Israel strikes key military sites in Tehran, Iran´s bombs hit near Israel military HQ

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday that Iran has 48 hours to strike a deal on opening up the Strait of Hormuz or face "Hell," reported Xinhua.

"Remember when I gave Iran ten days to MAKE A DEAL or OPEN UP THE HORMUZ STRAIT," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. "Time is running out -- 48 hours before all Hell will reign (sic) down on them," Trump said.

On March 21, Trump threatened to "hit and obliterate" Iranian power plants if the country fails to fully open the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours.

Two days later, however, he postponed strikes on power plants for five days after holding "productive conversations" with Tehran. He later again pushed the deadline back.

Meanwhile, two bombs from a cluster missile launched from Iran fell around Saturday noon near the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv, Israel's state-owned Kan TV News and other media outlets reported.

The bombs hit a parking lot and a school near the base, causing damage but no injuries, according to the reports.

Iran launched two missile barrages at central Israel on Saturday, triggering air raid sirens across wide areas and sending millions to shelters.

As a result, four people were slightly injured and several cities in the Tel Aviv Metropolitan Area sustained heavy damage, according to Israel's national emergency service Magen David Adom.

The development came amid heightened regional tensions following joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran that began on Feb. 28. Iran has responded with missile and drone attacks on Israel and U.S. interests in regional countries.

The Iranian military has launched a fresh wave of drone attacks against United States military installations in the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, as reported by the state broadcaster Press TV, said ANI.

These operations mark a further escalation as the conflict between the Islamic Republic and the US-Israeli alliance enters its sixth week.

In an official statement released on Saturday, the army confirmed that its forces deployed Arash 2 drones to strike a radar system designed for the detection and identification of missiles and combat drones.

The offensive also targeted the UAE's aluminium industry, which Tehran identifies as a critical component of regional military logistics.

According to Press TV, the drone campaign extended into Kuwait, where the Iranian military targeted US command headquarters overseeing mechanised, armoured and helicopter divisions.

The army noted that several Arab media organisations had already documented reports of explosions occurring within both Kuwait and the UAE following the strikes.

The military justification for the selection of these specific targets rests on the claim that the United States and Israel have made "considerable" financial investments in the Emirati aluminium sector.

Iranian officials maintain that this industry is integral to the manufacturing of military hardware, including fighter jets, missiles, tanks and armoured vehicles.

As detailed by Press TV, the Iranian army characterised the strikes as a direct retaliation for US-Israeli assaults on Iran's own industrial hubs.

Armed forces representatives asserted that the ongoing operations are intended to make their adversaries "realise their miscalculation" regarding the initiation of the conflict.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Saturday said in a statement that it has struck key infrastructure sites across Tehran, reported Xinhua.

Guided by intelligence, the IDF struck several defense sites, including an aerial defense facility of Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) storing missiles intended to target aircraft, according to the statement.

Also targeted were a military facility tasked with protecting weapons research and development sites, another facility used to store ballistic missiles, and additional weapons production and research and development sites.

"These completed strikes are part of the ongoing phase of increasing damage to Iran's core systems and foundations," the statement said.

The latest development follows the crash of two U.S. military aircraft on Friday after they came under Iranian fire. One pilot from the two-seat F-15 has been rescued, while the other remains missing.

The back-to-back losses of U.S. aircraft came shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump claimed that Iranian forces "can't do a thing about" U.S. planes flying over Tehran.

Israeli airstrikes kill 14 in southern Lebanon

Israeli airstrikes and drone attacks across southern Lebanon killed at least 14 people and wounded more than 25 others, the National News Agency reported, as Israeli warplanes carried out heavy airstrikes on Beirut's southern suburbs on Saturday at dawn and in the morning.

Five people, including two women, were killed and two others were wounded in an Israeli airstrike that targeted the Maarakeh-Tyre junction in southern Lebanon at dawn, according to the National News Agency.

In another attack, an airstrike that targeted a house in the village of Ain Baal killed two members of the same family and wounded another, while the wife remains missing. A passerby was also wounded in the strike. Rescue teams are continuing search operations.

Elsewhere, one person was killed in an airstrike that targeted the fishermen's port in the southern city of Tyre, while two people were killed in a drone strike that hit a motorcycle on the Qadmous road north of the city. Another person was killed in an airstrike on the Batouliyeh plain.

Earlier in the day, the Israeli army spokesperson issued a warning to residents of some areas in the city of Tyre to evacuate their homes and move north of the Zahrani River.

The town of Qana and its surroundings were also hit by multiple airstrikes, leaving one person dead and several others wounded, according to the National News Agency.

Two Israeli airstrikes on the Housh area in Tyre wounded 11 people, including three paramedics from the Lebanese Civil Defense, and caused damage to the Lebanese Italian Hospital, according to Lebanon's Public Health Emergency Operations Center.

In Nabatieh district, an Israeli airstrike that targeted a house on the Habboush-Kfar Roummane road killed two people and wounded five others, according to the National News Agency.

In a separate development, an Israeli force entered the town of Shebaa in the Hasbaya district at around 3:00 a.m. and abducted a Lebanese citizen from the Ain al-Jouz spring area.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah said in a series of statements that it carried out multiple attacks on Israeli military positions and settlements.

Separately, Lebanon's Public Health Emergency Operations Center said in its daily report that the death toll since March 2 has risen to 1,422, while the number of wounded has reached 4,294.

The cross-border violence comes amid continued escalation and ongoing exchanges of fire along the Lebanon-Israel border.

Iran's IRGC says hit Israel-linked vessel, ship ablaze

Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) Navy said Saturday that it had hit an Israel-linked vessel with a drone, setting it on fire.

The IRGC Navy said in a post on social media platform X that it hit the vessel in the Strait of Hormuz.

Meanwhile, in a statement on its official news outlet Sepah News, the IRGC confirmed the attack, saying its forces had targeted an Israeli-owned commercial ship in a port in Bahrain.

It said the ship, which was sailing under a third country's flag and identified as "MCS Ishika," was targeted by its Navy's "powerful projectiles" in Khalifa Bin Salman Port during the 95th wave of the attacks against the U.S. and Israeli targets in the West Asia region.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli side.

The statement added that the Israeli targets were in cities including Tel Aviv and Ramat Gan, which were hit "heavily and continuously" by the multiple-warhead Qadr missiles.

The development came amid heightened regional tensions following joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran that began on Feb. 28. Iran has responded with missile and drone attacks on Israel and neighboring Gulf countries hosting U.S. military assets.

Drone strike targets US company offices at oilfield in S. Iraq

An unidentified drone targeted the offices belonging to a U.S. company at an oilfield in Iraq's southern province of Basra on Saturday, causing material damage and a fire, a police source said, reported Xinhua.

The officer from Basra provincial police told Xinhua that an unidentified drone struck the Majnoon oil field, targeting the offices of the U.S. energy services company KBR.

The strike caused material damage and a fire that was later contained by firefighting teams with no reported casualties, the officer said.

Iraq closes southern border crossing with Iran

Iraqi authorities announced Saturday the suspension of trade and passenger movement at the southern Shalamcheh border crossing with Iran following a strike that left one person dead and five others injured.

Omar al-Waeli, head of Iraq's Border Ports Commission, told the official Iraqi News Agency that the Shalamcheh border crossing with Iran was targeted in the morning.

He said the strike hit the passenger hall, killing an Iraqi passenger and injuring five others, adding that the victims were transported to a hospital inside Iran.

According to Iraqi media, the strike coincided with the entry of donation and logistical support convoys into Iran through the crossing.

The Shalamcheh crossing, located in southern Iraq's Basra province, is a primary artery for trade and tourism between Iraq and Iran.

Meanwhile, Iraq's paramilitary Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) said Saturday that one of its members was killed, and four others wounded in a U.S.-Israeli airstrike at the al-Qaim border crossing in western Anbar province.

The PMF said its 45th Brigade was attacked at the border crossing in the al-Qaim area near Syria, adding that a member of the Iraqi defense ministry was also injured.

5 injured in US-Israeli attacks on petrochemical firms in SW Iran

At least five people were injured in U.S.-Israeli attacks on several petrochemical companies in Iran's southwestern Khuzestan province on Saturday morning, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.

The firms, identified as Fajr 1 and 2, Regal, Amirkabir, Bandar Imam and Buali Sina, were hit at 10:47 a.m. local time (0717 GMT), the report said.

It quoted Valiollah Hayati, Khuzestan's deputy governor for security and law enforcement affairs, as saying that the possibility of further casualties is very high.

He added the Shalamcheh border trade terminal in Khorramshahr city was also attacked and sustained serious damage.

The Mahshahr Special Petrochemical Zone, where the companies are located, has been evacuated, the report said.

30 Iranian universities directly targeted by US, Israel: minister

Iran's Minister of Science, Research and Technology Hossein Simaei-Sarraf said on Saturday more than 30 Iranian universities have been directly attacked by the United States and Israel since the beginning of the war in late February.

He made the remarks in an address to reporters during a visit to the Shahid Beheshti University in the Iranian capital Tehran, which was hit in a U.S. and Israeli airstrike on Friday, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.

Simaei-Sarraf said five university professors and more than 60 students were killed in the strikes, describing attacks on Iranian infrastructure as "crimes against humanity."

The development came amid heightened regional tensions following joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran that began on Feb. 28. Iran has responded with missile and drone attacks on Israel and U.S. interests in regional countries.

Iran's FM says Tehran seeks ´conclusive, lasting´ end to war

Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said on Saturday that Tehran seeks to secure the terms of a "conclusive and lasting" end to the U.S. and Israeli war imposed on the country.

He made the remarks in a post on social media platform X while highlighting one of Iran's main preconditions for an end to the ongoing conflict, and reacting to U.S. media reports that the country has refrained from attending ceasefire talks with the United States in the Pakistani capital Islamabad.

"Iran's position is being misrepresented by U.S. media. We are deeply grateful to Pakistan for its efforts and have never refused to go to Islamabad," Araghchi said.

"What we care about are the terms of a conclusive and lasting end to the illegal war that is imposed on us," he stressed.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Iran has officially told mediators that it is not willing to meet U.S. officials in Islamabad in the coming days and considers U.S. demands unacceptable.

Iran's semi-official Fars news agency early Friday quoted an informed source as saying that Iran had rejected a U.S. proposal for a 48-hour ceasefire sent through a "friendly" country the preceding day.

US arrests slain Iranian general Soleimani's relatives

U.S. federal agents have arrested the niece and grand-niece of the late Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander Qassem Soleimani after their permanent resident status was revoked by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, the State Department said on Saturday.

According to the State Department, Hamideh Soleimani Afshar and her daughter are now in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The decision to revoke their green cards resulted in their subsequent arrest.

Also, Afshar's husband has also been barred from entering the United States, the State Department said.

Blast hits Israel Center in the Netherlands

The Israel Center in Nijkerk, a city in the Gelderland province of the Netherlands, was hit by an explosion on Friday evening, with no injuries reported, local media confirmed on Saturday morning.

Gelderland police said on social media that the material damage was limited, adding that they have launched an investigation and are urging anyone with information to come forward.

According to Omroep Gelderland, the regional public broadcaster, the blast occurred at the gate of the Israel Center, run by the Christians for Israel Foundation. The organization describes itself on its website as "a meeting place for Christians with a heart for Israel."

A series of incidents targeting Jewish sites in the Netherlands have been reported since the outbreak of the Iran war.

Iran executes 2 more over ´terror´ operations

Iran on Saturday executed two more members of the Mujahedin-e Khalq Organization (MKO), designated by Iran as a terrorist group, for joining several "terror attacks and explosions" in Tehran aimed at toppling the country's establishment, Iran's official media reported.

The MKO members, identified as Abolhassan Montazer and Vahid Baniamerian, were hanged following judicial proceedings and upholding of their death sentences by the Supreme Court of Iran, reported the Mizan news agency of the Iranian judiciary.

According to authorities, they had carried out operations against Iran's important centers and public places through firing launchers, and were planning for another "terror" operation when arrested.

They faced charges such as armed uprising against Iran's establishment through involvement in "terror attacks and explosions," membership in the MKO, which is accused of assassinating tens of thousands of Iranian citizens, and harming national security.

Iran already executed four MKO members over similar charges on Monday and Tuesday.