US & ‘Israel’ at war with Iran | Day 15 coverage

South Korea said on Sunday it was paying close attention to US President Donald Trump's call for Seoul and other countries to send warships to help protect oil supplies passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

"We are closely monitoring President Trump's remarks on social media and will carefully consider the matter in close consultation with the United States," a presidential official told AFP.

'Israeli' security official told Channel 13 that authorities are monitoring the disappearance of Iranian leader Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

The official claimed that there is no certainty regarding his current status or whether he is alive.

Police have arrested three people in Kuwait for using camera drones, authorities said on Saturday, after the country warned against filming and spreading information about Iranian strikes.

"Three people were arrested for using aerial camera drones in violation of warnings and instructions," the government's communications center said.

The Bahrain Ministry of Interior announced that warning sirens were activated across the kingdom, urging residents to immediately head to the nearest safe location.

The Kuwait Directorate General of Civil Aviation said Kuwait International Airport was targeted by drones that struck the airport’s radar system.

No injuries were reported.

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it launched the 50th wave of attacks targeting several United States military facilities in the Gulf region.

According to the statement, the attacks targeted US bases in Al Dhafra, Fujairah, Al Juffair, and the Fifth Fleet.

US President Donald Trump said multiple countries may deploy naval forces alongside the United States to keep the Strait of Hormuz open amid tensions with Iran.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said nations affected by potential disruptions to the strategic waterway, including China, France, Japan, South Korea, and the United Kingdom, could send warships to help secure shipping routes.

He added that US forces would continue operations to ensure the strait remains “open, safe, and free.”

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps launched its 49th wave of missiles as part of Operation True Promise 4.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi criticized the United States for seeking help from other countries, including China, to secure the Strait of Hormuz.

Speaking to the media, Araghchi said the US security umbrella contains significant gaps, which he claimed encourage regional problems rather than deter them.

He described Washington’s reliance on international support as a sign of weakness and an ineffective approach to maintaining stability in the strategic waterway.

A strike by United States and ‘Israel’ forces hit a factory in the central Iranian city of Isfahan, killing at least 15 people, Iranian state media reported Saturday.

The attack struck a plant that produced heating and cooling equipment while it was operating on a regular workday, according to the semi‑official Fars news agency.

The Kuwait Army reported that its air defense systems are currently responding to hostile missile and drone attacks.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces clarified that any explosion sounds heard are the result of interceptions by air defense systems.

Authorities urged residents to follow all safety and security instructions issued by relevant officials.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced it launched a fresh wave of missile strikes targeting central and northern ‘Israel’, including areas near Jerusalem, hours after the 'Israeli' military carried out air operations against Iranian targets.

The Bahrain Defence Force announced on Saturday that its air defense systems have successfully intercepted and destroyed 124 missiles and 203 drones since the start of Iranian attacks on the kingdom.

According to the Bahrain News Agency, the attacks involved ballistic missiles and drones targeting civilian areas and private property.

The Defence Force described these strikes as a blatant violation of international humanitarian law and the United Nations Charter, warning that the indiscriminate attacks pose a direct threat to regional peace and security.

Earlier reports indicated that Bahrain had already intercepted 112 missiles and 186 Iranian drones targeting the country, highlighting the ongoing escalation in the region.

Iranian state television reported that intelligence units of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps detained 33 individuals in Tehran and Hamedan. The suspects were allegedly gathering photographs of military installations.

Authorities said the arrests were part of ongoing security operations to prevent espionage and protect sensitive sites amid heightened regional tensions.

Iranian media reported that air defenses were activated over parts of central Tehran amid ongoing regional tensions. Local reports indicated that strikes targeted Isfahan province in central Iran.

Meanwhile, the 'Israeli' Home Front Command confirmed that sirens sounded in Safed and surrounding areas in the Upper Galilee region of northern 'Israel', signaling incoming threats.

Missile shrapnel was seen in the Kherbet Al-Souk area of Amman during ongoing regional tensions.

Residents reported explosions before debris was spotted on the ground.

Jordan sounds the all-clear sirens signaling an end to the warning period.

An aircraft from Russia delivered more than 13 tons of medical supplies intended for Iran, with the cargo first arriving in Azerbaijan for transfer to Iranian authorities.

The shipment was carried by an Ilyushin Il‑76 transport plane and includes medicines and medical equipment that will be transported across the border by trucks for distribution inside Iran.

The Russian Embassy in Kenya reported that Russia was the first country to send humanitarian aid to Iran. However, Azerbaijan had actually dispatched aid four days earlier, providing food and medical supplies ahead of Russia’s shipment.

Aid to Iran

Earlier, Ilham Aliyev, President of Azerbaijan, had ordered the dispatch of humanitarian aid to Iran amid the ongoing war involving the United States and 'Israel'.

According to the Azerbaijani state news agency APA News Agency, the shipment included 10 tons of flour, six tons of rice, 2.4 tons of sugar, more than four tons of water, about 600 kilograms of tea, and roughly two tons of medicines and medical supplies.

Authorities in Jordan activate sirens to alert residents amid regional tensions.

US President Donald Trump said Saturday that four of five US refueling aircraft targeted in an attack on a base in Saudi Arabia sustained “virtually no damage” and have already returned to service.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump said, “Four of the five had virtually no damage and are already back in service. One had slightly more damage, but will be in the air shortly.”

Trump also criticized media reports which said Iranian strikes damaged five US Air Force refueling planes on the ground at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia.

All-clear sirens sound across Jordan

Explosions rang out over Jerusalem on Saturday, AFP reporters heard, shortly after the ‘Israeli’ military warned that it had detected incoming missiles from Iran.

As the Middle East war triggered by US-‘Israeli’ strikes on Tehran entered its third week, the military said its "defence system is operating to intercept the threat".

Sirens activated in Jordan amid danger 

The UAE slammed the targeting of its consulate in Iraqi Kurdistan for the second time in a week, the foreign affairs ministry said in a statement Saturday.

"The United Arab Emirates expressed its strong condemnation and denunciation of the treacherous terrorist attack by a drone, which targeted the UAE Consulate General in Iraqi Kurdistan, for the second time in a week, and resulted in the injury of two security personnel and caused damage to the consulate building," it said.

More footage of smoke rising from a major oil facility in the United Arab Emirates, as the result of an Iranian drone strike against oil infrastructure in the Gulf.

Dark plumes of smoke are seen rising from Fujairah, home to a major port where Iranian attacks have previously targeted an oil depot and a commercial platform.

An oil export terminal is also located there, and Bloomberg said in a report that some oil loading operations at the port stopped due to the attack.

The Iranian state television said Saturday that the 49th wave of Operation True Promise 4 has been carried out targeting American and ‘Israeli’ sites in the region.

Two Indian-flagged tankers carrying liquefied petroleum gas bound for ports in the country's west crossed the Strait of Hormuz, the South Asian country's shipping ministry said Saturday.

"They crossed the Strait of Hormuz early morning safely and are en route to India," Rajesh Kumar Sinha, special secretary of the ministry of ports, shipping and waterways, said at a news briefing in New Delhi.

Tehran has largely halted traffic through the key sea route, that normally carries one fifth of global oil supplies, since the United States and ‘Israel’ launched an attack on Iran last month.

‘Israel's’ Defence Minister Israel Katz said Saturday the war with Tehran was entering a "decisive phase", praising US strikes on what Washington called military targets on Iran's Kharg Island oil export hub.

"The global and regional struggle against Iran, led by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is escalating and entering the decisive phase that will continue as long as necessary," Katz told military top brass in a televised statement.

The ‘Israeli’ Home Front Command activated its sirens after detecting missiles launched from Iran towards Eilat, the Negev, and southern ‘Israel’

French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday said Lebanon was ready to engage in "direct talks" with ‘Israel’ and offered to host negotiations in Paris.

"The Lebanese government has signalled its willingness to engage in direct talks with Israel," he said on X.

"France is ready to facilitate these talks by hosting them in Paris," Macron said, adding he had spoken to the president and prime minister of Lebanon.

President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday said he had expressed gratitude to the Iraqi prime minister for taking measures to protect French forces, after a drone strike killed a French soldier in Iraq's Kurdistan region.

"Yesterday, I spoke with the Iraqi prime minister, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani," Macron said on X.

"I thank him for his commitment to getting to the bottom of this attack and to strengthening measures to protect our forces, who are present in Iraq to fight, alongside the Iraqis, against the scourge of terrorism."

Iran's military warned Saturday that it considers ports in the United Arab Emirates to be legitimate targets and urged residents to avoid them, in a statement carried by state TV.

Tehran "considers it its legitimate right to defend its national sovereignty and territory by striking American enemy missiles located in ports, docks and US military hideouts" in the UAE, the military's central operational command, Khatam Al-Anbiya, said.

The statement urged civilians to "evacuate" port areas.

The Iranian army said in a military statement that it had carried out a series of “intensive aerial attacks” since dawn Saturday targeting key ‘Israeli’ sites.

The statement said the operation was conducted using attack drones and focused primarily on striking units and cyber centers responsible for managing ‘Israel’s’ technical and intelligence operations.

Videos on social media purportedly show massive plumes of smoke rising from the oil storage facilities following an Iranian drones attack on the Port of Fujairah

According to Bloomberg, the strike led to the suspension of some oil loading operations at the port, which is a critical global energy hub located just outside the Strait of Hormuz.

• A drone attack triggered a fire at the Port of Fujairah, forcing the suspension of some oil loading operations at the UAE's strategic bypass hub, according to Bloomberg.
• The strike follows US attacks on Iran’s Kharg Island and fulfills Iranian threats to target regional US-linked energy infrastructure in response to hits on their own facilities.

Some oil loading operations at the Port of Fujairah, situated in the United Arab Emirates just outside the Strait of Hormuz, were suspended on Saturday morning after a drone attack triggered a fire, according to individuals familiar with the situation speaking to “Bloomberg”.

The sources, who declined to be identified as they lack authorization to speak to the media, reported the incident without providing further specifics on the scale of the disruption or damage sustained.

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and the Port of Fujairah have not issued immediate responses to inquiries.

Video shared by the Saudi Ministry of Defense showing operations by the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) in response to a series of Iranian missile and drone strikes targeting the kingdom.

The Saudi MoD said that its air forces intercepted dozens of drones (including waves of 12 and 28) entering Saudi airspace, since the start of the US and ‘Israeli’ war on Iran.

The video features the Saudi Air Force signature jet, the F-15SA Eagle, in addition to Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets, C-130 Hercules transport aircraft, and Airbus A330 MRTT aerial refuelers.

The Saudi Ministry of Defense said Saturday its forces intercepted and destroyed a drone in the eastern region of the kingdom, without adding more details.

This is the 3rd drone intercepted in the last four hours, according to the Saudi MoD statements.

No oil infrastructure was damaged in US strikes on Kharg Island, Iranian media reported on Saturday.

Fars news agency, citing sources on the ground, reported there had been no damage to oil facilities after President Donald Trump said US bombardment of the island had destroyed military targets.

Trump had threatened in a social media post to target oil infrastructure on the island, a crucial hub for Iran, if Tehran continued to block the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

Palestinian movement Hamas on Saturday called on Iran to refrain from targeting neighbouring countries, while affirming Tehran's right to defend itself against ‘Israel’ and the United States.

"While affirming the right of the Islamic Republic of Iran to respond to this aggression by all available means in accordance with international norms and laws, the movement calls on the brothers in Iran to avoid targeting neighbouring countries," Hamas said in a statement.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meets with Iranian crown prince in exile Reza Pahlavi in Paris.

Pahlavi, the son of the shah deposed by the 1979 Islamic revolution, and who cheered on the January protests in Iran from his US exile, has presented himself as a possible transitional leader for Iran were the Islamic Republic to fall.

The ‘Israeli’ army told people in an industrial zone in the west of Iran's northern city of Tabriz to leave ahead of military operations on Saturday.

"Urgent warning to all people located in the industrial area west of Tabriz," the ‘Israeli’ military posted on X, adding it would "continue to operate in the area in the coming hours".

Internet shutdowns in Iran since US-‘Israeli’ strikes late last month triggered a war in the Middle East meant that residents were unlikely to be able to access online evacuation warnings.

US President Donald Trump said Friday that Iran has been "totally defeated" in the US-'Israeli' military campaign against the country and wanted a deal he would not accept, despite Iranian officials pledging to continue the fight.

"The Fake News Media hates to report how well the United States Military has done against Iran, which is totally defeated and wants a deal - But not a deal that I would accept!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, without elaborating.

A drone struck the US embassy in Baghdad on Saturday, an Iraqi security official said, as smoke was seen rising from the complex.

"A drone hit the embassy," the official said, with a second security source confirming that an attack had targeted the diplomatic mission.

The attack took place shortly after two Iran-backed fighters were killed in strikes on Iraq's capital, according to several sources.

Dubai Government Media Office says authorities have concluded response to an incident caused by falling debris from a successful interception that struck a building facade in central Dubai.

Qatar’s Ministry of Defense says the armed forces intercepted a missile attack targeting the country.

Saudi defense spokesperson reports that a drone was successfully intercepted and destroyed in the Al Jawf region.

Iran's armed forces threatened on Saturday to destroy US-linked oil infrastructure after President Donald Trump said the United States had bombed Iran's oil hub Kharg Island.

The military's Al-Anbiya Central Headquarters said in a statement cited by Iranian media that oil and energy infrastructure belonging to firms that cooperated with the United States would "immediately be destroyed and turned into a pile of ashes" if Iran's energy facilities were attacked.

A missile struck a house used by the powerful Iran-backed group Kataeb Hezbollah in Iraq's capital Baghdad on Saturday, killing one person and wounding two others, a security source told AFP.

"At 02:15 am (1115 GMT Friday), a missile struck a house that was being used by Kataeb Hezbollah," said the security source, adding that "a key figure was martyred," and two members of the group were wounded.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard launches wave 48 of Operation True Promise 4, targeting Galilee, Golan, Haifa, and regional US bases with drones and Qadr and Kheibar Shekan missiles.

The 'Israeli' military says missiles have been detected from Iran targeting multiple northern Occupied regions, including Haifa, Nazareth, the Galilee, and the Golan Heights.

Five drones were successfully intercepted and destroyed over the eastern province of Saudi Arabia, according to officials.

An Iraqi security source reports a drone fell on a residential home in Baghdad as explosions shook the capital.

Iranian television reports that Iranian forces have so far struck 16 vessels in the strategic Strait of Hormuz amid ongoing tensions.

President Donald Trump said Friday that the US military had heavily bombed military targets on Iran's Kharg Island, which handles almost all of Iran's crude exports, and threatened to hit the island's oil infrastructure.

"The United States Central Command executed one of the most powerful bombing raids in the History of the Middle East, and totally obliterated every MILITARY target in Iran's crown jewel, Kharg Island," Trump said on social media.

"I have chosen NOT to wipe out the Oil Infrastructure on the Island. However, should Iran, or anyone else, do anything to interfere with the Free and Safe Passage of Ships through the Strait of Hormuz, I will immediately reconsider."

On Friday, Donald Trump said that the U.S. Navy will begin “very soon” escorting oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, the vital waterway through which 20% of the world’s oil and gas passes, and which Iran is currently blocking.

In response to a question about when the U.S. Navy would start escorting tankers through the strait to protect them from attacks, Trump said, “Soon, very soon.”

Tehran is targeting the Strait of Hormuz in response to 'Israeli'-U.S. strikes, aiming to make it impassable, a strategy intended to disrupt the global economy and pressure

The Ministry of Defense of Qatar announced that its armed forces successfully intercepted a missile targeting the country, ensuring public safety.

Iran launched a fresh round of missiles towards 'Israel', state media reported just after midnight on Saturday in Tehran.

Around the same time, the 'Israeli' military said in a statement that it had identified missiles fired from Iran, adding: "Defensive systems are operating to intercept the threat."

Authorities are temporarily evacuating specific areas to ensure public safety.

All-clear sirens sound across Jordan after security alert