Live. Tehran fires barrage of drones at neighbouring Saudi Arabia and Kuwait as Iran war enters Day 11

The Israeli military reiterated on Tuesday the call for all residents of southern Lebanon to evacuate their homes as it planned to “operate forcefully” in the area against what it says are Hezbollah positions.

The Israeli Defence Forces issued similar warnings during its war with Hezbollah in 2003-2024, displacing hundreds of thousands of people.

Lebanese officials say Israeli attacks across Lebanon, which started shortly after the United States opened fire on Iran, have so far killed at least 397 people and displaced approximately 500,000.

The Israeli military said on Tuesday it had completed a series of strikes targeting Hezbollah’s financial arm, al-Qard Al-Hasan.

The IDF said in a post on X that the Iran-backed group uses the financial institution to fund its military activities, purchase weapons and pay terrorist salaries.

Israel targeted several of the group’s branches in southern and eastern Lebanon on Monday and last week.

The United Arab Emirates says it will lower the volume of missile alerts sent to mobile phones in the overnight hours.

The UAE’s National Emergency Crisis and Disasters Management Authority made the announcement late night on Monday, saying that the loud blaring alarm would sound on phones from 9 am until 10:30 pm local time.

A standard text message chime would sound from 10:30 pm until 9 am, it said.

The blaring klaxon had sounded in the middle of the night since the US and Israel fired the war’s opening salvo on the 28th of February.

The change in the alerts signals how Gulf Arab states are trying to adjust to the idea of the war grinding on, as there’s no immediate sign of an end to the fighting.

Egypt hiked fuel prices by up to 17% on Tuesday as the war in Iran sent prices of crude soaring.

According to the Petroleum Ministry, the cost of a litre of diesel, which is heavily relied on for public transport, increased by more than 17%. The price of the 92-octane gasoline rose by 15% and 95-octane gasoline increased by 14%, hitting the North African country hard.

The most populous Arab country, Egypt depends heavily on imported fuel. The Egyptian pound fell to a record low, trading at over 52 against the US dollar on Monday in response to the crisis.

To mitigate impact of the war, the government announced a series of measures, including reducing official overseas trips and tightening fuel consumption across sectors.

Tehran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard Corps said on Tuesday that the end of the war will be determined only by Iran.

Spokesperson Ali Mohammad Naini said in a statement published in various Iranian state-run media outlets. The remarks come in an apparent response to Trump’s comments on Monday, where he offered contradictory information on when Washington may seek to end its war.

The US president vowed aggressive action against Iran if it continues to block the shipment of oil in the Strait of Hormuz, further destabilising already volatile energy prices.

“If Iran does anything that stops the flow of Oil within the Strait of Hormuz, they will be hit by the United States of America TWENTY TIMES HARDER than they have been hit thus far,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“Additionally, we will take out easily destroyable targets that will make it virtually impossible for Iran to ever be built back, as a Nation, again — Death, Fire, and Fury will reign upon them — But I hope, and pray, that it does not happen!”

The Republican president said his threat was a “gift” to China, among other nations, because it relies on oil from the Middle East.

US President Donald Trump said late on Monday that he expects the war in Iran to end very soon, but declined to provide any indication as to when that might be.

His comments came as he addressed Republican lawmakers who convened in Florida, assuring them that Washington’s “excursion” into the Middle East will only be “short term” and boasting about the US military’s “tremendous success”.

Speaking at a later event, Trump offered a contradictory tone, telling reporters that the war will only end when all of Washington’s objectives are met, as he claimed, without providing evidence, that Tehran was plotting to “take over the Middle East”.

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