12/03/2026

THURSDAY | MAR 12, 2026

9

Iran’s new leader safe

UK TO RELEASE MANDELSON FILES LONDON: Britain will publish the first tranche of documents relating to Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s appointment of a Jeffrey Epstein associate as UK ambassador to Washington. The release could renew pressure on Starmer who has faced questions about his judgement over his decision to name Peter Mandelson as UK envoy to the United States in late 2024. Government minister Darren Jones said a “big number” of files would be released, although they are expected to be a fraction of the documents set for disclosure. Lawmakers last month ordered the Labour government to release tens of thousands of emails, messages and documents on how Mandelson was vetted for the role. – AFP ‘BRITAIN INVOLVED IN DEADLY STRIKE’ MOSCOW: The Kremlin yesterday accused British specialists of involvement in a deadly strike on the Russian city of Bryansk that used British Storm Shadow missiles and said it would take Britain’s role “into account”. The Bryansk regional governor said Tuesday’s strike killed at least six civilians and injured 37. Ukraine said it had struck a key plant producing missile components. Moscow accused it of targeting civilians. Asked by Reuters if there would be a military response to the use of British missiles against Russian territory, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia would take into account the British involvement. There was no immediate comment TEHRAN: Iranian protesters will be treated as enemies if they support Tehran’s foes, the country’s top police officer said. “If anyone comes forward in line with the wishes of the enemy, we will no longer see them as merely a protester, we will see them as an enemy,” said national police chief Ahmad-Reza Radan. “And we will do to them what we do to an enemy. We will deal with them in the same way.” His warning comes after the government cracked down on protests in January, sparked a month before over economic grievances. The authorities deemed the protests to be “riots” and issued an ultimatum to protesters to hand themselves in or face the full force of the law. – AFP THALES LAUNCHES EURO DEFENCE DOME PARI: France’s Thales said yesterday it had launched a new integrated air and missile defence system, tying together existing capabilities and incorporating artifical intelligence. The SkyDefender system is a multi layer defence dome capable of countering threats on land, sea and in space, Europe’s largest defence technology firm said in a statement. The package groups the existing ForceShield system for short-range threats such as drones, the SAMP-T NG system for medium-range defence and the SMART-L Multi-Mission system and other radars detecting long-range threats up to 5,000km. – Reuters from London. – Reuters TEHRAN WARNS PROTESTERS

o Khamenei at a secure location

BR I E F S

BEIRUT: An Israeli strike hit an apartment block in central Beirut yesterday, Lebanese authorities said. Israel launched an offensive against Hezbollah after it opened fire on March 2 to avenge the killing of Iran’s supreme leader. Israeli strikes have killed nearly 600 people in Lebanon, and uprooted 700,000 more, Lebanese authorities say. The Israeli military ordered reinforcements to the area bordering Lebanon including its elite Golani Brigade. Reuters reported on Tuesday that Hezbollah fighters were braced for the possibility of a full-scale Israeli invasion of the south. Footage showed heavy damage to two floors of the apartment block in Beirut’s Aicha Bakkar neighbourhood, and smoke rising from the building. Four people were wounded in the strike, the Lebanese Health Ministry said. “The sound was indescribable, the fear is indescribable. Enough is enough, enough. This is a nightmare, when will it end?” said Bassima Ramadan, a resident of the building across the street. There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. It TEHRAN: Iran’s supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei is “safe and sound” despite reports of an injury, said the son of the Iranian president yesterday. “I heard news that Mr Mojtaba Khamenei had been injured. I have asked some friends who had connections. They told me that, thank God, he is safe and sound,” said Yousef Pezeshkian, who is also a government adviser, in a post on his Telegram channel. State television had called Khamenei a “wounded veteran of the Ramadan war” but never specified his injury. The new supreme leader is the son and successor of the Islamic republic’s longtime ruler Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in strikes on Iran on Feb 28. The 56-year-old Mojtaba Khamenei, a discreet figure who has rarely appeared in public or spoken at official events, has yet to address the nation or issue a written statement since he was declared supreme leader on Sunday. The New York Times reported yesterday that three unnamed Iranian officials said that Khamenei “had suffered injuries, including to his legs, but that he was alert and sheltering at a highly secure location with limited communication”. In Dubai, drones fell near Dubai airport, injuring four people, while ships were hit in or near the Strait of Hormuz yesterday as Iran kept up its campaign disrupting oil markets and air and maritime traffic. The oil-rich Gulf has borne the brunt of Iran’s attacks in response to US-Israeli strikes that sparked the Middle East war, with Tehran

Tehran residents stand near the site of a strike on Tuesday. – IRANIAN RED CRESCENT SOCIETY HANDOUT/REUTERSPIC

while also tightening its hold on the strait. In the past few days, Saudi Aramco’s sprawling Ras Tanura facility was targeted as well as the UAE’s Ruwais refinery, one of the largest in the world. Attacks have already forced state owned QatarEnergy, one of the world’s largest producers of liquefied natural gas, to halt production last week and declare force majeure. Energy producers in Kuwait made similar declarations, which are a warning that events beyond their control may lead them to miss export targets. – AFP

projectile off Oman, in the Strait of Hormuz, which caused a fire that was later extinguished according to the UKMTO. Saudi Arabia intercepted drones targeting the Shaybah field, crucial to its production, while explosions rang out over Qatar and the UAE reported fresh attacks. Saudi Arabia also said it intercepted seven ballistic missiles targeting its eastern region and the Prince Sultan Air Base, where an American service member was fatally wounded on March 1. Tehran appears to be attempting to knock major Gulf refineries offline

would mark the second Israeli strike in the heart of Beirut in four days. On Sunday, an Israeli strike hit a hotel in the seafront Raouche neighbourhood. Israel kept up heavy strikes on the southern suburbs, known as Dahiyeh, on Tuesday night and yesterday, sending towers of smoke billowing across the skyline. Israel has ordered residents of Dahiyeh to leave, along with residents of a swathe of southern Lebanon and parts of the east – all areas where Hezbollah has a grip on security and political sway. Lebanese authorities reported on Tuesday that 570 people had been killed by Israeli strikes since March 2. Adding to the death toll, the Health Ministry said Israeli strikes killed seven people in the eastern Bekaa Valley yesterday morning and another seven in south Lebanon. After fleeing their homes, around 100,000 people are in organised shelters, many others are staying with friends, family or are on the streets. France will provide 60 tonnes of humanitarian aid for Lebanon, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said. – Reuters targeting US assets but also civilian infrastructure. Iran has also targeted Gulf energy infrastructure and choked shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, which normally carries nearly 20% of global oil production, prompting wild swings in prices. A container ship and a bulk carrier were hit off the coast of the UAE, one off Dubai and the other off the northern Emriate of Ras Al Khaimah by unknown projectiles, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO). A third ship was also hit by a

Israeli strike hits Beirut apartment block

Smoke rises after a strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs yesterday. – REUTERSPIC