By Maya Gebeily, Alexander Cornwell and Laila Bassam BEIRUT/TEL AVIV, March 7 (Reuters) - Israel warned Lebanon of a "very heavy price" if it did not rein in Iran-backed Hezbollah on Saturday, as it pounded the group's strongholds around the country with air strikes and mounted a deadly airborne raid in the east.

The war between the United States, Israel and Iran entered its ninth day on Sunday with fresh strikes, drone attacks and widening regional fallout. Fi.

Lebanon on Sunday said that Israeli overnight airstrikes on its capital, Beirut and places in southern Lebanon killed at least 15 people and wounded another 15. Follow LIVE Updates here

Israel has struck southern Lebanon, Beirut and an oil storage facility in Tehran as the war in the Middle East keeps escalating, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised “many surprises” for the next phase of the conflict.

President Trump said the U.S. has been successful in diminishing the Iranian military and regime, and will continue to expand its targets inside Iran.

Dozens were killed in the Bekaa Valley overnight, the Lebanese health authorities said, amid airstrikes and intense violence in the town of Nabi Sheet.

Earlier Sunday, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said a US airstrike damaged an Iranian desalination plant on Qeshm Island, warning that in doing so “the US set this precedent, not Iran.” Such infrastructure is critical for drinking water supplies in the parched deserts of the Gulf.

Israel on Sunday struck southern Lebanon, Beirut and oil storage facilities in Tehran as the war in the Middle East keeps escalating, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised “many surprises” for the next phase of the conflict.