A Kuwait refinery comes under attack and explosions shake Dubai
Iran has stepped up its attacks on energy sites in Gulf Arab states after Israel bombed Iran's massive South Pars offshore natural gas field earlier in the week.
Two waves of Iranian drones attacked a Kuwaiti oil refinery early Friday, sparking a fire. The Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery, which can process some 730,000 barrels of oil per day, is one of the largest in the Middle East. It was damaged Thursday in another Iranian attack.
Bahrain said a fire broke out after shrapnel from an intercepted projectile landed on a warehouse, and Saudi Arabia reported shooting down multiple drones targeting its oil-rich Eastern Province.
Heavy explosions shook Dubai as air defenses intercepted incoming fire over the city, where many were observing Eid al-Fitr, the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
In Iran, meanwhile, many were marking Nowruz even as Israel said it had launched new strikes, and explosions were heard over Tehran. The Persian New Year, which coincides with the spring equinox, is a tradition observed across southwestern Asia that dates back thousands of years.
Loud explosions could also be heard in Jerusalem after the Israeli army warned of incoming Iranian missiles. First responders said they treated two people around 70 years old who were lightly wounded.
In addition to steadily striking Iran, Israel has regularly hit Lebanon, targeting Iran-backed Hezbollah militants who have been firing rockets and drones into Israel.
On Friday, Israel broadened its attacks to Syria, saying it hit infrastructure there in response to what it described as attacks on the Druze minority. Syria's state-run SANA news agency did not immediately acknowledge the attack.
More than 1,300 people have been killed in Iran during the war. Israeli strikes in Lebanon have displaced more than 1 million people, according to the Lebanese government, which says more than 1,000 people have been killed. Israel says it has killed more than 500 Hezbollah militants.
In Israel, 15 people have been killed by Iranian missile fire. Four people were also killed in the occupied West Bank by an Iranian missile strike.
At least 13 US military members have been killed.
Supreme leader hails Iran's steadfastness as the military threatens tourist sites
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei praised Iranians' steadfastness in the face of war in a written statement read on Iranian television to mark the Persian New Year, Nowruz.
Khamenei said the US and Israeli attacks were based on an illusion that killing Iran's top leaders could cause the overthrow of the government. He commended Iranians for "building a nationwide defensive front" and "delivering such a bewildering blow that the enemy fell into contradictions and irrational statements."
Khamenei has not been seen in public since he became supreme leader following the assassination of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in Israeli strikes at the start of the war. US and Israeli officials suspect the younger Khamenei was wounded.
Iran's top military spokesman, Gen Abolfazl Shekarchi , warned Friday that "parks, recreational areas and tourist destinations" worldwide won't be safe for Tehran's enemies. The threat renewed concerns that Iran may revert to using militant attacks beyond the Middle East as a pressure tactic.
A US official confirmed the further buildup of American forces in the region, saying the USS Boxer and two other amphibious assault ships have deployed along with roughly 2,500 Marines. Two other US officials confirmed that ships were deploying, without saying where they were headed.
All three officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military operations.
US and Israeli leaders have said that weeks of strikes have decimated Iran's military. Airstrikes have also killed its supreme leader, the head of its Supreme National Security Council and a raft of other top-ranking military and political leaders.
The Israeli military said Friday that Esmail Ahmadi, head of intelligence for the Basij, and internal security force, had been killed by a strike earlier in the week that hit other Basij leaders.
On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed Iran's navy was sunk and its air force in tatters, while adding that its ability to produce ballistic missiles had been taken out. Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard disputed the missile claim on Friday.
"We are producing missiles even during war conditions, which is amazing, and there is no particular problem in stockpiling," spokesman Gen. Ali Mohammad Naeini was quoted as saying in Iran's state-run IRAN newspaper.
A short time after the statement was released, Iranian state television said Naeini was killed in an airstrike.
Turkish president condemns Israel's closure on Friday of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem
"Using the war with Iran as a pretext, they closed our first Qibla, the Al-Aqsa Mosque, to worship," Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, speaking to citizens during an Eid al Fitr celebration in the northeastern city of Rize.
"They have accelerated their illegal settlement activities and expansionist policies in the West Bank and in Palestinian territories they occupied," he said. "Terror by Netanyahu continues to threaten regional and global peace. The Iran-centered attacks launched on February 28th, with provocations by Netanyahu, have further deepened instability in our region."
Trump says top officials are in the Situation Room as Iran conflict continues
The President mentioned the war as he presented the Commander in Chief trophy to the Navy football team for beating Army during their 2025 game. Without providing details, he said "We're doing extremely well."
Trump said Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, weren't at the ceremony because they were in the White House Situation Room.
As the event unfolded, an official told The Associated Press that the US was deploying three more warships, consisting of roughly 2,500 more Marines, to the Middle East, as the war in Iran continues.
Concluding his remarks, Trump said he'd lead the team on a tour of the Oval Office.
Khamenei says Iran’s enemies miscalculated, emphasises national unity, reports Al Jazeera
In his statement, Iran’s Supreme Leader said that the US and Israel had believed that after one or two days of attacks, the Iranian people would overthrow the government, but that this had been a “gross miscalculation”, as reported by Al Jazeera.
He said the war had been launched under “the delusion that if the pinnacle of the regime and certain influential military figures were to attain martyrdom, it would instill fear and despair in our dear people… and through this means, the dream of dominating Iran and subsequently dismembering it would be realised”.
Instead, he said, a “strange unity” had formed among Iranians, “despite all the differences in religious, intellectual, cultural, and political origins”, while “a fracture has emerged in the enemy”.
NATO says it has relocated all its Iraq mission personnel to Europe
NATO's Iraq mission has safely relocated all of its personnel from the Middle East to Europe, the military alliance said on Friday.
"I would like to thank the Republic of Iraq and all the Allies who assisted in the safe relocation of NATO personnel from Iraq," U.S. Air Force Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe, said in a statement.
The mission advises Iraqi security forces and is not involved in combat, NATO says.
"NATO Mission Iraq will continue from Joint Force Command Naples," the statement added.
Iran's new Supreme Leader calls on Afghanistan and Pakistan to improve ties, offers help
Iran's new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei in a message marking the start of Persian New Year said that 'the new Iranian year is the year of a resilient economy in the shadow of national unity and national security,' as state media reported on Friday.
In a statement posted on his Telegram channel he said, "We firmly believe in strengthening relations with neighbouring countries."
According to Khamenei, "Attacks against Turkey and Oman were not carried out by Iran or its allied forces."
He called on Afghanistan and Pakistan to improve ties and offered help.
Iran's Quds Force chief Qaani lauds anti-US, Israel ‘resistance front’, state media: Report
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) Quds Force commander Esmail Qaani praised Tehran's "resistance front" regional allies for fighting the US and Israel in the current conflict, Iranian media reported on Friday.
Qaani made the remarks in his first statement since Israel's killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on February 28 at the start of the US-Israeli military campaign against Iran.
Indian gas tankers prepare to sail through Strait of Hormuz: Report
Two Indian-flagged liquefied petroleum gas tankers are preparing to sail through the Strait of Hormuz in the coming days after a pause in voyages with no crude oil tankers leaving the waterway in the past 24 hours, according to shipping data and sources, as reported by Al Jazeera.
The two tankers are currently anchored in Gulf waters, according to data from Kpler and shipping sources.
Market assessments from sources, based on available data, show there have been no voyages over the past 24 hours by crude tankers, with one empty crude oil tanker, hit with US sanctions, returning through the strait back towards Iranian waters on March 18, separate Kpler data showed.
About 20 percent of the world’s oil passes through the strategic waterway that links the Gulf to the Indian Ocean.
US to deploy of thousands of additional troops to the Middle East, officials say
The United States military is deploying thousands of additional Marines and Sailors to the Middle East, three US officials told Reuters on Friday.
One of the officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that the USS Boxer, along with the Marie Expeditionary Unit aboard, were departing the West Coast of the United States about 3 weeks ahead of schedule.
Hezbollah says rockets fired on Israeli villages, military positions in southern Lebanon, reports Al Jazeera
Hezbollah says it has fired rocket barrages at a number of villages in northern Israel and Israeli military positions in southern Lebanon as reported by Al Jazeera.
In posts on Telegram, the group said it had fired salvos of rockets on Avivim, Shlomi and a barracks in Kfar Giladi in northern Israel.
It had also fired rockets on a newly established Israeli military site in Jabal al-Bat in the town of Aitaroun in southern Lebanon, and on a group of Israeli soldiers in nearby forest.
Trump calls NATO "cowards" over lack of support in Iran war
President Donald Trump assailed NATO allies on Friday over their lack of support for the US-Israel war against Iran, calling the longtime US allies "cowards."
"Without the USA, NATO IS A PAPER TIGER!" Trump said in a social media post.
Trump has been calling for major US allies and others, none of which were consulted or advised on the war, to help secure the safety of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. The conflict has roiled global markets, killed thousands and displaced millions since US-Israel strikes began on Feb 28.
The US president complained NATO countries did not want to join the fight against Iran, yet still complain about high oil prices.
"Now that fight is Militarily WON, with very little danger for them, they complain about the high oil prices they are forced to pay, but don’t want to help open the Strait of Hormuz, a simple military maneuver that is the single reason for the high oil prices. So easy for them to do, with so little risk," he wrote.
"COWARDS, and we will REMEMBER!"
NATO military alliance ‘adjusting’ its Iraq mission: Report
The NATO mission in Iraq has temporarily withdrawn from the country, two Iraqi security officials told the AFP news agency, as reported by Al Jazeera.
“There is no disagreement” with the Iraqi government, one official told AFP on condition of anonymity. “It’s a temporary withdrawal. They are worried because of the situation,” he added.
Another official said that “the entire NATO mission has withdrawn”, except for a small number of personnel.
On Friday, A NATO spokesperson confirmed that the military alliance is “adjusting” its Iraq mission, the AFP report added.
The mission is headquartered in an Iraqi military base in Baghdad’s Green Zone near the US embassy, which, since the start of the war, has been targeted multiple times.
Iran's military warns parks and tourist areas worldwide won't be safe for enemies: Report
Iran's top military spokesman has warned that "parks, recreational areas and tourist destinations" worldwide won't be safe for Tehran's enemies.
Gen Abolfazl Shekarchi made the threat Friday as Iran continues to be hit by American and Israeli airstrikes. It was likely to renew concerns that as the war goes on, Iran may revert to using militant attacks beyond the Middle East as a pressure tactic.
"From now on, based on the information we have about you, even parks, recreational areas and tourist destinations anywhere in the world will no longer be safe for you," Shekarchi said in a statement published online by Iranian state television.
Israeli weapons factory torched in the Czech Republic, reports Al Jazeera
A facility linked to Israeli arms giant Elbit Systems has been set ablaze in the Czech Republic, with an underground group claiming responsibility as reported by Al Jazeera.
Czech authorities have launched an investigation as police said they were looking into “a possible terrorist link”.
Several buildings at the site, a joint operation involving a Czech company and Elbit Systems, were destroyed in the early morning attack.
Elbit Systems describes itself as a key supplier of land and air weapons used by the Israeli military in its wars, including in Gaza and Iran.
A group calling itself The Earthquake Faction said on Telegram: “The site is central to the European operations of Israel’s biggest weapons producer. Now, it’s in flames.
“There is no time to beg the complicit international governments… we will take necessary action to quash their means to kill.”
No obvious end of crisis in the short-term says French foreign minister
France's Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Friday he did not see an obvious end to the conflict in the Middle East in the short-term, but that France and its allies would continue to work towards trying to find a lasting solution.
"There is no obvious short-term way out of the ongoing regional escalation, which has in some ways been unfolding since October 7, 2023. But this must in no way serve as a pretext for inaction," Barrot told reporters after meeting with Israeli counterpart Gideon Saar in Tel Aviv.
Underscoring the realities of the situation, as the minister arrived for the news conference, the Israeli military warned that Iran had launched missiles toward Israel, triggering sirens and sending the minister, his staff and press into a bomb shelter.
Barrot was in Israel after traveling to Lebanon on Thursday as part of efforts to de-escalate the crisis, but also to push a ceasefire in Lebanon.
France has historical ties with Lebanon and - along with the United States - has sought to mediate in the conflict that exploded after Iran-backed Hezbollah launched missiles into Israel.
Barrot said he had outlined Paris' reservations about a possible Israeli ground operation in southern Lebanon, but said the Lebanese army had to do everything possible to disarm Iran-backed Hezbollah as demanded by the Lebanese government.
Israel has so far rebuffed an offer of direct talks from Beirut as too little, too late by a government that shares its goal of wanting Iran-backed Hezbollah disarmed but fears that acting against it could risk civil war, sources familiar with the situation have said.
President Joseph Aoun, who met Barrot on Thursday, has expressed a willingness to begin direct negotiations with Israel, which has carried out airstrikes in Lebanon since Hezbollah fired on Israel on March 2. Hezbollah has rejected the move and fought on.
France last week presented counter-proposals to U.S. ideas to bring an end to the conflict, two diplomats said.
Three diplomats said the U.S. had been lukewarm to the proposals, but discussions with Washington were continuing. Israel had rejected the proposals, they said.
Restoring oil flow from Gulf could take six months, IEA chief tells FT
The International Energy Agency chief Fatih Birol warned in an interview with the Financial Times on Friday that it could take up to six months to restore oil and gas flows from the Gulf, saying the world is facing what could be the most severe energy crisis in history.
"It will be six months for some (sites) to be operational, others much longer," he told FT.
Birol said politicians and markets were underestimating the scale of the disruption, with around one-fifth of global oil and gas supplies effectively stranded in the region, the report added.
UK police arrest suspected Iranian spies for trying to enter submarine base, Sun newspaper says
Two suspected Iranian spies have been arrested after attempting to enter Britain's nuclear submarine base in Scotland, the Sun newspaper reported on Friday.
The arrests come three weeks into the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. While Britain has not taken part in the attacks on Iran, the country's forces have downed Iranian missiles and drones in the Gulf region.
Police Scotland confirmed they had arrested a man and a woman on Thursday near the base, but did not comment on their nationality, adding in a statement that inquiries were ongoing.
"Around 5pm on Thursday, 19 March, 2026, we were made aware of two people attempting to enter HM Naval Base Clyde," Police Scotland said.
"A 34-year-old man and 31-year-old woman have been arrested."
The Clyde base is located on the west coast of Scotland and is key to Britain's security, hosting the country's nuclear-armed submarine fleet, as well as its attack submarines.
The Royal Navy confirmed the arrests in a statement and made no further comment, citing the ongoing investigation.
The threat posed to Britain from Iran has been the subject of repeated warnings from the UK's domestic spy agency MI5, with accusations that Tehran was behind more than 20 suspected kidnap and assassination plots in the country.
The Sun newspaper reported the arrested man was believed to be an Iranian national, while the woman's nationality was unknown.
There have been several cases of suspected Iranian spies being arrested in the UK over the last year. Iran has repeatedly denied allegations of spying, saying it is part of a campaign against it by hostile Western powers.
Two men appeared in a London court on Thursday accused of being tasked by Iran to carry out hostile surveillance on Jewish people and sites in London.
French navy seizes tanker from Russia suspected of flying false flag in Mediterranean: Report
The French Navy on Friday seized the Deyna vessel, a member of the Russian shadow fleet, French President Emmanuel Macron wrote in a post on social media platform X on Friday.
Local officials told Reuters that the French Navy boarded the Mozambique-flagged oil tanker in the Western Mediterranean after the vessel, sailing from the Russian port of Murmansk, was suspected of flying a false flag.
The operation was carried out with British allies, the French Mediterranean prefecture said.
"These ships, which circumvent international sanctions and violate the law of the sea, are war profiteers. They seek to reap profits and finance Russia's war effort," Macron wrote.
He said the war on Iran will not divert Paris from its support for Ukraine and France would stay committed despite the escalating Israeli-US war on Iran.
“We are staying the course,” he wrote on X. “The war in Iran will not deter France from supporting Ukraine, where Russia’s war of aggression continues.”
It was the second such interception by France in recent months. In January, France stopped the oil tanker Grinch between the southern coast of Spain and the northern coast of Morocco on suspicion that it was part of the Russian shadow fleet.
Netherlands tightens security for Iranian dissidents after shooting of man critical of Iran authorities: Report
The Netherlands is stepping up security for Iranian dissidents living in the country after a man of Iranian descent who is known to be critical of the authorities in Tehran was shot, Dutch Justice Minister David van Weel said on Friday.
A spokesperson for Van Weel declined to provide more details.
The victim of the shooting is a 36-year-old police official who was seriously injured on Thursday morning. It is still unclear who was responsible for the attack. The investigation is ongoing, and Dutch authorities have not yet determined whether there is any link to Iran.
"The Public Prosecution Service is currently taking all possible scenarios into account", Van Weel said late on Thursday on social media platform X.
"Given the Iranian background of the victim, the (National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism), the Public Prosecution Service, the police, and the local authorities are on alert and are taking the necessary security measures."
Iran has been under aerial attack from Israel and the United States for nearly three weeks in a conflict that has disrupted global energy markets and spilled over into other countries.
