Iran war updates: Tehran calls for diplomacy but ready to ‘defend’ itself

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This live page will soon close. But before we go, here’s a look at some of the top recent developments:

• Three people have been killed, and 10 have been wounded in attacks targeting King Fahd Airport and Aramco’s Shaybah oilfield in Saudi Arabia.
• In a joint statement, French President Emmanuel Macron and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani have condemned Iranian military attacks against countries in the region “which constitute a serious breach of international law”.
• Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said Iran is “prepared to give diplomacy another chance” if it sees “strong evidence of a sincere desire by the US” to reach a just solution.
• Israeli attacks have killed seven Palestinians and wounded 24 others across Gaza in the past 24 hours, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking during a graduation ceremony for Israeli forces, has threatened Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, saying that the “regime in Iran has still not learned its lesson.”
• Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has said Egypt’s military effort to defend Saudi Arabia would not include an attack on Yemen and would be limited to defending the kingdom’s territory.

NBC News has quoted US officials as saying that the US military has been reducing its troop presence across bases in the Middle East in recent days.

The officials said the State Department is ordering further staff reductions at several diplomatic missions in the region.

Palestinian farmers are still being blocked from accessing their olive groves by Israeli settlers and the military during this year’s harvest in the occupied West Bank.

Volunteers supporting farmers have also been detained, including US congressional candidate Brad Lander and activist Andrey X.

Watch our video below for more:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed, in an interview with The Jerusalem Post, that Israeli intelligence had warned that Iran and its allies are looking at ways to influence Israel’s elections next week.

Netanyahu said if Iran decides to interfere with the elections, it will be “a big mistake for them because we’ll respond with force and might they can’t even imagine”.

He added that Israel completed “90 percent of the job” against Iran and the groups it backs, but the remaining challenge is to prevent Tehran from rebuilding its capabilities.

“As long as the Iranian regime is there, they’ll reconstitute themselves,” The Jerusalem Post quoted Netanyahu saying.

Israeli forces have carried out raids and arrests, while settlers attacked Palestinians and their property across the occupied West Bank. Here are some of Wednesday’s developments, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa:

• A 40-year-old Palestinian was shot in the hand during a settler attack in Osarin, south of Nablus, while another was injured when his vehicle overturned as settlers chased him near Beita.
• Two Palestinian children, aged nine and 17, suffered burns and breathing difficulties after settlers sprayed them with pepper spray during an attack on a home near Yatta, south of Hebron.
• Israeli forces arrested an elderly woman and foreign activists, including US congressional candidate Brad Lander, while they accompanied Palestinian farmers harvesting olives in Nahalin, west of Bethlehem.
• Israeli forces arrested at least 36 Palestinians during raids across Jenin, Tulkarem, Qalqilya, Nablus and Hebron.
• Israeli forces demolished seven apartments housing 35 Palestinians near the Qalandiya refugee camp, north of Jerusalem, as well as two homes and four date storage facilities in Jericho.

Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) has reported Israeli air strikes and large explosions in several areas of southern Lebanon.

The agency said Israeli forces carried out a large explosion in the town of Kfar Tebnit.

It also reported a powerful explosion in the Ain al-Samahiyah area, on the outskirts of Zawtar ash-Sharqiyah, around midnight, causing loud blasts and tremors felt across southern Lebanon.

Separately, Israeli warplanes carried out an air strike on the town of Haddatha and another targeting Wadi al-Salouqi near Chaqra, according to the agency.

There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Iran and China have emphasised the need to “develop Global South cooperation”, according to Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi.

In a meeting with Chinese ambassador to Iran Cong Peiwu, Gharibabadi said in a post on X that the two sides discussed strengthening cooperation between Iran and China to defend national sovereignty, counter unilateralism and address threats to regional security.

Seinfeld actor Jason Alexander recalls a visit to Ramallah that challenged his fears about visiting Palestinian cities as a Jewish American.

When Israeli soldiers opened fire nearby during a raid, the Palestinian group he was with surrounded him to protect him.

Watch below to hear his account:

In their joint statement, Qatar and France have reaffirmed their commitment to supporting Lebanon’s sovereignty.

Regarding Lebanon, the two countries:

• Emphasised the importance of maintaining an international presence to support the Lebanese government as UNIFIL’s mandate comes to an end in December.
• Expressed support for the US-brokered trilateral framework agreement between Lebanon, Israel and the US aimed at restoring Lebanese sovereignty, disarming Hezbollah and securing the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon.
• Reaffirmed their commitment to continue providing humanitarian aid to the “severely affected” civilian population in Lebanon.
• Highlighted the importance of reforms in Lebanon, most notably “economic and financial ones”.

We have more from Qatar and France’s joint statement, in which the leaders of the two countries reaffirmed their “support for the two-state solution” in Palestine and Israel.

Regarding the Palestinian issue, the two countries:

• Reaffirmed their support for the two-state solution, with an independent Palestinian state living side by side with Israel in peace and security, in line with the New York Declaration.
• Reiterated their opposition to any annexation of the West Bank and called for an end to Israeli settlement policies and settler violence.
• Expressed their support for the United Nations Security Council Resolution 2803 and the comprehensive plan put forward by US President Trump to end the conflict in Gaza.
• Expressed their support for the holding of Palestinian elections.
• Stressed the need for all parties to fulfil all their obligations under the relevant agreements and frameworks, including the implementation of the ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces in accordance with the agreed arrangements, and the urgent, safe and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza without conditions or restrictions

France’s President Emmanuel Macron held in-depth discussions regarding the US-led war on Iran with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani during Macron’s visit to Doha, the two countries said in a joint statement.

The two leaders “condemned Iranian military attacks against countries in the region which constitute a serious breach of international law”.

The pair also reaffirmed their support for “efforts aimed at reaching a diplomatic solution to permanently address the threats posed by Iran, and in particular to ensure verifiably the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear program”.

Macron praised Qatar’s mediation efforts to this end. The two leaders also emphasised “the need to restore freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz without constraints or fees and expressed support for efforts aimed at achieving this objective”.

The two countries endorsed continued work with international partners to promote regional and international security, “agreeing to intensify consultations and coordinate joint diplomatic efforts to contain tensions and de-escalate”.

Qatar is committed “to its role as a reliable partner in supporting global energy security and the stability of energy supplies”.

Israeli attacks have killed seven Palestinians across Gaza in the past 24 hours and wounded 24 others, according to the enclave’s Ministry of Health.

Since the “ceasefire” in Gaza took effect in October 2025, Israeli attacks have killed 1,534 Palestinians and wounded 5,486, the ministry said.

Rescue teams have also recovered 841 bodies from under the rubble over the same period.

The ministry put the overall toll of Israel’s war on Gaza since October 2023 at 74,494 killed and 175,604 wounded.

Colonel Majid al-Nazili, military spokesman for the Yemeni government forces, says the Houthis have targeted al-Rayyan airport for the fourth time today.

He described the targeting of airports as an assault on the assets of the Yemeni people and a means of imposing a blockade upon them.

Al-Nazili added that targeting airports harms the interests of the Yemeni people and restricts their freedom of movement.

Israeli forces carried out a large-scale demolition using explosives in the southern Lebanese town of Kfar Tebnit, according to the country’s state-run National News Agency (NNA).

NNA reports that Israeli drones were spotted flying at low altitude over the city of Tyre and surrounding villages. Israeli drones also flew low over the capital Beirut for many hours today, our team on the ground observed.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has called for continuing negotiations to end Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon, according to the country’s state-run National News Agency (NNA).

NNA reports Aoun made the comments during a meeting with Greek Orthodox Church Patriarch John X Yazigi, who led a delegation to Beirut earlier today.

“When the south is wounded, all of Lebanon feels the pain,” Aoun said, adding that the primary objective of US-led negotiations was to secure Israel’s withdrawal from occupied Lebanese territory, as well as the release of prisoners, and the return of displaced residents.

More than 1.2 million people have been displaced as a result of Israel’s attacks and invasion of southern Lebanon in March.

US Senator Chris Van Hollen says Israeli authorities must release all activists detained alongside a US congressional candidate who were helping protect Palestinians harvesting olives in the occupied West Bank.

Brad Lander, who is running for the US Congress as a Democrat in midterm elections next month, was released by Israeli authorities, but others in his group, including US rabbis, are still being held.

“Releasing Brad isn’t enough. The Israeli government must release them all,” Van Hollen said in a post on X.

“If this is how they treat Americans, imagine how they treat Palestinians,” he said, adding that President Trump’s and Secretary of State Rubio’s “silence fuels this impunity”.

US-based news outlet Axios is reporting that dozens of Israeli fighter jets flew over Syria and Iraq to reach Iran’s western border on Monday, as part of a “training exercise”.

According to Axios, Tel Aviv informed Trump administration officials that the training exercise was meant to demonstrate strength and deter future Iranian attacks on Israel.

US officials told Axios that they had the impression Israel was hoping Iran would target the Israeli jets, thus providing “justification” to retaliate against Tehran.