Sawt Falasteen - Rubio, Hezbollah and Qatar: Latest developments in Iran war

Here are the latest developments:

- Iran 'will burn any ship' passing through Hormuz -

A general in Iran's Revolutionary Guards threatened to "burn any ship" seeking to navigate the Strait of Hormuz, a vital route for oil and gas shipments.

"We will also attack oil pipelines and will not allow a single drop of oil to leave the region. Oil price will reach $200 in the coming days," General Sardar Jabbari said in a post on the Guards' Telegram channel.

- Israel was about to strike Iran, says Rubio -

The United States attacked Iran after learning that ally Israel was going to strike, which would have meant retaliation against US forces, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.

"We knew that if we didn't preemptively go after them before they launched those attacks, we would suffer higher casualties," Rubio told reporters.

- UNESCO palace in Tehran damaged -

Iran's UNESCO-listed Golestan Palace in Tehran has been damaged in US and Israeli strikes, local media reported.

"Following the joint US-Israeli attack on Arag square in southern Tehran on Sunday evening, parts of the Golestan Palace...were damaged," the ISNA news agency reported, adding that windows, doors, and mirrors were hit by reverberations from blasts.

- US says hit 1,250 targets so far -

The United States hit more than 1,250 targets in the first 48 hours of the war against Iran, the US military said.

Targets struck included command-and-control centers, ballistic missile sites, Iranian navy ships and submarines, and anti-ship missile sites, according to a fact sheet released by the US Central Command, which is responsible for American forces in the region.

- Qatar downs Iran jets -

Qatar downed two Iranian bombers and halted LNG production, as Tehran widened its attacks to hit oil facilities in Saudi Arabia and the UAE in a sharply escalating Gulf crisis that has sent prices soaring.

Qatar's air force shot down two Sukhoi Su-24 bombers, the defense ministry said -- the first time a Gulf country has hit Iranian planes, after Tehran began region-wide attacks in retaliation for US and Israeli strikes that have devastated its leadership.

- Trump warns of longer war -

Trump signaled that US strikes on Iran could go much longer than originally predicted, as his administration sought to counter criticism about conflicting messages on the war's goals.

In his first public comments since launching the military operation, the president laid out what he said were four key objectives for hitting Iran.

"First, we're destroying Iran's missile capabilities...Second, we're annihilating their navy...Third, we're ensuring that the world's number-one sponsor of terror can never obtain a nuclear weapon.

"Finally we are ensuring the Iranian regime can't continue to arm, fund and direct terrorist armies outside of their borders."

- Israel-Hezbollah clashes -

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for restraint as clashes between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon intensified amid the Israeli and US war on the armed group's main backer Iran.

"We're seriously concerned about the exchange of fire across the Blue Line. The situation on the ground is evolving rapidly, and we're monitoring developments closely," spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

- US mulls ground forces -

Trump said he would not rule out sending ground troops into Iran.

"I don't have the yips with respect to boots on the ground -- like every president says, 'There will be no boots on the ground.' I don't say it," he told the New York Post.

Trump later said at the White House he had taken the "last, best chance" to stop Iran's alleged nuclear bomb program and "eliminate the intolerable threats posed by this sick and sinister regime."

- Second day of Iraq protests -

Dozens of Iraqis clashed with security forces near the US Embassy in Baghdad for a second day, an AFP journalist said. Iraqis protesting against the US-Israeli attack on Iran hurled stones at security forces, who responded with tear gas.

- Nuclear site allegations -

Iran said Israel and the United States had attacked its nuclear facility at Natanz, one of the main targets of the previous conflict between the three countries last June.

The UN nuclear agency's head had earlier said there was "no indication" any nuclear installations had been hit.

burs-bgs/jgc

W.Mansour--SF-PST