The war in West Asia entered its third week as the United States and Israel traded fire with Iran, with attacks continuing on military, diplomatic and strategic infrastructure. Israel has also intensified attacks on Lebanon, targeting Iran-backed Hezbollah.
The conflict, triggered by the February 28 US-Israeli strikes on Iran, has spread across the region, roiling energy markets and pushing up oil prices.
TOP DEVELOPMENTS
Israel says it killed top Iranian officials including Larijani: Israel's Defence Minister Katz on Tuesday said the military has killed Iran’s security chief Ali Larijani and Revolutionary Guard's Basij force commander Gholamreza Soleimani in overnight strikes. Iran is yet to comment on the attacks.
Israel strikes Tehran, Beirut; Hezbollah strikes back: Israel's army said Tuesday it had launched a "wide-scale wave of strikes" in the Iranian capital Tehran and started striking Hezbollah targets in the Lebanese capital Beirut, killing at least one soldier. Hezbollah said it has targeted a group of Israeli soldiers in the region.
HRW condemns Iranian attack on Gulf: The Human Rights Watch on Tuesday called out 'unlawful' strikes against the Gulf countries, stating that the safety of civilians, especially migrants, are endangered as fresh attacks were reported in UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Iran had intensified retaliatory strikes on its neighbours hosting US military bases. One person was killed in Abu Dhabi while Saudi Arabia reported over a dozen drone attacks. A fire broke out in Qatar after it intercepted a missile on Tuesday. Dubai reported explosions after missile alerts were sounded.
Oil prices up over 5%: Oil prices jumped over 5 per cent as several countries pushed back against US President Donald Trump's call to help secure the Strait of Hormuz. At around 0615 GMT, US benchmark West Texas West Texas Intermediate was up 5.16 percent at USD 98.32 a barrel while Brent Crude also rose above five percent before easing back.
Oil facilities targeted: A drone strike caused a fire at a major oil field in UAE, authorities said without reporting injuries. UAE's state-owned energy giant ADNOC halted the loading of oil into storage tanks at their Fujairah facility, following repeated strikes on the installation. In Iraq, drones targeted a major oil facility in the southern part of the country.
Iran says Hormuz cannot be 'as it was before': Iran’s parliament speaker on Tuesday said that the Strait of Hormuz cannot be "as it was before" amid US President Trump's call for securing the strategic waterway closed by Tehran. He said considering the recent "interventions," the strait can no longer be, "from a legal standpoint and in terms of transit, as it was before."
Trump slams allies over Hormuz: US President Donald Trump on Monday criticised Washington's allies for their lukewarm response to his call to protect shipping in the Strait of Hormuz during the US war with Iran. Trump called for more "enthusiasm" from other countries, saying he believed France and Britain would reluctantly get involved.
US embassy in Baghdad hit: A drone and rocket attack targeted the US embassy in Baghdad early Tuesday. According to an official, "three drones and four rockets attacked the embassy, with at least one drone crashing inside it."
Israel's military said on Monday it was carrying out what it described as "limited" ground operations against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, as Beirut said more than one million people had displaced in two weeks of fighting.
Israel's defence minister warned that those displaced in Lebanon would not return home until northern Israel was secure, while Hezbollah said it targeted a north Israel city where first responders reported a man was wounded.
An Israeli military statement said that in recent days its troops "have begun limited and targeted ground operations against key Hezbollah strongholds in southern Lebanon."
"This activity is part of broader defensive efforts" and includes "the dismantling of terrorist infrastructure and the elimination of terrorists... in order to remove threats and create an additional layer of security for residents of northern Israel," it said.
The ground operations were preceded by air and artillery strikes, it added.
The announcement echoes similar statements issued in 2024, when Israel and Hezbollah fought a major war in Lebanon, and in 2023, when the military launched a ground assault in Gaza in response to Hamas's October 7 attacks.
Hezbollah on Monday said it targeted Israeli troops and vehicles in at least three Lebanese border towns, after the Israeli army announced it had begun limited ground operations in Lebanon.
In three separate statements, the group said it targeted an Israeli site "in the border town of Aitaroun with a rocket salvo" as well as "a gathering of Israeli vehicles and soldiers" in Odaisseh with artillery shells, and "a gathering of Israeli vehicles and soldiers" and a Merkava tank in the town of Taybeh with a rocket salvo.
A drone strike on Monday caused a fire at a major oil field in the United Arab Emirates, authorities said, as Iran continued its drone and missile strikes across the Gulf.
Authorities in the emirate of Abu Dhabi said they were still responding to the fire at the Shah oil field, without reporting injuries.
The Shah oil field, located 230 kilometres (143 miles) south of Abu Dhabi city, has a production capacity of approximately 70,000 barrels of crude oil per day, according to the UAE's state-owned energy giant ADNOC.
The military’s chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir, said the army is “determined to deepen the operation until all of our objectives are achieved.”
Speaking on a visit to the northern border, Zamir said “We are preparing for what comes next and reinforcing the Northern Command with additional troops in order to strengthen the forward defensive posture, deepen the damage to Hezbollah, and push the threat away from the communities in the north.”
The army said in a statement that Zamir approved plans for “continued limited, targeted operations.”
A military spokesman said earlier on Monday that the army had deployed additional ground troops into Lebanon for what it calls a “limited and targeted operation.”
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric raised speculation about an eventual UN-led initiative after saying the global impact of restrictions or closure of the vital Strait of Hormuz “cannot be underestimated.”
He referred to behind-the-scenes negotiations that led to the July 2022 deal that allowed Ukrainian grain exports through the Black Sea after Russia’s invasion, saying “silence was the better half of valor.”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “remains very much engaged and in frequent contact with senior officials in the region and beyond,” he said, “but we’re not going to be feeding the speculation.”
Guterres “will continue to work discreetly on this, because, frankly, the stakes are too high,” Dujarric said. He announced that Guterres will head to Brussels on Tuesday for meetings with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and other EU officials.
The leaders of five Western countries said in a joint statement that a large-scale Israeli ground operation in Lebanon "must be averted".
"A significant Israeli ground offensive would have devastating humanitarian consequences and could lead to a protracted conflict," said the joint statement from the leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog told AFP on Monday that an offer by French leader Emmanuel Macron to host direct talks with Lebanon was "a very positive development".
"I think it's very important that there should be talks," Herzog said in an exclusive interview at his Jerusalem residence.
Israel's President Isaac Herzog told AFP Monday that Europe should back his country's fight against Hezbollah, as Israeli forces carried out ground operations in Lebanon.
In an exclusive interview at his Jerusalem residence, the Israeli head of state also said the US-Israeli war with Iran marked a "historical juncture".
"Europe should support any effort, any effort, to eradicate Hezbollah now," Herzog said.
"They should understand that if you want to get anywhere, sometimes you need to win war."
Israel's military announced Monday it was conducting "limited" ground operations against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon to end the Iran-backed group's rocket attacks.
A fresh drone and rocket attack targeted the US embassy in Baghdad early Tuesday, a security official said.
An AFP journalist reported seeing black smoke rising after an explosion in the embassy complex, as well as air defences intercepting another drone.
The security official said that "three drones and four rockets attacked the embassy, with at least one drone crashing inside it."
Hours earlier, air defences thwarted a rocket attack at the embassy.
A strike on a house in Baghdad killed four people early Tuesday, two Iraqi security officials said, with initial reports suggesting that two of those killed are Iranian advisors.
Another source from an Iran-backed faction confirmed that four people were killed in the strike on a house hosting Iranian advisors in al-Jadiriyah neighbourhood.
Israel's army said Tuesday it had launched a "wide scale wave of strikes" in the Iranian capital Tehran, as well as strikes against Hezbollah in the Lebanese capital, Beirut.
"The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) has begun a wide scale wave of strikes against Iranian terror regime infrastructure across Tehran," the military posted on Telegram.
"Additionally, the IDF has begun an additional wave of strikes on Hezbollah terror infrastructure in Beirut."
Israeli airstrikes rained down on three neighbourhoods in Beirut early Tuesday, Lebanese state media reported, as Lebanon said more than one million people had been displaced in two weeks of fighting.
"A series of raids and artillery shelling targeted southern towns at dawn," Lebanon's National News Agency said.
"Israeli warplanes carried out two airstrikes targeting the Kafaat and Haret Hreik areas" and another airstrike on a residential apartment building in the Doha Aramoun area, NNA added.
Oil prices resumed their push higher Tuesday as several countries pushed back against Donald Trump's demand that they help secure the key Strait of Hormuz, while Iran continued to target crude-producing neighbours.
The advances pared some of the previous day's sharp losses that came after the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) said more stockpiles could be tapped if needed.
Still, equities extended Monday's gains as tech firms rallied after Nvidia said it expected to make at least USD 1 trillion in revenue through the end of 2027.
Key figures at around 0230 GMT:
West Texas Intermediate: UP 2.4 percent at USD 95.77 per barrel
Brent North Sea Crude: UP 2.6 percent at USD 102.84 per barrel
Tokyo - Nikkei 225: UP 0.5 percent at 54,013.73 (break)
Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 1.5 percent at 26,224.17
Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.5 percent at 4,103.72
Euro/dollar: DOWN at USD 1.1493 from USD 1.1510 on Monday
Pound/dollar: DOWN at USD 1.3307 from USD 1.3327
Dollar/yen: UP at 159.37 yen from 159.14 yen
Euro/pound: UP at 86.38 pence from 86.36 pence
New York - Dow: UP 0.8 percent at 46,946.41 (close)
London - FTSE 100: UP 0.6 percent at 10,317.69 (close)
Three explosions echoed across Dubai after a missile alert early on Tuesday, according to an AFP correspondent.
The blasts followed a mobile phone alert to residents to "immediately seek a safe place" over "potential missile threats".
An "unknown projectile" struck a tanker off the coast of Oman, a UK maritime agency said Tuesday, noting there were no reported injuries.
"A Tanker has reported being struck by an unknown projectile whilst at anchor," UK Maritime Trade Operations said in a post on X.
"Minor structural damage reported. No injuries to crew."
Iran's football federation is "negotiating" with FIFA to relocate the country's first-round matches at the World Cup to Mexico from the United States, citing the conflict in the Middle East, Iran's embassy in Mexico said Monday.
Iran's participation at this summer's finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico has been thrown into doubt since the war began late last month.
"When (US President Donald) Trump has explicitly stated that he cannot ensure the security of the Iranian national team, we will certainly not travel to America," Iranian football chief Mehdi Taj said in remarks posted on the embassy's X account.
"We are currently negotiating with FIFA to hold Iran's matches in the World Cup in Mexico."
Falling shrapnel from an intercepted missile killed a Pakistani national in Abu Dhabi, the government media office said Tuesday.
The incident took place in the Bani Yas area "following the interception of a ballistic missile by air defences", the Abu Dhabi Media Office said.
Saudi Arabia has intercepted two more drones over the east of the country, according to the Ministry of Defence.
Earlier the ministry said it had destroyed 12 drones over the region in recent hours.
The price of oil jumped more than five percent on Tuesday as several countries pushed back against Donald Trump's demand that they help secure the key Strait of Hormuz, while Iran targeted crude-producing neighbours.
At around 0615 GMT, US benchmark West Texas West Texas Intermediate was up 5.16 percent at USD 98.32 a barrel while Brent Crude also rose above five percent before easing back.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Tuesday their forces had arrested 10 "foreign spies" as the war with Israel and the United States continued.
"Ten mercenary, treacherous elements were identified and arrested," the Guards intelligence organisation in the northeastern Razavi Khorasan province said, according to ISNA news agency, without identifying their nationalities.
The Guards said fours among them were gathering information "on sensitive sites and economic infrastructure" while others were linked to a "monarchist terrorist group."
The speaker of Iran’s parliament told Iranian state television that the Strait of Hormuz cannot be “as it was before” as Iranian fire keeps nearly all traffic out of the strategic waterway.
Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf made the comment in an interview aired Tuesday as Iranian fire continues to target shipping in the region.
“They are flying, launching missiles, should we just sit back and do nothing in response, or not? Naturally, it is our undeniable right. We must do this,” Qalibaf said.
“Certainly, from now on, with the interventions that have taken place, the strait can no longer be, from a legal standpoint and in terms of transit, as it was before,” Qalibaf said. “It no longer has the necessary security. It does not have the necessary security.”
Australian and New Zealand government ministers agree the Middle East war should end as quickly as possible.
Australian and New Zealand foreign and defense ministers met for annual talks Tuesday in Australia’s capital Canberra.
"We discussed the escalating situation in the Middle East. We want this crisis to end as quickly possible and move to a negotiated solution," New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters told reporters at a joint press conference after the meeting.
Kuwaiti security forces arrested 16 people suspected to have links with Hezbollah, the state-run Kuwait News Agency reported.
The interior ministry said in a statement late Monday that the 14 Kuwaiti and two Lebanese suspects sought to “create chaos, and disrupt public order” during the war, the agency reported.
The ministry did not identify the people arrested. It was not immediately clear if they had lawyers.
It said authorities found firearms, ammunition, weapons for training and assassinations and encrypted communication devices and drones.
The ministry said the suspects aimed to recruit others to join Hezbollah.
Kuwait has for years experienced attacks that authorities linked to Iran.
China said on Tuesday it had "noted" clarifications from the United States about the reasons for a possible delay to a planned visit to Beijing by US President Donald Trump.
"We have noted that the US side has publicly clarified these false reports by the media, stating that the relevant reports are completely wrong, and emphasised that the visit has nothing to do with the issue of the open navigation of the Strait of Hormuz," foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said during a regular news briefing.
China said on Tuesday it will provide humanitarian assistance to Middle Eastern countries, including Iran and Lebanon, targeted in US and Israeli strikes in the now three-week conflict.
"China has decided to provide emergency humanitarian assistance to Iran, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq. It is hoped this will help alleviate the humanitarian plight faced by the local populations," foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told a press conference.
The Israeli army on Tuesday said its strikes had hit the command centres of Iranian security forces, including the Intelligence Ministry and Basij militia in Tehran, reported Al Jazeera.
Sites for storing and launching drones, missiles and air defence systems were targeted.
In Shiraz, the headquarters of Iran’s internal security command and a missile storage site were targeted, while defence systems were destroyed in Tabriz, the army said.
The Israeli army said it has killed Iran's Basij force commander Gholamreza Soleimani in an attack on Monday night.
The military claimed Soleimani’s killing is a “significant blow” to Iran’s “command-and-control structures” and pledged to “continue to act with force” against Iranian commanders.
Israeli media reported that Israel targeted Iranian national security chief Ali Larijani in an overnight strike, though there was no immediate confirmation from Israeli officials.
Last week a defiant Larijani made one of the most high-profile public appearances by an Iranian official since the February 28 strike that killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other top officials, marching in a mass rally in Tehran where he dismissed US-Israeli attacks as being "out of fear, out of desperation."
Two medical staff were injured when shrapnel fell on an emergency medical centre in Kuwait on Tuesday, the health ministry said, as Iran pressed on with a campaign of attacks across the Gulf.
"Two members of the emergency medical teams sustained injuries while at their workplace at an emergency medical centre when shrapnel fell on the site," the health ministry said.
Israel's Defence Minister Katz has just said that Iran’s security chief Ali Larijani has been killed. There has been no comment from Iran yet.
"I have just been updated by the Chief of Staff that Larijani, Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, and the head of the Basij -— Iran's central repression apparatus -— (Soleimani), were eliminated last night," Katz said in a statement released by his ministry.
If the death is confirmed, Larijani will become the second most senior official of Iran's government to be killed in the ongoing war after former Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei.
Moments after Israel's Defence Minister Katz said Iran's security chief Ali Larijani has been killed in an overnight strike, a post appeared on the leader's X handle paying tribute to the naval officers of Iran killed in the US-Israeli attacks.
"On the occasion of the funeral ceremony for the valiant martyrs of the Islamic Republic of Iran's Navy: Their memory will forever remain in the heart of the Iranian nation, and these martyrdoms will strengthen the foundation of the Islamic Republic's Army for years to come within the structure of the armed forces," the post read.
"I beseech the Almighty God for the highest ranks for these dear martyrs," it added.
به مناسبت مراسم تشییع سلحشوران نیروی دریایی ارتش جمهوری اسلامی ایران: یاد آنان همواره در قلب ملت ایران خواهد بود و این شهادتها بنیان ارتش جمهوری اسلامی را برای سالها در ساختار نیروهای مسلح استوار مینماید. ازخداوند متعال علو درجات برای این شهدای عزیز خواستارم. pic.twitter.com/dvTdhyDYbY
— Ali Larijani | علی لاریجانی (@alilarijani_ir) March 17, 2026
Iran is yet to comment on reports regarding Larijani's death.
On March 13, Larijani made one of the most high-profile public appearances by an Iranian official since the begining of the war, marching in a mass rally in Tehran, defying death threats from the US and Israel. Addressing the rally, he dismissed US-Israeli attacks on Iran as being "out of fear and desperation."
The Israeli military said Tuesday it targeted Akram al-Ajouri, head of the military wing of the group Palestinian Islamic Jihad, in a strike in Iran.
"We conducted a strike against Akram al-Ajouri," a military official told reporters during a briefing, adding that the "senior commander in the Islamic Jihad of Gaza" had been living in Iran and had not been confirmed killed.
The Palestinian Islamic Jihad, an ally of Hamas backed by Iran that is active in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, took part in the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
Iran's Tasnim news agency on Tuesday reported that Iran has "targeted cyber technology centres and weapons manufacturing facilities belonging to the Israeli police."
The report, quoting the Iranian military said it "targeted the Zionist regime’s cyber-technology centers and Rafael weapons manufacturing complex with drone attacks since this morning."
Meanhwile, explosions were reported in northern Israel after the Israeli army said it has detected missiles launched from Iran.
Lebanon's military said on Tuesday that an Israeli strike on a car and a motorcycle in southern Lebanon killed one of its soldiers and wounded four others, as the war between Israel and Hezbollah continued.
In a statement, the Lebanese army said that "as a result of an Israeli hostile raid" in the Nabatiyeh region, a soldier was injured and "died of his wounds" while four others were wounded.
While Lebanon's army has tried to stay out of the war, three Lebanese soldiers were killed by Israeli shelling earlier this month during a failed Israeli commando operation in eastern Lebanon.
Israel’s military said it has detected more missiles fired from Iran towards Israel. It said defence systems are working to intercept the missiles and that people in affected areas will receive mobile alerts.
Iran 'unlawful' strikes across the Gulf have killed at 11 civilians and injured at least 268 others, said the Human Rights Watch in a statement released on Tuesday.
Civilians in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries are at grave risk from ongoing Iranian strikes in retaliation to the onslaught of attacks from Israel and the United States since February 28, the statement said.
“Civilians, particularly migrant workers, across Gulf states are being threatened, killed, and injured by Iranian drones and missiles,” said Joey Shea, senior Saudi Arabia and UAE researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Rather than pretending to apologize, Iran’s authorities should immediately take all possible measures to protect civilians across the Gulf.”
US markets inched lower early Tuesday with a retreat in oil prices to start the week proving to be short-lived.
US benchmark crude climbed 3.5% to USD 96.80 per barrel after dipping to about USD 93 on Monday, just its second decline since the Iran war began a little more than two weeks ago. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 3.2% to USD 103.43 a barrel.
Future contracts for the S&P 500 were off just 0.1% before the bell, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were close to flat. Nasdaq futures fell 0.2%.
With US benchmark crude on Monday heading to only its second day of declines since the US and Israel attacked Iran, the S&P 500 climbed 1% for its biggest gain in five weeks. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.8% and the Nasdaq composite finished 1.2% higher.
Markets have moved polar to oil prices, which have spiked almost 40% since the war began. Iran has nearly halted traffic through the narrow Strait of Hormuz, where a fifth of the world’s oil sails from the Persian Gulf to customers worldwide.
Falling debris from an intercepted projectile struck a tanker anchored 23 nautical miles (42.6km) east of Fujairah in the UAE, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said in a post on X on Tuesday, warning other ships passing through the route.
No injuries were reported in the incident, it added.
As heavy Israeli bombardment of Beirut and southern Lebanon continues to claim over 850 lives and force millions out of their homes, Lebanon wants the fighting to end before any talks with Israel, according to three Lebanese diplomatic and government officials familiar with the matter.
Last week, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun offered to hold direct negotiations with Israel for the first time since the 1982 Israeli invasion during Lebanon's civil war. Aoun also asked for a boost in funding for Lebanese troops and reaffirmed his commitment to disarm Hezbollah, a longstanding Israeli and US demand.
Israeli officials did not respond to requests for comment about the offer of talks. But Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, during a visit to an Israeli town hit by an Iranian missile, denied any talks were planned.
Hezbollah said that it fired a rocket salvo targeting a group of Israeli soldiers in the town of Khiam in southern Lebanon. The soldiers were reportedly near a municipal building in the area.
Earlier on Tuesday, the group said it had targeted a Israeli soldiers inside a tent in the border town of Maroun al-Ras in southern Lebanon’s Bint Jbeil district.
Even if the war ended today, it could take one to three months to get the strait of Hormuz operational again, according to Homayoun Falakshahi, a senior oil analyst at trade data and analytics company Kpler.
The continued blockade will hike housing, food and travel costs, observed a report published by CNN on Tuesday. It stated that even if the strait was opened up for trade, it will take time to the clear the the hundreds of ships waiting for safe passage and for major oil producers to fix damaged facilities and ramp up production.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that the killing of Tehran's national security chief Ali Larijani was part of efforts to give Iranians a chance to remove their rulers.
"This morning we eliminated Ali Larijani, the boss of the Revolutionary Guards, which is the gang of gangsters that actually runs Iran," Netanyahu said in a televised statement.
He said the overthrow of the clerical authorities by Iranians "will not happen all at once, it will not happen easily. But if we persist in this -- we will give them a chance to take their fate into their own hands."
Israeli military said that its air defences are operating to intercept missiles launched from Iran and that the Home Front Command had sent a safety directive to the mobile phones of people in targeted areas.
Joe Kent, Director of the US National Counterterrorism Center, has resigned from the Trump administration.
Kent said he “cannot in good conscience” back Trump’s war in Iran.
Iran “posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby,” Kent posted on social media Tuesday.
Kent is a former political candidate with connections to right-wing extremists who was confirmed to his post last July on a 52-44 vote.
Hezbollah on Tuesday denied it had any members in Kuwait a day after the Gulf country announced the arrest of 14 Kuwaitis and two Lebanese nationals allegedly affiliated with the group over a "sabotage plot".
"Hezbollah categorically denies the allegations and accusations issued by the Kuwaiti interior ministry," the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group said in a statement, calling the allegations "baseless" and adding: "There are no Hezbollah cells, members or networks in Kuwait."
Sardar Mousavi, the commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps’ Aerospace Force, has announced a “new phase of effective and heavy strikes across the region against the American-Zionist enemy,” reported Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency on Tuesday.
“The backbone of arrogance will be broken in the streets and squares”, he added.
Al Jazeera had earlier reported on an IRGC announcement regarding a recent wave of attacks against US and Israeli troops in the region.
Lebanese Health Ministry said one person has been killed and nine others wounded in an Israeli air strike near Beirut airport, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency.
“Israeli warplanes launched a raid, the third today on the southern suburbs, targeting the old airport road near the Ansar Stadium in the Burj al-Barajneh area,” a short distance from Beirut International Airport, the report said.
Threats from Israeli officials to unleash Gaza-level destruction on Lebanon are "wholly unacceptable", the UN said Tuesday, and warned that "deliberately attacking civilians or civilian objects amounts to a war crime".
"Another tragic chapter in Lebanon's history is being written," United Nations rights office spokesman Thameen Al-Kheetan told reporters in Geneva.
"Statements by Israeli officials threatening to impose the same level of destruction on Lebanon as inflicted in Gaza are wholly unacceptable," Kheetan said.
"Such rhetoric, coupled with the Israeli military's announcement that it will deploy additional forces and expand its ground incursion, intensify deep fear and anxiety among the Lebanese population," he warned.
Joe Kent, the director of the United States' National Counterterrorism Center, announced his resignation on Tuesday, saying he "cannot in good conscience" back the Trump administration's war in Iran.
The White House has so far not commented on the development after Kent became the first senior US official to resign from the Trump administration to protest the war against Iran.
A spokesperson for Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard also did not immediately respond to questions about the resignation of Kent, who said Tuesday that the Trump administration started the war against Iran “due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.”
Before entering Trump’s administration, Kent ran two unsuccessful campaigns for Congress in Washington state. He also served in the military, seeing 11 deployments as a Green Beret, followed by work at the CIA.
France is ready to help escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz but only once the situation has become "calmer", said President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday.
"We are not a party to the conflict and therefore France will never take part in operations to open or liberate the Strait of Hormuz in the current context," Macron said following US President Donald Trump's demand that allies help secure the waterway effectively shut by Iran in response to US-Israeli strikes.
"However, we are convinced that once the situation becomes calmer... we are ready, alongside other nations, to take responsibility for an escort system."
Lebanon's health ministry said Tuesday that Israeli attacks have killed 912 people in the country since war erupted between Israel and Hezbollah on March 2, raising a previous toll of 886 a day earlier.
The new ministry statement said the toll included 67 women, 111 children and 38 health workers, with 2,221 other people wounded.
President Donald Trump, whose call for assistance from allies to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to oil traffic has largely been rebuffed, said Tuesday that US forces "no longer need" military help in the Iran war.
"Because of the fact that we have had such Military Success, we no longer 'need,' or desire, the NATO Countries' assistance -- WE NEVER DID! Likewise, Japan, Australia, or South Korea," Trump posted on his Truth Social network, adding: "WE DO NOT NEED THE HELP OF ANYONE!"
The airstrikes come after the Israeli military claimed that it had killed Gen. Gholam Reza Soleimani, the head of the Basij force, which long helped suppress dissent in Iran.
Trump, who has been pressing allies to help safeguard the critical waterway, fumed that the US is not getting support “despite the fact that almost every Country strongly agreed with what we are doing, and that Iran cannot” be allowed to secure a nuclear weapon.
“I am not surprised by their action, however, because I always considered NATO, where we spend Hundreds of Billions of Dollars per year protecting these same Countries, to be a one way street,” Trump added in a post on social media. “We will protect them, but they will do nothing for us, in particular, in a time of need.”
Turkey's top diplomat on Tuesday lashed out at Israel after it claimed to have killed Iran's powerful national security chief Ali Larijani, denouncing its targeting of Tehran's leaders as "illegal".
"Israel's political assassinations, especially those targeting Iranian statesmen and politicians, are truly illegal activities outside the normal laws of war," Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told a news conference.
Larijani's death has not been confirmed by Iran.
A senior US counterterrorism official who resigned to protest the Iran war was "very weak on security" and it's a "good thing" that he stepped down, President Donald Trump said Tuesday.
Joseph Kent, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), resigned on Tuesday saying he "cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran."
"I always thought he was weak on security, very weak on security," the president told reporters in the Oval Office.
He said that when he saw Kent's resignation statement "I realized that it's a good thing that he's out."
US President Donald Trump said UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has made the wrong choice in not supporting Washington over war in the Middle East. "He hasn't been supportive, and I think it's a big mistake," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. "I'm disappointed with Keir -- I like him, I think he's a nice man, but I'm disappointed."
Trump complained about NATO’s refusal to join the US in the war, calling the decision “disappointing” and bad for the “partnership.” He floated the idea of having the US withdraw from the alliance as a result.
NATO exists as a defensive alliance, not an offensive one, and NATO has said it has no plans to get involved in the US-led war with Iran. However, NATO troops did deploy for 18 years to Afghanistan and its 2011 air campaign helped topple Libya’s late leader Moammar Gadhafi.
But Trump’s position is that America’s longstanding support for NATO should be reciprocated now that the US has asked for help in Iran. He called the moment a “great test” for NATO and said, “We don’t need them, but they should have been there.”
“NATO’s making a very foolish mistake,” Trump said.
If the Middle East war spreads, it could create a "permanent" refugee crisis, Turkey's top diplomat warned Tuesday as Lebanon said Israel's bombardment had displaced over a million people.
"If the war... spreads, there is a possibility this will turn into a permanent refugee crisis with refugees seeking shelter outside the borders of their countries," Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told a news conference.
"This needs to stop as soon as possible."
US President Donald Trump is delaying a diplomatic trip to China that had been planned for months but began to unravel as he pressured Beijing and other world powers to use military might to protect the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump said Tuesday while meeting with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin in the Oval Office that he would be going to China in five or six weeks' time instead of at the end of the month. He said he would be "resetting" his visit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, without elaborating.
The escalating war with Iran is pushing parts of the world into energy triage, forcing governments to choose where to cut demand or absorb costs while prioritizing dwindling supplies.
Asia is the most exposed since it relies heavily on imported fuel, much of it shipped through the now-blocked Strait of Hormuz.
Governments in the region are scrambling to adjust — tallying oil reserves, conserving energy, competing for supplies and trying to blunt prices. That brings difficult trade-offs: Saving power may slow business activity. Prioritizing cooking gas for households can hurt restaurants and other businesses.
Analysts warn the same hard choices could soon spread beyond Asia to fuel-importing economies in Africa and elsewhere as countries compete for scarce supplies.
Several loud explosions were heard Tuesday evening in Iraq's capital Baghdad, AFP journalists reported, with a security official reporting a drone and rocket attack on the US embassy.
In a restaurant in the city, where diners did not react to the initial sounds of the blasts, a witness told AFP he saw explosions in the sky caused by the embassy's air defences intercepting projectiles.
Another witness saw a fire on the embassy grounds from her balcony, with the blaze also reported by the security official, who said it was caused by a drone.
Powerful Iran-backed armed group Kataeb Hezbollah in Iraq demanded late Tuesday that every "foreign soldier" leave the country, its security chief said.
"Iraq's instability is due to the malicious American presence, and security will not be achieved until the last foreign soldier leaves Iraqi territory," the group's new security chief Abou Moujahed al-Assaf said in a statement.
The group -- designated by Washington as a "terrorist organisation" -- is part of an umbrella movement known as the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, which has been claiming daily attacks on US interests in Iraq and the region, and which has always demanded the withdrawal of US troops from the country.
The images give a glimpse into the toll, with ships ablaze in an Iranian port and destroyed buildings at an American base. Such information has been scarce, particularly from inside closed military facilities.
These images come from Planet Labs PBC, a San Francisco-based firm used by media outlets including The Associated Press. Planet Labs imposed a two-week delay to avoid having its imagery used by “adversarial actors.”
High-resolution images also have been published by competing firms, and providers including the US Geological Survey have been publishing lower-resolution imagery.
The US and Israel have been striking a wide variety of targets, including leadership figures, military bases, missile and air defense sites and positions of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard and its volunteer force, the Basij. Iran has responded with drone and missile fire targeting Israel and nearby Gulf Arab nations.
