2 wounded in Iranian attack on aluminum plant in Bahrain
Two Aluminium Bahrain employees were wounded in an Iranian attack on its facilities over the weekend, Bahrain state media reported on Sunday local time.
“The safety and security of (Aluminium Bahrain’s) people remain its top priority and the Company confirms that two of Alba’s employees sustained minor injuries,” the company said in a statement carried by the official Bahrain News Agency.
It did not give details on the nature of the strike or the extent of the damage.
Aluminium Bahrain, also known as Alba, is one of the world’s largest aluminium producers. It said it was assessing the impact on its operations and would issue further updates when available.
Bahraini authorities have not yet released additional information on the incident.
By AFP
Iran targets Kuwait with missiles, drones
The Kuwaiti military early Sunday morning local time reported that it was targeted by Iran with missiles and drones.
The Kuwait Armed Forces said in a social media post that its air defense systems were intercepting “hostile attacks.”
On Saturday night local time, Kuwait reported that over the course of the previous 24 hours, it was targeted by 15 Iranian drones, some of which struck the area around Kuwait International Airport, causing damage to its radar systems, but no injuries.
Kuwaiti airspace has been closed to commercial air traffic since the war began a month ago.
By Faris Tanyos
The ripple effect of the Iran war on struggling U.S. farmers: “It couldn’t have come at a worst time”
Lance Lillibridge of Vinton, Iowa, has been farming his whole life, and says he’s worried for this year’s spring planting.
“It couldn’t have come at a worst time,” Lillibridge told CBS News of the Iran war.
The war has led to skyrocketing diesel and fertilizer prices. Lillibridge says the prices are piling onto an already struggling industry.
“It just feels like the world is trying to take this all away from us right now,” Lillibridge said.
The price of ammonia and urea, two fertilizer ingredients seeing disruptions, are up around 20% and 50% percent, respectively, since the start of the Iran war, according to Oxford Economics. The price of diesel gas is up 43.5%, according to AAA.
Lillibridge says his costs have already increased 25% since last year. He argues the situation needs to resolve itself before more damage is done.
“If our kids see us struggling out here, why would they want to take it on?”
Read more here.
By Lana Zak
Iran threatens strikes on U.S. universities in the Middle East
Iran’s regime issued a threat early Sunday morning against all American universities in the Middle East.
“All staff, professors, and students of American universities in the region, as well as residents in their surroundings, are advised to stay at least one kilometer away from these universities to ensure their safety,” the Iranian Revolutionary Guards said in a statement.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guards said it was issuing the threat in response to a strike on the Tehran University of Science and Technology.
There are several U.S.-based schools that have branch campuses in the Gulf region, such as Georgetown University Qatar, Northwestern University in Qatar and New York University Abu Dhabi.
By Faris Tanyos
U.S. blames “Iran’s terrorist militia proxies” for strike targeting home of Iraqi Kurdistan’s president
The residence of Nechirvan Barzani, president of the semiautonomous northern Kurdish region of Iraq, in the city of Duhok, was targeted Saturday, causing damage but no casualties, an official with the regional government told The Associated Press.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly, said the residence was empty at the time.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. However, in a statement Saturday evening, U.S. State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott blamed “Iran’s terrorist militia proxies in Iraq” for the strike.
“The United States unequivocally and forcefully condemns the despicable terrorist attacks by Iran’s terrorist militia proxies in Iraq on the private residence of Iraqi Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani,” Pigott said.
Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani also condemned the attack in a phone call with Barzani, calling it a “heinous” act, according to a statement from his office.
Al-Sudani said a joint security and technical team from federal authorities and the northern Kurdish region’s government would investigate and take legal measures against those responsible.
Qubad Talabani, deputy Prime Minister of the Kurdish region, said that armed groups operating outside state control pose a growing threat to stability in the country.
CBS/AP
Yemen’s Houthis launch second missile attack on Israel
Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree, a military spokesman for the Yemen-based Iranian-backed Houthi terror group, said in a prerecorded statement aired by the group’s Al-Masirah satellite television that the Houthis had launched a second strike on Israel.
The Iranian-backed Houthi rebels targeted multiple sites in southern Israel to coincide with attacks from Iran and Hezbollah, Saree said, without identifying the locations.
The launch came hours after the Houthis’ first missile attack against Israel since the Iran war began a month ago.
Israel said it intercepted the first missile. It did not immediately comment on whether it intercepted any projectiles from Yemen in the second attack.
“We have been prepared for the Houthis to join this from the beginning,” Israeli military spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said.
By The Associated Press
European allies say Russia is helping Iran more than the U.S. has acknowledged, sources say
European allies are publicly and privately telling American diplomats that Russia is directly and materially helping Iran’s war efforts beyond what the U.S. will publicly acknowledge, sources tell CBS News.
The Europeans are also continuing to argue that the war in Ukraine, the largest land war in Europe since World War II, is intertwined with the war in Iran due to the cooperation between Russia and Iran.
A U.K. official told CBS News that Russian-Iranian defense cooperation has ballooned in recent years, and Iranian technological advancement is now visible in the attacks in the Middle East. The United Kingdom assesses that Iran had not only transferred Shahed drones to Moscow for use on the battlefield in Ukraine but also production know-how to Russia, which has helped Iran refine its drone warfare. The U.K. official could not confirm a recent transfer of hardware to Iran by Russia.
France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot publicly described the relationship between Russia and Iran as “two-way cooperation.”
“There are reasons to believe that Russia is now supporting Iran’s military efforts, which appear to be directed in particular at American targets,” Barrot said Thursday.
Read more here.
By Margaret Brennan
Iran’s Reza Pahlavi cheered at CPAC
Former Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi walked out onstage at the Conservative Political Action Conference to some of the loudest cheers heard at the event yet.
Pahlavi’s father led Iran for decades before the 1979 Islamic Revolution. He is the most prominent member of the regime’s opposition, and told CBS News “60 Minutes” he wants to lead Iran in a transition into democracy.
During Pahlavi’s remarks on Saturday, the audience interrupted him with cheers of “Reza Pahlavi,” “USA,” and “Free Iran.”
Nassar Meyman, a Dallas resident and CPAC attendee, told CBS News that he hoped to see “a new start” for Iran “with the leadership of Crown Prince Pahlavi.”
By Kerry Breen, Anne Bryson
Qatar reports drone interception for the first time in over a week
Qatar’s Defense Ministry said it intercepted several drones fired from Iran, the first attack the Gulf state reports in over a week.
Qatar sounded the alarms to warn citizens against incoming fire on Friday but did not report any attacks following the alarms, according to an AP journalist.
The announcement of the interceptions came the same day Qatar and Ukraine signed a defense agreement that included cooperation on countering threats from missiles and drones.
“The agreement includes collaboration in technological fields, development of joint investments and the exchange of expertise in countering missiles and unmanned aerial systems,” the ministry said in a statement during a visit Saturday by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
CBS/AP
Marine Expeditionary Unit arrives in Middle East, CENTCOM says
The U.S. Marine Expeditionary Unit that includes the USS Tripoli has arrived in the Middle East from the Pacific, Central Command said on X Saturday morning.
The MEU is composed of about 3,500 sailors and Marines, CENTCOM said. The USS Tripoli, an amphibious assault ship that had been deployed to Japan, also carries transport and strike fighter aircraft, along with amphibious assault and tactical assets.
JAM STA ROSA /AFP via Getty Images
A second MEU, this one made up of about 2,200 Marines and three warships, is still headed toward the Middle East after departing California last week. CBS News previously reported it may take several weeks for the second unit to arrive.
At CPAC, many Republicans stand by Trump on Iran. But they’re divided on how the war could end.
As Republicans grapple with a war in Iran during a tight midterm cycle, speakers and attendees at this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference are toeing a fine line between backing the Trump administration’s war effort and hinting at worries about the conflict expanding.
To be sure, most members of President Trump’s party firmly support the war. Some 84% of Republicans approved of the U.S. taking military action against Iran in a CBS News poll released last weekend. Support falls somewhat, to 70%, among non-MAGA Republicans.
But some Trump supporters have expressed hesitation about a conflict with Iran or concerns about its scope — and many are broadly wary of the U.S. intervening abroad.
The debate is playing out during an election year, as Americans’ views on the war — and on its impacts on energy prices — could influence who wins control of Congress. The most recent CBS News poll found that 69% of independents are opposed to U.S. military action in Iran.
Read more here.
By Anne Bryson, Joe Walsh
2 journalists killed in Israeli airstrike on southern Lebanon
Two journalists were killed in an Israeli strike on southern Lebanon, officials said, including one who worked for Hezbollah’s al-Manar TV.
The television station said its correspondent, Ali Shoeib, a well-known war correspondent in Lebanon, was killed Saturday in a strike. Beirut-based Al-Mayadeen said its reporter, Fatima Ftouni, was killed in the same strike.
Ftouni had just finished a live report from southern Lebanon just before the strike in the Jezzine area.
Israeli military claimed that Shoeib was a “terrorist in the intelligence unit of Hezbollah’s Radwan Force” who operated “under the guise of a journalist… while operating systematically to expose the locations of IDF soldiers operating in southern Lebanon and along the border.”
Additionally, the military claimed Shoeib used his position at al-Manar TV to “disseminate Hezbollah propaganda materials.”
The strike came days after an Israeli airstrike on an apartment in central Beirut killed Mohammed Sherri, the head of political programs at al-Manar TV, along with his wife.
According to AFP, Lebanon’s president, Joseph Aoun, condemned Israel’s strike, saying: “This is a blatant crime that violates all the norms and treaties under which journalists enjoy international protection in wars.”
CBS/AP
USS Gerald R. Ford docks in Croatia for repairs
The USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, has anchored in Croatia on its route to the Middle East for repairs and to give sailors “some well-deserved liberty.”
The U.S. 6th Fleet said the aircraft carrier anchored in the Port of Split in Croatia following its Adriatic Sea transit from Souda Bay, in Greece, where it conducted repairs and refueled earlier this week.
