Israel says it hit Quds Force, militant group sites in Beirut

The Israeli military said on Saturday it struck a day earlier command centers in Beirut belonging to the Quds Force’s Lebanon corps, which serves as a link between Iran and Hezbollah.

The Quds Force’s Lebanon Corps “serves as a liaison between Hezbollah and the Iranian terror regime and supports Hezbollah’s force buildup and military entrenchment,” the Israel Defense Forces said.

The IDF also said it struck two Palestinian Islamic Jihad headquarters, used for coordination with Hezbollah, and a Hezbollah observation post.

Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran had never refused to travel to Islamabad for talks with the US on the conflict and thanked Pakistan for its efforts.

“Iran’s position is being misrepresented by US media. We are deeply grateful to Pakistan for its efforts and have never refused to go to Islamabad,” Araghchi wrote on X on Saturday.

Electricity to all petrochemical facilities in Mahshahr was cut after strikes hit Fajr units 1 and 2, Iranian state media reported.

Managers at Persian Gulf Fajr Energy said turbines at the units were knocked offline, halting power supply, affecting plants that provide key feedstock and fuel.

The disruption follows earlier US warnings it could expand its targets if Iran continued to disrupt shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

No increase in radiation levels was reported after a projectile struck close to Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant on Saturday, the International Atomic Energy Agency said.

The UN nuclear watchdog said Iran had informed it that the incident was the fourth such case involving the plant in recent weeks.

Iran also told the agency that a member of the site’s physical protection staff was killed by a projectile fragment and that a building on the site was affected by shockwaves and fragments.

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said nuclear power plant sites and nearby areas must never be attacked and warned that auxiliary buildings could contain vital safety equipment.

A border crossing between Iran and Iraq near Khorramshahr in southwest Iran was targeted at 11 a.m. on Saturday, a provincial official said.

Khuzestan’s deputy governor for security and law enforcement affairs said the attack hit the Shalamcheh terminal.

Earlier reports had also described explosions in Mehran, another crossing on Iran’s western border with Iraq.