War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand has telephoned Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, amid the intensifying war in the region, Al Jazeera reports.

During the call, the Qatari premier “reiterated his condemnation of the Iranian attacks on Qatari territory, stating that they are unacceptable under any pretext or justification”, according to a government statement.

“He noted that the State of Qatar has always been keen to distance itself from regional conflicts and has sought to facilitate dialogue between Iran and the international community.”

The readout from Qatar’s foreign ministry says that Canada’s Anand “called for de-escalation, the application of reason, and a return to negotiations and diplomatic means to avoid further chaos”.

The Kuwaiti military says air defences are currently responding to hostile missile and drone attacks.

“The General Staff of the Army notes that if explosion sounds are heard, they are the result of air defence systems intercepting the hostile attacks,” the military has said on X. “Everyone is requested to adhere to the security and safety instructions issued by the relevant authorities.”

TotalEnergies says it has shut down 15 per cent of its total oil and gas production due to the war in the Middle East, AFP reports.

“Production has been shut down or is in the process of shutting down in Qatar, Iraq and UAE offshore, representing approximately 15pc of our total output,” the French oil and gas major has said.

TotalEnergies said, however, that higher oil prices would more than compensate for the loss of Middle East production.

“A $8 per barrel increase in the Brent price is enough to offset the expected 2026 cash flow from operations from our Iraq, Qatar, UAE offshore assets at $60 per barrel,” the company said.

Saudi Arabia has intercepted three drones headed towards the Shaybah oil field, as Iran targeted the facility again in its campaign to disrupt global energy markets, AFP reports.

The Gulf kingdom’s defence ministry says an “unmanned aerial vehicle heading towards the Shaybah field … was intercepted and destroyed”.

Many ships can still pass through the Strait of Hormuz if they coordinate with the Iranian navy, Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei has said in comments carried by Mehr news agency, according to Reuters.

“After the current events, generally we cannot return to conditions before February 28 (start of the current Iran war) … as we have understood how important the safety of the Strait of Hormuz is, and so did the others,” the spokesperson has said.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has spoken to his Azerbaijani counterpart, Jeyhun Bayramov, and discussed “the latest regional developments and bilateral matters of mutual interest”, the Foreign Office says.

Italy ⁠will contribute 9.966 million barrels of oil ⁠to a coordinated ⁠release of strategic oil reserves, joining other International ‌Energy Agency (IEA) members, Al Jazeera reports citing a statement from the country’s energy ministry.

The oil ⁠reserves, to be released ⁠within the “next ⁠few weeks”, represent ⁠around 13.5 per cent of Italy’s total security ‌stocks, the statement reads.

This comes a day after the IEA made the historic proposal to release 400m barrels from its emergency petrol reserves into the market to contain energy prices.

An FBI alert to law enforcement agencies last month, warning of the possibility that Tehran might try to retaliate for any US strikes on Iran by launching drone attacks in California, was based on a single unverified tip, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt says, adding that there has never been such a threat to the U.S. from Iran, Reuters reports.

The confidential alert, issued by the FBI through the multi-agency Los Angeles Joint Regional Intelligence Centre, surfaced publicly a day prior.

It cited FBI information that, as of early February, Iran “allegedly aspired to conduct a surprise attack using unmanned aerial vehicles” launched from a sea vessel against targets in California “in the event that the US conducted strikes against Iran”.

Leavitt, in a post on X, says that the alert was based on one email sent to local law enforcement in California containing a single, unverified tip.

“To be clear: no such threat from Iran to our homeland exists, and it never did,” Leavitt has written.

Iran’s security chief Ali Larijani says Iran “will not relent until making you sorry for this grave miscalculation”, in a social media post addressed to US President Donald Trump.

“Trump says he is looking for a speedy victory. While starting a war is easy, it cannot be won with a few tweets,” he adds.

In its latest update, United States Central Command (Centcom) says approximately 6,000 targets have been struck in Iran since the US and Israel launched first strikes, Al Jazeera reports.

Over 90 Iranian vessels have also been damaged or destroyed, including more than 60 ships, and over 30 mine-laying vessels have also been hit since operations began, Centcom adds.

British police have said they will use the River Thames as a barrier to separate pro-Iranian protesters from counterdemonstrators ​in central London this weekend in what they say is a ‌unique way of preventing possible violent clashes, reports Reuters.

The police, with the approval of interior minister Shabana Mahmood, announced earlier this week that Sunday’s planned annual Al Quds march, organised by ​the Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC), had been banned, citing the tensions and risks ​created by the Iran war.

However, that ban does not prevent a ⁠static assembly, and the IHRC, which police said is supportive of the ​Iranian regime, intends to go ahead with a rally for “Palestinian liberation.”

London Assistant Commissioner ​Ade Adelekan said that in order “to reduce the risk of serious public disorder,” the IHRC protest would be held on the south bank of the Thames.

A counterprotest, involving a mix ​of groups from opponents of the Tehran government to pro-Israeli supporters, will ​be on the other side of the river, with Westminster’s Lambeth Bridge closed.

“This is a ‌new ⁠bespoke tactic, and something we have not tried before in recent times,” he told reporters. “This is a unique set of circumstances.”

The Kuwaiti military has said that air defences have intercepted five hostile missiles and nine hostile drones.

“Five ballistic missiles were detected, four of which were engaged and destroyed, while one (1) missile fell outside the threat area,” the military has said in a post on X.

“Air defence systems also detected seven hostile drones, five of which were engaged and destroyed, while two drones fell outside the threat area.”

The military also noted that two drones targeted vital facilities, bringing the total of hostile drones that targeted the country to nine, resulting in “human injuries and material damage”.

“The General Staff of the Army notes that the explosion sounds heard in some areas of the country are the result of air defence systems intercepting hostile aerial targets,” the military has added.

“The General Staff of the Army also urges everyone to adhere to the security and safety instructions issued by the competent authorities.”

Turkiye has strongly condemned Israel’s attacks on Lebanon, highlighting that the strikes have resulted in the displacement of approximately one million people.

“These attacks constitute a grave violation of international humanitarian law,” the Turkish foreign ministry said in a statement, adding that “it is evident that expansionist Israel seeks to further deepen instability across the region”.

“The Netanyahu government must not be allowed to carry out in Lebanon the same devastating policies as it has in Gaza.

“We will continue to stand in solidarity with the people and the state of Lebanon in the face of Israel’s attacks that threaten Lebanon’s territorial integrity and sovereignty,” the statement read.

The Trump administration has organised nearly 50 flights to repatriate American citizens from the Middle East since the US-Israeli war with Iran began, Reuters reports citing a State Department official.

“By the end of today, we’ll have completed approximately four dozen flights and safely evacuated thousands of Americans from the Middle East on those flights,” the official has said, briefing reporters on condition of anonymity.

The department, which waived the cost of government-assisted flights, has declined to give detailed numbers for how many people benefited from them.

The official has added that as of today, a total of 47,000 US citizens have returned from the region to the United States since February 28, mostly on commercial flights, and that the State Department has provided guidance or assistance to thousands of Americans.

“Through the department’s Task Force, we have directly provided security guidance and travel assistance to about 32,000 impacted Americans,” the official has said.

“Most Americans who have requested assistance have declined seats when offered, opting to remain in country or take commercial flight options, which offer greater flexibility in terms of destination and luggage,” they added.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has said in a statement that up to 3.2 million people within Iran are temporarily displaced.

“Between 600,000 and 1m Iranian households are now temporarily displaced inside Iran as a result of the ongoing conflict, according to preliminary assessments,” the UN body has said.

“Most of them are reportedly fleeing from Tehran and other major urban areas towards the north of the country and rural areas to seek safety.”

UNHCR warns that this number is likely to rise as hostilities continue and adds that foreign refugees hosted in the country, such as Afghans, are particularly vulnerable due to “their already precarious situation and limited support networks”.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry has announced that the death toll from Israeli attacks since March 2 has risen to 687, including 98 children, Al Jazeera reports.

The daily report issued by the Health Emergency Operations Centre also notes that 1,774 people have been wounded.

Iran is not laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz, deputy foreign minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi has said, after US President Donald Trump said US forces had struck 28 Iranian mine-laying vessels in the waterway.

“Not at all. This is not true,” said Takht-Ravanchi in an interview with AFP when asked about reports of Iran laying mines in the strategic waterway.

The Israeli military has warned it will strike a building in the centre of the Lebanese capital that it claims is a Hezbollah facility, and has told surrounding residents to evacuate, according to AFP.

“You are located near a facility of the terrorist organisation Hezbollah, which the Israeli Defence Forces will be targeting,” military spokesman Avichay Adraee has said on X, warning residents of Beirut’s Bachoura neighbourhood to immediately move at least 300 metres away from the targeted building and those adjacent to it.

Israeli airstrikes have hit a building twice in central Beirut, less than a kilometre from the government headquarters, shortly after the Israeli military said it had begun a new wave of strikes on the Lebanese capital, Reuters reports.

Iran wants to ensure that a war will not be imposed again on it in the future, deputy foreign minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi has told AFP, as the conflict rages with the United States and Israel.

“We want to see that war is not going to be imposed again on Iran,” he has said in an interview in Tehran.

“When the war started last June, after 12 days, there was [a] so-called cessation of hostilities … but after eight or nine months, they regrouped and they did it again.”

Norway’s maritime authority ⁠says ⁠that Norwegian-flagged ‌ships will not be permitted to ⁠enter the ⁠Strait of ⁠Hormuz until ⁠further ⁠notice, Al Jazeera reports.

The Israeli military has announced that it launched a new wave of strikes on Beirut.

“The IDF (military) has now begun a wave of strikes targeting terror infrastructure of the terror organisation Hezbollah throughout Beirut,” it has said on X.

The Trump administration has told US oil companies and shipping groups to prepare for a potential waiver of the century-old Jones Act governing domestic shipping to ease the movement of fuel around the country, two sources familiar with the discussions tell Reuters.

The announcement could come as early as Thursday, the sources have said, and would be aimed at combating spiking fuel prices since the start of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

The White House has not immediately commented.

Under the Jones Act, goods shipped between US ports must be carried on vessels that are US-built, US-flagged and mostly US-owned. The requirement sharply limits the number of tankers available for domestic shipments.

Waiving the rule temporarily would allow foreign ships to carry fuel between US ports, potentially lowering shipping costs and speeding deliveries.