Iranian President Pezeshkian has confirmed the killing of intelligence minister Esmail Khatib calling it a "cowardly assassination", following reports that Israel carried out an overnight strike.
Three private aircraft parked at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv suffered "severe" damage after being struck by an Iranian missile, the Israel Airports Authority said.
NATO allies are working together on plans to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, Secretary General Mark Rutte said on Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters during a visit to Norway, Rutte stressed the importance of restoring trade through the strategically vital waterway.
“We all agree, of course, that trade has to open up again. And what I know is that allies are working together, discussing how to do that. They're working on that collectively, to find a way forward,” he said.
The Iranian President has confirmed that Iran’s intelligence minister, Esmail Khatib, was killed, according to a post on X.
"The cowardly assassination of my dear colleagues Ismail Khatib, Ali Larijani, and Aziz Nasirzadeh, alongside some of their family members and accompanying team, has left us in deep mourning,” said Pezeshkian in a post on X.
The announcement follows reports that Israel carried out an overnight strike targeting Khatib, marking a significant escalation in Middle East tensions.
Iranian gas exports to Iraq were suspended on Wednesday following an attack on Iran’s Pars gas field, a senior Iraqi official told Reuters.
Tehran provides between a third and 40% of Iraq’s gas and power needs. The official said Iran had diverted its gas supplies for domestic use in response to the incident.
Israeli media widely reported that Israel carried out the attack with the consent of the United States, though the Israeli military has not responded to requests for comment.
Russia emphasised on Wednesday that normal shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz can only be restored through negotiations.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated that any efforts to reopen the critical waterway, a key route for global energy supplies, must be achieved via diplomatic dialogue rather than unilateral measures.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Wednesday he is in almost daily contact with European leaders to discuss how to secure peace in the Middle East after the war in Iran ends.
Speaking in parliament, Merz said talks with France’s Emmanuel Macron, Britain’s Keir Starmer and Italy’s Giorgia Meloni are focused on shaping a lasting post-conflict order.
He added that Europe may consider measures such as ensuring freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, a key global energy route, if conditions allow.
Qatar publicly accused Israel of carrying out a strike on the South Pars offshore natural gas field, a critical energy asset it jointly shares with Iran.
In an official statement, Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari condemned the incident as a “dangerous” and “irresponsible” escalation at a time when regional tensions are already running high.
“Targeting energy infrastructure constitutes a threat to global energy security, as well as to the peoples of the region and its environment,” he warned.
“We reiterate, as we have repeatedly emphasized, the necessity of avoiding the targeting of vital facilities. We call on all parties to exercise restraint, adhere to international law, and work toward de-escalation in a manner that preserves the security and stability of the region,” al-Ansari concluded.
U.S. President Donald Trump has full confidence in Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in an interview with Fox News on Wednesday, defending her role within the administration amid recent turmoil.
The comments come after a top U.S. security official, Joe Kent, resigned this week over the ongoing war in Iran, marking the first high‑level departure in protest of the conflict.
Russia has condemned a U.S.-Israeli strike near Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant, describing it as occurring just metres from an energy unit.
Speaking at a news briefing, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called on the United States and Israel to stop attacking Iran’s nuclear facilities.
Britain’s Chancellor Rachel Reeves has described the absence of a plan from the United States and Israel to address Iran’s partial closure of the Strait of Hormuz as “frustrating.”
Speaking alongside Spanish Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo, Reeves said: “It is frustrating that there doesn't seem to be a plan for what to do now after the very predictable closure of the Strait of Hormuz.”
Iranian state media report that Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have issued evacuation warnings for several energy facilities across the Gulf, including sites in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar.
The Iranian women’s football team has returned to Iran after five players withdrew asylum claims in Australia.
The team crossed the Turkish border at Gurbulak, completing a tense journey from Kuala Lumpur. Australia had granted humanitarian visas to six players and one staff member amid fears of persecution after some players refused to sing the national anthem at the Women’s Asian Cup.
The five returning players rejoined their squad before travelling home, while two players remain in Australia, training with a local A-League club.
A Swedish citizen has been executed in Iran, Sweden’s Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard confirmed in a statement.
She condemned the act, saying: “The death penalty is an inhumane, cruel and irreversible punishment. Sweden, together with the rest of the EU, condemns its application in all circumstances.”
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has insisted that the ongoing crisis in the Middle East will not distract Spain from its support for Ukraine in its conflict with Russia.
Speaking on Wednesday, Sanchez said: “We cannot deny that the crisis in the Middle East is monopolising conversation and precisely for that reason, I want to say to the government of Ukraine that nothing and no one will make us forget what is happening in Ukraine. We will keep our support for the Ukrainian people with the same intensity.”
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has warned that the ongoing conflict in the Middle East threatens global energy security.
Saudi Aramco has restarted its Ras Tanura oil refinery on 13 March, after shutting the plant on 2 March following a drone attack, industry monitor IIR reported.
Saudi Arabia is hosting foreign ministers from Arab and Islamic countries in Riyadh to discuss regional security amid the ongoing war with Iran.
Attendees include representatives from Türkiye, UAE, Egypt, Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Pakistan, Qatar, Syria and Azerbaijan.
Semi‑official Tasnim news agency reports attacks on oil and petrochemical facilities on Wednesday in South Pars and Asaluyeh.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said military operation from outside would not bring positive change to Iran.
“Given the brutality of this regime, regime change is desirable,” he said at a press conference with his French counterpart, “but it has to develop from within the country. Fortunately, there are positive attempts at this.”
Germany is holding talks with the Iranian opposition to support internal efforts.
Norwegian NAS.OL will add 120 extra flights in the Nordics, broadcaster NRK reported on Wednesday, after Scandinavian airline SAS announced it would cancel flights due to high oil and jet fuel prices caused by the Iran war.
The European Commission instructed governments on Wednesday to be flexible in enforcing EU rules on gas imports, in a move designed to ensure the law enforcing its Russia phase-out does not inadvertently hold up deliveries needed to stabilise supplies during the Iran crisis.
EU customs authorities should approve non-Russian gas imports within 12-24 hours of a company requesting authorisation.
The simpler rules allow companies to use a single document to authorise multiple cargoes under the same gas supply contract. They also exempt companies from needing a new authorisation if LNG shipments are rerouted due to the Strait of Hormuz closure
China will continue mediating to push for a ceasefire and an end to fighting in the Middle East, its foreign minister said, adding the war should never have happened and had no reason to continue, according to a foreign ministry statement.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi made the remarks on Wednesday during a meeting in Beijing with the UAE presidential special envoy to China, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, in which he also voiced support for the UAE in safeguarding its sovereignty and security.
Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday that Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib was "eliminated" in a strike overnight.
There has been no confirmation from Iran regarding Khatib's reported death.
Katz said he and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had authorised the military to kill any other senior Iranian official being targeted without the need for additional approval.
Bahrain said they have intercepted and destroyed 130 missiles and 234 drones targeting the kingdom since the attacks began.
In a statement, they condemned the use of ballistic missiles and drones to target civilian facilities and said it is “a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and the UN Charter.”
Regional tensions escalated when a joint strike targeting Iran from Israel and the U.S. on 28 February killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Iran retaliated with drone and missile strikes targeting Israel, Jordan, Iraq, and Gulf countries hosting U.S. military assets.
Qatar's Ministry of Defence announced that nine missiles and a series of kamikaze drones were launched at them from Iran today.
The armed forces said they intercepted all ballistic missiles and drones.
The Department of Defence provided the information about the attacks in a statement posted on the social media account, X.
Israel and the U.S. launched a military attack on Iran on 28 February, which killed Iranian leader Ali Khamenei and other high-ranking officials. Iran responded by attacking targets it had identified in several regional countries, including Israel, as well as Qatar, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Bahrain, where U.S. bases are located.
Vietnam and China have restricted fuel exports until at least the end of March to address potential domestic shortages.
This has resulted in Cambodia importing more fuel from Singapore and Malaysia to make up for supply shortfalls following restrictions from Vietnam and China, which made up 60% of its annual imports in 2024.
Cambodia’s energy minister, Keo Rottanak, told Reuters that the U.S.-Israel-Iran war has reduced the availability of fuel globally.
The 2026 Iran war began on 28 February 2026, when the United States and Israel launched surprise airstrikes on multiple sites and cities across Iran, killing Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and numerous other Iranian officials. Iran responded with missile and drone strikes on Israel and U.S.assets in the region. Iran also restricted the movement of vessels through the Strait of Hormuz, responsible for about a fifth of the world's energy supply putting a strain on global fuel supply.
It would be unreasonable to expect Lebanon's government to disarm Iran-backed Hezbollah while the country is being attacked, France's special envoy for Lebanon said on Wednesday.
"Israel occupied Lebanon for a very long time and failed to eradicate Hezbollah's military capacity. Therefore, they cannot now ask the Lebanese government to do that job in three days under bombardment," Jean-Yves Le Drian told France Info radio.
Comments came after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that he had warned Lebanon's government that Israel would act to disarm Hezbollah "on the ground" if Beirut failed to do so.
The International Atomic Energy Agenc (IAEA) said on Wednesday that a projectile hit near Iran’s Bushehr nuclear plant, causing no damage or injuries.
Meanwhile, IAEA chief General Rafael Grossi urged maximum restraint during the conflict to prevent any risk to nuclear facilities.
Iran's stance against the development of nuclear weapons won't significantly change, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Al Jazeera on Wednesday, cautioning that the new supreme leader is yet to publicly express his view on the matter.
Araghchi said the escalating conflict in the Gulf “was not of Tehran’s choosing” and insisted the U.S. must bear responsibility.
“We did not start it. The United States started it and is responsible for all the consequences of this war- human and financial- whether for Iran, the region, or the world,” he said.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan will attend a meeting in Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh on Wednesday to discuss regional developments, after having announced he would hold a regional tour to seek an end to the Iran war.
Iranian strikes near Gulf countries' urban areas are due to U.S. forces relocating out of military bases into hotels inside cities, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Al Jazeera on Wednesday.
"Wherever there were American forces gathering, wherever there were facilities belonging to them, they were targeted. It is possible some of these places were near urban areas," the top Iranian diplomat said.
Araghchi acknowledged that regional countries are "upset and their people have been harmed or bothered" by Iranian strikes, but added that the blame lay entirely with the U.S. for starting the war on 28 February.
Lebanon’s Civil Defence says 11 of its personnel were wounded in an Israeli attack on the city of Nabatieh.
While most Israeli strikes in the Beirut area have been on the southern suburbs, Israel has also launched a number of attacks in central areas of the capital since Lebanon was dragged into the war in the Middle East on 2 March.
The Save the Children charity foundation has said that the conflict in the Middle East poses a major problem for clinics and health organisations working in Sudan, as they may run out of medical supplies within two weeks, resulting in a dire humanitarian crisis.
The ongoing U.S.-Israeli war on Iran has adversely affected global supply chains, especially the halt of shipping at the Strait of Hormuz and airspace closure in some countries in that region.
In an interview with Reuters, Willem Zuidema, Save the Children's global director of supply chain, said some $600,000 worth of essential medicines are stuck in ports in Dubai, with about 90 Sudanese government-run clinics serving roughly 400,000 patients , depending on these supplies to care for their patients. These supplies include vaccines and nutritional treatment, medicines like antibiotics, antimalarials, pain and fever medication, and paediatric injectable drugs.
Sudan's three-year conflict has displaced millions of people and triggered one of the world's largest humanitarian crises.
The U.S. military says it struck Iranian missile sites along the Strait of Hormuz using powerful bombs designed to penetrate hardened targets.
In a post on X, U.S. Central Command said forces “successfully employed multiple 5,000‑pound deep penetrator munitions on hardened Iranian missile sites” along Iran’s coast near the strait.
The UAE Ministry of Defence says its air defences are actively responding to incoming missile and drone threats from Iran.
A drone attack hit the U.S. embassy in Baghdad and an explosion was heard in the area, security sources said early on Wednesday.
The attack came hours after the embassy compound was targeted by three explosive-laden drones, resulting in a fire near the embassy compound.
An Israeli airstrike hit Beirut's Bachoura neighbourhood on Wednesday (18 March), a Reuters witness said, with a loud explosion heard in the area.
The strike came after the Israeli military issued a statement urging the evacuation of a building in the central Beirut neighbourhood ahead of the attack.
Earlier on Wednesday, other Israeli strikes on Beirut killed at least six people and wounded 24 others, Lebanon's health ministry said.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said an Iranian projectile on Wednesday hit near its Al Minhad Air Base in the United Arab Emirates, and that all Australian defence personnel were safe.
The United Arab Emirates has pledged to supply South Korea with 18 million barrels of additional crude oil and a shipment of naphtha, South Korea's presidential envoy to the Middle East said on Wednesday (18 March).
The envoy added that South Korea is still considering U.S. President’s call for a naval escort in the Strait of Hormuz, and noted that many countries in the region are seeking missile defence systems from South Korea.
Iran targeted Tel Aviv with missiles in what it said was retaliation for Israel's assassination of Iran's security chief Ali Larijani, Iranian state television reported on Wednesday.
Israel has said that Iran has repeatedly used cluster warheads, which disperse into multiple smaller explosives mid-air and spread over a wide area, making them difficult to intercept.
A top security official in U.S. President Donald Trump's administration resigned over the war in Iran on Tuesday (17 March), saying the country had posed no imminent threat to the United States.
Meanwhile, Trump called it a "good thing" that Joe Kent stepped down as head of the National Counterterrorism Centre, describing him as "very weak on security."
Iranian President Pezeshkian has confirmed the killing of intelligence minister Esmail Khatib calling it a "cowardly assassination", foll...
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Iran’s intelligence chief, Esmail Khatib, has been killed in an Israeli missile strike carried out overnight, according to Iranian state medi...
Georgia is in national mourning following the death of Ilia II, the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, who has died at the age of 93. His passing...
As the U.S.–Israel war with Iran enters its third week, disruption is spreading well beyond the battlefield. Analysts say the conflict is alr...
Iran's stance against the development of nuclear weapons will not significantly change, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told Al Jazeera on Wednesday (18 March), cautioning that the new supreme leader is yet to publicly express his view on the matter.
President Donald Trump said NATO is making a “very foolish mistake” by refusing to help the U.S. as Israel Katz claimed Ali Larijani was killed in Israeli strikes.
Joseph Kent, head of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center, resigned on Tuesday (17 March), becoming the most senior official in President Donald Trump’s administration to step down over the war in Iran. Kent cited his opposition to the conflict, stating that Tehran posed no imminent threat.
The real power of the Strait of Hormuz lies not in closing it, but in the threat of closure.
Morocco has been declared winners of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations and Senegal stripped of their title by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
President Donald Trump said NATO is making a “very foolish mistake” by refusing to help the U.S. as Israel Katz claimed Ali Larijani was killed in Israeli strikes.
Iranian President Pezeshkian has confirmed the killing of intelligence minister Esmail Khatib calling it a "cowardly assassination", following reports that Israel carried out an overnight strike.
Kouri Richins, a U.S. woman who penned a children’s book about bereavement after the death of her husband has been found guilty of killing him.
Senior officials from the United States and China met in Paris this week for a new round of trade talks, as the world’s two largest economies attempt to manage their economic rivalry and avoid further tensions.
Iran’s intelligence chief, Esmail Khatib, has been killed in an Israeli missile strike carried out overnight, according to Iranian state media. He was a longstanding figure within Iran’s tightly controlled leadership.
Georgia is in national mourning following the death of Ilia II, the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia, who has died at the age of 93. His passing marks the end of a nearly 50-year era during which he became one of the most influential spiritual and public figures in the country’s modern history.
As the U.S.–Israel war with Iran enters its third week, disruption is spreading well beyond the battlefield. Analysts say the conflict is already constraining fertiliser supplies, driving up prices and increasing the risk of food shortages, particularly in developing economies.
Uzbekistan is tightening regulation of the digital space by introducing penalties for online insults and establishing ethical rules for the development and use of artificial intelligence (AI).
Israel’s assassination of Iran’s security chief, Ali Larijani, is unlikely to pose a significant challenge to Tehran, Iranian foreign policy analyst Mohammad Khatibi told AnewZ’s Context on Tuesday (17 March).
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