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Iran again strikes Kuwait's power and desalination plants

Kuwait said Tuesday that Iran had again attacked power and desalination plants critical to the tiny desert nation.

The statement from Kuwait’s Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy Ministry said that Tehran had struck the plants for a fourth day in a row on Monday night.

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Israel building miles-long earthen barrier inside Gaza, entrenching its division

The Israeli military is quietly but quickly building a giant earthen barrier separating the over 50% of the Gaza Strip it controls from the rest of the territory, according to satellite imagery, further entrenching the division of the tiny Palestinian enclave.

More than 23 kilometers (14 miles) have been constructed in recent months, running through Palestinian communities demolished by the military. That is equivalent to more than half the length of the coastal strip, which is some 40 kilometers (25 miles) long and 11 kilometers (7 miles) wide, and home to over 2 million Palestinians.

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Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis announce maritime blockade of Saudi Arabia

Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels on Monday announced a maritime embargo of their foe Saudi Arabia, after the pair traded fire last week for the first time in years.

The rebels "declare a maritime embargo against the criminal Saudi enemy, based on the equation of 'an eye for an eye,' effective immediately upon the issuance of this statement," military spokesman Yahya Saree said.

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Hamas says Khalil al-Hayya elected as group's new chief

Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas announced Monday that it had elected Khalil al-Hayya, the group's lead negotiator in indirect ceasefire talks with Israel, as the new head of its political bureau.

"The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) announces the election of brother mujahid Khalil al-Hayya as head of the movement's political bureau, succeeding the martyred leader Yahya al-Sinwar," Hamas said in a statement. Sinwar was killed by Israeli forces in October 2024 in Gaza.

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Iran minister set to visit Islamabad on Monday

Iran's Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni is set to travel to mediator Pakistan's capital on Monday, a Pakistani interior ministry source said.

The source confirmed to AFP that the minister would have talks with Pakistani officials but did not elaborate on whether it was linked to Pakistan's long-running mediation efforts to end fighting between the United States and Iran.

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Iran calls on IAEA to condemn strikes on under-construction nuclear site

Iran urged the United Nations nuclear watchdog on Monday to condemn U.S. strikes that it said targeted the Darkhovin nuclear power plant under construction in the country's southwest.

"Iran... expects the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) Board of Governors and the Director General of the IAEA, who from time to time makes political statements regarding the Iranian nuclear issue, to clearly state their position on this matter in condemning the U.S. crime," Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said at a press conference in Tehran attended by AFP.

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Iran says diplomatic exchanges with US ongoing via mediators

Iran said on Monday that diplomatic exchanges with the United States via mediators were ongoing despite U.S. military strikes on the country.

"We have been informed by mediators, we have received messages -- without going into details -- but the main point is that the diplomatic apparatus has been active in recent days and ideas have been conveyed to us by certain mediators," said Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Ismail Baghaei at a press conference in Tehran attended by AFP.

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Rubio says US still open to Iran negotiations but 'it has to be real'

U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to target Iran’s power stations and bridges to try to compel Tehran to loosen its hold on the Strait of Hormuz, which saw one-fifth of traded global oil supplies transit before the war. Recent attacks suggest the U.S. military is carrying out that plan.

The U.S. in the past week reimposed a naval blockade on Iranian ports to halt its shipments of crude oil. The military on Saturday said it had redirected six ships and disabled one since then.

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US strikes hit civilian nuclear plant, kill one in northwest Iran

The U.S. military’s Central Command announced a new round of strikes early Monday, now into their ninth straight night. Central Command said it targeted “Iranian military command centers, air defense and coastal surveillance sites, maritime capabilities, missile and drone launch sites and communications networks.”

Iran's state-run IRNA news agency reported that the American strikes killed at least one person around Tabriz, a northwestern city about 520 kilometers from the capital, Tehran. Tabriz is believed to host underground missile bases run by Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard.

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US launches strikes to 'punish' Iran after troops killed

The United States said airstrikes on Sunday aimed to "punish" Iran over the first U.S. military deaths since renewed hostilities with the Islamic republic.

Iran rapidly announced its own retaliation, saying two U.S. bases in Kuwait were targeted in response to more than a week of intensifying attacks -- which Tehran said included strikes on an airport, a railway station and bridges.

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