European Council calls for de-escalation as it deplores loss of civilian life
The European Council has called for “de-escalation and maximum restraint” after meeting to discuss the crisis in the Middle East.
In a statement published after the meeting on behalf of EU leaders, it said that it “deplores the loss of civilian life and is closely monitoring the far-reaching impact of the hostilities”.
It said it “strongly condemns” Iran’s “indiscriminate military strikes against countries in the region and expresses its solidarity with countries affected”.
It also welcomed increased efforts announced by member states to “ensure freedom of navigation in the strait of Hormuz, once the conditions are met”.
The European Union “stands firmly and unequivocally in support of member states close to the region”, it said, adding that it also “acknowledges the intention of Cyprus to initiate a discussion with the UK on the UK bases in Cyprus, and stands ready to provide assistance as needed”.
Earlier, Cypriot president Nikos Christodoulides told the BBC that the UK’s two military bases on Cyprus are a “colonial consequence” and “an open and frank discussion with the British government” about their status and future is due after the conflict in the Middle East is resolved.
The European Council statement concluded:
The European Council reiterates that Iran must never be allowed to acquire a nuclear weapon and that it must comply with its legally binding nuclear safeguard obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
The European Council urges Iran to resume full cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The day so far
Benjamin Netanyahu denied that Donald Trump was “dragged” into the war by Israel, as he tried to pour cold water on suggestions that Israel influenced the US’s decision to attack Iran and amid growing signs that the US and Israel are not aligned on their war aims. “Does anyone really think that someone can tell President Trump what to do, the Israeli prime minister said, later adding: “I misled no one.”
Netanyahu also stated that Israel “acted alone” in striking Iran’s South Pars gasfield, though he didn’t address whether or not he had told Trump about the attack beforehand. “President Trump asked us to hold off on future attacks, and we’re holding out,” he added. Trump has distanced himself from Israel’s attack on the world’s largest gasfield (which he claimed on Wednesday that Washington “knew nothing” about), and confirmed today that he told Netanyahu to stop attacking Iran’s energy facilities.
Netanyahu also claimed that Iran has “no ability to enrich uranium at the moment and no capability of manufacturing ballistic missiles”. He said that the war would take “as long as is necessary”, adding: “We will crush them entirely, all those capabilities.”
Trump said there are no plans to deploy US ground troops in the region and claimed that the US operation was “ahead of schedule”, but he did confirm that the Pentagon has asked Congress to approve a further $200bn to fund the war.
US Central Command said that it has destroyed the Iranian regime’s surface-to-surface missile plant in Karaj. The plant was used to “assemble ballistic missiles that threatened Americans, neighboring countries, and commercial shipping,” Centcom said.
France will double its humanitarian aid to Lebanon to the value of €17m ($19.7m), foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot said, as Lebanon grapples with Israel’s latest military assault. Israeli strikes on Beirut and its ground invasion of southern Lebanon have killed over 1,000 people, including 118 children, and wounded more than 2,500 since Tel Aviv’s renewed offensive on 2 March. More than one million – roughly one in five – of the population have been displaced.
An Iranian missile attack hit Israel’s Oil Refineries in the northern port city of Haifa but did not cause “significant damage“, Israel’s energy ministry said. Energy minister Eli Cohen said power was briefly disrupted, with electricity restored to most of those who were affected, Reuters reported.
US says it has destroyed Iranian missile plant
US Central Command said earlier that it has destroyed the Iranian regime’s surface-to-surface missile plant in Karaj, Iran.
The plant was used to “assemble ballistic missiles that threatened Americans, neighboring countries, and commercial shipping,” Centcom said.
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Analysis: Strike on Iran gasfield exposes US-Israel rift as Trump claims he did not know
The US-Israeli war against Iran has exposed further divisions between the two countries after an Israeli strike on Iran’s largest gasfield angered US allies in the Gulf and prompted Donald Trump to say he knew nothing in advance about the attack – a claim that Israeli officials disputed.
Israel’s efforts to bring about regime change and its attacks on critical infrastructure have increasingly raised criticisms among US allies that Washington has effectively allowed its foreign policy to be hijacked by Netanyahu’s government.
“The American administration’s greatest miscalculation, of course, was allowing itself to be drawn into this war in the first place,” wrote Badr Albusaidi, the foreign minister of Oman. “This is not America’s war, and there is no likely scenario in which both Israel and America will get what they want from it.”
Read Andrew’s full report here:
France says it will double its humanitarian aid to Lebanon to $20m
France will double its humanitarian aid to Lebanon to the value of €17m ($19.7m), foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Thursday, as Lebanon grapples with Israel’s latest military assault.
Barrot made the announcement on his social media account as he visited Beirut, as part of efforts to get a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
He will also travel to Israel on Friday, the French foreign ministry said, to discuss with Israeli authorities regional security and humanitarian aid issues, and attempts to de-escalate the conflicts in the Middle East.
Jean-Yves Le Drian, France’s special envoy for Lebanon, had said earlier this week that it was unreasonable to expect the Lebanese government to disarm Iran-backed Hezbollah while the country is being bombed by Israel.
Israel has rebuffed an offer of direct talks from Beirut as too little, too late by a government that shares its goal of wanting Hezbollah disarmed but fears that acting against it could risk civil war.
Israeli strikes on Beirut and its ground invasion of southern Lebanon have killed over 1,000 people, including 118 children, and wounded more than 2,500 since Tel Aviv’s renewed offensive on 2 March. More than one million – roughly one in five – of the population have been displaced.
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Asked if he “misled the US government into starting this war”, Netanyahu replied:
Well, I misled no one.
And I didn’t have to convince President Trump about the need to prevent Iran from developing its nuclear programme, putting it underground, and being able to launch nuclear-tipped missiles at the United States. He understood that.
I didn’t need to explain it to him – he explained it to me.
He added that his partnership with Trump is the “only way to avoid this catastrophic development”.
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'Israel acted alone' in striking Iranian gasfield, Netanyahu says
Taking questions from reporters at the press conference in Jerusalem, Netanyahu was asked if he had told Donald Trump about Israel’s strike on Iran’s South Pars gasfield.
Netanyahu did not address whether Trump was made aware of the plan ahead of time. He said only:
Israel acted alone against the gas compound.
President Trump asked us to hold off on future attacks, and we’re holding out.
As I reported earlier, Trump has distanced himself from Israel’s attack on the world’s largest gasfield (which he claimed on Wednesday that Washington “knew nothing” about), and confirmed today that he told Netanyahu to stop attacking Iran’s energy facilities.
Israel previously claimed that the strike was coordinated with the US. Reports of that, citing Israeli officials, have swirled today - contradicting Trump’s claim - along with other reports that the US was “aware” of the strike.
When he spoke on this in the Oval Office earlier, Trump was not specific about when exactly he had spoken to the Israeli PM.
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Netanyahu denies that Israel 'dragged' US into war with Iran
The Israeli prime minister went on to tout his “historic” cooperation with the United States.
We have brought our friend the US to a cooperation never seen in history.
The great collaboration between myself and my good friend Trump is unprecedented.
He added that he wanted to dispel the “fake news … that Israel somehow dragged the United States into conflict with Iran”. He said:
Does anyone really think that someone can tell President Trump what to do? Come on.
Trump “always makes his decisions on what he thinks is good for America … and for future generations”, he claimed.
It has become increasingly evident that the US and Israel are not aligned on their war aims and, with no signs of regime change in Iran, how to proceed.
It also comes amid mounting debate within the US about why Trump joined Israel in this war, which came to a head on Wednesday with the dramatic resignation of Trump ally Joe Kent as director of the national counterterrorism center in protest over the war.
“I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran,” Kent wrote in a resignation letter posted to X. “Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.”
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War on Iran will take 'as long as is necessary', says Netanyahu
Benjamin Netanyahu went on to say that the Middle East has changed “beyond recognition”, with Israel “stronger than ever” and Iran “weaker than ever”.
He said they are wiping out Iran’s industrial base in a way “that we didn’t do before”, but “there’s still more work to do, and we’re going to do it”.
He had earlier said that the war against Iran could end “a lot faster than people think”, but added that it would take “as long as is necessary”.
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Iran has 'no ability to enrich uranium and create ballistic missiles', says Netanyahu, as he outlines three goals for war
Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is holding a press conference, which he opened with a message to Israeli citizens that he was proud of their resilience.
Amid growing chatter that the US and Israel are not aligned on how to proceed with their war on Iran, he went on to outline Israel’s three objectives for the operation.
These are, he claimed, to “completely annihilate” Iran’s nuclear programme and its ballistic missile programme, and to create conditions for Iranians to “take their fate into their own hands”.
Twenty days into the war, Iran has “no ability to enrich uranium at the moment and no capability of manufacturing ballistic missiles”, he said.
We will crush them entirely, all those capabilities.
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Saudi Arabia intercepts three drones in eastern region
In an update on X an hour ago, Saudi Arabia’s defence ministry said it had intercepted and destroyed two drones in the country’s eastern region.
Earlier on Thursday, a drone crashed into the kingdom’s Samref refinery in the eastern port city of Yanbu (Reuters reports that oil loading resumed a few hours ago resumed after a brief halt that sent oil prices surging). A ballistic missile heading towards the port was also destroyed.
Lebanon’s president has repeated calls for a ceasefire and negotiations with Israel during a meeting with the French foreign minister.
Joseph Aoun on Thursday stressed “the necessity of a ceasefire, and to provide the necessary guarantees for its success by the parties concerned,” according to a statement carried by Agence France-Presse.
Lebanon was pulled into the US-Israeli war on Iran when Hezbollah fired rockets towards Israel on 2 March – after Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei was killed in air strikes.
Israel responded with heavy airstrikes across various regions and ground incursions, which have killed more than 1,000 people so far.
Welcoming France’s Jean-Noel Barrot, Aoun also emphasised “what is important is to stop the escalation” between Hezbollah and Israel.
Barrot is on a short visit to Lebanon that “reflects France’s support and solidarity with the Lebanese people, who have been dragged into a war they did not choose,” the French foreign ministry said. Barrot also met prime minister Nawaf Salam and speaker of parliament Nabih Berri.
French president Emmanuel Macron spoke on Friday with the Lebanese president, prime minister and parliament speaker, and the next day called on Israel to agree to direct talks with the Lebanese government.
Macron expressed France’s readiness to facilitate the talks by hosting them in Paris.
Asked by a reporter why he didn’t tell US allies like Japan about plans to strike Iran, Trump responded with an attempt to joke about Japan’s surprise attack on Pearl Harbor during the second world war.
One thing, you don’t want to signal too much. You know, when we go in, we went in very hard, and we didn’t tell anybody about it because we wanted surprise.
Who knows better about surprise than Japan? Why didn’t you tell me about Pearl Harbor? OK?
Japanese prime minister Sanae Takaichi was clearly taken aback. Her eyes widened as she took a deep breath and leaned back, but overall remained composed.
Imperial Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 killed more than 2,400 Americans and spurred the US to join the war.
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'I told him don't do that': Trump confirms he told Netanyahu to stop attacks on Iranian energy facilities
Asked about Israel’s attack on Iran’s South Pars gasfield, Donald Trump confirmed that he spoke to Benjamin Netanyahu about it – though he was not explicit about when exactly they spoke – and said he told the Israeli prime minister not to carry out further attacks on Iran’s oil and gas facilities.
He told reporters:
Yeah I did, I told him don’t do that … And he won’t do that … We’re independent. We get along great. It’s coordinated. But on occasion, he’ll do something, and if I don’t like it … So, we’re not doing that any more.
Yesterday, Trump said in a post on Truth Social that Washington “knew nothing about this particular attack” and that Israel would not attack the gasfield further unless Iran again attacked Qatar. In that case, he said, the US would “massively blow up” the gasfield.
His defense secretary Pete Hegseth, also earlier claimed that Trump knew nothing about the attack on the South Pars gasfield, the world’s largest natural gas reserve.
Israel, meanwhile, contradicts that and has claimed that the attack was coordinated with the United States. Israeli sources have also told Reuters and CNN that that Israel had carried out the attack in coordination with the US, contradicting the president’s claim. A US source also told CNN that the US was “aware” of the strike.
The Wall Street Journal also reported yesterday that Trump supported the attack as a message to Tehran over its blocking of the strait of Hormuz, but is now against any further attacks on Iran’s energy infrastructure – but could be open to targeting more Iranian energy facilities, depending on whether Tehran impedes traffic in the critical waterway.
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Iranian attack damages Israeli oil refinery in Haifa
An Iranian missile attack hit Israel’s Oil Refineries in the northern port city of Haifa but did not cause “significant damage“, Israel’s energy ministry said on Thursday.
Energy minister Eli Cohen said power was briefly disrupted, with electricity restored to most of those who were affected, Reuters reported.
“The damage to the power grid in the north is localized and not significant,” Cohen said. “Also, in the barrage towards the north, there was no significant damage to Israeli infrastructure sites.“
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had targeted refineries in Haifa, Israel’s third-largest city, and in Ashdod, in the country’s south, “along with a range of security targets and military support centres of the Zionist regime“, which it said “were hit by pinpoint missiles“.
There was no immediate word on whether the Ashdod refinery was hit.
Trump says he is not putting US troops in region amid Iran war
US president Donald Trump on Thursday suggested he was not looking at deploying more soldiers to the Middle East amid the Iran war.
“I’m not putting troops anywhere,” Trump said, asked by a reporter whether he was planning to send more service members to the region.
“If I were, I certainly wouldn’t tell you. But I’m not putting troops.”
Trump spoke at the White House during an Oval Office meeting with Japanese prime minister Sanae Takaichi.
Reuters reported on Wednesday that the Trump administration is considering deploying thousands of US troops to reinforce the Iran operation, citing a US official and three people familiar with the matter.
The UN’s maritime body called Thursday for the creation of a safe shipping “corridor” in the Gulf to evacuate stranded vessels and seafarers, after an emergency meeting that also condemned Iran.
Following two days of urgent talks in London convened due to the Middle East war, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) said the “safe maritime corridor” should be established as “a provisional and urgent measure”.
IMO secretary-general Arsenio Dominguez said the “humanitarian corridor” would “evacuate ships in the Persian Gulf through the strait of Hormuz”.
The UN agency – responsible for regulating international shipping safety – noted the focus should be on “those currently confined within the Gulf region through peaceful means and on a voluntary basis”.
Oman’s foreign minister has claimed the US has “lost control of its own foreign policy” and accused Israel of persuading Donald Trump’s administration to go to war with Iran – a conflict he described as a “catastrophe” and “grave miscalculation”.
Writing in the Economist, Badr Albusaidi, the Omani minister who mediated the latest nuclear talks between Iran and the US, offered an unusually damning assessment of events leading up to the US and Israel’s bombing of Iran and the war that it has triggered across the Middle East.
“It was a shock but not a surprise when on 28 February – just a few hours after the latest and most substantive talks – Israel and America again launched an unlawful military strike against the peace that had briefly appeared really possible,” wrote Albusaidi.
Of all the Gulf countries, Oman was the most vocal and publicly proactive in trying to halt a US attack on Iran, although other states – including the UAE and Qatar – also worked hard to find diplomatic solutions and warned Trump that a war would be devastating for the region.
According to Albusaidi, Iran and the US had been on the “verge of a real deal” in the nuclear negotiations held in Geneva in February, describing the talks as “substantive”.
A projectile hit a tanker off the coast of the east coast of the United Arab Emirates, causing a fire and leaving the captain missing, officials and maritime monitors said on Thursday.
The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), a naval monitor, said it received a report at 11pm on Wednesday that “a vessel has been hit by an unknown projectile which has resulted in a fire on board” off the UAE port of Khor Fakkan in the Gulf of Oman.
At a meeting of the International Maritime Organization in London later on Thursday, the delegate from Palau identified the vessel as a chemical tanker flagged to that country, the Parimal.
He said 15 crew members were rescued by a Cook Islands-flagged tanker. “However, the master is missing,” he added.
Japanese prime minister Sanae Takaichi on Thursday condemned Iran’s attacks in the strait of Hormuz and told US president Donald Trump that only he could achieve peace.
Takaichi, speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, said the global economy was about to take a hit due to the turmoil in the Middle East.
In the latest exchange of fire between Israel and Iran, a missile strike landed inside the oil refinery complex in Haifa, a key node in Israel’s energy infrastructure.
Emergency services said there were no immediate reports of casualties.
During the large-scale barrages of June 2025, Iranian missiles caused damage to facilities linked to the Haifa refinery.
The strikes on energy infrastructure across the Gulf marked a stark escalation in the conflict.
Since the US and Israel began bombing Iran, the Gulf states have endured a campaign of daily vengeance by the Iranian regime, targeted with thousands of missiles and drones that have hit airports, military bases, ports, hotels, financial districts and other civilian structures.
The economic and security cost to the region has already run into the tens of billions. But so far the Gulf countries have only responded defensively, using interceptors and air defences to shoot down ballistics, to avoid getting dragged into a war they had furiously tried to prevent.
However, Iran’s targeting of critical energy infrastructure in Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia is the Gulf states’ “worst nightmare”, said analysts, and has mounted pressure on leaders to go further in defending their security and energy sovereignty.
On Thursday night, Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister said the country had not ruled out military action in response to the attacks. However, most analysts said there was still a widespread reluctance among Gulf countries, even Saudi Arabia, to entangle themselves in Donald Trump’s conflict.
“I doubt very much whether any Arab Gulf state would ever join the American-Israeli war, because, as they have all said repeatedly: this is not our war,” said Fawaz Gerges, professor of international relations at the London School of Economics.
“Even though Iran’s attacks are very costly in terms of sovereignty, in terms of economic interest, they know that joining the American-Israeli war would prove to be costlier. It would be mainly performative, symbolic and ultimately far too risky for their future dealings with Iran, which is not going anywhere.”
Gerges said he did expect the Gulf states to take more symbolic diplomatic action following in the footsteps of Qatar, which expelled Iran’s security and military attaches and gave them just 24 hours to leave, after Iran’s attacks on its gas fields.
Qatar condemned the attack on Ras Laffan gas facility as a “direct threat” to the country’s national security and accused Iran of taking an “irresponsible approach”.
Foreign minister Hakan Fidan said on Thursday that Turkey was conveying “friendly” advice to Iran to avoid spreading its war with the United States and Israel to the Middle East, and added Tehran’s attacks on regional countries were unacceptable.
Speaking in Doha, Fidan said Israel was the main perpetrator of the war but that Iran had a “historic responsibility” not to attack regional countries.
He said Ankara was in contact with both Washington and Tehran to understand where they stood, and that Turkey’s efforts to end the conflict would continue.
Gabbard: 'US and Israel have different objectives in Iran war'
Tulsi Gabbard, the US director of national intelligence, said the US and Israel have different objectives in the war on Iran.
Her remarks follow an earlier statement by US defence secretary Pete Hegseth that Washington has its own objectives in the war while allies have theirs.
US officials are being quizzed on a statement made by Donald Trump that the US “knew nothing” about Israel’s attack on Iran’s South Pars gasfield yesterday. Israeli sources have apparently told local media otherwise.
“The objectives that have been laid out by the president are different from the objectives that have been laid out by the Israeli government,” Gabbard told the intelligence committee in the House of Representatives.
“We can see through the operations that the Israeli government has been focused on disabling the Iranian leadership. The president has stated that his objectives are to destroy Iran’s ballistic missiles launching capability, their ballistic missile production capability and their navy.”
The Israeli military said it had struck a number of Iranian naval vessels at a port in the Caspian Sea, including missile ships and patrol boats.
In a statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said a port command centre was also hit in the operation yesterday.
US defence secretary Pete Hegseth said earlier today that destroying Iran’s naval capabilities was one of the US’s top stated objectives in its military campaign.
More than 1,000 people killed in Lebanon in Israel-Hezbollah war, says health ministry
Israeli attacks have killed 1,001 people in Lebanon since war erupted between Israel and Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militia group, on 2 March, the Lebanese health ministry said.
The death toll included 79 women, 118 children and 40 health workers, with 2,584 other people wounded, the ministry said in a statement.
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India condemned strikes on energy facilities in the Gulf as “unacceptable”, warning they risk worsening global energy flows.
Iran’s attack on Qatar’s Ras Laffan liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities has plunged oil and gas markets further into turmoil, including for India, which relies on the Gulf nation for about half of its LNG imports.
Global oil supplies have been effectively blocked from transiting the strait of Hormuz since Iran began attacking ships. As many as 22 Indian ships with over 600 crew are stuck in the Gulf as the key energy corridor remains disrupted, AFP news agency reported.
In a statement, Randhir Jaiswal, India’s external affairs ministry spokesperson, said:
India had previously called for the avoidance of targeting civilian infrastructure, including energy infrastructure, across the region. Recent attacks against energy installations in different locations across this region are therefore deeply disturbing and only serve to further destabilise an already uncertain energy scenario for the whole world. Such attacks are unacceptable and need to cease.
Journalist Aakash Hassan is in Delhi where people are struggling to cook and restaurants and hotels are forced to scale back or shut down over the gas crisis. You can read his report here:
UK and allies say they are ready to join 'efforts to ensure safe passage' in strait of Hormuz
The UK has joined European allies and Japan in saying they were ready “to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the strait of Hormuz”.
In a joint statement, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Japan condemned Iran’s attacks on commercial vessels and oil and gas facilities in the Gulf, while expressing “deep concern” over the escalating conflict.
The statement said:
We condemn in the strongest terms recent attacks by Iran on unarmed commercial vessels in the Gulf, attacks on civilian infrastructure including oil and gas installations, and the de facto closure of the strait of Hormuz by Iranian forces.
We express our deep concern about the escalating conflict. We call on Iran to cease immediately its threats, laying of mines, drone and missile attacks and other attempts to block the strait to commercial shipping, and to comply with UN Security Council Resolution 2817.
It continued:
We express our readiness to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the strait. We welcome the commitment of nations who are engaging in preparatory planning.
We welcome the International Energy Agency decision to authorise a coordinated release of strategic petroleum reserves. We will take other steps to stabilise energy markets, including working with certain producing nations to increase output.
We will also work to provide support for the most affected nations, including through the United Nations and the IFIs (International Financial Institutions).
The world’s biggest network of climate organisations has condemned the US-Israeli attack on Iran as “an illegal act of aggression” that “meets the criteria for ecocide”.
“An immediate and permanent ceasefire is the only path forward,” said the Climate Action Network, an umbrella group for more than 1,900 civil society organisations in over 130 countries, in a statement on Thursday, adding that such “unilateral attacks” by “imperialist interests” are a threat to countries across the global south.
The killings of more than 160 schoolgirls at a primary school in Minab, southern Iran, at the very beginning of the US-Israeli surprise attack on the country, was a symbol of the “normalisation of civilian death” encouraged by the genocide in Gaza, the statement said. It went on:
The attacks on Iran’s oil storage facilities have unleashed massive health and environmental harm. Burning fuel depots poison air, land, water and lungs that will linger in the atmosphere long after the bombing stops. This meets the criteria for ecocide.
Corporations, financial institutions and the arms industry form part of the same fossil-fuelled war economy that profits from destruction while also accelerating climate breakdown.
Climate justice cannot exist in a world where war and impunity are allowed to expand unchecked.
The European Central Bank has said that the Middle East war “has made the outlook significantly more uncertain” with a risk of higher inflation and lower economic growth.
As it announced it was holding interest rates and predicting inflation would hit 2.6% this year, the ECB said:
It will have a material impact on near-term inflation through higher energy prices.
Its medium-term implications will depend both on the intensity and duration of the conflict and on how energy prices affect consumer prices and the economy.
Israel says US helped coordinate gasfield attack, despite Trump's claim he knew nothing about it
We’ve just heard from Pete Hegseth. He reiterated the claim from Donald Trump that the US president knew nothing about the attack on Iran’s South Pars gasfield.
However, Reuters is reporting that Israel says its attack on the gas facilities was coordinated with the United States.
Israel has not publicly acknowledged responsibility for the South Pars attack. On Wednesday night, Trump said in a social media post that Washington “knew nothing about this particular attack” and that Israel would not attack the gas field further unless Iran again attacked Qatar.
The three Israeli officials, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said that Israel was not surprised by Trump’s comments.
They described the dynamic as similar to one that played out after Israel struck fuel depots in Iran several weeks ago. After those attacks, Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said that in “that particular case those weren’t our strikes”.
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A reporting team came under fire in southern Lebanon on Thursday, when an Israeli airstrike struck within metres of their position as they were filming. RT correspondent Steve Sweeney and his cameraman, Ali Rida, were wounded in the blast, according to their account.
The two said an Israeli aircraft launched a missile towards their filming location near the Al-Qasmiya Bridge, an area situated close to a local military installation. Rida alleged the strike was deliberate, insisting the crew had been clearly identifiable as media, wearing uniforms marked with press insignia.
Footage captured by Rida’s camera appears to show the moment the missile landed, detonating less than ten metres behind Sweeney as he instinctively drops to the ground in an attempt to shield himself.
Both men remained conscious after the strike and were taken to a nearby hospital, where they are receiving treatment.
Trump administration has 'lost control of its own foreign policy', says Oman
A negotiated deal between the United States and Iran to avert war “appeared really possible”, Oman’s foreign minister who mediated talks between the two sides has said.
Writing in The Economist, Badr Albusaidi abandoned the usual reserve of diplomatic language to call the war a “catastrophe” and said Donald Trump’s administration had “lost control of its own foreign policy”.
He mediated a second round of indirect negotiations that resumed in Oman on 6 February, with the final round held in Geneva on 26 February.
“It was a shock but not a surprise when on February 28th – just a few hours after the latest and most substantive talks – Israel and America again launched an unlawful military strike against the peace that had briefly appeared really possible,” Albusaidi wrote.
The details of what was on the table in Geneva is of major significance, experts say, because Trump justified the war by saying Iran posed an “imminent” threat with its nuclear programme.
Albusaidi blamed “Israel’s leadership” for persuading Trump that “an unconditional surrender would swiftly follow the initial assault and the assassination of the supreme leader” Ali Khamenei, who was killed in the opening salvo of the war.
“The American administration’s greatest miscalculation, of course, was allowing itself to be drawn into this war in the first place.”
“America’s friends have a responsibility to tell the truth,” he continued, adding that one of the messages “involves indicating the extent to which America has lost control of its own foreign policy”.
The Guardian revealed this week that Britain’s national security adviser Jonathan Powell attended the final round of US-Iran talks in Geneva and viewed Iran’s proposals as “significant enough to prevent a rush to war”.
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US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent said the Trump administration may “unsanction” Iranian oil that is already being shipped, as he tried to allay concerns over the rising price of oil amid the war.
“In essence, we will be using the Iranian barrels against the Iranians to keep the price down for the next 10 or 14 days as we continue this campaign,” he told Fox Business.
Hegseth reiterates claim that Trump 'knew nothing' about attack on gasfield
When asked by a reporter whether he felt Israel was pursuing its own objectives, in relation to the attack on Iran’s South Pars gasfield which Donald Trump said the US “knew nothing” about, Hegseth said: “We hold the cards.”
“We have objectives. Those objectives are clear. We have allies pursuing objectives as well,” he added. He explained earlier in the press conference that the US’s objectives were to destroy Iran’s missiles, launchers, defence industrial base and navy, and for Tehran to never obtain nuclear weapon.
On the South Pars gasfield attack, he said: “Iran has weaponised energy for decades. Israel clearly sent a warning.”
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Caine admits Iran retains 'some capability' to attack US assets
Answering a reporter’s question on Iran’s missile capabilities, considering the country has managed to strike numerous states in the Gulf, Gen Dan Caine, the chair of the joint chiefs of staff, said Tehran retains “some capability” to attack American assets.
“They came into this fight with a lot of weapons.,” he said, adding that the US was continuing to be “as aggressive and assertive” in striking Iran.
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Hegseth says US 'on track' but declines to say when war will end
Hegseth declined to say when or how the war with Iran could end, other than saying the US was “very much on track”.
He said:
It will be at the president’s choosing ultimately, where we say, hey, we’ve achieved what we need to on behalf of the American people to ensure our security. So no, no time set on that. But we’re very much on track.
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When asked by a reporter which countries were being the most cooperative with the US, Hegseth said Israel “from day one has been an incredible and capable partner, willing and able”.
He said the Gulf states have “stepped up incredibly”, adding: “We’re proud to be defending with them, standing with them, you name it. UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and others.”
Hegseth ended his prepared speech with an overtly religious plea for Americans to pray for US troops “on bended knee with your family, in your schools, in your churches, in the name of Jesus Christ”.
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Hegseth said the US-Israeli strikes against Iran has “struck over 7,000 targets”.
He said:
To date, we’ve struck over 7000 targets across Iran and its military infrastructure. That is not incremental. That is overwhelming force applied with precision.
He added that Iran’s ability to manufacture new ballistic missiles has “probably taken the hardest hit” and was “down 90% since the start of the conflict”.
“UAVs [unmanned aerial vehicle], think kamikaze drones, down 90%,” he said.
'We will finish this', says Hegseth of Iran war
US defence secretary Pete Hegseth has opened a press conference on the Iran war saying he spoke to the families of six US service members who died when a military refueling aircraft crashed over Iraq last week.
He said:
They said, finish this. Honour their sacrifice. Do not waver. Do not stop until the job is done. My response, along with that of the president, was simple, of course we will finish this. We will honour their sacrifice.
Starmer: 'We are working towards a swift resolution to the situation in the Middle East'
UK prime minister Keir Starmer has condemned the Iranian strikes against a Qatari gas facility.
Iran attacked Qatar’s key Ras Laffan liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities in retaliation against Israel’s strike on its South Pars gasfield in the Persian Gulf.
In a post on X, Starmer said:
I condemn in the strongest terms the overnight Iranian strike on a Qatari gas facility.
We are working towards a swift resolution to the situation in the Middle East, in the best interests of the British people – because there is no question that ending the war is the quickest way to reduce the cost of living.
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Germany’s parliament is taking unusual action to curb fuel prices in the wake of a spike from the Iran war.
Under a draft law set for approval today by the Bundestag lower house, petrol stations will only be able raise prices once a day, at 12 midday. They may be reduced at any time. Businesses violating the rule can be fined up to €100,000.
Watch for angry scenes in the queue at 11.55am.
After topping the list of EU countries with the highest rise in pump prices early on, Germany remains among the countries whose motorists are bearing the biggest brunt of the surge.
Compared to the week before the US-Israeli military action, prices had increased by 27 cents per litre for petrol and 42 cents for diesel, above the EU average of 20 cents/litre for petrol and 36 cents for diesel, according to EU Commission figures compiled by Monopolkommission, an independent economic advisory body to the German government.
It attributed the rapid rise in fuel prices in Germany to heavy market concentration.
The legislation before the Bundestag will also give the German Federal Cartel Office expanded powers to fight price gouging.
Armand Zorn, deputy chair of the Social Democrats parliamentary group, accused the industry of profiteering.
“We do not have a supply problem in Germany, but a clear pricing problem,” he told Bild newspaper. In hardly any other European country had such steep profits been made at the expense of consumers during the crisis, Zorn said.
But market watchers are divided whether the high noon rule, due to go into effect in early April for at least a year after passing the Bundesrat upper house, will do much to help consumers.
The Federation of German Industries (BDI) criticised the planned tightening of antitrust law and the speed with which it is being pushed through.
“The federal government is introducing far-reaching and risky changes to competition law through a rushed fast-track procedure,” said Holger Lösch, deputy chief executive of the BDI. He said that was creating uncertainty among businesses and jeopardising investment across sectors.
“Without involving industry and without a broad public debate, rules are being changed under the pressure of high fuel prices that go far beyond the current situation and would permanently alter the playing field for all companies,” Lösch said.
“This intervention in competition law threatens to do a disservice to the entire economy in terms of regulatory policy.”
Prices in recent weeks had been particularly volatile as well as generally elevated so advocates cite a calming effect that will kick in simply due to more predictability and transparency.
The stakes are high for the ruling coalition partners, chancellor Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democrats (CDU) and the Social Democrats.
The parties are running neck-and-neck in a key state election on Sunday in Rhineland-Palatinate, two weeks after the CDU lost to the Greens in the car manufacturing region of Baden-Württemberg by a whisker. The parlous state of the German economy, the EU’s biggest, and inflation fears driven by the Iran war and US tariffs will be at the front of voters’ minds.
US defense secretary Pete Hegseth is due to hold a press conference on the Iran war at 8am ET (midday GMT).
We will have a live stream of that so you can watch along, and we’ll also provide text updates.
Iran’s foreign minister has criticised Emmanuel Macron, accusing him of failing to condemn Israel and the United States’ war with the Islamic republic, while voicing concern over Tehran’s retaliation.
On Wednesday, Macron called for imposing a moratorium on strikes after Iran attacked Qatar’s key Ras Laffan facilities, part of the world’s largest gas field.
The strikes followed an attack on Iranian facilities in the same gas field, which it shares with Qatar.
Abbas Araghchi responded by accusing Macron of ignoring earlier US-Israeli attacks on Iran.
He said the French president “has not uttered one word of condemnation of the Israel-US war on Iran”, and that he had failed to denounce strikes on fuel storages in Tehran on 7 March.
Araghchi wrote:
His current ‘concern’ didn’t follow Israel’s attack on our gas facilities. It follows our retaliation. Sad!
As we’ve been reporting, gas prices jumped and oil prices have risen again after the escalation of attacks by Israel and Iran on gasfields heightened fears of prolonged disruption to international energy supplies.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, rose by 8% to $116 a barrel. Crude prices have soared by nearly 60% since US and Israeli attacks on Iran started the war on 28 February.
European gas prices jumped, with the Dutch wholesale gas price up 24% at €68 a megawatt hour, its highest since the end of December 2022. UK gas prices have more than doubled since late February.
You can read our full report on this here:
Germany’s chancellor Friedrich Merz, meanwhile, also called for de-escalation in the Middle East, welcoming what he said were signals by Trump that combat action in Iran could come to an end, which could allow Europe to contribute to securing peace in the region.
“I am expressly grateful that the US president sent a signal in this regard last night that he is prepared to bring the fighting to an end,” he told reporters ahead of an EU summit in Brussels in comments reported by Reuters.
Obviously, since then Trump has changed his narrative a bit again…
Either way, Merz reiterated that Europe is ready to help stabilise the Middle East once combat action has stopped.
French president Emmanuel Macron has repeated his public call from last night after his phone calls with US president Donald Trump and the Emir of Qatar to de-escalate and prevent energy sites from being destroyed.
He also condemned the latest Iranian attacks on Gulf energy sites as “reckless escalation”.
He warned that if Middle Eastern energy “production capacities themselves are destroyed, this war will have a much more lasting impact”, calling for “direct talks between the Americans and Iranians on this matter”.
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Energy sites in the Middle East that have come under attack
In retaliation for an Israeli strike on Iran’s South Pars gasfield — the largest natural gasfield in the world — Tehran is exerting pressure on Gulf states by targeting critical energy infrastructure.
Officials in Qatar said this morning that Iranian missiles struck Ras Laffan, the country’s principal gas hub, causing what officials described as “significant damage”.
Kuwait Petroleum Corporation reported that a drone hit an operational unit at the Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery, about 50km (31 miles) south of Kuwait City, sparking a fire. No casualties were reported.
A second drone strike targeted the Mina Abdullah refinery in southern Kuwait, also igniting a fire, according to the state oil company.
UAE authorities said they were dealing with incidents at Habshan gas facility and Bab oilfield, after debris from intercepted missiles fell in the area. No injuries have been reported.
Saudi Arabia’s defence ministry said a drone crashed at the Saudi Aramco-operated Samref refinery in the Red Sea port of Yanbu, with “damage assessments” ongoing.
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Here are some pictures on the newswires from the Middle East:
Iran considers transit fees on shipping through strait of Hormuz - state media
Iran is reportedly considering a transit fee on shipping passing through the strait of Hormuz, according to state media.
About 20% of global oil supplies have been effectively blocked from transiting the strait of Hormuz since Iran began attacking ships. US president Donald Trump has suggested sending warships to clear a safe path for commercial sea traffic, a notion firmly rejected by European allies.
Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency reported that a new Iranian government would sanction “domination-seeking powers” who use the strait of Hormuz.
“At the end of current imposed war, with drawing a new regime for the strait of Hormuz, Iran will turn its position from a sanctioned country to an enhanced power in the region and the world,” Mohammad Mokhber, an adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, was quoted as saying.
“We will sanction those domination-seeking arrogant powers using the strait of Hormuz to not allow their ships pass through the strait.”
AFP, citing the state-affiliated Iranian Student news agency, reported an Iranian politician as saying the government was considering a bill under which countries using the key trade route to pay tolls and taxes to Tehran for shipping, energy transit and food supplies.
Four people killed in overnight Iranian missile attacks against Israel
Four people including three Palestinian women and a foreign national were killed overnight during Iran’s missile attacks against Israel.
Three Palestinian women were killed in Beit Awwa, near Hebron in the occupied West Bank, when debris or possibly a munition from an Iranian missile fell on a women’s hair salon, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent and local media reports.
A Thai agricultural worker was also killed in central Israel, Thailand’s foreign ministry said. The Israeli Hareetz newspaper reported a Thai national in his 20s was killed by a direct hit on an agricultural structure in the Sharon area just north of Tel Aviv.
Drone crashed at Saudi oil refinery, defence ministry says
Saudi Arabia’s defence ministry said a drone crashed at oil giant Saudi Aramco’s Samref refinery in the Red Sea port of Yanbu, according to state media.
Maj Gen Turki Al-Malki, a defence ministry spokesperson, said a ballistic missile launched toward Yanbu port was intercepted and destroyed, Saudi Press Agency reported.
The ministry said “damage assessment” was under way, without elaborating.
European gas prices jump 35% as attacks on energy infrastructure in the Gulf intensify
European natural gas prices rose as much as 35% today after attacks to energy infrastructure in the Gulf intensified.
European gas prices have increased by more than 60% since the US-Israeli war on Iran began on 28 February, Reuters news agency reported.
The price of Brent crude – the global benchmark – also increased to $112 a barrel today. It settled yesterday at $107.38 a barrel, according to reports, bringing the cost of crude oil up more than 48% since the war began. It has not dropped below the $100 threshold since 13 March.
Uncertainty continues to grow over how the escalating war in the Middle East would affect energy supplies, as attacks were reported in Qatar and Kuwait this morning, a day after Iran’s largest natural gasfield was hit.
Qatar said Iranian missiles caused “extensive damage” to its main gas facility at Ras Laffan, while Kuwaiti state media reported attacks at two of the country’s oil refineries.
For the latest economic and financial news, you can follow our business live blog here:
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Kuwaiti state media has reported a drone attack on a second oil refinery in the country.
The attack at Mina Abdullah refinery, operated by Kuwait National Petroleum Company, was targeted this morning by a drone resulting in a fire at the site, the Kuwait News Agency reported.
“Emergency and rapid response teams were immediately deployed to contain and control the fire in accordance with the highest approved safety standards,” the agency said in a post on X.
It did not say where the attack was launched from, but came moments after a report of a drone attack at the Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery about 7 miles away.
Oil refinery targeted in Kuwait - state media
An oil refinery in Kuwait was targeted in a drone strike this morning, sparking a “limited” fire , according to state media.
The fire at the Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery was contained and there were no reports of injuries, the Kuwait News Agency reported, citing the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation. The report did not say where the strike was launched from.
The oil refinery is located about 30 miles south of Kuwait City. It is one of the largest oil refineries in the Middle East, with a petroleum production capacity of 730,000 barrels per day.
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Interim summary
In case you’re just just joining us, here’s a recap of the latest developments in the US-Israel war on Iran. It’s 10.30am in Tehran, 9am in Tel Aviv and Beirut and 3am in Washington DC.
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 liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities. The US president also said on his Truth Social platform that the US “knew nothing” about Israel’s Wednesday attack on the South Pars field – which Iran shares with Qatar – and neither did Qatar. Trump declared “no more attacks will be made by Israel” on the field – unless Iran attacks Qatar’s LNG, adding: “In which instance the United States of America, with or without the help or consent of Israel, will massively blow up the entirety of the South Pars Gas Field at an amount of strength and power that Iran has never seen or witnessed before.”
While Trump said the US “knew nothing” ahead of the South Pars attack, US media have reported that the White House was aware of it. The Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed US officials, said Trump approved of it in a bid to pressure Tehran into unblocking the strait of Hormuz.
Israel struck the South Pars field hours after Israeli forces killed the regime’s intelligence minister and launched some of the most intense airstrikes in Beirut for decades. Iran later launched attacks on its Gulf neighbours’ energy facilities: Qatar’s massive Ras Laffan LNG facility, and the Habshan gas facility and Bab field in the United Arab Emirates. The UAE said the Habshan and Bab field operations were shut down after interceptions over the sites, while Qatari officials said all fires at the Ras Laffan hub had been contained.
Saudi Arabia has not ruled out military action in response to repeated missile and drone attacks from Iran, the foreign minister said. Speaking after a meeting in Riyadh of foreign ministers from the region, Prince Faisal bin Farhan said on Thursday that Iran “tries to pressure its neighbours” with attacks.
Vessels were reported to be hit by unknown projectiles overnight in the Persian Gulf and in the Gulf of Oman, the UK Maritime Trade Operations centre said. All crew were reported to be “safe and well” after the incident east of Ras Laffan, Qatar, it said, while earlier it received a report of another vessel being hit east of the UAE port of Khawr Fakkan by a projectile that caused a fire onboard.
Iran has executed three people convicted of killing police officers and carrying out operations helping the US and Israel during unrest earlier this year, the Iranian judiciary said.
French president Emmanuel Macron called for an immediate moratorium on striking civilian infrastructure, particularly energy and water supply facilities, saying that civilian populations and their needs had to be “protected from military escalation”. He made the call in a social media post after speaking with Donald Trump and the emir of Qatar.
Cathay Pacific suspended flights to and from Dubai over the Middle East war.
Iran seeks compensation from the United Arab Emirates, accusing it of enabling US attacks against Iranian territory, Iran’s ambassador to the UN has told the UN secretary general in a letter, according to a Nournews report.
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Oil giant Saudi Aramco’s Samref refinery in the Red Sea port of Yanbu was targeted in an aerial attack on Thursday, an industry source has told Reuters, adding there was minimal impact.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards on Thursday issued an evacuation warning to several oil facilities across Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, including Samref, which is a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Exxon Mobil.
Yanbu is currently the only export outlet for any crude oil out of Gulf Arab countries as Iran has effectively shut the vital strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil supply normally flows.
Saudi Aramco did not immediately respond to a request for comment, the report said.
Iran seeks compensation from the United Arab Emirates, accusing it of enabling US attacks against Iranian territory, Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations has told the UN secretary general in a letter, according to a Nournews report published on Thursday.
In the letter, cited by Reuters, Amir Saeid Iravani said the UAE’s decision to allow its territory to be used for the strikes constituted “an internationally wrongful act that entailed state responsibility”.
Tehran said the UAE had an international responsibility to provide reparation, including compensation for all material and moral damages incurred.
Donald Trump has said the US “knew nothing” of Israel’s attack on the huge South Pars gasfield in Iran on Wednesday, but US media reported earlier that the White House was aware of the attack.
The Wall Street Journal reported, citing unnamed US officials, that the US president approved of it in a bid to pressure Tehran into unblocking the strait of Hormuz.
A few hours ago Trump threatened to “massively blow up” the South Pars gasfield – the world’s largest - after the Israel hit on the site prompted Tehran to step up attacks on energy facilities across the Middle East.
There’s more on this and other key news lines from the war in our latest full report from my colleague Callum Jones here:
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Australia seeks to be 'over-prepared' amid fuel crunch
Turning to Australia now, a petrol tsar will manage “unprecedented” supply issues caused by the Middle East conflict as the finishing touches are put on measures to address dire shortages in many regional areas.
Prime minister Anthony Albanese convened a snap virtual meeting of the national cabinet on Thursday to discuss major price shocks and shortages driven by the US-Israel war on Iran.
The former Australian Energy Regulator CEO Anthea Harris was announced as the co-ordinator of a fuel-supply taskforce and will oversee work involving the nation’s different tiers of government on fuel-security and supply-chain issues, reports Australian Associated Press.
State leaders who demanded faster action and a long-term plan from the federal government welcomed the move.
Albanese said there was a “good feeling of common purpose” during their meeting, telling reporters:
My government will be announcing more measures to prepare the nation for supply chain challenges over coming days and weeks.
Our fuel supply is currently secure. However, I want us to be over-prepared.
Meanwhile, Australia’s competition watchdog is investigating major fuel suppliers including Ampol, BP, Mobil and Viva Energy for alleged anti-competitive conduct amid growing shortages sparked by the Iran war. The full report from Tom McIlroy is here:
The UK Maritime Trade Operations centre has reported another vessel being hit by an unknown projectile, this time in the Persian Gulf.
All crew were reported to be “safe and well” after the incident east of Ras Laffan, Qatar, the agency said.
It received the report at 01.30 GMT on Thursday and authorities were continuing to investigate.
UKMTO said earlier that another vessel was hit east of the UAE port of Khawr Fakkan in the Gulf of Oman by an unknown projectile that caused a fire onboard. That report came at 23.00 GMT on Wednesday.
Iran launched overnight strikes on Qatar’s huge liquefied natural gas facility at Ras Laffan after Israel struck the giant South Pars gasfield on Wednesday in a major escalation of the war.
Qatari officials are saying now that all fires at the Ras Laffan hub have been contained.
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Iran has executed three people convicted of killing police officers and carrying out operations helping the US and Israel during unrest earlier this year, the judiciary said.
“Three individuals convicted in the Dey [January] unrest, on charges of murder and operational actions in favour of the Zionist regime and the United States, were hanged this morning,” the judiciary’s Mizan Online website said on Thursday, cited by the AFP news agency.
It added that those executed were involved in the killing of two law-enforcement personnel.
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Qatar officials are reporting that “all fires” at its major gas hub have been contained after the Iranian attack.
“Civil Defence has fully brought all fires under control in the Ras Laffan Industrial Area without any reported injuries. Cooling and sites-securing operations are still ongoing,” the ministry said in a post on X.
We’ll give you more news on this as it comes.
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Japan’s central bank has said it expects inflation to increase because of the “recent rise in crude oil prices” caused by the Middle East war.
The Bank of Japan statement on Thursday – in which it also said it had left its key interest rate unchanged at 0.75% – came as the government began an emergency subsidy programme to drive down the cost of gasoline.
The world’s fourth-largest economy depends on the Middle East for 95% of its oil imports.
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Saudi Arabia reserves ‘right to take military actions’ over Iran attacks
Saudi Arabia has not ruled out military action in response to repeated missile and drone attacks from Iran, the foreign minister said.
Speaking to reporters after a meeting in Riyadh of foreign ministers from the region, Prince Faisal bin Farhan said on Thursday that Iran “tries to pressure its neighbours” with attacks.
He said:
The kingdom is not going to succumb to pressure, and on the contrary, this pressure will backfire ... and certainly, as we have stated quite clearly, we have reserved the right to take military actions if deemed necessary.
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Ship attacked near strait of Hormuz – UK agency
In case you missed this news earlier, an attack set a ship ablaze early on Thursday off the coast of the United Arab Emirates.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre said a vessel was “hit by an unknown projectile, which has resulted in a fire onboard”.
The agency said the vessel was just off the coast of Khor Fakkan in the UAE, near the mouth of the strait of Hormuz.
More than 20 vessels have been attacked during the Iran war so far.
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In other Asia business news today, Japan’s Nikkei was down 2.5%, while South Korean equities fell 1.5%.
MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell more than 1.5%.
“This latest escalation feels like a turning point for markets because the conflict is no longer just about military headlines or strait of Hormuz closure,” Charu Chanana, the chief investment strategist at Saxo in Singapore, told Reuters.
“It is now hitting the plumbing of the global energy system. What is unsettling markets now is the growing stagflation risk ... It means this is no longer just a geopolitical story but a macro one.
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Cathay Pacific suspends Dubai flights until end of April
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.
The Hong Kong aviation giant added that “further changes to our flight schedule may be needed in the coming days”.
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Opening summary
Welcome to our continuing live coverage of the US-Israel war on Iran and its effects on the region, the world and the global economy.
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.
The US president also said in a post on his Truth Social platform that the US “knew nothing” about Israel’s Wednesday attack at the South Pars field, which Iran shares with Qatar, and neither did Doha. 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”.
Trump added: “In which instance the United States of America, with or without the help or consent of Israel, will massively blow up the entirety of the South Pars Gas Field at an amount of strength and power that Iran has never seen or witnessed before.”
Israel struck the giant South Pars gasfield on Wednesday, marking a major escalation of the war, hours after Israeli forces killed the regime’s intelligence minister and launched some of the most intense airstrikes in Beirut for decades.
Iran condemned the South Pars strike, with President Masoud Pezeshkian warning of “uncontrollable consequences” that “could engulf the entire world”. Iran later launched strikes on its Gulf neighbours’ energy facilities: Qatar’s massive Ras Laffan liquefied natural gas facility, and the Habshan gas facility and Bab field in the United Arab Emirates. The UAE said the Habshan and Bab field operations were shut down after interceptions over the sites.
The UAE government called Iran’s retaliatory strikes a “dangerous escalation” in the war. Qatar ordered Iranian embassy officials to leave the country within 24 hours.
Other developments include:
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 and the first to kill Palestinians since the start of the US-Israel war with Iran.
A man was killed in central Israel in the latest round of Iranian missile fire, medics say. It brought 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.
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