War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has issued an apparent warning to US President Donald Trump, saying, “Wrong strategies and impulsive decisions will reset the entire board for the worse, explode energy infrastructure and markets and create an endless quagmire that you will be stuck in for years.”

Ghalibaf adds in a post on X, “You will see a different Iran.”

The post comes after Trump threatened to capture Kharg Island, Tehran’s main oil infrastructure hub.

The Israeli military has said that two “launches” were identified falling adjacent to an area where Israeli troops are operating in southern Lebanon, after sirens sounded in several areas of northern Israel, Reuters reports.

Earlier, the military said Home Front Command had issued a precautionary directive after detecting “launches” from Lebanon toward several communities in northern Israel, urging residents to enter protected spaces.

France’s President Macron says leaders from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE will be invited to take part in next week’s G7 session in France, which will focus on negotiations to end the conflict with Iran and the situation in the Strait of Hormuz, Al Jazeera reports.

In comments carried by AFP, Macron says the disruptions in Hormuz have “a real impact on our economies” due in particular to soaring fuel prices.

Twenty-two countries, including the US and European nations, have jointly warned Iran to stop attacking people “on our soil”, AFP reports.

Iran’s security services were condemned for their alleged use of international and local gangs for plots in Europe, North America and Australia.

“Attempts to kill, kidnap, harass, intimidate, or otherwise attack people on our soil, undermines national sovereignty and international norms. These actions must stop immediately,” the countries said in a joint statement.

“We stand united in our determination to protect our countries and our people against these threats. The Islamic Republic of Iran must halt these actions now.”

The statement was issued by Albania, Australia, Belgium, Britain, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, New Zealand, North Macedonia, Norway, Portugal, Sweden and the US.

A tanker near the blockaded Strait of Hormuz has suffered a fire in its engine room, a marine monitoring agency says according to AFP, without revealing the cause of the blaze.

“Local authorities have reported a tanker has experienced a fire in the engine room,” United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said.

The incident happened 21 nautical miles northeast of Sohar in Oman, it added.

The Indian embassy in Oman said on X that the crew of the ship Jalveer were being evacuated by the Omani navy, without mentioning the nationality of the crew nor the cause of the fire.

US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has said that “key facilities” in Iran will be attacked on the orders of President Donald Trump, according to Reuters.

Speaking to reporters after being briefed by commanders at the US Central Command headquarters in Florida, Hegseth says Iran had been given a chance to make a deal but had not taken it.

“We will hit them hard on our terms on the targets that improve the environment for us to operate in and undermine the capabilities that Iran wants to have,” Hegseth says.

At least 3,711 people have been killed and 11,483 injured since Israel escalated its attacks on Lebanon on March 2, Al Jazeera reports citing figures released by Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health.

Senior Iranian military officer Mohsen Rezaee says that the “unhinged” US President Donald Trump “imagines that bombs can get him out of the quagmire he himself created, but Iranian missiles will sink him even deeper into it”.

“Washington must choose between accepting Iran’s terms and losing the last shred of its credibility in the world,” he adds in a post on X.

Hezbollah has issued a statement claiming to have shot down an Israeli drone over the Nahle area in the Beqaa Valley, Al Jazeera reports.

Lebanon’s National News Agency also reported an Israeli drone being downed in the area, where it said several Israeli air raids had occurred.

India’s Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways says 13 Indian-flagged vessels are stranded in the Strait of Hormuz, adding that there are 562 Indian seafarers on them, according to Al Jazeera.

It adds that over 18,000 Indian seafarers are in the Gulf region.

Indian foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal has called for attacks on ships to cease, after three Indians were killed in a US attack on an oil tanker in the Gulf, Al Jazeera reports.

Jaiswal tells reporters that another ship, M/T Jalveer, was attacked ‌‌by the US Navy.

“These attacks must cease, and we reiterate our call for dialogue and diplomacy to ensure an early return to peace and stability in the region,” Jaiswal stresses.

He adds that the ongoing attacks on “shipping in the region are deeply worrisome and are a direct consequence of the ongoing conflict there”.

An Israeli air attack has hit a residential building located near a hospital in the southern Lebanese city of Tyre, killing one person and injuring 17 others, Al Jazeera reports citing Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA).

Among those injured are 10 hospital staff, including nurses, who were hurt by flying glass and debris, NNA reports, adding that blasts have also caused damage to emergency and patient rooms inside the medical facility.

The World Bank has lowered its global growth forecast to its lowest level since the pandemic, warning of the expanding economic impacts of the war in the Middle East on countries around the globe, AFP reports.

“Global growth is forecast to slow to 2.5 per cent in 2026, down from 2.9pc in 2025. Forecasts for two-thirds of economies have been downgraded relative to January of this year,” the multilateral lender says in a statement accompanying the release of its Global Economic Prospects report.

US President Donald Trump tells Fox News that he would “rather not” hit Iran’s civilian infrastructure, as he vows to step up American strikes on the Islamic Republic, AFP reports.

“Yeah, but I’d rather not do it, because once you do that, the people suffer,” Trump says when asked if the United States would start attacking power plants and bridges as he has previously threatened.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says any money Iran makes by tolling the Strait of Hormuz “will be paid for by funds extracted from Iranian accounts”.

“The Iranian regime will lose the zero-sum game it is playing,” he says on X. “Any tolls paid to the Persian Gulf Strait Authority will be offset by funds extracted from their accounts.”

Bessent adds that every attack Iran launches “will only deepen the economic and financial consequences it faces”.

US President Donald Trump says he would like to take over Iran’s oil infrastructure hub, Kharg Island, but is unsure Americans have the appetite for it, Reuters reports.

“We are talking to them, and all, but you know, look, my preference has always been — take Kharg Island … my preference would be that. I don’t know that America has the stomach for it,” he says in an interview on Fox News programme ‘Fox and Friends’.

The European Central Bank has raised its inflation projections and cut some of its growth outlook as the Iran war-induced energy shock reverberates through the 21-nation currency bloc, Reuters reports.

Inflation soared past three per cent last month and is likely to rise further as more expensive energy feeds into consumer prices through a range of items, from car fuel to holiday packages.

This already-visible inflation and fears of spiralling second-round effects are why the ECB has raised interest rates and why financial investors see another two hikes in the coming year.

Higher prices and increased borrowing costs sap consumers’ purchasing power and reduce corporate profit margins, curbing overall growth in an economy that was barely expanding even before the war began.

President Donald Trump says the US will “be hitting Iran … very hard tonight”, reiterating his claim that Iran’s military and “all other forms of defence” have been rendered inoperable.

“At some point in the not-too-distant future, we will be taking Kharg Island, and other oil infrastructure points, and assume total control of their Oil and Gas Markets, much like we have with Venezuela,” he adds in a post on Truth Social.

Kuwait’s defence ministry says it has engaged 24 hostile drones over the past 48 hours.

A defence ministry spokesperson says that the drones were “dealt with according to established procedures” and that “the sinful Iranian aggression resulted in limited material damage without any human casualties”.

Iranian state television says a blast was heard in the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of the southern port city Sirik, with the cause unknown, AFP reports.

“A few minutes ago, an explosion was heard in the Sirik area at sea,” a state television correspondent reports from the area, without providing further information.