Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said attacks against Iran will “increase significantly” in the coming week. Katz spoke Saturday, hours after U.S. President Donald Trump said he was considering “winding down” military operations in the Mideast even as the United States announced it was sending more warships and Marines to the region and Iran threatened to attack tourist sites worldwide.
The mixed U.S. messages came after another climb in oil prices plunged the U.S. stock market, and was followed by a Trump administration announcement that it will lift sanctions on Iranian oil loaded on ships, a move aimed at wrangling soaring fuel prices.
The war, meanwhile, has shown no signs of abating.
Iran said its Natanz nuclear facility was hit in an airstrike Saturday but that there has been no radiation leakage. Israel said Iran continued to fire missiles at it early Saturday, while Saudi Arabia said it downed 20 drones in just a couple of hours in the country’s eastern region, which is home to major oil installations. The defense ministry said there were no injuries or damage.
The death toll has risen to more than 1,300 people in Iran, more than 1,000 people in Lebanon, 15 in Israel and 13 U.S. military members in the region. Millions of people in Lebanon and Iran have been displaced.
Here is the latest:
Russia condemns attacks on Iran's nuclear facility
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova called strikes on the Natanz nuclear enrichment facility “a brazen violation of international law.”
In a statement posted on the ministry’s website Saturday, Zakharova said such “irresponsible actions” posed a “real risk of catastrophic disaster throughout the Middle East” and were “clearly aimed at further undermining peace, stability, and security in the region.”
Sirens sound in Bahrain
Authorities in Bahrain say sirens have sounded Saturday, signaling a potential attack.
Iran’s ability to threaten navigation in Strait of Hormuz is degraded, US military leader says
The head of U.S. Central Command says in his latest video update on the war that U.S. forces “remain on plan to eliminate Iran’s ability to project meaningful power outside its borders.”
Adm. Brad Cooper also detailed steps taken to undermine Iran’s control of the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway vital to international commerce such as oil shipments.
He says in a post on X that earlier in the week, multiple 5,000-pound bombs were dropped on an underground facility along Iran’s coastline that was used to store anti-ship cruise missiles, mobile missile launchers and other equipment “that presented a dangerous risk to international shipping.”
Cooper says intelligence support sites and missile radar relays used to monitor ship movements were destroyed.
“Iran’s ability to threaten freedom of navigation in and around the Strait of Hormuz is degraded as a result and we will not stop pursuing these targets,” he says in the video.
Cooper also said that “we have built the most extensive air defense umbrella in the world over the Middle East right now.”
22 countries urge Iran to cease attacks, reopen the Strait of Hormuz
Countries including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, the U.K., Germany, France, Japan, South Korea and Australia have also condemned Iran’s attacks on commercial vessels as well as oil and gas facilities in the region.
“The effects of Iran’s actions will be felt by people in all parts of the world, especially the most vulnerable,” they said in a joint statement Saturday.
Iranians hold Eid al-Fitr prayers in Tehran’s grand mosque
Thousands of Iranian worshipers on Saturday converged on Tehran’s grand mosque for Eid al-Fitr prayers marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan.
Associated Press footage showed worshippers lining up at Imam Khomeini Mosalla and in its vast courtyard for the prayers as Israel and the United States continued launch massive airstrikes against Iran.
“It’s really a painful feeling,” Masoud Alibenam, 50 said its “really a painful feeling” that the Eid prayers are being offered without Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who was killed in the first days of the war. “The leader (Khamenei) is no longer here, and we are offering the prayers in his absence.”
Worshippers also held funeral services for Gen. Ali Mohammad Naeini, spokesperson for the Revolutionary Guard, who was killed in an Israeli strike Friday. The funeral procession of Amir Hossein Bidi, a pro-government cultural activist also was held after Eid prayers.
36 Iranian drones and missiles launched at Jordan in war’s third week
Jordan’s military said on Saturday this week’s attacks, which involved at least 14 missiles, left a child injured.
That brought the total number of wounded to 24 since war’s Feb. 28 start.
Over the last three weeks, a total of 240 missiles and drones have been fired at Jordan, the military said.
What is the Diego Garcia air base?
The Diego Garcia air base is home to about 2,500 mostly American personnel and has supported U.S. military operations from Vietnam to Iraq, Afghanistan and strikes on Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
Diego Garcia is part of the Chagos Islands, a remote archipelago in the middle of the Indian Ocean off the tip of India. The islands have been under British control since 1814.
They are at the center of a U.K. spat with President Donald Trump over Britain’s plans to hand sovereignty of the Chagos archipelago to Mauritius. Britain would then lease back the Diego Garcia base.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer says that will safeguard the future of the base, which is currently vulnerable to legal challenge. The Trump administration initially welcomed the deal, but in January Trump called it “an act of GREAT STUPIDITY.”
Attack on Diego Garcia raises questions about range of Iran's missiles
Iran currently has a self-imposed limit on its ballistic missile program, limiting their range to 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles).
That puts all of the Mideast and some of Eastern Europe in range, but Diego Garcia would be far beyond it.
However, U.S. officials long have alleged Iran’s space program could allow it to build intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Britain condemns Iran's “reckless attacks” on Diego Garcia air base
Britain has condemned “Iran’s reckless attacks” after its military fired missiles at the U.K.-U.S. air base on the island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.
U.K. officials have not given details of the attempted strike, which was unsuccessful. It’s unclear how close the missiles came to the base, which is about 2,500 miles (4,000 kilometers) from Iran.
The Ministry of Defense said Saturday that Iran’s “lashing out across the region and holding hostage the Strait of Hormuz, are a threat to British interests and British allies.”
Britain has not participated in U.S-Israeli attacks on Iran, but has allowed American bombers to use U.K. bases to attack Iran’s missile sites.
On Friday, the British government said U.S. bombers can also use U.K. bases, including Diego Garcia, in operations to prevent Iran attacking ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran targeted the base before that U.K. statement.
Israel says attacks on Iran will be ramped up, war will continue
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said attacks against Iran will “increase significantly” in the coming week.
Katz spoke Saturday, hours after U.S. President Donald Trump said he was considering “winding down” military operations in the Mideast.
“This week, the intensity of the attacks that the IDF and the U.S. military will carry out against the Iranian terrorist regime and against the infrastructures on which it relies will increase significantly,” Katz said in a video statement.
UN Atomic agency says no reported increase in radiation levels at Natanz nuclear facility
The International Atomic Energy Agency said in a social media post Saturday that Iran has informed it of the attack on its Natanz nuclear facility.
The IAEA said it was looking into the report, adding that “no increase in off-site radiation levels reported.”
Russia says it remains Iran's loyal friend and reliable partner
Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a message Saturday congratulating Iranians on the new year festival Nowruz that he wished them to “overcome these severe trials with dignity.” The Kremlin press service also quoted Putin as sayin that “Moscow remains Tehran’s loyal friend and reliable partner.”
UAE reports missile and drone attacks
The United Arab Emirates' Defense Ministry said Saturday that it has responded to three ballistic missiles and eight drones.
Iran says airstrike targets its Natanz nuclear facility
Iran's official news agency Mizan said Saturday's airstrike on the country's Natanz nuclear facility did not result in any radiation leakage.
Natanz, Iran’s main enrichment site, was hit in the first week of the war and several buildings appeared damaged, according to satellite images.
The United Nations’ nuclear watchdog said that “no radiological consequence” was expected from that earlier strike.
The nuclear facility, located nearly 220 kilometers (135 miles) southeast of Tehran, had been targeted by Israeli airstrikes in the 12-day war between Iran and Israel in June 2025, and by the United States.
Israel says Iranian missile fragments strike a kindergarten in central Israel, no casualties
Israeli army spokesman Nadav Shoshani on Saturday posted a video on X showing a damaged building that he said was a kindergarten.
He said it was hit by fragments of an Iranian missile. There are no reports of casualties.
Iraq says attack on its intelligence headquarters has killed an officer
In a statement, the National Intelligence Service described Saturday's drone strike as a “terrorist attack” and vowed to bring those responsible to justice.
Earlier Saturday, Gen. Saad Maan, head of the Iraqi Security Media Cell said the drone targeted Service's headquarters in Baghdad’s Mansour area.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.
South Korea says it’s talking with Tehran on securing energy routes
South Korea says it’s also in talks with Iran after Iran’s foreign minister said Teheran may allow Japanese vessels to pass the Strait of Hormuz.
South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said Saturday in a statement it was having “multifaceted” talks with Iran and other related nations to find ways to “protect our citizens and secure energy transport routes.”
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told the Kyodo news agency Friday that Tehran is ready to facilitate the passage of Japanese vessels through the Strait of Hormuz and that negotiations with Tokyo are ongoing.
Iran's president says his country doesn't have “any dispute” with its neighbors
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian posted on social media Saturday that the "only beneficiary of our differences is the Zionist entity,” referring to Israel.
Iran holds funeral services for intelligence minister, Revolutionary Guard spokesperson
Iran held a funeral service Saturday for Minister of Intelligence Esmail Khatib in the holy city of Qom, a center of Shiite Muslim shrines and scholarship, the Islamic Republic’s state-run media reported.
Khatib was killed in an Israeli strike last week. He was one of the top Iranian officials killed in the war including the country’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
A funeral procession was also held Saturday for Revolutionary Guard spokesperson Ali Mohammad Naini, who was killed a day earlier in an Israeli strike, according to Iran’s state-run media.
Iran’s state TV and other semiofficial outlets aired footage showing funeral prayers they said were for Naini.
