Red Cross Society of China will provide $200,000 to Iran Red Crescent, foreign ministry says
The Red Cross Society of China will provide $200,000 in emergency humanitarian aid to the Iranian Red Crescent Society, specifically for condolences and relief to parents of the students who have been killed in the conflict, China’s foreign ministry said on Friday.
“China condemns all indiscriminate attacks on civilians and non-military targets,” China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said at a daily press briefing.
Beijing is prepared to provide further necessary assistance to Iran and support for the Iranian people, Guo said.
Australia tells non-essential diplomats to leave Lebanon
Australia has ordered all non-essential officials in Lebanon to leave, Canberra’s foreign minister said Friday, after issuing the same command to diplomats in Israel and the United Arab Emirates.
In a post on X, top diplomat Penny Wong said they had been ordered to depart due to the “deteriorating security situation”.
“Essential Australian officials will remain in-country to support Australians who need it,” she added.
Large explosions shake Tehran as IDF launches ‘wide-scale’ strikes
The Israeli military said it launched a new wave of strikes in Tehran, on the 14th day of its campaign against the Islamic Republic.
“The IDF has just begun a wide-scale wave of strikes targeting infrastructure of the Iranian terror regime across Tehran,” the military said.
AFP journalists reported that a series of powerful explosions shook the Iranian capital. The unusually intense blasts occurred around 10am (0630 GMT) and shook the homes of two AFP journalists located several kilometres apart in the north and centre of the capital.
Two dead as Oman thwarts drone attack, state media reports
Two people died after security forces intercepted a drone in northern Oman, state media has said without giving further details.
Both victims in the incident at Al Awahi industrial area were expatriates, the Oman News Agency said, adding that other people were injured.
Iran Guards vow ‘stronger’ response than in January if new protests erupt
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, the ideological arm of the country’s military, warned on Friday that any new protests against the authorities would be met with a stronger response than in January, when several thousand people were killed.
“The evil enemy, failing to achieve its field battle goals, is once again pursuing the instillation of fear and street riots,” the Guards said in a statement broadcast on TV, promising “a stronger blow than on January 8” in the event of new unrest.
In photos: Mourners attend a funeral for victims of air strike in Iraq
Members of the Iran-backed Popular Mobilisation Forces attend a funeral in Najaf, Iraq, for fighters from the group who were killed in an air strike in Qaim, on the Syrian border.
© Anmar Khalil, AP
Israel widens Lebanon bombing campaign to target north and central Beirut
FRANCE 24’s senior reporter Catherine Norris-Trent reports from Beirut.
Israeli military strikes Zrarieh bridge over Litani river in Lebanon
The Israeli military struck the Zrarieh Bridge over the Litani River in Lebanon because it was a key crossing used by Hezbollah, it said on Friday.
The military said Hezbollah had recently positioned launchers near the bridge and carried out attacks from there toward Israel.
It appeared to be the first time in the current campaign against Hezbollah that the Israeli military acknowledged it had targeted civilian infrastructure.
In photos: Iranian strikes hit northern Israel
Residents and officers from Israel’s Home Front Command inspect a house destroyed by an Iranian missile strike in Zarzir, northern Israel.
© Ariel Schalit, AP
Saudis down drone targeting Riyadh’s Diplomatic Quarter, defence ministry says
Saudi forces intercepted a drone targeting Riyadh’s Diplomatic Quarter housing foreign embassies, the defence ministry has said.
The “hostile drone” was downed “during an attempt to approach the Diplomatic Quarter”, the ministry posted on X. Three more drones were intercepted elsewhere in Saudi Arabia around the same time, the ministry said.
Sirens heard at Incirlik air base, key NATO facility in south Turkey, state news reports
Siren were heard early on Friday at Turkey’s Incirlik airbase, a key NATO facility where US troops are stationed near the southeastern city of Adana, state news agency Anadolu reported.
There was no immediate official comment on the incident, which took place four days after NATO air defences shot down a ballistic missile in Turkish airspace that was fired from Iran, the second in five days.
‘Deranged scumbags’: Trump issues new threat to Iran online
US President Donald Trump has issued a new threat online to Iran, writing: “Watch what happens to these deranged scumbags today.”
Trump made the post on his Truth Social website, saying that “Iran’s Navy is gone, their Air Force is no longer, missiles, drones and everything else are being decimated, and their leaders have been wiped from the face of the earth.”
“They’ve been killing innocent people all over the world for 47 years, and now I, as the 47th President of the United States of America, am killing them,” Trump wrote. “What a great honor it is to do so!”
Central Dubai building hit by debris from attack
A building in central Dubai was hit by debris from an intercepted attack, the government media office said on Friday, after blasts shook the Middle East financial hub.
“Authorities confirmed that debris from a successful interception caused a minor incident on the facade of a building in central Dubai,” the media office posted on X, adding that no injuries were reported.
The latest incident comes after a drone fell near Dubai’s financial district on Thursday. Iran had threatened to hit economic institutions, prompting some companies to evacuate staff from the area.
The United Arab Emirates’ air defences have intercepted more than 1,500 Iranian drones and nearly 300 missiles during the Middle East war.
© Stringer, Reuters
Moscow piles pressure on US over oil sanctions
Moscow said on Friday that the global energy market “cannot remain stable” without its oil, piling pressure on Washington to lift more sanctions as the Middle East war strangles supplies.
Russia’s economic envoy Kirill Dmitriev said that it was “increasingly inevitable” that Washington would lift more sanctions.
“The United States is effectively acknowledging the obvious: without Russian oil, the global energy market cannot remain stable,” Dmitriev posted on Telegram.
“Amid the growing energy crisis, further easing of restrictions on Russian energy sources appears increasingly inevitable, despite resistance from some in the Brussels bureaucracy,” he added.
Israel says struck over 200 targets in Iran in past day
Israel’s military said it had struck more than 200 targets in western and central Iran in the last day, including missile launchers and defence systems.
It said fighter jets carried out “20 wide-scale strikes” that targeted “ballistic missile launchers, defence systems, and weapon production sites”.
Trump says he thinks Iran’s new supreme leader is alive but ‘damaged’
President Donald Trump said that he thinks new Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, whose father, the former supreme leader, was killed on the first day of the US and Israel’s war on Iran, is alive but “damaged.”
Khamenei has not been seen by Iranians since his selection on Sunday by a clerical assembly, and his first comments were read out by a television presenter on Thursday.
An Iranian official told Reuters on Wednesday that the newly appointed supreme leader was lightly injured but was continuing to operate, after state television described him as war-wounded.
Iran-linked Iraq group says French interests in region are targets
A pro-Iranian group in Iraq warned Friday that French interests “in Iraq and the region” would be “under targeting fire” after the arrival of a French aircraft carrier.
The statement on the Telegram page of the Ashab Alkahf group came as French President Emmanuel Macron announced the death of a French soldier and the injury of several others in Iraqi Kurdistan.
Israeli military says struck Hezbollah member in Beirut
An Israeli strike hit a member of Iran-backed group Hezbollah in Lebanon’s capital, the military said on Friday.
“A short while ago, the IDF struck a Hezbollah terrorist in the area of Beirut,” the Israeli military said in a statement.
Blasts heard, smoke seen over central Dubai
Explosions rattled buildings in Dubai and a large cloud of smoke hung over a central area of the Middle East financial hub on Friday, AFP correspondents said.
An AFP correspondent felt the building shake and heard a huge explosion.
Sirens could be heard coming from the direction of Sheikh Zayed Road, the United Arab Emirates city’s main artery. A drone fell on Thursday near Dubai’s financial district after Iran threatened to hit economic institutions, prompting some companies to evacuate staff.
The UAE has come under repeated Iranian fire during the Middle East war, with Dubai’s airport, one of the world’s biggest, repeatedly targeted as well as its port and luxury real estate including the Palm Jumeirah.
