X<\/a>, Baghaei described any deliberate targeting of civilian infrastructure as a violation of international humanitarian law and accused Washington of advocating collective punishment.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Despite the strikes and threats, diplomatic activity increased in Tehran.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi arrived in the Iranian capital for his first official visit since taking office after travelling to Washington last week.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian welcomed al-Zaidi at the Saadabad complex before bilateral talks and meetings between senior delegations. Officials said the visit would focus on regional security, economic cooperation and bilateral agreements.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Jordan’s armed forces said air defence units intercepted several Iranian missiles and drones over the past day. Authorities said the interceptions caused no casualties or damage.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Air raid sirens also sounded again in Bahrain, where authorities instructed residents to seek shelter. Kuwait reported damage after drones struck the Al-Abdali border crossing, though officials said no one was injured.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed responsibility for attacks against US military facilities in Jordan and Kuwait, including air defence systems, fuel storage sites and logistics facilities.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Yemen’s Houthi movement claimed responsibility for attacks on two Saudi oil tankers, saying the vessels had breached a blockade announced earlier this week. Saudi Arabia has maintained a blockade on Houthis for several years, preventing the use of harbours and airports in areas of Yemen controlled by the group. Earlier this week, Saudi fighter jets bombarded Sanaa International Airport to prevent an Iranian civilian airliner which was bringing back Houthi representatives participating in Ali Khamenei\u2019s funeral from landing.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Saudi authorities confirmed that one vessel caught fire after an attack but said all crew members escaped unharmed.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The European Union called on the Houthis to halt attacks on commercial shipping, while Pakistan condemned the strikes and reaffirmed support for Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Oman said it was working with Saudi Arabia, Yemeni parties and the United Nations special envoy to revive negotiations aimed at reducing tensions and restoring the political process in Yemen.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In southern Lebanon, the army entered Zawtar al-Gharbiya under a US-brokered plan for Israel to hand over control of selected occupied areas to the Lebanese state.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Troops also patrolled Froun and Ghandouriyeh as displaced residents returned to damaged homes. Some residents and Lebanese security sources questioned the villages\u2019 inclusion in the plan, saying Israeli forces had never occupied them.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Israel still occupies other positions in southern Lebanon and says Hezbollah must disarm before a full withdrawal. The Lebanese government says the army\u2019s deployment forms part of efforts to extend state authority.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Residents returned despite damaged roads, destroyed homes and a lack of water, electricity and phone services, after being forced to leave due to Israeli bombardment.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In Ghandouriyeh, municipal officials said 250 of 260 homes had been destroyed or damaged. Local leaders said the test of the agreement would be whether Israel leaves occupied territory and families return without further attacks.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In the occupied Palestinian territories, violence continued.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Israeli forces shot two Palestinians during operations in Beit Furik after an Israeli settler was stabbed near Nablus, according to Palestinian medical officials and the Israeli military.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In Jerusalem, Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound alongside thousands of Israeli visitors during Tisha B’Av.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Jerusalem Islamic Waqf and Jordan condemned the visit, describing it as a breach of the site’s longstanding status quo.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In Gaza, hospital officials said an Israeli drone strike killed at least one person and injured several others.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The US House of Representatives narrowly approved its version of the National Defense Authorization Act, authorising about $1.15 trillion in military spending for fiscal year 2027.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The measure passed by 216 votes to 212 after debate over the cost of the Iran conflict, defence spending levels and expanded military cooperation with Israel.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Democrats criticised the size of the military budget at a time when the Trump administration is cutting spending on domestic social programmes. They also opposed continued funding for the war against Iran, which the Pentagon says has cost $37.5 billion so far, and objected to provisions that would expand defence technology cooperation with Israel amid concern over their genocidal war in Gaza.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The legislation now moves to the Senate, where negotiations over a final version continue.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
HT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The United States\u00a0has bombed Iran for 12 consecutive nights on Thursday as Tehran warns that the war is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":134675,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[87],"tags":[65356,65357,184,158,113,2446,2271,11228,3126,14361,2375,17960,4174,4344,62,76],"class_list":["post-134674","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-helsinki","tag-ali-al-zaidi","tag-defence-bill","tag-donald-trump","tag-finland","tag-helsinki","tag-houthis","tag-iran","tag-iraq","tag-israel","tag-jordan","tag-marco-rubio","tag-masoud-pezeshkian","tag-middle-east","tag-reuters","tag-saudi-arabia","tag-united-states"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@dk\/116975012874583736","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134674","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=134674"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134674\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/134675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=134674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}