AN Iranian drone attack caused “material damage” to a desalination plant, Bahrain said on Sunday morning. It was the first time an Arab country had reported Iran targeting a desalination plant during the nine-day war. Hundreds of desalination plants sit along the Persian Gulf coast, and the Arab countries in the region rely heavily on the facilities for their drinking water. Meanwhile, Israel renewed its assault on southern Lebanon early on Sunday as the war entered its ninth day and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised “many surprises” in the next phase of the conflict rippling across the region. The 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 would be aimed at stamping out Iran-supported forces there. Israel and the United States launched the war on Feb 28, saying they were targeting Iran’s 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 Iran’s leadership weakened by hundreds of Israeli and American airstrikes.

 

Iran 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 of Sri Lanka. As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu laid out the next phase of the war late on Saturday, saying Israel aims to destabilise Iran’s regime and allow change in Government, Israel launched another wave of strikes late Saturday, hitting an oil storage facility in Tehran - the first apparent strike on a civilian industrial site - sending pillars of fire into the night sky. The Iranian President apologises for the attacks but has limited power over them: Iran has apologised for attacks on “neighbouring countries,” even as its missiles and drones continued striking sites in Gulf states - including attacks that have killed civilians - and hard-liners signalled Tehran would not change course. President Masoud Pezeshkian again struck a conciliatory tone on Sunday, calling Iran’s neighbours friends and brothers while accusing the United States and Israel of using “manipulation” to sow discord between them in remarks aired on state television. “We will not bow our heads to bullying, injustice or intrusion,” he said. Pezeshkian and other Iranian leaders have underlined the limited powers exercised by theocracy’s leaders over the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which controls ballistic missiles used to target Israel and other countries.

 

It answered only to Khamenei and appears to be picking its own targets. The President is one of three members of a leadership council that has overseen Iran since Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in the war’s opening airstrikes. A rift between politicians looking to de-escalate the war and others committed to battling the United States and Israel could complicate any diplomatic efforts. Israel says 2 soldiers killed in Lebanon, first military fatalities in new war: THE Israeli military announced that two soldiers were killed in fighting in southern Lebanon. They are the first military fatalities since the start of the war with Iran last week. One of the soldiers was identified as 38-year-old Maher Khatar, from the Druze village of Majdal Shams in the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights. The military has not published the name of the second soldier as his family is still being notified.