Dubai, 21 Mar

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz on Saturday said attacks against Iran will "increase significantly" in the coming week.

The statement came hours after US 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 US messages came after another climb in oil prices plunged the country'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 defence 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 US military members in the region. Millions of people in Lebanon and Iran have been displaced.

Israel says attacks on Iran will be ramped up, war will continue

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said attacks against Iran will "increase significantly" in the coming week.

Katz spoke Saturday, hours after US President Donald Trump said he was considering "winding down" military operations in the Mideast.

"This week, the intensity of the attacks that the IDF and the US military will carry out against the Iranian terrorist regime and against the infrastructures on which it relies will increase significantly," Katz said in a video statement.

Meanwhile, the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a social media post Saturday that Iran has informed it of the attack on its Natanz nuclear facility.

The IAEA said it was looking into the report, adding that "no increase in off-site radiation levels reported".

Russia says it remains Iran's loyal friend and reliable partner

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a message Saturday congratulating Iranians on the new year festival Nowruz that he wished them to "overcome these severe trials with dignity". The Kremlin press service also quoted Putin as sayin that "Moscow remains Tehran's loyal friend and reliable partner".

The United Arab Emirates' Defence Ministry said Saturday that it has responded to three ballistic missiles and eight drones.

Natanz nuclear facility attacked

Iran's official news agency Mizan said Saturday's airstrike on the country's Natanz nuclear facility did not result in any radiation leakage.

Natanz, Iran's main enrichment site, was hit in the first week of the war, and several buildings appeared damaged, according to satellite images.

The United Nations' nuclear watchdog said that "no radiological consequence" was expected from that earlier strike.

The nuclear facility, located nearly 220 kilometers (135 miles) southeast of Tehran, had been targeted by Israeli airstrikes in the 12-day war between Iran and Israel in June 2025, and by the United States.

Israeli army spokesman Nadav Shoshani on Saturday posted a video on X showing a damaged building that he said was a kindergarten.

He said it was hit by fragments of an Iranian missile. There are no reports of casualties.