Iran-US war latest: Iran’s president apologises to Gulf states for attacks and rejects Trump’s call to surrender

Earlier on Friday, Iran was accused of launching four drones across the border into the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivav in which an airport terminal was hit, a drone exploded near a school, injuring civilians, and another drone was shot down, as the war in the Middle East lead to greater instability in the region.

Azerbaijan’s president Ilham Aliyev condemned the “act of terror”, demanding an explanation and apology from Tehran.

Speaking to The Independent on Saturday,  Dr Abdul Majid Hakeem Elahi said: “We never attacked Azerbaijan. This is from zionist regime. They want to bring in more difficulty in the region. And Iran, our president and a lot of officials have denied attacking Azerbaijan.”

 And secondly, he said, that Iran is not responsible for the war in the region, as he blamed Trump for starting the war.

“It is the US, in fact not even the US, it is president (Donald) Trump who created and initiated this war with Israel.”

When asked about US president Donald Trump’s claim that Washington would accept no agreement with Iran short of unconditional surrender, Dr Abdul Majid Hakeem Elahi – a representative of the killed Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei – said the US was effectively demanding that Iran surrender its dignity.

Speaking to The Independent, Dr Elahi rejected the idea of capitulation and insisted Iran would defend its sovereignty and independence.

“US wants Iran to submit itself unconditionally. Without anything… Trump wants Iran to submit its mines, fuel, wells and everything else.

“But if we give our dignity to you, then there is nothing. So, we will defend our dignity and ourselves and independence so no one attacks us ever again.”

The London mayor issued a statement on social media supporting Keir Starmer.

He wrote: “Keir Starmer is right to stand up to Donald Trump over Iran.

“While the brutal Iranian regime should rightly be condemned and international pressure applied, this war is not the right course of action.”

India’s foreign minister said on Saturday that an Iranian naval vessel has docked in India, after a US submarine sank an Iranian warship and another vessel sought assistance from Sri Lanka.

Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said the IRIS Lavan is docked in southern Kochi city, after India granted permission when the vessel reported “having problems” on 1 March. “I think it was the humane thing to do,” Jaishankar said.

A US submarine sank the Iranian warship IRIS Dena off the coast of Sri Lanka on Wednesday.

Another vessel, the IRIS Bushehr, requested assistance from Sri Lanka and more than 200 sailors were brought ashore.

Both ships had previously taken part in naval exercises hosted by India, but Jaishankar said they got “caught on the wrong side of events” once the war began.

Masoud Pezeshkian apologised for Iran’s attacks on regional countries, insisting that Tehran would halt them and suggesting they were caused by miscommunication in the ranks.

Iran’s president’s statement aired after repeated attacks on morning on Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Pezeshkian made the statement in a pre-recorded address aired by Iranian state television.

Earlier, Iran’s UN ambassador said the country would “take all necessary measures” to defend itself.

Footage showed explosions and smoke rising over western Tehran as Israel said it had begun a broad wave of strikes.

Gulf countries say they have intercepted more ballistic missiles and drones on Saturday as Iran launched another wave of retaliatory strikes.

Saudi Arabia said early Saturday it stopped four drones attacking the country’s massive Shaybah oil field, the second attack within hours.

In Dubai, people heard several blasts in the morning, with Emirati authorities saying there had been “a minor incident resulting from the fall of debris after an interception.”

Meanwhile, Israeli warplanes hammered Beirut and Tehran.

The death toll continued to rise on Saturday with at least 1,230 people killed in Iran, more than 200 in Lebanon and around a dozen in Israel, according to officials. Six US troops were reported killed.

In a post on X at 8.21am UK time today, it wrote: “The Air Force has launched a wave of strikes targeting the infrastructure of the Iranian terror regime in Tehran and Isfahan.”

India’s Shia community holds tearful vigils, condolence meetings, and protests largely driven by religious solidarity to mourn the assassination of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Namita Singh reports

US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent said on Friday that the “biggest bombing campaign” of the war was still to come.

Israel has said that over the past week it has heavily bombed an extensive underground bunker that Iranian leaders had planned to use during the hostilities.

New information has surfaced suggesting that a deadly explosion at a school in the Iranian city of Minab, some 680 miles southeast of Tehran, was likely caused by US air strikes. The information included satellite images, expert analysis, a US official and public information released by US and Israeli military forces, the Associated Press reports.

Iranian state media has said more than 165 people were killed in the blast, most of them of children.

Iran has blamed Israel and the US for the explosion. Neither country has accepted responsibility, though defence secretary Pete Hegseth has said the US is investigating.

The Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah said its fighters clashed with an Israeli force that landed late Friday in the mountains of eastern Lebanon. The Lebanese Health Ministry said at least three people were killed.

Israel has carried out waves of air strikes on the southern suburbs of Beirut, where Hezbollah has a large presence but which is also home to hundreds of thousands of civilians.

Lebanon’s health ministry said at least 217 people have been killed by Israeli strikes since Monday and 798 others were injured.

The airline said on X: “Emirates will resume operations. Passengers who have confirmed bookings for this afternoon’s flights may proceed to the airport.

“This includes customers transiting in Dubai, if their connecting flight is also operating.”

Earlier this morning it had announced it was suspended all flights to and from Dubai, but these will now resume.