Fears of wider escalation grow despite President Donald Trump saying U.S. strikes on Iran could end within weeks. Meanwhile missile attacks, tanker incidents and rising casualties across Israel, Lebanon and the Gulf heighten risks to regional stability and energy routes.
Here is a recap of some of our top stories:
Our other top stories in brief include:
Donald Trump said in a televised address that Iran has been largely neutralised after 32 days of U.S. military operations and is no longer a major threat.
South Korea is increasingly turning to the United States as its main alternative oil supplier amid Middle East disruptions, with U.S. imports expected to rise further.
Former U.S. security official Joe Kent urged Trump to end the war on Iran swiftly, warning that the U.S. and Israel have differing goals and that a rapid withdrawal could let Israel claim victory independently.
Iran rejected U.S. claims of being decimated and vowed more “crushing” attacks on the U.S. and Israel, signalling an escalation of the conflict.
China has called for an immediate ceasefire in the Iran conflict and urged the U.S. and Israel to resume talks to prevent further regional and global impact.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian warned Americans in an open letter that Israel has fabricated a threat from Iran, insisting that Iran has never initiated war.
French President Emmanuel Macron said reopening the Strait of Hormuz by force is unrealistic and would expose ships to missile attacks.
The UK is hosting talks with 35 countries, including France, the UAE, and Canada, on reopening the Strait of Hormuz following Trump’s remarks that its security is other nations’ responsibility.
Argentina has expelled Iran’s charge d’affaires, Mohsen Tehrani, declaring him persona non grata after Iran accused Argentine leaders of complicity in attacks.
Iran’s military has signalled that the Strait of Hormuz will remain closed “long term” to vessels from the United States and Israel.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards say they have targeted an Oracle data centre in Dubai, according to state media, marking a further escalation in attacks on regional tech infrastructure.
The claim follows earlier threats by Iran to hit facilities linked to U.S. technology firms across the Middle East, which it has labeled “legitimate targets” amid the ongoing conflict.
An Iranian military spokesperson, Abolfazl Shekarchi, said the Strait of Hormuz will be closed “long term” to U.S. and Israeli vessels, escalating tensions around one of the world’s most critical shipping routes.
Pakistan has sharply raised fuel prices, with diesel now at 520.35 rupees ($1.88) per litre and petrol at 458.40 rupees, citing soaring global oil costs linked to the Middle East conflict.
Officials said the increase was “inevitable” as international prices spiral following the U.S.-Iran war.
To ease the impact, the government announced subsidies for transport, travel, and small farmers.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas called for scaling up the bloc’s Aspides naval mission to protect key shipping routes, following talks with over 40 countries on the Strait of Hormuz.
She warned the waterway is a “global public good” and rejected any Iranian attempt to charge ships for passage. The EU mission has already assisted 1,700 vessels in the Red Sea, but Kallas stressed more action is needed.
“We cannot afford to lose another critical trade route,” she said.
The president of the U.S., Donald Trump, said, "The biggest bridge in Ran comes tumbling down, never to be used again."
He said this in his Truth Social account and further said that much more was to follow.
Trump wrote that it is time for Iran to make a deal before it's too late and "there is nothing left of what could still become a great country."
Reuters reports that Iran is drafting a protocol with Oman to monitor traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, the official IRNA news agency cited Deputy Foreign Minister Kezem Gharibabadi as saying on Thursday.
As of early April 2026, Iran is enforcing a "selective closure" of the Strait of Hormuz, in retaliation for "Operation Epic Fury," a joint U.S.-Israel military operation against Iran on the 28 of February.
Argentina's government has expelled Iran's charge d'affaires, Mohsen Tehrani, from the country and declared him "persona non grata", Argentina's foreign minister said in a statement on Thursday.
The move requires Tehrani to leave the country within 48 hours.
The decision was made in response to a statement by Iran's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday, accusing Argentina's president, Javier Milei, and his foreign minister, Pablo Quirno, of being complicit in military attacks on its territory.
Argentina's foreign minister said the claims by Iran "contain false, offensive, and unfounded accusations against the Argentine Republic and its highest authorities."
Earlier this week, the Argentine government designated the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) a terrorist organisation.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Thursday that a ceasefire and an end to the fighting in the Middle East are fundamental to ensuring safe navigation through the Strait of Hormuz.
Yi said this in a statement citing a call with the European Union's top diplomat, Kaja Kallas.
He called on all parties to come to an agreement and create the necessary conditions for actualization.
Iraqis express solidarity with Iran in downtown Tehran. According to AnewZ reporter, people have been gathering in Enghelab (Revolution) Square since the outbreak of the conflict to express support for the Iranian armed forces.
Iran’s top military commanders have vowed continued resistance and dismissed claims that their capabilities have been weakened, Reuters reports.
The report further cited that the army chief Amir Hatami praised public support, saying: "Millions of people that we see today in the streets… sending a message to the enemy that we stand for the territorial integrity of the country."
Furthermore, it stated that Ebrahim Zolfaqari, spokesperson of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, in a more defiant tone, warned that Iran’s military strength remains intact. He said that information about their military capabilities and key sites has remained unknown and untouched so far in the conflict.
The report states that Zolfaqari further asserted that, "this war will continue until your humiliation, disgrace, irreversible regret, and ultimate surrender.
Reuters quoted a local Iranian media saying that Hatami said, "No enemy troops should survive if adversaries attempt a ground operation."
He warned that the war would continue until "irreversible regret and ultimate surrender."
About 40 countries are in talks to work out a joint action plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. This is coming at the heels of President Donald Trump's comments that securing the Strait was a problem for other nations to resolve.
One of the major focuses of the talks would be how to ensure shipowners feel confident enough for their vessels to resume travelling through the area and to bring down insurance premiums.
The virtual meeting, which began around 12:00 PM BTS, was chaired by the British foreign minister, Yvette Cooper. Countries in attendance included France, Germany, Canada, the United Arab Emirates and India.
One of the opening comments during the meeting included Cooper saying, "We are focusing on the diplomatic and international planning measures, including collective mobilisation of our full range of diplomatic and economic tools and pressures."
The United States was notably not in attendance.
African economies could lose 0.2 percentage points of GDP growth in 2026 if war in the Middle East exceeds six months, a report released on Thursday by two UN agencies, the African Union and the African Development Bank, said.
"The longer the conflict lasts and the more severe the disruption to shipping routes and energy and fertilizer supplies, the greater the risk of a significant growth slowdown across the continent," said the report, presented at the UN's Economic Commission meeting in Tangier, Morocco.
Production lines at the Mobarakeh Steel Factory in Isfahan, Iran have ground to a halt following heavy damage sustained in U.S.-Israeli attacks in late March, Iranian media reports, citing a statement from factory management.
The statement said that production lines at the factory had completely stopped, and employees were being asked not to come in until further notice for their safety.
The factory is the largest steel maker in the Middle East and North Africa.
Early assessments point to several people having been injured in the strikes, the news agency said, with other areas of Karaj also struck.
Fars added that the B1 bridge is considered the Middle East's highest bridge and was inaugurated earlier this year.
A photo published on the Fars News Agency X account shows a bridge, purportedly the B1 Bridge, with a section missing from it.
Britain is hosting talks about how to reopen the Strait of Hormuz with countries including France, the United Arab Emirates and Canada on Thursday (2 April), after U.S. President Donald Trump said securing the waterway was a problem for other countries to resolve.
Trump said in an address to his nation on Wednesday evening that the Strait could open "naturally" and it was up to other nations that rely on the waterway to ensure it was open.
You can read more about today's talks in the article below.
The Turkish Defence Ministry has urged a return to diplomacy to bring about the end of war in the region.
"All disputes must be resolved on the basis of international law, through dialogue and diplomacy,” Defence Ministry spokesperson Zeki Akturk said on Thursday.
“Our determined stance and efforts in this direction continue. We hope that conflicts harming the peace and stability of our region will be brought to an end as soon as possible, he added.
Akturk also criticised Israel's incursions into Southern Lebanon.
"Israel’s attacks in Lebanon, which constitute violations of international law and humanitarian law, have led to the deaths of three UN peacekeeping personnel,” he said.
On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had ordered the military to further expand its operations in southern Lebanon, enlaring a "buffer zone" up to the Litani River.
The number of people killed in Israeli air strikes in southern Lebanon has increased to 10, according to figures from Beirut's government and state media.
Earlier, the Lebanese Health Ministry said four people were killed and three others wounded in a strike on the town of Ramadiyeh in the Tyre district, while the state-run National News Agency reported that three people were killed in another strike in the town of Kfarsir.
National News Agency has now reported that a municipal council member and two of his family members were killed when Israeli warplanes struck a four-story building they were inside in the town of Zebdine.
Israeli warplanes also carried out a series of strikes on the towns of Yater, Harouf, and Zebdine, destroying several homes, according to the same agency.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry said on Wednesday that the ongoing Israeli offensive since 2 March has killed 1,318 people and injured 3,935 others.
Iran has given its assurance to the Philippines that its flagged vessels will be allowed safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz, the Philippine Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said.
According to a statement from the Ministry, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi assured Philippine Foreign Minister Maria Theresa Lazaro that its vessels and Filipino seafarers would be allowed through the waterway
The Strait of Hormuz, which enables the movement of oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) produced in the Middle East to world markets via the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean, was effectively closed due to the war between the U.S., Israel, and Iran, leading to a crisis in energy markets.
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday that any attempt to reopen the Strait of Hormuz by force would take too long and expose anyone passing through the sea passage to ballistic missiles.
His remarks came after U.S. President Donald Trump challenged allies to work towards reopening the Strait.
"Some people defend the idea of freeing the Strait of Hormuz by force via a military operation, a position sometimes expressed by the United States, although it has varied," Macron told reporters during a trip to South Korea.
"This was never the option we have supported because it is unrealistic," he added. "It would take forever, and would expose all those who go through the Strait to risks from the Guardians of the Revolution but also ballistic missiles."
The Czech government agreed to cap fuel retailers' margins and lower the excise tax to limit fuel price rises, Prime Minister Andrej Babis said on Thursday.
Other nations in central Europe have also taken measures to limit the fuel price impact stemming from conflict in the Middle East and rising oil prices. Babis told a news conference that there was "chaos" as he urged a more coordinated response from neighbouring countries.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has said that Iran has never initiated war and warned of Israel's "manufactured threat" in an open letter to America published on Wednesday.
"Iran has never, in its modern history, chosen the path of aggression, expansion, colonialism, or domination, and never initiated any war,” Pezeshkian writes in the letter.
“Is it not also the case that America has entered this aggression as a proxy for Israel, influenced and manipulated by that regime? Is it not true that Israel, by manufacturing an Iranian threat, seeks to divert global attention away from its crimes toward the Palestinians?," he adds.
AnewZ's Touraj Shiralilou has more details about the open letter in the article below.
Russia is willing to assist with efforts to resolve the Iran war, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday.
He added that Russian President Vladimir Putin was continuing to speak to regional leaders.
"The President is continuing these contacts, and if our services are somehow required, we are, of course, ready to make our contribution to ensuring that the military situation transitions to a peaceful course as soon as possible," Peskov told reporters.
Russia views NATO as a hostile alliance, Peskov added.
Peskov was responding to a question about U.S. President Donald Trump's speech about the Iran war and separate remarks by Trump about considering pulling the United States out of NATO.
Earlier, Trump said Iran was 'no longer a threat' in a televised address.
A man convicted of setting fire to a classified military site in Tehran during anti-government protests in January was executed on Thursday after the Supreme Court upheld his sentence, Iran's judiciary outlet Mizan News Agency reported.
Amirhossein Hatami was found guilty of attacking a restricted military facility and trying to seize weapons and ammunition, Mizan said. Hatami admitted the charges during interrogation.
Iran's First Deputy Chief of the Judiciary, Hamzeh Khalili, said in March that cases linked to the January protests were finalised and sentences were being implemented.
Following the protests, the Iranian government launched the biggest crackdown in the history of the Islamic Republic.
At the time, U.S. President Donald Trump warned he would "take very strong action" if the Iranian government started executing protesters.
Several U.S.-Israeli strikes targeted areas in central, western, and northwestern Iran on Thursday, including locations near the cities of Qom, Hamadan, and Tabriz, according to Iranian media reports.
The government-sponsored Mehr News Agency said two strikes hit a non-urban area outside the urban boundaries of Qom. In a separate attack, several sites in Kabudarahang County in Hamadan province in western Iran were hit early on Thursday, the agency said.
State-owned Press TV reported that a farm near the northwestern city of Tabriz was damaged in a U.S.-Israeli strike, with rescue teams working to free animals trapped under rubble.
No human casualties were reported in the three attacks.
Seven people were killed and three others injured on Thursday in Israeli airstrikes targeting multiple areas in southern Lebanon, according to Beirut's government and state media.
The Lebanese Health Ministry said four people were killed and three others wounded in a strike on the town of Ramadiyeh in the Tyre district.
In another strike, the state-run National News Agency reported that three people were killed after a two-story building was hit in the town of Kfarsir.
Israeli warplanes also carried out a series of strikes on the towns of Yater, Harouf, and Zebdine, destroying several homes, according to the same agency.
Lebanon’s Health Ministry said on Wednesday that the ongoing Israeli offensive since 2 March has killed 1,318 people and injured 3,935 others.
Iran’s Commander-In-Chief Amir Hatami has ordered forces to closely monitor “enemy movements with utmost pessimism and accuracy” and be ready to counter any form of attack, state media reported.
Hatami warned that “no enemy troops should survive” if adversaries attempt a ground operation, as concerns grow over a U.S. troop buildup in the Gulf as President Donald Trump said that the conflict is "nearing completion."
South Korea is weighing whether to pay Iran fees to secure Middle Eastern oil and gas supplies, Maeil Business Newspaper reported, as the ongoing conflict disrupts key energy routes.
The report cited a presidential official, though the Blue House has not yet confirmed the discussions.
Iran’s Health Ministry spokesman Hossein Kermanpour said a strike targeted the Pasteur Institute of Iran in Tehran, leaving the century-old facility severely damaged.
In a post on X, Kermanpour described the attack as a “direct assault on international health security,” sharing images showing parts of the research centre reduced to rubble.
Israeli forces said they carried out a series of strikes targeting Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) infrastructure in Iran, including sites in Tehran and a ballistic missile storage facility in Tabriz.
The military said targets included an IRGC ground force base and a mobile headquarters with commanders inside. It added that since the start of the war, Israel has hit “hundreds” of IRGC and military sites across Iran.
China has urged all parties involved in the Iran war, especially the United States and Israel, to immediately cease military operations and resume dialogue to end the conflict, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning said on Thursday (2 April).
Beijing also expressed deep regret over the damage to Iran’s cultural heritage and called for negotiations and peace talks to prevent further escalation and broader impacts on regional stability and the world economy.
Iran has vowed to continue its military campaign in the Middle East until the United States and Israel face “permanent regret and surrender,” according to Ebrahim Zolfaqari, Spokesperson for the Khatam al-Anbiya central headquarters
The statement, reported by semi-official Tasnim news agency which is widely believed to have close ties to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), on Thursday (2 April), came in response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s remarks. He stated that Washington would hit Iran “extremely hard” within weeks, despite Trump saying Iran was “essentially decimated.”
Zolfaqari challenged U.S. and Israeli assessments as “incomplete” and warned of “more crushing, broader and more destructive” attacks in the coming days, signalling Tehran’s intent to escalate the conflict further.
The U.S. embassy in Iraq has warned of imminent threats from Iran-aligned militia groups, saying they “may intend to conduct attacks in central Baghdad in the next 24–48 hours.”
Potential targets include U.S. citizens, businesses, universities, diplomatic facilities, energy infrastructure, hotels, airports, and other sites linked to the United States, as well as Iraqi institutions and civilians.
The alert comes after reports of a U.S. journalist being kidnapped in Baghdad, with the embassy noting that militias have previously “targeted Americans for kidnapping.”
Citizens are strongly advised to leave Iraq immediately.
Former U.S. security official Joe Kent, who resigned over the war on Iran, is urging President Donald Trump to end the conflict quickly. Responding to Trump’s national address, Kent wrote on X that the U.S. should “honor our fallen by learning from our past & only shedding American blood in defense of our nation,” adding that the best time to exit a war of choice is now.
Kent also stressed the need to restrain Israel, saying Washington and Jerusalem have “drastically different goals” and that a swift U.S. withdrawal could allow the country to declare victory on its own terms.
He is the first senior official in Trump’s administration to resign over the Iran conflict.
The United Nations has said its investigation into the killing of three Indonesian peacekeepers may take time.
Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric noted that access to the incident scenes in southern Lebanon has been challenging, and technical experts are carefully examining physical evidence while liaising with parties to verify information.
The UN hopes to provide updates on the probe soon.
The U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth echoed President Donald Trump’s rhetoric on X, posting the phrase “Back to the Stone Age” after Trump threatened to hit Iran “extremely hard” and potentially target critical infrastructure if Tehran doesn’t meet U.S. conditions.
Authorities in Abu Dhabi said air defence systems intercepted a missile near the Khalifa Economic Zones Abu Dhabi (KEZAD) on Thursday.
The Abu Dhabi Media Office reported only minor damage and confirmed there were no injuries.
A South Korean trade official said on Thursday (2 April) that the United States is now the largest source of replacement crude oil for supplies disrupted by the Middle East crisis.
The official told Yonhap that U.S. imports, which made up 16.3% of South Korea’s total in 2025, are expected to rise further as Seoul seeks alternative sources amid ongoing regional tensions.
U.S. President Donald Trump said in a televised address that after 32 days of military operations, Iran is “really no longer a threat,” signalling Washington believes its campaign is nearing its objectives despite ongoing strikes and regional tensions.
He stated that the U.S. had destroyed Iran's navy and air force, and crippled its ballistic missile and nuclear programmes.
"The country has been eviscerated and essentially is really no longer a threat. They were the bully of the Middle East, but they're the bully no longer."
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India has purchased crude oil from Iran for the first time in seven years, as supply disruptions in the Middle East threaten global energy markets.
British police have arrested a fourth person in connection with an arson attack on ambulances belonging to a Jewish community charity. The arrest took place at a London court on Saturday, where three other suspects were already appearing.
Senegal has taken steps to curb government spending by banning non-essential foreign travel for ministers, as rising global oil prices place increasing pressure on the country’s finances.
One U.S. crew member has been rescued after two American warplanes were downed over Iran and the Gulf, as the search continues for a missing pilot, while President Donald Trump has given Tehran 48 hours to agree to a deal to end the war.
The U.N. Security Council is expected to vote next week on a Bahraini resolution to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and protect commercial shipping, diplomats said on Friday, amid opposition from China to any authorisation of force.
One crew member from a U.S. warplane shot down over Iran has been rescued, U.S. officials said, as a search continues for a second crew member.
The family of the late Virginia Giuffre have urged King Charles III to meet survivors of sexual abuse during his upcoming state visit to the United States.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis reshuffled his cabinet on Friday (3 April) in a bid to contain a growing scandal over the alleged fraudulent use of European Union farm subsidies.
The U.N. Security Council is expected to vote next week on a Bahraini resolution to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and protect commercial shipping, diplomats said on Friday, amid opposition from China to any authorisation of force.
One U.S. crew member has been rescued after two American warplanes were downed over Iran and the Gulf, as the search continues for a missing pilot, while President Donald Trump has given Tehran 48 hours to agree to a deal to end the war.
Iran has strongly condemned U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to bomb the country “back to the Stone Age”, calling his remarks an example of “war crimes and genocide.”
International law experts from across the U.S., including Harvard, Yale and Stanford, have signed an open letter saying the strikes on Iran may amount to war crimes. America and Israel began airstrikes on 28 February on Iran's capital, Tehran.
The global commodities market is facing a severe structural supply shock after a series of coordinated military strikes in the Middle East devastated critical industrial infrastructure, threatening the manufacturing base of Western economies.
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