live Iran reopens Hormuz Strait, demands end to U.S. naval blockade- Saturday 18 April
Iran temporarily reopened the Strait of Hormuz on Friday (17 April) following a ceasefire agreement in Lebanon, ra...
U.S. President Donald Trump warned Iran to expect further strikes on Saturday (7 March). In a post on social media, he said Iran would be 'hit very hard'. His comments came a week into the conflict with Iran, which has spread across the Middle East.
Thank you for following today. You can find a wrap-up of the key events that took place in the article below.
U.S. President, Donald Trump, has said the U.S. has knocked out 42 ships belonging to the Iranian navy in three days. He made the remarks at an event in Miami, Florida on Saturday (7 March).
The U.S. has completed over a dozen charter flights and evacuated thousands of Americans from the Middle East since last week, the U.S. State Department said on Saturday (7 March).
One of the flights arrived at Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Virginia from Abu Dhabi on Saturday.
Protesters waving Iranian flags and holding photos of Iran's late Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei, have marched through central London. The demonstration, organised by the Stop The War Coalition, is set to end at the U.S. Embassy.
A Ghanaian UN peacekeeping soldier in Lebanon was seriously injured after the town of Al-Qozah came under shelling on Friday night (6 March), the Lebanese Foreign Ministry has said.
Writing on X, the Foreign Ministry confirmed that two other peacekeeping soldiers were injured in the attack. It called the assault "a serious violation of international law" and said investigations were ongoing to establish more about the circumstances.
Lebanese Shi'ite militant group Hezbollah has warned residents of Kiryat Shmona, which is located near the border with Lebanon, to head southwards at once.
"Warning. All residents of Kiryat Shmona are asked to evacuate immediately. Head south," it said in a statement.
Hezbollah did not specify what action, if any, it planned to take against the city of around 20,000 people.
In a social media post, U.S. President Donald Trump has said Iran will be "hit very hard" today (7 March). President Trump added that he was considering widening "the areas and groups of people" targeted, as a result of Iran's "bad behaviour."
"Iran is no longer the 'Bully of the Middle East,' they are, instead, 'THE LOSER OF THE MIDDLE EAST,' and will be for many decades until they surrender or, more likely, completely collapse!," he continued.
Baku has completed its evacuation of staff from the Azerbaijan Consulate General in Tabriz, while most employees from the Azerbaijan Embassy in Tehran have also returned. Chimnaz Shahlar has the details from Astara, Azerbaijan.
The UAE's Ministry of Defence (MOD) said it had intercepted and destroyed 15 of the missiles, while one fell in the sea.
In a post on X, the UAE MOD added: "Air defence systems also detected 121 UAVs [drones], of which 119 were intercepted, while two fell within the territory of the UAE."
Videos purportedly taken in the early hours of Saturday (7 March) show fire and a large plume of smoke rising over the Iranian capital in the direction of Mehrabad Airport.
The RAF said it shot down two hostile drones over Jordan this week. It was the first time the airforce's F-35B planes had carried out a shoot down.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Saturday (7 March) that the country's Interim Leadership Council had approved the suspension of attacks on neighbouring countries, except where attacks on Iran came from those countries.
The announcement came as Tehran continued to launch attacks in the region in response to U.S.-Israeli strikes.
The Azerbaijani State Security Service has said it has stopped Iran committing terror attacks against four targets in the country: Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, the Israeli Embassy in Azerbaijan, a leader of the Mountain Jews religious community and the "Ashkenazi" synagogue.
Overnight air attacks on the eastern Lebanese town of Nabi Chit killed at least 16 people, Lebanon's Health Ministry said on Saturday (7 March).
In addition, 35 people were wounded. More than 200 people have been killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon since Hezbollah launched rockets into Israel on Monday (2 March).
The UAE has said its defence systems are currently responding to a missile threat. It comes as witnesses report hearing several loud bangs in the capital Abu Dhabi.
Riyadh's Ministry of Defense said it had intercepted two ballistic missiles heding towards the Prince Sultan Air Base in a post on X on Saturday morning (7 March).
A spokesperson added that four drones heading towards the Shaybah Oil Field were also intercepted and destroyed.
The major domestic air hub in Tehran came under attack by heavy airstrikes on Saturday morning (7 March), according to Iran's semi-official Tasnim news agency.
The past 24 hours of the Russia-Ukraine war have seen a drastic escalation in both aerial bombardment and frontline losses.
Iran reopened the Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping on Friday (17 April) for the first time since the U.S. and Israel killed Iran's ex-Supreme Leader in air strikes, triggering the Middle East conflict, at the end of February. A U.S. blockade on Iranian ports, however, remains in force.
Russia published addresses of manufacturers allegedly producing drones or components for Ukraine on Wednesday (15 April), warning European countries against plans to step up UAV supplies to Kyiv.
Netflix shares fell sharply on Friday after the streaming group issued a weaker-than-expected outlook and said chairman and co-founder Reed Hastings will step down from the board.
U.S. President Donald Trump says Israeli and Lebanese leaders have agreed to a 10-day ceasefire that includes Hezbollah, raising cautious hopes of a pause in hostilities after weeks of escalating tensions.
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa has said his country could provide a “safe corridor” and “alternative route” for regional energy shipments, as supply disruptions continue to affect the wider Middle East.
An average of at least 47 women and girls were killed each day during the war in Gaza, according to new figures released by UN Women.
China is seeking to strengthen and upgrade its cooperation with Turkmenistan, focusing on what officials describe as “high-quality development” across a range of sectors.
Kazakhstan plans to boost trade with Afghanistan from $500 million to $3 billion, backed by infrastructure and transit projects designed to strengthen regional connectivity and improve access to global markets.
A low-profile diplomatic visit to Tbilisi may prove more consequential than it first appears, as representatives of France, Germany and Poland meet figures across Georgia’s political spectrum, signalling that Brussels is watching closely ahead of a key EU foreign ministers’ meeting.
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