Live: French FM Barrot calls for ‘Lebanon to be spared from this regional escalation’
Israel says it precisely stuck Hezbollah terrorist in Beirut
Tel Aviv stocks, shekel jump in response to US-Israel attack on Iran
Tel Aviv shares opened sharply higher on Monday while the shekel gained against the dollar in the market’s first response to US-Israeli strikes on Iran that began over the weekend.
The blue-chip Tel Aviv 35 index was 4.9% higher at 0905 GMT, while the broader TA-125 was up 5%. Defence firm Elbit Systems gained 6.6%.
The shekel appreciated 1.5% versus the dollar to 3.087, nearing a 30-year high reached last month.
UNESCO-listed Golestan Palace in Tehran damaged in strikes, Iranian media says
Iranian media said UNESCO-listed Golestan Palace in Tehran was damaged in strikes.
Israel says it will increase strikes on ‘key elements of regime’ in Iran
Israel said it was intensifying its campaign against Iran and would step up strikes on “key elements of the regime”.
“We will increasingly strike the key elements of the regime and continue to intensify the damage,” military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin said during a televised briefing.
📰 Israeli strikes kill dozens in Lebanon as Hezbollah launches attack after Khamenei’s death
Israeli strikes killed at leat 31 people in Lebanon on Monday, with the Israeli military vowing that militant group Hezbollah would pay a “heavy price” for launching attacks on Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
As conflict between Israel, the US and Iran continues, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps said that Hezbollah had “officially entered the war”.
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Israel army says it is simultaneously striking targets in Iran, Lebanon
Israel’s military said it was carrying out simultaneous strikes in Iran and Lebanon, warning Lebanese militant group Hezbollah it would “pay a heavy price” for opening fire on Israel.
“Even at this moment, hundreds of Air Force aircraft are striking simultaneously in Lebanon and Iran,” military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin said during a televised briefing.
“Hezbollah opened fire last night. It knew exactly what it was doing. We had warned it – and it will pay a heavy price.”
No sign that Iran’s nuclear sites hit, cannot reach Iranian authorities, IAEA says
The International Atomic Energy Agency has no indication that Israeli and US attacks on Iran have hit any nuclear facilities, but it has not been able to reach Iran’s nuclear authorities, its chief Rafael Grossi told the agency’s Board of Governors.
“We have no indication that any of the nuclear installations … have been damaged or hit,” he said in a statement to the 35-nation board, adding: “Efforts to contact the Iranian nuclear regulatory authorities … continue, with no response so far.”
France says Israeli, US strikes on Iran should have been debated at UN beforehand
France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said on Monday that Israeli and US “unilateral” attacks in Iran should have been debated in the collective bodies set up for this exact purpose, such as the United Nations.
“Everyone could have taken their responsibilities, because it is only by going before the (United Nations) Security Council that the use of force can acquire the necessary legitimacy,” Barrot told reporters after holding a meeting at the ministry in Paris.
Barrot added that no French victims had been reported at this stage.
US is adopting ‘Israel First’ policy, says Iran’s national security council secretary
Iran’s national security council secretary Ali Larijani has accused President Trump of adopting an “Israel First” policy.
The US president’s “wishful thinking has dragged the whole region into an unnecessarily [sic] war and now he is rightly worried about more American casualties”, he wrote on X.
“It is indeed very sad that he is sacrificing American treasure and blood to advance Netanyahu’s illegitimate expansionist ambitions,” Larijani added.
‘Lebanon must be spared from regional escalation’, Barrot says
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot on Monday called for “Lebanon to be spared from this regional escalation”in the wake of US and Israeli strikes on Iran last weekend.
“Lebanon must be spared from regional escalation,” Barrot said in a press conference.
“France will remain engaged for the sovereignty and the security of the state of Lebanon and we will be organising a conference with them to talk about armed forces in the region.”
Saudi Arabia says it has intercepted drones targeting its Ras Tanura oil refinery
A Saudi oil refinery along the Gulf coast was targeted in an attack, a source familiar with the incident told AFP, as Iran launched a fresh barrage at countries across the region.
The source said the attack caused a fire at the Ras Tanura refinery but the blaze had already been extinguished.
A Saudi defence ministry spokesman said two drones had targeted the refinery and been intercepted, according to a statement posted by the Saudi Press Agency on X.
Iran army says targeted US Ali Al Salem airbase in Kuwait
Iran’s army said it targeted US Ali Al Salem air base in Kuwait as well as vessels in the Indian ocean.
“Missile units of the army’s ground and naval forces operating from various locations targeted the US Ali Al Salem air base in Kuwait as well as enemy vessels in the northern Indian Ocean over the past hours,” the army said in a statement.
It added that “15 cruise missiles” were used in the attacks.
Lebanon’s Hezbollah chief is now ‘target for elimination’, says Israeli defence minister
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Monday that Hezbollah chief Naim Kassem was now a “target for elimination”, after the Iran-aligned militant group fired at Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
📈 European gas prices surge over 20% on Iran conflict
European gas prices soared more than 20 percent on fears that the Iran war will cut supplies in the Gulf region, notably exports from Qatar.
The Dutch TTF natural gas contract, considered the European benchmark, rocketed to 38.885 euros, having earlier gained more than 22 percent.
Despite the surge, the price was below the level it reached in January during the northern hemisphere winter.
Iran Red Crescent says 555 people killed in Iran since start of war
The Iranian Red Crescent Society said the US-Israeli airstrike campaign has killed 555 people so far in Iran.
US, Israeli attacks killed 35 people in Iran’s Fars province, media says
A total of 35 people have been killed in Iran’s southern Fars province (📍) in US and Israeli strikes which began two days ago, local media reported.
“Thirty-five people have been killed in Fars province in American and Zionist attacks,” Tasnim news agency reported quoting Ebrahim Bayani, head of the province’s state-run martyrs foundation.
“Given the continuation of the enemy air strikes this morning, this number may rise,” he added.
UK says US has not requested use of Cyprus military base
British foreign minister Yvette Cooper said on Monday that the United States had not asked to use a British military base in Cyprus where an unmanned drone strike hit a runway overnight.
Cooper told Times Radio that the Royal Air Force base at Akrotiri remained operational.
📷 In pictures: French foreign ministry holds crisis meeting
France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot held a crisis meeting in Paris.
‘Several’ US warplanes crashed without casualties, Kuwait defence ministry says
Several American warplanes crashed in Kuwait but their crew survived, Kuwait’s defence ministry said.
“Several US warplanes crashed this morning. Confirming that all crew members survived,” a defence ministry spokesman said in a statement, adding that the cause was under investigation.
“Authorities immediately initiated search and rescue operations, evacuating the crews and transporting them to a hospital for medical evaluation and treatment. He noted that their condition is stable,” the statement added.
An online video geolocated by our colleagues at CNN shows a jet on fire and falling in a tailspin out of the sky.
The video suggests the jet came down within 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) of the US Ali Al Salem base in Kuwait.
UK sending rapid teams to help citizens leave Middle East
British foreign minister Yvette Cooper said that Britain was setting up support systems to help evacuate its citizens from the Middle East with an estimated 300,000 people living in the region.
“We are looking at a wide range of options, working, crucially with the travel industry and with government evacuation if necessary,” Cooper told Sky News.
The British government wanted airspace to be re-opened and it was sending rapid deployment teams to the region to work with the travel industry, she said.
