Middle East war: Kuwait claims attack by Iran, its proxies; Saudi Arabia says vital pipeline recently damaged

Kuwait has accused Iran and its proxies of launching drone attacks targeting it on Thursday despite the twoweek ceasefire in the Iran war as Saudi Arabia said recent attacks damaged a key pipeline in the kingdomThe statement from Kuwaits foreign ministry carried by the staterun KUNA news agency put new pressure on the ceasefire ahead of planned talks on Saturday between the United States and Iran in IslamabadKuwaits foreign ministry said the drone attacks targeted some vital Kuwaiti facilities Thursday night Meanwhile Saudi Arabias staterun Saudi Press Agency quoting an anonymous official acknowledged a recent attack in the war that damaged its crucial EastWest pipeline That pipeline carries oil out to the Red Sea and avoids the Strait of Hormuz which Iran maintains a chokehold on despite the pause in the fightingEarlier in a potential boost to Middle East ceasefire efforts Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that he authorised direct negotiations with Lebanon as soon as possible aimed at disarming Iranianbacked Hezbollah militants and establishing relations between the neighbours Israel and Lebanon have technically been at war since Israel was established in 1948 and Netanyahu later stressed that there was no ceasefire between them In a video statement he said Israel will keep striking Hezbollah until security is restored in northern IsraelThere was no immediate response from Lebanon But IsraelLebanon negotiations were expected to begin next week at the State Department in Washington according to a US official who spoke on condition of anonymityThe prospect of talks appeared to bolster the tentative ceasefire in the Iran war that has staggered under the weight of Israels bombardment of Beirut Tehrans continued chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz and uncertainty over whether talks can find common groundHowever later Thursday US President Donald Trump appeared to cast doubt on the effectiveness of the ceasefire writing on his social media platform Iran is doing a very poor job dishonorable some would say of allowing Oil to go through the Strait of Hormuz That is not the agreement we have Trump wrote Netanyahus authorisation of negotiations with Lebanon came amid disagreement over whether the ceasefire deal included a pause in fighting between Israel and Hezbollah and a day after Israel pounded Beirut with airstrikes the deadliest day in Lebanon since the war began on February 28Israel has fought multiple wars and launched several major invasions of Lebanon over the years most recently sending in troops last month in response to Hezbollah fire on Israels northern border communitiesThe launch of direct peace talks is a significant achievement though reaching an agreement will be difficult after decades of hostilities Hezbollahs continued presence and longstanding disagreements over the countries shared land borderThe talks in Washington are expected to be handled on the American side by the US ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa and on the Israeli side by the Israeli ambassador to the US Yechiel Leiter according to the person familiar with the planning It was not immediately clear who would represent Lebanon The timing and location of the talks was first reported by AxiosAfter declaring victory with the ceasefire announcement both Iran and the US have appeared to apply pressure on each other Semiofficial news agencies in Iran suggested forces have mined the Strait of Hormuz a crucial waterway for oil that Tehran has closed Trump warned that US forces would hit Iran harder than before if it did not fulfil the agreement Trump expressed concern again Thursday over reports that Irans military was charging tolls on tankers seeking to pass through the straitThey better not be and if they are they better stop now he wrote on social media Questions also remained over what will happen to Irans stockpile of enriched uranium at the heart of tensions how and when normal traffic will resume through the strait and what happens to Irans ability to launch future missile attacks and support armed proxies in the regionIranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said in a message on Telegram that Irans decision to accept a ceasefire is not a sign of weakness but a way to solidify Irans proud victories Despite disputes over the ceasefire it appears to have halted weeks of missile and drone attacks by Iran on its Gulf Arab neighbors and Israel with no new launches reported ThursdayThere were no reports of strikes by the US or Israel targeting Iran Trump said on Thursday that he has asked Netanyahu to dial back the strikes in Lebanon Lebanons health ministry said more than 300 people were killed and more than 1100 wounded Wednesday by Israeli strikes on central Beirut and other areas of Lebanon that Israel said targeted Hezbollah which joined the war in support of TehranIsrael said Thursday it killed an aide to Hezbollah leader Naim Kassem Ali Yusuf Harshi Hezbollah did not immediately respond to a request for comment A New Yorkbased think tank warned the ceasefire hovers on the verge of collapse following Israels strikes Wednesday Lebanons staterun National News Agency reported that an Israeli strike overnight killed at least seven people in southern Lebanon The Israeli military did not immediately acknowledge the strikeThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever