The Latest: Iranian-backed militias join fight as war on Iran widens

Iran fired missiles at Israel and Arab states Monday and the war expanded to include militias Tehran backs in the Middle East with an attack by Hezbollah on Israel, which struck back against the group in Lebanon and with the United States pounded targets in Iran.

As the American and Israeli airstrikes kept hitting the country, top Iranian security official Ali Larijani said on X: “We will not negotiate with the United States.”

Trump, who a day earlier had encouraged Iranians to “take over” their government, signaled Sunday that he was open to dialogue with Iran’s new leadership.

Meanwhile, Iran’s foreign minister suggested earlier that military units were acting independently from any central government control after being pressed about attacks on Gulf Arab nations that have served as intermediaries for Tehran in the past.

More than 200 people have been killed since the start of the strikes that killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other senior leaders, Iranian leaders have said.

Here is the latest:

Saudi oil refinery is attacked by drones

Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura oil refinery came under attack Monday from drones, the kingdom’s defense ministry said, with authorities downing the incoming aircraft.

A Saudi military spokesman made the announcement on the state-run Saudi Press Agency.

Online videos from the site appeared to show thick black smoke rising after the attack. Even successfully intercepted drones cause debris that can spark fires and injure those on the ground.

Ras Tanura, near Dammam, has a capacity over half a million barrels of crude oil a day.

Israel expects many days of combat in Lebanon

Israel’s military has launched an offensive campaign in Lebanon that could include “many prolonged days of combat ahead,” Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, the military chief of staff, said on Monday morning.

Hezbollah launched several rockets and drones towards Israel overnight, and Israel responded by striking dozens of targets in Beirut and southern Lebanon, he said.

“Hezbollah will pay a very heavy price for this,” Israel’s military spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said. He added that Israel is keeping “all options on the table” for a possible ground operation in Lebanon.

Israel has called up more than 100,000 reservists since the war with Iran began on Saturday.

Israel also recommended that residents of 53 villages in southern Lebanon evacuate, causing massive traffic jams.

Germany won’t participate in military action against Iran

Germany will not actively participate in military action against Iran but will consider defending its soldiers stationed on multinational military bases in Jordan and Iraq if they get attacked, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said Monday morning.

“The federal government has no intention of participating” in the conflict, Wadephul told Deutschlandfunk public radio. “We also do not have the necessary military resources.”

Multinational bases where German troops are stations in Irbil in northern Iraq and Al-Azraq in Jordan were targeted on the weekend, the German military said.

The soldiers on site were not injured and are safe, the German news agency dpa reported.

Strikes kill 3 in western Iran

Strikes killed three people in the western city of Sanandaj early Monday, Iran’s state-run news agency said.

IRNA said the strikes hit two residential sites without providing further details.

US warplanes crash, Kuwait says

Several U.S. warplanes crashed Monday in Kuwait, the country’s Defense Ministry said, with all the pilots safely bailing out.

The ministry did not elaborate on what caused the crashes but it came during an intense period of Iranian fire targeting the country.

The Kuwaiti Defense Ministry said the pilots were taken to a hospital for checkups and their condition was stable.

The U.S. military’s Central Command did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Turkey temporarily stops border crossings by Iranians visiting for short trips

Turkey has temporarily closed its border with Iran to crossings by Iranians visiting for short trips, the Trade Ministry said, following public concerns that the tensions could trigger migration flows.

A ministry statement said that in a mutual agreement reached with Iran, Turkey is allowing its citizens and third country nationals to enter from Iran but short trips by Iranians have been temporarily suspended.

Meanwhile, commercial freight crossings between Turkey and Iran are continuing “in a controlled manner,” the ministry said.

Israel says Gaza crossings to remain closed

Israel said crossings to Gaza, where much-needed humanitarian aid passes, will remain closed while the war with Iran continues.

COGAT, the Israeli defense body that oversees aid into Gaza and the crossings, said that the crossings could not be operated safely due to the threat of missiles.

Israelis have been instructed to remain close to bomb shelters and places that are not within a certain distance to a bomb shelter are closed.

COGAT claimed that Gaza has sufficient stockpiles of food for an “extended period” though some organizations, including the World Central Kitchen which operates soup kitchens across Gaza, have warned that they are running out of supplies.

“We need food deliveries every single day to feed hungry families who are not part of this war,” chef Jose Andres, the founder of World Central Kitchen, wrote on X.

Where the US Embassy in Kuwait is located

Like some other U.S. embassies in the Middle East, the outpost in Kuwait is a large, walled compound consisting of multiple buildings and recreational facilities.

It is located near other embassies and residential areas to the south of central Kuwait City.

The ruling emir’s Bayan Palace is not far away.

In December 1983, a truck packed with explosives heavily damaged parts of the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait when it drove through a gate and detonated.

The bombing was part of a series of attacks later blamed on Iranian-backed militant groups.

Fire and smoke rise from inside US Embassy compound in Kuwait

Fire and smoke rose from inside the U.S. Embassy compound in Kuwait after an Iranian attack on the small Mideast nation on Monday.

Video obtained by The Associated Press showed the smoke with an alarm wailing.

The United States had earlier issued an urgent warning to Americans there to take cover and remain indoors.

It said: “Do not come to the Embassy,” without elaborating.

Qatar Airways flights remain suspended

Qatar Airways said its flights remain suspended, with its next update planned for Tuesday morning.

Iran state media shows footage of damage at Tehran hospital

Iranian state media published footage showing damage at the Gandhi Hospital in Tehran.

Several loud explosions heard in Irbil, the capital of northern Iraq’s Kurdish region

Associated Press journalists heard several loud explosions Monday morning in Irbil, the capital city of Iraq’s semiautonomous region of Kurdistan.

WHO calls for protection of civilians and health care facilities

The World Health Organization called for the sparing of civilians and health care facilities in the Middle East amid a regional conflict triggered by Israeli-US strikes on Iran over the weekend.

“The protection of civilians and health care must be absolute,” Hanan Balkhy, regional dietitian at WHO wrote on social media.

“All parties must … ensure medical facilities remain protected.”

Lebanese government holds emergency meeting

Lebanon’s government is holding an emergency meeting after Hezbollah’s attack on Israel triggered Israeli airstrikes in different parts of the country.

The meeting started Monday morning and is being attended by the army chief, Gen. Rudolph Haikal.

The state-run National News Agency reported that the Cabinet will discuss the volatile situation and the measures it plans to take.

Smoke seen over Kuwaiti neighborhood home to the US Embassy

A witness said he saw smoke over a Kuwait neighborhood home to the U.S. Embassy as Americans had been urged to stay away.

Ayman Moawad, an Egyptian worker living near the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait, told The Associated Press that he saw smoke over the area.

However, he didn’t know if it was specifically the embassy hit in an ongoing Iranian attack targeting the small Mideast nation.

The U.S. earlier issued an urgent warning to Americans there to take cover and remain indoors.

It said: “Do not come to the Embassy,” without elaborating.

Strike hits Iranian state TV, witnesses say

Strikes across Iran continued into Monday, with one apparently taking Iranian state television off air.

Witnesses said an attack in northern Tehran’s Niavaran neighborhood struck one of the transmitters used for Iranian state TV.

Since then, its satellite signals have dropped.

State media had said hospitals and residential areas had been hit in strikes by the Americans and Israelis.

Iran has not offered any details on its materiel losses.

UAE closes stock exchanges

The United Arab Emirates is shutting the country’s main stock exchanges for the start of the trading week as the regional war intensifies.

The country’s Capital Market Authority said the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange and Dubai Financial Market would be closed Monday and Tuesday.

It says it will closely monitor the regional situation and take any further steps as necessary.

Another market, the Nasdaq Dubai, also said it was halting trading both days.

Dubai is the Gulf’s main business hub, though the Emirati capital Abu Dhabi is also an important regional financial center and home to some of the world’s biggest sovereign wealth funds.

The benchmark index for the Saudi Exchange, the region’s largest stock market, fell 2.2% on Sunday.

US issues urgent warning to Americans in Kuwait

As Kuwait faced an ongoing attack, the U.S. issued an urgent warning to Americans there to take cover and remain indoors.

It said: “Do not come to the Embassy,” without elaborating.

Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon kill at least 31 people

Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon after Hezbollah attacked it have killed at least 31 people, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said Monday.

The Hezbollah attack and the Israeli retaliatory strikes expand the ongoing war gripping the Mideast after the U.S. and Israel launched an airstrike campaign targeting Iran.

The Health Ministry said that the strikes also wounded 149 people.

It said about two-thirds of those killed were in southern Lebanon.

Cyprus president says drone caused ‘minor material damage’

Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides said a Shaheed-type drone caused “minor material damage” to military installations inside the U.K.’s RAF Akrotiri air base on the island’s southern coast.

Christodoulides said in a brief national address that the drone struck just past midnight Monday.

He said all relevant authorities have been put on alert and that he has called a meeting of the country’s national security council to take stock of the situation.

He added that he’s in contact with other European leaders.

“I want to be clear: our homeland is not participating in any way, nor is its intention to take part in any military operation,” Christodoulides said in his address.

He said Cyprus remains focused on the humanitarian role that it plays in the region and that it seeks to be “part of the solution and not the problem,” adding that his primary concern remains the safety and security of the country and its people.

Airstrikes reported in Iran

Overnight, airstrikes were reported across Iran.

Elsewhere, explosions were heard in Dubai on Monday.

In Bahrain, the Interior Ministry said sirens sounded across the country as it urged residents to “head to the nearest safe place.”

And in Kuwait, authorities said debris fell on its Ahmadi oil refinery, slightly injuring two workers there.

The state-run KUNA news agency said earlier that Kuwait’s forces had thwarted a drone attack early Monday.

Top Iranian security official says Iran ‘will not negotiate’ with US

A top Iranian security official on Monday said: “We will not negotiate with the United States.”

Ali Larijani made the statement on X, responding to a report from Qatar’s Al Jazeera news network.

The comment comes as an American and Israeli airstrike campaign continues to target Iran.

Iran and its militia allies have expanded their attacks over the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Pentagon to brief media on Iran strikes

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, are planning to hold a press conference Monday morning about the military operation against Iran.

The Pentagon announced the 8 a.m. EST media briefing on social media Sunday night.

On Tuesday, Hegseth and Caine will join U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA Director John Ratcliffe in briefing the full membership of Congress on the strikes, the White House said.

Rubio also was slated to brief Hill leadership Monday.

Hezbollah attacks on Israel ‘expose our country to risks,’ Lebanon’s president says

In a statement Monday, President Joseph Aoun said Hezbollah’s rocket launches from Lebanon “target all the efforts and endeavors exerted by the Lebanese state to keep Lebanon away from the dangerous military confrontations taking place in the region.”

He added that while Israeli strikes on Lebanon are condemned, “persisting in using Lebanon once again as a platform for proxy wars in which we have no involvement will expose our country to risks once more.”