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The Iran war exploded further late Saturday as pillars of flame rose above an oil storage facility in Tehran, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised \u201cmany surprises\u201d for the next phase of\u00a0the week-old conflict.<\/p>\n
Israel\u2019s military confirmed that it hit the fuel storage facilities in Tehran. Associated Press video showed the horizon glowing against the night sky above Tehran.<\/p>\n
It appeared to be the first time a civil industrial facility has been targeted in the war. State media blamed \u201can attack from the U.S. and the Zionist regime\u201d at the facility that supplies the capital and neighboring provinces in the north.<\/p>\n
Earlier in the day, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian apologized for\u00a0attacks on \u201cneighboring countries,\u201d\u00a0even as his country\u2019s missiles and drones flew toward Gulf Arab states and hard-liners asserted that Tehran\u2019s war strategy would not change.<\/p>\n
A rift between politicians looking to de-escalate the war and others committed to battling the United States and Israel could complicate any diplomatic efforts. Conflicting Iranian statements came from two of the three members of the leadership council overseeing Iran since\u00a0Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei\u00a0was killed in the war\u2019s opening airstrikes.<\/p>\n
Pezeshkian also dismissed U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s call for Tehran to surrender unconditionally, saying: \u201cThat\u2019s a dream that they should take to their grave.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump threatened that Iran would be \u201chit very hard\u201d and more \u201careas and groups of people\u201d would become targets, without elaborating. Already, the conflict has\u00a0rattled global markets\u00a0and left\u00a0Iran\u2019s leadershipweakened by hundreds of Israeli and American airstrikes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re not looking to settle,\u201d Trump told reporters Saturday aboard Air Force One. \u201cThey\u2019d like to settle. We\u2019re not looking to settle.\u201d<\/p>\n
He described the ongoing U.S. operations in Iran as an \u201cexcursion\u201d and said issues such as rising gas prices and the safety of Americans would improve once the conflict ends.<\/p>\n
Pezeshkian\u2019s message, seemingly recorded in a hurry, underlined the limited powers exercised by the theocracy\u2019s leaders over the\u00a0paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which controls the hundreds of ballistic missiles targeting Israel and other countries. It answered only to Khamenei and appears to be picking its own targets.<\/p>\n
Pezeshkian\u2019s statement said Iran\u2019s leadership council had been in touch with the armed forces and \u201cfrom now on, they should not attack neighboring countries or fire missiles at them, unless we are attacked by those countries. I think we should solve this through diplomacy.\u201d<\/p>\n
The U.S. strikes have not come from the Gulf Arab governments under attack, but from U.S. bases and vessels in the region.<\/p>\n
But hard-line judiciary chief Gholam Hossein Mohseni-Ejei, another member of the three-man leadership council, suggested that war strategy will not change.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe geography of some countries in the region \u2014 both overtly and covertly \u2014 is in the hands of the enemy, and those points are used against our country in acts of aggression. Intense attacks on these targets will continue,\u201d he posted on X.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs long as the presence of U.S. bases in the region continue, the countries will not enjoy peace,\u201d Iran\u2019s Parliament speaker and a former Revolutionary Guard general, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said on X. He called defense policies in line with the late supreme leader\u2019s guidance.<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s U.N. mission later suggested, without offering evidence, that strikes on nonmilitary sites \u201cmay have resulted from interception by U.S. electronic defense systems.\u201d<\/p>\n
Late Saturday, top Iranian security official Ali Larijani asserted in an address carried by state media that \u201cour leaders are united on this issue and have no disagreements with one another.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also said the leadership council has requested that \u201carrangements be made\u201d to convene the Assembly of Experts to choose the next supreme leader, but did not say when.<\/p>\n
Trump said he has ruled out having\u00a0Kurds join the war, even though Kurdish fighters in the region are willing to assist in efforts to topple the Iranian government.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe war is complicated enough without having\u2013 getting the Kurds involved,\u201d Trump told reporters.<\/p>\n
Days ago, Kurdish officials told the AP that Kurdish-Iranian dissident groups based in northern Iraq were preparing for\u00a0a potential cross-border military operation\u00a0in Iran and that the U.S. had asked Iraqi Kurds to support them.<\/p>\n
\u201cTehran is under severe bombardment\u201d and even people far from military and government targets are living in fear, said a university student in western Tehran, speaking on condition of anonymity because of security concerns.<\/p>\n
Israel earlier Saturday said it struck a Tehran airport it said was used to transfer weapons and cash to militant groups.<\/p>\n
The U.S. and Israel have targeted Iran\u2019s military capabilities, leadership and nuclear program. The war\u2019s stated goals and timelines\u00a0have repeatedly shifted\u00a0as the U.S. has at times suggested it seeks to topple Iran\u2019s government\u00a0or elevate new leadership.<\/p>\n
The fighting has killed at least 1,230 people in Iran, more than 290 in\u00a0Lebanon\u00a0and 11 in Israel, according to officials in those countries.\u00a0Six U.S. troops\u00a0have been killed.<\/p>\n
Incoming missiles from Iran had people heading to bomb shelters again across Israel, with no reports of casualties.<\/p>\n
Three Iraqi security officials said a missile landed on the helicopter landing pad in the U.S. embassy complex in Baghdad. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly. An embassy spokesperson declined to comment. There were no reports of casualties.<\/p>\n
It was the first reported strike to land in Baghdad\u2019s heavily fortified Green Zone since the Iran war began. Iran and allied Iraqi militias have launched dozens of attacks on U.S. military bases and other facilities in Iraq since then.<\/p>\n
Iraq\u2019s caretaker Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani called the embassy attack a \u201cterrorist act\u201d carried out by \u201crogue groups.\u201d<\/p>\n
U.S. allies in the Gulf have said the Trump administration\u00a0did not give them adequate time to prepare\u00a0for the war.<\/p>\n
Hours after Pezeshkian\u2019s apology, the United Arab Emirates said debris from an aerial interception fell onto a vehicle and killed an \u201cAsian driver.\u201d Four people have now been killed in the UAE since the war began. Authorities have said all were foreign nationals.<\/p>\n
Sirens sounded earlier Saturday\u00a0in Bahrain\u00a0as Iran targeted the island kingdom.\u00a0Saudi Arabia\u00a0said it destroyed drones headed toward its vast Shaybah oil field and shot down a ballistic missile launched toward Prince Sultan Air Base, which\u00a0hosts U.S. forces.<\/p>\n
In Dubai, several blasts were heard Saturday morning and the government said it had activated air defenses. Passengers waiting for flights at Dubai International Airport were ushered into train tunnels.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
#Iran #sends #conflicting #signals #leaders #deescalate #hardliners #bent #fighting<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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