News
Middle-East War Escalates As Fresh Strikes Hit Iran, Gulf States
By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
Fresh strikes rocked Iran and several Gulf countries on Friday, as the country and Israel unleashed a new wave of attacks in a war that has ignited the Middle East and threatens to torpedo the world economy.
Since erupting on February 28 with US-Israeli attacks on Iran, the war has cascaded throughout the region, drawn in global powers, and sparked a major oil shock.
Unusually powerful explosions rattled Tehran on Friday morning, AFP journalists reported, as Israel’s military said it had hit more than 200 targets in western and central Iran in the past day.
The blasts shook the houses of two AFP journalists, located several kilometres apart in the north and centre of the Iranian capital, with black smoke pluming over the city.
Iranians speaking to AFP under cover of anonymity have painted a grim picture of life under the bombs, with cities in ruins and cash running short
People are desperately trying to withdraw their savings from the banks, as trust in them has vanished,” one 30-year-old woman in Kermanshah, western Iran, told AFP.
“Bread is now rationed. The population is extremely tense and outraged.”
The United Nations refugee agency has estimated that up to 3.2 million people have been displaced inside Iran since the Middle East war started.
Iran’s health ministry said on March 8 that more than 1,200 people have been killed in the war, a figure AFP has not been able to independently verify.
Iranian state TV images broadcast crowds of pro-government demonstrators in Tehran and other major cities to mark Quds Day, the last Friday of Ramadan, supporting the Palestinian cause.
Demonstrators waved Iranian flags, held placards and banners reading “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” as well as similar slogans.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, the ideological arm of the country’s military, warned Friday that any new protests against the authorities would be met with a stronger response than in January, when several thousand people were killed.
We Won’t Leave’
Iran has launched waves of drone and missile strikes against neighbouring states hosting US military assets throughout the region.
Saudi Arabia’s defence ministry said on Friday that its forces had intercepted dozens of drones, including one targeting its capital’s Diplomatic Quarter.
AFP images showed black smoke hanging over the iconic skyline of Dubai after an attack on what was once considered a safe haven in a chaotic region.
Two people died from drone debris in Oman, according to state media there, while sirens rang out early Friday at Turkey’s Incirlik airbase, a key NATO facility housing US troops.
In a sign of the war’s spread, President Emmanuel Macron announced the death of France’s first soldier, in an attack in the Erbil region of Iraq.
Macron did not give details on the attack, or who was behind it, but France’s military said earlier that drones hit a base where troops were taking part in counter-terrorism training with Iraqi counterparts.
Earlier, a pro-Iranian group in Iraq, Ashab al-Kahf, warned French interests in the region were a target after the arrival of a French aircraft carrier, but there was no claim of responsibility for the attack.
Elsewhere in Iraq, a US refuelling aircraft crashed, though the US military said it was “not due to hostile fire or friendly fire.”
Iran’s military however said in a statement carried by state TV that an allied group in Iraq had downed the aircraft with a missile, killing all its crew.
A strike on the Israeli town of Zarzir injured around 60 people, according to Israeli police, with AFP images showing burned-out vehicles and craters in the ground.
The conflict has heavily impacted Lebanon, where authorities reported 687 people killed by Israeli attacks, including at least 12 in a strike Thursday on Beirut’s seafront, where displaced families are camping in tents.
Dalal al-Sayed told AFP she had pitched her tent there after fleeing attacks in southern Lebanon. Her family cannot afford to rent an apartment, she said.
“We won’t leave, we will stay here even if we die.”
AFP images from central Beirut showed buildings reduced to husks of rubble and burned-out shells of overturned vehicles as small fires flickered from the aftermath of strikes.
‘Evil Empire’
Crude oil stayed above the benchmark price of $100 per barrel after Iran’s leader vowed to choke the Strait of Hormuz, a critical artery for global energy transport.
Mojtaba Khamenei, who was reportedly wounded in the strike that killed his father, has not appeared publicly since his nomination. His message calling for vengeance was read by an anchor on state television.
The statement said the “lever of blocking the Strait of Hormuz must definitely be used,” referring to Iran’s effective closure of the waterway.
The war, which has also seen energy infrastructure targeted in oil-rich Gulf states, is creating “the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market,” the International Energy Agency has said.
As prices at the pump soar around the world, Trump has eased some oil sanctions on Russia, which has warned the global energy market “cannot remain stable” without its supplies.
Trump said fuel prices were secondary to “stopping an evil Empire, Iran, from having Nuclear Weapons, and destroying the Middle East and, indeed, the World.”
As stock markets suffered globally, analysts warned of a prolonged period of pain.
“The default assumption — as long as the Strait of Hormuz remains functionally closed — is that stocks will be under pressure, oil prices will trend higher, and interest rates will tick up in unison,” said Matt Weller, head of market research at City Index
Iran slammed a US blockade around its ports on Monday as a “grave violation” of its sovereignty, as Washington and Tehran’s belligerent rhetoric rattled a fragile truce.
“The imposition of a maritime blockade constitutes a grave violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations Amir Saeid Iravani wrote to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, in a letter seen by AFP.
The “unlawful” blockade also “constitutes a serious violation of the fundamental principles of the international law of the sea,” Iravani added.
US President Donald Trump ordered a blockade of ships entering or leaving Iranian ports and coastal areas in the Gulf Sunday, following the failure of peace talks over the weekend, warning that any Iranian attack boats that challenged the blockade would be destroyed.
The blockade came into force at 1400 GMT Monday, despite the United States and Iran agreeing to a two-week ceasefire days earlier, with mediator Pakistan and Gulf state Qatar continuing calls for it to be respected as diplomatic efforts continue.
Guterres on Monday called on “all parties” to respect freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, after Iran and subsequently the United States blocked passage through the critical waterway.
The strait, through which a fifth of global oil and gas flows, has become a key flashpoint as the US and Iran attempt to gain leverage over each other during ceasefire negotiations.
Iravani said the “unlawful” blockade “poses a grave threat to international peace and security and obviously exacerbates the risk of escalation in an already highly volatile region.”
In a second letter, the UN envoy called on Middle Eastern countries hosting US military bases to “cease their internationally wrongful acts.”
Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan should pay “compensation for all material and moral damage sustained,” he said.
Former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai has distanced himself from recent media reports linking him to certain political aspirations, saying the comments were made without his knowledge or authorisation.
In a statement issued on Tuesday by his Media Adviser, Muyiwa Adekeye, El-Rufai said the remarks had been attributed to an unnamed individual described in media reports as his political associate, and that he had no hand in them.
“Malam Nasir El-Rufai wishes to dissociate himself from comments regarding political aspirations which have been attributed to someone described by the media as a political associate,” the statement read.
“He did not authorise such comments.”
The disclaimer pointedly underscored El-Rufai’s reputation for speaking his mind directly, with the statement noting that he had been known throughout his public life for the frank articulation of his views.
“He is not about to outsource the expression of his political views and thoughts to others,” the statement added, warning that any future communication from the former governor would come directly from him or through his designated spokesperson.
El-Rufai did not identify the associate in question, nor did the statement specify the nature of the political aspirations that had been reported.
However, the swift and emphatic denial suggests the former governor was keen to prevent any impression that the comments reflected his current political thinking or intentions.
JAMB declares readiness for 2026 UTME, urges parents to protest admission violations
The disclaimer comes amid heightened political activity ahead of the 2027 general elections, a period in which the positions and affiliations of prominent political figures are under intense media and public scrutiny.
El-Rufai, a former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory and two-term governor of Kaduna State, remains one of the most closely watched political figures in northern Nigeria.
His next political move — including which party platform he may adopt ahead of 2027 — has been a subject of widespread speculation.
The Yobe State Police Command said its operatives have arrested three suspected vandals involved in the destruction and theft of transformer components belonging to Yobe State Television at Garin Alkali Booster Station.
The Command, through its Public Relations Officer, SP Dungus Abdulkarim, disclosed this in a statement issued on Tuesday in Damaturu.
According to the Command, the arrest was made on April 14, 2026, by its operatives stationed in Garin Alkali while acting on credible intelligence.
“The arrested suspects are Muhammad Auwali, a.k.a. Aburare, 51, Inusa Lawan, 53, and Hassan Ibrahim, 27, all of Bursari and Gashua axis, Bade LGA. One accomplice identified as Ozu, is currently at large.
“Preliminary investigation revealed that the suspects criminally conspired and vandalised a transformer located at the YTV Booster Station, Garin Alkali, Bursari LGA.
“The suspects dismantled the transformer and sold part of the metal components”, it said.
The Command added that upon interrogation, the suspects confessed to the crime and admitted to selling some of the vandalised transformer parts to Hassan Ibrahim for the sum of N250,000, out of which N150,000 had already been paid.
“Investigation is in progress, after which the suspects will be charged in court for prosecution”, the police command said.
Commissioner of Police Usman Kamfani Jibrin, in the statement, warned scrap metal dealers against purchasing suspected stolen items and urged them to cooperate with security agencies in protecting critical public infrastructure.
He stressed that anyone found involved in such unlawful activities will be dealt with in accordance with extant laws.
Iran slams US blockade as ‘grave violation of sovereignty’
El-Rufai distances self from comments on political aspirations attributed to associate
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