Israel denies ‘dragging’ US into war – as it happened

UAE authorities have arrested at least five members of a “terrorist network” linked to Iran and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, state media said Friday.

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The alleged network had “sought to infiltrate the national economy and carry out external schemes threatening the country’s financial stability” as part of “a pre-established strategic plan in coordination with external parties linked to Hezbollah and Iran”, the official WAM news agency said, citing the UAE state security apparatus.

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The report included mug shots of five detained suspects.

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Iranian attacks on Ras Laffan Industrial City in Qatar have reduced the country’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) export capacity by 17%, according to QatarEnergy, the state-run energy giant.

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The “extensive damage” could reduce its annual revenues by $20bn and take “up to five years” to repair, Saad al-Kaabi, the Qatari energy minister and CEO of QatarEnergy, said in a statement.

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This will impact “supply to markets in Europe and Asia”, he added in a post on X, describing the strikes as “unjustified and senseless”.

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According to a pool report, Japan’s prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, was asked by Japanese reporters if Donald Trump had privately asked her to dispatch Japanese naval vessels to help reopen the strait of Hormuz.

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Takaichi said that she explained to Trump that Japan’s ability to deploy military forces overseas is still limited by the constitution drafted for Japan by the United States after the second world war.

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“While the conversation was of a sensitive nature, the consensus was that ensuring the safety of the Strait of Hormuz is of the utmost importance,” Takaichi said. “However, there are certain actions we can and cannot take within the scope of Japanese law, so I provided a detailed and thorough explanation of this matter.”

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Japanese law does permit Takaichi to deploy Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force vessels on law-enforcement operations, such as the anti-piracy mission off Somalia Japan took part in in 2009.

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But the prime minister is still barred by law from ordering naval ships into combat, and Takaichi has so far declined to say whether Japan consider the US attack on Iran legal under international law.

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Iran launched multiple rounds of missiles towards Israel late on Thursday after Benjamin Netanyahu declared that Tehran’s capabilities had been “decimated” by the war, with the Iranian barrage triggering loud blasts over Jerusalem.

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Israel’s military said it identified three rounds of missile fire in the hour and a half preceding midnight local time.

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There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage from the Magen David Adom emergency services.

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But AFP reporters heard several loud blasts over Jerusalem following the Iranian fire, as air raid sirens rang out across the city.

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As we reported earlier, Netanyahu told a press conference on Thursday evening that Israel and the United States were “winning” the war they launched on Iran 20 days ago.

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“We are taking action to destroy the industries that make it possible to build missiles. Iran no longer has the capacity to enrich uranium and manufacture ballistic missiles,” the Israeli prime minister said.

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and lights from missile defence interceptors are seen in the sky, as excess gas is burned at the oil refinery in Israel’s northern city of Haifa late on Thursday.”,”caption”:”Trails and lights from missile defence interceptors are seen in the sky, as excess gas is burned at the oil refinery in Israel’s northern city of Haifa late on Thursday.”,”credit”:”Photograph: Odd Andersen/AFP/Getty Images”}},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

“We are winning and Iran is being decimated.”

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The European Council has called for “de-escalation and maximum restraint” after meeting to discuss the crisis in the Middle East.

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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”.

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It said it “strongly condemns” Iran’s “indiscriminate military strikes against countries in the region and expresses its solidarity with countries affected”.

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It also welcomed increased efforts announced by member states to “ensure freedom of navigation in the strait of Hormuz, once the conditions are met”.

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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”.

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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.

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The European Council statement concluded:

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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.

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The European Council urges Iran to resume full cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

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  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.”

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  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.

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  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.”

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  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.

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  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.

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  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.

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  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.

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US Central Command said earlier that it has destroyed the Iranian regime’s surface-to-surface missile plant in Karaj, Iran.

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The plant was used to “assemble ballistic missiles that threatened Americans, neighboring countries, and commercial shipping,” Centcom said.

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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.

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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.

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“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.”

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Read Andrew’s full report here:

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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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displaced woman and children who fled Israeli strikes in Dahiyeh, Beirut’s southern suburbs, collects a blanket at a temporary settlement along the Beirut waterfront.”,”caption”:”A displaced woman and children who fled Israeli strikes in Dahiyeh, Beirut’s southern suburbs, collects a blanket at a temporary settlement along the Beirut waterfront.”,”credit”:”Photograph: Hussein Malla/AP”}}],”attributes”:{“pinned”:false,”keyEvent”:true,”summary”:false},”blockCreatedOn”:1773951221000,”blockCreatedOnDisplay”:”16.13 EDT”,”blockLastUpdated”:1773954077000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”:”17.01 EDT”,”blockFirstPublished”:1773951653000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”16.20 EDT”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”16.20″,”title”:”France says it will double its humanitarian aid to Lebanon to $20m”,”contributors”:[],”primaryDateLine”:”Thu 19 Mar 2026 22.26 EDT”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published on Wed 18 Mar 2026 23.38 EDT”},{“id”:”69bc4bb98f0821ab0df2f6b9″,”elements”:[{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

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.

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Netanyahu did not address whether Trump was made aware of the plan ahead of time. He said only:

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n

Israel acted alone against the gas compound.

n

President Trump asked us to hold off on future attacks, and we’re holding out.

n

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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.

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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.

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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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The Israeli prime minister went on to tout his “historic” cooperation with the United States.

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n

We have brought our friend the US to a cooperation never seen in history.

n

The great collaboration between myself and my good friend Trump is unprecedented.

n

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He added that he wanted to dispel the “fake news … that Israel somehow dragged the United States into conflict with Iran”. He said:

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n

Does anyone really think that someone can tell President Trump what to do? Come on.

n

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Trump “always makes his decisions on what he thinks is good for America … and for future generations”, he claimed.

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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.

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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.

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“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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Benjamin Netanyahu went on to say that the Middle East has changed “beyond recognition”, with Israel “stronger than ever” and Iran “weaker than ever”.

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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”.

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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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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.

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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.

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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”.

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Twenty days into the war, Iran has “no ability to enrich uranium at the moment and no capability of manufacturing ballistic missiles”, he said.

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n

We will crush them entirely, all those capabilities.

n

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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.

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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.

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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.

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He told reporters:

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n

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.

n

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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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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.

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Energy minister Eli Cohen said power was briefly disrupted, with electricity restored to most of those who were affected, Reuters reported.

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“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.“

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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“.

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There was no immediate word on whether the Ashdod refinery was hit.

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US president Donald Trump on Thursday suggested he was not looking at deploying more soldiers to the Middle East amid the Iran war.

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“I’m not putting troops anywhere,” Trump said, asked by a reporter whether he was planning to send more service members to the region.

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“If I were, I certainly wouldn’t tell you. But I’m not putting troops.”

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Trump spoke at the White House during an Oval Office meeting with Japanese prime minister Sanae Takaichi.

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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.

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Tulsi Gabbard, the US director of national intelligence, said the US and Israel have different objectives in the war on Iran.

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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.

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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.

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“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.

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“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.”

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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.

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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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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”.

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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.

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The statement said:

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n

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.

n

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.

n

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It continued:

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n

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.

n

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.

n

We will also work to provide support for the most affected nations, including through the United Nations and the IFIs (International Financial Institutions).

n

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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.

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However, Reuters is reporting that Israel says its attack on the gas facilities was coordinated with the United States.

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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.

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The three Israeli officials, who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said that Israel was not surprised by Trump’s comments.

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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 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.

n 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”.

n 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.

n “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.

n 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.

n 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.

n “The American administration’s greatest miscalculation, of course, was allowing itself to be drawn into this war in the first place.”

n “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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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.”

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“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.

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On the South Pars gasfield attack, he said: “Iran has weaponised energy for decades. Israel clearly sent a warning.”

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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.

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“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 declined to say when or how the war with Iran could end, other than saying the US was “very much on track”.

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He said:

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n

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.

n

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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.

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He said:

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n

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.

n

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UK prime minister Keir Starmer has condemned the Iranian strikes against a Qatari gas facility.

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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.

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In a post on X, Starmer said:

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n

I condemn in the strongest terms the overnight Iranian strike on a Qatari gas facility.

n

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.

n

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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.

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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”.

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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.

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A second drone strike targeted the Mina Abdullah refinery in southern Kuwait, also igniting a fire, according to the state oil company.

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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.

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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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Iran is reportedly considering a transit fee on shipping passing through the strait of Hormuz, according to state media.

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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.

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Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency reported that a new Iranian government would sanction “domination-seeking powers” who use the strait of Hormuz.

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“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.

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“We will sanction those domination-seeking arrogant powers using the strait of Hormuz to not allow their ships pass through the strait.”

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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.

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Four people including three Palestinian women and a foreign national were killed overnight during Iran’s missile attacks against Israel.

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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.

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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.

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damaged building with walls blown out.”,”caption”:”Damaged building in Tel Aviv following a barrage of missiles launched from Iran.”,”credit”:”Photograph: Amir Cohen/Reuters”}}],”attributes”:{“pinned”:false,”keyEvent”:true,”summary”:false},”blockCreatedOn”:1773912453000,”blockCreatedOnDisplay”:”05.27 EDT”,”blockLastUpdated”:1773913799000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”:”05.49 EDT”,”blockFirstPublished”:1773913799000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”05.49 EDT”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”05.49″,”title”:”Four people killed in overnight Iranian missile attacks against Israel”,”contributors”:[],”primaryDateLine”:”Thu 19 Mar 2026 22.26 EDT”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published on Wed 18 Mar 2026 23.38 EDT”},{“id”:”69bbb5a28f0895668c9dc651″,”elements”:[{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

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.

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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.

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The ministry said “damage assessment” was under way, without elaborating.

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European natural gas prices rose as much as 35% today after attacks to energy infrastructure in the Gulf intensified.

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European gas prices have increased by more than 60% since the US-Israeli war on Iran began on 28 February, Reuters news agency reported.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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For the latest economic and financial news, you can follow our business live blog here:

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An oil refinery in Kuwait was targeted in a drone strike this morning, sparking a “limited” fire , according to state media.

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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.

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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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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.

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  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.”

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  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.

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  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.

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  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.

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  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.

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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 Iranian judiciary said.

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  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.

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  Cathay Pacific suspended flights to and from Dubai over the Middle East war.

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  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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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.

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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.

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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.

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State leaders who demanded faster action and a long-term plan from the federal government welcomed the move.

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Albanese said there was a “good feeling of common purpose” during their meeting, telling reporters:

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My government will be announcing more measures to prepare the nation for supply chain challenges over coming days and weeks.

n

Our fuel supply is currently secure. However, I want us to be over-prepared.

n

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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:

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Saudi Arabia has not ruled out military action in response to repeated missile and drone attacks from Iran, the foreign minister said.

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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.

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He said:

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n

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.

n

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Arabia’s foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan”,”caption”:”Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, chairs a meeting of foreign ministers from a group of Arab and Islamic countries in Riyadh.”,”credit”:”Photograph: Baraa Anwer/AP”}}],”attributes”:{“pinned”:false,”keyEvent”:true,”summary”:false},”blockCreatedOn”:1773892723000,”blockCreatedOnDisplay”:”23.58 EDT”,”blockLastUpdated”:1773894607000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”:”00.30 EDT”,”blockFirstPublished”:1773892922000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”00.02 EDT”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”00.02″,”title”:”Saudi Arabia reserves ‘right to take military actions’ over Iran attacks”,”contributors”:[],”primaryDateLine”:”Thu 19 Mar 2026 22.26 EDT”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published on Wed 18 Mar 2026 23.38 EDT”},{“id”:”69bb72c28f08376ddad1dcb6″,”elements”:[{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

In case you missed this news earlier, an attack set a ship ablaze early on Thursday off the coast of the United Arab Emirates.

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The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre said a vessel was “hit by an unknown projectile, which has resulted in a fire onboard”.

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The agency said the vessel was just off the coast of Khor Fakkan in the UAE, near the mouth of the strait of Hormuz.

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More than 20 vessels have been attacked during the Iran war so far.

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Cathay Pacific has suspended flights to and from Dubai over the war in the Middle East.

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“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.

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The Hong Kong aviation giant added that “further changes to our flight schedule may be needed in the coming days”.

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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.

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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.

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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”.

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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.”

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Other developments include:

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  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.

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plume of smoke rises from the site of a Tuesday strike in Tehran amid the war with the US and Israel”,”caption”:”A plume of smoke rises from the site of a Tuesday strike in Tehran amid the war with the US and Israel.”,”credit”:”Photograph: Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images”}},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”

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  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.

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  QatarEnergy said “sizeable fires” caused extensive damage at its LNG facilities after Iranian missile attacks in the early hours of Thursday.

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  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”.

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  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”.

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  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.

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  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.

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  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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UAE arrests members of Iran-linked ‘terrorist network’: state media

UAE authorities have arrested at least five members of a “terrorist network” linked to Iran and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, state media said Friday.

The alleged network had “sought to infiltrate the national economy and carry out external schemes threatening the country’s financial stability” as part of “a pre-established strategic plan in coordination with external parties linked to Hezbollah and Iran”, the official WAM news agency said, citing the UAE state security apparatus.

The report included mug shots of five detained suspects.

China is clamping down on fertiliser exports to protect its domestic market, a number of industry sources have told Reuters, putting an additional strain on global markets that were already grappling with shortages caused by the US-Israeli war on Iran.

China is among the largest fertiliser exporters, shipping more than $13bn worth of it last year, and it has a history of controlling exports to keep prices low for farmers.

Shipments through the war-blocked strait of Hormuz account for roughly one-third of the sea-borne supply.

Lebanese president Joseph Aoun said a proposed framework to halt fighting between Israel and Iran-backed militant Hezbollah was “still on the table”, as he hosted French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot on Thursday, Agence France-Presse reports.

Lebanon was pulled into the regional war on 2 March, when Hezbollah fired rockets toward neighbouring Israel in response to the killing of its ally Iran’s supreme leader in Israeli-US attacks.

Israel responded with heavy airstrikes across Lebanon and ground incursions in the border area, which combined have left more than 1,000 people dead.

Meeting Barrot on Thursday, Aoun stressed “the necessity of a ceasefire, and to provide the necessary guarantees for its success by the parties concerned”, according to a presidency statement.

Oil prices could climb beyond $180 per barrel if the US-Israel war on Iran continues to disrupt energy supplies until late April, Saudi officials project, the Wall Street Journal reports.

That is the “base case” in Saudi Arabia, the largest oil producer in the Gulf, according to the Journal, which cites several unnamed oil officials in the country.

Oil prices have already soared to their highest levels in four years since the start of the conflict, which has sparked fears of energy shortages across the world. Brent crude, the international benchmark, is currently trading at $105.81 per barrel.

France plans to sound out permanent members of the UN Security Council to gauge the prospect of a UN framework to secure the strait of Hormuz, Emmanuel Macron said.

The French president’s remarks, reported by the AFP news agency, follow a joint statement from Britain, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Japan, which expressed “readiness” to help shore up the vital waterway.

“We have initiated an exploratory process, and we will see in the coming days whether it stands a chance of succeeding,” Macron said in Brussels, after a European summit.

Benjamin Netanyahu has hinted at a possible “ground component” to the US-Israel warn on Iran – while Donald Trump suggested the US had no plans to put boots on the ground.

“You don’t want to replace one ayatollah with another,” the Israeli prime minister said on Thursday, adding that the Iranian regime is unlikely to be overthrown ​using air strikes alone.

It is “often said” that you can’t “do revolutions from the air”, Netanyahu told a press conference. “There has to be a ground component as well. There are many possibilities for this ground component and I take the liberty of not sharing [those] with you.”

Trump, meanwhile, claimed he had no plans for the US to engage in such an operation. “I’m not putting troops anywhere,” he told a reporter, when asked about using ground troops. “If I were, I certainly wouldn’t tell you.”

Some 65% of Americans believe Trump will order troops into a large-scale ground war in Iran, according to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll, but just 7% support that idea.

Damage from Iranian strikes on gas facilities will take years to repair, says Qatar

Iranian attacks on Ras Laffan Industrial City in Qatar have reduced the country’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) export capacity by 17%, according to QatarEnergy, the state-run energy giant.

The “extensive damage” could reduce its annual revenues by $20bn and take “up to five years” to repair, Saad al-Kaabi, the Qatari energy minister and CEO of QatarEnergy, said in a statement.

This will impact “supply to markets in Europe and Asia”, he added in a post on X, describing the strikes as “unjustified and senseless”.

After Donald Trump’s calls for countries to help reopen the strait of Hormuz encountered a muted response, the International Maritime Organisation is now trying to launch negotiations over the vital waterway.

Victor Jimenez Fernandez, the organisation’s chair, expressed confidence that it will start talks with Iran and regional powers over the next week.

“No regional country can be outside of these negotiations,” Fernandez told BBC News. “All [of] the region needs to come to gather to find a solution to allow the safety and secure transit of commercial vessels through the strait of Hormuz.”

More on why the strait matters here:

Oil prices have pulled back slightly after Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu moved to address escalating concerns over the US-Israel war on Iran.

Israeli strikes on Iran’s South Pars gasfield on Wednesday, the first targeted attacks on Iranian fossil fuel production since the start of the conflict, further rattled markets and lifted oil prices to fresh four-year highs.

Asked whether the US had been told about the strikes, Netanyahu said that Trump had “asked us to hold off on future attacks and we are”. Trump, for his part, again claimed the war would be over “very soon”, without providing specifics.

The West Texas Intermediate (WTI) price of US crude slipped 1.9% to $94.29 per barrel after the remarks.

Authorities in the United Arab Emirates authorities say they have dismantled a “terrorist network” funded and operated by Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Iran, and arrested its members.

The network was involved in “money laundering, financing terrorism and threatening national security”, the state news agency said, according to Reuters. There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah or Iran.

Lorenzo Tondo

Reporting from Jerusalem

A fresh ballistic missile launch from Iran has been detected, with the Jerusalem area identified as a potential target, as sirens sound once again — the fourth alert within the space of an hour.

Loud explosions are echoing across the city.

Despite repeated claims by Israel and the US that Iran’s airspace is under control, Tehran has continued to penetrate Israel’s defences, with missiles reaching the skies over the holy city and triggering successive warnings.

Japan tried to explain to Trump that it cannot join his Iran war due to its US-drafted constitution

Robert Mackey

According to a pool report, Japan’s prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, was asked by Japanese reporters if Donald Trump had privately asked her to dispatch Japanese naval vessels to help reopen the strait of Hormuz.

Takaichi said that she explained to Trump that Japan’s ability to deploy military forces overseas is still limited by the constitution drafted for Japan by the United States after the second world war.

“While the conversation was of a sensitive nature, the consensus was that ensuring the safety of the Strait of Hormuz is of the utmost importance,” Takaichi said. “However, there are certain actions we can and cannot take within the scope of Japanese law, so I provided a detailed and thorough explanation of this matter.”

Japanese law does permit Takaichi to deploy Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force vessels on law-enforcement operations, such as the anti-piracy mission off Somalia Japan took part in in 2009.

But the prime minister is still barred by law from ordering naval ships into combat, and Takaichi has so far declined to say whether Japan consider the US attack on Iran legal under international law.

Iran fires at Israel after Netanyahu boasts of war gains

Iran launched multiple rounds of missiles towards Israel late on Thursday after Benjamin Netanyahu declared that Tehran’s capabilities had been “decimated” by the war, with the Iranian barrage triggering loud blasts over Jerusalem.

Israel’s military said it identified three rounds of missile fire in the hour and a half preceding midnight local time.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage from the Magen David Adom emergency services.

But AFP reporters heard several loud blasts over Jerusalem following the Iranian fire, as air raid sirens rang out across the city.

As we reported earlier, Netanyahu told a press conference on Thursday evening that Israel and the United States were “winning” the war they launched on Iran 20 days ago.

“We are taking action to destroy the industries that make it possible to build missiles. Iran no longer has the capacity to enrich uranium and manufacture ballistic missiles,” the Israeli prime minister said.

“We are winning and Iran is being decimated.”