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Wellington: New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has described Trump’s recent threats against Iranian civilian infrastructure as “unhelpful”.

“Unhelpful because more military action is not necessary,” Luxon told Radio New Zealand on Tuesday.

“I think the bottom line is that the focus needs to be on not seeing this conflict expand any further,” he said.

“We got threats from the president over the weekend. Any of those actions including bombing bridges and reservoirs and civilian infrastructure would be unacceptable as well,” Luxon added.

New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters’ message to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio at a meeting in Washington, scheduled this week, would be to de-escalate the conflict, he said.

Peters would “certainly be encouraging the US and Iran to de-escalate quickly,” Luxon said.

UN to vote Tuesday on watered-down resolution on Hormuz

The UN Security Council scheduled a vote Tuesday on a resolution aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz that was watered down for a second time because of opposition from Russia and China.

The original Bahrain-sponsored resolution would have authorized countries to use “all necessary means” – UN language that can include military action – to ensure transit through the vital waterway, which Iran has largely blocked, and deter attempts to close it.

The sixth revision of the initial text that will be voted on only “strongly encourages” countries using the Strait of Hormuz to coordinate defensive efforts to contribute to safe navigation in the strait.

It says this should include escorting merchant and commercial vessels, and deterring attempts to close, obstruct or interfere with international navigation through the strait.

The vote is scheduled at 11 am EDT, hours before an 8 pm EDT deadline set by Trump for Iran to open the strategic waterway, where one-fifth of the world’s oil normally passes, or face attacks on its power plants and bridges.

Meanwhile, the US military’s Central Command said early Tuesday that it had struck over 13,000 targets in the war so far.

Latest reports of live fire in the war

Activists reported new strikes targeting Iran’s capital, Tehran, early Tuesday morning.

The United Arab Emirates began firing its air defence Tuesday morning, while Bahrain sounded its missile alert sirens in the kingdom, with both Gulf Arab countries facing a new barrage of Iranian fire.

Filipina killed in missile attack in Israel, Philippines says

The Philippine government says a Filipino national was killed in a missile attack in the northern Israeli port city of Haifa over the weekend.

The Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila did not immediately identify the Filipina but said she was killed with her Israeli husband and parents-in-law in a residential area in Haifa on Sunday.

On Feb 28, a Filipina caregiver, Mary Ann de Vera, was killed in a missile strike in Tel Aviv while helping bring her charge to a bomb shelter in the first known Philippine casualty of the war in the Middle East.

About 30,000 Filipinos live and work – many as caregivers – in Israel.

Drone strike kills 2 in Iraq

Two people were killed in the Kurdish region of Iraq after a home was hit by a drone that authorities said had been launched from Iran.

The drone hit the home in the village of Zargazawi in Irbil province early Tuesday, the Counter Terrorism Directorate of the northern Kurdish region said in a statement. Officials condemned the attack, calling it a violation of international law.

The strike came as Iranian forces and allied militias targeted areas across northern Kurdistan with a wave of drones, rockets and missiles.