- Trump demands 'unconditional surrender' -

US President Donald Trump demanded Iran's "unconditional surrender" as the only acceptable outcome to end the Middle East war, promising to help rebuild the country's economy if it complied.

Trump's demand appeared to be a major expansion of US aims for the war, which Washington has previously said was focused on Iran's missile program and naval forces.

"There will be no deal with Iran except UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.

- UN peacekeepers wounded in Lebanon -

Several Ghanaian members of a United Nations peacekeeping were wounded when their base was hit in southern Lebanon on Friday, state media reported, without specifying the source of the attack.

Israel has been hitting southern Lebanon in its battle against the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia.

- UN chief slams 'unlawful attacks' -

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned "unlawful attacks" across the Middle East and warned that the war could spiral out of control.

Guterres said the crisis was causing "tremendous suffering and harm" and posed a "grave risk" to the global economy.

- Only nine commercial ships navigate Hormuz -

Just nine oil tankers, cargo and container ships have been recorded passing through the Strait of Hormuz since Monday, according to MarineTraffic data analysed by AFP.

Nearly 20 percent of the world's crude oil and about 20 percent of liquefied natural gas (LNG) usually transit the waterway, but the conflict has virtually shut it down.

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright earlier said the US navy was preparing to escort ships through the strait "as soon as it's reasonable to do it".

- France deploys helicopter carrier to Mediterranean -

France has sent a helicopter carrier to the Mediterranean in response to the war, the French military told AFP on Friday.

Paris decided to deploy its flagship aircraft carrier and a frigate earlier in the week.

- Lebanon records 217 dead, 300,000 displaced -

The death toll in Lebanon rose to 217, the country's health ministry said, as Israeli air strikes battered Beirut's southern suburbs, where Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah holds sway.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has warned that "a humanitarian disaster is looming" as a result of Israeli evacuation orders that are causing a massive population displacement.

The Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) said 300,000 people in Lebanon had been forced to flee and questioned the legality of the Israeli orders.

- Oil price soars -

The price of the benchmark US oil contract soared more than 11 percent on fears of extended disruption after President Donald Trump demanded Iran's "unconditional surrender".

West Texas Intermediate surged above $90 a barrel, while international benchmark Brent North Sea crude reached $91.89, the highest level in nearly two years.

- EU, Middle East leaders to talk -

EU chiefs will hold talks with Middle East leaders by video-link on Monday on the war in the region, a spokesperson for the European Council president said.

- Explosions in Iraqi Kurdistan -

Explosions sounded near Erbil airport in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region and an attack forced a US-run oil field to shut production.

AFP journalists reported explosions and grey smoke rising from near the airport area, which hosts US-led coalition troops. Iraqi Kurdish authorities said earlier that oil production at a field operated by US firm HKN Energy had been halted following an attack.

Four drones also struck Basra airport in southern Iraq and two nearby oil facilities, a security official told AFP.

- Iran targets Kuwait -

Iran's army said it had attacked US bases in Kuwait and vowed that it would stage further strikes. Explosions were heard in the Kuwaiti capital, an AFP journalist said, as authorities said they were confronting missile and drone strikes.

Earlier, Kuwait's defence ministry said 67 Kuwaiti army personnel had been injured in the conflict -- the highest number by far of any Gulf military.

- UN says US must probe school strike -

The United Nations rights chief called for answers after a deadly strike on an Iranian elementary school, as a New York Times investigation concluded the United States was most likely responsible.

The February 28 strike hit a school in the southern city of Minab and killed at least 150 people, say Iranian officials. Neither Israel nor the United States has claimed responsibility for the attack, which was close to sites controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).

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THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY