US Iran war news LIVE updates: Iranian drones, missiles target Kuwait, Saudi; loud blasts near US Embassy in Oslo

US Iran war news LIVE updates: The widening conflict in the Middle East region saw fresh warnings from US President Donald Trump, who warned that Iran will be “hit very hard today”. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel would continue its war with Iran “with all our force” as part of a “systemic plan to eradicate the Iranian regime”.

The “moment of truth” was coming for the Iranian people, Netanyahu said. He further stated that the US and Israeli air strikes had secured “almost complete control of the airspace” over Tehran.

Meanwhile, Tehran has continued retaliatory strikes, with Kuwait saying it intercepted three three ballistic missiles, and Saudi Arabia downing three more drones near Riyadh.

Early on Sunday, a loud blast was heard near the US embassy in Oslo, Reuters reported citing Norwegian police. It was not immediately clear what caused the blast or who was involved, the Oslo police department said in a statement. “The police are in a dialogue with the embassy and there are no reports of any injured persons,” the statement said.

On the other hand, an Israeli strike on a hotel in central Beirut killed at least four people and injured ten others on Sunday, as Israel said that it targeted Iranian commanders operating in the Lebanese capital.

Tehran oil facility in flames after Netanyahu’s ‘many surprises’ warning

The US and Israel late on Saturday targeted oil facilities in Iran, in a first since the conflict began last week. Flames were seen above an oil storage facility in Tehran as Israeli PM Netanyahu vowed of “many surprises” for the next phase of the conflict.

Israeli military confirmed the strike on the fuel storage facilities in Tehran, with a video accessed by the Associated Press showing the horizon glowing against the night sky in Tehran.

Israel says targeted Iran-linked commanders in Lebanon

Israel has continued its strikes on Lebanon, which was drawn into the conflict after Iran-backed Hezbollah launched attacks against Israel after the killing of Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in joint US-Israeli strikes.

In a statement Sunday morning, the Israeli military said it targeted commanders of the Lebanese branch of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards’ Quds Force, AP reported.

Iran targets US Embassies in Gulf

Meanwhile, Iran is targeting embassies and diplomatic missions of the US in Gulf countries. A drone attack targeted Riyadh’s Diplomatic Quarter where the US Embassy and other foreign missions are located, the Saudi defense ministry said.

Apart from explosions in Oslo, the near the US embassyn Iraq’s Baghdad was hit by Katyusha rockets, Reuters reported, citing security sources.

‘We’re not looking to settle’: Trump

US President Trump said Saturday that the US has leverage over Iran and would not negotiate with the remaining Iranian leadership. “We’re not looking to settle,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One. “They’d like to settle. We’re not looking to settle,” he said, according to the AP report.

US special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff said that Iran had not seemed “very amenable” during negotiations before US and Israel launched strikes last week. “They told me and Jared, we’re not going to give you diplomatically what you couldn’t take militarily,” Witkoff said.

Flights diverted, strikes on Gulf countries continue | Latest developments in conflict

• Several airstrikes shook neighborhoods in Tehran’s east and southwest, with the Israeli military confirming a new wave of strikes in Iran’s capital city and other areas.

• Iran, too, fired more missiles toward Israel. The Israeli military has ordered residents across the country, including Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, to seek cover in shelters. Residents of northern Israel headed to shelters after air raid sirens sounded in the early hours of Sunday.

• Flights headed to the Saudi capital of Riyadh were diverted or are returning to their points of origin in the early hours of Sunday, according to data from Flightradar24. This came after the Saudi Defense Ministry said it was responding to drone attacks on Riyadh.

• Irbil International Airport in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region was targeted by a drone, killing one security personnel and wounding another person, AP cited the local governor as saying.

• Iran also struck a facility near a seaport in Bahrain, damaging shops and injuring one person. Bahrain’s Ministry of Interior said missile fragments fell onto a road in Manama, injuring one person and causing damage to several shops.

• Multiple sites were struck in Sulaymaniyah in Iraq’s northern Kurdish region, with one person killed in the attacks, AP cited an official with one of the Kurdish Iranian dissident groups as saying.

• Sirens sounded several times across the UAE on Saturday, with the Dubai media office saying Saturday that falling shrapnel from interception of projectiles had caused minor damage to the facade of a tower in Dubai Marina.

• The death toll in Iran has mounted to 1,300 since the start of the conflict last week, Al Jazeera reported. Israeli strikes in Lebanon since Monday have killed at least 294 people, the country’s health ministry said. Another 1,023 in Lebanon have been wounded in the attacks.

…Read More