Blasts heard in southern Beirut
Lebanese media reported an Israeli strike hit Beirut’s southern suburbs early on Friday while AFP correspondents heard several explosions from the Hezbollah stronghold that Israel has been striking repeatedly.
AFPTV footage showed smoke rise from the area after the raid.
Israel has previously issued sweeping evacuation warnings for the area but provided no specific warning in advance of Friday’s strike, which came in the early hours.
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Trump mulls sending thousands more troops to Middle East – report
The Pentagon is looking at sending up to 10,000 additional ground troops to the Middle East to give Donald Trump more military options even as he weighs peace talks with Tehran, the Wall Street Journal is reporting, quoting defence department officials with knowledge of the planning.
The force would likely include infantry and armoured vehicles, the report said, and would be added to the roughly 5,000 marines and the thousands of paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division who had already been ordered to the region.
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Ship stuck in strait of Hormuz – report
A Thai-flagged cargo ship that was hit by unknown projectiles in the strait of Hormuz earlier this month has run aground off Iran’s Qeshm Island, Iran’s Tasnim news agency said on Friday.
Thailand said 20 crew members were rescued by the Omani navy, while three were missing after an explosion in the stern of the ship, Mayuree Naree, caused a fire in the engine room, Reuters reports.
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The UN food and agriculture agency’s top economist has warned of serious impact if the Iran war lasts three to six months
Maximo Torero said markets would absorb the Iran war’s impact if the conflict ended in the next two weeks or so. But if it continued for three to six months, it would not only impact food security and energy but other sectors as well because prices would rise.
And those rising prices, and the fall in remittances from overseas workers, would affect economic development and growth across the world, the chief economist for the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation told a UN press conference Thursday.
The Associated Press reports that he said an El Niño climate phenomenon – which tends to increase global temperatures – was also expected soon. A strong El Niño could significantly exacerbate the economic situation, he said.
Torero said in the video press conference:
My message is, we need to find a way to resolve this problem as soon as possible. Because, if not, the consequences … could be very dramatic, even worse that what happened in the Ukraine war.
More here from Lauren Aratani on US markets having their biggest slump since the start of the Iran war as Donald Trump said the conflict’s impact on oil prices had not been as bad as he expected.
The Dow closed 450 points down while the S&P 500 dipped 1.7%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq fell 2.3%, plunging into correction territory, which happens when an index falls at least 10% below its most recent peak.
Oil prices have surged since the start of the conflict, reaching levels not seen since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine pushed up global oil prices in 2022 and 2023. At the end of day on Thursday, Brent crude oil – the global benchmark – was about $107 a barrel while US crude hit $93 a barrel.
Despite the soaring prices, Trump said that oil prices “have not gone up as much as I thought” during a cabinet meeting on Thursday. “It’s all going to come back down to where it was, and probably lower,” he added.
The president also predicted the impact on the stock market would reverse once the conflict ends.
Markets have been growing weary of Trump as he has continued to give an extremely mixed picture of where the US stands in negotiations with Iran.
See the full story here:
Updated
The day so far
Donald Trump said he will extend – once again – his pause on his threat to attack Iran’s energy infrastructure for 10 days until 6 April, claiming that the request came from Tehran and that talks were going “very well”. The US president threatened last Saturday to would strike Iranian energy infrastructure if Tehran did not reopen the strait of Hormuz. Then, on Monday he postponed his threat for five days (until Friday), citing “very good and productive conversations” with Iran on ending the war (which Tehran dismissed as “fake news” designed to “manipulate” the oil markets). Now, he’s pushing that deadline back, again.
The price of Brent crude also dropped following Trump’s latest announcement. Oil prices rose to their highest level this week, with Brent crude trading at roughly $108 a barrel after Trump’s cabinet meeting earlier on Thursday.
A day after Tehran dismissed Trump’s 15-point ceasefire plan, the US president claimed that Iran was “begging to make a deal,” and that he wasn’t the one pushing for negotiations. Earlier, he told Tehran to “get serious soon” on negotiating a deal to end the war.
Trump rejected reports that he was looking for an exit ramp, as oil prices soar and political pressure mounts to avoid the kind of drawn-out Middle East war he once spurned. “I read a story today that I’m desperate to make a deal,” Trump told reporters. “I’m the opposite of desperate. I don’t care.”
A US proposal for ending nearly four weeks of fighting is “one-sided and unfair”, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Thursday.
However, Trump said Iran is allowing some oil tankers through strait of Hormuz as a sign of good faith for talks. He said that Iran allowed 10 oil tankers to pass through the strategic strait as a “present” to show it was serious about negotiations to end the war.
Stocks on Wall Street suffered their biggest daily loss since the US-Israeli war on Iran began almost a month ago.
The S&P 500 stock index fell 1.7% on Thursday, the steepest daily decline since January, putting the index on track for its fifth straight week of losses for the first time in four years.
Oil prices rose to their highest level this week, with Brent crude trading at roughly $108 a barrel.
Iran bans sports teams from travelling to 'hostile' countries over safety fears
Iran has banned its national and club sports teams from travelling to “countries that are considered hostile”
The sport ministry said safety concerns prompted the decision, which would remain in place “until further notice”.
“The presence of national and club teams in countries considered hostile and unable to ensure the security of Iranian athletes and team members is prohibited until further notice,” it said.
Iran’s national football team is scheduled to play at the upcoming FIFA World Cup, which is being co-hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico.
Earlier this month, Donald Trump (extraordinarily) said he did not believe it was “appropriate” for Iran to participate in the tournament – “for their safety” – after the Iranian sports minister said the team would “under no circumstances” be taking part.
Iran says Trump is 'negotiating with himself': what next for the war? - podcast
Donald Trump insists Iran is still interested in cutting a peace deal despite Tehran rejecting the US plan. Iran has now put forward a five-point counterproposal and says the war will end on its own terms.
In today’s edition of The Latest podcast, Lucy Hough speaks to the Guardian’s senior international correspondent, Julian Borger.
In the last hour, Saudi Arabia’s defence ministry said it had intercepted and destroyed two drones over the country’s eastern province.
Trump further extends pause on striking Iran's energy infrastructure for 10 days
Donald Trump has said he will extend his pause on his threat to attack Iran’s energy infrastructure for 10 days until 6 April, claiming that the request came from Tehran.
In a post on Truth Social, the US president claimed talks are going “very well” and repeated his attacks on the “fake news media” for reporting to the contrary (Iran has also reported to the contrary).
Trump threatened last Saturday to would strike Iranian energy infrastructure if Tehran did not reopen the strait of Hormuz.
Then, on Monday he postponed his threat for five days (until Friday), citing “very good and productive conversations” with Iran on ending the war (which Tehran dismissed as “fake news” designed to “manipulate” the oil markets).
So, he’s now pushing that deadline back, again.
Here’s the post:
As per Iranian Government request, please let this statement serve to represent that I am pausing the period of Energy Plant destruction by 10 Days to Monday, April 6, 2026, at 8 P.M., Eastern Time. Talks are ongoing and, despite erroneous statements to the contrary by the Fake News Media, and others, they are going very well.
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Strikes near Iran nuclear plant could trigger 'major radiological accident', warns IAEA chief
The head of the UN nuclear watchdog has expressed “deep concern” over recent military strikes near Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant - and warned that any damage to the operating facility could cause a “major radiological accident affecting a large area in Iran and beyond”.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director general Rafael Grossi reiterated his call for “maximum restraint” to avoid the risk of a nuclear accident.
The most recent reported strike took place on Tuesday night, when the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran said a projectile had struck the grounds of the nuclear power plant. The IAEA previously confirmed a strike on 17 March. No damage to the plant was reported in either incident.
Analysis: the delusion of easy victory from the air may have seduced the US into another war
To explore the roots of Donald Trump’s Iran military strategy and the pugnacious rhetoric of his defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, means looking back 105 years.
In 1921, a year before Benito Mussolini and his blackshirts marched on Rome to launch the Fascist era, an Italian general named Giulio Douhet published The Command of the Air, proposing a revolution in warfare.
Victory in the future, he said, would no longer come from the grinding trench combat of the great war. Instead it meant large-scale aerial bombardments, targeting not just combatants but civilians and civilian infrastructure and logistics.
Douhet’s theories, which emphasized “blows to the morale of civilian populations”, inspired Hitler’s deployment of airpower – and attacks such as that seen in Guernica and the sustained bombing of London. But likewise it attracted technologically bent American air strategists such as Gen Curtis LeMay, who oversaw the firebombing of dozens of Japanese cities, the aerial mining of Japan’s waterways called Operation Starvation, and the nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and who later ran the US Air Force Strategic Air Command.
It is unclear if Pete Hegseth has ever heard of the book Douhet wrote, but the threads of the long-dead Italian officer’s thinking appear woven through the secretary’s bombastic briefings about Epic Fury, the air war Trump is waging against Iran.
Despite Hegseth’s claims of a new type of American strategy, and his slap-down of the “foolish political leaders and foolish military leaders of the past”, his promise of “the most lethal and precise air power campaign in history” appears to be less an innovative approach to warfare than a recycled version of the same old thing.
Douhet was obsessed with promoting a sheer volume of bombs from the sky, “to inflict the greatest damage in the shortest possible time”. Hegseth’s briefings are resonant with that theme of more and more and more. “Quantity has a quality all its own,” he said. “In fact, today will be yet again the highest volume of strikes that America has put over the skies … The number of sorties and number of bomber pulses, the highest yet, ramping up and only up.”
And then there was Douhet’s focus on bombing civilian infrastructure – a practice he thought would cause the population to revolt against their leaders. Hegseth, too, dwells on that destruction of civilian morale, though he has not pushed for striking civilians themselves.
We are warriors, trained to kill the enemy and break their will … Speaking of people, we hope the Iranian people take advantage of this incredible opportunity. President Trump has been clear: now is your time.
Read more here:
Here are some images coming out of Lebanon on Thursday, amid Israel’s ongoing offensive that has brought mass destruction and forcibly displaced more than a million people.
Updated
In an update from our earlier post, the Israeli military has said that two soldiers were killed during combat operations in southern Lebanon amid ongoing clashes with Hezbollah along the border.
This brings to four the number of Israeli soldiers killed there, after the military said two were killed on 8 March.
Doctors treating the casualties of Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon have urged world leaders to take action against violations of international law – warning of the horrifying parallels between Israeli actions in Gaza and what it is now doing in Lebanon.
British surgeon Dr Tom Potokar, who was inside Gaza’s European hospital near Khan Younis when it was bombed by Israel ten months ago, told Sky News on Thursday:
The violation of international humanitarian laws has become normalised.
Once again we’re seeing attacks on the medical infrastructure, just like we saw in Gaza, but this time in Lebanon. Once again, we’re seeing attacks on hospital staff, ambulance workers and first responders.
He said there was the familiar “condemnation and words from political leaders, yet no action - nothing is done to stop these violations”.
Hospitals should be places of refuge where you can receive treatment and are protected under international law. Yet they and first responders continue to be subject to attack.
As my colleague William Christou reported earlier this week, Lebanese healthcare workers and officials have said that Israeli bombings have deliberately targeted medical workers and facilities in south Lebanon, including through the use of double-tap strikes, in what they describe as a systematic effort to make the area unliveable. (Indeed, Israel has since announced another occupation of southern Lebanon – describing a so-called “defensive buffer” running up to the Litani river).
Since Israel renewed its offensive on Lebanon three weeks ago, it has struck at least 128 medical facilities and ambulances across south Lebanon, killing at least 42 healthcare workers and wounding at least 107, according to the country’s health ministry.
Per William’s report, most of Israel’s strikes on medics happened while they were sitting in ambulances or at first aid centres, several of which have been destroyed in south Lebanon. Israel has also carried out at least five double-tap strikes, a tactic in which an initial strike is followed by a pause, allowing medical workers to arrive before the area is bombed for a second time.
Medical workers and hospitals are protected under international law and deliberately targeting them could constitute a war crime. Amnesty International said on Thursday that, regardless of political affiliation, medical workers are considered civilians and targeting them is unlawful.
As of Thursday, Israeli attacks have killed at least 1,116 Lebanese people, wounded at least 3,229 others, and displaced more than a million – nearly one in five of the population - since 2 March.
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Meanwhile, Kuwait’s defence ministry earlier said it had detected multiple incoming threats over the past 24 hours with no direct impact inside its designated “threat area”.
Officials said six ballistic missiles fell outside the threat zone while air defences also intercepted and destroyed a drone.
Updated
The United Arab Emirates engaged 15 ballistic missiles and 11 drones on Thursday, the country’s defence ministry has said.
“UAE air defences are dealing with Iranian ballistic and cruise missiles and drones,” it said in a post on X.
Its air defences targeted 372 ballistic missiles, 15 cruise missiles, and 1,826 drones since Iranian attacks began, the ministry added.
The day so far
A day after Tehran dismissed Donald Trump’s 15-point ceasefire plan, the US president claimed that Iran was “begging to make a deal,” and that he wasn’t the one pushing for negotiations. Earlier, he told Tehran to “get serious soon” on negotiating a deal to end the war.
Trump rejected reports that he was looking for an exit ramp, as oil prices soar and political pressure mounts to avoid the kind of drawn-out Middle East war he once spurned. “I read a story today that I’m desperate to make a deal,” Trump told reporters. “I’m the opposite of desperate. I don’t care.”
A US proposal for ending nearly four weeks of fighting is “one-sided and unfair”, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Thursday.
However, Trump said Iran is allowing some oil tankers through strait of Hormuz as a sign of good faith for talks. He said that Iran allowed 10 oil tankers to pass through the strategic strait as a “present” to show it was serious about negotiations to end the war.
Meanwhile, Trump launched a fresh tirade against the UK for its stance on his war against Iran, saying Keir Starmer made “a big mistake” and denigrating UK warships as “toys”. The US president denied that the transatlantic tensions would affect the King’s planned visit to the US.
The US Central Command (Centcom) has issued a statement confirming the death of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) navy commander Alireza Tangsiri, saying he was killed in an Israeli airstrike. A statement by Adm Brad Cooper said his death “makes the region safer”.
The Pakistani foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, confirmed his country has been relaying messages between the US and Iran as part of mediation efforts, saying that “indirect talks are taking place” between the warring parties. It follows reports that Pakistan, a key intermediary in the current bout of diplomacy between the US and Iran, delivered Washington’s 15-point ceasefire plan to Tehran.
Warplanes could be heard overhead in northern districts of Tehran on Thursday, shortly before three loud explosions rang out, an AFP correspondent in the Iranian capital said. The blasts were heard after dark, during rain, and it was not immediately possible to identify what had been hit.
Iraq on Thursday condemned the targeting of the Gulf states and Jordan, a day after these countries issued a joint statement demanding Baghdad act to prevent attacks from its territory. The Iraqi foreign ministry “affirms the government’s categorical condemnation of any aggression or targeting of the Gulf countries and the Kingdom of Jordan”, it said in a statement, adding that it was prepared to “work jointly to address them [the attacks] responsibly and swiftly”.
Israeli strikes on Lebanon killed at least five people on Thursday, Lebanese state media said, as Hezbollah militants claimed they had staged a new wave of attacks on Israel. The Israeli military announced, meanwhile, the killing of a soldier in fighting in south Lebanon, raising to three the total number of troops killed since Hezbollah drew Lebanon into war with Israel.
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement stands ready to strike the Red Sea again in solidarity with Tehran, one Houthi leader told Reuters, a move that would deepen a global oil and economic crisis brought on by the Middle East war. If the Houthis open a new front in the conflict, one obvious target would be the Bab al-Mandab Strait off the coast of Yemen, a key shipping chokepoint and narrow passageway that controls sea traffic towards the Suez Canal after Iran effectively shut the critical strait of Hormuz.
The prime minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim, said Iran has allowed Malaysian tankers to pass through the strait of Hormuz after talks with Iranian, Turkish and other regional leaders. “We’re now in the process of releasing the Malaysian oil tankers and the workers involved so that they can continue their journey home,” Anwar said in a televised address.
Updated
‘Tehran’s tollbooth’: a visual guide to how a trickle of ships still passes through strait of Hormuz
Threats to shipping have effectively closed the strait of Hormuz since the US-Israel war on Iran began four weeks ago – upending global oil and gas supplies and sending energy prices soaring.
In normal times, tankers carry about a fifth of the world’s oil and gas supplies through the narrow channel and on to the rest of the world, while about a third of the global fertilisers necessary for half of the world’s food production pass through in dry bulk vessels.
Before the conflict, 138 ships a day were transiting the waterway on average, according to the Joint Maritime Information Center. That is about the number estimated to have made the journey in the whole month of March, according to Lloyd’s List Intelligence, after 100 exited the Gulf and 40 entered.
Here is a visual guide to how a trickle of ships still pass through the strait of Hormuz:
Updated
Warplanes could be heard overhead in northern districts of Tehran on Thursday, shortly before three loud explosions rang out, an AFP correspondent in the Iranian capital said.
The blasts were heard after dark, during rain, and it was not immediately possible to identify what had been hit.
Israel, which earlier said it had killed a senior Iranian naval commander, has announced it plans more “wide-scale” strikes against targets in the Islamic republic.
US taking control of Iran's oil remains an 'option'
Speaking earlier, Donald Trump said that taking control of Iran’s oil was an “option,” comparing it to the deal Washington made with Venezuela after toppling Nicolas Maduro.
“It’s an option,” Trump told reporters at a cabinet meeting when asked if he was looking to take control of Iran’s oil, saying that the United States had done “very well” with Venezuela’s reserves.
Iraq on Thursday condemned the targeting of the Gulf states and Jordan, a day after these countries issued a joint statement demanding Baghdad act to prevent attacks from its territory.
The Iraqi foreign ministry “affirms the government’s categorical condemnation of any aggression or targeting of the Gulf countries and the Kingdom of Jordan”, it said in a statement, adding that it was prepared to “work jointly to address them [the attacks] responsibly and swiftly”.
Updated
At least one person was killed and several others were injured after an Israeli strike hit the Deir al-Balah camp.
Witnesses told the Associated Press that they had received warning calls from apparent Israeli military personnel before the strike, asking them to evacuate and move about 500 metres away from the tent camp.
Gaza’s health ministry says at least 680 people have been killed by Israeli fire since the October ceasefire. Israel says four soldiers were killed by militants in Gaza in the same period.
Meanwhile, Finland’s president Alexander Stubb – sometimes described as a Trump whisperer among the European leaders – has been speaking about Trump’s angry comments about Nato.
Here is his answer in full:
We’re very pragmatic with our transatlantic partnership. Part of it is value based, most of it is now interest based.
I have said from the beginning that the US foreign policy is different from what it used to be.
We should work on issues where there is a clear landing zone and [shared] interests – defence, Nato, [and] I guess in the Finnish case icebreakers – and then we should respectfully disagree on issues linked to international organisations or climate change or, say, the European Union.
As far as the war in Iran is concerned, it is not a Nato matter because Nato is a defence alliance. …
Of course, when the war is over, there will be probably countries that are willing to help to keep the strait of Hormuz open. That is one of the reasons that Finland, Norway … joined the declaration on the matter with 31 other countries.
So we’re taking it, you know, day by day, and continue to work with the Americans.
Speaking alongside him, Norway’s Jonas Gahr Støre added:
I have not no sympathy for this Iranian regime. It has been terrorising its own people, denying their human rights, their freedom, rights, [and] killing their people when they’ve been standing up for their freedoms. They have also been spreading conflict and misery in the region.
That being said, I will repeat what Norway has said from the start: this is not our war. It was initiated by the United States and Israel without consultation, [and] we believe this war, should end.
Trump says Iran allowing some oil tankers through strait as sign of good faith
Trump says Iran is allowing some oil tankers through strait of Hormuz as a sign of good faith for talks.
He said that Iran allowed 10 oil tankers to pass through the strategic strait as a “present” to show it was serious about negotiations to end the war.
Trump told reporters:
[Iran said] we’re going to let you have eight boats of oil, eight boats, eight big boats of oil. This was two days ago. And they’ll sail up tomorrow. That was three days ago. And I didn’t think much about it.
And then I watched the news and they said, a very good anchor actually happened to be Fox. But I watched it and they said, something’s unusual happening. There are eight boats that are going right up the middle of the strait.
Eight big tankers are going loaded up with oil right through. And I said, well, I guess I guess they were right. And they were they were real. And I think they were Pakistani flagged. And, I said, well, I guess we’re dealing with the right people.
And actually they then apologized for something they said, and they said, we’re going to send two more boats. And we ended up being ten boats.
President Trump said that the US often diverts weapons from one region to another, responding to reports that the Pentagon might redirect weapons originally meant for Ukraine to the Middle East.
“We do that all the time,” Trump said at a cabinet meeting in the White House. “Sometimes we take from one, and we use for another.”
Speaking about earlier US-Iran negotiations, Steve Witkoff said “we were repeatedly rebuffed on everything we asked for’.
Addressing president Trump, he said:
I can report to you today that we have, along with your foreign policy team, presented a 15 point action list that forms the framework for a peace deal. This has been circulated through the Pakistani government, acting as the mediator, and this has resulted in strong and positive messaging and talks, as you just indicated to the press.
You have instructed us that your preference is always peace and that we should make that our priority. We have delivered that message, sir, along with the 15 points for peace. Finally, we have told Iran one last thing; don’t miscalculate again.
Trump reiterated his desire for Iran to “permanently abandon their nuclear ambitions” and to, in his words, “chart a new path forward”.
He said:
We’ll see if they want to do it. If they don’t, we’re their worst nightmare. In the meantime, we’ll just keep blowing them away unimpeded.
Unstopped there’s not a thing they can do about it. They can’t do anything about it. You know, I tell you, if they could, if they could, you’d be hearing about it. You’d be hearing about it. You don’t hear anything about it.
Trump also trumpeted America’s military infrastructure and said the ongoing conflict is “not even a contest”.
He said:
They can’t shoot our jets. We have the best. We have the best military equipment in the world. No, not even a contest.
Trump has expressed his disappointment at Nato, again accusing the alliance of doing “absolutely nothing”.
He took particular aim at the UK, saying in a mocking tone that Britain’s aircraft carriers are “toys” compared to what the US has.
He said:
We had the UK say that we’ll send – this is three weeks ago – we’ll send our aircraft carriers, which aren’t the best aircraft carriers, by the way, they’re toys compared to what we have. But we’ll send our aircraft carrier when the war is over. I said, oh, that’s wonderful, thank you very much. Don’t bother, we don’t need it. We don’t need it, and we don’t need them.
Trump said the Gulf region and the US were “shocked” by Iran’s retaliatory attacks in the Middle East.
He said:
They start shooting at Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait, Oman. They start shooting at them… Everybody was shocked, including us. You know why? Because they’re sick. And they had a plan to take over the Middle East.
Trump said Iran were “lousy fighters but great negotiators”.
He said:
They are begging to work out a deal. I don’t know if we’ll be able to do that. I don’t know if we’re willing to do that. They should have done that four weeks ago. They should have done it two years ago.
Trump: 'Iran is begging to make a deal, not me'
US president Donald Trump is now speaking at a cabinet meeting in the White House where he is delivering updates on the Iran war.
He has repeated his earlier remarks that Iran is “begging to make a deal”.
He said:
Just so we set the record straight, because I’ve been watching the Wall Street Journal’s fake news and all these stories that get printed like, oh, I want to make a deal. They are begging to make a deal. Not me. They’re begging to make a deal.
US Centcom says IRGC naval commander killed in Israeli strike
The US Central Command (Centcom) has issued a statement confirming the death of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) navy commander Alireza Tangsiri, saying he was killed in an Israeli airstrike.
A statement by Adm Brad Cooper said his death “makes the region safer”.
Iran has responded to Trump's 15-point proposal - state media
Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency has reported that Tehran has responded to Donald Trump’s 15-point proposal to end the war, adding that it was awaiting a reply from the US.
Citing an “informed source”, the news agency said Iran sent the response last night through intermediaries. In its response, Iran has stipulated its own conditions for an end to the conflict, which were also reported yesterday by other Iranian media outlets. Those conditions include:
An end to “aggression and terror”.
Guarantees preventing the reoccurrence of war against Iran.
Compensation for war damage and reparations.
End of war “on all fronts” and against “all resistance groups” across the Middle East.
Recognition of Iran’s sovereignty over the strait of Hormuz, stating that its Tehran’s “natural and legal right”.
Tasnim reported that these conditions are separate from the demands presented to the other side in the second round of talks in Geneva before the US and Israeli launched an attack on Iran in February.
In further comments, translated from Persian below, the news agency said:
The informed source, however, stressed: It is clear to Iran that the US claim of negotiation is merely a ‘third deception project’, and that the Americans are pursuing several objectives under the guise of their claim to negotiate: First, deceiving the world by presenting an apparently peace-loving image and a desire to end the war; second, keeping the price of oil low globally; and third, buying time to prepare for a new act of aggression in southern Iran via a ground invasion.
He noted: if Iran had doubts about the outcome of the negotiations and America’s adherence to agreements before the 12-day war, since the 12-day war it has had complete doubts about America’s very willingness to negotiate at any point. The Americans started the war during negotiations in both the 12-day war and the war of Ramadan, and this time too, under the guise of negotiations, they are seeking to lay the groundwork for a new crime.
The 12-day war last summer saw Israel launch a massive attack on Iranian military and nuclear sites, sparking a conflict marked by tit-for-tat airstrikes that effectively ended the US-Iran nuclear talks that were held in the weeks prior.
Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, has accused the US of “double standards” and said international law “is not tool of convenience”.
In a post on X, he wrote:
The US backed Israel’s Gaza blockade, cutting aid under “security” claims, yet condemns Iran for defending itself in Strait of Hormuz.
Double standard: Israel’s crimes are OK while Iran’s defense against aggressors is condemned. International law is not tool of convenience.
Israeli strikes on Lebanon killed at least five people on Thursday, Lebanese state media said, as Hezbollah militants claimed they had staged a new wave of attacks on Israel.
The Israeli military announced, meanwhile, the killing of a soldier in fighting in south Lebanon, raising to three the total number of troops killed since Hezbollah drew Lebanon into war with Israel.
Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel on 2 March to avenge the killing of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei of Iran, the militant movement’s backer.
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement stands ready to strike the Red Sea again in solidarity with Tehran, one Houthi leader told Reuters, a move that would deepen a global oil and economic crisis brought on by the Middle East war.
If the Houthis open a new front in the conflict, one obvious target would be the Bab al-Mandab Strait off the coast of Yemen, a key shipping chokepoint and narrow passageway that controls sea traffic towards the Suez Canal after Iran effectively shut the critical strait of Hormuz.
Iran’s Shi’ite allies in Lebanon and Iraq have joined the war in the region unleashed by US and Israeli strikes on Tehran.
But Yemen’s Houthi rebels, heavily armed and capable of striking Gulf neighbours and causing major disruption to maritime navigation around the Arabian peninsula, have not yet entered the fray.
“We stand fully militarily ready with all options. As for other details having to do with determining zero hour they are left to leadership and we are monitoring and following up with the developments and will know when is the suitable time to move,” said the Houthi leader, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the topic.
“Until now Iran is doing well and is defeating the enemy every day and the battle is going in its direction. If anything contrary to this happens then we can assess.“
The state-owned Kuwait News Agency (Kuna) has released an image showing the defence minister, Abdullah Ali Abdullah al-Sabah, inspecting the damage to the country’s airport after it was targeted in an Iranian drone strike.
The photo shows the defence minister walking past a cloud of smoke after the drone attack hit a fuel tank and sparked a fire earlier this week, Kuna reported.
Authorities said the fire damage was limited to material losses and no injuries were reported.
Over on our Europe live blog, Jakub Krupa is covering the Nato press conference where secretary general Mark Rutte is presenting the alliance’s annual report.
Rutte is being quizzed, among other things, about the conflict in the Middle East and was asked to comment on Trump’s criticism of Nato members being “cowards”.
Follow along here for the updates:
Updated
Netanyahu says Israel will continue to strike Iran targets with 'full force' after claimed assassination of IRGC navy commander
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said his country will continue to strike Iranian targets “with full force” as he commented on the reported death of Alireza Tangsiri, the Iranian naval commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).
It follows earlier statements by Israeli officials that Tangsiri was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Iran.
“We continue to forcefully strike the targets of the Iranian terrorist regime,” Netanyahu said, according to a translation of his brief video statement.
“Last night, we eliminated the commander of the Revolutionary Guard Corps navy. This man had a great deal of blood on his hands, he was also the one who led the closure of the strait of Hormuz.
“This is yet another example of the cooperation between us and our friend, the United States, toward the common goal of achieving the objectives of the war.”
The US and Iran have not commented on the claimed assassination.
The prime minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim, said Iran has allowed Malaysian tankers to pass through the strait of Hormuz after talks with Iranian, Turkish and other regional leaders.
“We’re now in the process of releasing the Malaysian oil tankers and the workers involved so that they can continue their journey home,” Anwar said in a televised address, according to Reuters news agency. He also thanked Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian for the safe passage of Malaysian ships.
“But it is not easy, as Iran feels it has been deceived repeatedly and finds it difficult to accept steps toward peace without a clear and binding security guarantee for their nation,” he added.
Iran said earlier this week that it would allow “non-hostile” vessels to pass safely through the critical shipping route, which has been effectively closed to tankers since the US-Israeli military campaign began last month. Iran’s foreign affairs ministry defined non-hostile vessels as those that “neither participate in nor support acts of aggression against Iran” or belong to the US or Israel.
Some nations have said their ships have been allowed to pass through the narrow waterway, including India and Thailand.
US-Iran indirect talks 'are taking place', says Pakistan foreign minister
The Pakistani foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, confirmed his country has been relaying messages between the US and Iran as part of mediation efforts, saying that “indirect talks are taking place” between the warring parties.
It follows reports that Pakistan, a key intermediary in the current bout of diplomacy between the US and Iran, has delivered Washington’s 15-point ceasefire plan to Tehran.
According to Dar, Iran has been “deliberating” on the proposal, although no Iranian official has publicly confirmed this.
In a post on X, Dar wrote:
There has been unnecessary speculation in the media regarding peace talks to end ongoing conflict in the Middle East. In reality, US-Iran indirect talks are taking place through messages being relayed by Pakistan. In this context, the United States has shared 15 points, being deliberated upon by Iran.
IRGC navy commander killed in airstrike, says Israel defence minister
The Israeli defence minister, Israel Katz, said the Iranian naval commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), Alireza Tangsiri, has been killed along with other “senior officers of the naval command” in a strike overnight.
Tangsiri was “directly responsible for the terrorist operation of mining and blocking the strait of Hormuz” and has been “blown up”, Katz said in a video statement, according to AFP news agency.
Iran has yet to comment.
If confirmed, Tangsiri would be the latest in a string of senior Iranian officials targeted and killed since Israel and the US began their joint attacks against Iran on 28 February. Among the high profile assassinations are supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and security chief Ali Larijani.
Updated
Iran must respond to US proposal to end war 'before it's too late', Trump warns
Donald Trump has again repeated the claim that Iran is “begging” for a deal to end the war, warning that Tehran “better get serious soon, before it is too late”.
Iran has given mixed signals over the prospect of negotiations following reports that the Trump administration has offered a 15-point ceasefire plan that was presented to Tehran via Pakistan earlier this week. Publicly, Iranian state media has reported that Tehran has rejected the proposal, while privately some media reports suggest Iranian officials are at least reviewing it.
Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi told state media that his government has not engaged in talks to end the war and that it does not plan on any negotiations. While he acknowledged the US had tried to send messages to Iran through other nations, he said that was “not a conversation nor a negotiation”.
Writing on his Truth Social app, Trump said:
The Iranian negotiators are very different and “strange.” They are “begging” us to make a deal, which they should be doing since they have been militarily obliterated, with zero chance of a comeback, and yet they publicly state that they are only “looking at our proposal.” WRONG!!! They better get serious soon, before it is too late, because once that happens, there is NO TURNING BACK, and it won’t be pretty!
Updated
While Nato has not had direct involvement in the escalating conflict in the Middle East, it has shot down Iranian missiles directed at Turkey and many alliance members have pledged “appropriate efforts” to restart shipping through the strait of Hormuz.
Nato allies have largely refused Donald Trump’s call for military action to secure the strait, and have been generally apprehensive in joining a war that they were not consulted on.
Some nations have been critical of the US and Israel’s decision to strike Iran, with Germany being the most vocal. “This war violates international law,” German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on Tuesday. “There is little doubt that, in any case, the justification of an imminent attack on the US does not hold water.”
Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte, has attempted to calm tensions, saying he understood Trump’s anger and stressed that European countries are “coming together” to help secure the strait.
Nato has done 'absolutely nothing' to help US in Iran war, says Trump
In an all caps Truth Social post, Donald Trump has railed against Nato allies for doing “absolutely nothing” to help the US in its military campaign against Iran.
He wrote:
NATO NATIONS HAVE DONE ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO HELP WITH THE LUNATIC NATION, NOW MILITARILY DECIMATED, OF IRAN. THE U.S.A. NEEDS NOTHING FROM NATO, BUT “NEVER FORGET” THIS VERY IMPORTANT POINT IN TIME!
A total stop to hostilities in the Middle East is needed to halt a “health crisis unfolding in real time”, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) chief in the region has said.
Hospitals and other healthcare facilities must be treated as “safe havens”, urged Dr Hanan Balkhy, the WHO’s regional director for the Eastern Mediterranean.
She said officials were updating guidance and preparing in case of any impact on nuclear sites, and that attacks on water desalination plants would be “a disaster”.
The region’s 22 countries and territories include Iran and the Gulf states, as well as Gaza, Sudan, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
“The situation has been quite difficult for some time, but what we’re seeing today is just an actual regional health crisis unfolding in real time in multiple parts of this region,” Balkhy told the Guardian.
“It’s not just about lives being lost. It’s about a collapse of access [to healthcare] in many, many dimensions way above and beyond what we would have imagined.”
Read the full report here:
Israel targets IRGC navy commander in airstrike - NYT
Alireza Tangsiri, commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) navy, was reportedly targeted in an Israeli airstrike this morning in southern Iran, according to the New York Times, citing three Israeli officials.
The Israeli military targeted Tangsiri while he was in an apartment hideout alongside other IRGC officers, the officials told the newspaper, claiming that the Iranian navy chief has played a key role in shutting down the strait of Hormuz to most international shipping.
Some Israeli media outlets have reported that Tangsiri was killed in a strike in the southern Iranian city of Bandar Abbas, which sits on the coast of the strait of Hormuz and houses the headquarters of the Iranian navy. There has been no official comment from Iran or Israel.
Updated
Iran's foreign minister 'taken off Israel's hit list at request of Pakistan' - report
Israel has reportedly taken Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, and the Iranian parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, off its hit list after Pakistan requested the US not to target them, according to Reuters news agency, citing a source from Islamabad with knowledge of the matter.
Araghchi had been heading Iran’s delegation in nuclear talks with the US and is one of Iran’s most experienced diplomats, while Ghalibaf is supposedly seen by some in the White House as a workable partner.
“The Israelis had their coordinates and wanted to take them out, we told the US if they are also eliminated then there is no one else to talk to, hence the US asked the Israelis to back off,” the Pakistani source was quoted as saying by Reuters.
The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the claim, cited American officials as saying the two Iranian men were removed from the US and Israel’s target list for up to four or five days, as Donald Trump attempts to reopen negotiations with Iran. The report did not mention any Pakistani involvement.
A number of senior Iranian officials have been killed by Israel since the onset of the current war, including supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and security chief Ali Larijani. Israel has vowed to continue hunting down Iran’s leaders, while Trump has acknowledged that many potential interlocutors, including negotiators involved in talks before the war, have been killed in strikes.
“We killed all their leadership, And then they met to choose new leaders, and we killed all of them,” he told reporters on Tuesday. “And now we have a new group, and we can easily do that, but let’s see how they turn out.”
Updated
Markets drop amid doubts over US-Iran peace deal
In London, the FTSE 100 share index has dropped by 64 points, or 0.63%, in early trading, to 10,042 points. Mining companies, a gauge of economic growth prospects, are among the top fallers on the index with copper producer Antofagasta down 3.9%.
Jim Reid, market strategist at Deutsche Bank, says:
For markets, the issue is there’s still plenty of doubt about whether a US-Iran deal can be reached, given how Iran have publicly rejected the US on several occasions. So that’s seen markets become increasingly sceptical about positive headlines from the US side, because we haven’t seen similar noises from Iran.
Germany’s DAX dropped by 0.9% at the open in Frankfurt, with France’s CAC 40 down 0.65% in Paris.
You can follow our business live blog for updates on the financial markets and the world economy here:
Here are some images on the newswires from the Arab-Israeli town of Kfar Qasim, which came under attack this morning. The Israeli military said air defences shot down missiles launched from Iran, leaving six people injured and causing damage to properties.
The majority Arab town lies about 12 miles east of Tel Aviv and less than a mile from the “green line” that separates Israel from the occupied West Bank.
It’s been an intense morning in Jerusalem, with heavy explosions in the sky and non-stop air raid alerts, as any prospect of a peace deal feels more distant than ever.
Iran has launched at least six missiles in the past two hours, including some reportedly carrying cluster munitions. At least six people have been injured. Sirens also sounded across central Israel in the early hours of the day.
According to videos and photos circulating on Telegram, some fragments are said to have struck the outskirts of Jerusalem, though this cannot be independently verified at this stage. Missile debris has also reportedly landed in the Modiin area, about 20 minutes from Jerusalem.
Elsewhere, two people have been killed in Abu Dhabi after debris from an intercepted missile fell on Sweihan Road, according to the emirate’s media office. Three others were injured and several vehicles damaged.
Israeli soldier killed in combat in southern Lebanon, IDF says
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said one of its soldiers was killed during combat in southern Lebanon, amid ongoing fighting with Hezbollah militants along the border.
This brings the number of Israeli soldiers killed in southern Lebanon to three, after the military said two were killed on 8 March.
Authorities in Israel have provided an update on the Iranian missile attack in the central town of Kfar Qasim, saying six people were “lightly injured by blast effects”, increasing an earlier toll of two injured.
A spokesperson for Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency medical service said paramedics were providing treatment to the wounded.
The city’s mayor, Haitham Taha, said the blast this morning was caused by cluster munitions. Cluster bombs are designed to release dozens of smaller bombs, called submunitions, over a wide area. Smaller munitions do not always explode immediately, posing a further risk to civilians.
Updated
Two people have been killed by falling debris in Abu Dhabi after a missile was intercepted in the UAE capital, according to local media.
In a post on X, the official Abu Dhabi Media Office said three others were injured in the incident. It did not say where the missile was launched from or provide the nationalities of the victims.
Since the US-Israeli war on Iran began, at least 10 people have been reported killed in the UAE from Iranian attacks. In its last update on Saturday, the UAE defence ministry said eight people have died, including two members of the armed forces and six civilians of Pakistani, Nepali, Bangladeshi and Palestinian nationalities.
Updated
Interim summary
In case you’re just joining today’s live coverage of the US-Israel war on Iran, here’s a rundown on the latest. It’s 10.30am in Tehran, 9am in Tel Aviv and Beirut and 3am in Washington DC.
Donald Trump has insisted Iran is still interested in a deal after Tehran dismissed a US ceasefire proposal, countered with a plan of its own and claimed it had no intention to negotiate. The US president later suggested Tehran’s claims were because Iranian negotiators feared being killed by their own side, while the White House said Trump was prepared to “unleash hell” if Iran did not accept defeat.
Israel’s military said on Thursday it had carried out a wave of strikes across Iran, including extensively in the central city of Isfahan. It said Israeli forces “completed a wide-scale wave of strikes targeting infrastructure” of the regime.
China’s foreign minister said a “glimmer of hope” for peace had emerged amid the war, despite Tehran vowing to keep fighting.Wang Yi urged dialogue in separate calls with his Turkish and Egyptian counterparts, suggesting Tehran and Washington had both shown signals they were willing to return to the negotiating table.
Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would expand its occupation of southern Lebanon, with what he described as a “larger buffer zone” to push back the threat of Hezbollah. Earlier this week, Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s far-right finance minister, said Israel should “apply sovereignity” areas in southern Lebanon, signalling an expansionist vision that has alarmed critics at home and abroad.
Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said negotiations with Israel under fire would amount to “surrender” as the Iran-backed group launched fresh attacks on the country.
Uncertainty over the war has kept oil prices above the $100-a-barrel mark. At 05.30 GMT, the price of Brent crude was hovering around $104 a barrel. Asian stocks were mostly lower.
Two people were lightly hurt from a Iranian cluster bomb hit in the central Israeli city of Kfar Qasim on Thursday morning, the Times of Israel quoted medics as saying. The Israeli military earlier said air defences were responding to Iranian missile attacks and sirens were activated across central Israel, parts of Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank.
An Iranian envoy said South Korean ships could pass through the strait of Hormuz only after coordinating with Tehran, the Yonhap News Agency reported.
An Israeli solder was seriously injured in mortar fire in Lebanon, Israel’s military said.
Kuwait said it had arrested six people over an alleged Hezbollah plot to assassinate leaders in the Gulf state.
Russia is close to completing a phased shipment of drones, medicine and food to Iran, according to western intelligence reports that detail Moscow’s efforts to keep its embattled partner fighting, the Financial Times reported.
Updated
With the war in Iran leading to a near-total internet blackout in the country, activists around the world – especially in the US – are mobilising to help Iranians stay connected via Starlink, Agence France-Presse is reporting.
Despite being banned, Elon Musk’s satellite internet system has gained ground in Iran thanks to a network of international activists, multiple people involved in these efforts told the news agency.
The digital activists’ efforts began in 2022, when mass protests broke out after the death of Mahsa Amini, who was being held by Iran’s police for violating the country’s strict dress code for women.
“As of this year, we have more than 300 devices that we have delivered to the country,” said Emilia James of the US-based organization NetFreedom Pioneers. She declined to go into further detail to protect the operation and the users.
Ahmad Ahmadian, executive director of Holistic Resilience, said his organisation purchased Starlink devices in European countries or elsewhere before moving them into Iran via “neighbouring countries”.
The government cracked down hard on the Starlink terminals in 2025, and those caught using them face imprisonment.
An Iranian envoy has said South Korean ships can pass through the strait of Hormuz only after coordinating with Tehran, the Yonhap News Agency has reported.
Such an agreement had to be reached in advance of the transit, said Saeed Khuzechi, the Iranian ambassador to South Korea, at a press conference in response to a question about guarantees for South Korean vessels to navigate the vital conduit for oil.
It was reported that Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi officially requested a list of South Korean ships and detailed information about each vessel during a recent phone call with foreign minister Cho Hyun, Yonhap said.
Iran has effectively blocked the strait, through which about a fifth of the world’s oil supplies usually pass.
Uncertainty over the Iran war has kept oil prices above the $100-a-barrel mark.
At 05.30 GMT, the price of Brent crude was hovering around $104 a barrel, as the US and Iran continue to be at odds over a reported peace plan.
As the 28 March deadline for President Donald Trump’s ultimatum for Iran to reopen the strait of Hormuz approaches, markets are hoping the conflict pivots from brinkmanship towards a de-escalation window.
Over the weekend, the price of Brent – the benchmark global oil price – soared to $113 a barrel over fears the conflict was escalating, before dropping this week. Brent crude has risen over 40% since the start of the conflict.
Shares in western gas suppliers have emerged as beneficiaries of the US-Israeli war on Iran, as investors expect companies with supply routes that bypass the Middle East to reap a windfall from high energy prices. Natural gas futures early on Thursday were sitting just under $3.
While Europe imports relatively little gas directly from Qatar – the world’s second-largest LNG producer – the effective closure of the strait has forced Asian buyers to compete with Europe for US cargoes, pushing up global prices.
Updated
Two hurt in attack on central Israeli city – report
Two people have been lightly hurt from a Iranian cluster bomb hit in the central Israeli city of Kfar Qasim on Thursday morning, the Times of Israel is quoting medics as saying.
The Magen David Adom emergency service said it treated a man and a woman – both aged 55 – who were hurt from a blast after a bomblet hit a building there, the report said.
Medics were scanning other areas in the city where submunitions from the Iranian ballistic missile struck, it said.
The Times said earlier it was the first Iranian attack on Israel in nearly 15 hours.
As mentioned a little earlier, the Israeli military said air defences were responding to missile attacks from Iran and sirens had activated across central Israel, parts of Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank.
Updated
The Israeli military said air defences were responding to missile attacks from Iran on Thursday, with sirens activated across central Israel, parts of Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank.
In two separate statements about 20 minutes apart, the military said it had “identified missiles launched from Iran toward the territory of the state of Israel”.
“Defensive systems are operating to intercept the threat,” said the statements, cited by Agence France-Presse.
After the first attack, the military said people were “now permitted to leave protected spaces in all areas of the country”.
Israel’s Magen David Adom emergency medical service said there were no reports of casualties.
The attacks came more than 14 hours after the military had previously announced incoming missiles from Iran.
Central Israel came under fire overnight from Lebanon, where Hezbollah claimed a series of attacks targeting military sites. Israeli media said six rockets were intercepted.
Analysis: Gulf states’ scepticism over alleged US-Iran talks signals a distrust of Trump
Not long after Donald Trump said the US was engaged in “strong talks” to bring the war with Iran to an end this week, Qatar took the unusual step of distancing itself from the alleged diplomatic negotiations.
Qatar was not involved in any mediation efforts, Majed al-Ansari said at a briefing on Tuesday night, before adding as a telling aside: “If they exist.”
It signalled a notable break from Qatar’s historic and recurring position as chief mediator in Middle East and wider regional conflicts.
Qatar and fellow Gulf countries have found themselves on the war’s frontlines, but analysts say their reluctance to cheerlead the alleged ceasefire efforts reflect both the heavy toll they continue to suffer from the war as well as a lingering suspicion over whether Trump’s talk of peace is genuine or another foil for escalation.
“They’ve been burned by their previous experience,” said Bilal Saab, senior managing director of advisory group Trends US and former Pentagon official in the first Trump administration.
There’s a lot of pent-up frustration and disappointment that is affecting their willingness, and perhaps even ability, to mediate anything.
The full analysis is here:
Asian stocks were mostly lower and oil prices gained on Thursday as a de-escalation of the Iran war remained uncertain.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 was trading 0.3% lower, South Korea’s Kospi lost 1.9%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.4% and the Shanghai Composite index was down 0.6%, the Associated Press reports.
Australia’s S+P/ASX 200 edged down 0.2%, whileTaiwan’s Taiex was trading 0.4% higher. US futures were down 0.1%.
Oil prices were up again on Thursday after an earlier dip. Brent crude – the international standard – rose 1.3% to $98.51 per barrel. It was below $95 on Wednesday. Benchmark US crude was 1.6% higher at $91.75 a barrel.
The rise in oil prices came as Tehran on Wednesday dismissed a ceasefire plan by the US after the Trump administration offered a 15-point proposal to Iran.
The Israeli military has detected a new Iranian ballistic missile attack after a lull of nearly 15 hours, the Times of Israel has just reported.
It said:
Sirens are expected to sound in central Israel and the Jerusalem area in the coming minutes.
Updated
An Israeli solder has been seriously injured in mortar fire at its forces in Lebanon, Israel’s military says.
In a post on X it said (in a translation):
The fighter was evacuated to receive medical treatment at the hospital, and his family was notified.
Israel has said it will seize parts of southern Lebanon to create what it calls a “defensive buffer” up to the Litani River, about 30km (20 miles) from the border, and the army has been engaging in ground fighting with Hezbollah fighters south of the river.
The army is slowly advancing northwards despite fierce resistance, with soldiers posting videos in the previously contested towns of Taybeh and Khiam.
Israel is also continuing to pound Hezbollah targets across Lebanon. Read more in this full report from William Christou in Beirut:
Updated
China sees ‘glimmer of hope’ for peace
China’s foreign minister has said that a “glimmer of hope” for peace has emerged due to moves to stop the war in the Middle East, despite Tehran vowing to keep fighting.
Wang Yi urged dialogue in separate calls with his Turkish and Egyptian counterparts, suggesting that both Tehran and Washington had shown signals they were willing to return to the negotiating table.
“With both the United States and Iran signalling a willingness to negotiate, a glimmer of hope for peace has emerged,” Wang told Egyptian foreign minister Badr Abdelatty, according to a Beijing readout published late on Wednesday and reported by Agence France-Presse.
The statement came hours before Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said that “so far, no negotiations have taken place, and I believe our position is completely principled”.
Speaking of negotiations now is an admission of defeat.
Donald Trump insisted on Wednesday that Iran was taking part in peace talks, suggesting Tehran’s denials were because Iranian negotiators fear being killed by their own side.
Wang told Turkey’s foreign minister, Hakan Fidan, during the call that the rights and wrongs of the conflict in the Middle East were “crystal clear”, offering support to the country in helping to facilitate the resumption of negotiations.
Turkey has engaged in “intense” diplomatic efforts to end the war by talking to both Washington and Tehran, Fidan said this month.
Wang said:
Prolonging this war would only result in further casualties and needless losses, leading to a further spillover of the conflict.
Updated
Welcome summary
Hello and welcome to our continuing coverage of the US-Israel war on Iran and the consequences for the region, the world and the global economy.
Donald Trump has insisted Iran is still interested in a deal, after Tehran dismissed a US ceasefire proposal, countered with a plan of its own and claimed it had no intention to negotiate.
Iranian state TV quoted an anonymous official as saying Tehran had rejected the plan it had received via Pakistan, saying it would “end the war when it decides to do so and when its own conditions are met”. Foreign minister Abbas Araghchi later said the proposals had been “passed on to the country’s senior authorities” but Iran had “no intention of negotiating for now”.
The US president later suggested Tehran’s denials were because Iranian negotiators feared being killed by their own side. “They are negotiating, by the way, and they want to make a deal so badly, but they’re afraid to say it because they figure they’ll be killed by their own people,” Trump said.
“They’re also afraid they’ll be killed by us,” he said, before quipping that no one wanted to lead Iran for fear of being assassinated by the US.
The US military said late on Wednesday its forces had hit more than 10,000 targets so far in the Iran war, including destroying 92% of the Iranian navy’s largest vessels. Thousands more targets had been hit by Israeli forces, claimed US Navy Admiral Brad Cooper from US Central Command. “We have damaged or destroyed over two-thirds of Iran’s missile, drone and naval production facilities and shipyards, and we’re not done yet.”
In other developments:
Israel’s military said on Thursday its had carried out a wave of strikes across Iran, including extensively in the central city of Isfahan. It said Israeli forces “completed a wide-scale wave of strikes targeting infrastructure of the Iranian terror regime in several areas across Iran”.
Kuwait said it had arrested six people over an alleged Hezbollah plot to assassinate leaders in the Gulf state. The interior ministry said five of those arrested were Kuwaiti citizens. It added that 14 more members of the group had fled the country: five Kuwaitis, five more Kuwaitis whose nationalities have been revoked, two Iranians and two Lebanese.
Iran reportedly received the US’s 15-point plan, which Tehran initially rejected but Araghchi later suggested was still under review. “If a position needs to be taken, it will certainly be determined,” he said. Earlier it was reported that Tehran had rejected the “excessive” demands in the proposal. Among the demands were a complete termination of Iran’s nuclear program and strict limitations on its missile arsenal.
The White House, meanwhile, warned that Trump was prepared to “unleash hell” if Iran did not accept defeat, and continued to insist that negotiations were ongoing. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt Leavitt said the US president preferred a peaceful path but was prepared to “hit [Iran] harder than they have ever been hit before” if necessary.
Benjamin Netanyahu announced that Israel would expand its occupation of southern Lebanon, with what he described as a “larger buffer zone” to push back the threat of Hezbollah. The Israeli prime minister’s forces have also continued to bomb Beirut. Many in Lebanon fear that Israel’s plans could echo its previous protracted occupation in the south, which ended in 2000.
Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said negotiations with Israel under fire would amount to “surrender” as the Iran-backed group launched fresh attacks on the country. Hezbollah said it launched missiles early on Thursday at military sites in central Israel, where air raid sirens sounded, Agence France-Presse reported.
Russia is close to completing a phased shipment of drones, medicine and food to Iran, according to western intelligence reports that detail Moscow’s efforts to keep its embattled partner fighting, the Financial Times reported.
“The Gaza model must not be replicated in Lebanon,” the UN secretary general, António Guterres, said. He also told the US and Israel it was “high time” to end the war and called on Iran to stop attacking its neighbours.
Updated
