Fresh US strikes hit around Qeshm Island, Bandar Abbas: Report

Etihad Airways cancelled its scheduled flights to Bahrain on Thursday after the temporary shutdown of Bahrain International Airport disrupted operations.

The airline said Flight EY647, which had departed from Abu Dhabi's Zayed International Airport for Bahrain, was forced to return to Abu Dhabi after Bahrain International Airport suspended operations, preventing the aircraft from landing.

Yemen's Houthi leader has warned that the group would target all Saudi oil installations and other critical infrastructure with missile attacks if Riyadh becomes involved in what he described as a "comprehensive aggression" against Yemen and further escalates the conflict. Reuters

Iraq briefly suspended oil loadings on Thursday after a drone hit an oil tanker at its Basra terminal, four Iraqi oil and security sources told Reuters, before later resuming them.

The drone did not cause damage or fire and it was not immediately clear who launched it, the sources added.

In a statement the oil ministry said reports of a halt to crude exports from the southern ports due to an alleged ⁠drone attack were ​inaccurate, and that loading operations were continuing as normal.

The ministry said its investigation found the incident involved a tanker reporting the sighting of a foreign object in its vicinity, and that no fire or damage to the vessel had occurred.

The incident was not a direct attack on the Basra terminals or vessels there, the head ​of ​Iraq's state oil marketer SOMO told Reuters.

"It is not targeting ⁠Basra Oil Terminal. Its target is another place. Loading is at normal rates depending on the vessels' availability," Ali Nazar said.

The oil tanker was towed outside the ‌port along with another tanker that was anchored as a precautionary measure, the four sources said. Reuters

Lebanese Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi on Thursday declared that ending Hezbollah's military presence is a "sovereign Lebanese decision," marking a decisive shift in the country's efforts to consolidate state authority.

Reflecting on his remarks delivered at the French Senate, the Foreign Minister reaffirmed the sovereignty of Lebanon and announced that the nation will not return to duality. He announced the exclusion of "weapons" outside the state's authority.

"From the French Senate, I reaffirmed that Lebanon has made its choice: there will be no return to dual authority, and there is no longer any place for weapons outside the authority of the state or for decisions taken outside its constitutional institutions," he wrote in a post on X. ANI

A fire broke out on Thursday at the Imam Reza shrine complex in Mashhad, northeastern Iran, which houses the tomb of Shia Islam's eighth Imam and serves as the burial site of former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Thick black smoke billowed over the complex after the blaze erupted at a workshop inside the Ghadir Courtyard.

According to Iranian officials, the fire started at a workshop supporting one of the shrine's ongoing construction projects. Emergency teams brought the blaze under control, and authorities said no injuries were reported.

US Vice President JD Vance has alleged that Israel is supporting a well-financed effort to sabotage Washington's diplomatic negotiations with Iran aimed at ending the ongoing conflict.

Speaking on the Joe Rogan podcast, Vance claimed that a coordinated campaign was being run to disrupt the talks and target those involved in the negotiations.

“You have seen this very discreet, extremely well-funded campaign to try to derail the negotiation and try to derail the deal,” Vance told the Joe Rogan podcast.

He further alleged that individuals associated with the campaign had financial links to figures connected to both former US President Donald Trump's campaign and elements within the Israeli government.

“A bunch of people who have quite literally been paid by a former Trump campaign person who was himself paid by certain elements within the Israeli government. And those people are attacking me viciously,” he said.

Israeli officials had not issued an immediate response to Vance's allegations at the time of reporting.

According to an Al Jazeera report, the Israeli military is demolishing civilian homes and infrastructure across southern Lebanon, with entire villages reportedly being reduced to rubble.

Reporting from near the Israeli-occupied area in southern Lebanon, the outlet said its team was stationed less than one kilometre from the nearest Israeli position and heard four explosions over a span of about four hours, which it said were linked to ongoing demolition operations by the Israeli military.

In Haddatha, another village in southern Lebanon, homes have reportedly been burned. Al Jazeera cited satellite imagery showing extensive destruction across southern Lebanon, estimating that the damage extends to roughly six percent of the country's territory.

The report noted that many of the destroyed buildings were family homes and said much of the destruction occurred despite a ceasefire being in place. It added that even during the period between the November 2024 ceasefire and the renewed escalation in March 2026, Israeli forces allegedly carried out daily demolition operations in parts of southern Lebanon.