- Iran says dozens dead in strikes -

Iranian media said that US-Israeli strikes hit multiple residential areas, killing more than a dozen people overnight, though AFP was not able to independently verify any of these tolls.

Israel's military earlier said it launched strikes on Iranian "regime targets", as an AFP journalist in the capital Tehran reported hearing around 10 intense blasts and seeing a plume of black smoke.

- Bahrain denies Shia crackdown -

Bahrain denied it was cracking down on citizens based on their religion after activists reported a slew of arrests they said had mainly targeted Shias amid the Middle East war.

The statement came after two Bahraini rights groups told AFP that more than 200 people, the vast majority of them from the Shia community, had been arrested since the beginning of the war.

- Iran targets US ship -

Iran's military said that it had targeted a US logistics vessel near the Omani port of Salalah.

"A logistics vessel supporting the aggressive US army was targeted by the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran at a considerable distance from the port of Salalah in Oman," Ebrahim Zolfaghari, a spokesman for Iran's central military command said in a statement carried by state TV.

- Pakistan to host talks -

Foreign ministers from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt will meet in Islamabad for talks on the war in the Middle East.

Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar had invited his counterparts who would be in the Pakistani capital on Sunday and Monday, the government said.

- Kuwait airport badly damaged -

The radar system at Kuwait's international airport was heavily damaged in a drone attack, Kuwaiti authorities said.

The attack on the tiny Gulf country caused no casualties, a civil aviation spokesperson told Kuwait's official news agency

- Houthis attack Israel -

Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi rebels claimed their first strike on Israel after the group threatened to join the regional war if Tehran continued to be attacked or if more countries joined the conflict.

- Worker wounded in Oman -

A drone attack on one of Oman's main ports wounded a foreign worker, the Gulf country's authorities said.

Two drones hit the port of Salalah in the far south of Oman, a statement carried by the country's official news agency said, injuring the worker and causing "limited" damage to a crane.

- Thailand-Iran deal on Hormuz strait -

Thailand has reached an agreement with Iran to allow Thai oil vessels to travel through the Strait of Hormuz, its prime minister said.

"An agreement has been reached to allow Thai oil tankers to transit safely through the Strait of Hormuz," Anutin Charnvirakul told a press conference, adding the development would alleviate concerns over fuel imports.

- Five injured in UAE -

UAE authorities said fires broke out at an industrial zone following a missile and drone attack from Iran, leaving five people with injuries.

The United Arab Emirates' defence ministry said air defences were responding to incoming cruise missiles and drones fired by Iran.

- Israel strikes Lebanon -

Israel carried out dawn airstrikes on several towns in southern Lebanon, Lebanese state media reported, as Israel and Hezbollah said they continued to target each other's forces.

- Ukraine,UAE defence agreement -

Ukraine and the United Arab Emirates have agreed to cooperate on defence amid Iran's drone strikes across the region, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Zelensky said on social media he had met with Emirati President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and the two leaders "agreed to cooperate in the field of security and defence. Our teams will finalise the details".

- Blast near Erbil airport -

An explosion was heard near the international airport of Erbil, a city in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, an AFP journalist reported and a witness said they saw smoke.

Erbil is home to a major US consulate complex, while its airport houses military advisors attached to a US-led international anti-jihadist coalition. Regular drone attacks by pro-Iran armed groups are usually intercepted by air defences.

burs-sbk/ach

THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY