This blog is now closed. See all our coverage of the Middle East crisis here
There can be “no security and stability in the region” without a Palestinian state, said the spokesperson for Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, reports Associated Press.
The remarks come in response to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s rejection on Thursday of calls by the US to take steps toward the establishment of a Palestinian state after the war.
Continue reading...This blog is now closed. See all our coverage of the Middle East crisis here
While Iran has taken low-level action against Balochistan in the past, Tuesday’s strikes were unusually heavy-handed and Thursday’s retaliatory bombings were the first time that Pakistan has responded with comprehensive military action against its neighbour.
Sources in Islamabad said the decision was taken after heavy political and military pressure on the top army leadership to show strength against Tehran.
Continue reading...Drone and missile attacks in Sistan and Balochistan province come after Iran struck sites inside Pakistan
Pakistan has launched retaliatory strikes against militants in Iran in response to attacks by Tehran that targeted sites within Pakistan’s borders, heightening fears of further instability across the Middle East and surrounding region.
A statement by Pakistan’s foreign office early on Thursday said it had undertaken “a series of highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes against terrorist hideouts” in the Sistan and Balochistan province of Iran, adding that “a number of terrorists were killed during the intelligence-based operation”.
Continue reading...Decision means Yemeni group’s funds will be frozen in US and members are banned from the country
US Navy Seals boarded a boat heading for Yemen and seized Iranian-made missile components and other weaponry bound for Houthi forces, in an operation in which two Seal commandos went missing, the US military has said.
US Central Command (Centcom) posted pictures of the missile parts on X, including what appeared to be the components of a complete small missile, rocket motors and guidance systems, as well as a photograph of the small cargo vessel that was allegedly carrying the arms.
Continue reading...Iran claims attack in south-west Balochistan province destroyed two strongholds of Sunni militant group
Iranian military officials were hailing one of the biggest projections of force in its recent history as Pakistan warned Tehran of “serious consequences” to a “completely unacceptable” attack in Pakistan’s Balochistan that left six dead or injured including two children.
Iran said its attack mounted on Tuesday using “precision missile and drone strikes”, destroyed two strongholds of the Sunni militant group Jaish al-Adl in the Koh-e-Sabz area of Pakistan’s south-west Balochistan province.
Continue reading...Pakistan says attacks killed two children in ‘unprovoked violation’ of its airspace, adding to regional instability sparked by Israel-Gaza war
Iran has launched airstrikes on Pakistan territory, apparently aimed at a Sunni militant group, in the latest sign of a wave of violence rolling across the Middle East and beyond.
Pakistan’s foreign ministry said two children were killed and three others were injured in what it called an “illegal” airstrike, and summoned Tehran’s senior diplomat in Islamabad to protest against the “unprovoked violation of its airspace”. The ministry did not give more details of the strikes, but Pakistani social media accounts said missile and drone strikes had been aimed at the Balochistan province which lies along the 1,000km border between the two countries.
Continue reading...Search still under way for the two Seals involved in mission targeting supply of arms to Yemeni rebels
US Navy Seals boarded a boat heading for Yemen and seized Iranian-made missile components and other weaponry bound for Houthi forces, in an operation in which two Seal commandos went missing, the US military has said.
US Central Command (Centcom) posted pictures of the missile parts on X, including what appeared to be the components of a complete small missile, rocket motors and guidance systems, as well as a photograph of the small cargo vessel that was allegedly carrying the arms.
Continue reading...Civilians killed in strikes on Erbil include millionaire Kurdish businessman and his family, medical sources say
Iraq has vowed to take Iran to the UN security council after the Iran Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed they had attacked an Israeli “espionage headquarters” in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdistan region.
Iran said it was acting in defence of its sovereignty and as a counter-terrorism measure in response to an Islamic State suicide attack in Kerman this month that killed more than 80 people.
Continue reading...Israeli PM says it is ‘possible and necessary to continue until victory’ in televised press conference, days after South Africa launches genocide case against Israel in The Hague
Britain could strike Houthi targets in Yemen again if the rebel group continues to attack ships in the Red Sea, the UK’s foreign secretary, David Cameron, has indicated.
The former Conservative prime minister warned that the Iran-linked militants could force up prices in Britain if they are allowed to block the passage of container ships in the busy trade route.
Continue reading...Rt Rev Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani tells Desert Island Discs how she came to UK at 14 after deadly ambush of elder brother
The Bishop of Chelmsford has told of how her brother was murdered in the aftermath of the Iranian revolution, leading her to flee to Britain as a child.
On Sunday, the Rt Rev Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani will tell BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs about the day her brother Bahram, 24, was killed in an ambush on 6 May 1980, when she was 14.
Continue reading...After second night of US-UK strikes in Yemen against Iran-backed Houthis, fears of wider regional conflict grow
Joe Biden said on Saturday that the United States has sent a private message to Tehran that “we’re confident we’re well-prepared”, following a second night of US and British strikes against Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Speaking to reporters on the White House lawn on Saturday morning, on his way from Washington to Camp David in Maryland, the US president declined to go into further detail and switched to answering questions about the Taiwan election.
Continue reading...This blog is now closed. See all our coverage of the Middle East crisis here
Here is a photograph issued of the meeting between Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, and the US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, in Tel Aviv.
During the public portion of the meeting Herzog said a lawsuit filed in the international court of justice (ICJ) accusing Israel of genocide against Palestinians in its Gaza offensive was “atrocious and preposterous”.
Actually our enemies, Hamas, in their charter, call for the destruction of our nation, the state of Israel – the only nation state of the Jewish people.
We will be there at the international court of justice and will present proudly our case of using self-defence under our most inherent right under international humanitarian law.
Continue reading...This blog is now closed. Our full report on the latest developments in the Middle East is here and all our Israel-Gaza war coverage here
The German government is monitoring the situation on the border between Israel and Lebanon, a German foreign ministry spokesperson said on Friday, as the country’s top diplomat prepares to travel to the Middle East for talks.
The spokesperson said:
The risk of escalation is unfortunately very real.
Beyond the conflict in Gaza it has been a violent few weeks in the wider Middle East, from attacks on shipping in the Red Sea to bomb blasts in Iran and a killing by drone in Beirut. Julian Borger explains what may happen next
Iran suffered the worst terrorist attack in the history of the Islamic Republic this week when dozens of people were killed in two bomb blasts in the city of Kerman. In Beirut a drone attack in a suburban area killed a senior Hamas commander, and in the Red Sea the US navy shot down two anti-ship missiles and sunk three small boats after responding to distress calls from a container ship that was attacked twice by Houthi rebels.
The Guardian’s world affairs editor, Julian Borger, talks to Hannah Moore about the significance and possible consequences of these events and examines their potential to trigger a regional war. He says there is increasing appetite in Israel for further conflict with Hezbollah at the Lebanese border, and growing rhetoric that a direct war with Iran – which backs Hezbollah and the Houthi movement – is inevitable. Can international leaders do enough to calm tensions in the region?
Continue reading...Washington and Kyiv claim Moscow turning to other states under sanctions to sustain its war effort
Russia has started using ballistic missiles supplied by North Korea to attack Ukraine, Washington and Kyiv have claimed, in an indication that Moscow plans to further expand its arms deals with regimes under sanctions in order to sustain its war effort.
Washington also alleged Russia was in talks with Iran to buy short-range ballistic missiles. The US intelligence assessment is that Iranian missiles have not yet arrived in Russia, but that the deal will eventually be done.
Continue reading...Afghan affiliate of IS claims responsibility for blasts in memorial crowd as Tehran tightens security on its eastern borders
Islamic State has claimed responsibility for Wednesday’s attack on a crowd in southern Iran marking the anniversary of the death of the senior Revolutionary Guards commander Qassem Suleimani.
At least 84 people died when two blasts ripped through the crowd near Suleimani’s tomb in the city of Kerman, four years after he was killed by a US drone strike in Baghdad. Suleimani had been a staunch enemy of IS, which resents the damage he did to its cause in Iraq and Syria.
Continue reading...Two killed and five wounded, militia officials say, amid fears war in Gaza could spill into surrounding countries
The US military has carried out an airstrike in Baghdad against a high-ranking Iraqi militia commander who it blames for attacks against US forces in the country, killing him and another person, a US official told Reuters.
The US official said the strike hit a vehicle in the capital on Thursday. It targeted a leader of Harakat al-Nujaba, the official said, without naming the person.
Continue reading...US points towards Islamic State or Sunni extremists but Iran has accused Israel
It is still unclear who is responsible for the double bombing of a crowd in the south-eastern Iranian city of Kerman, but whoever is behind the outrage is clearly willing to risk igniting a regional war.
In Washington, officials have been pointing towards the possible role of Islamic State or some affiliated Sunni extremist group, and away from the partnership of Israel and the secular Iranian rebel group, the Mujahedin-e-Khalq (MeK), who have reportedly been behind previous attacks deep inside Iran.
Continue reading...Two explosions at Kerman ceremony marking anniversary of killing of Qassem Suleimani raise Middle East tensions further
More than 95 Iranians were killed and scores more injured in a terrorist attack at a ceremony in Iran to commemorate the assassination of a top general, further heightening tensions in the increasingly volatile Middle East.
The explosions came at a memorial ceremony in Iran marking the fourth anniversary of the killing of Qassem Suleimani, the head of Iran’s al-Quds force, and it was not clear whether either of Suleimani’s principal regional adversaries – Israel or Islamic State – were responsible for the carnage.
Continue reading...Comments by David Barnea follow assassination of Hamas deputy political chief Saleh al-Arouri in Lebanon
The head of Israel’s foreign intelligence service has vowed to track down and kill all Hamas leaders responsible for attacking Israel, less than a day after a drone strike in Lebanon killed the militant organisation’s second most senior official.
David Barnea said on Wednesday the Mossad was “committed to settling the score with the murderers who descended upon the Gaza envelope” on 7 October and with those who planned the attacks.
Continue reading...