Dubai, March 28 -- Iran is sceptical about the recent diplomatic efforts to stop the war, Iran Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told his Turkish counterpart over a call on Saturday while Iran-backed Houthi rebels claimed responsibility for a missile attack on Israel, as the war in the Middle East marks its one-month anniversary.
Brig Gen Yahya Saree, a military spokesman for the Houthis, issued a statement on Saturday on the rebel group's Al-Masirah satellite television network. He said the Houthis fired a barrage of ballistic missiles targeting what he described as "sensitive Israeli military sites" in southern Israel.
Israel's military had earlier said it had intercepted a missile.
The attack came after Saree signalled in a vague statement on Friday that the rebels would join the war.
It is the first time Israel has faced fire from Yemen since the start of the conflict last month. Houthi attacks on vessels during the Israel-Hamas war upended shipping in the Red Sea.
Foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt will attend talks in Islamabad on Sunday aimed at ending the war, Pakistan's Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has said.
Here is the latest:
Iran sceptical about diplomatic efforts to stop the war: Araghchi
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Iran is sceptical about recent diplomatic efforts to stop the war in the Middle East, its Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told his Turkish counterpart in a phone call Saturday.
According to a readout of the call on Iranian state-run media, Araghchi accused the US of making "unreasonable demands" and exhibiting "contradictory actions" that raised doubts about the prospect of an agreement.
Recent US moves, he said, have been "increased pessimism" on the Iranian side, without specifying which actions.
The Iranian readout said Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan assured Araghchi that "Iran's pessimism toward the other side is understandable because Iran has twice been subjected to attack and military aggression in the midst of negotiations."
UAE reports dozens of attacks, 6 injured
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The United Arab Emirates said its air defence systems responded to 20 ballistic missile and 37 drone attacks on Saturday.
The attacks wounded six people in an industrial zone in the capital Abu Dhabi, where three fires were reported, authorities said.
The UAE's Defence Ministry has reported 413 missile and 1,872 drone attacks since the start of the war. The attacks have killed 10 people, including two troops, and wounded 178 others, the ministry said.
Two journalists killed in Israel airstrike on southern Lebanon
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Hezbollah's al-Manar TV said that its correspondent Ali Shoeib was killed Saturday in southern Lebanon, while Beirut-based Al-Mayadeen TV said its reporter Fatima Ftouni was killed in the same airstrike.
Shoeib was well-known war correspondent in the country where he had covered south Lebanon for Al-Manar for nearly three decades.
Ftouni had made a live report from southern Lebanon just before the strike in Jezzine region.
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.
US aircraft carrier Ford in Croatia for repairs
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A US aircraft carrier has anchored in Croatia on its route to the Middle East amid the US and Israeli month-long war against Iran.
The US 6th Fleet said the USS Gerald R. Ford, the world's largest 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.
The carrier docked last month at the American naval base at Souda Bay, stirring up protests on Crete ahead of the US and Israeli strikes on Iran that triggered the war.
Two ports in Kuwait damaged in attacks: Ministry
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Kuwait's ports of Mubarak Al Kabeer and Shuwaikh have been damaged in drone and missile attacks in the past 24 hours, the Defence Ministry said Saturday.
The ministry said forces responded to four ballistic missiles, one cruise missile, and seven drones attacked the oil-rich county in the past 24 hours.
No casualties were reported, it said.
The Kuwait International airport was also hit by drone attacks on Saturday, authorities said.
The Civil Aviation Authority said in a statement that the attacks severely damaged the airport's radar systems.
No casualties were reported, it said.
Bahrain reports more than 40 air attacks in 24 hours
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Bahrain, which hosts the US 5th Fleet, said Saturday its air defence systems have responded to 20 missile and 23 drone attacks in the past 24 hours.
That brings the total number of projectiles fired at the Shiite majority country to 174 missiles and 385 drones since the start of the war in the Middle East on Feb. 28.
Iran reports airstrike near Bushehr nuclear plant
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An airstrike hit the grounds of Iran's Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant just before midnight, the country's atomic energy agency reported.
The strike, which was the third in 10 days, did not cause any material damage and there were no casualties, according to the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran. It said no technical disruption was reported at the site.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said it was notified of the strike by Iran.
Meanwhile, an airstrike hit Iran's University of Science and Technology in Tehran on Saturday, the state-run IRNA news agency reported.
The strike damaged research and educational buildings, IRNA reported, citing the university's public relations office.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.