Dubai, 8 Mar

Israel on Sunday struck southern Lebanon, Beirut and oil storage facilities in Tehran as the war in the Middle East keeps escalating, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised “many surprises” for the next phase of the conflict.

Iran also hit a desalination plant in Bahrain. Earlier Sunday, Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said a US airstrike damaged an Iranian desalination plant on Qeshm Island, warning that in doing so “the US set this precedent, not Iran.” Such infrastructure is critical for drinking water supplies in the parched deserts of the Gulf.

An Israeli attack on oil storage sites in Tehran sent up pillars of fire that could be seen in Associated Press video as a glow against the Saturday night sky. It appeared to be the first time a civil industrial facility has been targeted in the war.

The war, which erupted on 28 Feb after joint US-Israeli strikes hit Iran, has so far killed at least 1,230 people in the Islamic Republic, more than 300 in Lebanon and around a dozen in Israel, according to officials.

Here is the latest:

Iran's parliament speaker said Sunday that oil prices will continue to soar, inflicting pain on the global economy as long as the war in the Middle East goes on.

Oil prices have soared since the US andIsrael attacked Iran, reaching their highest levels since 2023.

The price for a barrel of Brent crude jumped 8.5 per cent to USD 92.69 on Friday — up from nearly USD 70 a barrel just late last week. Meanwhile, benchmark US crude climbed 12.2 per cent, to USD 90.90 a barrel on Friday.

“If the war continues like this, there will be neither a way to sell oil nor the ability to produce it,” Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf said in a social media post. He said the war is not only impacting the US, but also the Middle East and the whole world “due to Netanyahu's delusions,” referring to the Israeli prime minister.

Iran says 400 women, kids killed in war

US and Israeli strikes in Iran have killed 200 children and around 200 women, the Iranian Health Ministry said Sunday.

They are among more than 1,200 people killed in the war, spokesman Hossein Kermanpour said in a social media post.

He said more than 1,000 others, including about 400 women, have been injured.

Iran's president has threatened to step up attacks on American targets throughout the Middle East as the US and Israel press ahead with their air campaign.

“When we are attacked, we have no choice but to respond. The more pressure they impose on us, the stronger our response will naturally be,” President Masoud Pezeshkian said in video comments Sunday. “Our Iran, our country, will not bow easily in the face of bullying, oppression or aggression — and it never has.”

Pezeshkian appeared to be backtracking from conciliatory comments toward his Gulf neighbours on Saturday. Those comments, in which he appeared to apologise for attacks on their soil, were quickly contradicted by Iranian hard-liners.

Pezeshkian said Iran is not looking for a battle against neighbouring Arab countries, many of which host American military bases. “They are our brothers,” he said, accusing the US of trying to pit the region's countries against one another. Many Iranian attacks have gone beyond US bases in the region, striking energy facilities, hotels and cities.

Tehran is shrouded in smoke

The sky over Iran's capital was blanketed with smoke Sunday morning, hours after Israeli strikes hit oil facilities in Tehran, Associated Press footage showed.

Fars news agency reported that Saturday's strikes hit four oil storage facilities and an oil production transfer centre in Tehran and Alborz. Four tanker drivers in the centre were killed, it reported.

The strikes sent up pillars of fire that could be seen in AP video as a glow against the Saturday night sky.

It appeared to be the first time a civil industrial facility has been targeted in the war.