France said it is dispatching warships, led by its aircraft carrier strike group, to the Mediterranean and Red Sea and, if required, into the Strait of Hormuz, as part of a defensive move to bolster allies in the ongoing Middle East conflict, which reached its 11th day on Tuesday.

The deployment was announced on Monday as the United States dispatched more of its assets to Europe with three B-52 bombers arriving at the RAF Fairford military base in the United Kingdom, after London cleared US use of British bases.

While in Cyprus ahead of a visit to the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier, which reached the eastern Mediterranean on the weekend, France President Emmanuel Macron reassured his Cypriot counterpart after drones approached the island last week.

"When Cyprus is attacked, then Europe is attacked," Macron said following a meeting with Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides and Greece's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Paphos.

European powers have found themselves largely on the sidelines as the conflict between the US, Israel and Iran, has intensified. But as Middle East shipping lanes have been disrupted, causing oil prices to surge past $100 a barrel, European states have been forced to rethink how to safeguard their interests, reported Reuters.

Macron said: "Our objective is to maintain a strictly defensive stance, standing alongside all countries attacked by Iran in its retaliation, to ensure our credibility, and to contribute to regional de-escalation. Ultimately, we aim to guarantee freedom of navigation and maritime security."

In all, France would deploy eight warships, the aircraft carrier group and two helicopter carriers to the region, he added.

After the meeting with Macron, Mitsotakis, confirmed that the European Union's naval mission Aspides, or Shields in Greek, is also being reinforced with additional vessels.

The US B-52s that arrived at the UK base Fairford add to a growing bomber footprint in the UK following weekend B-1 arrivals. These long-range aircraft are able to carry large payloads of advanced cruise missiles.

A C-5 Super Galaxy transport aircraft was photographed at the base on Friday. The largest aircraft in the US inventory, it can carry loads such as two M1 Abrams tanks, six Apache attack helicopters, or up to 36 military vehicles.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the US will use British RAF bases to "dramatically" step up strikes on Iran after UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer authorized defensive operations from UK-US bases. The UK government said it is unlikely to dispatch one of its two aircraft carriers to the Middle East despite France's "unprecedented" naval deployment as the Iran crisis intensifies. However, the UK's HMS Prince of Wales aircraft carrier was put on advanced readiness on Saturday, cutting time to sail to five days from 14, sparking speculation about a Mediterranean mission to help shield the RAF Akrotiri military base in Cyprus or a Gulf deployment to protect UK interests.

JERUSALEM -- Israel said on Tuesday afternoon that new missile salvos from Iran targeted the country, with air raid sirens activated in the north, center and south of the country, including Tel Aviv.

The Israeli military said in a statement that air defense systems are working to intercept the missiles.

Sirens were heard in the northern cities of Metula and Haifa, the southern city of Ashkelon, as well as in Jerusalem and several settlements in the occupied West Bank.

Debris fell in the Umm Al Faham area in southern Israel, causing damage. There were no immediate reports of injuries, the country's Magen David Adom rescue service said.

The development came as the deadly regional conflict entered its 11th day. On Feb 28, Israel and the United States launched joint attacks on Tehran and several other Iranian cities, killing Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, along with senior military commanders and civilians. Iran responded by launching waves of missile and drone strikes targeting Israeli and US assets in the Middle East.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Israeli military said it had begun a new series of airstrikes against Iranian government targets in Tehran, whereas Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said Iran is well-prepared to continue missile attacks against Israel and US bases in the West Asia region for as long as needed.

ABU DHABI -- The Ruwais oil refinery, considered the largest single-site refinery in the Middle East and among the top four largest in the world, has been closed as part of precautionary measures following a drone attack, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.

Earlier in the day, authorities in Abu Dhabi said a fire broke out at a facility in the Ruwais industrial complex after a drone attack, with no injuries reported so far.

There was no immediate report on whether the refinery itself, situated in the complex, was hit.

JERUSALEM -- The Israeli military said on Tuesday it has begun a new series of airstrikes against Iranian government targets in Tehran, as the deadly regional conflict entered its 11th day.

Trump says strikes on Iran would be over "very soon".

Trump holds first press conference since strikes on Iran.

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump said Monday that he is "nowhere near" ordering US ground troops into Iran to safeguard nuclear material at Isfahan, according to the New York Post.

"We haven't made any decision on that. We're nowhere near it," Trump told the newspaper in a phone interview.

Trump also said he is "not happy" with Mojtaba Khamenei as Iran's new supreme leader.

On Sunday, Trump said that Iran's next supreme leader "is not going to last long" without his approval.

"He's going to have to get approval from us," Trump said in an interview with ABC News. "If he doesn't get approval from us he's not going to last long."

On Feb 28, the United States and Israel launched joint attacks on Tehran and several other Iranian cities, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, dozens of senior officials and military commanders, as well as hundreds of civilians.

China has described Iran's choice of a new supreme leader as its internal decision. Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun, speaking on Monday after Mojtaba Khamenei was named as Iran's new supreme leader, said the decision was made by the country based on its own constitution.

At a daily news conference in Beijing, Guo said China has taken note of relevant reports.

Guo added that China opposes interference in the internal affairs of other countries under any pretext, and stressed that Iran's sovereignty, security and territorial integrity should be respected.

Guo repeated China's calls for an immediate halt to military operations and urged all parties to resume dialogue and negotiations as soon as possible to prevent further escalation of the conflict in the Middle East.

SEOUL -- South Korean stocks fell sharply at the opening on Monday as investors remained cautious amid heightened market volatility fueled by the Middle East conflict and a surge in global oil prices.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) dropped 319.5 points, or 5.72 percent, to 5,265.37 shortly after trading began. Market sentiment was dampened by concerns over unstable energy prices after US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude climbed above 100 US dollars per barrel on Sunday for the first time since July 2022.

CANBERRA -- The Australian government has ordered the evacuation of the family members of diplomats based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

In a statement posted on social media platform X late on Sunday night, Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong said that the government has directed the departure of dependents of Australian officials posted to the UAE due to the "deteriorating security situation."

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the UAE said on Sunday that infrastructure and civilian sites across the country have been targeted by more than 1,400 ballistic missiles and drones launched by Iran, resulting in civilian deaths and injuries.

Wong said on Sunday that the government is working to help Australians leave the country after advising all citizens to do so on Feb 28.

The government said at the start of March that there were around 24,000 Australian citizens in the UAE and around 115,000 in the Middle East.

CAIRO -- Mojtaba Khamenei, son of Ali Khamenei, was selected as Iran's new supreme leader, Iran's Assembly of Experts announced on Sunday.

In a statement, the assembly confirmed Mojtaba Khamenei's election as the country's third supreme leader, citing "the decisive vote of the respected representatives" of the assembly.

"In today's extraordinary session, Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei ... is appointed and introduced as the third leader of the sacred system of the Islamic Republic of Iran," the statement said.

Following the announcement, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) immediately pledged allegiance to the new supreme leader, voicing its readiness to follow his instructions.

Mojtaba Khamenei, born in 1969, is the son of Iran's late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the joint US-Israeli strikes.

Mojtaba has been widely speculated as the new supreme leader even before the announcement. Israel and the United States have both issued threats to Iran in this regard.

On Wednesday, Israel threatened that whoever Iran chooses as its new supreme leader would be "a target for elimination."

On Thursday, US President Donald Trump told US news website Axios that it is "unacceptable" for Mojtaba Khamenei to become Iran's new leader, noting that Trump himself must be personally involved in selecting Iran's next leader.

Trump also warned that if Iran selects a new leader who "continues Khamenei's policies," the United States will be forced to return to war "within five years."

The United States and Israel launched surprise airstrikes on Tehran and other Iranian cities on Feb 28, killing Ali Khamenei, along with some of the leader's family members, Iran's senior military commanders and civilians. Iran responded through several waves of missile and drone attacks targeting Israel and US assets across the Middle East.

A week after a drone attack hit a United Kingdom Royal Air Force base on the island of Cyprus, pressure is mounting from within the Mediterranean nation for Britain to remove its military facilities there amid fears the country is being dragged into a wider Middle East conflict.

Hundreds marched in the capital Nicosia on Saturday, holding up banners stating "Cyprus is not your launchpad" and "British bases out", following the March 1 strike on RAF Akrotiri, which was believed to have originated from Lebanon, according to the Cyprus government.

The UK has two bases in Cyprus — Akrotiri and Dhekelia — that were established in 1960 under the Treaty of Establishment, which granted Cyprus independence from the British Empire.

The sites, which cover about 254 square kilometers, remain under British sovereignty, serving as crucial, strategic military, intelligence, and logistical hubs in the eastern Mediterranean.

The drone attack reignited a debate over UK hard power and the future of Sovereign Base Areas, with protesters in Cyprus urging the UK government to keep the island out of the Iran conflict.

"I think that we'd be a lot safer without them here," one protester Shona Muir was quoted by the BBC as saying. "Their presence alone here makes us more of a target," she added.

"They are a danger to our security and should never have been here in the first place," another demonstrator Mathaios Stavrinides told The Guardian newspaper. "We want them closed", he added.

Critics argue that if the UK cannot safeguard its bases, it should lose the right to keep them, reported The Daily Telegraph newspaper.

Protester Sergio Velarde, a Mexican who has lived in Cyprus for six years, displayed a placard urging the British military to leave the island.

"It's not fair that the British still have these bases. It's a form of colonialism. It's very weird," he told The Telegraph.

The Cypriot government has emphasized in recent days that it was a UK base, not Cyprus, which was targeted by the drone, and that the island is not involved in the ongoing conflict.

Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides said on Thursday that the British government's handling of the matter had caused "annoyance", adding that the UK government had not made clear before the incident that the bases would not be used for offensive operations.

The Cyprus Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said the governance of the two bases is in question and urged talks between London and Nicosia.

"There are questions. There are issues. There are concerns," Kombos told BBC Newsnight.

Following the drone strike, the UK bolstered its bases by deploying anti drone helicopters and it is preparing to dispatch additional naval assets to the eastern Mediterranean.

A British Ministry of Defence spokesperson told the BBC: "Our bases in Cyprus play a crucial role in supporting the safety of British citizens and our allies in the Mediterranean and in the Middle East."

WASHINGTON -- US Central Command said on Sunday that the seventh US service member has been killed amid the strikes against Iran, which the United States and Israel launched on Feb 28.

"Last night, a US service member passed away from injuries," the command said in a post on X. "The service member was seriously wounded at the scene of an attack on US troops in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on March 1."

"This is the seventh service member killed in action during Operation Epic Fury. Major combat operations continue," said the command.

On Saturday, the bodies of the first six US soldiers were returned to the United States.

At least 1,332 Iranian civilians, including women and children, have been killed and thousands more injured since the US-Israeli strikes on Iran launched on Feb. 28, Iran's UN ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani said Friday.

TEHRAN -- Iran's Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters on Sunday urged Muslim states in the region to prevent US and Israeli attacks on Iranian fuel and energy facilities, warning that Tehran would respond with similar actions if strikes continue.

Spokesman Ebrahim Zolfaghari made the remarks after several fuel storage facilities in Tehran and neighboring Alborz province were hit in US and Israeli strikes on Saturday night, causing temporary fuel supply disruptions and raising health and environmental concerns, the Iranian Students' News Agency reported.

Zolfaghari accused the United States and Israel of "brutally" attacking Iran's energy infrastructure and public service centers, in addition to killing civilians. He said Muslim states in the region should warn Washington and Jerusalem against taking such "cowardly and inhumane actions" to prevent the spread of conflict.

"Otherwise, similar actions will be taken in the region. If you can tolerate oil prices above $200 per barrel, keep playing this game," Zolfaghari added.

The warning comes after Feb 28 joint strikes by Israel and the United States on Tehran and several other Iranian cities, which killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, some of his family members, senior military commanders, and civilians. Iran responded with multiple waves of missile and drone attacks targeting Israel and US bases in the Middle East.

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump threatened on Sunday that Iran's new supreme leader "is not going to last long" without his approval.

"He's going to have to get approval from us," Trump said in an interview with ABC News. "If he doesn't get approval from us he's not going to last long."

"I don't want people to have to go back in five years and have to do the same thing again or worse let them have a nuclear weapon," he said.

Iran's Assembly of Experts has finalized a decision on its new supreme leader, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported on Sunday. Trump said earlier that he must be personally involved in selecting Iran's next leader.

On Feb 28, Israel and the United States launched joint attacks on Tehran and several other Iranian cities, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, dozens of senior officials and military commanders, as well as hundreds of civilians.

RIYADH -- A "military projectile" struck a residential area in Saudi Arabia's Al-Kharj governorate on Sunday, killing two people and injuring 12, the Saudi Civil Defense said.

The two killed were Indian and Bangladeshi nationals, while the 12 injured were Bangladeshi residents, the authority said, adding that the incident also caused material damage.

The residential site belongs to a maintenance and cleaning company, it said.

Attempts to target civilians constitute a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, the authority added.

Israeli airstrikes hit Palestinian refugee camp in S. Lebanon's Sidon -- report

JERUSALEM -- The Israeli air force struck Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps' aerospace forces headquarters, which served as a reception, transmission, and research center for the Iranian Space Agency, the Israeli military said in a statement on Sunday.

Gong Jiong, a professor at the University of International Business and Economics, told China Daily that Israel may soon encounter a dual dilemma. As the war drags on, Israeli people who are taking shelter from missiles in "safe rooms" and experiencing social life disruption, might take to the streets in protest, exerting tremendous political pressure on the Benjamin Netanyahu government. Additionally, intercepting missiles puts the defender in a disadvantageous position, akin to "hitting a bullet with a bullet". Facing Iran's stockpile of missiles, Israel's defense capability may have a huge problem.

TEHRAN -- Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it carried out strikes on the US Al Dhafra Air Base in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Saturday morning, according to local media reports.