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Trump says US to hit Iran 'hard' after attack on bases in Jordan

President Donald Trump on Wednesday said the U.S. military will be hitting Iran "hard" after a missile attack against U.S. bases in Jordan, Fox News reported.

"We'll be hitting them hard. They're going to get a beating," Fox's correspondent quoted Trump as saying, adding that the U.S. president used swear words to emphasize his point: "We are going to beat the 'effing s' out of them."

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Yemen govt says Houthis planning to impose fees for Red Sea transit

A minister with Yemen's internationally recognized government told AFP on Wednesday that the country's Houthi rebels were working under Iranian guidance to establish a system to impose fees for ships transiting the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.

Information minister Moammar al-Eryani described "the move as a dangerous escalation aimed at transforming one of the world's most strategic maritime corridors into a permanent source of funding for the militia's military and terrorist activities".

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Iran state TV says US struck near Iraq border

Iranian state television on Wednesday said the United States struck a city in the country's northwest on the border with Iraq.

"A few minutes ago, a location in the Piranshahr border area was attacked by American enemy airstrikes," state television reported.

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Lebanon arrests man suspected of transferring money to IS in Syria

Lebanese security forces have arrested a man accused of transferring nearly half a million dollars to the Islamic State group in neighboring Syria, a judicial official told AFP on Tuesday.

Forces "arrested a man who had stolen $400,000 from his father's safe, and investigations showed that he had transferred the money to Syria" for IS, the official said on condition of anonymity.

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Fringe Israeli settler group is sneaking into Syria claiming land for Jewish outpost

The Israeli military was about to launch a nighttime strike on a group of men in southern Syria when the soldiers noticed the long curls dangling from the temples of their targets. The troops held their fire.

These were not Syrian militants attempting to breach Israel's border but religious Jews who had slipped into Syria and were on their way back.

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Netanyahu praises first meeting with Trump since Iran war

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had an "excellent" meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday, their first sit-down since launching a joint war against Iran and it offered Netanyahu a chance to smooth out strains in their relationship.

The closed-door meeting lasted nearly an hour and a half and was "positive and productive," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said. Trump, in a social media posting several hours after the talks, called it a "very good meeting" where "many important subjects were discussed" but offered no further details.

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Iraq says opens probe into Saudi drone attack claim

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi called on Monday for an investigation into Saudi Arabia's claim that drones targeting its territory had been launched by pro-Iran groups in Iraq, his spokesman said.

Zaidi directed "the competent security authorities to investigate the statement issued by the ministry of defense of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia regarding the targeting of the kingdom with drones launched from Iraqi territory", spokesman Sabah al-Numan said in a statement.

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Israel says US bombers used its bases to strike Iran

Israeli defense minister Israel Katz on Tuesday said that American warplanes used Israeli bases during their attacks on Iran, reiterating that his country was prepared to retaliate if targeted.

Fighting between the U.S. and Iran has been paused since Friday after 13 nights of U.S. strikes on the Islamic republic, after an April ceasefire collapsed.

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Israel says intercepted drone near Jordan border

The Israeli military said on Tuesday it intercepted a drone near the Jordanian border and was looking into its origin.

"A short while ago, the Israeli Air Force intercepted a UAV in the area of the Jordan border," the military said.

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Iran discusses Hormuz Strait in calls with Oman, Saudi Arabia

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi held separate phone calls on the Strait of Hormuz with his Omani and Saudi counterparts Badr Al-Busaidi and Faisal bin Farhan, state TV said Tuesday.

During the calls, "they stressed the need to strengthen cooperation and advance joint diplomatic efforts to establish stability in the region and eliminate the insecurity imposed on the Strait of Hormuz due to the aggressive actions of the United States," the state broadcaster added.

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