Tuesday: As it happened
- White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Tuesday that the US has “annihilated” the Iranian navy
- US president Donald Trump will “determine when Iran is in a place of unconditional surrender”, Leavitt said
- Irans UN envoy said US and Israeli strikes have destroyed nearly 10,000 civilian sites in the country
- Israel struck the Lebanese capital Beirut with more air strikes as its troops moved deeper into the country’s south, in moves it says are aimed at disarming the Iran-backed militia Hizbullah
- Israel rejected diplomatic overtures by Lebanon to halt its escalating offensive in the country
- More than 759,000 people have been displaced by Israel’s actions in Lebanon
- Close to 1,900 people across the Gulf region have been killed in the war to date, with casualties highest in Iran and Lebanon
- Taoiseach Micheál Martin said he will advocate de-escalation in his upcoming meeting with Trump in the White House for St Patrick’s Day
- European leaders agreed the European Council must take decisions on the pressing issue of energy prices and measures must be targeted, temporary, and well co-ordinated
- An additional €3 million in humanitarian support will be provided to Lebanon by the Irish Government
Key reads
- Fintan O’Toole: Donald Trump is not mentally ill, but he is mad
- Water is now a weapon in the expanding Middle East war
- Keith Duggan: The more Trump spoke, the less his Iran plan seemed clear
That is the end of the live report for day 11 of the US-Israeli war on Iran. Read Mark Weiss’s latest report on the conflict here.
The United States military “eliminated” 16 Iranian mine-laying vessels near the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, the US central command said in a statement. – Reuters
Iran’s new leader was elevated by Revolutionary Guards
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards forced through the choice of Mojtaba Khamenei as the new supreme leader, seeing him as a more pliant version of his father who would back their hardline policies, bludgeoning aside the concerns of pragmatists, senior Iranian sources told Reuters.
Already very powerful, the guards have gained yet greater sway since the war began and quickly overcame the misgivings of senior political and clerical figures whose opposition to the choice delayed the announcement by hours, the sources said.
Adding to the concerns of those who opposed Khamenei’s installation as supreme leader, he had still issued no statement by Tuesday evening, nearly 48 hours after his selection during a war that has killed more than a thousand Iranians.
Khamenei’s selection, engineered by the guards, may add up to a more aggressive stance abroad and sterner internal repression, said the three senior Iranian sources, a reformist former official and another insider.
Though an influential backroom operator for decades spent running his father’s office, Mojtaba Khamenei remains an obscure figure to many Iranians and may have been wounded in the US-Israeli strikes that killed his father. – Reuters
Israel has rejected diplomatic overtures by Lebanon to halt its escalating offensive against the Hizbullah militant group, demanding negotiations only take place “under fire”, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday, citing three people with knowledge of the matter.
The talks have not materialised because of disagreements over sequencing, with Beirut demanding there be a “cessation of fire” before any meeting takes place and the Israeli government wanting only to discuss the possibility of a cessation, the newspaper said. – Reuters
The European Central Bank will do everything to keep inflation under control, despite the current surge in energy prices, bank president Christine Lagarde told France 2 television on Tuesday.
Lagarde said Europe has a greater capacity to absorb the current shock than in 2022 but the level of uncertainty and volatility is also greater.
“I can assure you ... that we will do everything necessary to keep inflation under control and to ensure that the French, the Europeans, do not experience inflationary increases like those we saw in 2022 and 2023,” she said. – Reuters
Taoiseach will advocate for de-escalation in meeting with Trump
Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said he expects “a good exchange of views” on the Middle East and that he will advocate de-escalation in his upcoming meeting with US president Donald Trump
Speaking in Madrid, Martin said he will convey to Washington next week “our desire that we would have a de-escalation and […] a cessation of hostilities, and that we can get a resolution to the outstanding issues”.
He said a Government briefing on Monday, which underlined its executive responsibility for foreign policy in the wake of President Catherine Connolly’s intervention on Iran, “was just a simple statement of fact”. Connolly went further than the Government in her description of the offensive in the Gulf, condemning “violations of international law”.
Martin said the briefing acknowledged the President’s “constitutional rights” and framework, “but also that governments conduct foreign policy within our Constitution”.
The Government and the President are “clearly aligned” in their commitment to an international rules-based order, the Taoiseach added. – Irish Times contributor Guy Hedgecoe, reporting from Madrid
European leaders on Tuesday agreed the European Council must take decisions on the pressing issue of energy prices and measures must be targeted, temporary, and well-co-ordinated, a German government spokesperson said.
European Union leaders discussed competitiveness, including energy prices, on a call with German chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni, Belgian prime minister Bart De Wever and others.
“Measures must be targeted, temporary, and well co-ordinated,” a statement said.
Eight American service members have been severely injured in the 11 days since US president Donald Trump began the war on Iran, the Pentagon said in a statement on Tuesday.
Iranian strikes have killed seven American troops and injured 140 US service members overall, the Pentagon said. Of that number, 108 have returned to duty. – New York Times
Strikes on Iran have destroyed 10,000 civilian sites, says Iranian UN envoy
Iran’s United Nations envoy has said four Iranian diplomats were killed in Israel’s attack at Ramada Hotel in Beirut on Sunday. Amir Saeid Iravani also said attacks on his country’s fuel storage facilities in Tehran and other cities have released pollutants.
He said US and Israeli air strikes on Iran have destroyed nearly 10,000 civilian sites, including 65 schools and educational institutions and almost 8,000 homes since the war began on February 28th.
He repeated a previous death toll that the strikes have killed more than 1,300 civilians. – Reuters
Trump warns Iran against placing mines in Strait of Hormuz
In a post on the Truth Social platform, US president Donald Trump said: “If Iran has put out any mines in the Hormuz Strait, and we have no reports of them doing so, we want them removed, IMMEDIATELY! If for any reason mines were placed, and they are not removed forthwith, the Military consequences to Iran will be at a level never seen before. If, on the other hand, they remove what may have been placed, it will be a giant step in the right direction!”
British Airways cancels fights to Abu Dhabi ‘until later this year’
British Airways has cancelled all flights to and from Amman, Bahrain, Doha, Dubai and Tel Aviv “until later this month” and to and from Abu Dhabi “until later this year”, it said in an update to customers.
“We’re keeping the situation under constant review and are in touch with our customers to offer them a range of options,” it said.
Deadly strike on Iranian school being investigated – Leavitt
Asked about a deadly strike that hit a school in the southern Iranian town of Minab on February 28th, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said there is an investigation under way by the US department of war. President Donald Trump will accept the conclusions reached by the department, she said.
There has been “a lot of speculation in the media” about the strike on the school, but the White House is not going to be “coerced by the New York Times, which has made “a lot of claims” that have not been verified by the department of war, she said.
A New York Times investigation found fragments of a US-made missile near the site of the strike. At least 175 people, most of them children, were reportedly killed.
Trump will determine Iran’s ‘complete and unconditional surrender’
Karoline Leavitt has told White House reporters the war with Iran will end when there is “complete and unconditional surrender whether they [Iran] say it or not”.
She said Trump is not suggesting Iran is “going to come out and say that themselves”. He will “determine when Iran is in a place of unconditional surrender, when they no longer pose a credible threat to the United States and our allies”, she said.
US has ‘annihilated’ Iranian navy, says White House
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters the US has “annihilated” the Iranian regime’s navy and “destroyed” more than 50 of its vessels.
The country is “making tremendous strides towards achieving our military objectives”, she said, adding that more than 5,000 enemy targets have been struck.
Now the US military is moving to dismantle Iranian missile infrastructure, she said.
US president Donald Trump “will not allow” Iranian “terrorists” to interrupt the flow of oil through the Strait of Hormuz.
He has made it “unequivocally clear” to those remaining in the Iranian regime that anyone who stops traffic through the strait will be “hit by the world’s most powerful military 20 times harder than they have so far”, she said.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt is due to brief reporters shortly. It is day 11 of the US-Israeli war on Iran.
Lebanese capital pounded by air strikes on Tuesday
Israel’s military pounded the Lebanese capital’s southern suburbs with air strikes on Tuesday and its troops pushed deeper into the country’s south, as an Israeli envoy said the key to ending the war was disarming Lebanese militant group Hizbullah.
Lebanon was pulled deep into the war in the Middle East last week, when Iran-backed Hizbullah opened fire on Israel to avenge the killing of Iran’s supreme leader.
Israel has since launched air strikes across Lebanon’s south, east and Beirut’s suburbs, killing nearly 570 people, according to a report by the Lebanese government’s disaster risk management unit on Tuesday.
Strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs on Tuesday afternoon sent thick columns of smoke over the city. Two hours before they began, an Israeli military spokesperson ordered residents to leave immediately, specifying three new districts that should be evacuated. A member of the municipal council said families there were fleeing, adding to the more than 759,000 that Lebanese authorities say have been displaced by the war. – Reuters
Trump considering easing oil sanctions on Russia
US president Donald Trump is considering easing oil sanctions on Russia and releasing emergency crude stockpiles as part of a package of options aimed at curbing spiking global oil prices amid the Iran conflict, according to multiple sources who spoke to Reuters.
The deliberations reflect White House worries the surge in oil prices following more than a week of US and Israeli strikes on Iran will hurt US businesses and consumers in advance of the November midterm elections, when Trump’s fellow Republicans hope to retain control of Congress.
Trump said on Monday his administration was lifting sanctions on some countries as part of efforts to stabilise the oil market, but declined to provide details.
“So we have sanctions on some countries. We’re going to take those sanctions off until the Strait is up,” he said.
Easing sanctions on Russia would potentially boost world supplies of oil at a time of massive disruptions to Middle East shipments from the expanding Iran conflict. But it could also complicate US efforts to deprive Russia of revenue for its war in Ukraine. – Reuters
US energy secretary Chris Wright on Tuesday deleted a post on X which had said the American navy successfully escorted an oil tanker through the Strait of Hormuz “to ensure oil remains flowing to global markets.” It was unclear why Wright deleted the post.
Update: The US military has not escorted any ships through the Strait of Hormuz so far, a US official said. – Reuters
I was away from Beirut for one week and in that time full-blown war began, writes Irish Times contributor Sally Hayden.
The reality has once again shifted in a city accustomed to pain. I came back to a new set of circumstances, where the boundaries of modern warfare are being stretched and pushed anew; where people often question if there are any boundaries at all.
Read Hayden’s letter from the Middle East here.
Fuel pump anomalies ‘concerning’, says Tánaiste
Big differences in prices at fuel pumps cannot “be blamed on Iran or what’s happening in the Gulf”, the Tánaiste has said.
Simon Harris encouraged members of the public to provide information to the State’s Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC), which he said is investigating the behaviour of fuel retailers.
Harris said the best way to reduce fuel prices would be a “de-escalation” of the conflict in the Middle East.
Speaking to reporters in Paris, he said: “I accept that there can be reasons in terms of supply and demand that a price can go up – I get that – but I also think there’s very peculiar anomalies where parts of Ireland, only a couple of kilometres apart from each other, the price could be X and the price could be Y.
“I mean that can’t be blamed on Iran. That can’t be blamed on any president of any country and I think that’s concerning.” – PA
Russia denies sharing information with Iran
Russia has denied sharing intelligence with Iran on American military assets in the Middle East, US special envoy Steve Witkoff said on Tuesday.
Witkoff told CNBC the denial came during a phone call between US president Donald Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin on Monday.
The Washington Post reported on Friday that Russia was providing Iran with targeting information that included locations of US warships and aircraft in the Middle East.
“Yesterday on the call with the president, the Russians said that they have not been sharing,” Witkoff said.
“We can take them at their word. But they did say that,” said Witkoff.
He added: “That’s a better question for the intel people, but let’s hope that they’re not sharing.” – Reuters
In Lebanon almost 700,000 have been displaced
The humanitarian crisis in Lebanon has deepened amid the wider Middle East war, with 84 children killed and more than 667,000 people displaced, two United Nations (UN) agencies said on Tuesday.
Lebanon was dragged into the US-Israeli war on Iran this month when Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hizbullah launched rockets and drones into Israel, which has responded with heavy bombardment across the country.
A total of 486 people have been killed in the war so far and 1,313 injured, of which 259 are children, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Abdinasir Abubakar, WHO representative in Lebanon, said: “One reason why we have a high number of children [killed] is that most of the attacks that we see actually is, it’s urban centres, like in Beirut,” he said.
The current rate of displacement in Lebanon is outpacing levels seen during the 2023-24 war between Hizbullah and Israel, the UN Refugee Agency said on Tuesday. During that conflict, 886,000 people were internally displaced in Lebanon, while tens of thousands of Israelis were evacuated from northern towns near the Lebanese border. – Reuters
Water is now a weapon in the expanding Middle East war, writes Michael Jansen
While the US-Israeli military offensive against Iran has focused for the most part on strikes against military assets, a new battlefront is opening up over the Middle East’s most precious resource: water.
The parched region depends heavily on desalination plants which convert seawater into drinking water.
Tehran claims the US targeted an Iranian desalination plant on Qeshm island in the south of the country in an air strike last weekend. This affected water supply to about 30 villages, according to Iranian authorities. The US has rejected the claims.
Read Jansen’s full analysis here.
Israel not seeking ‘endless war’, says foreign minister
Israel is not seeking an “endless war” with Iran and will co-ordinate with the United States on when to stop the fighting, foreign minister Gideon Saar has said, declining to publicly state a timeline for when the conflict could end.
“We will continue until the minute that we and our partners think that is appropriate to stop,” Saar told journalists in Jerusalem.
“We want to remove, for the long-term, existential threats from Iran to Israel,” Saar said in response to a question on what victory would look like.
He described Iran’s newly appointed supreme leader Mojtaba Khamanei – son of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who was killed by the Israeli military on the first day of the war – as an extremist.
Israel has said it aims to eliminate Iran’s clerical rule by destroying its nuclear and ballistic missile programs and creating conditions for Iranians to overthrow their rulers.
Saar said there was an opportunity to create conditions for Iranians to “regain their freedom,” while acknowledging that it may not happen during the war and could come afterward. – Reuters
EU made ‘mistake’ in phasing out nuclear, says von der Leyen
The European Union made a “strategic mistake” in turning its back on nuclear energy, Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said in thinly-veiled criticism of Germany’s decision to close its reactors.
“While in 1990 one-third of Europe’s electricity came from nuclear, today it is only close to 15 per cent,” she said at the Nuclear Energy Summit in Paris on Tuesday.
“I believe that it was a strategic mistake for Europe to turn its back on a reliable, affordable source of low-emissions power.”
Von der Leyen’s comments are the latest to describe the decision by a number of European countries – most notably her home nation Germany – to phase out nuclear power as an error as the region transitions to a net-zero economy and weans itself off Russian fossil fuels.
The current conflict in Iran is another reminder of how exposed the European economy is to global energy markets, with prices of oil and gas lurching higher since war began. – Bloomberg
Some images from Lebanon today
International Energy Agency calls ‘extraordinary meeting’ of member governments
The world’s energy watchdog will meet with leaders from 32 countries later today to discuss the “significant and growing risks” for the global oil market and whether to release emergency oil stocks into the market.
The head of the International Energy Agency (IEA), Fatih Birol, met with G7 leaders earlier on Tuesday to update the bloc on the state of global oil and gas markets after war erupted in the Middle East 11 days ago.
He will follow the meeting with a second gathering of all IEA members, across 32 countries, to decide whether to move ahead with calls to release oil stocks into the market to help temper the historic market price gains recorded in recent days.
In a statement, Birol said: “In oil markets, conditions have deteriorated in recent days. In addition to the challenges of transit through the Strait of Hormuz, a substantial amount of oil production has been curtailed. This is creating significant and growing risks for the market.” – The Guardian
UK, Germany and Italy ‘working together’
Keir Starmer has agreed with Germany’s Friedrich Merz and Italy’s Giorgia Meloni to “work closely together” in navigating commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
A spokesperson for Starmer said the British prime minister spoke to the leaders of Germany and Italy on Monday night “about the situation in the Middle East, discussing the Strait of Hormuz”.
The leaders agreed on the vital importance of freedom of navigation for vessels through these waters, the spokesperson said. They also agreed to work closely together in the coming days in the face of Iranian threats. – The Guardian
Message from the Editor
‘If US won’t send in troops, it doesn’t have a plan B’
Scott Lucas, professor of American Studies at the UCD Clinton Institute, said the US has no “plan B” in its war with Iran.
“The problem right now is that while the Trump folks don’t necessarily want regime change – they just want the regime to surrender – is that there’s no indication that the regime is going to surrender at this point, because they have replaced the supreme leader, they have replaced other political and military officials,” he said.
Speaking on RTÉ Radio’s News at One, Lucas said of Iran: “The military has not broken from the government, and there’s no mass uprising by Iranians to get rid of the government.
“So if you’re not going to send in troops, you really don’t have a plan B. So the Americans and the Israelis just keep persisting with plan A which is to blow up more stuff and kill more people.”
Lucas said he believed the only “off ramp” was likely to be “when domestic pressure forces Donald Trump and the inner circle to pull back”.
“And that’s why you got those statements from Trump yesterday, which falsely said the war is almost over. It’s not.”
Lucas said Trump made those remarks “because he got worried about the oil prices, got worried about the stock markets”.
“If that domestic pressure grows on Trump, then there is a an opening for the Gulf states, especially Qatar, who have been trying to get mediation, trying to get the Americans to talk to the Iranians. They may be able to exploit it at that point.”
Death toll nearing 1,900
US and Israeli strikes in Iran have killed about 1,300 people, according to Iranian officials, while Iranian attacks across the Middle East killed at least 30 people.
Israeli strikes have killed almost 500 people in Lebanon, state media reported.
Seven members of the US military have also been killed to date. – The New York Times
Ireland will provide additional humanitarian support to Lebanon
Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee and Minister for International Development Neale Richmond have announced that Ireland will provide an additional €3 million in humanitarian support to Lebanon.
Ireland’s support will help provide shelter, food, sanitation and healthcare.
The money includes €2 million for the UN Lebanon Humanitarian Fund and €1 million for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Announcing the funding on Tuesday, McEntee said: “Hizbullah’s ongoing attacks and Israel’s aerial bombardment, ground invasion and evacuation orders are having an intolerable impact on people’s lives. Many of those displaced are children, older people and other vulnerable members of society.
“Ireland’s funding will help our UN partners provide essential aid and services to people who have been forced to flee. This includes many refugees who had already escaped conflict in countries like Syria and Sudan, only to find themselves displaced once again by the latest violence.”
‘Dangerous escalation’ in war – Merz
German chancellor Friedrich Merz underlined growing concern in Europe at the US and Israeli war against Iran on Tuesday, saying a “dangerous escalation” was under way with “clearly no joint plan” for bringing it to an end.
Merz said Germany shared “many of the goals” of the US and Israeli operation, which killed Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamanei, but he said questions were arising with each day that passed, amid signs of a dangerous escalation.
“We are particularly concerned that there is clearly no joint plan for bringing this war to a swift and convincing end,” Merz said at a joint press conference in Berlin with Czech prime ,inister Andrej Babis.
“We have no interest in a war without end. We have no interest in the dissolution of Iran’s territorial integrity, statehood or economic viability,” he added.
The world needed “a stable, viable Iran as part of a regional peace and security order in which neither Israel nor other partners are threatened,” he said. – Reuters
The United Arab Emirates’ air defences intercepted eight missiles and 26 drones on Tuesday, the UAE defence ministry said on X.
A ninth missile fell into the sea while nine more drones fell into the country’s territory.
In total, UAE air defences have identified 262 ballistic missiles, eight cruise missiles and 1,475 drones heading toward UAE territory, the defence ministry said.
These attacks reportedly killed six people and injured 122. – The Guardian
Minister for Health says Government has ‘consistently called out breaches of international law’
Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill has said loss of life should always be avoided, but she would not be drawn on whether she believed the attacks in the Middle East were a breach of international law.
Reporting from Limerick, David Raleigh writes:
The Minister was asked if she agreed with comments by President Catherine Connolly on Sunday, that she regarded the attacks as “violations of international law” and “deliberate assaults” on international law.
While not specifically naming the US or Israel, Connolly’s comments have been seen by some as a rebuke to the Government which has yet to describe the attacks on Iran as a breach of international law.
MacNeill said the Government had “consistently called out breaches of international law” across the world.
“Our foreign policy is dedicated to two things: maintenance of peace and the maintenance of international law, and we have called out breaches of international law by many different countries and always will continue to do so.”
She said she would leave the issue to Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee.
Answering a series of media questions, Farage also said it was politically vital for Trump that the conflict ends “pretty quickly”, and warned that the US would have failed if it does not eliminate any nuclear threat from Iran.
Describing debates surrounding the impact of the war on fuel prices as “fascinating”, Farage said: “At nine o’clock yesterday morning, the price of heating oil was very different to what it was at six o’clock yesterday evening.
“You might have noticed the spot price of crude rocketed to nearly 120 dollars a barrel (and then) came down to 84 dollars a barrel.
“If the Straits of Hormuz are cleared – I accept that’s an if ... oil will be back into the low 80s and heating oil will be similar.”
He added of the ongoing conflict in the Gulf region: “America and Israel were going to attack Iran whatever we said or did.” – PA
UK should not join Trump’s war on Iran – Farage
The UK should not join Donald Trump’s war on Iran, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has said, as he predicted oil prices will normalise if and when the Strait of Hormuz is cleared.
Speaking at a petrol station in the Derbyshire Peak District, Farage said Britain should not get involved in “another foreign war”, and warned that the rest of the world was losing respect for Britain because of its response to the conflict in the Middle East.
The party has faced criticism for its inconsistent position on whether the UK should support the US’s military action against Tehran, with deputy leader Richard Tice and Reform member Nadhim Zahawi previously backing British involvement – while Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick has opposed it and Farage has sent mixed messages.
Asked about his stance on Tuesday, Farage said: “Given that we can’t even send a Royal Navy vessel to defend British sovereign territory and an RAF base, we certainly don’t have the capability to offer anything of any value to the Americans or the Israelis.
“There are differing opinions as to whether we should physically join the attacks. I, as leader, am saying to you, if we can’t even defend Cyprus, let’s not get ourselves involved in another foreign war.” – PA
Iran has launched new attacks on Israel and Gulf Arab countries.
In Bahrain, authorities said an Iranian attack hit a residential building in the capital Manama, killing a 29-year-old woman and wounding eight people.
Saudi Arabia said it destroyed two drones over its oil-rich eastern region and Kuwait’s National Guard said it shot down six drones.
In the United Arab Emirates, firefighters battled a blaze in the industrial city of Ruwais – home to petrochemical plants – after an Iranian drone strike.
No injuries were reported.
Sirens also sounded in Jerusalem, and sounds of explosions could be heard in Tel Aviv as Israel’s defence systems worked to intercept barrages from Iran. – AP
‘The most intense day of strikes’: Pete Hegseth warns of heightened campaign on Tuesday
US defence secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday would be the most intense day of strikes against Iran in the campaign so far.
Speaking with reporters, Hegseth said Tuesday would bring the most fighter jets and bombers against Iran.
Hegseth said that the US is “winning” its war with Iran, which is “stands alone and is badly losing”.
He said the Iranians are “racing towards a nuclear bomb” and says US president Donald Trump “will never allow it”. The US is executing its objectives to destroy its missiles, its navy and “permanently deny Iran nuclear weapons forever”.
“We will not relent until the enemy is totally and entirely defeated,” he added.
He added that Tuesday will be “the most intense day of strikes”, while Iran has fired its lowest number of weapons in the past 24 hours.
Shots fired at US consulate in Toronto
Shots were reportedly fired at the US consulate in Toronto, Canadian police said on Tuesday, adding that evidence was found of a discharged firearm and that no injuries were reported.
Toronto police, in a post on X, said they responded to the reported shots just before 5.30am.
Representatives for the US embassy in Toronto and the US Department of State did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Separately, on Sunday, an improvised device exploded in Norway at the US embassy in Oslo, and police were still searching for a suspect, with a possible link to the Iran war among the lines of inquiry.
In New York City, two men have been charged with terrorism after throwing a homemade bomb at anti-Islam protesters over the weekend. - Reuters
Here are some images coming out of Lebanon, which was hit with a fresh wave of Israeli air strikes on Tuesday.
Australia’s Qantas Airways and Air New Zealand said on Tuesday they are hiking fares due to the Middle East conflict, underscoring how global airlines are struggling to cope with the sudden and soaring costs of fuel.
Jet fuel prices, which were about $85 to $90 (€73-77) per barrel before the conflict, have increased sharply to between $150 and $200 (€128-171) per barrel in recent days. – Reuters
Trump ‘not happy’ with new Iranian leader
US president Donald Trump told Fox News in an interview on Monday it’s possible he would be willing to talk with Iran, the cable news network said on Tuesday.
Trump also said he is “not happy” with Iran’s choice of a new supreme leader but that early results from Operation Epic Fury have been “way beyond expectation”.
Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was installed as the next supreme leader.
“I don’t believe he can live in peace,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News chief foreign correspondent Trey Yingst.
Only two vessels made it through Strait of Hormuz in recent days
Only two vessels not linked to Iran or Russia have made the “chicken run” through the Strait of Hormuz since Donald Trump said he would “ensure the free flow of energy to the world”, according to maritime records.
One of those that braved the journey since the US president’s announcement of emergency measures on Friday went “dark” by switching off its transponder and a second signalled it was Chinese owned and crewed.
The Hormuz sea passage, one of the world’s most strategically important choke points, would normally have about 100 vessels a day either exiting or entering the Gulf. In response to the US and Israeli attacks, Iran has effectively shut the strait, attacking at least 10 ships which were seeking to traverse it in the early days of the crisis.
On Friday, Trump announced a $20bn (around €17 billion) reinsurance scheme to revive shipping through the strait, which he said would come into effect immediately. He followed up by saying that shipowners should “show some guts” by sailing through the war zone.
A small number of tankers and bulk carriers of dry goods have braved the crossing since Friday using a variety of methods to mitigate the risk, records show.
The Shenlong, a Chinese-made vessel operated by Greece’s Dynacom Tankers Management but sailing under a Liberian flag, crossed the narrow strait to exit the Gulf on Friday, according to the data agency Kpler. The vessel switched off its transponder as it approached the strait and then began signalling again near India’s coastline on Monday as it made its way to Mumbai.
A second, Sino Ocean, a bulk carrier that also sails under a Liberian flag, signalled it was Chinese-owned and crewed as it traversed the strait after picking up its cargo from the United Arab Emirates’ Mina Saqr port on Thursday. – The Guardian
In his latest column, Fintan O’Toole says someone needs to tell Donald Trump the truth or swathes of the world could be turned into Gaza writ large.
He writes:
Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sánchez is the one European leader who understands the folly of persisting with the pious fraud. “It is”, he said last week, “naive to believe that democracies or respect between nations can spring from ruins. Or to think that practising blind and servile obedience is a form of leadership.”
The only form of leadership that has a chance of preventing large parts of the world being turned into Gaza writ large is unequivocal support for Sánchez’s truth-telling. Going along with the logic of murderous delusion has already proved a disastrous failure. That way more madness lies.
Sally Hayden is currently in Beirut in Lebanon, reporting on the impact of the conflict there.
Migrant workers and refugees are shut out of official shelters as Israel bombards the Lebanese capital, she writes.
Hanan Abdullah (52) was at home in Beirut’s southern suburbs with her husband and teenage children when the war in Lebanon began. Suddenly there was “bombing, fire”.
The family went out on the street, then “ran and walked” towards safety. They approached a mosque, seeking help, but it was closed. “Then, a stranger from Sudan said there’s a shelter here, so we came.”
Her family is among roughly 160 people who have found shelter in the premises of St Joseph Catholic Church in Monot – an affluent area of Beirut considered relatively safe from Israeli air strikes. The church became a shelter during the last war, in 2024, and has once again opened its doors.
Read the full report.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin is to due to discuss the conflict in the Middle East with Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez in Madrid on Tuesday.
Sanchez has emerged as the EU’s fiercest critics of a bombing campaign by the US and Israel on Iran, calling it a “violation of international law”.
Trump last week threatened to cut off all trade with Spain because it had refused to allow him to use two military bases as part of the offensive on Iran.
The Irish Government has said the US-Israeli military offensive on Iran took place without a UN mandate, but stopped short of saying it contravened international law.
G7 energy ministers will discuss soaring energy prices due to the war in Iran on a call on Tuesday while a group of European Union leaders will do so later in the day, officials said.
Oil prices surged to their highest levels since mid-2022 on Monday propelled by fears of Gulf output cuts and disrupted tanker traffic.
G7 finance ministers said on Monday they were prepared to implement “necessary measures” in response to the price surge but stopped short of committing to co-ordinated emergency releases of reserves.
Even before the Iran crisis, European energy prices typically sat higher than those in the US and China. European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen has promised to propose measures to tackle the issue at an EU summit next week.
Tuesday’s G7 call is scheduled for 12.45pm Irish time.
French finance minister Roland Lescure, whose country holds the G7 presidency this year, said there were currently no supply problems in either Europe or the United States.
The G7 comprises the United States, Canada, Japan, Italy, Britain, Germany and France. Italy, Germany and France are also EU members.
EU leaders evening will discuss competitiveness, including energy prices, on a call with German chancellor Friedrich Merz, Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni, Belgian prime minister Bart De Wever and others on Tuesday evening.
The EU imports more than 90 per cent of its oil and around 80 per cent of its gas, making European countries highly exposed to fluctuations in global oil and gas prices. – Reuters
Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, said that with the appointment of Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the late ayatollah, as Iran’s new supreme leader, the US and Israel have failed in their goal for a regime change.
In an interview with PBS News Hour that aired on Monday night, Araghchi said he did not think the US and Israel have a realistic endgame and are now just sowing chaos.
“They thought that, in a matter of two or three days, they can go for a regime change, they can go for a rapid, clean victory, but they failed ... They failed to achieve their goals at the beginning, and now, after 10 days, I think they are aimless,” Araghchi said.
When asked about the widespread disruptions the conflict has caused in the delivery of oil, which in turn is causing volatility across markets worldwide, Araghchi maintained that the spike in oil prices was not Iran’s fault.
“This is not our plan,” he said.
“The oil production, the transportation of oil has been slowed down or stopped not because of us, because of the attacks and aggression made by Israelis and Americans against us. So they have made the whole region insecure. And this is why the tankers, the ships are scared to pass through the strait of Hormuz.”
He continued: “We have not closed that strait. We have not – we are not preventing them to navigate in that strait. But this is the result of the aggression by Israelis and Americans, which has made the whole region insecure, unstable.” – The Guardian
Israel is ahead of schedule in achieving its war goals in Iran, its ambassador to France said on Tuesday.
“When we were asked at the start of this war about its duration, we said it would last a few weeks. That hasn’t changed,” Joshua Zarka told BFM TV. “We are ahead of schedule to achieve our war objectives.”
Zarka, formerly Israel’s lead diplomat on Iran, said the goals extend beyond ending Iran’s nuclear programme. They include weakening the government to the point that its population can “take its fate into its own hands”, and ensuring Tehran can no longer mount attacks beyond its borders.
Asked about the appointment of Mojtaba Khamenei as the new supreme leader, Zarka said that if he follows his father Ali Khamenei’s positions, he “would also be on a list of those who should be eliminated”.
Israel has simultaneously launched major operations against Iran-backed Hizbullah after it struck Israeli territory. The Lebanese government has said it wants direct talks with Israel to halt the fighting, but Zarka argued that Beirut is not disarming Hizbullah.
“At this stage, I’m not aware of any decision to enter negotiations to end this war,” he said. “What would end it is the disarmament of Hizbullah – and that is a choice for the Lebanese government.” – Reuters
Flights from Dubai International Airport were temporarily halted on Tuesday morning due to a missile threat.
Eric Luke, a photojournalist from Dublin who previously worked with The Irish Times, was at the airport when passengers received a message warning them to stay away from windows and doors.
“Due to the current situation, potential missile threats, immediately seek a safe place in the closest secure building, steer away from windows, doors, and open areas,” the message stated.
Luke told The Irish Times the situation was “well handled by the airport staff”.
“They just moved everyone in the concourse down to ground level, until they got the all clear.”
Luke, who is en route from Australia to Ireland, said passengers were moved from higher levels to the ground floor “away from windows and glass, as ordered”.
Europe must be ready to intervene on energy prices if war goes on – Harris
European governments must be ready to intervene in response to rising energy prices if the war in Iran starts to look like it will not end quickly, Tánaiste and Minister for Finance Simon Harris has said.
EU finance ministers are meeting for a second day of scheduled meetings in Brussels, where all anyone wants to talk about is the impact the Iran war is having on Europe’s energy prices, Europe Correspondent Jack Power reports.
“If it doesn’t end quickly, Europe and member states have to be ready to act. Certainly in Ireland we’ll keep everything under review,” Harris said on Tuesday morning.
The Government has adopted a wait-and-see approach for the moment, wary of intervening too early, before it is clear whether the conflict in the Middle East will be brought to an end in the near future or not. Politicians fear a return to the steep cost inflation that followed massive jumps in energy prices after Russia invaded Ukraine four years ago.
“It’s a very different economic scenario if this conflict goes on for months and months on end,” Harris said.
The spiking price of oil in the days after the US and Israel began military strikes on Iran was a “sharp reminder” that Europe was still very dependent on other parts of the world for its energy, he said.
“I think it’s important that [EU] member states continue to share thoughts and ideas about what they may wish to do at a domestic level, should this situation go on beyond a few more days, or weeks,” he said. Harris said the fact oil prices had fallen “significantly” today pointed to the volatility of the situation.
The idea that Russia would financially benefit from the oil crisis in the Gulf, by being able to command a better price for its crude supplies, was “utterly despicable”, he said.
France and allies preparing mission to reopen Hormuz, Macron says
French president Emmanuel Macron has used a visit to Cyprus to announce that France and its allies are preparing “a purely defensive, purely support mission” to reopen the strait of Hormuz, where dozens of ships have been stranded since the start of the war.
On a one-day trip to the eastern Mediterranean island – the EU’s nearest member state to the Middle East – he said the mission would start “as soon as possible after the most intense phase of the conflict is over”.
Greece’s shipping minister has described the situation in the strait as “alarming”, saying numerous tankers have found themselves stuck in the key waterway since the US and Israeli air strikes against Iran began.
About a fifth of the world’s oil supplies pass through the strait every day.
“It is essential for international trade, but also for the flow of gas and oil, which must be able to leave this region once again,” Macron told reporters.
The French leader also pledged that the European Union would do everything possible to stand by Cyprus where several EU nations have rushed to deploy warships and fighter jets following a drone strike against a British base on the island. – The Guardian
Israeli military offensive against Iran ‘not done yet’ – Netanyahu
In comments made during a visit to the National Health Command Centre on Monday night, Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Israel’s war on Iran is “not done yet”, AFP reports.
“Our aspiration is to bring the Iranian people to cast off the yoke of tyranny; ultimately, it depends on them. But there is no doubt that with the actions taken so far, we are breaking their bones – and we are not done yet,” Netanyahu said. – The Guardian
Fuel prices top €2 a litre in Ireland
Political Editor Pat Leahy and Consumer Affairs Correspondent Conor Pope have been taking a look at the impact of the conflict in the Middle East on Ireland. They write:
The financial impact on Irish households of war in the Middle East could quickly top €1,000 if oil prices remain elevated, with higher-priced motor fuel, domestic energy, food and mortgages just some of the ways consumers could be hit, experts have warned.
The cost of a litre of motor fuel has already crossed €2 on many fuel forecourts, with prices reaching levels not seen since the summer of 2022 and the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
A sustained 30 cent per litre hike will see the average motorist worse off by just over €300 a year, while a 20 per cent jump in domestic energy costs will add another €600 to annual bills. The increased cost of oil is also expected to have a knock-on effect on the price of food and other consumer goods.
European gas prices falling
European natural gas prices are falling this morning, with the Dutch month-ahead gas contract (the European benchmark) down 16 per cent to €46.59 per megawatt hour, down from as high as €56 on Monday.
However, the Strait of Hormuz remains impassible and oil prices are more than 25 per cent higher than before the conflict began.
Trump has pledged the US navy will provide a guard for tankers through the strait, but any timeline for that is highly obscured, with forces for focused on taking out military infrastructure rather than becoming ship escorts.
Until a longer‑term resolution is found, companies and consumers are still set to pay the price for the attack by the US and Israel on Iran.
The repercussions for an array of everyday costs affecting companies and households are becoming clear. Prices at the pumps have already increased, and motorists are being warned to drive more conservatively to offset an expected further rise in costs. – The Guardian
Dublin MEP Barry Andrews is among those to criticise Trump’s claim that Iranian missiles were responsible for the strike on a school in Minab, despite mounting evidence the missiles were made in the US.
Evidence mounting that US strike hit Iranian school
Mangled missile fragments purporting to be from the deadly strikes that hit a naval base and a school in southern Iran on February 28th bear the markings of an US cruise missile, according to new photos.
Images of the fragments were posted to Telegram by Iran’s state broadcaster and were characterised as showing “the remains of the American missile that landed on the children of Minab school”.
The debris is displayed on a table near the shell of the Shajarah Tayyebeh elementary school, most of which was destroyed in a “precision” strike. At least 175 people, most of them children, were reportedly killed.
While it is not clear where or how the fragments were recovered – or whether they pertain specifically to the school strike – they contain serial numbers and other details that are consistent with how the US department of defence and its suppliers categorise and label munitions.
The remnants appear to be from a US-made Tomahawk cruise missile manufactured in 2014 or later. Evidence has been mounting that the school was hit during a series of US strikes targeting an adjacent naval base.
Trump has blamed Iran for the strike. – The New York Times
Reporting on Trump’s speech last night, Washington Correspondent Keith Duggan writes:
From his ballroom in Mar-a-Lago, president Donald Trump issued a repudiation to the rolling accusation that his administration has offered no clear guideline as to why the US finds itself at war with Iran – or when it is going to end.
If it’s not the end of the beginning of the war, then it’s certainly the beginning of the end, he suggested. Although the war is “almost complete”, nothing is ever over. The Islamic Republic has “no leadership left”, and the president does not approve of their selection as the new supreme leader.
Tánaiste travelling to France
Tánaiste and Minister for Finance Simon Harris is to meet the French finance minister and secretary general of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in Paris.
Harris is to travel to France as part of the Government’s St Patrick’s Day programme, which is focused on trade promotion and economic engagement with EU partners.
Following a meeting of EU finance ministers on Tuesday morning in Brussels, the Tánaiste will travel to Paris for a series of engagements in the French capital.
A spokesman said the meetings were likely to “focus on the fallout from the ongoing conflict in the Middle East” and the implications for the EU.
This includes issues around oil supply that were discussed by the G7 on Monday, the presidency of which is currently held by France.
Harris’s visit also comes in advance of Ireland assuming the presidency of the Council of the European Union later this year, for which it anticipates France will be a key partner.
He will meet French economy minister Roland Lescure and secretary general of the OECD Mathias Cormann during the two-day visit. – PA
Turkey’s defence ministry said on Tuesday one US Patriot air defence system was deployed to the southeastern Malatya province as part of measures by Nato to boost its ally’s air defences amid missile threats from the Iran war. The Kurecik Nato radar base, which provides vital data for the alliance and helped identify two Iranian ballistic missiles heading toward Turkey, is located in Malatya.
In a statement, the ministry said Turkey would continue to co-operate and evaluate regional developments with Nato allies. – Reuters
Iranian women’s football team arrive at Australian airport
The Iranian women’s football team left their hotel and arrived at Gold Coast airport on Tuesday afternoon, appearing to have just hours left to take up Australia’s offer of asylum before they depart the country.
Five players, led by captain Zahra Ghanbari, were formally granted protection in Australia by home affairs minister Tony Burke early on Tuesday morning. The group has already been given an offer to train with A-League women’s club Brisbane Roar.
Advocates connected to the group believed more – including possibly some staff – were considering staying in Australia. But the group, which is still under surveillance by the minders around the team, left their hotel with one player in tears. Protesters briefly blocked the departure of the bus, before it continued on to drop the players off at the Gold Coast airport.
Amnesty International Australia’s Zaki Haidari said the players must be given an opportunity to speak to officials at the airport.
“Customs and immigration officials, as well as Australian Border Force officers, have an opportunity to intervene and remind the team of their rights to seek protection in Australia,” he said, adding the offer of protection from the Australian government should be extended to players’ families in Iran. – The Guardian
Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araqchi said Iran was unlikely to resume negotiations with the US, citing what he described as a “bitter experience” with past talks.
“After three rounds of negotiation, the American team in the negotiation said itself that we made a big progress. Still, they decided to attack us. So, I don’t think talking to the Americans any more would be on our agenda any more,” he said in an interview with PBS.
The war has already effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz, leaving tankers unable to sail for more than a week and forcing producers to halt pumping as storage facilities fill.
Hopes of a speedy resolution to the conflict were soon dashed by defiant statements from Iran’s military indicating it would continue fighting.
Mojtaba Khamenei’s appointment on Monday appeared to dash hopes of a swift end to the war, sending oil markets surging and share markets nosediving, before swinging in the other direction when Trump predicted a quick end to the war and reports of a possible ease in sanctions on Russian energy. – Reuters
Iran: ‘We are the ones who will determine the end of the war’
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they would not allow “one litre of oil” to be shipped from the the Middle East if US and Israeli attacks continued, prompting further warnings from US president Donald Trump.
Trump had earlier expressed confidence in a swift end to hostilities even after Iran appointed Mojtaba Khamenei as its new supreme leader in a signal of defiance.
Trump said that the United States had inflicted serious damage on Iran’s military and predicted the conflict would end well before the initial four-week time frame he had laid out, though he has not defined what victory would look like.
Israel says its war aim is to overthrow Iran’s system of clerical rule. US officials mainly say Washington’s aim is to destroy Iran’s missile capabilities and nuclear programme.
At least 1,332 Iranian civilians have been killed and thousands wounded since the barrage of air and missile strikes, according to Iran’s UN ambassador. Trump warned that US attacks could rise sharply if Iran sought to block tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, which handles a fifth of the world’s oil supply.
“We will hit them so hard that it will not be possible for them or anybody else helping them to ever recover that section of the world,” Trump said at a news conference on Monday. – Reuters
Trump says war could be ‘over soon’
Stocks rallied and oil prices plunged in Asian trading on Tuesday after US president Donald Trump declared the Middle East war could be “over soon”.
But hopes of a speedy resolution to the conflict were soon dashed by defiant statements from Iran’s military indicating it would continue fighting.
Brent crude futures fell as much as 11 per cent to below $88.05 (around €75.70) per barrel as trading resumed, before trimming their decline to 6.6 per cent. – Reuters
