This live blog has now closed. Our coverage of the US-Israel war on Iran and the wider crisis in the Middle East continues here.
The US embassy in Baghdad has warned that Iran and its proxies may intend to target American universities in Iraq and could also try to kidnap US citizens.
Urging Americans to leave the country “immediately”, the embassy said in a security alert on X that the university targets could include in Baghdad, the city of Sulaymaniyah and the Iraqi Kurdistan city of Dohuk as well as other “universities perceived as connected to the United States”.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards threatened earlier on Monday to target US universities in the Middle East after saying US-Israeli strikes had deliberately targeted two Iranian universities.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said in a statement published by Iranian media:
If the US government wants its universities in the region to be free from retaliation ... it must condemn the bombing of the universities in an official statement by 12 noon on Monday, March 30, Tehran time.
The US embassy’s alert also said Iran and its proxies were likely to try to carry out further attacks against US-associated targets throughout Iraq, including diplomatic facilities, universities, businesses, energy infrastructure and other sites.
The alert said in Arabic (translated here):
Iran-aligned terrorist armed groups have also attacked commercial airports and hotels frequented by foreigners. These groups may attempt to kidnap Americans.
The threat of rockets, drones, and mortars persists in Iraqi airspace. U.S. citizens should depart Iraq immediately.
Australia halves fuel excise for three months
The Australian government has announced it will halve the fuel excise to A26 cents a litre for three months amid the growing international energy crisis.
The move is a turnaround for the Labor government – just five days ago, treasurer Jim Chalmers said cutting the fuel excise was not a measure it was considering.
But prime minister Anthony Albanese said on Monday that the government understood people were under serious pressure as prices rise – and also encouraged households to take public transport instead.
Albanese said:
Halving the fuel excise will reduce the cost of fuel by 26.3 cents [US18c] per litre … The less fuel we use in the cities, obviously, the more we can direct to regional areas that are under pressure.
Albanese had been under pressure from the conservation opposition as well as independents, who were calling for the excise to be cut.
Updated
Donald Trump has said the US-Israel war has achieved regime change in Iran, while also saying he will reach a deal with Tehran.
“I think we’ll make a deal with them, pretty sure ... but we’ve had regime change,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday, citing the number of Iranian leaders killed during the war.
“We’re dealing with different people than anybody’s dealt with before,” the US president said, cited by AFP. “It’s a whole different group of people. So I would consider that regime change.”
The US president has sent this message before – White House press secretary Karoline Leavit said last week when asked about Trump’s repeated comments that Iranian regime change had been achieved: “Has it not?” she said.
“Their entire leadership has been killed, and nobody has really seen or legitimately heard from this alleged new leader, so wouldn’t you say there’s been a change in the regime?”
She went one:
There’s been a change in the regime leadership, which is what the president said, so thank you for confirming he is right.
Updated
A generational divide over the Iran war has emerged between older conservatives in the US and their political heirs.
At a conservative conference in Texas, younger attendees spoke of disappointment and even “betrayal” over Donald Trump’s launch of strikes against Iran, saying the president’s actions ran counter to his many pledges to oppose foreign entanglements.
Older conservatives, meanwhile, were looking past Trump’s campaign criticism of military action to topple foreign regimes, arguing the war in Iran was a pragmatic act forced by threats to the US.
The conference also heard pleas for unity from leaders in a challenging midterm election year for Republicans.
There’s more on that and other key Trump administration news in this rundown here:
Trump says he wants to 'take the oil' in Iran and could seize Kharg Island 'easily' – report
More here on Donald Trump’s comments: he says he wants to “take the oil” in Iran and could seize the export hub of Kharg Island, the Financial Times is reporting, as the US sends thousands of troops to the Middle East.
The newspaper quotes him as saying his “preference would be to take the oil”, comparing the potential move to Venezuela, where the US intends to control the oil industry “indefinitely” following its ousting of president Nicolás Maduro in January.
Trump said in the interview with the FT on Sunday:
To be honest with you, my favourite thing is to take the oil in Iran, but some stupid people back in the US say: ‘why are you doing that?’ But they’re stupid people.”
Such a move would involve seizing Kharg Island, through which most of Iran’s oil is exported, the FT report continues. But an assault on the export hub would be risky, raising the chances of more US casualties and extending the cost and duration of the war.
“Maybe we take Kharg Island, maybe we don’t. We have a lot of options,” Trump said.
It would also mean we had to be there [in Kharg Island] for a while.
Asked about the state of Iranian defence on Kharg Island, he said: “I don’t think they have any defence. We could take it very easily.”
The FT also quoted Trump as stressing that, despite his threats to seize Iranian oil production, indirect US-Iran talks via Pakistani “emissaries” were progressing well.
The paper said that when asked whether a ceasefire deal could be reached in the coming days that would reopen the vital strait of Hormuz, Trump declined to offer specific details, saying:
We’ve got about 3,000 targets left – we’ve bombed 13,000 targets – and another couple of thousand targets to go. A deal could be made fairly quickly.
Updated
Donald Trump has also said he wants to “take the oil in Iran” and could seize the export hub of Kharg Island, the Financial Times is being cited as reporting.
Tump says ceasefire could be reached quickly - report
Donald Trump has said a ceasefire deal in the Middle East war could be made fairly quickly, the Financial Times is reporting.
He also said indirect talks between the US and Iran via Pakistani “emissaries” were progressing well, news wires quoted the FT as reporting.
The US president said the number of Pakistan-flagged oil tankers that Iran had allowed to pass through the strait of Hormuz had now doubled to 20, the FT said.
Trump said Iran’s parliamentary speaker had authorised the additional tankers.
Iran war to last into June at least, analyst predicts
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s top geopolitical strategist has warned that the Middle East conflict is likely to last “at least into June”, saying Donald Trump will not be able to unilaterally extract himself from his war on Iran.
Madison Cartright said we shouldn’t hope for a repeat of the Taco trade (or “Trump Always Chickens Out”) that had been a feature of his coercive trade policies.
Tariff policy was the prerogative of the president. But he cannot unilaterally decide when to end the war with Iran.
As Australia’s national cabinet sits down to develop a united strategy to deal with the fuel crisis, Cartwright laid out why federal and state leaders should be planning for a longer conflict that stretches the country’s limited fuel reserves.
Any lasting agreement to end the war must include Israel and Iran.
There is no common ground between Iranian demands and US demands at present. There is also a schism between the US and Israel. If the US were to end its participation in the war before meeting its objectives, Israel will likely continue the war.
There is also no guarantee that Iran will open the strait of Hormuz if the US were to abruptly exit the war without negotiating an agreement favourable to Iran first.
Updated
Australia’s share market has opened sharply lower this morning as fears of a prolonged Middle East conflict ignite oil prices and trigger a bout of global inflation.
The Australian benchmark S&P/ASX 200 dropped 1% in early trading to hover near the 8,430 point mark. The index is down more than 8% from levels reached late last month, shortly before the conflict erupted.
Market strategy consultant Greg Boland from trading platform Moomoo says selling pressure has intensified as the Iran war outlook worsens.
He says:
The combination of rising volatility, persistent inflation concerns, and ongoing geopolitical uncertainty is keeping investors on the defensive, with markets increasingly pricing a higher-for-longer interest rate environment.
The ASX has been pulled around by sharp moves in the oil price, with rising energy prices fuelling global inflation, which drags down equity markets.
While investors largely ignored the initial strikes against Iran, sentiment has soured due to concerns the US does not have a clean exit strategy that can guarantee a stable resumption of the oil trade, and other freight, through the crucial strait of Hormuz.
Oil tops $100 a barrel again
The price of the main US benchmark for oil rose over 3% on Monday to once again pass $100 a barrel, while Brent climbed above $115 amid no end in sight to the Middle East war.
A barrel of West Texas Intermediate – the US benchmark – for May delivery rose 3.50% to $103.13 just minutes after Asian markets opened, AFP is reporting.
A barrel of North Sea Brent, meanwhile, rose 2.98% to $115.93.
Updated
UN peacekeeper killed and another critically injured in Lebanon
The UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon (Unifil) said a peacekeeper was killed when a projectile exploded at one of its positions near the southern Lebanese village of Adchit al-Qusayr on Sunday.
Another peacekeeper was critically injured, it said early on Monday,
“We do not know the origin of the projectile. We have launched an investigation to determine all of the circumstances,” Unifil added in the statement.
Unifil is stationed in southern Lebanon to monitor hostilities along the demarcation line with Israel – an area that is at the heart of clashes between Israeli troops and Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters, Reuters reports.
The mission, which will be halted at the end of 2026, has been sporadically caught in the crosshairs of both Israel and Hezbollah over the past couple of years. Recent incidents underscored the risks.
On 6 March, Ghana’s armed forces said the headquarters of its UN peacekeeping battalion in Lebanon was hit by missile attacks, leaving two soldiers critically injured.
Updated
Israel says it has intercepted two drones fired from Yemen
The Israeli air force has intercepted two unmanned aerial vehicles launched from Yemen, the IDF has posted online.
The interceptions occurred over the past hour, it said.
Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis entered the Middle East war for the first time on Saturday, with the Iran-allied group saying they had fired a salvo of ballistic missiles at Israeli military sites, opening a new front in the conflict.
They added that the attacks would continue until aggression ceased on “all fronts”, indicating against Iran and its proxies such as Hezbollah.
Updated
Starmer to host business leaders for Middle East war talks
Keir Starmer will gather industry leaders in Downing Street on Monday to address the impact of the Iran war, the British prime minister’s office said.
Starmer expected to meet senior representatives from the energy, shipping and financial services industries amid warnings the UK could suffer serious economic damage as a result of the conflict, PA Media reports.
Discussion is expected to focus on Iran’s ongoing blockade of the vital strait of Hormuz, which has choked oil and gas shipments and supplies of other products such as fertiliser.
The meeting will also hear an update on the situation in the region from Maj Gen Richard Cantrill, the UK’s maritime operations commander.
It comes after the Royal Navy announced it was fitting the transport ship RFA Lyme Bay with mine-hunting drones, understood to be a move intended to provide ministers with options for securing the strait once the situation stabilises.
Downing Street said the aim of the meeting was to hear directly from businesses and discuss how the government and private sector could work together in responding to the conflict.
Participants at the meeting would include representatives from Shell, BP and Centrica, shipping firms Maersk and CMA, banking executives at HSBC and Goldman Sachs and officials from insurer Lloyd’s of London.
With oil prices spiking and Iran continuing to blockade most traffic in the strait of Hormuz, Britain is now expected to face higher inflation and lower growth, while petrol prices have already risen sharply.
This is Adam Fulton picking up our live coverage – stay with us for the latest updates
Updated
Israeli strike on ambulance kills another paramedic in Lebanon, WHO says
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO) has said another paramedic was killed in an Israeli strike on an ambulance in southern Lebanon on Sunday, as Israel expands its invasion of the country.
The strike also destroyed a medical warehouse in the same city, he said.
The WHO has verified that Israeli attacks have killed 51 Lebanese health workers since 2 March - including nine paramedics on Saturday.
“Attacks on health facilities must cease immediately,” Tedros said in a post on X.
This cannot become the norm. Health workers are safeguarded under international humanitarian law and should not be targeted.
Updated
The day so far
Benjamin Netanyahu announced an expansion of Israel’s invasion of southern Lebanon as his forces target Hezbollah. “I have just instructed to further expand the existing security buffer zone. We are determined to fundamentally change the situation in the north,” the Israeli PM said in a video statement from the Northern Command. Israeli forces are currently occupying the area south of the Litani River, and its destruction of key bridges connecting to the rest of Lebanon and forced displacement of residents have stoked fears of a protracted occupation.
Pakistan will soon host talks between the US and Iran, its foreign minister said, as top diplomats from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt met in Islamabad to discuss ways to de-escalate the war. Neither Washington nor Tehran have yet commented.
Earlier, Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Iranian forces are “waiting” for US ground troops to arrive so they can “rain fire upon them”, following reports that the Pentagon is preparing for weeks of possible “ground operations” in Iran, and as thousands of US soldiers and marines arrive in the region.
Power has reportedly been restored across parts of Iran after Israeli strikes hit “electricity infrastructure”, Iran’s energy minister said.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) confirmed that Iran’s heavy-water production plant at Khondab, which Israel attacked on 27 March, has “sustained severe damage and is no longer operational”. In a post on X, the IAEA added that the Khondab Heavy Water Research Reactor “contains no declared nuclear material”. The Israeli military had described the site as a “key plutonium production site for nuclear weapons” when it bombed the facility on Friday.
A fire at an industrial site in southern Israel has been been brought under control, hours after being declared a “hazardous materials incident” in the area. The IDF said the fire at the Neot Hovav industrial complex may have been caused by “a weapon fragment or interceptor fragment”.
Iran’s supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei thanked the Iraqi people and religious leadership for their support of Iran “in the face of aggression”, Iranian state media reported, without saying how this message was conveyed. More than three weeks on from his appointment as supreme leader, Khamenei has still not been seen or heard from in public since he was injured in the US-Israeli airstrike that killed his father, the late ayatollah Ali Khamenei, his wife and son on the first day of the war.
On Palm Sunday, the Pope said God rejects the prayers of leaders who start wars and have “hands full of blood”, in an apparent rebuke to Donald Trump’s administration.
Updated
For Christians, Palm Sunday is the start of a holy week that marks Christ’s arrival in Jerusalem days before his crucifixion and resurrection.
On Sunday morning, Israeli police prevented Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, an archbishop with Catholic jurisdiction across Israel and the Palestinian territories, from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem to conduct mass.
The US, France and Italy criticised the decision. The US ambassador Mike Huckabee, a devout evangelical Christian, said the incident was “an unfortunate overreach”. Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, called the incident “an offence not only to the faithful but to any community that respects religious freedom”, and the French president, Emmanuel Macron, said “the free exercise of worship in Jerusalem must be guaranteed for all religions”.
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said there had been no “malicious intent” and the cardinal was prevented from accessing the church because of safety concerns. He added that Israel would try to partly open the church in the coming days.
IAEA says Iran's heavy-water production plant no longer operational after Israeli attack
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has confirmed that Iran’s heavy-water production plant at Khondab, which Israel attacked on 27 March, has “sustained severe damage and is no longer operational”.
In a post on X, the IAEA added that the Khondab Heavy Water Research Reactor “contains no declared nuclear material”. The Israeli military had described the site as a “key plutonium production site for nuclear weapons” when it bombed the facility on Friday.
That same day, the IDF also launched strikes on a uranium processing site in the central Iranian city of Yazd, describing the site as a “unique facility in Iran used for the production of raw materials required for the uranium enrichment process”.
Here’s the IAEA’s post regarding the plant in Khondab:
Based on independent analysis of satellite imagery and knowledge of the installation, the IAEA has confirmed the heavy water production plant at Khondab, which Iran reported had been attacked on 27 March, has sustained severe damage and is no longer operational. The installation contains no declared nuclear material.
Updated
IDF launches fresh strikes across Tehran
The Israeli military said it is currently carrying out strikes on what it called targets belonging to the Iranian regime across Tehran.
In a brief statement, the IDF said its forces are “currently striking Iranian terror regime targets across Tehran”, without providing further details on the locations targted or the scale of the operation.
It comes after Iran’s energy minister said that attacks on “electricity infrastructure” in Tehran, the wider Tehran Province and Alborz Province earlier caused power to be cut off.
Mostafa Rajabi Mashhadi said on state TV that “shrapnel struck one of the electricity pylons at the entrance to the city of Karaj” in Alborz Province, causing the power losses.
Iran’s Fars news agency has since reported that electricity has been restored to most areas of the capital and Karaj.
“Operational teams from the electricity industry are still working to restore power to the few remaining areas as quickly as possible,” it added.
Updated
Pakistan says it is set to host US and Iran talks 'in coming days'
Pakistan’s foreign minister has said his country will soon host talks between the US and Iran – though there was no indication of whether the talks would be direct or indirect, and the two sides have yet to comment.
Speaking after top diplomats from Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia met in Islamabad to discuss how to end the war, Ishaq Dar said that “Pakistan is very happy that both Iran and the US have expressed their confidence in Pakistan’s facilitation” of the talks, which he said will happen in the “coming days”.
He added that foreign ministers from Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia have backed Islamabad’s peace efforts. They are set to meet again on Monday.
Updated
The European council’s president has reiterated the EU’s solidarity with Gulf countries targeted by ongoing Iranian attacks, as he called on all parties to “de-escalate and give diplomacy a chance”.
“The EU stands in solidarity with the Gulf cooperation council countries in the face of continued Iranian air strikes and drone attacks targeting civilians and infrastructure in the region,” António Costa wrote on X.
These attacks must stop immediately.
Costa held a call with UAE president sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan today. During the call, he reiterated “that the EU stands by the United Arab Emirates, which has been among the hardest hit”.
“The EU continues to urge all parties to de-escalate and give diplomacy a chance, in the interest of security and stability in the Middle East,” he added.
Qatar was targeted by a “number of drones launched from Iran” earlier today, the Qatari ministry of defence has said.
All drones were “successfully intercepted”, the ministry added.
Earlier, the US embassy in Doha announced it was “conducting reduced operations with its remaining emergency personnel”.
It urged all American citizens in Qatar to “remain vigilant and be prepared to duck and cover in a secure location if the Qatari authorities issue an alert”.
Updated
Pope seems to rebuke Trump in remarks about leaders with ‘hands full of blood’
Pope Leo has said God ignores the prayers of leaders who wage war and have “hands full of blood”, in an apparent rebuke to the Trump administration.
The pontiff made the comments on Sunday as thousands of US troops arrived in the Middle East and days after the US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, prayed for violence against enemies who deserved “no mercy”.
During a Palm Sunday mass in St Peter’s Square, the pope said the conflict between the US, Israel and Iran was “atrocious” and that Jesus could not be used to justify war.
“This is our God: Jesus, king of peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war,” he told tens of thousands of worshippers. “He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them.”
Quoting a Bible passage, Leo added:
Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen: your hands are full of blood.
The Catholic church’s first US pontiff did not name any government or individual but the unusually pointed remarks followed Hegseth’s prayer for violence on Wednesday and the buildup of US ground forces near Iran.
Leaders on all sides of the conflict have used religion to try to justify their actions - and Hegseth’s insertion of his Christian faith into the Pentagon’s actions has drawn particular attention and controversy.
Last week at a Christian worship service for military and civilian workers in Washington, Hegseth said:
Let every round find its mark against the enemies of righteousness and our great nation. Give them wisdom in every decision, endurance for the trial ahead, unbreakable unity, and overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy.
The US defence secretary is a member of a church affiliated with the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches, whose founder self-identifies as a Christian nationalist.
The pope has repeatedly called for a ceasefire and a ban on airstrikes in a conflict that has rained destruction on Iran, Lebanon, Israel and Gulf states. In his homily on Sunday, the pope lamented that Christians in the region may not be able to celebrate Easter.
More on this story here:
Updated
A medical warehouse in southern Lebanon was destroyed amid Israel’s ongoing offensive, the World Health Organisation’s director-general has said.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus released a statement on social media saying that Israel’s expanding military operations in southern Lebanon also resulted in the death of “yet another health worker today”.
“A paramedic was killed in a strike on an ambulance in Bint Jbeil,” he added. “Additionally, a medical warehouse in the same city was destroyed in an attack.”
Prior to today’s strikes, Ghebreyesus said the WHO has verified that 51 Lebanese health workers have been killed since 2 March, including nine paramedics yesterday alone.
He continued:
This cannot become the norm. Health workers are safeguarded under international humanitarian law and should not be targeted. Peace is the best medicine.
Updated
We’re now getting more on what was discussed in Islamabad as Pakistan hosted talks with Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia on Sunday as part of its efforts to broker an end to the Iran war.
Initial discussions focused on proposals to reopen the critical strait of Hormuz to shipping, sources familiar with the matter have told Reuters, some of which have already been floated to Washington.
A source from Pakistan said proposals, including from Egypt, had been forwarded to the White House before Sunday’s meeting and that they included Suez Canal-style fee structures.
Two other Pakistani sources told Reuters that Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia could form a consortium to manage oil flows through the waterway, and had asked Pakistan to participate. The first Pakistani source said Islamabad had not been formally asked to join and maintains that it will not.
The proposal for a management consortium had been discussed with the US and Iran, the sources said. The first Pakistani source said the country’s army chief Asim Munir had been in regular contact with US vice-president JD Vance.
Egypt’s and Pakistan’s foreign ministries did not respond to a Reuters request for comment on the reported proposals. The Saudi government media office and the White House did not immediately reply to a comment request.
A Turkish diplomatic source told Reuters that Ankara’s priority was securing a ceasefire.
“Ensuring the safe passage of ships could serve as an important confidence-building measure in this regard,” they said.
Updated
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt discussed “possible ways to bring an early and permanent end to the war” in the Middle East on Sunday, Pakistan’s foreign minister Ishaq Dar has said.
The four nations held joint talks to seek a de-escalation in the US-Israeli war on Iran in Islamabad.
In a video recorded statement, Dar said all sides had expressed confidence in Pakistan’s facilitation and that China “fully supports” the initiative to host the potential US-Iran talks in Islamabad.
Iran envoy reportedly refuses to leave Lebanon despite expulsion
Iran’s ambassador will not leave Lebanon despite being declared persona non grata and ordered to leave the country by Sunday, an Iranian diplomatic source has told Agence France-Presse.
“The ambassador will not leave Lebanon in accordance with the wishes of the speaker of parliament Nabih Berri and of Hezbollah,” the unnamed source said.
Hezbollah has denounced the decision while Berri’s Amal party joined Hezbollah ministers in boycotting a cabinet session this week in protest at the order to expel Mohammad Reza Sheibani.
The foreign ministry this week gave Tehran’s envoy until Sunday to leave in the latest unprecedented step by Lebanese authorities since a fresh conflict erupted on 2 March between Israel and Hezbollah.
The foreign ministry accused him of making statements “interfering in Lebanon’s internal politics”.
Netanyahu orders expansion of invasion of southern Lebanon
Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced an expansion of his invasion of southern Lebanon, saying that he has instructed the military to further expand the so-called “buffer zone” and vowing to fundamentally change the security situation there.
“I have just instructed to further expand the existing security buffer zone. We are determined to fundamentally change the situation in the north,” Netanyahu said in a video statement from the Northern Command.
He said the decision is aimed strengthening Israel’s security posture along the northern frontier during ongoing tensions along Israel’s northern border, where cross-border hostilities have raised fears of a broader regional escalation.
Iran supreme leader 'thanks Iraqi people for their support', state media reports
Iran’s supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei has thanked the Iraqi people and religious leadership for their support of Iran “in the face of aggression”, Iran’s state media reported on Sunday, without saying how this message was conveyed.
More than three weeks on from his appointment as supreme leader, Khamenei has still not been seen or heard from in public since he was injured in the US-Israeli airstrike that killed his father, the late ayatollah Ali Khamenei, his wife and son on the first day of the war.
Several written statements that have been attributed to Khamenei have been delivered via state media, fuelling speculation about the extent of his injuries. Days ago, Donald Trump claimed that the new supreme leader is “either dead or in very bad shape, because no one has heard from him”.
Updated
Fire and rescue teams have been working to seal and contain damaged chemical storage units after a huge blaze broke out and led to fears of a hazardous materials leak at a factory at the Neot Hovav industrial complex in Israel.
The IDF said the fire may have been caused by “a weapon fragment or interceptor fragment”.
Footage and images showed fires burning and plumes of thick black smoke rising from the site, which houses more than 30 factories belonging to different companies and is located six miles south of the city of Beersheba.
Israel’s fire and rescue service said it was working to “prevent an explosion or additional leaks” and warned the public not to approach the area due to the “presence of hazardous materials”.
It urged nearby residents to lock themselves in their homes, close windows and vents, and follow the instructions of the security and rescue forces.
No casualties have yet been reported, said Israel’s national emergency service, Magen David Adom, and nearby factories have been evacuated.
Kuwait says Iranian attack injured 10 military personnel
Ten Kuwaiti military personnel were injured in an Iranian missile attack on a military camp in the Gulf country, the Kuwaiti army said on Sunday, without giving a location.
The camp sustained material damage, the army said in a post on X, adding that Kuwait had dealt with 14 ballistic missiles and 12 drones over the past 24 hours.
Updated
Bahrain has said it is imposing a ban on “maritime movement” for seafarers using fishing and “leisure” vessels between the hours of 18:00 and 04:00 local time until further notice. In a statement, the country’s interior ministry said:
In the interest of safeguarding seafarers amid the blatant Iranian aggression against the Kingdom of Bahrain, using missiles and drones, and the serious risks this poses to the safety of citizens and residents, the interior ministry announced a ban on maritime movement for seafarers using fishing and leisure vessels, as part of the measures taken to protect Bahrain’s coasts.
The interior ministry urged all seafarers to comply with the maritime ban timings and avoid approaching the coasts to ensure their safety and avoid legal accountability, affirming that these measures are being taken as part of efforts to enhance maritime safety and raise preparedness under the current circumstances.
Pakistan’s foreign minister Ishaq Dar said in a post on X that Iran had agreed to allow 20 more Pakistani-flagged ships through the strait of Hormuz, the vital shipping route which Iran is effectively blocking as leverage against the US (although some ships from “friendly” countries – such as China and Thailand – have been allowed through with Tehran’s permission).
“Two ships will cross the strait daily,” Dar said. “This is a welcome and constructive gesture by Iran and deserves appreciation. It is a harbinger of peace and will help usher stability in the region.”
The UK has in recent days offered to host an international security summit to draw up a “viable, collective plan” to reopen the strait of Hormuz as economic fallout from the US-Israeli war on Iran continues.
The US has only destroyed about a third of Iran’s missile and drone arsenal after a month of its war against Iran which aimed to degrade the country’s ballistic missile capabilities, according to a report by Reuters.
About a third of Tehran’s missiles have been destroyed, and another third was likely to be damaged or buried in underground tunnels and bunkers, the report suggested. A similar assessment was made about the country’s drone arsenal.
The report, based on five people familiar with US intelligence, suggests that while most of Iran’s missiles are immediately inaccessible, the country still has a sizeable stockpile.
That contradicts Donald Trump’s statement on Thursday that Tehran had “very few rockets left” and statements from other US officials that the war has eliminated its ballistic missile capabilities. You can read more in this story here:
The Tasnim news agency is reporting that law enforcement officials have arrested 35 people in the western Iranian province of Lorestan.
Sixteen people were reportedly arrested on charges of illegally filming sensitive areas, such as military sites, and collaborating with so-called “hostile media networks”, with 19 others detained on “charges of spreading rumours, creating an unsafe psychological environment among citizens and spreading false news”.
Iranian civilians have faced intensified domestic repression since the US-Israeli war was launched on 28 February, including expanded arbitrary arrests and restrictive security controls, according to Human Rights Activists in Iran.
Summary of the day so far...
It has just gone past 16:50pm in Tehran, and 16:20pm in Tel Aviv and Beirut. Here is a quick recap of events:
Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said Iranian forces “are waiting for the arrival of American troops on the ground to set them on fire”.
Ghalibaf said the US is secretly plotting a ground attack despite a message of diplomacy coming out of the White House.
The Pentagon is reportedly preparing for weeks of possible “ground operations” in Iran, as thousands of US soldiers and marines arrive in the Middle East.
Diplomatic talks in Islamabad between the foreign ministers of Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan – which are aimed at de-escalating regional tensions -have begun.
The talks, however, do not appear to include any American or Iranian representatives, casting doubt on persistent US claims of diplomatic progress.
Israel has continued to launch airstrikes across the Iranian capital of Tehran, and Iran has been firing missiles at Israel, with strikes also being launched across the Gulf region.
US-Israeli strikes hit a quay at an Iranian port city on Sunday near the strategic strait of Hormuz, killing five people, Iranian state media reported.
A funeral has been held for three Lebanese journalists killed in an Israeli airstrike on a car yesterday that the Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, condemned earlier today as a “targeted assassination” and “flagrant violation of international law”.
Updated
The funeral has taken place in Lebanon for three journalists killed by an Israeli strike on Saturday, an attack which Beirut called a “blatant crime”.
Ali Shoeib, a veteran correspondent for Hezbollah’s Al Manar TV, Fatima Ftouni of the pro-Hezbollah Al Mayadeen channel and her brother, cameraman Mohammad Ftouni, were all killed when their vehicle was hit in Jezzine in southern Lebanon.
Israel’s military in a statement alleged that Shoeib “operated within the Hezbollah terrorist organisation under the guise of a journalist for the Al Manar network”, without providing evidence.
It did not comment on the deaths of Ftouni and her brother.
Two India-bound liquefied petroleum gas tankers carrying about 94,000 metric tons of the cooking gas have safely passed through the strait of Hormuz and are heading towards India, its government has said.
The carriers BW Tyr and BW Elm are expected to arrive in Mumbai on 31 March and New Mangalore on 1 April respectively, the petroleum ministry said in a statement.
The war has all but halted shipping through the strait, but Iran has said “non-hostile vessels” may use the waterway if they coordinate with Iranian authorities.
Reuters reports that the ships are the latest Indian-flagged vessels to make it through. Four LPG tankers have already completed the crossing, while three more are still in the western section of the strait, LSEG ship tracking data showed on Friday.
Qatari news channel Al Araby has condemned the strike on its Tehran office building (see earlier post)
The channel said in a statement to AFP that it “condemns this attack on a civilian commercial building and affirms that endangering journalists or considering them targets runs counter to international law”.
It added that, according to the Iranian Red Crescent 10 people, had been injured in the Sunday morning strike.
In a post on X, Anwar Gargash, the diplomatic adviser to the UAE’s president, wrote:
Any political solution addressing the Iranian aggression against the Arab Gulf states must include clear guarantees to prevent future violations, uphold the principle of non-aggression, and mandate Iranian reparations for targeting civilian and vital facilities as well as civilians.
Iran deceived its neighbors about its intentions before the war and revealed premeditated aggression despite their sincere efforts to avoid it, making these two paths essential in confronting a regime that has become the primary threat to the security of the Arab Gulf.
Here are some lines from an interesting analysis piece by my colleague Saeed Shah about Pakistan’s mediation role in the war:
Pakistan’s diplomatic efforts intensified on Saturday, with the country’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, calling the Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, and the announcement the foreign ministers of Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan will hold talks in Islamabad on Sunday and Monday about how to end the war.
These four countries are emerging as a new alignment within the Muslim world, packing three of the biggest armies in the region, nuclear weapons and Saudi Arabia’s financial heft. But officials from Saudi Arabia, which has been repeatedly hit by Iran, have privately said that they want the bombardment to continue.
Islamabad expects any talks to be indirect, with Pakistani officials shuttling between the US and Iranian delegations in different rooms. Tehran refuses to sit down face-to-face with US officials.
Pakistan is nuclear-armed with a large army that could secure a venue for talks, while its air force could provide Iranian officials with an escort to fly in.
Iran says Washington is again trying to deceive, having twice bombed them over the past year in the midst of talks. A buildup of US troops in the region suggests peace talks may not be the US’s plan.
Foreign ministers meet in Pakistan’s capital as they try to reduce regional tensions
Al Jazeera is reporting that Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister has arrived in Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital, for talks with his counterparts from Pakistan, Egypt and Turkey.
The ministers will hold “in-depth discussions on a range of issues, including efforts to de-escalate tensions in the region” during the two-day talks, Pakistan’s foreign ministry said yesterday.
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The internet blackout in Iran has entered its 30th day, according to internet monitoring group NetBlocks. It said in a post:
Iran’s internet blackout has now entered day 30 as the nationwide censorship measure continues into its fifth week after 696 hours.
Metrics show that connectivity to the outside world remains at just 1% of ordinary levels.
Those without access to Starlink or alternative ways to communicate – which are often expensive – are cut off, not only from the outside world but the blackout also severely curtails Iranian’s ability to communicate with each other, making mobilisation, for example, much more difficult.
Iranian forces are waiting for US troops to arrive to 'set them on fire', speaker says
We have some more comments from the Iranian parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who has published a message marking 30 days since the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran (see post at 10.10 for details).
Iranian forces “are waiting for the arrival of American troops on the ground to set them on fire and punish their regional partners forever,” Ghalibaf said.
He added: “Our firing continues. Our missiles are in place. Our determination and faith have increased.”
The comments came as the Saudi Arabian foreign minister is set to join his Egyptian, Pakistani and Turkish counterparts in Islamabad later today for talks aimed at reducing regional tensions.
Despite such diplomatic efforts, the Pentagon is preparing for weeks of “ground operations” in Iran, US officials have told the Washington Post, as thousands of US soldiers and marines arrive in the Middle East.
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A report by Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRA), Airwars and the Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC) that was issued on Friday lays out the civilian toll of the US-Israeli war on Iran. You can read it in full here:
Between 28 February and 23 March, HRA recorded at least 1,443 civilian deaths, including at least 217 children, resulting from US and Israeli airstrikes in Iran. These figures represent verified minimums and are expected to rise.
Drivers of civilian harm from US and Israeli operations identified by CIVIC, HRA, and Airwars include targeting errors and misidentification, including as a result of outdated or faulty intelligence; inadequate precautionary warnings for civilians; the use of explosive weapons in densely populated areas; and attacks on or impacting civilian and “dual-use” infrastructure, risking long-term reverberating impacts on civilians’ well-being.
As of 23 March, HRA found that 37% of confirmed attacks took place in Tehran’s urban environments. HRA has verified damage to 60 hospitals or medical centers, 44 schools, and 129 residential buildings, while government estimates indicate more than 16,000 homes were damaged. 543 strikes targeted “dual-use” infrastructure, including energy and transport systems essential to civilian life.
The humanitarian impact is significant, with approximately 3.2 million people reportedly displaced, according to United Nations figures.
Moreover, HRA has documented how Iranian civilians have faced intensified domestic repression since 28 February, including expanded arbitrary arrests (at least 1,830 as of 19 March), restrictive security controls, and inflammatory official rhetoric threatening arrest and even death to perceived opponents.
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IDF says it has completed 'another wave' of airstrikes across Tehran
The IDF said this morning that it had completed “another wave” of airstrikes across the Iranian capital of Tehran.
Tehran was targeted with an intense wave of Israeli airstrikes yesterday that damaged residential neighbourhoods and reportedly struck a prestigious university.
US-Israeli airstrikes have repeatedly hit the densely populated city throughout the war.
Many civilians have been killed in the attacks, despite them framed as only targeting the infrastructure of the Iranian state and targets linked to the regime.
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Iran’s parliament speaker: the outsider seen by White House as possible partner
Trying to appoint Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf from Washington reveals either a misunderstanding of the Islamic Republic’s multilayered political system or a determination to upend it: power in Iran historically lies with the supreme leader, and Mojtaba Khamenei has been selected to that role by the Assembly of Experts.
While it is true that Khamenei has not been seen since his election and is believed to be seriously injured, Iran insists he is the functioning decision-maker…
As speaker of parliament, Ghalibaf has broadly followed the mainstream, supporting the 2015 nuclear deal but then, when Trump pulled out, arguing that Iran’s future lay in alliances with Russia and China. His critics claim that Ghalibaf supporters backed the attack on the Saudi embassy in Tehran in 2016 that led to the breaking off of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
From Trump’s perspective, little of this matters if he feels, in negotiating with Ghalibaf, he is negotiating with Iran’s true power brokers. Ghalibaf does have lines to the commander-in-chief of the IRGC, Ahmad Vahidi, and the commander of the Khatam al-Anbiya central headquarters, Ali Abdollahi Aliabadi.
Soon after it became known that Washington thought he was reliable, Ghalibaf issued a tweet saying: “Our people demand the complete and humiliating punishment of the aggressors. All officials stand firmly behind their Leader and people until this goal is achieved. No negotiations with America have taken place. Fake news is intended to manipulate financial and oil markets and to escape the quagmire in which America and Israel are trapped.”
Trump’s anointment may at least send the message to Israel that Ghalibaf is not to be killed, but it also piles pressure on him to show he will not betray his country.
US secretly plotting ground attack despite message of diplomacy, Iran's parliament speaker says
Iranian state media have published a message from Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf marking 30 days since the start of the US-Israeli war.
“The enemy openly sends a message of negotiation and secretly plans a ground attack,” Ghalibaf, who has served as speaker of the parliament since 2020, wrote in his message carried by the Tasnim news agency.
“The United States expresses its desires with a list of 15 points and pursues what it did not achieve in the war.”
“We are in a major world war, and we must prepare ourselves for the tortuous and difficult path ahead of us until we reach the summit,” he added.
Ghalibaf was previously an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commander, police chief and mayor of Tehran. Washington reportedly has thought of him as a potential partner and he is reported to be Donald Trump’s preferred choice for leader.
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How likely is it that Donald Trump will order a ground invasion of Iran?
Thousands of US marines aboard navy amphibious ships from the 31st and 11th expeditionary units have been deployed to the Middle East from Asia.
Another 2,000-odd paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne are also being sent to the theatre – they are tasked with deploying worldwide within 18 hours of notification and execute parachute assaults, including against a “defended airfield” to prepare for further ground operations.
The secretary of state, Marco Rubio, repeated on Friday that the US believes it will be able to achieve its goals without boots on the ground, but when marines are in position next week, Trump could order an assault to either provide leverage to reopen the strait of Hormuz or to degrade Iran’s ability to keep the waterway closed by force.
The lack of heavy armoured units, logistical depth and other elements needed for a protracted military conflict will limit the White House’s ability to escalate the conflict, however, potentially extending a stalemate that could be devastating to the international economy. Read the full piece here:
Saudi Arabia’s defence ministry said in a statement shared to social media about three hours ago that the country had intercepted and destroyed 10 drones in the previous few hours.
Qatari news channel Al Araby has said in a post on X that an Israeli missile had hit the building housing its office in the Iranian capital of Tehran, causing “extensive damage and halting live broadcasts”.
Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, has condemned Israel’s killing of three journalists in Lebanon on Saturday.
On his Telegram, Araghchi said the killings amounted to “targeted assassination” and “flagrant violation of international law”. He said they were a way of silencing “the voices of those who tell the truth”.
Ali Shoeib, from the Hezbollah-owned al-Manar television station, Fatima Ftouni and her brother and cameraman Mohammed Ftouni from the channel al-Mayadeen were killed in the Israeli airstrike targeting their car yesterday.
Israel claimed the attack shortly afterwards, saying the target was Shoeib, whom it accused of being a Hezbollah “terrorist”, without providing any evidence to support its claim. It did not comment on the killing of Fatima or Mohamed Ftouni.
Israel, which has killed more than 220 journalists since 2023, according to Reporters Without Borders, often claims the journalists it targets are linked to armed groups (like Hamas) without providing any evidence. International humanitarian law is meant to protect civilian journalists during armed conflict and Israel has been accused of clearly violating it, with effective impunity.
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Kuwait has said its air defence systems intercepted four drones attacking the country this morning.
In a statement posted to social media earlier, the Kuwait army said that “any explosions that may be heard are the result of air defence systems intercepting hostile targets”, without specifying who was behind the attacks.
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US base in Syria targeted by Iraq in repelled drone attack, assistant minister says
Syria’s assistant defence minister said Sunday that his country’s forces had repelled a drone attack from neighbouring Iraq targeting one of Syria’s last US military bases.
“Earlier today, the US base in Qasrak, located on our territory, was attacked by four drones launched from Iraqi territory,” Sipan Hamo said on X, adding that “the drones were shot down without casualties”.
“We hold Iraq responsible and call upon it to prevent the recurrence of attacks that threaten our stability.”
The attack came a day after Syria’s army said it repelled another drone attack from Iraq aimed at al-Tanf, a base in the southeast which used to house US forces.
Earlier this week, the Syrian military said another base in the north-east was also targeted by a missile attack from Iraq, with an Iraqi official saying a local armed group was behind it. Iraq has arrested four people in connection with that attack.
Iraq has been pulled into the war since it was sparked by US and Israeli strikes against Iran, with the conflict engulfing much of the Middle East.
Pro-Tehran Iraqi groups have claimed responsibility for attacks on US interests in Iraq and across the region, while strikes have also targeted these groups.
In recent months, American forces have withdrawn from the al-Tanf base, as well as Shadadi in the northeastern province of Hasakeh, and had begun withdrawing from the Qasrak base, also located in Hasakeh.
Oman’s foreign ministry condemns attacks on its territory
Oman’s foreign ministry said on Sunday that it condemns attacks on its territory, adding that no party has claimed responsibility.
It said authorities were investigating the attacks’ “sources and motives” without providing further details.
Oman said on Saturday that a worker was injured in a drone attack on the Gulf country’s Salalah port and Danish container shipping group Maersk said later that it temporarily halted its operations at the port after Saturday’s attack.
Five killed in US-Israeli strikes on Iran city near Hormuz strait, state media says
US-Israeli strikes hit a quay at an Iranian port city on Sunday near the strategic strait of Hormuz, killing five people, Iranian state media reported.
The official IRNA news agency reported the “enemy carried out a criminal attack at the quay of Bandar Khamir, killing five people and injuring four others”.
A series of loud explosions was also heard on Sunday across the Iranian capital, an AFP journalist said. The blasts were heard in northern Tehran and smoke was seen rising from impacted areas.
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If you are just catching up on what it means that Yemen’s Houthi’s have joined the war, you can read a piece from the Guardian’s Julian Borger here.
IDF says it has hit Iranian command centres and weapons sites
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says it has temporary Iranian command centres and weapons production and storage sites in Terhan in a fresh wave of strikes.
In a post on X, the IDF said the sites targeted included “ballistic missile production and storage facilities, aerial defense systems, and observation posts of the Iranian regime”.
According to the IDF, Iran had moved some command centres to temporary sites. “Several temporary command centers were dismantled, including commanders who were operating within the HQ’s,” the IDF said in the post.
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Iran Guards say strikes on Bahrain and UAE aluminium plants are retaliation for US-Israeli attacks
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards says it launched missile and drone strikes on aluminium plants in Bahrain and the UAE over the weekend in retaliation for a US-Israeli attack on Iranian industrial infrastructure launched from bases in Gulf states.
The IRGC said the strikes were targeting what they described as industries linked to the US military.
Since the Middle East war erupted at the end of February, Bahrain and other Gulf countries have regularly been targeted by Iranian missile and drone strikes in retaliation for the US-Israeli campaign.
In a statement carried by Iranian state broadcaster IRIB, the Guards said they hit an aluminium facility in the UAE and Aluminium Bahrain’s main plant, calling both sites “industries affiliated with and connected to the US military and aerospace sectors in the region”.
Aluminium Bahrain, one of the world’s largest aluminium producers, said two employees were wounded in an Iranian strike targeting its facility on Saturday.
The company, also known as Alba, said the workers suffered minor injuries.
Shipping helplines ring with alerts from seafarers trapped amid war
Seafarers’ helplines say they are overwhelmed with messages from crews stuck in the Gulf by the Middle East war, desperately seeking repatriation, compensation and onboard supplies.
“Writing to urgently inform you that our vessel is currently facing a critical situation regarding provisions and one crew health conditions,” read an email from one seafarer on 24 March to the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF)’s Seafarer Support team.
“Immediate supply of food, drinking water, basic necessities is required to sustain the crew,” said the message to the team’s helpline.
The ITF said it had received more than 1,000 emails and messages from seafarers stuck around the strait of Hormuz and the wider region since the war erupted with US-Israeli strikes on Iran on 28 February.
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Opening summary
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of events in the Middle East as the war enters its second month.
The war only continues to escalate as Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis confirmed a second wave of attacks on Israel since joining the conflict on Saturday. They have vowed to continue strikes in the coming days, posing a threat not just to worsening regional security but also global trade.
In Iran, two powerful explosions shook northern Tehran early on Sunday, an AFP journalist reported. The blasts occurred in the Iranian capital about 7.20am as air defences operated, but it was not yet clear what was targeted.
Meanwhile, the US is reportedly preparing plans for ground operations in Iran. The Trump administration has already deployed US Marines to the Middle East.
Here’s a quick recap of the latest:
In a televised speech, Houthi military spokesperson, Yahya Saree, said the Iran-backed group had launched a “barrage of cruise missiles and drones” in a second attack on Israel, targeting key military sites. He vowed the Houthis would continue military operations in the coming days until Israel “ceases its attacks and aggression”.
The entry of the Houthis, poses a direct threat to the Bab al-Mandab strait at the southern end of the Red Sea, a second major choke point in the supply chain of energy supplies and other trade in and out of the Middle East. With Iran’s near total closure of the strait of Hormuz, a shutdown of the Bab al-Mandab, located between Yemen and the Horn of Africa, would amplify the already grave impact of the war on the global economy, and could also reignite a Saudi-Yemen conflict.
The Pentagon is preparing plans for weeks of ground operations in Iran – potentially including raids on Kharg Island and coastal sites near the strait of Hormuz – though President Donald Trump has not yet approved any deployment, the Washington Post is reporting. Any ground operation would stop short of a full-scale invasion, instead involving raids by special operations forces and conventional infantry troops, the Post said, citing unnamed officials.
Exiled Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi has told one of the US’s biggest annual gatherings of conservatives that he is ready to lead a new Iranian government and would call on the country’s citizens to rise up when the “right moment arrives”, AP reports. Pahlavi is the son of the shah, a monarch deposed in 1979 when the Islamic theocracy came to power.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard threatened to target US universities in the Middle East after saying US-Israeli strikes had deliberately targeted two Iranian universities. “If the US government wants its universities in the region to be free from retaliation... it must condemn the bombing of the universities in an official statement by 12 noon on Monday, March 30, Tehran time,” said the statement published by Iranian media.
Pakistan has said it would host a meeting of Middle Eastern powers on Monday in an effort to find a regional approach to ending the conflict. But the talks, which bring together the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt, did not appear to include any of the warring parties, casting further doubt on persistent US claims of diplomatic progress.
Israeli attacks killed three journalists in a targeted strike on their car in southern Lebanon, which the Lebanese president condemned as a “blatant war crime”. The strike killed Ali Shoeib, from Hezbollah-owned al-Manar TV, Fatima Ftouni and her brother and cameraman Mohammed Ftouni from pro-Hezbollah outlet al-Mayadeen.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director general of the World Health Organisation, called for an end to attacks on medical staff after nine paramedics were killed in southern Lebanon on Saturday.
The Israeli military bombarded Tehran with a “wide-scale wave of strikes”, damaging residential areas, civilian infrastructure, and research and educational buildings. The IDF also said it had hit Iran’s headquarters for naval weaponry.
Iran has allowed 20 oil tankers from Pakistan to pass through the strait of Hormuz. Ishaq Dar, Pakistan’s deputy prime minister, said two ships would cross per day. The country has been playing a key mediatory role in the conflict.
