Iran has seized a foreign tanker in the Sea of Oman on charges of fuel smuggling, the judiciary said yesterday.

The death sentence was issued in March and later upheld by the Islamic republic's top court

United States President Donald Trump has said Iran has not agreed to inspections of its nuclear programme or to giving up enriching uranium.

The Pentagon said on Wednesday that US strikes 10 days ago had degraded Iran’s nuclear program by up to two years, suggesting the US military operation likely achieved its goals despite a far more cautious initial assessment that leaked to the public.

Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz vowed to retaliate against Iran-aligned Houthis after his country’s military intercepted a missile launched from Yemen toward Israeli territory.

UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi says Iran likely will be able to begin to produce enriched uranium “in a matter of months”, despite damage to several nuclear facilities from US and Israeli attacks, CBS News said Saturday.

An Israeli strike on southern Lebanon killed one person on Saturday, the Lebanese health ministry said, the latest attack despite a ceasefire between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah.

Iran has expanded access to its airspace for international overflights following a ceasefire with Israel, though flight restrictions remain in place across much of the country, an official said yesterday.

Iran yesterday held a state funeral for some 60 scientists and commanders killed in its war with Israel, after its top diplomat condemned the latest White House tirade against supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Lebanon’s health ministry said an Israeli strike killed three people yesterday in the country’s south, the latest such raid despite a November ceasefire with the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group.

Syria's health ministry said the toll from Sunday's attack on the Mar Elias Church in the Dweila neighborhood had risen to 25

At least 20 people were killed and dozens injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up at the Mar Elias Church in the Dweila neighbourhood of Syria's capital Damascus yesterday, health authorities and security sources said.

A week ago, Israel launched an unprecedented attack against Iran, saying the country was on the verge of developing a nuclear weapon, a claim Tehran has always denied.

Israel’s command of Iranian air space leaves few obstacles in the way of its expanding bombardment, though it will struggle to deal a knock-out blow to deeply buried nuclear sites without the US joining the attack, experts say.

Iran and Israel traded missiles and airstrikes yesterday, the day after Israel launched a sweeping air offensive against its old enemy, killing commanders and scientists and bombing nuclear sites in a stated bid to stop it from building an atomic weapon.

21 people were injured by the missiles, including two in serious condition

Israel’s strikes on archfoe Iran exposed severe weaknesses for Tehran that have hampered its ability to respond militarily, analysts said.

Iran yesterday called Israel’s wave of strikes a declaration of war, while US President Donald Trump warned Tehran of “even more brutal” attacks if it does not make a deal on its nuclear programme.

The UN nuclear watchdog’s board of governors declared Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations yesterday and Tehran announced counter-measures, as tensions rose in the Middle East before further US-Iranian nuclear talks.

If nuclear negotiations fail and conflict arises with the United States, Iran will strike American bases in the region, Defence Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh said yesterday, days ahead of a planned sixth round of Iran-US nuclear talks.