Israel, Hezbollah clash in Lebanon, 2 Iranian Intel officers killed

Israel said on Saturday its air force had struck more than 200 infrastructure sites across western and central Iran in the past day, as a joint U.S.-Israeli campaign against the country entered its third week, reported Xinhua.

The Israeli military said the strikes targeted dozens of ballistic missile launchers, including some loaded and ready to fire, as well as air defense systems, launch pads and weapons storage facilities.

Israel's air force has carried out around 400 sorties over western and central Iran since the campaign began on Feb. 28, the military said, describing the operation as focused on dismantling infrastructure and eliminating personnel linked to missile, defense and production units.

Two senior Iranian intelligence officers were killed in a precision strike in Tehran on Friday, the Israeli military said, identifying them as Abdollah Jalali-Nasab and Amir Shariat, both members of Iran's Khatam al-Anbiya Emergency Command. Iran did not immediately respond to the claim.

More than 1,300 people have been killed in Israeli and American strikes, Iranian officials said.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah fighters clashed directly with Israeli forces in the southern Lebanese border town of Khiam on Saturday night, the militant group said, as Israeli airstrikes killed at least nine people across southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah said its fighters engaged Israeli troops using light and medium weapons and rocket-propelled grenades, with fighting still ongoing at the time of the statement.

Lebanon's official National News Agency reported that Israeli airstrikes killed at least nine people and wounded seven others across southern Lebanon Saturday night.

In the border district of Marjayoun, an airstrike on a house in Qantara killed four members of the Al-Saghir family, including both parents and their two children. In the nearby Nabatieh district, four members of the Al-Souli family died when Israeli warplanes struck a house in Mayfadoun where they had taken refuge after fleeing their home village of al-Taybeh. The dead included two brothers, the wife of one and their child. Five others were wounded. A separate strike in Majdal Selm killed one person and wounded two.

Hezbollah said it carried out multiple retaliatory strikes against Israeli military targets, including rocket barrages near the Khiam detention center and the Metula site. The group also claimed to have destroyed an Israeli tank with a guided missile near al-Taybeh and launched a drone attack on a maintenance facility south of Haifa.

The fighting marks a sharp escalation since Hezbollah fired rockets toward Israel on March 2 -- its first since a ceasefire took effect Nov. 27, 2024 -- prompting an Israeli military campaign of airstrikes across southern and eastern Lebanon and Beirut's southern suburbs.

Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump said Saturday on social media that "many countries" would send warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, without offering any details.

"Many Countries, especially those who are affected by Iran's attempted closure of the Hormuz Strait, will be sending War Ships, in conjunction with the United States of America, to keep the Strait open and safe," he wrote in a post on Truth Social.

He added that "the United States will be bombing the hell out of the shoreline, and continually shooting Iranian Boats and Ships out of the water. One way or the other, we will soon get the Hormuz Strait OPEN, SAFE, and FREE!"

The U.S. president told reporters on Friday that his country's Navy will soon start escorting tankers through the strait. "It'll happen soon, very soon," he said.

Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei on Thursday called for the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a shipping route carrying one-fifth of oil consumed globally, and pledged to open new fronts in his country's conflict with the United States and Israel.

The U.S. forces "executed a large-scale precision strike" on Kharg Island, a key oil export hub of Iran, on Friday night, the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) claimed on Saturday.

"U.S. forces successfully struck more than 90 Iranian military targets on Kharg Island, while preserving the oil infrastructure," CENTCOM said in a post on X.

The strike destroyed naval mine storage facilities, missile storage bunkers, and multiple other military sites, the post said.

Kharg Island lies in the Persian Gulf about 25 km off Iran's coast and accounts for about 90 percent of Iran's crude exports.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Friday night on social media that the bombing "totally obliterated" the military targets in Kharg Island, and threatened to target the strategic island's oil infrastructure if shipping through the Strait of Hormuz is disrupted.

In response, Seyed Abbas Araghchi, Iran's foreign minister, warned Saturday that any attack on Iran's oil and energy infrastructure would trigger retaliation against regional facilities linked to U.S. companies.

Hormuz not closed but under Iran's control: IRGC

The Strait of Hormuz, a key global oil shipping route, remains open and under Iranian control, a senior Iranian commander said on Saturday, amid rising tensions with the United States and its allies.

Alireza Tangsiri, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy, said in a statement that claims by the United States about destroying Iran's navy or providing safe escort for oil tankers were false, Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.

"The Strait of Hormuz has not been militarily blocked and is merely under control," the statement said.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi echoed the message, telling U.S. media that the strait remained open for international shipping except for vessels belonging to the United States, Israel, and their allies.

"The Strait of Hormuz is open. It is only closed to the tankers and ships belonging to our enemies, to those who are attacking us and their allies. Others are free to pass," Araghchi said.

The Strait of Hormuz is a strategic chokepoint through which roughly one-fifth of the world's oil passes. In his first message as Iran's supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei pledged to maintain leverage over the Strait of Hormuz.

12 medical workers killed in Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon

Twelve medical workers, including doctors, nurses, and rescuers, were killed early Saturday when an Israeli airstrike struck a primary healthcare center in the southern Lebanese town of Burj Qalaouiyeh, Lebanon's Health Ministry said.

The ministry said the victims were on duty at the center when the strike hit the facility, which is part of the country's primary healthcare network. One health worker was also wounded in the attack, while search and rescue operations were continuing to look for possible missing persons.

The ministry condemned the strike, describing it as an attack on a healthcare facility affiliated with its nationwide primary healthcare system. It also denounced what it called repeated violence against medical workers, saying such actions contradict international humanitarian law.

The ministry added that the attack was the second against medical personnel within a few hours, following an earlier strike that targeted rescuers in the town of al-Sawana.

The airstrike on Burj Qalaouiyeh was part of a wave of Israeli attacks across Lebanon early Saturday that left at least 20 people dead and others wounded, according to Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA).

Moreover, fierce clashes erupted between Hezbollah fighters and Israeli forces along the Maroun al-Ras, Bint Jbeil, and Aita al-Shaab axes. Hezbollah's armed wing -- the Islamic Resistance -- announced that it had launched multiple military operations, including rocket and suicide drone attacks on Israeli positions in the Ya'ara settlement, Khiam, and other locations.

This escalation follows Hezbollah's first rocket launch on March 2 since a ceasefire in November 2024, prompting Israeli airstrikes on southern and eastern Lebanon, as well as Beirut's southern suburbs.

13 US service members killed in conflict with Iran

Thirteen U.S. service members have been killed after two weeks of conflict with Iran, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing a U.S. official.

Ten others have been seriously wounded and about 200 injured, the report said, adding that roughly 170 of the injured have returned to duty.

Among the fatalities, six were killed in a strike on Kuwait. Another service member, who was wounded in an attack at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia on March 1, died from his injuries seven days later, the Pentagon said.

Another six crew members aboard a U.S. KC-135 refueling aircraft that went down in western Iraq on Thursday were confirmed dead, the U.S. Central Command said Friday.

The aircraft was lost while flying over friendly airspace on Thursday during Operation Epic Fury, the command said on X.

Iran's United Nations (UN) ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani said Wednesday that more than 1,348 civilians have been killed and over 17,000 injured since the start of the attacks carried out by Israel and the United States against his country.

Drones strike Kuwait airport, damage radar system

Several drones struck Kuwait International Airport on Saturday, damaging its radar system but causing no injuries, the country's civil aviation authority said.

"Kuwait International Airport was targeted this evening by several drones, which damaged the airport's radar system," Abdullah Al-Rajhi, spokesperson for Kuwait's Directorate General of Civil Aviation, said in a statement on X.

Authorities did not immediately identify the origin of the drones or provide details on the extent of the damage. The civil aviation authority said the situation was handled according to the airport's emergency response plan, activated at the start of the regional crisis.

The attack comes amid escalating tensions following joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran that began Feb. 28. Iran has since responded with missile and drone attacks targeting Israeli and U.S. assets across the Middle East.

Drone attack hit UAE consulate in Iraq

A drone struck the United Arab Emirates consulate in Erbil on Saturday, wounding two security guards and damaging the building, a security source said.

The attack hit the capital of Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdistan region. The Kurdistan regional presidency strongly condemned the strike.

In a separate incident, an airstrike hit the headquarters of the 52nd Brigade of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) in Salahuddin province, killing four members and wounding three others, a provincial police source said. The strike ignited ammunition depots, triggering explosions that lasted more than two hours and caused extensive damage.

The attacks follow a wave of violence that has killed dozens of PMF members in recent days, which the group has blamed on U.S.-Israeli operations.

Saturday's incidents came amid heightened regional tensions following joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran beginning Feb. 28. Iran has since responded with attacks on Israeli and U.S. interests across the Middle East.