Iran war: Search on for missing crew member of downed US jet

The Kuwaiti army said that its air defenses were working to intercept missiles and drones.

 "Kuwaiti Air Defenses are currently responding to hostile missile and drone threats," Kuwait's army said in a post on X.

It said that any explosions heard were from intercepted drones and missiles.

The statement comes after the Kuwaiti state news agency ​reported that a ‌fire ⁠broke out in the ​Shuwaikh oil ​sector complex ​after ‌a drone attack.

Kuwait Petroleum Corporation said a ‌fire ⁠broke out in the ​Shuwaikh oil ​sector complex ​after ‌a drone attack, ​the Kuwaiti state news agency ​reported on ⁠Sunday.

No injuries have been reported so far. 

The emergency service ​and ​firefighters ​were ‌dispatched to put out the ⁠fire, it added.

Iranian media has dismissed an announcement by the US State Department about revoking the residence permits of, and subsequently detaining, two relatives of the slain Iranian general Qassem Soleimani.

The US State Department said Soleimani's niece and great-niece had been living in Los Angeles and were now in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

After the US announcement on Saturday, Iranian media cited two of Soleimani's daughters who denied any familial links with the pair in question.

The semi-official Fars News Agency quoted Soleimani's daughter Zeinab as saying: "The US State Department's claim is a lie: the people arrested in the United States have no connection to the family."

Meanwhile, Iranian TV cited another daughter, Narjes, who also serves on Tehran's city council.

"To this day, no member of the family nor any relative of Martyr Soleimani has resided in the United States," she said in a statement.

Several hundred protesters gathered in Tel Aviv's Habima Square and hundreds held rallies in several locations across the country on Saturday to protest Israel's ongoing war in Iran. The protests come as the Israeli military limited gatherings in public areas to 150 people. Israel's High Court of Justice said the state must allow demonstrations in which at least 600 people participate.

At least 17 people were arrested in Habima Square after police violently dispersed demonstrators.

Around 500 protesters also gathered in Haifa's Horev mall to protest against the war, and in Jerusalem, around 300 demonstrators gathered.

The clashes come after the IDF's Home Front Command earlier Saturday refused a request to approve the participation of some 1,000 protesters at Habima Square in Tel Aviv later in the day, and a senior Israel Police officer said authorities would enforce wartime restrictions on public gatherings.

Several protest participants in West Jerusalem spoke to DW about why they decided to join the protest.

Ayelet, a young Israeli woman who recently finished her military service, told DW: "I don't really like what my government is doing. Being a citizen has become more and more difficult over the last few years. As I get older, I look at this, and I pay taxes, I want to believe in my country and what I’m supporting, especially now after I finished my army service, and I have some perspective on what I did there. I want to make my country a better place, and I believe this is the only way that I know how to. What's the alternative?

"I think a lot of people are motivated by fear, it’s not easy to live in Israel for anybody, Israelis and Palestinians, there is a lot of death all the time and it is scary, and people believe that war will make it better but I personally think more violence is no answer to violence."

Inbar, a young woman, attended the protest with a sign in Hebrew saying: I believe in peace. "I feel that this war should stop," she told DW. "It is so hurtful what I see around us. I don't believe in violence. This is why I'm here, I wouldn’t be anywhere else."

Natasha, from Jerusalem, told DW: "I don't trust this government, I think they have other interests, and I think they just lie to us. I think this war should stop. It does more harm than it will help to eliminate the Iranian threat."

Israeli airstrikes on southern Lebanon killed two children and wounded at least 40 others on Saturday, according to Lebanese officials.

The Lebanese Health Ministry said two girls were killed and 22 others were wounded by an Israeli strike in Habbush.

A separate Israeli strike on al-Hawsh — just south of Tyre — wounded 18, including a child and three paramedics.

The strike also damaged the Lebanese Italian Hospital. The hospital's director told Lebanon's National News Agency that it would "remain open to provide the necessary medical care" despite the damage.

Other Israeli strikes on Lebanon on Saturday destroyed multistory buildings in Tyre and Beirut.

Israel said it was "targeting command centers belonging to the Quds Force Lebanon corps in Beirut" and "two headquarters of the (Palestinian Islamic Jihad)," and issued calls to evacuate the area before the attacks.

Iran will allow Iraqi shipping to pass through the Strait of Hormuz without any restrictions, it said on Saturday.

"We announce that our brotherly country of Iraq is exempt from any restrictions we have imposed on the Strait of Hormuz, and these restrictions only apply to enemy countries," Iranian military spokesman Ebrahim Zolfaghari told state television.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi previously said ships associated with Iraq and other "friendly nations" like China, Russia, India and Pakistan had been permitted to transit through the strait. Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand had also reached agreements to allow safe passage for their ships, Iran previously announced.

The Israeli military (IDF) said on Saturday that one of its soldiers was killed while fighting in southern Lebanon.

This brings the total number of Israeli fatalities in southern Lebanon to 11 since the IDF launched a ground invasion last month.

More than 1.1 million people in Lebanon have fled their homes due to fighting in the south of the country and Israeli bombing of Beirut's suburbs.

DW met a family struggling to preserve a sense of normality amid the tough conditions.

Click here to read the full report.

US authorities arrested two relatives of the slain Iranian general Qassem Soleimani — who was killed by a US drone strike in 2020 — who had been living in the United States.

The State Department said in a statement that it had revoked the residence permit of Soleimani's niece, opening the door to her subsequent arrest.

"While living in the United States, she promoted Iranian regime propaganda, celebrated attacks against American soldiers and military facilities in the Middle East, praised the new Iranian Supreme Leader, denounced America as the 'Great Satan,' and voiced her unflinching support for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, a designated terror organization," the department said in a statement.

It added that Soleimani's niece "pushed this propaganda for Iran’s terrorist regime while enjoying a lavish lifestyle in Los Angeles, as attested to by her frequent posting on her recently-deleted Instagram account."

The State Department also arrested the individual's daughter — Soleimani's great-niece.

It did not clarify the precise whereabouts of the two relatives other than to say they remained in the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

A rescue operation is underway, but so is an Iranian manhunt. Former US Air Force Special Operations commander Glenn Ignazio breaks down the perilous rescue race and the threats facing any recovery team.

US President Donald Trump issued another ultimatum to Iran on his Truth Social platform on Saturday.

He gave Iran's leadership a deadline of 48 hours to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face "hell."

"Remember when I gave Iran ten days to MAKE A DEAL or OPEN UP THE HORMUZ STRAIT," Trump wrote.

"Time is running out — 48 hours before all hell will reign down on them. Glory be to GOD! President DONALD J. TRUMP."

Iran has repeatedly said it would only agree to a ceasefire if a number of conditions are met, including war reparations and a US withdrawal from its bases in the Middle East.

A UN security official told the AFP news agency that Israeli forces had reportedly destroyed 17 surveillance cameras linked to the UN peacekeepers' main headquarters in southern Lebanon.

It comes two days after the UN force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) spokesperson Kandice Ardiel told AFP that peacekeepers had seen "Israeli soldiers conducting demolitions of large parts" of the area since the start of the week.

"Not only have these demolitions destroyed civilian homes and businesses, but the strength of the blasts have caused damage to UNIFIL's headquarters," she added.

Meanwhile, the Israeli army accused Hezbollah of firing " a rocket that landed in a UNIFIL outpost."

The attacks have so far left three Indonesian peacekeepers from the UN force killed in two separate incidents.

UNIFIL has been caught in the crossfire in the country's south, with Hezbollah launching attacks on Israel and its troops, and Israeli forces pushing into border towns.

"This has been a difficult week for peacekeepers working near the central part of UNIFIL's area of operations," Ardiel said.

She added that UNIFIL "reminds all actors of their obligations to ensure the safety and security of peacekeepers, including by avoiding combat activities nearby that could put them in danger."

Iran's leadership has been defiant since the start of the war, but its foreign minister is hinting that there is some room for peace talks mediated by Pakistan.

It all comes after Iran had told mediators that it was not prepared to meet with US officials in Islamabad in the coming days and that efforts to produce a ceasefire had reached a dead end, US newspaper The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday.

But a day later, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi lowered the temperature.

"We are deeply grateful to Pakistan for its efforts and have never refused to go to Islamabad. What we care about are the terms of a conclusive and lasting END to ​the illegal war that is imposed on us," Araqchi said on X.

He said what Iran cares about "are the terms of a conclusive and lasting END to the illegal war that is imposed on us.”

Pakistan has emerged as a potential mediator in the conflict.

Last week, Pakistan had said it would soon host talks between the US and Iran, but they have so far not materialized.

Israel continued to bombard targets in Lebanon on Saturday, with Lebanese Health Ministry officials saying Israeli rockets had damaged a hospital in the coastal city of Tyre during an attack on nearby buildings that injured 11 people.

A correspondent from France's AFP news agency reported having seen two buildings near the hospital sustain heavy damage.

A small boat was also targeted in the city's harbor.

Although tens of thousands of people have fled Tyre as Israel and Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants exchange attacks, an estimated 20,000 remain in the city.

Later on Saturday, Israel issued an "urgent warning to the residents of the city of Tyre," informing remaining inhabitants to leave.

"Hezbollah's terrorist activity compels the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] to operate against it with determination," read the warning.

"For your safety, we call on you to evacuate your homes immediately," continued the post, "and move north of the Zahrani River."

 

Iraq's Border Ports Authority on Saturday announced the closure of the Iraq-Iran border crossing at Shalamcheh after the site was targeted by US-Israeli attacks.

One Iraqi truck driver was killed, while at least five more Iraqis and Iranians were seriously injured in the strike.

All trade and passenger movement has been temporarily suspended.

"At 11:00 a.m., the commercial terminal of the Shalamcheh border crossing in the southwestern city of Khorramshahr was targeted in an air attack by American and Zionist enemies," Iran's Mehr news agency reported, citing the Khuzestan province's deputy governor.

Authorities offered no further details about the incident.

The Shalamcheh crossing is crucial for Iranian imports as well as Iranian pilgrims headed to Iraq's Shiite shrines.

The Iraqi government has advised traders and travelers to use alternative crossings.

The region's Mahshahr Special Petrochemical Zone was targeted by US-Israeli forces earlier on Saturday.