Netanyahu orders new West Bank settler outposts after deadly clash
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said his government will establish new settler outposts in the occupied West Bank and legalise more existing ones, after a deadly clash left one Israeli and four Palestinians dead.
In a joint statement with Defence Minister Israel Katz, Netanyahu and announced "a series of steps" including raids in Palestinian villages suspected of hosting militants and "accelerating the legalisation of farm outposts and establishment of new ones".
All the settlements are illegal under international law.
EU imposes new ‘restrictive measures’ on Iranian judges, leading cyber figure
The EU has imposed new “restrictive measures” on Iranian judges and a leading figure of a pro-regime cyber group, the bloc’s foreign policy chief has announced.
“Today, the EU imposed new restrictive measures on Iranian judges responsible for serious human rights violations, including the persecution of political dissidents and religious minorities,” EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on X.
“We also sanctioned a leading figure of a cyber group who enabled the regime’s repression of information. As Tehran intensifies its domestic crackdown, the EU will continue to hold those responsible to account. who enabled the regime’s repression of information,” she added.
Jordan downs seven Iranian missiles and six drones, state TV reports
Jordan’s army says it downed seven Iranian missiles and six drones, Jordanian state TV reports.
Earlier today, the Iranian army claimed drone attacks against Jordan targeted "aircraft hangars, aviation maintenance hangars and a barracks" at the Al-Azraq base.
🎥 Oil prices surge above $100 a barrel for first time since May
Global oil prices have surged once again as tensions in the Middle East continue to escalate. Brent crude has climbed above $100 a barrel for the first time since May.
While much of the focus has been on the strategic Strait of Hormuz, shipping through the Red Sea is also coming under growing threat after Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels said they targeted two Saudi oil tankers.
The escalation comes as Donald Trump said he was considering a "massive attack" on Iran, prompting Tehran to warn it would hold accountable any country supporting a US strike.
the broadcaster's Peter O'Brien reports.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards say they targeted a base in Kuwait and a US observation tower in Bahrain
Iran's Revolutionary Guards warn civilians to stay away from US forces in region
Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned civilians in the Middle East to stay away from US forces, state media reported.
"We warn the general public in countries where American soldiers are stationed to immediately stay out of a radius of 500 metres from the places where American soldiers are hiding, in order to be safe," the Guards said in a statement carried by state TV.
UN urges evacuation of 6,000 sailors stranded in Strait of Hormuz
The United Nations urged countries involved in the Middle East war to help evacuate and repatriate some 6,000 sailors stranded in the Strait of Hormuz.
UN human rights chief Volker Turk called for urgent action to remedy the plight of thousands of stranded seafarers, who are facing "a dire humanitarian and human rights crisis" in the waterway, his spokeswoman Shabia Mantoo said.
The International Maritime Organization has said there are at least 6,000 seafarers on hundreds of vessels who are stranded in the strait, unable to evacuate during the ceasefire.
Drone crash near Erbil International Airport prompts temporary suspension of flights, sources say
A drone crashed near Erbil International Airport, prompting a temporary suspension of flights, two security sources told Reuters.
No casualties were immediately reported, while a fire at the site was being brought under control.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards say they targeted an Amazon data centre in Bahrain
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they targeted a data centre in Bahrain belonging to US tech giant Amazon, state media reported.
The forces "targeted and destroyed the intelligence data centre building of the American company Amazon, which plays a major role in completing information for the American child-killing army", they said in a statement aired by state TV.
Neither Amazon nor Bahraini authorities have commented so far on Iran's claims.
The Guards – the ideological arm of the military – had also said on Wednesday that they targeted the data centre.
Tehran maintains that any facility or base in the Middle East that the US military uses for strikes on Iran is considered a legitimate target for retaliatory attacks.
Bahrain activates sirens warning of missile fire for second time on Tuesday
Iran's army says it launched another wave of drone attacks against US military facilities in Kuwait
AP journalist hears at least seven explosions and sees fires burning near a military base hosting US forces in Erbil
Explosions, smoke near Iraq's Erbil airport correspondent reports
Several blasts sounded near Erbil airport, which hosts US-led coalition troops in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, an AFP journalist said.
Explosions were heard after air defences were activated, according to the journalist who also saw drones hovering over the city and smoke rising in the airport area.
Since hostilities resumed in the Middle East, drones have repeatedly been intercepted over Erbil, which is also home to a major US consulate complex.
Iran says US attacks Revolutionary Guards base in country's north
Iranian authorities said that the US struck a Revolutionary Guards' base in the northern province of Gilan, state media reported.
"This morning, an IRGC naval forces headquarters in Zibakenar was targeted by American enemy projectiles, which damaged some of the equipment in the complex," said Ali Bagheri, deputy governor for the province, quoted by the official IRNA news agency.
Iran warns countries against assisting in US attacks
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that Iran would hold accountable any country assisting the United States in an attack on the Islamic Republic.
"Any participation, cooperation or assistance in committing aggression against Iran will create international responsibility for the relevant parties," Araghchi said at a meeting in Kyrgyzstan, adding that Iran "reserves its right to take all necessary measures within the framework of self-defence".
Iran says US attack on southwest kills at least four people
An overnight US attack on Iran's southwestern province of Khuzestan killed at least four people and wounded several others, Iranian state media reported.
"Following the missile attack by the terrorist US enemy on areas around the city of Ahvaz, four of our compatriots were martyred and five others were injured," Valiollah Hayati, deputy governor of the province, was quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency.
Iran army says it attacked US military facilities at Jordan's al-Azraq base and Bahrain's Sheikh Isa air base
Iran's army said it carried out drone strikes against several American military facilities and bases in Bahrain and Jordan in retaliation for the latest US attacks against the Islamic Republic.
"This morning, the fuel tanks, large equipment warehouses and silos and the barracks of the US terrorist army forces at the Isa Air Base in Bahrain were targeted by Arash kamikaze drones," the army said in a statement carried by state TV.
An AFP journalist in Bahrain reported an explosion and the sounding of warning sirens in the country on Friday morning, though it was not immediately clear if the two events were linked.
The Iranian army also claimed drone attacks against Jordan, targeting "aircraft hangars, aviation maintenance hangars and a barracks" at al-Azraq base.
Jordan has not reported any strikes in the past few hours.
Tehran argues that any facility or base in the Middle East that the US military uses for strikes on Iran is considered a legitimate target for retaliation.
Air raid sirens sounds in Bahrain, interior ministry says
Iran calls Trump's asset seizure threat an 'incendiary precedent'
Tehran said on Friday that US President Donald Trump's threat to use frozen Iranian assets to pay for damage to ships and cargo was an "incendiary precedent".
"Seizing another nation's assets to pay for unrelated future claims is an incendiary precedent," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi posted on X.
Yesterday's key developments:
• US President Donald Trump said the United States would hold Iran responsible for attacks on Saudi oil tankers in the Red Sea by Houthi rebels, which sent oil prices soaring.
• The US House narrowly passed a resolution to halt US military action in Iran, sending a warning to President Trump for the second time as the future of the conflict remains uncertain and has already cost the US $37.5 billion.
• Trump set a new condition to a US-Saudi nuclear deal signed the previous day by insisting the agreement was "totally subject to" the Gulf kingdom joining the Abraham Accords and normalising relations with Israel.
