President Trump does not want Kurdish fighters to enter war with Iran
He told reporters aboard Air Force One that he ruled out the Kurds joining Iran’s war.
Trump says Kurdish fighters in the region are willing to help in efforts to overthrow the Iranian government, but their involvement would further complicate the conflict.
“The war is complicated enough without involving the Kurds,” Trump said.
Trump: “We do not intend to reach an agreement” with Iran
The president said Saturday that the United States maintains significant influence over Iran and is not seeking to negotiate with the rest of its leaders.
“We’re not looking to make a deal,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One. “They would like to make a deal. We’re not looking to make a deal.”
Steve Witkoff, one of his top envoys in talks with Iran, said Tehran’s leaders did not seem “very receptive” during negotiations before the United States launched the attacks.
“They told Jared and I that we will not give you diplomatically what you couldn’t take militarily,” Witkoff said, referring to fellow negotiator and presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner. “So you know, I think they’re going to need a change of attitude.”
During the meeting with reporters, Trump repeatedly described ongoing U.S. operations in Iran as an “excursion” and said issues such as rising gas prices and American security would improve once the conflict ends.
Israeli drone attack hits hotel in central Beirut
An Israeli drone attacked a room early Sunday morning at a hotel in the Raouche district of Beirut, a major coastal tourist area of the Lebanese capital with no notable Hezbollah presence, local media reported.
The strike affected the Ramada Hotel, popular with tourists and business travelers, and was heard by nearby residents.
The Lebanese Health Ministry said the attack killed four people and wounded 10. Israel did not immediately say who it was aimed at.
This is the second attack targeting a hotel since the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah reignited earlier this week, after the Iran-backed group launched rockets and drones into northern Israel, prompting Israeli retaliatory strikes across Lebanon that have killed hundreds of people.
In a separate incident on Wednesday, an Israeli strike hit the Comfort Hotel in the Hazmieh area of Beirut, a predominantly Christian suburb east of central Beirut.
Iran unleashes a barrage of missiles and drones
Qatar’s Defense Ministry said Iran had fired a dozen missiles at the country on Saturday as Tehran continued its attacks across the Gulf.
Six ballistic missiles were intercepted, he said, while two fell in the country’s territorial waters and two landed in an “uninhabited area.” It also said it intercepted two cruise missiles.
Saudi Arabia said it had intercepted a drone attack on Riyadh’s diplomatic quarter, with no casualties or damage reported, while Kuwait said fuel tanks at the country’s international airport were attacked by Iranian drones.
Netanyahu vows to continue war with Iran with ‘all our strength’
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would continue its war with Iran “with all our strength” as part of “a systematic plan to eradicate the Iranian regime.”
The “moment of truth” is coming for the Iranian people, he said, and Israel wants to help them free themselves from the “yoke of tyranny.”
He added that US and Israeli airstrikes had ensured “almost complete control of the airspace” over Tehran.
Israel’s military previously said it had carried out around 3,400 strikes against Iran since the start of the war a week ago.
Tehran’s oil deposits are affected
The US and Israeli strikes hit an oil depot in Tehran, Iranian state media said, the first reported attack on Iran’s oil infrastructure.
The depot was near a key oil refinery, but the ILNA news agency said the refinery facilities were not damaged.
The attacks also hit a warehouse in northwest Tehran, according to an AFP journalist who saw flames and smoke rising from the site.
Separately, Israel said it had attacked 16 military aircraft belonging to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in overnight attacks at Tehran’s Mehrabad airport.
Human Rights Watch says attack on Iranian school should be investigated as a war crime
Human Rights Watch issued a statement Saturday saying that the attack on an Iranian school that killed dozens of children in Minab, southern Iran, on February 28 should be investigated as a war crime.
The Iranian government has blamed the US-Israeli coalition for the attack, but neither nation has claimed responsibility.
“A swift and thorough investigation into this attack is needed, even though those responsible should have known there was a school there and that it would be full of children and their teachers before noon,” said Sophia Jones, a researcher at HRW. “Those responsible for an illegal attack must be held accountable, including the prosecution of anyone responsible for war crimes.”
On Saturday, Trump accused Iran of being behind the deadly school explosion even though evidence suggests it was most likely a US airstrike.
Kuwait and Saudi Arabia airport attacked as Iran presses Gulf strikes
Gulf nations reported missile and drone attacks on Sunday, while Iran vowed to continue attacks on neighboring countries as the regional war entered its second week.
Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait reported new attacks, after loud explosions were heard in Dubai and Manama in Bahrain a day earlier.
Kuwait’s national oil company announced a “precautionary” cut to its crude production, while the country’s military said Sunday it had responded “to a wave of hostile drones that penetrated the country’s airspace.”
Fuel tanks at Kuwait’s international airport were the target of a drone attack, the military added.
He called the drone attack “a direct target against vital infrastructure.”
Lebanon says Israeli attack on Beirut hotel kills four
Lebanon’s Health Ministry said Sunday that an Israeli attack on a hotel in central Beirut killed at least four people and wounded 10 others.
An AFP photographer at the bombed beachfront hotel saw a room with broken windows, as security forces cordoned off the area.
The Israeli military earlier announced that it had “begun an additional wave of attacks in Beirut” but said it was targeting the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, a stronghold of the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group.
