Iran's foreign ministry said on Monday that France's move to expel two Iranian diplomats in response to Tehran's ban on two French diplomats was "illegal".

"The action that France took is an illegal action in response to Iran's legal action, and is in no way helpful to bilateral relations," said ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei in a weekly press conference.

A tanker caught fire after being struck by an "unknown projectile" off the Red Sea coast of Saudi Arabia on Monday, a British maritime agency said.

"The Company Security Officer reported a tanker has been struck by unknown projectile causing a fire to the vessel on the main deck. All crew are safe and accounted for and no environmental impact has been reported," said the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO).

Lebanon on Sunday arrested an online influencer known for his videos about food who had been handed a life sentence in absentia for drug trafficking, a judicial source told AFP.

Georges Dib, known on TikTok as "Doctor Food" and followed by more than eight million accounts, was apprehended at his home in the far north governorate of Akkar, the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Israel carried out a fresh strike in Syria and lambasted U.S. envoy Tom Barrack for criticizing an earlier attack on an air base in the northwest, which Israel has accused Turkey of seeking to use.

U.S. envoy for Syria Tom Barrack on Tuesday slammed Israel's attack on the disused military air base that day as an "unnecessary escalation that does not advance regional stability".

Iran has warned countries against participating in the United States' "economic war" against the Islamic republic, saying they would be considered enemies.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian acknowledged on Sunday that his country's citizens face "many problems", after the United States launched a new wave of sanctions seeking to further isolate its economy.

Ecuador's Ivonne A-Baki, a diplomat who represented Quito in the United States, has entered the race to lead the U.N., the head of the General Assembly said in a letter Tuesday.

The World Bank has projected that Lebanon's economy would contract by 6.4 percent this year, as the latest Israel-Hezbollah war derailed the country's efforts at recovery.

Turkey and Israel traded barbs after Ankara announced it had sought an international arrest warrant for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accusing him of "genocide" linked to the interception of a Gaza-bound aid flotilla.

Russian drones slammed into a busy shopping center in eastern Ukraine Friday, killing 16 people in an attack condemned as "cynical and despicable" by President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The attack on Kryvyi Rig, Zelensky's hometown, comes as Russia has intensified its bombardments of Ukrainian cities in recent months.