US-Israel Iran war updates: Explosions rattle Tehran, Jerusalem as Iranian internet blackout enters 21st day

The United Arab Emirates says it is responding to incoming threats from Iran, warning residents they may hear air defence systems in action.

The BBC reports that Kuwait also reported explosions linked to interceptions and urged people to follow safety advice.

Saudi Arabia says it has intercepted and destroyed five drones in its eastern region.

In Bahrain, sirens were activated with residents told to seek shelter, before officials confirmed falling shrapnel which sparked a warehouse fire during what they described as Iranian aggression.

Crude oil is tipped to hit $US180 a barrel, according to Saudi officials, if war in the Middle East does not de-escalate by late April, the Wall Street Journal has reported.

However, the kingdom is by no means celebrating the new price point for their liquid gold, instead they are worried consumers could change their habits and slash oil use as it becomes unaffordable.

“Saudi Arabia generally does not like too-rapid increases in oil, because that then creates long-term market instability,” analyst Umer Karim told the outlet.

It comes as India has forced employees home, mandating a four-day work week in some sectors to conserve fuel supplies.

Members of Iran’s national women’s soccer team were greeted with a “welcome ceremony” upon their return to the Islamic Republic after several of the players had sought asylum in Australia.

“First of all we are so happy to be in Iran, because Iran is our homeland,” midfielder Fatemeh Shaban said.

People in the crowd waved flags while some of the players held bouquets of flowers and signed what appeared to be mini-soccer balls. Iranian media had reported the team returned on Wednesday.

“I wasn’t expecting this many people to come to welcome us, and I am happy to be the daughter of Iran,” Shaban said in translated comments.

Two Iranian female players, Fatemeh Pasandideh and Atefeh Ramezanisadeh, chose to remain in Australia and have been training with the Brisbane Roar.

Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei says Australia has “decided to take side with the aggressors” and warned any Australian military assets in the Persian Gulf could be targets.

The Federal Government last week announced it would deploy a military reconnaissance plane, dozens of personnel to operate it and defensive missiles to the United Arab Emirates after the Gulf country requested help to defend against Iranian strikes.

“We have the inherent right to self-defence against offensive or defensive operation against us,” Mr Baghaei told the ABC’s 7.30.

“We cannot recognise that those military assets being deployed to intercept our missiles, our drones against the aggressors would be regarded simply as defensive.

“That’s going to be part of this aggression.”

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Anthony Albanese has tried to play down an incident where he got heckled at a Mosque, claiming he had a “very warm reception”.

“Yes, there were a couple of people who were heckling,” he said, while speaking in Whyalla on Friday.

“They were dealt with. Contrary to what’s been suggested, no one was rushed out. We just sat there.

“It was dealt with by the community themselves, because overwhelmingly, they did not want that to occur.

“There were 30,000 people plus at Lakemba this morning.

“There are a couple of hecklers inside.

“Overwhelmingly, the reception was incredibly positive.

“Some people don’t like the fact that we’ve outlawed extremist organizations like Hizb ut-Tahrir and that brought a response from a couple of people.

“But if you got a couple of people heckling in a crowd of 30,000 that should be put in that perspective.”

Iran on Thursday struck the Ras Laffan liquefied natural gas facility in Qatar, the world’s largest LNG complex, a day after Israel attacked Iran’s huge South Pars gas facilities.

Now, a price tag and a list of setbacks have been revealed.

The hit on Ras Laffan destroyed two LNG trains that could cause a reduction of around 17 per cent of Qatar’s liquefied natural gas exports for between three and five years.

• Condensate exports to drop around 24 per cent
• Liquified petroleum gas (LPG) to drop 13 per cent
• Helium output to fall 14 per cent

“I never in my wildest dreams would have thought that Qatar would be - Qatar and the region - in such an attack, especially from a brotherly Muslim country in the month of Ramadan, attacking us in this way,” QatarEnergy chief executive Saad al-Kaabi told Reuters.

Estimates for losses are now at $36 billion for Qatar.

The Coalition has called for Chris Bowen to quit his role chairing next year’s COP 31 climate change conference amid the energy crisis prompted by the US-Israel-Iran war.

Australia’s Climate and Energy Minister was appointed to the COP presidency with the United Nations for the next 12 months under a deal that handed rival bidder Turkey hosting rights for the conference.

Opposition deputy leader Jane Hume called for him to return his focus back home as Australia grapples with rising petrol and diesel costs, the impact of which is expected to trickle across the supply chain.

She questioned why Anthony Albanese had appointed a new fuel tsar Anthea Harris to coordinate the response to supply problems across Australia, insisting Mr Bowen should have stepped up to the role.

“The fuel tsar would be entirely unnecessary if Chris Bowen was doing his job from day one,” she told 7’s Sunrise on Friday.

“I reckon the first thing that Chris Bowen could do here is potentially quit his job over in the UN, putting together climate change conferences and negotiations, because we need a full-time energy minister on the job.”

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Intense scenes have played out at a Sydney mosque as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke attended an event celebrating the end of Eid.

Mr Albanese and Mr Bourke had been invited, according to one speaker, to help rebuild the relationship between the Federal Government and the Muslim community following the war in Gaza.

As the Prime Minister and the Home Affairs Minister sat on the ground without their shoes, a speech was interrupted with heckling and booing directed at Mr Albanese for his role in “supporting genocide”.

At one point, a person was tackled by security and pulled out of the venue, but just minutes later, heckling resumed.

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Mr Netanyahu said he wants Iran’s next leader to have a transitional period, one that he hopes sees the Iranian people create a new way forward in harmony with the Middle East and the world.

“We want a transitional leader who has a transition.

“You don’t want to replace one Ayatollah for another.

“You don’t want to replace Hitler with Hitler.

Mr Netanyahu said this moment was up to the Iranian people, saying “you can’t do revolutions from the air”, but conceded that a lot had been done from the air through targeted strikes on the regime.

A live television broadcast from southern Lebanon was abruptly interrupted when a missile struck metres behind a reporter, as volatility in the Middle East escalates.

RT correspondent Steve Sweeney was delivering a live cross when the sound of an incoming projectile was heard. Within seconds, the missile struck nearby, sending debris and dust into the air and knocking both the reporter and cameraman, Ali Rida, to the ground.

The pair had been reporting on the destruction of a bridge in southern Lebanon, an area targeted in ongoing Israeli strikes linked to its campaign against the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group.

​WATCH THE VIDEO HERE. ​