damage. The army lifted the censorship order regarding the incident on Wednesday but did not authorise the disclosure of the date.

(AFP)

Saudi Arabia announced that the Eid al-Fitr holiday marking the end of the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan will begin on Friday, according to a statement published by state media.

"The Supreme Court has decided that tomorrow, Thursday, is the completion of the 30th day of the month of Ramadan, and that Friday is the day of the Blessed Eid al-Fitr," the Saudi Press Agency reported.

(AFP)

The UAE condemned the targeting on Wednesday of Iranian facilities in a gas field shared with Qatar, calling the attack attributed by Iran and Qatar to Israel a "dangerous escalation" in a rare rebuke.

"The United Arab Emirates affirmed that targeting energy facilities linked to the South Pars gas field in the Islamic Republic of Iran, which is an extension of the North Field in the sisterly State of Qatar, constitutes a dangerous escalation," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

"Targeting energy infrastructure poses a direct threat to global energy security... It also entails serious environmental repercussions and exposes civilians, maritime security, and vital civilian and industrial facilities to direct risks," it added.

(AFP)

Lebanon's health ministry said Wednesday that Israeli attacks have killed 968 people in the country since war erupted between Israel and Hezbollah on 2 March, raising a previous toll of 912 a day earlier.

The new ministry statement said the toll included 77 women, 116 children and 40 health workers, with 2,432 other people wounded.

(AFP)

Iran made no effort to rebuild uranium enrichment after its capabilities were destroyed in a June 2025 US-Israeli attack, the US intelligence chief testified Wednesday, contradicting President Donald Trump's justifications for his ongoing war.

"As a result of Operation Midnight Hammer, Iran's nuclear enrichment program was obliterated. There has been no efforts since then to try to rebuild their enrichment capability," Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, said in prepared testimony to the Senate.

(AFP)

Israel's military said Wednesday it had struck fuel stations in south Lebanon it said were linked to Hezbollah.

"Overnight, the IDF struck Al-Amana Fuel Company gas stations in southern Lebanon", the military said.

A map shared with the statement showed the locations of five fuel stations the military said it struck, all in Lebanon's south, including two near the country's Mediterranean coast.

The statement claimed that the Al-Amana fuel company is controlled by Hezbollah "and constitutes fundamental economic infrastructure that supports Hezbollah's military capabilities".

It said Hezbollah receives "millions of dollars of profits" from the company via another Hezbollah-owned association to fund its military activities.

Since the war with Iran broke out, Israel has also bombed Al-Qard al-Hassan, a financial firm with links to Hezbollah.

(AFP)

A strike near Iraq's western border with Syria killed three fighters from the former paramilitary coalition Hashed al-Shaabi on Wednesday, the alliance said.

The fighters from the alliance -- also known as the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), now part of Iraq's regular armed forces -- were hit in an US or Israeli strike that targeted their main command centre in Anbar province.

Since the start of the Middle East war, Baghdad has repeatedly denounced attacks on the Hashed al-Shaabi, which also includes brigades belonging to Iran-backed groups.

(AFP)

Almost 120,000 Syrians have returned to their country from neighbouring Lebanon since the latest war erupted between Israel and Hezbollah, according to International Organization for Migration figures provided to AFP on Wednesday.

"As of 17 March, 125,784 people have entered Syria from Lebanon" since the fighting there began, "about 119,000 of whom are Syrians", according to the figures from the UN agency's Displacement Tracking Matrix.

Lebanon - which hosts around one million Syrians who fled their country's civil conflict starting in 2011 - was drawn into the Middle East war on 2 March when Tehran-backed militant group Hezbollah attacked Israel in retaliation for US-Israeli strikes that killed Iran's supreme leader.

Israel has responded with intense strikes on Lebanon and ground operations in the south, where the health ministry said four Syrians were killed on Tuesday.

(AFP)

Iran's President Masoud Pezeskhian on Wednesday confirmed the death of Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib, who Israel earleir said it had killed in a targeted strike.

"The cowardly assassination of my dear colleagues Esmail Khatib, Ali Larijani, and Aziz Nasirzadeh, alongside some of their family members and accompanying team, has left us in deep mourning," Pezeshkian wrote in a post on X.

"I extend my condolences to the great people of Iran for the martyrdom of two cabinet members, the secretary of the Shura, and the military and Basij commanders."

An AFP journalist heard loud blasts over the Tel Aviv area on Wednesday, after the Israeli military said it had detected missiles fired from Iran.

First responders were working at an impact site in Ramat Gan near Tel Aviv shortly afterwards, AFP live footage showed. Israel's Magen David Adom emergency services said there were no initial reports of casualties.

Iranian gas flows to Iraq were halted on Wednesday following an attack on Iran's Pars gas field, a senior Iraqi official told Reuters.

Tehran supplies between a third and 40% of Iraq's gas and power needs.

Iran diverted its gas domestically following the attack, the official added.

The attack was widely reported in Israeli media to have been carried out by Israel with the consent of the United States. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The UN nuclear watchdog said Wednesday that Iranian authorities had reported a projectile impact at the country's only operational nuclear power plant but that it caused no damage.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) "has been informed by Iran that a projectile hit the premises of the Bushehr NPP on Tuesday evening", the Vienna-based agency posted on social media.

"No damage to the plant or injuries to staff reported."

Agency head Rafael Grossi "reiterates his call for restraint during the conflict to avoid any risk of a nuclear accident", the statement said.

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".

Israel and the United States "must refrain from reckless attacks on nuclear infrastructure, which pose a real risk of a regional-scale radiological and environmental disaster," Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a weekly briefing.

(AFP)

Oil prices surged on Wednesday after US-Israeli strikes hit Iranian facilities at a major Gulf gas field, prompting Tehran to call for retaliatory strikes on energy infrastructure.

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.

The strikes hit the South Pars/North Dome mega-field, the largest known gas reserve in the world, supplying around 70 percent of Iran's domestic natural gas.

Iran issued an evacuation warning for several oil facilities across Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar, saying they would be targeted by strikes "in the coming hours", Iranian state media reported on Wednesday.

The warning was directed at Saudi Arabia's Samref Refinery and Jubail Petrochemical Complex, the United Arab Emirates' Al Hosn Gas Field, and Qatar's Mesaieed Petrochemical Complex, Mesaieed Holding Company and Ras Laffan Refinery.

"These centres have become direct and legitimate targets and will be targeted in the coming hours. Therefore, all citizens, residents, and employees are requested to immediately leave these areas and move to a safe distance without any delay," the warning said.

It was issued shortly after Iranian oil facilities in South Pars and Asaluyeh came under attack. Those Israeli strikes were coordinated with the United States, Axios reported a senior Israeli official as saying.

Doha on Wednesday condemned attacks on an Iranian facility on the Gulf coast serving a massive gas field it shares with Qatar.

"Israel's targeting of facilities linked to Iran's South Pars gas field, which represents an extension of Qatar's North Field, is a dangerous and irresponsible step amid the current military escalation in the region," foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari wrote on X.

"Targeting energy infrastructure constitutes a threat to global energy security, to the peoples of the region, and to its environment."

Israel reportedly carried out the attack in "full coordination" with the United States.

Germany and France on Wednesday called for de-escalation of the Middle East war with Germany's top diplomat warning of a "crisis of the gravest order" if global supply chains continue to be disrupted.

"We must try to find a point where the military objectives (the United States and Israel) have set are achieved, and where we can then move towards de-escalation and a cessation of hostilities," German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said.

Otherwise, the region and the whole world could be plunged into "a crisis of the gravest order", Wadephul said.

"The supply of fertiliser from this region alone is so essential that a prolonged disruption would threaten a food crisis across large parts of Africa," he added, also highlighting the "refugee flows" that a prolonged war could cause.

Speaking alongside Wadephul in Berlin, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot also called for "the swiftest possible de-escalation and a cessation of hostilities".

"Military escalation in the region carries with it major risks for our interests, for the safety of our nationals on the ground, but also for our partners and for the global economy," Barrot said.

Wadephul said a change of government in Iran was "desirable" given "the brutality and ruthlessness of this regime" but warned that "this must develop from within the country".

"This will not happen in the short term during wartime," he predicted, warning that "such military interventions have not led to an orderly regime change in either Iraq or Libya".

Russia on Wednesday condemned the killing of Iranian security chief Ali Larijani, after ally Tehran vowed retaliation for the death of the military official killed in an Israeli airstrike.

"We firmly condemn actions aimed at harming the health and, even more, the killing of the leadership of sovereign and independent Iran. We condemn such actions," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in a daily briefing.

China will continue mediating to push for a ceasefire and an end to fighting in the Middle East, its foreign minister said, adding the war should never have happened and had no reason to continue, according to a foreign ministry statement.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi made the remarks on Wednesday during a meeting in Beijing with the UAE presidential special envoy to China, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, in which he also voiced support for the UAE in safeguarding its sovereignty and security.

(Reuters)

A Swedish citizen was executed in Iran on Wednesday, Sweden's foreign minister said in a statement.

"The death penalty is an inhumane, cruel and irreversible punishment. Sweden, together with the rest of the EU, condemns its application in all circumstances," Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said in a statement.

(Reuters)

US-Israeli strikes hit a major Iranian gas facility in the Gulf on Wednesday causing a fire, Iranian state television reported.

"Moments ago, parts of the gas facilities located in the South Pars Special Economic Energy Zone in Asaluyeh were struck by projectiles fired by the American-Zionist enemy," state television reported, citing Ehsan Jahanian, the deputy governor of the southern Bushehr province, where the facility is located.

It added that firefighting teams were dispatched to the scene to contain the fire.

(AFP)

Saudi Arabia will host a consultative meeting of foreign ministers from a number of Arab and Islamic countries in Riyadh on Wednesday to discuss ways to support regional security and stability given the Iran war, the kingdom's foreign ministry said.

A Turkish diplomatic source said separately that representatives from Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Pakistan, Qatar, Syria, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates would attend the meeting.

There are scant signs of de-escalation nearly three weeks into the US-Israeli war with Iran that has engulfed the region and caused unprecedented disruption to global energy supplies.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, who intends to visit other countries after Riyadh, will underline the need for a negotiated and peaceful end to the war, which if continued risks lasting damage to ties between regional countries, the diplomatic source said.

(Reuters)

Some facilities belonging to Iran's oil industry in South Pars and Asaluyeh were attacked on Wednesday, semi-official Tasnim news agency reported, adding that the extent of damage was not yet clear.

Tasnim said petrochemical facilities in South Pars were targeted.

(AFP)

The Israeli military said it planned to strike bridges and crossings over the Litani River in southern Lebanon on Wednesday to disrupt what it said were Hezbollah arms?smuggling routes.

"To prevent the transfer of reinforcements and weapons, the IDF intends to attack crossings on the Litani River starting from this afternoon," the military's Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee said on X.

"For your safety, you must continue moving to the area north of the Zahrani River and refrain from any movement southward, which may endanger your lives."

(AFP)

It is unreasonable to expect the Lebanese government to disarm Iran-backed Hezbollah while the country is being bombed by Israel, France's special envoy for Lebanon said on Wednesday.

Jean-Yves Le Drian said only negotiations would resolve the crisis, in which Lebanese authorities say over 900 people have been killed in Israeli attacks since Hezbollah entered the regional war in support of Tehran.

"Israel occupied Lebanon for a very long time and failed to eradicate Hezbollah's military capacity. Therefore, they cannot now ask the Lebanese government to do that job in three days under bombardment," he told France Info radio.

(Reuters)

Iranian authorities said on Wednesday they had arrested more than 100 alleged "monarchist cells" plotting against the Islamic Republic, along with suspected spies and individuals accused of cooperating with an outlawed television channel.

Forces from the Intelligence Ministry "have identified and arrested 111 monarchist cells across 26 provinces before they could take action on the last Wednesday of the year," the ministry said in a statement carried by Fars news agency.

It was not immediately clear how many individuals were involved in the alleged cells.

The ministry said four suspected spies linked to the United States were arrested in Hamedan city and West Azerbaijan province, both in the country's west.

Authorities also arrested another 21 people accused of cooperating with the London-based broadcaster Iran International, which is outlawed in Iran, it added.

(AFP)

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday that Israeli forces had killed Iran's Minister of Intelligence Esmail Khatib.

"Last night Iran's Intelligence Minister Khatib was also eliminated," Katz said in a statement.

The Kremlin on Wednesday condemned what it called "the murder" of Iran's leaders in US-Israeli airstrikes, a day after Ali Larijani, a senior adviser to Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed in Tehran.

"We unequivocally condemn any actions aimed at harming the health of, or indeed murdering or eliminating, members of the leadership of sovereign and independent Iran, as well as those of other countries. We condemn such actions," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters when asked about Russia's reaction to Larijani's death.

(Reuters and TNA staff)

Hezbollah's Al Manar TV said the director of its political programmes was killed alongside his wife in an Israeli strike on central Beirut on Wednesday.

In a statement, the channel said the "director of political programmes at the channel, Mohammad Sherri and his wife" were killed "in the Zionist raid on the Zuqaq al-Blat area in Beirut".

His children and grandchildren were wounded and hospitalised following the strike, according to Al Manar.

(AFP)

At least four explosions were heard on Wednesday in the city of Erbil in the autonomous Kurdistan region, AFP journalists reported.

It was not immediately clear what the target was. From a suburb of Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan region, AFP journalists saw interceptions of projectiles over the city, which is home to a major US consulate complex, while its airport houses US-led coalition troops.

Iraq was drawn into the Middle East war after having long been a proxy battleground between the United States and Iran.

Strikes have targeted Iran-backed groups, which in turn have claimed daily attacks on US interests in Iraq and across the region.

Since the start of the war, the coalition's air defences have repeatedly downed drones over Erbil.

In the past few days daily explosions have been heard over the city, although mostly in the evening.

(AFP)

An explosion was heard in Baghdad early Wednesday, an AFP journalist said, as Iraqi officials reported a drone and rocket attack targeting the US embassy.

The latest explosion came hours after multiple blasts were heard across the Iraqi capital, where a witness told AFP he saw detonations likely caused by air defences intercepting projectiles over the embassy.

"The embassy was the target of a drone and rocket attack," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Another drone, targeting a US diplomatic and logistics centre at Baghdad's airport, was shot down, according to another security official.

Hours later, an AFP journalist heard another explosion, with a security official saying "a drone directly hit the embassy".

(AFP)

An Israeli strike on Wednesday hit a car in the centre of Sidon, southern Lebanon's largest city, state media reported.

An AFP correspondent at the scene said the strike hit near the city's civil defence headquarters and the seaside road, where many displaced people are sleeping in their cars.

The number of casualties in the strike was not immediately reported.

(AFP and TNA staff)

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will attend a meeting in Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh on Wednesday to discuss regional developments, the foreign ministry said, after having announced he would hold a regional tour to seek an end to the Iran war.

(Reuters)

Israeli strikes on central Beirut on Wednesday morning killed at least 12 people, the Lebanese health ministry said in updated tolls.

The ministry said that the strikes on the Basta and Zuqaq al-Blat neighbourhoods in central Beirut killed at least 12 people and wounded 41.

(AFP)

Iranian authorities have executed a man convicted of spying for Israel, the judiciary said on Wednesday, in the first such execution announced since the war with Israel and the United States broke out.

"The death sentence of a spy for the Zionist regime, who had been providing images and information, about the country's sensitive locations to Mossad officers was carried out this morning," the judiciary's Mizan Online website said.

Mizan identified the man as Kouroush Keyvani and said he was arrested during Iran's 12-day war with Israel in June. The United States briefly joined with strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.

It listed details of his meetings with agents from Israel's Mossad spy agency and said he received training in "six European countries and in Tel Aviv."

(AFP)

Iran vowed to take revenge against the US and Israel on Wednesday as it prepared to hold the funerals of security chief Ali Larijani and the head of the Basij paramilitary force, who were assassinated by Israel earlier this week.

Two people were killed in Israel overnight in a barrage of Iranian missiles near Tel Aviv while new waves of drones and rockets were intercepted by Gulf states.

The funerals for Larijani and Basij head Gholamreza Soleimani will take place in Tehran at 1030 GMT, according to Iranian state media.

Larijani is the most prominent Iranian figure killed by US-Israeli forces since the assassination of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on the opening day of the war on 28 February.

Iran's stance against the development of nuclear weapons won't significantly change, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Al Jazeera in remarks relayed by Iranian media on Wednesday, cautioning that the new supreme leader is yet to publicly express his view on the matter.

Former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed early in the US-Israeli war against Iran, opposed the development of weapons of mass destruction in a fatwa, or religious edict, issued in the early 2000s.

Western countries, including the US and Israel, have for years accused Tehran of seeking nuclear weapons, while Iranian authorities have said their nuclear programme is solely for civilian purposes.

Araghchi said fatwas depend on the Islamic jurist issuing them and added he was not yet in a position to judge the jurisprudential or political views of Mojtaba Khamenei, Iran's new supreme leader.

(Reuters and TNA staff)

About 90 ships including oil tankers have crossed the Strait of Hormuz since the outset of the war with Iran and it is still exporting millions of barrels of oil at a time when the waterway has been effectively closed, according to maritime and trade data platforms.

Many of the vessels that passed through the strait were so-called "dark" transits evading Western government sanctions and oversight that likely have ties to Iran, maritime data firm Lloyd’s List Intelligence said. More recently, vessels with ties to India and Pakistan have also successfully crossed the strait as governments stepped up negotiations.

As crude prices spiked above $100 a barrel, US President Donald Trump pressured allies and trade partners to send warships and reopen the strait, hoping to bring oil prices lower.

Most shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway for global oil and gas transport that supplies roughly one-fifth of the world’s crude oil, has been halted since early March, after the war started. About 20 vessels have been attacked in the area.

However, Iran has still managed to export well above 16 million barrels of oil since the beginning of March, trade data and analytics platform Kpler estimated. Due to Western sanctions and associated risks, China has been the biggest buyer of Iranian oil.

(The Associated Press)

An Iranian missile barrage killed two people near Israel's commercial hub Tel Aviv, medics said Wednesday, with the national railway company announcing shrapnel impact disrupted train services.

Authorities reported that falling munitions had hit multiple sites in central Israel in the overnight barrage that triggered air raid sirens across the area, after another day of heavy Israeli bombardments in Iran and Lebanon.

The latest deaths took the toll from missile attacks on Israel since the start of the Middle East war late last month to 14 people.

Police spokesman Dean Elsdunne said that, according to an initial assessment of the deadly impact, a residential building was hit by a cluster bomb in Ramat Gan, a city just outside Tel Aviv.

(AFP)