Trump threatens to attack power plants over Strait of Hormuz

US President Donald Trump threatens to “obliterate” Iran’s power plants if it fails to open the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours.
Iran attacks southern Israel, wounding dozens in the cities of Dimona and Arad, with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling it a “difficult evening of battle”.
Israeli peace activist demands answers after Iranian strike on Dimona and Arad
The Israeli government must be held “accountable” and should answer questions about its assessment of the military capability of Iran, after claiming that it is already running out of weapons following the joint US-Israeli strikes, an Israeli peace activist and politician said.

In a statement posted on X, Yariv Oppenheimer of Israel’s Peace Now advocacy organisation wrote that authorities “are not telling” the Israeli public about how the country’s interceptors failed against Iran’s latest strikes.

“They’re not telling us how many missiles were fired at Israel, how many missiles managed to hit their targets, how many launchers were actually destroyed, and how many launchers and missiles are still left,” Oppenheimer said.

The activist and politician issued the statement following Iran’s strike on Dimona and Arad, which left over 100 people injured including children.

“Enough with deceiving the public and telling it what it wants to hear. Speak the truth,” Oppenheimer said in a separate post on X.
Airlines lost over $50bn in value since US-Israel attacked Iran: Report
The world’s 20 largest publicly listed airlines have lost about $53bn in value since the US-Israel war against Iran began in February, the Financial Times reported citing data.

Several airlines have been forced to stop its commercial operation in a number of Middle East countries following the war.

The report also said that airline executives are sounding the alarm of possible fuel shortages as the war heads to its fourth week.

Jet fuel, which accounts for a third of airlines’ costs, has doubled since war began on February 28, raising the possibility of increase in airline tickets, the reported added.
US bombing Iran hard, ‘but not to the point of forcing the Iranians into submission’
We’ve been speaking to Paolo Von Schirach, president of the Global Policy Institute, about the US strategy in the war on Iran.

He told Al Jazeera the Iranian leadership was unlikely to capitulate.

“We have been bombing Iran now for several weeks. Successfully, I would say, but not to the point of forcing the Iranians into submission,” he said.

Von Schirach said the US and Israel have “control of the skies over Tehran” after destroying all of the country’s air defences. This means the two militaries can deploy bombers and bombs. But, he asked, “to hit what exactly?”

The analyst noted the US and Israel have claimed they’ve hit more than 8,000 targets in the first few days of the war. “How many more targets are there that are high value? And that would really tilt the balance in this conflict in favour of America?” he aded.

Von Schirach noted that wars end not when somebody says “I won”, but when they say “I lost”.

“Until that moment comes, the war is not over. You have to have somebody who says, okay, enough, enough. I had it. Please, let’s stop this. I don’t see the current Iranian leadership, as bad as they are, as being easy on this, and to say, ‘You know what? We had it good for 47 years, and now it’s time to let go, because the Americans are really too strong’. They will never do that.”

UK scrambles to reassure Cyprus amid tensions over RAF base
The phone conversation between UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides on Saturday was all about easing the political tensions that have erupted since the start of this war.

It was primarily about the security situation in Cyprus and the eastern Mediterranean.

Cyprus has been drawn into the conflict after UK authorities said Hezbollah drones launched from Lebanon had targeted the island, something that caused an enormous amount of consternation for the Cypriot leadership.

Only two days ago, the Cypriot president said that after this particular war, perhaps it was time for Cyprus to reconsider the presence of UK bases on the island. That, of course, has set alarm bells off in the UK, because Cyprus is a strategic area for the UK. It is enormously important. It has carried out missions from Akrotiri [in Cyprus] to Syria and to Iraq.

So while the phone call was aimed at allaying tensions, there is a bigger diplomatic push under way. Starmer has made clear that the UK will only act in a defensive capacity and that the only way to resolve this crisis would be through diplomatic means.

Iran destroys combat drone over Tehran
The Iranian military has announced intercepting and downing a US-Israeli armed drone in the skies of Tehran before it could carry out any combat operations, according to the Tasnim news agency.

“Since the beginning of the recent imposed war, 127 advanced drones of various types belonging to the enemy have been targeted and destroyed by the country’s air defence,” the military was cited as saying.

Earlier, the Israeli military said it had begun a new wave of attacks on Tehran, while residents of the city reported hearing loud explosions to its east and west.

Iranian drones targeting Saudi Arabia’s energy heartland
In the last 24 hours, nearly 60 drones were fired from Iran to Saudi Arabia, and the authorities here say all of them have been intercepted.

I spoke to a retired Saudi general a couple of hours ago, and he expressed confidence in the country’s ability to defend itself. He said Saudi Arabia has one of the strongest and most sophisticated air forces in the region. Having said that, the majority of drones fired so far have targeted the country’s Eastern Province. This is important because the overwhelming majority of the country’s energy facilities and resources are located in the Eastern Province, including the export terminals and the processing plants.

Saudi Arabia does have an advantage compared with other Gulf states. It has an alternative export route through the Red Sea also. So, 30 percent of Saudi energy is being transported to the world through the Red Sea, but Iranian drones or missiles are not only targeting the Eastern Province in recent days, but we have also seen attacks on the coastal city of Yanbu, which hosts an important energy facility as well.

So, this is putting a huge amount of pressure on the Saudi economy, because energy is the economic lifeline of the country.