LivePM Wong thanks Saudi Arabia, regional partners for helping to facilitate safe return of S’poreans

Iran launches new strikes on US, Israeli targets: State media

Iran has carried out new strikes on Israeli and American targets in the Middle East, state broadcaster IRIB said on Wednesday.

The barrage was “the most intense and heaviest since the start of the war”, lasting three hours, the broadcaster said, citing a statement from Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards.

It targeted Israeli cities including Tel Aviv and Haifa.

Israel’s military said it detected missiles heading towards the country and had activated its air defences.

AFP journalists reported hearing air raid sirens in Jerusalem and the sound of explosions in the distance.

The broadcaster said the missile salvo also targeted “numerous US targets in Erbil” in Iraqi Kurdistan and the US Fifth Fleet naval base in Bahrain.

Meanwhile, the Washington Post reported that a drone struck a major US diplomatic facility in Iraq on Tuesday in suspected retaliation by pro-Tehran militias.

The Post reported that six drones were launched toward the compound in Baghdad, one of which hit the diplomatic support centre, a logistical hub for US diplomats near the Baghdad airport and Iraqi military bases.

The other five were shot down.

The attack was likely carried out by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-backed armed factions, the Post reported, citing a security official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Fresh Israeli strikes hit Lebanon after evacuation warnings

Fresh Israeli strikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs and south Lebanon on Tuesday after the Israeli army warned people to evacuate, with several strikes reported on the capital’s southern suburbs, where militant group Hezbollah holds sway.

Lebanon’s health ministry said a strike on a motorcycle near the area killed one person.
In south Lebanon, the state-run National News Agency (NNA) said “the Israeli enemy launched a strike” in Abbassiyeh, near Tyre, after the Israeli military said it would attack a building there and in the coastal city of Sidon.

In the southern town of Jwaya, the NNA said an Israeli attack killed the town’s mayor and a municipal council member.

Hezbollah said that its fighters had attacked Israeli troops near the southern border towns of Khiam and Odaisseh, and launched rockets at Israel including at a “missile defence site” south of Haifa.

It later said it was engaging an Israeli force near the border town of Aitaroun “with light and medium weapons”.

The Lebanese authorities said on Monday that Israel’s attacks since March 2 have killed at least 486 people and wounded more than 1,300 others. As at Tuesday, a total of 759,300 people had been registered as displaced, with 122,600 staying in shelters.

PHOTO: AFP

North Korea says it respects Iran’s choice of new supreme leader

North Korea respects Iran’s choice of a new supreme leader, its state media said on Wednesday, accusing the US and Israel of undermining regional peace.

Pyongyang, a longstanding US adversary, has previously condemned the US-Israeli attack on Iran as an “illegal act of aggression”.

Defying US President Donald Trump’s desire to have a say in who runs Iran, the Islamic Republic on Sunday named Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei to replace his father, who died in an Israeli air strike on Feb 28.

“We respect the rights and choice of the Iranian people to elect their supreme leader,” a Pyongyang Foreign Ministry spokesperson was quoted as saying by the official Korean Central News Agency.

The official said the United States and Israel are “destroying the regional peace and security foundations and escalating instability worldwide”.

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Tips for those who want to leave the Middle East amid the ongoing war

Looking to return from the Middle East and not sure what steps to take amid the dynamic security situation in the region?

As airlines and governments work to move stranded passengers out of conflict zones, Singapore has arranged to send a second aircraft to Saudi Arabia to bring stranded Singaporeans home from the Middle East on March 12, with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs collating details of interested travellers.

Read about the first-hand experiences of those making their way out of cities such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and glean tips on what you should do if you want to leave the region.

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ST PHOTO: BRIAN TEO

‘Once in a lifetime’: RSAF plane returns with largest group of S’poreans from Middle East so far

Seeing enciks (warrant officers) pushing meal carts and serving food on board a repatriation flight from the Middle East was a “once-in-a-lifetime experience” for Mr Tan Wei Heng.

Mr Tan, 28, an engineer, who had travelled to Doha, Qatar, for work on Feb 28, was among 218 Singapore citizens and their dependants who arrived in Singapore on the morning of March 11 on a flight from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on board a Republic of Singapore Air Force A330 multi-role tanker transport aircraft.

It is the largest repatriation flight arranged by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs from the Middle East so far.

Read more here

ST PHOTO: SHINTARO TAY

PM Wong thanks Saudi Arabia, regional partners for helping to facilitate safe return of S’poreans

Prime Minister Lawrence Wong on Wednesday thanked Saudi Arabia and other Singapore partners in the region for their “strong support” in facilitating the safe return of Singaporeans from the Middle East.

“We have arranged several commercial flights to help Singaporeans who wish to return home from the Middle East,” he said in a Facebook post.

He added that some locations, however, are not accessible through commercial flights, which is why Singapore deployed the Republic of Singapore Air Force’s A330 multi-role tanker transport to Saudi Arabia capital Riyadh to bring Singaporeans home safely.

“We are deeply grateful to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and our partners in the region for their strong support in facilitating this and ensuring safe passage for our flights,” he said.

“To our fellow Singaporeans who remain in the region: Please stay vigilant, look out for one another, and ensure you are e-registered with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs so that we can reach you quickly if needed.”

Senior Minister of State for Defence Zaqy Mohamad, who greeted the returning Singaporeans at Changi this morning, said in a Facebook post that he could not imagine how tough it must have been for them, amid the fear and uncertainty of being far from home.

“Some had been stuck there for days with no commercial flights available to get home

“Others were caught right in the middle of the conflict. One saw armed drones fly past their apartment. Another heard explosions not far from where they were sheltering, hiding in the basement.”

He also thanked members of the RSAF who volunteered for the mission for their courage and dedication.

“We are not done yet. Another RSAF crew flies out tomorrow,” he said. “This is our duty. To bring Singaporeans home, back to their families and loved ones, safe and sound.”

Heaviest day of strikes yet on Iran despite market bets that war will end soon

The United States and Israel pounded Iran on March 10 with what the Pentagon and Iranians on the ground said were the most intense air strikes of the war, despite global markets betting that US President Donald Trump will seek to end the conflict soon.

“Today will be, yet again, our most intense day of strikes inside Iran: the most fighters, the most bombers, the most strikes, intelligence more refined and better than ever,” US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth told a Pentagon briefing.

“It was like hell. They were bombing everywhere, every part of Tehran,” a resident in Tehran told Reuters by phone. “My children are afraid to sleep now.”

A source familiar with Israel’s war plans told Reuters the Israeli military wanted to inflict as much damage as possible before the window for further strikes closes, under the assumption Mr Trump could end the war at any time.

Israel’s President Isaac Herzog on Tuesday did not offer a timetable on when the war with Iran could end.

He said the US and Israeli attacks on Iran were changing the whole configuration of the Middle East, and defended strikes on Iranian oil sites as a way of taking away money from Tehran’s “war machine”.

READ MORE HERE

PHOTO: AFP

S’pore’s third Middle East repatriation flight touches down

A total of 218 Singaporeans and their dependants arrived safely in Singapore at 6.02am on Wednesday on board the Republic of Singapore Air Force’s A330 multi-role tanker transport (MRTT). The military aircraft was deployed to Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh on Tuesday to bring them home safely.

Those on board included Singaporeans who were in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and Saudi Arabia who sought help returning home as commercial travel options in the region were limited.

The Ministry of Defence, in a Facebook post announcing the arrival, said: “A second RSAF MRTT flight to Saudi Arabia is being planned for March 12 to continue supporting the assisted departure of Singaporeans from the Middle East.”

In a video posted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Singapore’s Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia S. Premjith shared that the embassy had been helping Singaporeans return via commercial means, but faced flight suspensions and airspace closures.

“So we had to find an alternative way of repatriating Singaporeans back. It required us to closely coordinate and plan every detail in order to execute this operation,” he said.

ST PHOTOS: SHINTARO TAY

The situation so far

A military aircraft deployed to Saudi Arabia capital Riyadh on March 10 to assist Singaporeans seeking to leave the Middle East has touched down in Singapore as nations race to bring their citizens home safely amid ongoing conflict in the region. 

A total of 218 Singaporeans and their dependants returned via the Republic of Singapore Air Force A330 multi-role tanker transport aircraft, with a second flight to the Gulf country being planned for March 12 to bring Singaporeans back from the Saudi Arabian city of Jeddah.

Here’s a recap of other developments in the last 24 hours:

• The United States and Israel pounded Iran on March 10 with what the Pentagon and Iranians on the ground said were the most intense air strikes of the war, despite global markets betting that US President Donald Trump will seek to end the conflict soon.
• Raising the stakes for the global economy, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they would block oil shipments from the Gulf unless US and Israeli attacks cease. 
• The White House reiterated Mr Trump’s threat to hit Iran hard if it tries to stop the flow of energy supplies through the Strait of Hormuz, where the war has effectively halted one-fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas shipments, and repeated his offer for the US Navy to safely escort tankers. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth told a Pentagon briefing: “Today will be, yet again, our most intense day of strikes inside Iran: the most fighters, the most bombers, the most strikes, intelligence more refined and better than ever.”
• The Israeli military said it has begun a new wave of strikes against Iranian terror regime targets in Tehran. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the offensive against Iran was “not done yet”.
• Oil prices have pulled back after topping US$119 a barrel on March 9, after US President Donald Trump predicted the Middle East war could end “very soon”. 
• Five players from Iran’s visiting women’s football team have remained in Australia after being given asylum. They were branded “traitors” by Iran for refusing to sing the national anthem before an Asian Cup football match against South Korea.

PHOTO: MINDEF