The conflict in the Middle East has been going on for a week now. On the seventh day of it, the leaders of Italy, Britain, France and Germany agreed on diplomatic and military coordination in response to the escalation of the war caused by the US and Israeli strikes on Iran and the Iranian response to these attacks, ANSA reported, quoted by BTA.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron held a telephone conversation in which they agreed to work together on diplomacy and military coordination in response to the military escalation.
Meanwhile, Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian said that countries he did not name have begun "mediation attempts" to end the war in the Middle East, but added that they should turn to the United States and Israel, Agence France-Presse reported.
However, US President Donald Trump demanded that Tehran surrender unconditionally, saying in a post on his social network "Truth Social" that he wanted to participate in both the election of the country's future leadership and its future reconstruction.
Militarily, Iran announced that it had attacked US bases in Kuwait, on the seventh day since the start of the war, Agence France-Presse reported. "In the past few hours, various types of destructive drones of the ground army units attacked a large number of US bases in Kuwait," the army reported, quoted by Iranian state television. "These attacks will continue in the coming hours," they warned. military.
AFP journalists in the region confirmed that new explosions had been heard today in the center of the Kuwaiti capital, as well as in the Bahraini capital, Manama. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said that US radar systems in the UAE, Jordan and Qatar had been attacked.
In Erbil, an autonomous region in Iraqi Kurdistan, an explosion was heard near the airport where US-led coalition troops are stationed. In Iraq, drones also hit the airport and oil fields in the southern city of Basra. In the north of the country, new strikes were directed against targets of Iranian Kurdish opposition groups, a representative of the exiled Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (DPIK) said.
An Iranian military spokesman said that a US oil tanker had been hit and was "in flames“ in the Gulf. Later, Iranian state television reported “another“ vessel burning in the Strait of Hormuz after being hit by a drone, without giving further details.
Meanwhile, Iranian media also reported explosions heard in the port city of Bandar Abbas on the Persian Gulf coast and near the Strait of Hormuz.
The Israeli military said earlier today that an airstrike by about 50 fighter jets had hit the bunker of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in central Tehran on February 28 - the first day of the war. The bunker is still in use, the military said.
The Israeli air force has also bombed the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital Beirut, as well as Sidon – the largest city in southern Lebanon. The southern Lebanese city of Tyre, whose ancient sites are a UNESCO World Heritage Site, was also hit.
The Lebanese prime minister accused Israel of causing a “humanitarian catastrophe“ due to the mass displacement caused by the conflict. More than 300,000 people have been evacuated so far. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, called for a “swift and comprehensive“ investigation into the Israeli strikes in Lebanon, “in particular, to determine whether they were compatible with the principles of distinction, proportionality and precautions“.
The death toll in Lebanon from Israeli strikes since Monday has reached 217, with 798 injured, the Lebanese Health Ministry said today.
The pro-Iranian Hezbollah issued an "urgent warning" to residents of northern Israel, urging them to evacuate areas within a 5-kilometer radius of the Lebanese border. The call followed a similar message from Israel to residents of large areas of Lebanon.
The Lebanese group fired about 70 rockets at Israel on Monday, the Israeli army said, adding that "more than 70" of the movement's fighters had been killed since Monday.
Eight Israeli soldiers were wounded, five of them seriously, in a shooting in northern Israel, near the border with Lebanon, an Israeli army spokesman said, adding that Iran and Hezbollah coordinated "simultaneous" missile strikes against Israel yesterday.
Efforts to evacuate people from the conflict-affected areas are also continuing. Today, the Azerbaijani news agency AZERTAC reported that Bulgarian diplomats were successfully evacuated from Iran via Azerbaijan. Ten employees of the Bulgarian diplomatic mission in Iran crossed the border and entered Azerbaijan safely through the Astara border crossing.
Against this backdrop, the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle entered the Mediterranean Sea. It was sent by France to the Middle East to protect its citizens and allies (Qatar, Kuwait, UAE) under attack by Iran.
Ukraine also announced that it would soon send military personnel to the Middle East to help the United States and its allies in the region fight against Iranian drone strikes. Negotiations are underway "on how to do this," a senior Ukrainian official said.
Meanwhile, oil prices jumped today. At 2:30 p.m. GMT (4:30 p.m. Bulgarian time), the "Brent" variety rose by 6.15% to $90.66. Its American equivalent jumped by 9.09% to $88.37.
Berlin warned of the consequences of a war with Iran, saying it could lead to an uncontrollable wave of refugees.