Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said attacks against Iran will “increase significantly” in the coming week. Katz spoke Saturday, hours after U.S. President Donald Trump said he was considering “winding down” military operations in the Mideast even as the United States announced it was sending more warships and Marines to the region and Iran threatened to attack tourist sites worldwide.
The mixed U.S. messages came after another climb in oil prices plunged the U.S. stock market, and was followed by a Trump administration announcement that it will lift sanctions on Iranian oil loaded on ships, a move aimed at wrangling soaring fuel prices.
The war, meanwhile, has shown no signs of abating.
Iran said its Natanz nuclear facility was hit in an airstrike Saturday but that there has been no radiation leakage. Israel said Iran continued to fire missiles at it early Saturday, while Saudi Arabia said it downed 20 drones in just a couple of hours in the country’s eastern region, which is home to major oil installations. The defense ministry said there were no injuries or damage.
The death toll has risen to more than 1,300 people in Iran, more than 1,000 people in Lebanon, 15 in Israel and 13 U.S. military members in the region. Millions of people in Lebanon and Iran have been displaced.