Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Sunday that President Donald Trump launched the war against Iran even if it was not "necessarily popular" to safeguard the world from the country's nuclear ambitions.

He would not comment directly about the Republican wipeout in Tuesday's elections, which delivered a resounding rebuke to Trump. The unpopularity of the Iran war and its impact on gasoline prices and other parts of the economy helped Democrats seize control of Congress.

Syria is preparing to send fighters to Saudi Arabia to deploy along its border and potentially help it fight Iranian-backed rebels in neighboring Yemen, three officials with knowledge of the plans told The Associated Press.

Syrian military advisers have already deployed to Saudi Arabia, but no fighters have been sent to Yemen, according to a regional official and two Syrian officials, all of whom spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.

The U.S. military has announced it will create a 20-member task force to find ways to disrupt land routes into Iran that it says are used for shipments of weapons and illicit materials.

The restrictions would expand on a U.S. naval blockade of Iranian ports during the two countries' eight-month war, in which Tehran has also restricted passage through the critical Strait of Hormuz trade route, choking global energy supplies.

Israel is not finished with Iran, its defense minister said Sunday, as he renewed charges that Tehran is pursuing nuclear weapons, which the Islamic republic has long denied.

"With regard to Iran, the mission is still not complete. Iran is trying to renew its efforts to obtain nuclear weapons -- alongside other grave efforts that place the State of Israel in real danger," Defense Minister Israel Katz said at a ceremony.

Israel's president announced he would task Gadi Eisenkot with forming the next government following last week's election, in what Netanyahu's rivals see as a first step to remove the country's longest-serving prime minister.

The opposition bloc led by Eisenkot, a former military chief and political newcomer who has tried to appeal to secular and liberal Israelis, has opened the door to a once improbable alliance with ultra-Orthodox Jews, which could give it the numbers to form a coalition.

U.S. President Donald Trump said the U.S. military on Friday carried out new limited strikes on Iran, targeting an Iranian air defense system.

Iranian state media reported the sound of two explosions in the Suza area of Qeshm Island, which is in the crucial waterway for oil shipments.

Washington is offering a $20 million reward "and possible relocation" for information about Iran's nuclear program, the U.S. military said, as President Donald Trump reiterated Tehran wants to make a deal to end the war.

Iran said Saturday its military has grown "stronger" since the outset of its war with the United States, which has offered a $20 million reward for information about Tehran's nuclear program.

Israel's opposition said Friday it was making headway in its bid to oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, as one of its leaders lifted his veto on demands that ultra-Orthodox Jews serve in the military, opening the door to a once improbable alliance with the community.

Airstrikes hit a market in southwestern Yemen on Friday, killing at least 20 people, according to an official with Iran-backed Houthi rebels. It would be one of the deadliest attacks since fighting resumed between the Houthis and Saudi-backed government forces.

A Houthi health ministry spokesperson, Anees Alsabahi, told Houthi-run TV Al Masirah that 15 people were also wounded in the airstrikes on the market in al-Waziyah in the province of Taiz. He said that the death toll was expected to rise from the airstrikes, which he blamed on the Saudi-led coalition.