The Israeli military said it launched strikes on "regime targets" in Tehran early Saturday, after reporting several rounds of Iranian missile fire at Israel.

"The IDF (military) is striking Iranian terror regime targets in Tehran," a brief statement said.

A video has gone viral showing a huge fire at the US Victoria Base in Baghdad, allegedly after drone attacks.

NDTV cannot independently verify the authenticity of the video.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi has warned the United Kingdom, stating that Tehran will respond if Britain is involved in the ongoing conflict escalates.

In a post on X, Araghchi wrote, “Vast majority of the British People do not want any part in the Israel-U.S. war of choice on Iran. Ignoring his own People, Mr. Starmer is putting British lives in danger by allowing UK bases to be used for aggression against Iran. Iran will exercise its right to self-defense.”

Britain has authorised the US to use its bases to strike Iranian sites threatening the Strait of Hormuz shipping lane.

Iran recently fired two ballistic missiles toward the joint US-UK military base at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, The Wall Street Journal has reported, citing US officials.

Neither missile hit the target, which is around 2,500 miles (4,000 kilometres) from Iranian territory, but the launch suggests that Tehran has missiles with longer ranges than previously thought, the report said. 

One of the missiles failed in flight, and the other was targeted by an interceptor fired from a US warship, though it was not clear if the missile was hit, The Journal reported. 

Diego Garcia in the Chagos Islands is one of two bases Britain is allowing the United States to use for "defensive" operations in Iran. 

Saudi Arabia intercepted 10 drones in the east of the country, the defence ministry said on Saturday, as Iran continues striking Gulf nations.

"10 drones intercepted and destroyed in the eastern region," the Saudi defence ministry posted on X. 

The US Treasury on Friday temporarily lifted sanctions on Iranian oil loaded onto vessels before March 20, in Washington's latest step to stem a supply crisis over the Middle East war.

The authorization allows for the delivery and sale of crude oil and other petroleum products already on Iranian ships, and will last until April 19, the Treasury said in a statement.

The move by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, which Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Thursday was under consideration, follows a similar lifting of sanctions on Russian oil at sea. Friday's authorization does not apply to deliveries of oil to Cuba, North Korea or Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine.

Israel's military said early Saturday that its air defences were operating to intercept a new wave of missiles launched by Iran.

"A short while ago, the IDF identified missiles launched from Iran toward the territory of the State of Israel. Defensive systems are operating to intercept the threat," the Israeli military said on its official Telegram account.

Iran on Friday said it had no surplus crude oil to offer to international markets, after the US treasury secretary said Washington could lift sanctions on Iranian oil at sea.

Israel's military issued a warning Friday to residents of Beirut's southern suburbs, a stronghold of Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, to evacuate ahead of strikes.

"The IDF continues to operate and strike Hezbollah's terrorist military infrastructure throughout the suburbs with increasing force," said the Israeli military's Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee on his official Telegram channel.

President Donald Trump said on Friday the US was getting very close to meeting its objectives as it considers winding down its military efforts in the Iran war and called on countries that use Strait of Hormuz to guard and police it "as necessary."

"The Hormuz Strait will have to be guarded and policed, as necessary, by other Nations who use it — The United States does not!," Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

A series of blasts were heard from Jerusalem on Friday after sirens sounded in northern Israel, AFP journalists said, following a warning that Iran had fired missiles. 

"A short while ago, the IDF identified missiles launched from Iran toward the territory of the State of Israel. Defensive systems are operating to intercept the threat," the Israeli military said on its official Telegram channel.

US President Donald Trump on Friday ruled out reaching a ceasefire agreement with Iran, saying Washington has the upper hand in the three-week-old war.

At least 20 people were killed and 57 others injured in Israeli attacks across Lebanon on Friday, Al Jazeera reported, citing the country's Disaster Risk Management Unit.

The latest fatalities have pushed the total death toll from Israeli strikes since March 2 to 1,021, as per figures released by the National News Agency. The number of injured has climbed to 2,641, while over 134,600 people have been displaced and are currently sheltering in relief centres, as per Al Jazeera.

British ministers met on Friday to discuss the Iran war and Iran's blocking of the Strait of Hormuz, according to a Downing Street statement.

Captain Rakesh Ranjan died on board a merchant vessel carrying oil near the Strait of Hormuz, his family said on Friday, urging the Centre and the Jharkhand government to help bring back his body.

UK ministers met today to discuss the developments in the Middle East and underlined that the government is working closely with international partners to develop a viable plan to safeguard international shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. 

Seyed Abbas Araghchi, writing on his official X account, claimed American officials had once sought to project confidence even as the Vietnam War turned against them.

Fatih Birol warned that both politicians and financial markets are underestimating how severely the region's energy infrastructure has been disrupted.

One US official confirmed Friday that the USS Boxer and two other amphibious assault ships, along with roughly 2,500 Marines of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, have deployed from their home port of San Diego.

US President Donald Trump called allies of America "cowards" for not heeding his demand for military assistance against Iran to control the Hormuz Strait shipping route.

Iran’s military has warned that “parks, recreational areas and tourist destinations” worldwide won’t be safe for the country’s enemies.

The threat on Friday came nearly three weeks after the United States and Israel launched a war on the Islamic Republic.

(AP)

Hours after killing Ali Mohammad Naini, Israel said that he served in "several propaganda and public relations roles".

"In his role as the IRGC's main propagandist for the past 2 years, he disseminated the regime's terrorist propaganda to its proxies across the Middle East in order to influence and advance terror attacks against Israel," the Israeli military posted on X.

He played a "significant role in the recent suppression of Iranian protests", the military said.

Hours before Iran's Revolutionary Guards spokesperson, Ali Mohammad Naini, was killed in a US-Israeli strike on Friday, he said Iran's missile production continues even during wartime, with sufficient stockpiles available without any concern.

"Our missile industry deserves a perfect score... and there is no concern in this regard, because even under wartime conditions we continue missile production," Naini said, quoted by the Fars news agency.

"The missile industry has reached its highest levels. There are surprises coming for the enemy, and as the battles progress, they will become more complex and intense," he added.

A spokesperson for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its deputy of public relations, Ali Mohammad Naini, has been killed in strikes launched by the US and Israel, Iranian state TV has reported.

Sri Lanka refused permission to the US to station two of its warplanes at a civilian airport in the island's south in early March, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake has told parliament.

The request was turned down to maintain Sri Lanka's neutrality and ensure its territory was not used for any military purpose that could help or hinder either side, he said. 

The Indian Ocean nation was drawn into the consequences of the war when US forces torpedoed an Iranian frigate, IRIS Dena, off its coast in March.

"They wanted to bring two warplanes armed with eight anti-ship missiles from a base in Djibouti to Mattala International Airport from March 4 to 8, and we said 'no'," Dissanayake said.

He said the United States made the request on February 26. Iran made a similar request on the same day for three of its warships, returning from India after a naval exercise, to make a port call.

"We were still considering the Iranian request to bring the three ships to Colombo from March 9 to 13. Had we said 'yes' to Iran, we would have had to say 'yes' to the US too," he said.

"But we didn't. We are steadfastly maintaining our position of neutrality," he added.

Iran's new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei has called for the enemies of his nation to have their "security" taken away in his latest message to the public.

Khamenei, who hasn't been seen since he was named as supreme leader, made the remarks in a statement issued on his behalf and sent to President Masoud Pezeshkian after Israel killed intelligence minister Esmail Khatib.

Trump's Truth Social blasts narrate the Iran war like no leader before - viral diplomacy over secret scribbles. NATO flip-flops, Israel deflections, oil chaos all combine his "narrative airstrikes" as India and the world brace for risk escalation and Hormuz pain.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards has said that the Islamic Republic has continued to produce missiles despite the war with Israel and the United States.

"Our missile industry deserves a perfect score... and there is no concern in this regard, because even under wartime conditions we continue missile production," Guards spokesperson Ali Mohammad Naini said, quoted by the Fars news agency.

The statement came hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that "Iran no longer has the capacity to enrich uranium and manufacture ballistic missiles".

The ongoing Iran war and the consequent disruption in the Strait of Hormuz is no longer just an oil story. As supply delays stretch into weeks, the ripple effects are beginning to show up across a range of industrial inputs.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has outlined proposals to ease oil price pressures on consumers, such as working-from-home and avoiding air travel.

The IEA said its proposals were actions that governments, businesses and households could take to ease the pain on consumers from the recent spike up in energy prices.

The IEA said such proposals included working from home, reducing highway speed limits by at least 10 kilometres per hour, and avoiding air travel if other means of transport were available.

"We have recently launched the largest ever release of IEA emergency oil stocks - and I am in close contact with key governments around the world, including major energy producers and consumers, as part of our international energy diplomacy," said IEA executive director Fatih Birol in a statement.

"In addition to this, today's report provides a menu of immediate and concrete measures that can be taken on the demand side by governments, businesses and households to shelter consumers from the impacts of this crisis," added Birol.

The 56-year-old cleric took over as Iran's Supreme Leader after his father, Ali Khamenei, was assassinated in a US-Israeli strike on February 28. But he has remained out of the public eye since the start of the war, fuelling speculation about his health.

India's aviation watchdog, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), has asked airlines to avoid nine airspaces in the Middle East.

The DGCA has asked airlines to avoid the airspaces of Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Indian airlines can operate flights over Oman and Saudi Arabia airspaces subject to certain conditions, the regulator said.

It told the airlines not to operate below FL 320 or 32,000 feet within the airspace of Saudi Arabia and Oman located south of the segments defined by following compulsory reporting points.

About the nine airspaces, the DGCA asked airlines to "refrain from operating within the affected airspace...at all flight levels and altitudes".

Any continued operations would be at the discretion of the operator based on their safety risk assessment, it added.

"Operations to airports in the affected region, where other international carriers are currently operating, must involve robust contingency planning to cover all eventualities, as part of the safety risk assessments by the operators," the DGCA said.

The advisory, the regulator said, was effective immediately and would remain valid until March 28, unless reviewed or superseded by further developments.

"Operators are advised to provide their flight crew with information regarding latest NOTAMs, airspace restrictions affecting flight that are already airborne," it said.

NOTAM refers to Notice to Airmen that provides real time updates about airspace and airports to pilots and crew.

"Recent military strikes conducted by the United States and Israel against targets within Iranian territory have led to a high-risk environment for civil aviation. In response to these strikes, Iran has announced retaliatory measures," DGCA said, and added that the current situation presents critical hazards to civil flight operations.

The Trump administration knew about the Israeli attack on Iran's South Pars gas field beforehand, three Israeli officials claimed in an interview with The New York Times. This contradicts President Donald Trump's "knew nothing" remark and his attempt to distance the US from "this particular attack".

Drone attacks hit Kuwait's Mina Al-Ahmadi oil refinery on Friday, causing several fires but no casualties, state media said, citing the national oil company.

"The Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery... was subjected early today to several hostile drone attacks, causing fires in some of its units," the official Kuwait News Agency said, adding that "several refinery units were shut down".

The latest strikes have damaged two of the plant's production trains, representing a combined 12.8 million tons of annual output capacity, or about 17% of Qatar's LNG exports.

At least 16 US military aircraft have been destroyed since the start of the war with Iran, including 10 Reaper strike drones hit by enemy fire, with a half-dozen other planes badly damaged in attacks or accidents, according to a Bloomberg report.

The most serious losses were because of accidents: three US F-15s downed by friendly fire in Kuwait, and a KC-135 tanker destroyed during a refueling operation.

Five other KC-135s were reportedly damaged by an Iranian missile strike while parked at an airfield in Saudi Arabia.

So far only the uncrewed Reapers have been brought down by Iranian defences, with at least nine being destroyed in the air, according to a person familiar with the matter. One was hit at an airfield in Jordan by a ballistic missile, people familiar with the matter said.

The other two Reapers were lost to accidents. The drones are meant to be "attritable" — flown in higher-risk areas because they don't carry pilots and are much cheaper to replace than a crewed plane.

Saudi Arabia's oil officials have warned that prices could soar past $180 a barrel if war-related disruptions persist until late April, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

Saudi Arabia, the Gulf's largest oil producer, is running worst-case models that show Brent crude surging past 180 dollars a barrel if the Iran conflict and its chokehold on energy supplies drag into late April, according to a Wall Street Journal report citing several Saudi oil officials.

Rather than celebrate, Riyadh is alarmed. Prices that high could destroy long-term demand, trigger a global recession and brand the kingdom a wartime profiteer.

"Saudi Arabia generally does not like too rapid increases in oil, because that then creates long term market instability," Umer Karim, analyst of Saudi foreign policy at the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies, was quoted as saying in the Journal report.

Sensex opened 550 points higher, Nifty up 200 as oil prices dip slightly.

The Iranian strikes on its Gulf neighbours have disrupted about 17 per cent of Qatar's liquefied natural gas (LNG) export capacity, causing an estimated $20 billion in lost annual revenue, Saad al-Kaabi, QatarEnergy's CEO and state minister for energy affairs, said.

According to al-Kaabi, the repairs will sideline 12.8 million tonnes per year of LNG for three to five years, threatening supplies to European and Asian nations, including China and India.

At least two of Qatar's 14 LNG trains and one of its two gas-to-liquids (GTL) facilities were damaged in the unprecedented Iranian strikes over the past few days. 

"I never in my wildest dreams would have thought that Qatar would be -- Qatar and the region -- in such an attack, especially from a brotherly Muslim country in the month of Ramadan, attacking us in this way," al-Kaabi told news agency Reuters.

Japan Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi was caught off guard when President Donald Trump drew a parallel between US-Israel strikes on Iran and Japan's 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor during a bilateral briefing on Thursday.

The two world leaders were answering press questions when a Japanese reporter asked why the US didn't inform its allies in Europe and Asia, including Japan, before attacking Iran.

"One thing, you don't wanna signal too much. When we go in, we went in very hard, and we didn't tell anybody about it because we wanted to surprise," Trump said while answering the question and added, "Who knows better about surprise than Japan? Why didn't you tell me about Pearl Harbor?"

"You believe in surprise, I think, much more so than us," Trump continued.

The Israeli military said it launched a wave of strikes on Tehran early Friday, following Iranian missile fire at Israel overnight.

A military statement said Israeli forces had "begun a wave of strikes targeting infrastructure of the Iranian terror regime across Tehran".

Emirati and Kuwaiti air defences were responding to missile attacks early Friday, Kuwait's army and the UAE's interior ministry said in separate statements.

Elsewhere in the Gulf, Bahrain's interior ministry said air raid sirens were activated, and Saudi Arabia's defence ministry said it had intercepted a drone in the country's east.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday held a press conference and once again dismissed rumours of his death.

Addressing the foreign press in English, Netanyahu debunked the conspiracy theories of his death, saying, "First of all, I just want to say I'm alive, and you're all witnesses."

"Now that I have dispatched this piece of fake news, I want to give you an update on Operation Roaring Lion," he said in his second press conference since the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran on February 28.

Rumours about Netanyahu's death were triggered on social media when several users claimed that his March 12 televised address was generated by AI, as he appeared to have six fingers on one hand.

The US and its allies have sent warplanes and helicopters to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, as per a report in the Wall Street Journal.

They have deployed low-flying attack jets over the sea lanes to blast Iranian naval vessels and Apache helicopters to shoot down Iran's deadly drones, the WSJ reported, citing American military officials.

Iran on Thursday (local time) called on countries in West Asia to prevent the United States from using military bases in their own territories. These bases are the "root cause" of the current crisis and are being used for operations against Tehran, claimed Iran. The government has warned that such actions would amount to complicity in aggression.

Iran launched multiple rounds of missiles towards Israel late Thursday after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared the Islamic republic has been "decimated" by 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 (2200 GMT).

Qatar's energy minister said Thursday the attacks on the country's energy installations will slash the export capacity of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) by 17 percent, costing an estimated loss of $20 billion in annual revenue.   

"The damage sustained by the LNG facilities will take between three to five years to repair. The impact is on China, South Korea, Italy and Belgium," said energy minister Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi in a statement. 

War's end?

"I'm not sure who's running Iran right now. Mojtaba, the replacement ayatollah, has not shown his face... What we see is that there is a lot of tensions inside the people who are edging for the top.

"We're seeing cracks, and we're trying to propagate them as fast as we can, not only in the top command, we're seeing cracks in the field."

 'Winning'

Netanyahu said "we are winning and Iran is being decimated," adding that it was no longer able to enrich uranium or to build ballistic missiles.

Netanyahu also denied that Israel "dragged" the US into the war. "Does anyone really think that someone can tell President Trump what to do?"
 Israel 'acted alone' 

Netanyahu said Israel acted on its own when it struck an Iranian gas field, which sparked a retaliatory strike by Tehran on Qatar's main gas hub.

"Israel acted alone against the Asaluyeh gas compound... President Trump asked us to hold off on future attacks and we're holding out."

Hormuz 'blackmail' 

Netanyahu said that attempts to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz would fail. "The death cult in Iran is trying to blackmail the world by closing a key international maritime route, the Strait of Hormuz. It won't work."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday hailed his close cooperation with US President Donald Trump on the war in Iran.

"I don't think any two leaders have been as coordinated as President Trump and I. He's the leader. I'm, you know, his ally," Netanyahu told a press conference.

 Iran no longer has the capacity to enrich uranium or make ballistic missiles after 20 days of US-Israeli air attacks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a news conference on Thursday.

"We are winning, and Iran is being decimated," Netanyahu said, noting that Iran's missile and drone arsenal is being massively degraded and will be destroyed.

Trump insisted on social media overnight that he "knew nothing" about Wednesday's strike by Israel on the South Pars gas field in Iran, which retaliated to the attack by hitting Qatari energy sites.

"Iran's air defences have been rendered useless. Their navy is lying at the bottom of the sea. Their air force is nearly destroyed. Iran's command and control structure is in utter chaos", Netanyahu says during press conference.

"I promised you we will change the Middle East, and we have changed it, and it is unrecognisable. The state of Israel is stronger than ever, and Iran is weaker than ever", says Netanyahu on Iran war.

If confirmed, the episode would mark the first instance of Iran striking a US aircraft since the conflict began in February. The F-35, one of the most advanced fighter jets in service, carries a price tag of over $100 million.

Israeli media reported that an oil refinery in the northern port city of Haifa was hit on Thursday, after the military warned of incoming missiles launched from Iran.

Israel's Kan 11 public broadcaster aired images on television showing a thick plume of dark smoke rising from the area of the refinery. In a post on X, Kan reported that there were no concerns that hazardous materials had leaked.

The spokesperson for the environmental protection ministry said its director general and emergency response units from the Haifa district were on their way to a scene "following a report regarding the fall of interceptor debris in the Haifa region and a suspected incident involving hazardous materials".

(AFP)

An AFP journalist heard three blasts over the Tel Aviv area on Thursday, after the Israeli military announced it had detected missiles fired from Iran.

"A short while ago, the IDF identified missiles launched from Iran toward the territory of the State of Israel. Defensive systems are operating to intercept the threat," the military said.

(AFP)

Saudi Arabia's oil giant Aramco's 'Samref' refinery in the Red Sea port of Yanbu has been hit in an aerial strike after similar attacks on energy facilities in Qatar and the UAE in response to US-Israeli attacks on Iranian energy installations, according to a report by the news agency Reuters. 

Saudi Arabia will host a consultative meeting of foreign ministers from a number of Arab and Islamic countries in Riyadh on Wednesday to discuss ways to support regional security and stability given the Iran war, the kingdom's foreign ministry said.

A Turkish diplomatic source said separately that representatives from Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Egypt,  Jordan, Kuwait, Pakistan, Qatar, Syria, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates would attend the meeting.

There are scant signs of de-escalation nearly three weeks into the US-Israeli war with Iran that has engulfed the region and caused unprecedented disruption to global energy supplies. 

(Reuters)

European gas prices soared as much as 35 percent on Thursday as fresh strikes hit energy infrastructure in the Middle East, including Qatar's main gas facility.

The Dutch TTF natural gas contract, considered the European benchmark, jumped to 74 euros, before paring gains slightly.

Two waves of Iranian strikes caused "extensive damage" at Ras Laffan in Qatar, the world's largest liquefied natural gas hub, raising fresh concerns over energy supplies.

(AFP)

China condemned on Thursday the killing of Iranian national security chief Ali Larijani by an Israeli air strike, calling it "unacceptable".

"We have always opposed the use of force in international relations. The acts of killing Iranian state leaders and attacking civilian targets are even more unacceptable," China's foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told a press conference, when asked about Larijani's death.

(AFP)

Kuwait said Thursday a drone attack sparked a fire at an oil refinery in the small, oil-rich nation.

The state-run KUNA news agency cited the Kuwait Petroleum Corp. for the announcement. It said the drone attack sparked a fire at the Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery but caused no injuries.

The refinery is one of the biggest in the Middle East, with a petroleum production capacity of 730,000 barrels per day.

(AP)

Strikes killed two fighters from the former paramilitary coalition Hashed al-Shaabi in northern Iraq early Thursday, according to two statements from the group.

The two attacks targeted their positions in the Nineveh region, where Mosul city is located, and a military airport in Salah al-Din province, according to the statements from the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), now part of Iraq's regular armed forces.

The group blamed the attack on Israel and the United States.

(AFP)

Iran seeks compensation from the United Arab Emirates, accusing it of enabling US attacks against Iranian territory, Iran's UN Ambassador told the UN Secretary General in a letter according to a Nournews report published on Thursday.

In the letter, Amir Saeid Iravani said the UAE's decision to allow its territory to be used for the strikes constituted "an internationally wrongful act that entailed state responsibility."

Tehran said the UAE had an international responsibility to provide reparation, including compensation for all material and moral damages incurred.

(Reuters)

Iranian missile attacks have killed three Palestinian women in the occupied West Bank and a foreign worker in central Israel, medics said Thursday.

Falling shrapnel struck a hair salon in the West Bank town of Beit Awa near Hebron late Wednesday, killing the three women, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society, marking the first Palestinian deaths from Iranian attacks in the ongoing Middle East war.

The victims include 17-year-old Mays Ghazi Masalmeh, according to the official Palestinian news agency, Wafa.

The Red Crescent said at least eight others were wounded, including one woman in critical condition.

Wafa reported that the salon had been set up in a metal caravan next to a house.

(AFP)

President Donald Trump may use a White House meeting with Japan's prime minister on Thursday to press for help in the war on Iran, placing Sanae Takaichi in an awkward position as Tokyo weighs how much support it can provide.

Trump has lashed out at allies for their lukewarm support for the U.S.-Israeli military campaign and said the U.S. doesn't need any help. However, he is still pushing for more ships to clear mines and escort tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, largely closed by Iran in the conflict.

Trump hosts Takaichi for a long-scheduled White House visit aimed at burnishing the decades-old security and economic partnership between Washington and its closest East Asian ally.

Takaichi has sought to move Japan away from a pacifist constitution imposed by Washington after World War Two, but with the Iran war unpopular at home, she has so far not offered to assist in clearing the Strait of Hormuz.

(Reuters)

Saudi Arabia has not ruled out military action in response to repeated missile and drone attacks from Iran, Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan said on Thursday.

Speaking to reporters following a meeting in Riyadh of foreign ministers from the region, Prince Faisal said that Iran "tries to pressure its neighbours" with attacks.

"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," he said.

(AFP)

Qatari civil defence teams have contained fires that erupted at a major gas facility in the Gulf state's north following an Iranian attack, the interior ministry said Thursday.

"Civil Defence has fully brought all fires under control in the Ras Laffan Industrial Area without any reported injuries. Cooling and sites-securing operations are still ongoing," the ministry said in a post on X.

(AFP)

Leaders of Samoa and Tonga appealed for help this week as the import-reliant Pacific nations raised fears over possible fuel shortages and escalating costs caused by war in the Middle East.

Oil prices have surged to nearly $110 a barrel following strikes against energy infrastructure in Iran and the Gulf states.

The crisis in global energy markets has been felt as far away as the south Pacific, where nations like Samoa and Tonga are heavily reliant on imported petroleum.

In Samoa, about two thirds of the country's energy generation comes from imported diesel fuel.

Speaking after a meeting with New Zealand leader Christopher Luxon, Samoan Prime Minister La'aulialemalietoa Leuatea Schmidt said Wednesday he had asked if it was possible to divert fuel to his country in case of crisis.

"We don't know what's going to happen next," La'aulialemalietoa said.

He said Samoa secured its fuel supply from Singapore and other nations, but had asked Luxon to help "cover us in case something happened."

And in Tonga -- where 80 percent of its energy generation comes from imported diesel fuel -- Prime Minister Lord Fakafanua said New Zealand and Australia were "sharing intelligence" with his country to help them best prepare for shortages.

(AFP)

Hong Kong aviation giant Cathay Pacific has suspended flights to and from Dubai until the end of April over the war in the Middle East.

"In view of the developing situation in the Middle East, all Cathay Pacific flights to and from Dubai have been cancelled up to and including 30 April 2026," the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

"Further changes to our flight schedule may be needed in the coming days," it added.

Cathay had previously axed all flights to Dubai and Riyadh in March, extending earlier suspensions.

(Reuters)

Japan's central bank said Thursday it expected inflation to increase because of the "recent rise in crude oil prices" caused by the Middle East war.

The Bank of Japan also said in a statement that it had left its key interest rate unchanged at 0.75 percent.

(AFP)

President Donald Trump pledged that Israel would make no more attacks on Iran's major South Pars gas field, but if Iran attacked Qatar again, the U.S. would retaliate and "massively blow up the entirety" of the field.

Trump made his threat on social media Wednesday night as the war roiled global energy markets and Iranian missiles hit Qatar.

"I do not want to authorize this level of violence and destruction because of the long term implications that it will have on the future of Iran," Trump said, but added that he would "not hesitate to do so," if Qatar's liquified natural gas sites were attacked again.

(AP)

A Qatari complex housing the world's largest liquefied natural gas export plant suffered "extensive damage" amid a sharp escalation of attacks on energy facilities across the Persian Gulf. 

The Ras Laffan Industrial City, home to the LNG plant that accounted for about a fifth of global supply before production was halted earlier this month, was hit by an Iranian missile after four others were intercepted, authorities said late Wednesday. Hours later, Abu Dhabi shut its Habshan gas facilities after they were hit by falling debris from an intercepted strike.

The Pentagon has asked the White House to approve a more than $200 billion request to the US Congress to fund the war in Iran, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday, citing a senior administration official.

(Reuters)

Iranian state television said Thursday that a missile struck Qatar's main gas facility again, hours after it was hit in a destructive strike that Doha said caused extensive damage.

"Qatar's Ras Laffan refinery Hit by Missile Again, burning," the state-run Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting posted on Telegram.

(AFP)

Oil prices rose as much as 3% on Thursday after Iran attacked several energy facilities across the Middle East following a strike on its South Pars gas field, a major escalation in Tehran's war with the U.S. and Israel.

Brent futures were up $3.69, or 3.44%, to $111.07 by 0142 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose $2.29, or 2.38%, to $98.61.

Brent closed up 3.8% on Wednesday, while WTI settled nearly flat. WTI has been trading at its widest discount to Brent in 11 years due to releases from U.S. strategic reserves and higher freight costs, while renewed attacks on Middle Eastern energy facilities have given greater support to Brent.

QatarEnergy said on Wednesday that Iranian missile attacks on Ras Laffan, site of Qatar's core LNG processing operations, caused "extensive damage" to its energy hub. The United Arab Emirates also shut some energy operations, responding to incidents at the Habshan gas facilities and the Bab oil field caused by falling debris from intercepted missiles.

Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, said it had intercepted and destroyed four ballistic missiles launched toward Riyadh on Wednesday and an attempted drone attack on a gas facility.

(Reuters)