The US and Israel on Feb 28 launched what they described as a “pre-emptive” joint strike against Iranian targets, with Trump announcing start of “major combat operations”
Pakistan hosted the first round of face-to-face talks between the US and Iran in 47 years in April; the talks ended without a breakthrough, but also without a breakdown
US allies in Gulf reportdrone attacks as IRGC warns against attacks on Iranian ships
Trump rejects Iran’s response to latest US proposal that would stop the fighting but leave the most contentious issues unresolved for now
Israeli air attacks in southern Lebanon have killed at least four more people and wounded five, Al Jazeera reports.
An air raid on the village of Abba in Nabatieh killed a 78-year-old woman and her 11-year-old grandson, and destroyed their home, according to the country’s National News Agency. Four people were also wounded in the attack.
Another attack on Jarjouaa, a municipality in Nabatieh, also killed two brothers and wounded another person.
Israel’s Iron Dome has been nearly 99 per cent effective against missiles from Hamas and Hezbollah and has knocked out most missiles from Iran, the chairman of state-owned Iron Dome maker Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd said, according to Reuters.
Rafael’s Yuval Steinitz told a conference of the Jerusalem Centre for Security and Foreign Affairs that since October 2023, Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon combined have fired some 40,000 rockets at Israel.
“Iron Dome intercepted most of them with success rates that (are) not 100pc but close to 100pc. It’s around 98pc, even 99pc, so it’s not perfect, but almost,” Steinitz said.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will visit Qatar tomorrow for talks on the Iran war, its impact on the Gulf and efforts to ensure navigational safety in the Strait of Hormuz, Reuters reports, citing a Turkish diplomatic source.
Fidan, who last visited Doha in March and held two separate calls with Iran’s foreign minister over the weekend, will repeat Turkiye’s support for its ally Qatar against attacks from Iran, the source said.
He will voice Ankara’s expectation for navigational safety to be ensured on the Strait of Hormuz and point to the critical need of doing so for regional security and economic stability, the source said.
Fidan is expected to “state that permanently resolving the conflict in the Gulf is the most urgent priority and exchange views on diplomatic initiatives to achieve this”, the source added.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan speaks during the “ADF Host Talk” at Antalya Diplomacy Forum in Antalya, Turkiye on April 17, 2026. — X/MFATurkiye/File
Asked about Trump’s upcoming visit to China, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei says Iran’s FM Abbas Araghchi conveyed Tehran’s views during his visit to Beijing last week, Al Jazeera reports.
“China is fully aware that this was a war of necessity. It was a war imposed on Iran. It was not an emergency incident, yet it is a continuation of unilateral actions of the United States, which continues to violate international laws and regulations,” Baqaei said.
“To China, stability and security in the Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman and the Far East are of top priority, and the Chinese would seize the opportunity to warn of any incalculable measures or unlawful acts by the United States, which would continue to undermine not only the regional security and stability but the global economic security,” he added.
Israel’s military has said that one of its soldiers had died in fighting near the border with Lebanon, bringing its losses to 18 personnel since the fighting with Hezbollah began in early March.
Sergeant Major Alexander Glovanyov, 47, “fell during combat near the Israel-Lebanon border”, the military said.
He was killed on Sunday.
Since the war began, one Israeli civilian contractor has also been killed in addition to the 18 soldiers.
A photograph taken from the southern Lebanese area of Marjayoun shows smoke as it rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the village of Kfar Tibnit on May 11, 2026. — AFP
Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei has said Tehran is aware that its citizens were “harassed” in the Emirates over the past week, Al Jazeera reports.
“We have handed down clear instructions to our embassies and consulates in Dubai, and here we are closely monitoring the situation in the UAE. Any action required within our power, we wouldn’t falter or hesitate in order to serve our people,” he said.
When asked about US sanctions on an Iraqi minister for his alleged connection with Iran, Baqaei said it was “an act of bullying”.
ndia has no plans to raise duties on gold and silver imports, a government source said on Monday, a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged people to avoid buying gold for a year due to the impact of the Iran war, Reuters reports.
India is the world’s second-largest consumer of gold and the largest consumer of silver.
On reports that European countries will deploy warships to the region to open the Strait of Hormuz amid rising energy prices, Iran’s Foreign Minister Spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei says the country has “clearly stated to the Europeans that they shouldn’t succumb to the US and Israeli hubris acts”, Al Jazeera reports.
“They should refrain from making any move that would undermine their interests. As I’ve said, this war is not only unethical but it is also unlawful. The US and Israel started their aggression against Iran. These European countries shouldn’t be fooled in order to get into this matter.
“Any intervention in the Strait of Hormuz or the Persian Gulf would bring about further complications. They would rather exacerbate the prices; we look forward to the world countries to act responsibly.”
Bank of England interest rate-setter Megan Greene said it was worth waiting “a little while” to see how the Iran war unfolds before deciding whether to raise interest rates, Reuters reports.
“It’s worth waiting for a little while to see what happens with the progression of this war and therefore see what we can infer about how it will propagate through the economy before we make a move,” Greene told a Bloomberg podcast.
“We’ve now had a negative supply shock, an energy shock, and that stands to push inflation up and growth down, which is a terrible situation for a central banker to be in.”
Iran’s proposal to end war with the US and reopen the Strait of Hormuz is legitimate and generous, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei has said, adding that the US continues to uphold unreasonable and one-sided demands, according to Reuters.
“Our demand is legitimate: demanding an end to the war, lifting the (US) blockade and piracy, and releasing Iranian assets that have been unjustly frozen in banks due to US pressure,” Baqaei has said.
“Safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz and establishing security in the region and Lebanon were other demands of Iran, which are considered a generous and responsible offer for regional security.”
China has voiced strong opposition to US sanctions for three China-based companies that Washington claimed enabled Iran’s military operations, calling the curbs illegal and unilateral, according to Reuters.
“We have always required Chinese enterprises to conduct business in accordance with laws and regulations, and will firmly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises,” spokesperson Guo Jiakun has told a regular press briefing.
“The pressing priority is to prevent by all means a relapse in fighting, rather than using the war to maliciously associate and smear other countries.”
South Korea’s presidential Blue House condemned in the strongest terms an attack against a cargo ship operated by a Korean shipper this month in the Strait of Hormuz and said it plans to respond once the source of the attack is identified, Reuters reports.
Experts conducted an initial forensic analysis of the damage to the port stern, a Blue House official said. The attack had led to a fire in the vessel’s engine room.
Namu, the vessel operated by the shipper HMM Co. , was not in violation of any rules in effect at the time in the waters off the United Arab Emirates and it was a case of an attack against a commercial vessel that cannot be justified, the official said.
Japan’s Nikkei share average touched a record high earlier in the day before ending lower, as the Middle East crisis outweighed optimism over corporate earnings and technology investment, Reuters reports.
US President Donald Trump rejected Iran’s response to a proposal for peace talks, dimming hopes for an end to the conflict that has driven up global energy costs.
The benchmark Nikkei 225 Index fell 0.5 per cent to close at 62,417.88, erasing an earlier gain to 63,385.04 in the session. The broader Topix gauge, which is less exposed to geopolitical factors, climbed 0.3pc to 3,840.93.
Avichay Adraee, the Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesperson, has issued a new warning for south Lebanon, telling residents of nine areas to flee ahead of potential Israeli strikes, Al Jazeera reports.
The areas included in the order are Ar-Rihan (Jezzine), Jarjouaa, Kfar Reman, Al-Numairiyah, Arab Salim, Al-Jumayjimah, Machghara, Qlaileh (Western Bekaa) and Harouf.
The Israeli military claim it has intercepted “a suspicious aerial target” in southern Lebanon in an apparent reference to a drone launched by Hezbollah, Al Jazeera reports.
TKMS’s order backlog hit a fresh record, the German warship builder said, as demand for weapons continues to surge across European to cut military dependence on the United States, Reuters reports.
TKMS, which is majority-owned by German engineering conglomerate Thyssenkrupp, has been riding a boom in defence stocks following a stock market listing in October.
Its order backlog rose to 20.6 billion euros ($24.2bn) at the end of March, up from 18.7bn at the end of December, the company said. The submarine and sonar technology divisions helped it to post higher-than-expected first-half sales and profits, it added.
Iran executed a man convicted of spying for the US and Israeli intelligence services, Reuters reports citing Mizan news outlet.
Mizan identified the man as Erfan Shakourzadeh, saying he had worked at a scientific organisation involved in satellite activities and had shared classified scientific information with foreign intelligence services.
According to rights group Iran Human Rights Society, Shakourzadeh, a 29-year-old graduate of aerospace engineering, was arrested in 2025 and was forced into his confession.
Japan’s industry ministry said a tanker carrying Azerbaijani crude oil will arrive in Japan as early as Tuesday in what would be the first receipt of the fuel from Central Asia since the Iran war began in February, Reuters reports.
