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
British no-frills airline EasyJet said Thursday that its losses deepened in the six months to end-March after the Middle East war sent jet fuel prices soaring, AFP reports.
The headline loss after tax came in at 377 million ($506m) for first half of its financial year, a rise of 27 percent from the period a year earlier, as the US-Iran conflict also upended travel plans, the carrier said in a statement.
Revenue jumped 12 per cent to 3.954 billion, as passenger numbers rose six percent over the reporting period.
EasyJet said “it has been impacted by the Middle East conflict through higher fuel costs and lower forward visibility”.
Saudi Arabia is projected to increase its use of imported fuel oil to generate electricity this summer, following a drop in natural gas supplies from oilfields that were shut down after conflict with Iran restricted the country’s oil exports, Reuters reports.
This rising reliance on fuel oil comes as summer heat drives up the demand for air conditioning, dealing a blow to the kingdom’s goals of shifting towards cleaner energy.
Iran has executed two people for what it said were charges of creating a group to disrupt the country’s security and having membership in a “terrorist” organisation, the country’s Tasnim news agency reported, according to Reuters.
Tasnim identified the two as Ramin Zaleh and Karim Maroufpour.
Oil prices edged up, paring some previous losses as investors monitored peace talks between the US and Iran, while supply tightness and US inventory drawdowns provided some support, Reuters reports.
Brent crude futures rose 78 cents, or 0.74 per cent, to $105.80 a barrel by 0341 GMT, and US West Texas Intermediate futures were up 84 cents, or 0.85pc, at $99.10.
“The oil market remains overly sensitive to Iran-related headlines, with participants continuing to pin considerable hope on reports that talks between the US and Iran are progressing,” ING analysts said in a note.
Sri Lankan tea workers are facing increasing hardship as the Iran war increases energy prices and reduces demand for tea exports, Reuters reports.
According to Sri Lanka’s Export Development Board (EDB), export earnings fell 17.3 percent year-on-year in March to $114.75 million.
This was in part due to a 38 per cent drop in demand from Iraq, the largest tea buyer, while shipments to the United Arab Emirates plunged 93pc amid disruption to shipping and transport logistics, EDB data showed.
An employee prepares tea in a tasting room at the Dilmah tea factory in Colombo, Sri Lanka, April 23, 2026. —Reuters
An elderly woman walks past Lebanese civil defence workers searching through the rubble in the southern Lebanese village of Deir Qanun al-Nahr on May 20, 2026. —AFP
Lebanese civil defence workers search through the rubble in the southern Lebanese village of Deir Qanun al-Nahr on May 20, 2026. —AFP
Ghida Krisht and Wael Sabbagh inspect the rubble of a building destroyed by an Israeli strike in Beirut’s Tallet el-Khayyet neighbourhood on May 18, 2026. —AFP
Lebanese civil defence workers search through the rubble in the southern Lebanese village of Deir Qanun al-Nahr on May 20, 2026. —AFP
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller has issued a stark warning to the Iranian leadership regarding the ongoing standoff as negotiations have failed to progress, Al Jazeera reports.
Speaking to Fox News, Miller said that the current administration in Tehran faces a critical ultimatum from the US.
“This new team in Iran has a choice to make,” Miller said.
“They can either agree to a piece of paper that is satisfactory to the United States, or they can face a punishment from our military, the likes of which has not been seen in modern history. That’s the choice that they face,” he said.
The Iranian state-run agency Nour News quoted Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei as saying “We have received US views and are reviewing them.”
He said that Pakistan continued to mediate exchanges of messages between Tehran and Washington, adding that several rounds of communication had taken place based on Iran’s original 14-point framework.
Japan’s Nikkei index jumped more than three per cent in early Asian trade after Iran said it was examining a new US proposal to end the Middle East war, AFP reports.
South Korea’s benchmark Kospi index soared 5.42pc, also helped by renewed negotiations between Samsung Electronics’ management and workers’ union that averted a strike called for today.
US President Donald Trump has said the United States was ready to proceed with further attacks on Tehran if Iran did not agree to a peace deal, but suggested Washington could wait a few days to “get the right answers”, Reuters reports.
“Believe me, if we don’t get the right answers, it goes very quickly. We’re all ready to go,” he said at Joint Base Andrews.
Asked how long he would wait, Trump said, “It could be a few days, but it could go very quickly.”
US President Donald Trump has said that talks with Tehran were “on the borderline” between a deal to end the Middle East war and a resumption of strikes on Iran, AFP reports.
Trump has given conflicting signals since announcing that he had called off renewed attacks to give time for negotiations, veering between optimism about an agreement and threats of more action.
“It’s right on the borderline, believe me,” Trump told reporters at Joint Base Andrews near Washington when asked where the talks with Iran stood.
“If we don’t get the right answers, it goes very quickly. We’re all ready to go. We have to get the right answers — it would have to be a complete 100 percent good answers.”
Trump said it would save “a lot of time, energy and lives” if Iran made a deal, saying it could happen “very quickly, or (in) a few days.”
The US leader said this week he had been an hour away from ordering the resumption of strikes on Iran but postponed the attack planned for Tuesday at the request of Gulf states.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has told US President Donald Trump in a call that he welcomes the extension of a ceasefire between the US and Iran, adding he believed contested issues between the sides could be resolved, Reuters reports citing the Turkish Presidency.
“During the meeting, our president stated that he viewed the decision to extend the ceasefire in the conflict zone in our region as a positive development (and) that he believed a reasonable solution to the disputed issues was possible,” the presidency says in a statement.
Iranian national security official Ebrahim Azizi says the country’s experience “demonstrates the inherent and enduring untrustworthiness of the United States; that is why we are prepared for every scenario”.
“Even now, despite the intense media blackout, the American people know how much cost and damage their government has imposed on them,” he adds in a post on X. “The world witnessed Iran’s astonishing power, although many more surprises still remain.”
Asked if Iran was offered sanctions relief on oil, US President Donald Trump has replied in the negative, stating that relief will only come with a deal.
“I’m not doing any relief until they sign an agreement,” he tells reporters.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian says Tehran “has consistently honored its commitments and explored every avenue to avert war”, Al Jazeera reports.
“All paths remain open from our side,” the Iranian president writes on X. “Forcing Iran to surrender through coercion is nothing but an illusion. Mutual respect in diplomacy is far wiser, safer, and more sustainable than war.”
Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei says Tehran has received a new US proposal and was currently examining it, as Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi visits the Iranian capital.
“We received the points of view of the American side and we are currently examining them,” he tells state television.
He reiterates Iran’s demands in talks to end the war, including the release of Iranian assets frozen abroad and an end to the US blockade on Iranian ports.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has met with Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, who has made another visit to Iran, Al Jazeera reports.
The pair have discussed the status of continued US-Iran negotiations, the Tasnim news agency reported, while Pezeshkian expressed support for Pakistan’s efforts to encourage regional stability and cooperation.
Naqvi also stressed “the importance of continuing the path of dialogue and understanding”, Tasnim reports.
Iran is seeking to establish a mechanism with Oman to ensure sustainable security in the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian foreign ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei tells state TV, according to Reuters.
He says Iran is ready to develop protocols for safe shipping traffic in cooperation with other coastal states, without providing further details.
