Sunday 29th March: Ten things we learned today
- Talks between Iran and the US will be hosted in Pakistan in the “coming days”, the Pakistani foreign minister has said
- A Polish member of a UNIFIL contingent in Lebanon sustained minor injuries after their patrol was targeted by a roadside device
- Israeli police prevented the patriarch of Jerusalem from marking Palm Sunday
- Israel’s prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu has announced an expansion of his invasion of southern Lebanon
- Yemen’s Houthis launch second attack on Israel and vow to continue strikes, as conflict in the Middle East escalates
- US secretly plotting ground attack, says Iran’s parliament speaker, in remarks published to mark 30 days since start of US-Israeli war
- Iran’s heavy water production plant no longer operational after Israeli attack
- Kuwait says Iranian attack injured 10 military personnel
- Pakistan hosted talks with Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia as part of efforts to end war
- Oil on track for record monthly surge as Iran war disrupts markets
Key Reads
- Sally Hayden in Beirut: ‘They weren’t carrying weapons’: Hundreds attend funeral of journalists killed by Israeli strikes
- Analysis: Trump under pressure, but it takes two to Taco on Iran
- Who are the Houthis and what is the significance of their entry into the Iran conflict?
This concludes our rolling coverage of the war in the Middle East for this evening. We’ll be back tomorrow with more live updates.
Iran’s heavy water production plant no longer operational after Israeli attack
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has confirmed that Iran’s heavy-water production plant at Khondab, which Israel attacked on 27th March, has “sustained severe damage and is no longer operational”.
In a post on X, the IAEA added that the plant “contains no declared nuclear material”.
The Israeli military had described the site as a “key plutonium production site for nuclear weapons” when it attacked the facility on Friday.
That same day, the IDF also launched strikes on a uranium processing site in the central Iranian city of Yazd, describing the site as a “unique facility in Iran used for the production of raw materials required for the uranium enrichment process”.
The IAEA’s post regarding the plant in Khondab said:
“Based on independent analysis of satellite imagery and knowledge of the installation, the IAEA has confirmed the heavy water production plant at Khondab, which Iran reported had been attacked on 27 March, has sustained severe damage and is no longer operational. The installation contains no declared nuclear material”.
Vice President of the European Commission denounces Israeli block on Latin Patriarch
Vice President of the European Commission Kaja Kallas has described Israel’s prevention of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem from celebrating Palm Sunday Mass in the Church of the Sepulchre a “violation of religious freedom”.
“The decision by Israeli police to bar Jerusalem’s Latin Patriarch from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Palm Sunday constitutes a violation of religious freedom and long-standing protections governing holy sites,” she said in a post on X.
Israeli military carrying out strikes on what it calls “terror regimes” in Tehran
The Israeli military said it is currently carrying out strikes on what it called targets belonging to the Iranian regime across Tehran.
In a brief statement, the IDF said its forces are “currently striking Iranian terror regime targets across Tehran”, without providing further details on the locations targeted or the scale of the operation.
Polish member of UNIFIL contingent in Lebanon injured
A Polish member of IRISHPOLBATT, a UNIFIL peacekeeping contingent based in South Lebanon, comprising personnel from Ireland, Poland, Malta, and Hungary, has sustained minor injuries after their patrol was targeted by a roadside device which detonated as their vehicle passed it, the Irish Defence Forces said in a post on X.
Qatar targeted by drones from Iran
Qatar was targeted by a “number of drones launched from Iran” earlier today, the Qatari ministry of defence has said.
All drones were “successfully intercepted”, the ministry added.
Earlier, the US embassy in Doha announced it was “conducting reduced operations with its remaining emergency personnel”.
It urged all American citizens in Qatar to “remain vigilant and be prepared to duck and cover in a secure location if the Qatari authorities issue an alert”.
Talks between Iran and US to be hosted in Pakistan
Talks between Iran and the US will be hosted in Pakistan in the “coming days”, the Pakistani foreign minister has said. Ishaq Dar did not specify whether the talks would be direct or indirect, and there has been no immediate confirmation from the US or Iran. He said Pakistan was “very happy that both Iran and the US have expressed their confidence in Pakistan’s facilitation” of the talks.
Dar’s remarks come after Pakistan hosted talks with Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia on Sunday as part of its efforts to broker an end to the Iran war.
The Israeli military said on Sunday that no negligence was found, nor any ethical failure, on the part of officers involved in the accidental killing of Israeli farmer Ofer Moskovitz near the Lebanese frontier earlier this month, Reuters reports.
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt discuss ways to end the war
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt discussed “possible ways to bring an early and permanent end to the war” in the Middle East on Sunday, Pakistan’s foreign minister Ishaq Dar has said.
The four nations held joint talks to seek a de-escalation in the US-Israeli war on Iran in Islamabad.
In a video recorded statement, Dar said all sides had expressed confidence in Pakistan’s facilitation and that China “fully supports” the initiative to host the potential US-Iran talks in Islamabad.
Initial discussions focused on proposals to reopen the critical strait of Hormuz to shipping, sources familiar with the matter have told Reuters, some of which have already been floated to Washington.
A source from Pakistan said proposals, including from Egypt, had been forwarded to the White House before Sunday’s meeting and that they included Suez Canal-style fee structures.
Two other Pakistani sources told Reuters that Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia could form a consortium to manage oil flows through the waterway, and had asked Pakistan to participate. The first Pakistani source said Islamabad had not been formally asked to join and maintains that it will not.
A Turkish diplomatic source told Reuters that Ankara’s priority was securing a ceasefire.
Hundreds of people turned out on Sunday to attend the funerals of three journalists who were targeted and killed by Israeli air strikes while driving in southern Lebanon the previous day.
Rain poured as their bodies – draped with flags bearing the names of their news outlets – were carried through the cemetery, in Choueifat, south of Beirut, alongside pictures of them reporting and wearing their press vests.
The targeted killings have provoked an outcry across Lebanon, where people of many different beliefs and backgrounds have come together to say that this is unacceptable and contrary to international law.
Sally Hayden has the full report from the funerals here.
Following the cancellation of the traditional Palm Sunday procession in Jerusalem, after Israeli authorities cancelled the event due to wartime restrictions, below are photographs of members of the clergy and Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa at a prayer service in the Church of All Nations.
Netanyahu orders expansion of invasion of southern Lebanon
Israel’s prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu has announced an expansion of his invasion of southern Lebanon, saying that he has instructed the military to further expand the so-called “buffer zone” and vowing to fundamentally change the security situation there.
“I have just instructed to further expand the existing security buffer zone. We are determined to fundamentally change the situation in the north,” Netanyahu said in a video statement from the Northern Command.
He said the decision is aimed strengthening Israel’s security posture along the northern frontier during ongoing tensions along Israel’s northern border, where cross-border hostilities have raised fears of a broader regional escalation.
Iran supreme leader ‘thanks Iraqi people for their support’
Iran’s supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei has thanked the Iraqi people and religious leadership for their support of Iran “in the face of aggression”, Iran’s state media reported on Sunday.
More than three weeks on from his appointment as supreme leader, Khamenei has still not been seen or heard from in public since he was injured in the US-Israeli air strike that killed his father, the late ayatollah Ali Khamenei, his wife and son on the first day of the war.
He has issued two written statements that have been delivered via state media, fuelling speculation about the extent of his injuries.
Kuwait says Iranian attack injured 10 military personnel
Ten Kuwaiti military personnel were injured in an Iranian missile attack on a military camp in the Gulf country, the Kuwaiti army said on Sunday, without giving a location.
The camp sustained material damage, the army said in a post on X, adding that Kuwait had dealt with 14 ballistic missiles and 12 drones over the past 24 hours.
Israeli police prevent patriarch of Jerusalem from marking Palm Sunday
Israeli police prevented the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem from marking Palm Sunday at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre “for the first time in centuries,” the Patriarchate said, with police citing security concerns linked to the Iran war.
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa and Friar Francesco Ielpo were stopped by police while walking to the church, built on the site where Christians believe Jesus was crucified and rose from the dead, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said.
“As a result, and for the first time in centuries, the Heads of the Church were prevented from celebrating the Palm Sunday Mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre,” it said in a statement.
Israeli police said all holy sites in Jerusalem’s Old City – including those sacred to Christians, Muslims and Jews – had been closed to worshippers since the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran, particularly locations without bomb shelters.
Police said they had rejected a request from the Patriarchate for a Palm Sunday exemption.
“The Old City and the holy sites constitute a complex area that does not allow access for large emergency and rescue vehicles, which significantly challenges response capabilities and poses a real risk to human life in the event of a mass casualty incident,” police said.
Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week, the most important week in the Christian calendar, leading to Easter. The Old City would typically be busy, with Roman Catholics passing through the massive wooden doors of the Holy Sepulchre.
This year, Christians, Muslims and Jews have been unable to observe Easter, Ramadan or Passover as usual due to police restrictions. Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque was largely empty during Ramadan, and few worshippers have come to Judaism’s Western Wall as Passover approaches on Wednesday. – Reuters
Pakistan hosts talks with Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia as part of efforts to end war
Pakistan hosted talks with Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia on Sunday as part of its efforts to broker an end to the Iran war, with initial discussions focused on proposals to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to shipping.
Foreign ministers from the three regional powers landed in Islamabad for the talks as Iran warned the US against launching a ground attack and global oil prices surged amid continued fighting between Iran, the US and Israel.
The countries meeting in Pakistan have floated proposals to Washington tied to maritime traffic and reopening the strait, as part of wider efforts to stabilise shipping flows.
The strait was previously a conduit for about a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies, but Iran has effectively halted shipping flows through it in response to the US and Israeli air strikes that began a month ago.
Pakistan, which like Turkey borders Iran, has leveraged its close ties to both Tehran and Washington to emerge as a key diplomatic channel in the conflict, while Ankara and Cairo have also played a role.
Zelenskiy seeks support from Gulf states for Ukraine’s war against Russia
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has arrived in Jordan on Sunday as part of a Gulf tour aimed at shoring up defence ties with countries in the region amid rising tensions over the Iran war.
Zelenskiy is seeking support from Gulf states for Ukraine’s war against Russia as western military aid faces fresh uncertainty and Kyiv struggles to cover its budget deficit and fund domestic weapons production.
“Today in Jordan. Security is the top priority, and it is important that all partners make the necessary efforts toward it,” Zelenskiy wrote on X. “Ukraine is doing its part. Important meetings ahead.”
Ukraine agreed on Saturday to co-operate on defence with the United Arab Emirates and Qatar after a visit to both countries by Zelenskiy, who also travelled to Saudi Arabia last week.
Kyiv has offered its air-defence expertise and drone technology to countries in the region seeking to counter Iran’s drone attacks.
Who are the Houthis and what is the significance of their entry into the Iran conflict?
Michael Jansen explains here.
Ethiopia’s Ethio Engineering orders fuel-saving measures amid supply fears
Ethiopia’s Ethio Engineering Group has asked its more than 3,000 employees to switch to virtual meetings to reduce fuel usage following government guidance to avert a full-blown energy crisis.
Like other countries in the region, landlocked Ethiopia faces fuel supply disruptions after the eruption of the US-Israel conflict with Iran. The government in Addis Ababa has responded by boosting fuel subsidies and laying out a set of energy-saving measures.
“Our government has set a direction stating that institutions and citizens must use fuel economically, and everyone is carrying out activities based on their specific realities,” the group said in a statement on Sunday.
“These actions are expected under these mandatory circumstances.”
Apart from virtual meetings, employees of the group will be required to pool transport when travelling for vital projects, the group said, and restrict movement of vehicles to regular working days only.
The group, which produces a range of products from plastic packaging to farm machinery, will also cut monthly fuel allocations to its senior executives.
The Scottish National Party (SNP) has pledged to support terminally ill people with energy costs.
As the war in Iran has caused a spike in energy prices around the world, Shirley-Anne Somerville, who serves as Scotland’s Social Justice Secretary, said there would be support available if her party is returned to power.
It is not yet clear what form that support would take.
“Terminally ill people and their families should not face additional costs and worry as a result of them receiving treatment in their own home,” she said.
“That is why I am proud to support this Sunday Mail campaign – and to confirm that a re-elected SNP Government will take action to support terminally ill people receiving treatment at home.
“This is vital help that shows what we can achieve when we use government to support people – and should give parties like the Tories pause for thought the next time they attack social security.”
Oil on track for record monthly surge as Iran war disrupts markets
The Brent crude oil price is on track for its biggest monthly gain on record in March after the Iran war caused mayhem in the markets.
Brent crude, the international benchmark, has climbed by 51 per cent since the start of March, LSEG data shows, beating the previous monthly record of 46 per cent in September 1990 after Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, leading to the first Gulf War.
Brent closed at $112.57 a barrel on Friday, up from $72.48 a barrel on February 27th, the day before the US-Israeli war on Iran began. Brent traded as high as $119.50 a barrel during March, its highest level since June 2022, after Iran all but closed the strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of global oil and gas would normally pass.
Anwar Gargash, the diplomatic adviser to the UAE’s president, said on Sunday that any political solution addressing Iranian attacks on Gulf states should include Iranian reparations for targeting vital facilities as well as civilians.
The solutions should include clear guarantees to prevent a repetition of the attacks, he said in a post on X.
Middle East conflict enters fifth week
Attacks in the Middle East conflict extended into a fifth week on Sunday, with Israel striking Tehran and Saudi Arabia intercepting almost a dozen drones, a day after Yemen-based Houthi militants entered the war.
The strikes came as 3,500 additional US troops arrived in the Middle East and regional powers including Saudi Arabia and Turkey meet in Pakistan to discuss how to end the conflict, which has killed thousands and caused chaos in commodity markets and global trade.
The Iran-backed Houthis launched ballistic missiles at Israel on Saturday morning, following US-Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities. Tehran also struck aluminium producers in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, along with a US base in Saudi Arabia, wounding a dozen American personnel.
The Washington Post reported that the US defence department was preparing for potentially weeks of ground operations in Iran, citing unidentified US officials.
Any mission would likely first target opening the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic waterway through which a fifth of seaborne global oil flowed before the war but which has now slowed to a trickle, inflicting the biggest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market.
The strait has emerged as Iran’s main source of leverage in the war, and Pakistan on Saturday said it had reached a deal with Tehran to allow 20 of its ships passage.
Saudi Arabia has managed to reroute some of its oil around the strait, with its East-West pipeline now operating at its full capacity of seven million barrels a day.
The Houthis could complicate that – the Red Sea port of Yanbu, through which five million barrels of Saudi exports are now flowing, is well within their missile range. The group said they would continue operations until US-Israeli attacks on the Islamic Republic and its proxy militant groups, including Hizbullah in Lebanon, cease.
British Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said she does not believe rationing fuel and oil in the face of potential shortages is the first thing the UK government should be doing, adding it should be drilling for its own oil and gas in the North Sea.
Badenoch told Sky News: “Rushing out to say the Government should be rationing fuel, that’s not the first thing I would be doing.
“The first thing they should do is start drilling our own oil and gas in the North Sea, it’s important for our energy security, our economic security, our national security – and they’re not doing that.”
Pope says God rejects prayers of leaders who start wars
Pope Leo XIV has said that God rejects the prayers of leaders who start wars and have “hands full of blood”, in unusually forceful remarks on Sunday.
Addressing tens of thousands of people in St Peter’s Square on Palm Sunday, the celebration that opens the holiest week of the year in the lead-up to Easter for the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, the pontiff said that Jesus cannot be used to justify any wars.
“This is our God: Jesus, King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war,” Pope Leo, the first US pope, told the crowds.
“[Jesus] does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them, saying: ‘Even though you make many prayers, I will not listen: your hands are full of blood’,” he said, citing a Bible passage.
Leo did not specifically name any world leaders, but he has been ramping up criticism of the Iran war in recent weeks.
The pope, who is known for choosing his words carefully, has repeatedly called for an immediate ceasefire in the conflict and said on Monday that military air strikes are indiscriminate and should be banned.
US secretly plotting ground attack, says Iran’s parliament speaker
Iranian state media have published a message from Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf marking 30 days since the start of the US-Israeli war.
“The enemy openly sends a message of negotiation and secretly plans a ground attack,” Ghalibaf, who has served as speaker of the parliament since 2020, wrote in his message carried by the Tasnim news agency.
“The United States expresses its desires with a list of 15 points and pursues what it did not achieve in the war.”
“We are in a major world war, and we must prepare ourselves for the tortuous and difficult path ahead of us until we reach the summit,” he added.
Ghalibaf was previously an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps commander, police chief and mayor of Tehran. Washington reportedly has thought of him as a potential partner and he is reported to be Donald Trump’s preferred choice for leader.
How likely is Trump to order a ground invasion of Iran?
Amid tentative White House efforts at diplomacy to end the war in Iran, US troops have also been arriving in the region to deliver what Donald Trump has hoped could be a knockout blow if he can’t negotiate a ceasefire with Tehran.
Thousands of US marines aboard navy amphibious ships from the 31st and 11th expeditionary units have been deployed to the Middle East from Asia.
Another 2,000-odd paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne are also being sent to the theatre – they are tasked with deploying worldwide within 18 hours of notification and execute parachute assaults, including against a “defended airfield” to prepare for further ground operations.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio repeated on Friday that the US believes it will be able to achieve its goals without boots on the ground, but when marines are in position next week, Trump could order an assault to either provide leverage to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or to degrade Iran’s ability to keep the waterway closed by force.
The lack of heavy armoured units, logistical depth and other elements needed for a protracted military conflict will limit the White House’s ability to escalate the conflict, however, potentially extending a stalemate that could be devastating to the international economy.
The most prominent target has been Kharg Island, a coral outcrop of less than 9sq km, off Iran’s coast. The island is the site through which about 90 per cent of Iran’s crude oil exports flow, making it a financial and logistical lifeline for Tehran, the loss of which could mark a significant blow to the regime.
The US troops being deployed to the region are far fewer than those used in past major operations, including Iraq and Afghanistan. And an assault to take Kharg Island would mark a rare contested amphibious landing by US troops potentially under drone, rocket and artillery fire. US troops would take more than a day to sail into position near the island, giving Iran time to mine the area surrounding the island as well.
If US troops were able to take the island, it remains unclear how long they would be forced to hold the territory, potentially under fire, before the US could compel Iran to reopen the strait of Hormuz or agree to a ceasefire.
Qatari news channel says Tehran office damaged in Israeli strike
Qatari news channel Al Araby has said in a post on X that an Israeli missile had hit the building housing its office in the Iranian capital of Tehran, causing “extensive damage and halting live broadcasts”.
‘Targeted assassination’: Iran condemns Israel’s killing of three journalists in Lebanon
Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi has condemned Israel’s killing of three journalists in Lebanon on Saturday.
On his Telegram, Araghchi said the killings amounted to “targeted assassination” and “flagrant violation of international law”. He said they were a way of silencing “the voices of those who tell the truth”.
Ali Shoeib, from the Hizbullah-owned al-Manar television station, Fatima Ftouni and her brother and cameraman Mohammed Ftouni from the channel al-Mayadeen were killed in the Israeli air strike targeting their car yesterday.
Israel claimed the attack shortly afterwards, saying the target was Shoeib, whom it accused of being a Hizbullah “terrorist”, without providing any evidence to support its claim. It did not comment on the killing of Fatima or Mohamed Ftouni.
Israel, which has killed more than 220 journalists since 2023, according to Reporters Without Borders, often claims the journalists it targets are linked to armed groups (such as Hamas) without providing any evidence.
International humanitarian law is meant to protect civilian journalists during armed conflict and Israel has been accused of clearly violating it, with effective impunity.
Regional powers to meet in Pakistan to discuss ending war
Regional powers are meeting in Pakistan to discuss how to end the fighting in the Middle East.
Pakistan said Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt are sending top diplomats to Islamabad for talks on Sunday. Pakistani prime minister Shehbaz Sharif said he and Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian held “extensive discussions” on regional hostilities.
Kuwait intercepts drone attack
Kuwait has said its air defence systems intercepted four drones attacking the country this morning.
In a statement posted to social media earlier, the account for the Kuwait army said that “any explosions that may be heard are the result of air defence systems intercepting hostile targets”, without specifying who was behind the attacks.
Syria repels Iraqi drone attack targeting US base, says assistant minister
Syria’s assistant defence minister said on Sunday that his country’s forces had repelled a drone attack from neighbouring Iraq targeting one of Syria’s last US military bases.
“Earlier today, the US base in Qasrak, located on our territory, was attacked by four drones launched from Iraqi territory,” Sipan Hamo said on X, adding that “the drones were shot down without casualties”.
“We hold Iraq responsible and call upon it to prevent the recurrence of attacks that threaten our stability.”
The attack came a day after Syria’s army said it repelled another drone attack from Iraq aimed at al-Tanf, a base in the southeast which used to house US forces.
Earlier this week, the Syrian military said another base in the northeast was also targeted by a missile attack from Iraq, with an Iraqi official saying a local armed group was behind it. Iraq has arrested four people in connection with that attack.
Iraq has been pulled into the war since it was sparked by US and Israeli strikes against Iran, with the conflict engulfing much of the Middle East.
Pro-Tehran Iraqi groups have claimed responsibility for attacks on US interests in Iraq and across the region, while strikes have also targeted these groups.
In recent months, American forces have withdrawn from the al-Tanf base, as well as Shadadi in the northeastern province of Hasakeh, and had begun withdrawing from the Qasrak base, also located in Hasakeh.
Oman condemns attacks on its territory
Oman’s foreign ministry said on Sunday that it condemns attacks on its territory, adding that no party has claimed responsibility.
It said authorities were investigating the attacks’ “sources and motives” without providing further details.
Oman said on Saturday that a worker was injured in a drone attack on the Gulf country’s Salalah port and Danish container shipping group Maersk said later that it temporarily halted its operations at the port after Saturday’s attack.
Five killed in US-Israeli strikes on Iran city near Strait of Hormuz, state media reports
US-Israeli strikes hit a quay at an Iranian port city on Sunday near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, killing five people, Iranian state media reported.
“The American-Zionist enemy carried out a criminal attack at the quay of Bandar Khamir, killing five people and injuring four others,” the official IRNA news agency reported.
IDF says it has hit Iranian command centres and weapons sites
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says it has hit temporary Iranian command centres and weapons production and storage sites in Tehran in a fresh wave of strikes.
In a post on X, the IDF said the sites targeted included “ballistic missile production and storage facilities, aerial defence systems, and observation posts of the Iranian regime”.
According to the IDF, Iran had moved some command centres to temporary sites. “Several temporary command centres were dismantled, including commanders who were operating within the HQ’s,” the IDF said in the post.
Iran Guards say strikes on Bahrain and UAE aluminium plants are retaliation for US-Israeli attacks
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards says it launched missile and drone strikes on aluminium plants in Bahrain and the UAE over the weekend in retaliation for a US-Israeli attack on Iranian industrial infrastructure launched from bases in Gulf states.
The Revolutionary Guards said the strikes were targeting what they described as industries linked to the US military.
Since the Middle East war erupted at the end of February, Bahrain and other Gulf countries have regularly been targeted by Iranian missile and drone strikes in retaliation for the US-Israeli campaign.
In a statement carried by Iranian state broadcaster IRIB, the Revolutionary Guards said they hit an aluminium facility in the UAE and Aluminium Bahrain’s main plant, calling both sites “industries affiliated with and connected to the US military and aerospace sectors in the region”.
Aluminium Bahrain, one of the world’s largest aluminium producers, said two employees were wounded in an Iranian strike targeting its facility on Saturday.
The company, also known as Alba, said the workers suffered minor injuries.
War escalates as Yemen’s Houthis launch second attack on Israel and vow to continue strikes
Good morning and welcome to our continuing coverage of the US-Israeli war on Iran.
The war continues to escalate as Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis confirmed a second wave of attacks on Israel since joining the conflict on Saturday. They have vowed to continue strikes in the coming days, posing a threat not just to worsening regional security but also global trade.
In Iran, two powerful explosions shook northern Tehran early on Sunday, an AFP journalist reported. The blasts occurred in the Iranian capital about 7.20am as air defences operated, but it was not yet clear what was targeted.
Meanwhile, the US is reportedly preparing plans for ground operations in Iran. The Trump administration has already deployed US Marines to the Middle East.
