The war in West Asia entered its third week as the United States and Iran threatened to target each other’s oil facilities, with fresh US-Israeli strikes hitting Iran and Tehran launching a new wave of retaliatory attacks on American and Israeli interests across the region.
The conflict, triggered by joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28, has expanded into a broader regional crisis, threatening shipping in the Persian Gulf and fuelling volatility in global energy markets.
US bombs Iran’s key oil export hub: US President Donald Trump said the US military had “totally obliterated” military targets on Kharg Island, which handles most of Iran’s crude exports, and warned that the island’s oil infrastructure could also be targeted. Iran's Fars news agency said there had been no damage to oil facilities in Kharg.
Iran threatens US oil targets: Following the Kharg Island attack, Iran’s military command reiterated its threat to strike US-linked oil and energy facilities in the region if the Islamic Republic’s oil infrastructure were hit.
Macron offers to host Israel-Lebanon talks: French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday said Lebanon was ready to engage in "direct talks" with Israel and offered to host negotiations in Paris.
Trump says Iran 'defeated', Hormuz escort 'very soon': Trump said late on Friday that Iran had been “totally defeated” in the US-Israeli military campaign and “wanted a deal he would not accept”, despite Iranian officials vowing to continue the fight. He also said the US Navy would begin escorting tankers through the Strait of Hormuz “very soon.”
US deploys additional Marines: The Pentagon is deploying 2,500 more Marines and an amphibious assault ship to West Asia, according to US media reports.
Iran targets Israel: Iran launched a fresh round of missiles towards Israel, state media reported just after midnight on Saturday in Tehran, but Israeli rescue workers said there were no reported casualties following the strikes.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called on Saturday for neighbouring countries to expel US forces from the Middle East.
The US security umbrella in the region "has proven to be full of holes and inviting rather than deterring trouble," the top diplomat posted on X, adding that Iran called on its neighbours "to expel foreign aggressors".
A US-Israeli missile attack on an industrial area of Isfahan killed at least 15 people, Iran's Fars news agency reported on Saturday.
"The attack targeted a factory that produces heating and cooling equipment" and was in operation at the time of the strike, Fars reported. Saturday is a working day in Iran.
Turkey expressed deep concern Saturday over Israel's ongoing strikes on Lebanon over concerns it would commit "a new genocide" under the guise of fighting Hezbollah.
"We are frankly concerned (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu is moving toward a new genocide under the pretext of fighting Hezbollah," Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said, urging the international community to "take immediate action".
Iran's envoy to Ukraine, Shahriar Amouzegar, dismissed the support Kyiv has offered to the United States and its Gulf allies, advertising its expertise in destroying Iranian-designed drones launched by Russia.
"As for the actions Ukraine is taking in the Middle East against drones, we essentially consider them nothing more than a joke and a showy gesture," Amouzegar told AFP in an exclusive interview.
Two drones targeted an airbase in Kuwait housing US military staff, injuring Kuwaiti personnel and causing damage, the defence ministry said on Saturday.
"Three members of the armed forces sustained minor injuries" after the attack on Ahmed Al-Jaber Air Base, spokesperson Brigadier General Saud Al-Otaibi said in a statement. The base is near Camp Arifjan, a major US facility.
Iran will target the facilities of American companies in the region if its energy facilities are attacked in the US-Israeli war against the Islamic republic, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Saturday.
"Iran will respond to any attack on its energy facilities," state television quoted him as saying after US attacks on military infrastructure on Iran's crude oil export hub of Kharg Island.
"If Iranian facilities are targeted, our forces will target American companies' facilities in the region, or companies in which the US holds shares," he warned, while vowing that Tehran would "act cautiously to ensure that densely populated areas are not targeted".
US President Donald Trump on Saturday urged other nations to send ships to help secure the Strait of Hormuz, the critical chokepoint for global oil supplies disrupted by the Mideast war.
Trump, who has said the United States will soon start escorting tankers through the strait, posted on Truth Social that "Many countries, especially those who are affected by Iran’s attempted closure of the Hormuz Strait, will be sending War Ships, in conjunction with the United States of America, to keep the Strait open and safe."
The US president added: "Hopefully China, France, Japan, South Korea, the UK, and others, that are affected by this artificial constraint, will send Ships to the area."
UN chief Antonio Guterres said Saturday on a visit to Beirut that diplomatic channels remained open to end the war between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah and urged the international community to support Lebanon.
"There is no military solution, only diplomacy, dialogue and full implementation of the UN Charter and Security Council resolutions. The diplomatic avenues are available, including through my special coordinator for Lebanon... and through key member states," he said.
"My message to the international community is simply step up your engagement, empower the Lebanese state and support the Lebanese Armed Forces to secure the capabilities and resources they need," he added.
Explosions rang out over Jerusalem, AFP reporters heard, shortly after the Israeli military warned that it had detected incoming missiles from Iran.
As the Middle East war triggered by US-Israeli strikes on Tehran entered its third week, the military said its "defence system is operating to intercept the threat".
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has warned the United Arab Emirates that US military facilities within its territory are now “legitimate targets”.
The warning follows a reported strike on Kharg Island, one of Iran’s most critical oil export hubs. The IRGC also urged residents in the UAE to evacuate areas near ports, docks and US military facilities to avoid potential harm.
The United Arab Emirates said its air defence systems intercepted nine ballistic missiles and 33 drones launched from Iran since dawn.
In a statement, the UAE Defence Ministry said that since the start of the Iran war on February 28, its air defences have intercepted 294 ballistic missiles, 15 cruise missiles and 1,600 drones.
The statement added that at least six people have been killed and 141 others injured during the same period.
Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz said the war with Tehran was entering a "decisive phase", praising US strikes on what Washington called military targets on Iran's Kharg Island oil export hub.
"The global and regional struggle against Iran, led by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is escalating and entering the decisive phase that will continue as long as necessary," Katz told military top brass in a televised statement.
Two Indian-flagged tankers carrying liquefied petroleum gas bound for ports in the country's west crossed the Strait of Hormuz, the South Asian country's shipping ministry said.
"They crossed the Strait of Hormuz early morning safely and are en route to India," Rajesh Kumar Sinha, special secretary of the ministry of ports, shipping and waterways, said at a news briefing in New Delhi.
Tehran has largely halted traffic through the key sea route, that normally carries one fifth of global oil supplies, since the United States and Israel launched an attack on Iran last month.
“Export and import operations, as well as the activities of companies based on the island, are currently ongoing,” Ehsan Jahaniyan, deputy governor of Bushehr province, was quoted as saying by NourNews, an outlet close to Iran’s National Security Council.
Jahaniyan also said that daily life activities were normal, adding that the strikes left no casualties.
Kharg Island is home to the primary terminal that handles the country’s oil exports and had been targetted by US strikes earlier in the day.
Early Saturday, semi-official Fars News Agency reported that the US strikes were limited to military facilities.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday said Lebanon was ready to engage in "direct talks" with Israel and offered to host negotiations in Paris. "The Lebanese government has signalled its willingness to engage in direct talks with Israel," he said on X, adding that "all sections of society must be represented in these talks."
"France is ready to facilitate these talks by hosting them in Paris," Macron said, adding he had spoken to the president and prime minister of Lebanon, a former French protectorate. "Everything must be done to prevent Lebanon from descending into chaos," Macron added.
"Hezbollah must immediately halt its reckless course. Israel must abandon plans for a large-scale offensive and cease its massive air strikes."
Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war last week when Iran-backed Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said the US, despite "bullying India" to end Russian oil imports, is now begging them to buy crude from Moscow, two weeks after its war with Iran.
"The US spent months on bullying India into ending oil imports from Russia," said Araghchi on Friday in a post on social media platform X.
"After two weeks of war with Iran, White House is now begging the world - including India - to buy Russian crude," he added.
This comes after, on March 5, the US issued a 30-day waiver allowing India to buy Russian oil, having previously imposed heavy sanctions related to the war in Ukraine.
Bahrain’s Defense Ministry said Iran fired 10 drones and three missiles on Saturday.
That has brought the total number of missiles and drones fired at Bahrain during the two-week war to 124 and 203, respectively.
Iran’s military command threatened on Saturday to attack cities in the United Arab Emirates, claiming they were used by US forces to launch strikes on Iran’s Abu Musa and Kharg islands.
According to Iran’s state television, the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters said, that US forces launched attacks on the Islamic Republic from “ports, docks and hideouts within” cities in the Emirates.
It called on people to evacuate “ports, docks and locations where US forces are sheltered in UAE cities.”
Iran's cultural heritage and tourism ministry on Saturday said at least 56 museums and historic sites across the country have been damaged in US-Israeli attacks.
In Tehran, the strikes damaged the UNESCO-listed Golestan Palace in the early days of the conflict, local media reported. The palace complex is one of the oldest sites in the Iranian capital and once served as the residence of the Qajar dynasty.
The ministry said Tehran has recorded the highest number of damaged monuments, with 19 suffering varying levels of harm.
The vast Naghsh-e Jahan Square, a 17th-century architectural jewel in the heart of the central Iranian city of Isfahan, has also been damaged.
In the port of Siraf, in Bushehr province, several houses were hit in the historic quarter, home to many century-old buildings.
Iran's Fars news agency, citing sources on Kharg Island, a crucial hub for Tehran, said there had been no damage to oil facilities after President Donald Trump said US strikes had destroyed only military targets there.
Trump had threatened in a social media post to target oil infrastructure on the island if Tehran continues to block the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
Iran has, in turn, threatened to target US-linked oil infrastructure.
Only 77 ships have so far crossed the Strait of Hormuz in March as the war disrupts one of the world's most vital shipping routes, a maritime data firm reported Friday.
Lloyd's List Intelligence said most of the vessels belonged to the so-called shadow fleet of ships being used to skirt Western sanctions and regulations, typically linked to Russia and Iran.
It added during the period of March 1 through 11 last year, around 1,229 vessels made the passage through the waterway.
The United Arab Emirates has detained 10 foreigners who allegedly posted footage on social media of missile and drone attacks on the county.
UAE General Prosecutor Hamad Al Shamsi ordered them to remain in detention over accusations of spreading disinformation, some of which included AI-generated videos of purported attacks on UAE landmarks.
He said in a statement that their acts are punishable by imprisonment of at least a year and a fine of at least 100,000 dirhams ($27,230).
The airstrike destroyed a residential building early on Saturday in the western city of Eyvan, the judiciary’s official news agency Mizan reported, citing local authorities. The dead included a 6-month-old, it said.
US-Israeli strikes killed Iran's leader but have not toppled the government, which now, from its perch on the Strait of Hormuz, has put the entire world economy on the war's frontlines.
The initial US victory in killing supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has given way to a conflict that Washington cannot completely control, sharply limiting President Donald Trump's options.
Two weeks into a bloody air war, Iran holds many cards as it chokes the world's oil supply and strikes US allies in West Asia, including Gulf states who had for years staked their reputations on political and economic stability. It makes for a drastic turn from February 28, when the first clouds of black smoke rose over Tehran.
The Wall Street Journal quoted US officials as saying the Japan-based USS Tripoli and its attached Marines are en route to the region, while The New York Times reported that some 2,500 Marines aboard as many as three ships were headed for the Middle East.
CNN said it was a Marine Expeditionary Unit -- which typically includes some 2,500 Marines and sailors -- that was being deployed.
The Journal said the request for the additional Marines was made by US Central Command, which is responsible for US troops in the Middle East, and approved by Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth. There are already Marines in the region supporting operations against Iran, the newspaper added.
An Israeli strike hit an apartment building in a northern Beirut suburb that had also been targeted a day earlier, Lebanese media reported on Saturday.
An AFP correspondent saw rescue workers at the scene and damage, including a hole, in a building in the Nabaa-Burj Hammoud area, outside Iran-backed Hezbollah's strongholds in the capital's southern suburbs.
The same building had been struck on Friday without causing casualties.
Palestinian Islamic resistance movement Hamas on Saturday called on Iran to refrain from targeting neighbouring countries, while affirming Tehran's right to defend itself against Israel and the United States.
"While affirming the right of the Islamic Republic of Iran to respond to this aggression by all available means in accordance with international norms and laws, the movement calls on the brothers in Iran to avoid targeting neighbouring countries," Hamas said in a statement.
The group previously condemned the killing of Iran's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, on the first day of the war as a "heinous crime", openly acknowledging his longstanding support for the Palestinian movement.
Iran’s Fars news agency reported at least 15 explosions with thick smoke rising over Kharg Island, earlier hit by US strikes.
It said the strikes targeted an air defense facility, a naval base, the airport control tower, and an offshore oil company’s helicopter hangar, adding no oil infrastructure was damaged in the attack.
The Israeli army told people in an industrial zone in the west of Iran's northern city of Tabriz to leave ahead of military operations on Saturday.
"Urgent warning to all people located in the industrial area west of Tabriz," the Israeli military posted on X, adding it would "continue to operate in the area in the coming hours".
Internet shutdowns in Iran since US-Israeli strikes late last month triggered a war in the Middle East meant that residents were unlikely to be able to access online evacuation warnings.
Saudi Arabia’s Defense Ministry said early on Saturday it downed a drone in the al-Jawf region, a sparsely populated province near the Jordan border that hosts military and energy infrastructure.
The ministry also said it shot down seven drones headed toward the kingdom’s eastern region, one of its least dense areas close to Iran and home to major oil installations.
In Qatar, the Defense Ministry said forces were responding to a missile attack targeting the gas-rich nation.
Dubai’s Media Office said debris from an interception struck the facade of a building in the city center, adding that the incident was contained, with no fire or injuries reported.
US President Donald Trump said on Friday that Iran has been "totally defeated" in the US-Israeli military campaign against the country and wanted a deal he would not accept, despite Iranian officials pledging to continue the fight.
"The Fake News Media hates to report how well the United States Military has done against Iran, which is totally defeated and wants a deal - But not a deal that I would accept!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, without elaborating.
Trump's comments came after he said that Washington had heavily bombed military targets on Iran's oil hub Kharg Island and the US Navy would soon begin escorting tankers through the Strait of Hormuz.
But as the US strikes on Iran persisted, Tehran launched a new wave of drone and missile attacks on Israel and its Gulf neighbours.
A missile struck a helipad inside the US Embassy in Baghdad, two security officials said. The projectile landed within the embassy’s boundaries after the Green Zone, the heavily fortified district in central Baghdad that houses Iraqi government institutions and foreign embassies, added the security officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity as they are not authorized to speak with the press.
Video obtained by The Associated Press showed smoke billowing from inside the compound. There was no immediate comment from the US Embassy in Baghdad.
On Friday, the embassy renewed its Level 4 security alert for Iraq, warning that Iran and Iran-aligned militia groups have previously carried out attacks against US citizens, interests and infrastructure, and “may continue to target them.”
The sprawling embassy complex, one of the largest US diplomatic facilities in the world, has been repeatedly targeted by rockets and drones in the past by Iran-aligned militias.
Iran’s military command warned it would target oil and energy infrastructure linked to the United States after Donald Trump said Washington had bombed Iran’s key oil hub, Kharg Island.
In a statement cited by Iranian media, the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters said companies cooperating with the US could see their energy facilities “destroyed” if Iran’s own infrastructure was attacked, escalating tensions in the region.
A fresh explosion was heard in Iraq’s capital, Baghdad, on Saturday, hours after a missile struck a house used by the Iran-backed group Kataeb Hezbollah. Residents in the Zayouna district said the blast shook their homes. Earlier strikes reportedly killed a key figure in the group and wounded two others, according to a security source. The situation in the city remains tense as authorities assess the incidents.
Blasts were heard in Doha early Saturday, according to AFP journalists, after Qatar's interior ministry said it was evacuating some key areas.
Interceptors were seen over the Qatari capital's downtown area downing two projectiles, an AFP journalist said, as Iran presses its retaliatory air campaign against Gulf states.
The Gulf state's defence ministry said its military had "intercepted missile attack which targeted State of Qatar".
Earlier, the interior ministry said in a statement it was "evacuating several key areas as a temporary precautionary measure, within the framework of ensuring public safety until the danger has passed".
Two people were wounded after a projectile fell on a house in Iraq's capital Baghdad on Saturday, two security sources said.
According to AFP reports, loud bangs were heard in the capital followed by ambulance sirens, with witnesses saying they saw smoke rising from an area in the city's centre.
A security source said "a projectile fell on a house wounding two people," in the neighbourhood of Arasat, where several Iran-backed groups are known to be present, without being able to determine the type of the projectile.
President Donald Trump said Friday that the US military had heavily bombed military targets on Iran's Kharg Island, which handles almost all of Iran's crude exports, and threatened to hit the island's oil infrastructure.
"The United States Central Command executed one of the most powerful bombing raids in the History of the Middle East, and totally obliterated every MILITARY target in Iran's crown jewel, Kharg Island," Trump said on social media.
"I have chosen NOT to wipe out the Oil Infrastructure on the Island. However, should Iran, or anyone else, do anything to interfere with the Free and Safe Passage of Ships through the Strait of Hormuz, I will immediately reconsider."
An Israeli strike on a primary healthcare centre in southern Lebanon killed at least 12 medical personnel, the Lebanese health ministry said Saturday as the war between Israel and Hezbollah rages on.
In a statement, the ministry said it "mourns the healthcare workers in Burj Qalawiya who were killed in an Israeli airstrike that targeted the town's primary healthcare centre", adding that "12 doctors, paramedics and nurses on duty at the centre were killed, and one healthcare worker was injured" while rescue operations were still ongoing.
The ministry said the attack was "the second against the health sector in a few hours", following a strike on Sawaneh that killed two paramedics affiliated with Hezbollah and its ally Amal.
Qatar's interior ministry on Saturday said it was evacuating a number of areas as Iran presses its retaliatory air campaign against Gulf countries.
The ministry said in a statement it was "evacuating several key areas as a temporary precautionary measure, within the framework of ensuring public safety until the danger has passed".
In Doha's central Musheireb district some residents received phone alerts telling them to "evacuate the area immediately... to the nearest safest place as a temporary precaution".
The United Nations humanitarian chief demanded Friday that aid be allowed to safely transit the Strait of Hormuz, a naval chokepoint hit by disruption as the Middle East war rages.
"Humanitarian cargo must be allowed to pass safely through the Strait of Hormuz," Tom Fletcher said in a statement, warning that "millions of people are at risk" if disruptions persist.
Police in the Emirati capital Abu Dhabi said on Saturday they had arrested 45 people, including foreigners, for "spreading misinformation and filming and sharing event locations" as Iran continued to strike the Gulf.
"The Abu Dhabi Police Criminal Investigation Department arrested 45 individuals of various nationalities for filming different locations during ongoing events and posting them on social media platforms," the police said.
"They were also accused of spreading inaccurate and misleading information, which could incite public opinion and spread rumours within the community," they added.
The price of a barrel of Brent crude has soared by more than 42 percent since US-Israeli strikes on Iran plunged the oil-rich Middle East into war, market data showed Friday.
The cost of Brent, the international benchmark for oil, has surged from $72.48 on February 27 to $103.14 at Friday's close. This also marked an 11 percent rise over the week.
The West Texas Intermediate, meanwhile, has rocketed more than 47 percent since the start of the conflict, to $98.71.
Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said on Friday that his group would not allow Israel to eradicate it, calling on the Lebanese government to stop making "free concessions".
"We will not allow the enemy to achieve its goal of eliminating our existence," he said in a televised address.
He called on the government to "stop making free concessions, as this makes the enemy more greedy and prolongs the war" and to reverse its latest decisions, in an apparent reference to Beirut's commitment to disarm Hezbollah and ban its military and security activities.
Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem said on Friday his group was ready for a long confrontation with Israel, as the two sides fought another war in Lebanon.
"We have prepared ourselves for a long confrontation, and God willing, they (Israelis) will be surprised on the battlefield," Qassem said in a televised address, adding that "the enemy's threats do not frighten us".
"This is an existential battle, not a limited or simple battle."
An AFP journalist reported heavy blasts in the Iranian capital Tehran on Friday, hours after Israel said it had launched a new wave of strikes on the city.
Earlier on Friday at least one person was killed by an explosion near a pro-government rally in Tehran, Iran's official IRNA news agency reported.
TOP DEVELOPMENTS
The West Asia war entered its 15th day on Saturday with fresh US-Israeli strikes on Iran and renewed missile and drone attacks by Tehran. The conflict, which began after joint strikes on February 28, has expanded into a broader regional crisis, threatening shipping in the Persian Gulf and pushing energy markets into volatility.
US offers reward for info on Iranian leaders: The US State Department offered a $10 million reward on Friday for information about Iran's new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei and other top officials
Lebanon death toll: Israeli strikes have killed at least 773 people since March 2, the Lebanese health ministry said on Friday, as Israel vowed that Lebanon will pay an "increasing price" in damage to infrastructure.
'Putin helping Iran in war a bit': US President Donald Trump said in an interview aired Friday he suspected Russian leader Vladimir Putin was aiding Iran in the war against the United States and Israel.
UN launches humanitarian appeal to support Lebanon: UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres launched a $325 million humanitarian appeal on Friday to support Lebanon as it responds to the displacement crisis caused by the war between Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel.
1st week of war costs US $11.3 billion: The first week of the war against Iran has cost the US about $11.3 billion, according to the Pentagon. US lawmakers say they expect a supplemental funding request related to the conflict to reach at least $50 billion.
Over 3 million Iranians displaced: UN Refugee Agency says some 3.2 million people have been displaced in Iran due to US-Israeli attacks since the war began.