Iran war news LIVE: Iran says never refused Islamabad talks, insists on end to ‘illegal war’

Iran war news LIVE updates: Iran’s foreign minister on Saturday said that the country has never refused to travel to Islamabad for mediation talks, signalling openness to diplomatic engagement.

However, he stressed that Iran’s primary concern is securing terms that ensure a “conclusive and lasting end to the illegal war” imposed on it, underlining that any negotiations must lead to a definitive resolution of the conflict.

Iran war news LIVE updates: Iran has authorised the passage of vessels carrying essential goods to its ports through the Strait of Hormuz, according to a letter cited by Iran’s Tasnim news agency on Saturday.

The letter indicates that ships heading to Iranian ports, including those currently in the Gulf of Oman, must coordinate with authorities and comply with established protocols to transit the strait, Tasnim said.

Iran war news LIVE updates: A US-Israeli strike on Saturday hit a cement plant in southern Iran, media reported, adding that operations were not interrupted.

“The American-Zionist attack against the cement plant of Bandar Khamir did not leave any casualties,” said Tasnim news agency, quoting Ahmad Nafisi, the deputy governor of the southern Hormozgan province.

Iran war news LIVE updates: Drones reportedly hit Iranq’s Rumaila North Oilfield on Saturday and wounded three Iraqi workers, Reuters reported.

Earlier in the day, a US-Israeli strike hit a trade terminal at the Iran-Iraq border, killing one person, Iranian media reported.

Iran war news LIVE updates: A US-Israeli strike on Saturday hit a trade terminal at the Iran-Iraq border, killing one person, Iranian media reported.

“At 11:00 am, the commercial terminal of the Shalamcheh border crossing in the southwestern city of Khorramshahr was targeted in an air attack by American and Zionist enemies,” Mehr news agency said, citing the deputy governor for Khuzestan province, Valiollah Hayati.

Iran war news LIVE updates: The US military pressed ahead Saturday in a frantic search for a missing pilot after Iran shot down an American warplane, as Iran called on people to turn the pilot in, promising a reward.

The plane, identified by Iran as a US F-15E Strike Eagle, was one of two attacked on Friday, with one service member rescued and at least one missing. An anchor on a TV channel affiliated with Iranian state television urged residents to hand over any “enemy pilot” to the police.

Iran war news LIVE updates: An attack killed one fighter from the former paramilitary coalition Hashed al-Shaabi in Iraq on Saturday, the alliance said, blaming the United States and Israel.

Iraq has been dragged into the war between the United States, Israel and Iran, with strikes targeting both US interests and pro-Iran groups in the country.

Iran war news LIVE updates: The International Atomic Energy Agency on Saturday reported that no increased levels of radiation were detected after US-Israel struck Iran’s Bushehr plant.

The attack also killed a guard of the building and damaged support building.

US Iran war LIVE updates: Iraq has closed the southern Shalamcheh border crossing with Iran after airstrikes on the Iranian side killed an Iraqi traveller, security sources were quoted as saying by news agency Reuters.

Earlier on Saturday, an attack killed one fighter from the former paramilitary coalition Hashed al-Shaabi.

“This treacherous attack resulted in the martyrdom of one PMF fighter and the wounding of four others, as well as a member of the ministry of defence,” said a short statement from the group, which is also known as the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), adding it was a “Zionist-American attack”.

Notably, Iraq has been dragged into the war between the United States, Israel and Iran, with strikes targeting both US interests and pro-Iran groups in the country.

US Iran war LIVE updates: Iran’s atomic agency says an airstrike has hit near its Bushehr nuclear facility, killing a security guard and damaging a support building. It is the fourth time the facility has been targeted during the war.

The agency announced Saturday’s attack on social media.

US Iran war LIVE updates: A projectile from a US-Israeli attack hit near the Bushehr nuclear power plant in southern Iran on Saturday, killing one person, state media reported.

“Following the US-Zionist criminal attacks, this Saturday morning, around 8:30 am, a projectile hit the area near the Bushehr nuclear power plant in the southwest,” said the official IRNA news agency. It added that one of the building’s guards was killed but noted that there was no damage to the plant’s facilities.

US Iran war LIVE updates: One person was reportedly killed after US-Israeli strikes hit Iran’s Bushehr nuclear plant on Saturday, AFP reported.

Iranian news agency also informed that the incedent did not damage main parts of the plant and that the production remains unaffected.

US Iran war LIVE updates: Iran’s Tasnim news agency reported that a projectile struck near the Bushehr nuclear plant in southwest Iran, killing one person.

The incident did not damage the main parts of the plant, and production remains unaffected, it added.

US Iran war LIVE updates: A blast hit a pro-Israeli centre in the Netherlands, police said on Saturday, adding it caused minimal damage and no injuries.

A police spokeswoman told news agency AFP that no one was inside the site run by Christians for Israel, a non-profit, in the central city of Nijkerk when the explosion went off outside its gate late on Friday.

An investigation was ongoing.

US Iran war LIVE updates: Five people were wounded as a result of the strikes but it was not immediately clear if there were any deaths after US-Israeli strikes on Saturday targeted a petrochemicals hub in southwestern Iran, said Fars news agency, citing the deputy governor for Khuzestan province Valiollah Hayati.

He said the “US-Israeli attack on Mahshahr” hit three companies in the area, while Tasnim news agency quoted him as saying that the “the extent of the damage remains unknown”.

US Iran war LIVE updates: US-Israeli strikes on Saturday targeted a petrochemicals hub in southwestern Iran, hitting several companies in the area, Iranian media reported.

“Explosions occurred in the Special Petrochemical Zone of Mahshahr,” said Fars news agency, citing the deputy governor for Khuzestan province.

Fars said the “US-Israeli attack on Mahshahr” hit three companies in the area, while Tasnim news agency said, “the extent of the damage remains unknown”.

US Iran war LIVE updates: The Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA) reported that there are “high chances of casualties” after US-Israeli strikes hit Iran’s Mahshahr Petrochemical Zone in southern Khuzestan province.

Several explosions were heard at the hub, and smoke was seen rising from the area, as per reports.

US Iran war LIVE updates: Several explosions were heard at the Mahshahr Special Petrochemical Zone in Iran’s southwestern Khuzestan province, Fars news agency reported.

Smoke was seen rising from the region where the explosions occurred, Al Jazeera reported.

Further details are awaited.

US Iran war LIVE updates: Iran’s Fars news agency reported that “advanced modern” air defence systems used by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps shot down a United States MQ-1 drone over Isfahan province.

Earlier on Friday, Iran shot down two American military aircraft, an F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet and an A-10 attack plane.

US Iran war LIVE updates: Pakistan on Saturday rejected media reports that its initiative to facilitate talks between the US and Iran to end the ongoing conflict in West Asia had hit obstacles after initial exchange of peace proposals.

Speculation emerged after a senior official of the Foreign Ministry briefed a select group of journalists on Pakistan’s efforts to find a negotiated settlement of the ongoing conflict.

Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi in a statement rejected the media reports as “baseless” and a “figment of imagination”.

“We have noted several reports in the media, including on social media, citing so-called official government sources regarding the ongoing conflict in the region.”

US Iran war LIVE updates: The Israeli military has released a statement listing the sites it claims to have targeted in Tehran on Friday.

It said its air force struck “regime aerial defence sites, including an IRGC aerial defence site where missiles intended to target aircraft were stored”.

It also said it carried out a strike on a “military site responsible for safeguarding the regime’s weapons research and development facilities” and added that a location storing ballistic missiles was hit.

The military said that other weapons production, research and development facilities were also targeted.

US Iran war LIVE updates: Iranian and American forces raced each other Saturday to recover a crew member of the first US fighter jet to go down inside Iran since the start of the war.

Tehran said it had shot down the F-15 warplane, while US media reported United States special forces had rescued one of its two crew members, with the other still missing.

An Iranian television reporter on a local official channel said anyone who captured a crew member alive would “receive a valuable reward”.

The US military has announced the loss of several aircraft during Iran operations, including a tanker that crashed in Iraq and three F-15s shot down by Kuwaiti friendly fire.

US Iran war LIVE updates: A fire broke out early on Saturday at storage facilities belonging to foreign oil companies west of Iraq’s Basra after a drone strike, security sources told news agency Reuters.

US Iran war LIVE updates: Iran shooting down two American military aircraft marks a highly rare strike on US forces, something not seen in more than 20 years. It also indicates that the Islamic Republic still has the capacity to respond, despite US President Donald Trump saying it has been “completely decimated.”

Iran shot down a US F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet on Friday. One service member has been rescued, while efforts are still underway to locate a second, according to US officials. Iranian state media also reported that a US A-10 attack aircraft went down after being hit by Iranian air defence systems.

The last time a US fighter jet was lost in combat was during the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, when an A-10 Thunderbolt II was shot down, said retired Air Force Brig Gen Houston Cantwell, a former F-16 pilot.

“The fact that this hasn’t happened until now is an absolute miracle,” said Cantwell, who served four combat tours and is now a senior resident fellow at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. “We’re flying combat missions here, they are being shot at every day.”

US Iran war LIVE updates: Several explosions were heard coming from northern Tehran in Iran, news agency AFP reported.

Earlier on Friday, Iran shot down a US F15-E Strike Eagle fighter jet, with one service member getting rescued and the search still underway for a second, American officials say. Iranian state media also said a US A-10 attack aircraft crashed after being hit by Iranian defence forces.