Closing summary
We are closing this blog but you can continue to follow the latest on our new liveblog here. Thanks for reading.
Here is a summary of the latest developments:
Donald Trump has threatened to “massively blow up” the entire South Pars gas field if Iran carries out any more retaliatory attacks on Qatar’s LNG gas facilities. Trump said that “no more attacks will be made by Israel” on the field – unless Iran “decides to attack a very innocent, in this case, Qatar”.
The Pentagon “has asked the White House to approve a more than $200bn request to Congress to fund the war in Iran, according to a senior administration official”, the Washington Post reports.
The oil price climbed towards $110 a barrel on Wednesday as the mounting threat to the Gulf’s oil and gas infrastructure fuelled concerns of more disruption to global supplies, amid the continuing blockade of the strait of Hormuz.
QatarEnergy said “sizeable fires” caused extensive damage at its LNG facilities after Iranian missile attacks in the early hours of Thursday.
An attack set a ship ablaze early on Thursday off the UAE coast, authorities said. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre said “a vessel has been hit by an unknown projectile, which has resulted in a fire onboard”.
French president Emmanuel Macron called for an immediate moratorium on striking civilian infrastructure, and said civilian populations and their needs must be “protected from military escalation”.
Three Palestinian women were killed in an Iranian missile attack in the occupied West Bank late on Wednesday, the Palestinian Red Crescent said, in the first deadly Iranian strike there.
A man was killed in central Israel in the latest round of Iranian missile fire, medics say. It brings the death roll in Israel from the war to 15.
Republicans in the US Senate blocked a measure that aimed to reign in Donald Trump’s power to wage war against Iran without congressional authorisation, winning a 53-47 vote.
Cathay Pacific suspends flights to and from Dubai until end of April
The Hong Kong aviation giant Cathay Pacific has suspended flights to and from Dubai over the war in the Middle East.
“In view of the developing situation in the Middle East, all Cathay Pacific flights to and from Dubai have been cancelled up to and including 30 April 2026,” the company said in a statement, adding that “further changes to our flight schedule may be needed in the coming days”.
