By Maha El Dahan
DUBAI, March 13 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump will bring about a diplomatic conclusion to the war with Iran "in his time", and Tehran must halt attacks on its neighbours before they can mediate, one of the UAE's top diplomats said in an interview on Friday.
President Donald Trump said Friday he feels honored to be killing Iran's leadership, calling them "deranged scumbags."
"They've been killing innocent people all over the world for 47 years, and now I, as the 47th President of the United States of America, am killing them. What a great honor it is to do so!" Trump posted on social media shortly after midnight in Washington.
Iran's longtime supreme leader Ali Khamenei and numerous other top figures in Tehran have been killed since the war was launched by the United States and Israel on February 28.
By Joshua McElwee
VATICAN CITY, March 13 (Reuters) - Pope Leo suggested on Friday that Christian political leaders who start wars should go to confession and assess whether they are following the teachings of Jesus, without naming any specific leaders or conflicts.
"Do those Christians who bear grave responsibility in armed conflicts have the humility and courage to make a serious examination of conscience and to go to confession?" the pope asked in a speech to priests.
March 13 (Reuters) - France and Italy have opened talks with Iran seeking to negotiate a deal to guarantee safe passage for their ships through the Strait of Hormuz, the Financial Times reported on Friday, citing people briefed on the efforts.
Reuters could not immediately verify the report.
(Reporting by Chandni Shah in Bengaluru; Editing by Toby Chopra)
By Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart
WASHINGTON, March 13 (Reuters) - There is no clear evidence that Iran has placed mines in the Strait of Hormuz, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told a news briefing on Friday.
The assessment by Hegseth contrasts with news reports earlier this week suggesting Iran had deployed about a dozen mines in the Strait of Hormuz, the conduit for a fifth of the world's oil.
PARIS, March 13 (Reuters) - President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday a drone attack in Northern Iraq against French soldiers was "unacceptable" and that France's position in the region was "defensive".
Macron told a news conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Paris that he had asked for a full military analysis to be made of the attack.
One French soldier was killed and six others were wounded after a drone attack in northern Iraq that President Emmanuel Macron earlier had said was said was unacceptable and unjustified.
WASHINGTON, March 13 (Reuters) - The United States has designated an officer outside of U.S. Central Command to complete an investigation on a strike on an Iranian school, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Friday.
"I can report that CENTCOM has designated an investigating officer to complete a command investigation," Hegseth told a press briefing.
Reuters first reported last week that an ongoing, internal U.S. military investigation showed U.S. forces were likely responsible for the strike on the girls' school in southern Iran.
WASHINGTON, March 13 (Reuters) - Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is wounded and likely disfigured, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told a news briefing on Friday.
(Reporting by Idrees Ali, Phil Stewart, Susan Heavey and David Ljunggren; Editing by Daphne Psaledakis)
By Emma Farge
GENEVA, March 13 (Reuters) - Over an eighth of Lebanon's territory is under Israeli orders for people to leave their homes, an aid group said on Friday, while the United Nations peacekeeping mission said Israeli ground troops were making incursions and erecting roadblocks.
Israel has been carrying out daily strikes on Lebanon since March 2 when the Iran-backed group Hezbollah launched rockets at Israel to avenge the killing of Iran's supreme leader in Tehran on the first day of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.
WASHINGTON, March 13 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said the United States would escort vessels through the Strait of Hormuz if needed, adding in a Fox News interview that aired on Friday that the U.S. would strike Iran "very hard over the next week."
Asked about helping oil tankers pass through the key shipping strait, Trump said: "We would do it if we needed to. But, you know, hopefully things are going to go very well. We're going to see what happens." He gave no other details.
