- Iran says will keep fighting -

Iran can fight an intense war against the United States and Israel for at least six months, the Revolutionary Guards said.

"The Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran are capable of continuing at least a 6-month intense war at the current pace of operations," said Guards spokesperson Ali Mohammad Naini, according to the Fars news agency.

- China says no reason for war -

China's top diplomat Wang Yi said the war in the Middle East should "never have happened".

"This is a war that should never have happened," he told a press conference in Beijing, adding that "a strong fist does not mean strong reason. The world cannot return to the law of the jungle."

- Israel pounds Lebanon -

Lebanon's health ministry said Sunday an Israeli strike on a hotel in central Beirut killed at least four people, after sites across southern Lebanon were targeted.

The Israeli military said it carried out a "precise strike" in Beirut targeting commanders from Iran's Revolutionary Guards.

In southern Lebanon, where Israel has been fighting Iran-backed group Hezbollah, the health ministry said eight people were killed in strikes on more than 20 towns and villages.

- Iran unleashes barrage -

Gulf states as well as Israel reported missile and drone attacks from Iran.

Saudi Arabia said it had intercepted a drone attack targeting the diplomatic quarter in the capital Riyadh, reporting no casualties or damage.

Kuwait said fuel tanks at the nation's international airport were targeted by Iranian drones.

- Trump blames Iran for school strike -

US President Donald Trump blamed Iran for a deadly strike on an elementary school in the southern Iranian town of Minab, which Iranian officials say killed at least 150 people.

"We think it was done by Iran. Because they are very inaccurate, as you know, with their munitions," Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One.

A New York Times investigation has found the US military was most likely responsible.

- Kurdish offensive? -

Trump also said he did not want Kurdish forces to launch an offensive against Iran, following speculation they might use the war as a chance to seize more autonomy.

"We're not looking to the Kurds going in," he said. "We don't want to make the war any more complex than it already is."

Trump had told Reuters news agency Thursday he would be "all for" an offensive by Iranian Kurdish fighters in support of the US-Israeli war.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said a potential civil war in Iran would be "the most dangerous scenario".

- Netanyahu vows 'all our force' -

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would continue its war with Iran "with all our force" as part of "a systematic plan to eradicate the Iranian regime".

He added that US and Israeli air strikes had secured "almost complete control of the airspace" over Tehran.

Israel's military said it had carried out around 3,400 strikes on Iran since the start of the war on February 28.

- Tehran oil depots hit -

US and Israeli strikes hit an oil depot in Tehran, Iranian state media said, the first reported attack on Iran's oil infrastructure.

The depot was close to a key oil refinery but the ILNA news agency said the refinery's facilities were not damaged.

Strikes also hit a depot in northwestern Tehran, according to an AFP journalist who saw flames and smoke rising from the site.

Separately, Israel said it hit 16 military aircraft belonging to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps in overnight strikes on Mehrabad airport, in Tehran.

- Kuwait cuts crude production -

Kuwait's national oil company on Saturday announced a cut to its production of crude due to Iranian attacks and threats to the Strait of Hormuz, a key transit point for Gulf hydrocarbons.

The "precautionary reduction in crude oil production and refining throughput" will be reviewed as the situation develops, it said.

- Italy sends frigate -

Italy is sending a frigate to protect Cyprus after a drone strike on a British base on the Mediterranean island "to ensure the security of the European Union's borders," Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said.

"But our position is very clear: Italy is not part of the conflict and does not intend to become part of it," she added.

- Iran sailors in Sri Lanka -

Sri Lanka will treat Iranian sailors rescued from a torpedoed frigate according to international law, a minister said, following reports that Washington is pressuring Colombo to not repatriate them.

The South Asian country recovered 32 sailors and 84 bodies from the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena, sunk by a US submarine on Wednesday just off Sri Lanka's southern coast.

burs-ami/hmn

THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY

DENA