The Iran war intensified late Saturday as pillars of flame rose above an oil-storage facility in Tehran after what Israel’s military confirmed were strikes on fuel-storage complexes. Associated Press video showed a glowing horizon and billowing smoke over the Iranian capital. State media blamed “an attack from the US and the Zionist regime.” The facility supplies Tehran and neighbouring northern provinces and appeared to be among the first civil industrial sites hit in the week-old conflict.
Earlier, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian apologised for attacks on “neighbouring countries,” urging diplomacy and saying Iran’s leadership council had told the armed forces that they should not attack neighbours unless attacked first. His comments highlighted a rift inside Iran’s ruling structure and underlined the limited control civilian leaders have over the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which answers to the late Supreme Leader and controls many ballistic missiles and drones. Hard-liners pushed back, saying Tehran’s military posture would not change.
Across the region, missiles and drones linked to Iran struck or threatened Gulf Arab states. Gulf countries reported intercepting additional ballistic missiles and drones. The United Arab Emirates said debris from an aerial interception fell onto a vehicle, killing an “Asian driver”; four people in the UAE have been reported killed since the war began, all foreign nationals, officials said.
US President Donald Trump warned in a Truth Social post that “Today Iran will be hit very hard!” and said more Iranian officials would be targeted. He told reporters the US “isn’t looking to settle” with Iran and repeatedly described US operations as an “excursion.” Trump also dismissed the idea of involving Kurdish fighters, saying the war was already complicated enough without them. He downplayed reports that Russia may have shared targeting intelligence with Iran, calling any benefit limited.
The conflict’s violence spread across Lebanon and Iraq. Israel renewed strikes in southern Lebanon early Sunday, targeting commanders of the Lebanese branch of Iran’s Quds Force after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised “many surprises” in the next phase of the war. An Israeli drone struck a hotel room in Beirut’s Raouche district, killing four and wounding others, and a separate strike hit an apartment in the Ramada hotel building in central Beirut, killing at least two. Israeli forces said they would continue targeted operations against what they called Iranian terrorist elements in Lebanon.
In Iraq, a missile landed on the helicopter landing pad inside the US Embassy complex in Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone — the first strike reported there since the war began — but Iraqi security officials said there were no casualties. Drone strikes hit multiple sites in Sulaymaniyah in Iraq’s northern Kurdish region, killing one person and damaging buildings, including offices and a UN compound. A drone strike on Irbil (Erbil) International Airport killed one security personnel and wounded another, with air defences reported to have intercepted several attacks.
Human Rights Watch called for a war-crimes investigation into a February 28 explosion that killed more than 165 people, mostly children, at a school in Iran. Satellite images, expert analysis, a US official and information released by US and Israeli militaries have suggested the blast was likely caused by US airstrikes that also hit an adjacent Revolutionary Guard compound. Trump, however, accused Iran of the school blast without offering evidence, saying Iran’s munitions were “very inaccurate.”
The conflict has also seen repeated attacks on US forces and facilities. Iran and allied Iraqi militias have launched dozens of strikes on US bases and other installations in Iraq since hostilities began. In the broader region, there were reports of strikes affecting Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Dubai, and authorities warned of continued threats to commercial and civilian infrastructure.
As diplomats and some Iranian politicians seek de-escalation, the battlefield reality remains chaotic. Conflicting signals from Tehran’s civilian leadership and powerful security organs, expanding strikes across multiple countries, and vows of further punishment from Washington and Israel complicate prospects for an immediate ceasefire or negotiated settlement. Agencies: AP, Reuters.
