03-29 00:00 · 中东,局势,AlJazeera,中东
Iraq turning into ‘expanding battleground’ in war, which began on February 28 with US-Israeli strikes on Iran.
Air strikes targeting Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) have killed three fighters and two Iraqi police, as the US-Israeli war on Iran continued to spill over Iraq’s eastern border.
An Iraqi security source told Al Jazeera that Saturday’s double-bombing of the PMF’s headquarters near northern Iraq’s Kirkuk Airport also wounded two other fighters and six Iraqi soldiers.
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A statement from the ex-paramilitary coalition, which is now integrated into the regular Iraqi army, blamed the United States and Israel, saying that those killed had been “subjected to a treacherous Zionist-American” attack.
Separately, the Reuters news agency quoted security sources as saying that two members of the Iraqi police were killed in an air strike targeting the PMF in Mosul, about 105 miles (170km) northwest of Kirkuk.
Reporting from Baghdad, Al Jazeera’s Nicolas Haque said that Iraq was turning into an “expanding battleground” in the crisis, which began on February 28 with US-Israeli strikes on Iran and now threatens to engulf the region in a protracted conflict.
Since the war broke out, pro-Iran armed groups within the PMF, which was formed on the orders of Najaf-based Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani in 2014 to fight ISIL (ISIS), have claimed responsibility for attacks on US interests in Iraq and beyond and have themselves been targeted.
Haque said the PMF takes its orders from Baghdad, but some factions are loyal to Tehran.
“That makes it very difficult for Baghdad to hold all of this together. Up until the war, the government successfully brought everybody around the table [and] was able to manage the different factions,” he said.
But as the war expands into Iraq, Baghdad has found itself “on a tightrope” between the US and Iran, said Haque.
“They can’t afford to turn their back on their biggest neighbour, Iran. Nor can they afford to turn their back on the United States,” he said, noting the economic and security ties between Baghdad and both countries.
Saturday also saw two drones targeting an airbase serving as a hub for US and coalition forces near Erbil airport in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region. Haque said the US C-RAM air defence system was activated and intercepted the drones.
Iraq attacks ‘a worrying development’: Macron
In parallel, Kurdish news outlet Rudaw reported a drone attack on the house of Nechirvan Barzani, president of the Kurdish region, in the western town of Duhok.
Masrour Barzani, the prime minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government in northern Iraq, condemned “in the strongest terms” the assault.
“Once again, we call on the federal government to act on its responsibility, bring these outlaw criminals to justice, and curb the continued terrorist attacks carried out by these groups,” he said in a statement.
French President Emmanuel Macron said on X that he had spoken to Barzani, calling increased attacks in Iraq a “worrying development”.
In other developments, the Iraqi Ministry of Defence said on Saturday that a drone had crashed into the southern Majnoon oilfield “without detonating, causing no damage or injuries”.
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03-29 00:00 · 中东,局势,AlJazeera,中东
Kyiv has sought to leverage its expertise in downing Russian drones to help Gulf nations.
Qatar and Ukraine have signed a defence agreement seeking joint expertise on countering threats from missiles and drones, according to Qatar’s Ministry of Defence, as Iran continues attacking its Gulf neighbours.
The agreement was made on Saturday during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to Doha, following his stop in the UAE earlier in the day.
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Earlier on Saturday, Zelenskyy said Ukraine and the United Arab Emirates had also agreed to cooperate on defence, a day after signing a deal with Saudi Arabia during his visit to the kingdom on Thursday.
Kyiv has sought to leverage its expertise in downing Russian drones to help Gulf nations and has deployed anti-drone experts to the three countries Zelenskyy visited during his diplomatic tour.
Tehran insists it is targeting only US assets in the Gulf in retaliation for the US-Israeli war on Iran, but the assaults have upset relations as Gulf nations say civilians are being put at risk.
During the Ukrainian leader’s visit to Doha on Saturday, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defence Affairs Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman bin Hassan Al Thani met Ukraine’s Secretary of the National Security and Defence Council (NSDC) Rustem Umerov, and Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Andrii Hnatov.
“The agreement includes collaboration in technological fields, development of joint investments and the exchange of expertise in countering missiles and unmanned aerial systems,” Qatar’s Defence Ministry said in a statement during Zelenskyy’s visit.
The officials discussed the latest security developments. The defence agreement was signed by Qatari Armed Forces Lieutenant General Jassim bin Mohammed Al Mannai, and on the Ukrainian side by Hnatov, in the presence of the other officials.
“Ukraine is offering a cheap way of countering Iranian drones. Ukraine has been doing that for the past three and a half years because Russia has been firing Shahed drones since September 2023 at least, and it’s been downing them nearly every day,” said Al Jazeera’s Dmitry Medvedenko, reporting from Doha.
“The Gulf has been using Patriot and THAAD missiles primarily so far to down Iranian missiles and drones. Each Patriot missile costs almost $4m, while Ukraine is offering its expertise in downing drones for about $2,000 each.”
Decade-long cooperation
Ukraine has become one of the world’s leading producers of sophisticated, battlefield-proven drone interceptors as Russia has been attacking Kyiv with hundreds of thousands of Iranian drones since the start of its full-scale invasion of the neighbouring country in 2022.
On March 18, Zelenskyy said 201 anti-drone experts had been deployed to the Middle East.
Kyiv has proposed swapping its interceptors for the vastly more expensive air-defence missiles that Gulf countries are using to down Iranian drones. Kyiv says it needs more of them to fend off near-daily Russian missile attacks.
“What we can assume is that Ukraine is primarily interested in funding,” said Medvedenko.
He said that the US-Israeli war on Iran is “costing so many Patriot missiles”, which concerns Ukraine as its stocks will decline.
The Patriots are “a much better solution” for countering Russia’s ballistic missiles, he said.
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03-29 00:00 · 中东,局势,AlJazeera,中东
President Pezeshkian’s warning is the latest by Tehran to neighbours not to allow their territory to be used in the war.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian pressed neighbouring nations not to let Tehran’s “enemies run the war” from their territory in a repeated warning to the countries hosting United States military bases.
“We have said many times that Iran doesn’t carry out preemptive attacks, but we will retaliate strongly if our infrastructure or economic centers are targeted,” he said on X on Saturday.
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“To the countries of the region: If you want development and security, don’t let our enemies run the war from your lands.”
Pezeshkian’s post was the latest call by Iran on neighbouring states not to allow their territory to be used for operations against Iran in the ongoing war.
On Wednesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also urged the countries around Iran to distance themselves from the United States.
The war began when the US and Israel launched air strikes across Iran on February 28, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and sending shockwaves across the globe.
A month later, the conflict shows no sign of ending, with Israel announcing more intense strikes on Iran on an almost daily basis as Tehran continues to target its archrival, as well as the countries with US military assets in the Middle East.
New attacks on Gulf states
In Kuwait, the country’s international airport was targeted by multiple drone attacks early on Saturday that caused significant damage to its radar system but resulted in no casualties, according to state news agency Kuna, citing its Civil Aviation Authority.
The authority’s spokesperson said later that the attack was carried out by Iran, its proxies, and the armed factions it supports.
In Abu Dhabi, strikes caused debris to fall near the Khalifa Economic Zone, close to Khalifa Port, injuring six people and damaging facilities, according to the Emirate’s media office.
Three fires that started because of falling debris are under control, it said on X.
Meanwhile, Iran’s military claimed it struck a Ukrainian anti-drone system depot in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, alleging it supported the US forces, who were also allegedly targeted.
“As the hideouts of American commanders and soldiers in Dubai were targeted … a Ukrainian anti-drone system depot that was located in Dubai to assist the US military … was targeted and destroyed,” said Ebrahim Zolfaghari, spokesperson for Iran’s military.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry denied the claim.
Two drones targeted Oman’s port of Salalah, capital city of southern Dhofar province, injuring one person and causing minor damage to a crane, state news agency ONA reported.
Zolfaghari said Iranian forces targeted a US military support vessel “at a considerable distance from the port of Salalah in Oman”.
Danish shipping giant Maersk said operations at Salalah were suspended for 48 hours after the drone attack.
Alarm sirens were activated several times in Bahrain to warn of incoming strikes, while the Interior Ministry urged the public to “head to the nearest safe place”. No casualties were reported.
Saudi Arabia’s Defence Ministry reported a ballistic missile and multiple drone attacks on Saturday, adding its air defences shot them all down, without giving further details.
On Friday, at least 15 American soldiers were wounded after Iran launched an attack on an airbase in Saudi Arabia, according to news reports, as the conflict started by Israel and the United States enters its second month.
The attack on the Prince Sultan Air Base included at least six ballistic missiles and 29 drones. At least five US troops were reportedly in serious condition.
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03-29 00:00 · 中东,局势,AlJazeera,中东
Iranian opposition leader calls on Trump administration to ‘stay the course’ as the US and Israel wage war on Iran.
Amid questions about the future of Iran’s government, the son of the former shah has pitched himself to a right-wing summit in the United States and received a raucous welcome.
Reza Pahlavi spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Texas on Saturday, urging US President Donald Trump not to cut a deal with Iran and instead seek regime change.
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“Can you imagine Iran going from ‘Death to America’ to ‘God Bless America’?” the self-styled crown prince asked his audience in Grapevine, Texas.
“President Trump is making America great again. I intend to make Iran great again,” he added, receiving a standing ovation from the crowd.
His remarks came on the one-month anniversary of the US and Israel’s decision to launch a war against Iran. As the conflict enters its second month, at least 1,937 people in Iran have been killed, and tens of thousands more injured, with no end to the fighting in sight.
Pahlavi has become a central opposition figure in the Iranian diaspora, with a loyal base of supporters who often carry his image, along with Iran’s pre-revolutionary flag, at protests around the world.
During his speech, some in the audience chanted, “Long live the king!”
While some in the Iranian diaspora have expressed reservations about the US-Israeli attacks and their effect on the future of Iran, Pahlavi has emerged as an outspoken supporter of Trump, aligned with the administration’s most hawkish figures.
“This regime in its entirety must go,” he said on Saturday.
Analysts have warned that the Iranian government is not likely to collapse and could emerge from the conflict more hardened than before. Some exiles, meanwhile, have been criticised for lending their voices to support the US-Israeli war despite the heavy toll on Iranian civilians.
Trump has himself previously downplayed the possibility that the son of the former shah, who was expelled from Iran during the country’s 1979 revolution, could play a central role in Iran if the current government were to collapse.
Earlier this month, Trump said that Pahlavi “looks like a very nice person“, but indicated that the shah’s son lacks popularity in Iran.
“It would seem to me that somebody from within, maybe, would be more appropriate,” Trump had said.
Divides within the US right over the war in Iran were also in evidence at CPAC. Polls suggest that, while the war is widely unpopular among US voters, Republicans support it by large margins.
In a Pew Research Center poll, for instance, 71 percent of Republican voters felt the US had made the right decision to attack Iran. Overall, among voters regardless of party, 59 percent opposed the initial strikes.
Still, a handful of influential voices on the US right, such as Tucker Carlson and Steve Bannon, have emerged as vocal critics of the war. Younger activists have also expressed frustration with what they see as a betrayal of Trump’s promise to avoid military adventures overseas.
“We did not want to see more wars. We wanted actual America First policies, and Trump was very explicit about that,” Benjamin Williams, a 25-year-old marketing specialist for Young Americans for Liberty, told The Associated Press. “It does feel like a betrayal, for sure.”
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03-29 00:00 · 中东,局势,AlJazeera,中东
Republicans and Democrats remain entrenched despite public polling showing dismay over war, petrol prices.
Washington, DC – A new war in the Middle East and the knock-on effect of rising petrol prices have roiled the United States public, according to a slate of polls, but a month into the US-Israeli war on Iran, lawmakers have shown little appetite to rein in the conflict.
That was evidenced earlier this week when the US Senate again failed to pass a so-called War Powers resolution to curtail US President Donald Trump’s ability to unilaterally prosecute the war, which began with US and Israeli strikes on February 28.
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The vote failed in the Republican-controlled chamber, 53-47, the same as on March 4, with senators voting along party lines, save for one Republican, Rand Paul, voting in favour, and one Democrat, Jon Fetterman, voting against. Democrats in the chamber have promised to hold a weekly vote to force the issue.
Meanwhile, despite evidence that Democrats in the US House of Representatives, which is also slimly controlled by Republicans, have the votes to pass their own War Powers resolution, the party’s leadership has reportedly backed away from holding a vote.
That shows potential wariness about compelling party members to stake a position beyond “token opposition” as the Trump administration continues to prosecute the controversial war, according to Jamal Abdi, the president of the National Iranian American Council.
“There are [members of Congress] who are stuck between their support from the pro-Israel lobby and other political factors and the fact of this war being so unpopular,” Abdi told Al Jazeera.
“I also think that there’s this view that Trump is suffering. He’s bleeding out politically, and they don’t want to stem the bleeding.”
Approaching the one-month mark, the Trump administration has not articulated a unifying endgame for the conflict, instead hailing the degradation of Iran’s military capabilities and the assassination of top officials.
Observers have warned that the war appears to have entered a phase of attrition that strategically favours Iran, in which, as the US director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has said, “the regime remains intact but largely degraded”.
Polls continue to show widespread disapproval of the war, with a Reuters/Ipsos poll on Wednesday showing 61 percent disapproval compared with 35 percent approval. Trump’s overall approval rating slumped to 36 percent this week, the lowest since he took office.
An Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research also released on Wednesday found 59 percent of Americans felt US military action in Iran had been excessive.
Over the last week, Trump continued to send conflicting messages on the war, claiming ongoing – if disputed talks – with Iranian officials and releasing a ceasefire plan that Tehran has since rejected.
That came as the Pentagon deployed yet more US troops to the region, further raising the prospect of a ground invasion.
Republican unity?
For their part, Republican lawmakers have so far broadly fallen behind Trump, with many of the party’s top members cheering the US military effort and embracing Trump’s claims that the conflict will be a weeks-long affair.
“Republicans writ large, but for [US Representative] Thomas Massie and maybe Rand Paul, are going to support anything Donald Trump does,” Eli Bremer, a Republican strategist and former Colorado US Senate candidate, told Al Jazeera. “Everybody is very, very entrenched in their positions – but things could change.”
Given the fickle nature of public opinion in the US, he argued, Republicans appear to be assessing that the short-term pain will not necessarily result in major political fallout in the midterm elections in November if Trump can claim some degree of victory in the weeks ahead.
The main test will be if Trump is able to secure the Strait of Hormuz, even if it requires a boots-on-the-ground deployment, and in turn stabilise global oil markets to create the perception that the US has “brought Iran to its knees”, he said.
“On the flip side, if it goes on for another eight weeks or three months or some undetermined period of time, and gas prices in the US keep going up and up and up, then Democrats will use that to say Trump said he was was going to avoid ‘unending wars’, and look what he’s gotten us into,” Bremer said.
Polls have generally shown higher support for the war among Republicans, with the AP-NORC poll released on Wednesday finding that about half say the US military action has been “about right”. A quarter said the war had “gone too far”.
Funding friction and MAGA dissent?
One nascent point of inter-party friction has been US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s recent appeal for $200bn to fund the war, which some Republicans have seen as antithetical to Trump’s “America First” pledge.
“The answer on
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03-29 00:00 · 中东,局势,AlJazeera,中东
Islamabad’s diplomatic push bears fruit as the world watches for signs of a broader breakthrough.
Iran has agreed to allow 20 Pakistani-flagged vessels to transit the Strait of Hormuz, in what Islamabad has called a meaningful step towards easing one of the worst energy crises in modern history.
Ishaq Dar, Pakistan’s foreign minister, announced the move on Saturday, posting on X that two ships would cross daily under the arrangement.
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He described Iran’s decision as “a harbinger of peace”, which could help restore stability to a region on the edge, hailing it as a “welcome and constructive gesture”.
Notably, he addressed his post directly to US Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, US envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Abbas Araghchi, a signal that Islamabad, which is engaged in diplomatic efforts to end the war, views the deal as far more than a bilateral shipping agreement.
The strait has been effectively shut since the United States and Israel launched coordinated strikes on Iran on February 28, killing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and triggering a war that has killed about 2,000 Iranians and more than 1,100 people in Lebanon, and sent shockwaves through global markets.
“The Strait of Hormuz is not an oil chokepoint,” former Qatari minister Mohammed Al-Hashemi wrote in a column for Al Jazeera this week. “It is the aortic valve of globalised production – and like any valve, when it fails, the entire circulatory system collapses.”
As an estimated 2,000 vessels are stranded on either side of the narrow waterway, oil has surged past $100 a barrel, up by roughly 40 percent.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has, in the meantime, turned the strait into something resembling a checkpoint. Ships seeking passage must submit their cargo details, crew lists and destinations to IRGC-approved intermediaries, receive a clearance code, and be escorted through Iranian territorial waters.
At least two vessels have paid for the privilege, reportedly $2m a crossing, settled in Chinese yuan.
Iran’s parliament is now moving to legalise this arrangement as a possible source of revenue.
Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Friday that Malaysian ships were permitted to cross the strait as he thanked Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian.
Only about 150 vessels have made it through since the war began, roughly one normal day’s traffic. Maritime traffic is down by 90 percent through the waterway.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, head of the World Trade Organization, said global trade was experiencing its “worst disruptions in the past 80 years”.
Saturday’s announcement is the fruit of an intense week of Pakistani diplomacy. Army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir spoke to US President Donald Trump on Sunday.
Dar also held calls with his Iranian and Turkish counterparts.
Pakistan shares a 900km (560-mile) border with Iran.
“If the parties desire, Islamabad is always willing to host talks,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Tahir Andrabi told Al Jazeera last week.
Trump, meanwhile, has been making the strait famous in his own way.
Speaking at a Miami investor forum, he referred to it as the “Strait of Trump”, before catching himself. “Excuse me, I’m so sorry. Such a terrible mistake,” he told the crowd.
Iran has demanded formal international recognition of its authority over the strait as a condition for ending the war. Its parliament is drafting legislation to codify toll collection permanently.
Sultan Al Jaber, an Emirati minister, said the chokehold was “economic terrorism,” warning that “every nation pays the ransom at the gas pump, at the grocery store, at the pharmacy”.
Trump said that Washington has eased strikes on Iranian power plants for five days, a window that closes on Saturday. Israel has said its own strikes will continue regardless.
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03-29 00:00 · 中东,局势,AlJazeera,中东
While US-Israeli attacks hit key infrastructure, hardliners demand withdrawal from Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Rescue workers rush to save lives after south Tehran missile strike
Tehran, Iran – Iranian politicians are pushing to exit the country from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) as the United States and Israel ramp up their attacks to hit civilian nuclear sites, steel factories and a university.
It would be meaningless for Iran to remain a signatory to the international treaty as it “has had no benefit for us”, said Ebrahim Rezaei, spokesman for the national security commission of parliament, in a Friday night post on X.
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Malek Shariati, a representative from Tehran, said that a priority piece of legislation has been uploaded in an online parliamentary portal and will be reviewed soon.
Politicians have not held any sessions since the start of the war on February 28.
According to Shariati, the legislation will withdraw Iran from the NPT, revoke a law that adopted nuclear restrictions linked with a now-defunct 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, and “support a new international treaty with aligned countries [including Shanghai Cooperation Organization/BRICS] on developing peaceful nuclear technologies”.
Hardliners have previously demanded an NPT exit and a nuclear bomb in response to outside pressure.
If such a law is approved by the parliament, it would also have to be agreed by the Guardian Council – a powerful 12-member constitutional body, before being implemented by the government.
Iranian authorities continue to accuse the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of taking a politicised stance and being complicit in attacks against Iranian nuclear sites, charges the United Nations nuclear watchdog rejects.
Mohammad Mohkber, a senior adviser to the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and a former first vice president under late President Ebrahim Raisi, said on Saturday that IAEA Director Rafael Grossi is a “partner in crime” in blood spilled during the current war and the 12-day war last June.
“His political reports about Iran’s peaceful nuclear activities, lack of condemnation for aggression against our nuclear facilities, and now encouraging the enemies to attack Iran’s nuclear sites, will bring the country to irrevocable decisions,” he warned, without elaborating.
Grossi told US broadcaster CBS News in an interview earlier this month that no war has the capability to totally destroy Iran’s nuclear programme, “unless it was nuclear war and you go for destruction unfathomable, which we hope will never be the case”.
Fada-Hossein Maleki, a member of the national security commission of Iran’s parliament, said on Saturday he believes that Grossi has acted as an “agitator” for months in order to please US President Donald Trump. He said the nuclear bomb comment “violates all international norms and constitutes a provocative act”.
Electricity, steel become targets
Israeli and US forces significantly intensified their attacks on Friday, in some cases destroying infrastructure that will have long-term repercussions for Iranians and the country’s beleaguered economy that is struggling with an energy crisis and inflation rates of about 70 percent.
Warplanes bombed a yellowcake facility in Yazd and the Khondab Heavy Water Complex near Arak, and so far, at least three projectiles have landed in the vicinity of the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, prompting IAEA warnings about the potential for a major radiological incident.
Heavy air strikes also pummelled Iran’s steel giants, namely the Mobarakeh complex in central Isfahan, and the Khuzestan complex in western Ahvaz. Production lines and power plants feeding them were targeted, prompting the Ahvaz complex to announce suspension of production until further notice on Saturday.
The companies form the backbone of Iran’s non-oil exports, and were projected to rack up billions of dollars in revenue at a time when Washington is also trying to choke off Iran’s oil exports. Thousands of jobs may be at stake after major damage to the sites.
The bombing came after Trump twice announced delays on launching destructive attacks against Iran’s power plants, which he said would last until April 6. He has also claimed that negotiations with Iran “are going very well” as the two sides present conflicting positions.
Tehran has undergone two of its most intense nights of bombing, with overnight strikes into Saturday lighting up the night sky orange and also leading to temporary power outages across multiple areas. Some citizens reported smelling strong odours left from the detonation of the powerful explosives in the morning in some areas.
But almost the entirety of Iran’s population of at least 90 million has been unable for one month to freely communicate its experience with the international community since the I
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03-28 00:00 · 中东,局势,AlJazeera,中东
Trump has delayed attacks on Iran’s energy facilities by 10 days, claiming talks are going well – though Iran disagrees.
As the war enters day 28, United States President Donald Trump has delayed planned attacks on Iran’s energy infrastructure by 10 days until April 6, saying peace talks are going “very well” – even as Iranian officials describe a US proposal as “one-sided and unfair”.
Pakistan says it is relaying messages between Washington and Tehran, with Turkiye and Egypt also supporting mediation efforts to try to end the war, as diplomatic efforts intensify to prevent a wider regional conflict.
In Iran
- Military strikes and casualties: US and Israeli forces continued with their bombardment of Iranian cities: more than 1,900 people have been killed in Iran so far.
- Iran’s retaliation: Tehran fired missiles and drones at Israel and Gulf states, including Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Jordan.
- Trump pushes back deadline: Trump paused planned attacks on Iranian energy plants until April 6 at 8pm Eastern Time (00:00 GMT on April 7), saying talks are “going very well”.
- Negotiations and demands: Iran called the US proposal “one-sided and unfair” and said it has five non-negotiable demands.
- Unacceptable demands: Iran’s five-point proposal, which includes reparations for the war and continued Iranian sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, is viewed as likely unacceptable to the White House.
- Actions over words: Mohamed Vall, reporting from Tehran, said Iranians are focusing on ongoing attacks, not US claims of progress in talks, and see the continuing strikes as a sign that Washington is not serious about a deal.
- US, Israel target Iran steel: US-Israeli air strikes damaged two major steel plants in Iran, Iranian media reports said.
- Iran turns back ships: Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps said they had turned back three ships trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz, adding the route was closed to vessels travelling to and from ports linked to its “enemies”. Analysts note that this incident demonstrates that “safe passage could not be guaranteed”.
War diplomacy
- Diplomatic efforts: Mediators are pushing for possible in-person talks between the Iranians and the Americans, perhaps as soon as this weekend in Pakistan, Egyptian and Pakistani officials say.
- Putin hoping for Mideast diversion: Russian President Vladimir Putin is hoping the war will shift the focus from his “crimes” in Ukraine, German foreign minister Johann Wadephul said during a meeting of G7 foreign ministers.
- G7 seeks US clarity on Iran: G7 allies pressed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio for clarity on Washington’s Iran strategy, while the UK called for a “swift resolution” to restore regional stability.
- UN Security Council meeting: The UN Security Council will hold closed-door consultations on Friday to discuss attacks on Iran at Moscow’s request, Russian state media reported.
In the Gulf
- Direct attacks and interceptions: Neighbouring Gulf states are facing near-daily bombardments as Iran continuously fires missiles and drones.
- United Arab Emirates: Debris from an intercepted projectile in Abu Dhabi killed two people and injured three. The two people killed were from India and Pakistan. At least one of those injured was from India, too.
- Kuwait: The country’s main commercial port was damaged in a drone attack at dawn. The Shuwaikh port was targeted “by enemy drones, preliminary reports revealed material damage but no human casualties”, the Kuwait port authority said in a statement on X.
In the US
- Weapons supply strain: The ongoing war is stretching US military supplies, and the administration is weighing whether to redirect air defence interceptor missiles initially meant for Ukraine to the Middle East.
- Diplomatic meetings in DC: Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani visited Washington, DC, to meet with US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth to discuss security cooperation and regional defence strategies.
- Rising disapproval and gas prices: The war is hurting Trump’s approval ratings, with rising fuel prices driving domestic pressure and a Fox News poll indicating 64 percent disapprove of his handling of the Iran war, with only 36 percent approving.
- Shift to social media: As trust in traditional television coverage of the war wanes, some Americans are increasingly turning to algorithm-driven social media feeds for their news and seeking out opposing views to those mainstream media highlights.
In Israel
- Israeli army seeks more soldiers: The military said it needs more troops in southern Lebanon, where forces are fighting Hezbollah to establish a “buffer zone”.
- Israeli opposition leader attacks government: Opposition leader and former Prime Minister Yair Lapid accused the government of leading Israel into a “security disaster” by sending the army into a multi-front war without a strategy or enough troops.
- Israeli soldiers killed in Lebanon: The Israeli army announced the death of two soldiers in south Lebanon, where its troops have tried to occupy territory
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03-28 00:00 · 中东,局势,AlJazeera,中东
The Iran-aligned Yemeni group have the ability to target key shipping lanes around the Arabian Peninsula.
Yemen’s Iran-allied Houthis say they are prepared to intervene militarily if other countries join the United States and Israel in their war against Iran, or if the Red Sea is used to launch attacks on their ally.
“We confirm that our fingers are on the trigger for direct military intervention” if any new alliances join Washington and Israel against Iran and its allies, or if the Red Sea is used for “hostile operations” against Iran, the group’s military spokesperson Yahya Saree said in a televised speech on Friday.
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Saree also said the Houthis were prepared to act if what he called the escalation against Iran and the “axis of resistance” continued, but did not say what form any intervention would take.
The warning raises the prospect of a broader regional war, particularly given the Houthis’ ability to strike targets far beyond Yemen and disrupt shipping lanes around the Arabian Peninsula.
The Yemeni rebel group has controlled the capital Sanaa and much of the country’s northwest since 2014.
After Israel launched its genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023, the Houthis targeted vessels in the Red Sea and carried out drone and missile attacks against Israel, saying that they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians under fire in Gaza.
Israel and the US have regularly struck the war-torn country, targeting civilian infrastructure, including residential buildings and the main international airport, while killing dozens at a time.
But in May, the Houthis and the US agreed to a truce, which included a Houthi agreement to stop attacks on US shipping in the Red Sea.
The group later stopped attacks on Israel and Israeli-linked shipping after the October Gaza ceasefire deal.
In his speech on Friday, Saree also said the group would not allow the Red Sea to be used to carry out “hostile operations” against Iran or any Muslim country.
He warned against any further tightening of what he described as “the blockade on Yemen”.
Saree called for an immediate halt to US and Israeli attacks on Iran, the Palestinian territory, Lebanon and Iraq.
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03-28 00:00 · 中东,局势,AlJazeera,中东
The teacher had spent two years documenting pro-war propaganda at a school before smuggling footage out of Russia.
Russia has declared the teacher and main protagonist of the Oscar-winning documentary “Mr Nobody Against Putin” a foreign agent.
Pavel Talankin, who won Best Documentary at the Academy Awards earlier this month with US director David Borenstein, spent two years documenting pro-war propaganda at a school in the Chelyabinsk region in west-central Russia while working as the school’s videographer.
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Talankin fled Russia in 2024, smuggling out the footage for use in the film.
A Russian court banned the documentary from several streaming platforms on Thursday, saying it promoted “negative attitudes” about the Russian government and the war in Ukraine.
Since Russia launched its full-scale military invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Russian authorities have sought to totally suppress opposition to the war while aiming to rally support for the war among Russian citizens.
Talankin’s name appeared in a statement on the justice ministry’s list of foreign agents on Friday.
Without naming the film, it said that Talankin had “disseminated inaccurate information” about Russia’s leadership and “spoken out against the special military operation in Ukraine”, Moscow’s official term for the war in Ukraine.
People listed as foreign agents are subject to onerous bureaucratic requirements and income restrictions in Russia.
They are also obliged to place the foreign agent label on social media posts and on anything else they publish.
‘Stop all of these wars now’
The documentary by Talankin and Borenstein uses two years of footage that Talankin recorded at a school where he was employed to show how students were exposed to pro-war messaging.
In his acceptance speech at the Oscars ceremony on March 15, 2026, Talankin said, “For four years, we look at the sky for shooting stars to make a very important wish, but there are countries where instead of shooting stars, they have shooting bombs and shooting drones”.
“In the name of our future, in the name of all of our children, stop all of these wars now”, he said.
The documentary has been controversial even among Russians who oppose Putin and the war, with some criticising Talankin for filming colleagues and children without their consent for his clandestine project.
Talankin has defended the film as a record for posterity, showing how “an entire generation became angry and aggressive”.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said after the Oscars that he had not seen the film and therefore could not comment on it.
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