West Asia war: Iranian drone strike damages desalination plant in Bahrain

Israel renewed its assault on southern Lebanon early Sunday as the war entered its ninth day and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised ldquomany surprisesrdquo in the next phase of the conflict rippling across the regionThe latest strikes in Lebanon killed 12 more people pushing the death toll there above 300 after Israel ordered large swaths of the country to evacuate during an offensive that its military said was aimed at stamping out Iransupported forces thereIsrael and the United States launched the war on Feb 28 saying they were targeting Irans nuclear and missile programmes and suggesting they sought to topple the government The conflict has since spread across the region rattling global markets disrupting air travel and leaving Irans leadership weakened by hundreds of Israeli and American airstrikesIran has fired missiles and drones at neighbouring countries in the Gulf Israel has intensified attacks in Lebanon and strikes have been reported from Cyprus to waters off Sri LankaAs Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu laid out the next phase of the war late Saturday saying Israel aims to destabilise Irans regime and allow change in government Israel launched another wave of strikes hitting an oil storage facility in Tehran mdash the first apparent strike on a civilian industrial site mdash sending pillars of fire into the night skyThe Iranian president apologises for the attacks but has limited power over themIran has apologised for attacks on ldquoneighbouring countriesrdquo even as its missiles and drones continued striking sites in Gulf states mdash including attacks that have killed civilians mdash and hardliners signalled Tehran would not change coursePresident Masoud Pezeshkian again struck a conciliatory tone on Sunday calling Irans neighbours ldquofriends and brothersrdquo while accusing the United States and Israel of using ldquomanipulationrdquo to sow discord between them in remarks aired on state televisionldquoWe will not bow our heads to bullying injustice or intrusionrdquo he saidPezeshkian and other Iranian leaders have underlined the limited power exercised by the political leadership over the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard which controls the ballistic missiles used to target Israel and other countriesThe force answers only to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and appears to be picking its own targetsThe president is one of three members of a leadership council that has overseen Iran since Khamenei was killed in the warrsquos opening airstrikesA rift between politicians seeking to deescalate the war and others committed to battling the United States and Israel could complicate diplomatic effortsPezeshkianrsquos remarks came a day after he said the leadership council had been in touch with the armed forces and that ldquofrom now on they should not attack neighbouring countries or fire missiles at them unless we are attacked by those countries I think we should solve this through diplomacyrdquoThe US strikes have not come from the Gulf Arab governments under attack but from US bases and vessels in the regionHowever hardline judiciary chief Gholam Hossein MohseniEjei another member of the threeman council suggested that the war strategy would not changeldquoThe geography of some countries in the region mdash both overtly and covertly mdash 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 continuerdquo he posted on XNo sign of deescalationPezeshkian also dismissed US President Donald Trumprsquos call for Tehran to surrender unconditionally saying ldquoThatrsquos a dream they should take to their graverdquoTrump threatened that Iran would be ldquohit very hardrdquo and that more ldquoareas and groups of peoplerdquo would become targets without elaborating Already the conflict has rattled global markets and left Iranrsquos leadership weakened by hundreds of Israeli and American airstrikesldquoWersquore not looking to settlerdquo Trump told reporters Saturday aboard Air Force One ldquoTheyrsquod like to settle Wersquore not looking to settlerdquoHe described the ongoing US operations in Iran as an ldquoexcursionrdquo and said issues such as rising gas prices and the safety of Americans would improve once the conflict endsThe United States and Israel have targeted Iranrsquos military capabilities leadership and nuclear programme The warrsquos stated goals and timelines have repeatedly shifted with the US at times suggesting it seeks to topple Iranrsquos government or elevate new leadershipThe fighting has killed at least 1230 people in Iran more than 290 in Lebanon and 11 in Israel according to officials in those countries Six US troops have also been killedStrikes target other Gulf countriesAfter Pezeshkianrsquos apology Iranian strikes continuedBahrain said an Iranian drone attack caused ldquomaterial damagerdquo to a desalination plant mdash the first time a Gulf country has reported Iran striking such a facility during the nineday warHundreds of desalination plants line the Persian Gulf coast and the region relies heavily on them for waterEarlier Sunday the United Arab Emirates said debris from an aerial interception fell onto a vehicle and killed a driver Four people have now been killed in the UAE since the war began Authorities said all were foreign nationalsThe UAE urged residents to stay indoors Sunday morning as its military responded to a drone attackIn Kuwait authorities said a wave of drones targeted critical infrastructure including fuel tanks at Kuwait International Airport and a government building in Kuwait CityAt least two people were killed by strikes in Iraqrsquos semiautonomous Kurdish regionSaudi Arabia said it destroyed a drone headed toward its vast Shaybah oil field on Sunday and shot down four drones over the capital Riyadh including one aimed at the diplomatic quarterMeanwhile Bahrainrsquos Interior Ministry said missile fragments fell onto a road in Manama injuring one person and damaging several shopsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever