Trump says U.S. in talks with 'new, responsible regime' in Iran to end military operations
Trump says U.S. in talks with 'new, responsible regime' in Iran to end military operations
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Gold and silver prices plunge: Why has safe-haven demand faded amid Iran war?
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It is an old market saying, but it has never felt more apt: when people are worried about the future, they buy gold — when they are worried about the present, they sell it.
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While the Iran war has raised longer-term concerns over energy security and global stability, the immediate fallout, in the form of surging oil prices and renewed inflation fears, has forced investors to prioritise liquidity and higher-yielding assets over metals.
Gold hit an all-time high of $5,602 (€4,873) at the end of January and looked to be heading higher still in early March, but has since dropped nearly 25% to a low of $4,100 (€3,567), trading around $4,500 (€3,915) at the time of writing.
The decline marks a dramatic pullback from gold’s extraordinary performance last year.
In 2025, the metal delivered one of its best annual gains in decades, rising more than 60% to record levels as central banks accumulated reserves and investors sought protection amid economic uncertainty.
The drop in 2026 has triggered a swift unwinding of leveraged positions in futures and exchange-traded funds which were riding last year’s tremendous rise.
This sharp reversal defies the traditional role of the metal as a refuge during geopolitical turmoil, with a stronger US dollar and rising bond yields proving far more influential.
Macroeconomic forces override safe-haven appeal
Rising US Treasury yields and a firmer US dollar have been the dominant headwinds for precious metals.
Higher oil prices stemming from the Iran war have lifted inflation expectations, prompting markets to price in fewer Federal Reserve rate cuts or even the possibility of tighter policy for longer, including potential hikes that were previously unexpected.
This has increased the opportunity cost of holding non-yielding gold, while the US dollar’s strength has made it more expensive for international buyers.
The result has been a classic “flight to liquidity” rather than the expected flight to quality risk assets, as leveraged traders facing margin calls accelerated the sell-off.
The correction for metals has been one of the sharpest in recent memory.
Silver shares in gold’s downturn
Silver, which often amplifies gold’s moves, followed with an even bigger drop.
The white metal reached an all time high of $121 just one day after gold, on 29 January, but it has since dropped roughly 50% to as low as $61.
At the time of writing, it is trading at around $70.
Silver enjoyed an even more spectacular rally than gold in 2025, surging roughly 145% thanks to robust industrial demand from solar panels, electronics and electric vehicles, combined with investment buying.
In 2026, however, it has also declined sharply amid the same pressures of US dollar strength and higher yields, although its industrial fundamentals continue to offer longer-term support.
Trump: Iran permits 20 more tankers through Hormuz
March 30 (UPI) — Iran has agreed to allow 20 more oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, President Donald Trump said late Sunday, as he claimed negotiations with Iran over ending the war were going “extremely well.”
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said the tankers will be allowed through the key Persian Gulf oil transit route starting Monday, describing the gesture by Iran as “a tribute” or “a sign of respect.”
Iran has not confirmed the announcement. Trump late last week said Iran had permitted about 10 tankers through the Strait of Hormuz.
The press conference was held after Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar of Pakistan announced that Iran agreed to allow 20 Pakistani-flagged vessels through the Hormuz at a rate of two per day.
Pakistan is seeking to mediate the U.S.-Iran talks.
“This is a welcome and constructive gesture by Iran and deserves appreciation,” Dar said in a statement. “It is a harbinger of peace and will help usher stability in the region.”
About 20% of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies pass through the Strait of Hormuz, and Iran has all but closed it since the United States and Israel attacked Tehran on Feb. 28.
The closure has sent prices higher at U.S. gas pumps. Brent futures early Monday hit $116 a barrel, up from about $72 a day before the war began.
More than a week ago, Trump gave Iran a 48-hour ultimatum to open Hormuz or risk further attacks on its energy infrastructure. He has since extended the deadline until April 6, citing progress in talks with Iran.
“We’re doing extremely well in that negotiation,” he said, while adding that “you can never know with Iran because we negotiate with them and then we always have to blow them up.”
“We’ll make a deal with them. Pretty sure,” he said. “But it’s possible we won’t.”
Immediately after the Feb. 28 U.S. strikes on Iran, Trump called for regime change, a goal that U.S. military and White House officials quickly walked back.
On Sunday, Trump claimed regime change had been achieved saying Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the country’s supreme leader, was killed early in the war and that they were now conducting negotiations with other officials.
“We’ve had regime change. If you look already because the one regime was decimated, destroyed, they’re all dead. The next regime is mostly dead and the third regime, we’re dealing with different people than anybody’s dealt with before,” he said. “It’s a whole different group of people. And, frankly, they’ve been very reasonable.”
Canadian YouTuber captures congestion of dozens of ships in Hormuz Strait | US-Israel war on Iran
A Canadian activist and YouTuber filmed congestion in the Strait of Hormuz during a tour aboard a ship from the Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas. He captured dozens of oil tankers and cargo ships crowding the vital waterway.
Published On 30 Mar 2026
IAEA says Iran’s Khondab heavy water reactor no longer operational | United Nations
The UN’s nuclear watchdog says Iran’s Khondab heavy water production plant is no longer operational after suffering severe damage in an Israeli strike on March 27. The reactor, which contains no declared nuclear material, was hit along with other key infrastructure sites.
Published On 30 Mar 2026
Netanyahu orders deeper Israeli invasion into Lebanon | US-Israel war on Iran
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the military to expand its invasion in southern Lebanon, pushing deeper to extend what he calls a ‘buffer zone’. As Israeli forces advance towards the Litani River, an explosion at a UN position in southern Lebanon killed a peacekeeper.
Published On 30 Mar 2026
Iranian academic describes US-Israeli attacks on Iran’s universities | US-Israel war on Iran
A post-doctoral fellow in Tehran has told Al Jazeera there was no warning before US-Israeli strikes hit the Iran University of Science and Technology on March 28. Helyeh Doutaghi says the attack reflects a wider pattern and raises questions about what defines ‘legitimate retaliation’.
Published On 30 Mar 2026
Oil rises above $116 a barrel as Iran accuses US of preparing invasion | Oil and Gas News
DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY,
Crude prices continue to climb as world faces its biggest energy crisis in decades.
Published On 30 Mar 2026
Oil prices have surged to their highest level in nearly two weeks amid escalation on multiple fronts of the US-Israel war on Iran.
Brent crude, the global benchmark, rose more than 3 percent on Monday morning to top $116 a barrel.
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The latest climb took the global benchmark to its highest point since March 19, when it briefly touched $119 a barrel.
The surge came after Iran said it was prepared for a US ground invasion, with the speaker of the country’s parliament warning that Tehran was waiting for the arrival of US troops to “set them on fire” and “punish” their regional allies.
Tehran’s warning came as the conflict deepened over the weekend, with the Iranian-backed Houthis launching missiles at Israel for the first time in the war, and Israel expanding its invasion of southern Lebanon.
Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz in retaliation for the US-Israel war has disrupted about one-fifth of global oil and liquified natural gas (LNG) supplies, plunging the world into its biggest energy crisis in decades.
Oil prices have risen nearly 60 percent since the start of the war, driving up fuel prices worldwide and forcing numerous countries to adopt emergency measures to conserve energy.
Analysts have warned that oil prices are likely to keep rising unless maritime traffic returns to normal levels in the strait.
Greg Newman, the CEO the Onyx Capital Group, which began as an oil derivatives trading house, said that energy markets were only beginning to feel the fallout of the turmoil.
“Physical oil moves around the world in loading cycles , and Europe has taken around three weeks to really start feeling the effects of the oil shortage,” Newman told Al Jazeera.
“Brent is starting to reflect the reality, and we think it’s a steady rise from here towards $120 and beyond.”
Newman said the scale of the disruption had yet to be fully appreciated.
No one in the market has ever seen the outages we are now suffering from – physical premiums are the highest ever. There is still a sense that the macro world is not taking this seriously enough, but it is worse than anything that has come before it,” he said.
“The reality will come out in the economic numbers over the coming months.”
More to follow…
Egypt enacts energy saving measures as Iran war affects import costs
March 29 (UPI) — Egypt is ordering stores and malls to close early, asking people to work from home and dimming street lights as energy costs have skyrocketed since since January.
The North African country put energy saving efforts into effect because the U.S. and Israeli war in Iran has sent the cost of importing oil and natural gas — which is how Africa gets the vast majority of its energy supplies — through the roof, The BBC and Anadolu Agency reported.
Many nations globally have seen the cost of fuel and natural gas increase, and several African and Asian nations have enacted efforts similar to Egypt, because Iran has blocked the Strait of Hormuz to attempt to get the two nations to end the airstrikes aimed at regime change there.
Roughly 20% of the world’s oil and natural gas supply moves through the Strait and choking it off has had a significant effect on Egypt.
Egypt imports liquefied natural gas from the United States and Qatar, among others, and recently signed a deal with Israel for gas that will be delivered via a pipeline, the Financial Times reported.
Although Egypt, with Pakistan and Turkey, are involved with talks to end the war, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said that because “there is no clarity about the duration of this war,” the energy reduction measures, which go into effect .
“These measures aim to mitigate the effects of energy import costs due to high global oil prices,” Madbouly said during a press conference.
Since January, Madbouly said that natural gas imports tripped from $560 million per month in January to $1.65 billion per month in March and that its petroleum bill more than doubled in the same time period from $1.2 billion per month to $2.5 billion per month.
Among the “exceptional measures” that will go into effect include stores, restaurants, cinemas and gathering places closing by 9:00 p.m. five nights per week; most employees being told to work from one or two days per week; street lighting and street advertisement lighting will be dimmed by 50% and government vehicles will see be required to use 30% less gas.
Despite talks starting to end the war, the price of Brent crude oil on Friday surpassed $111 per barrel as Iran continued to block most ships from passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
Although Iran allowed a handful of oil tankers through the Strait last week, which U.S. President Donald Trump called a show of good faith, global markets have been hit hard, even beyond energy, as a result of limited traffic transiting the passage.,
President Donald Trump stands with U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins during an event celebrating farmers on the South Lawn of the White House on Friday. Photo by Aaron Schwartz/UPI | License Photo
How will the Houthis’ involvement shape the war? | US-Israel war on Iran News
The Yemeni group has launched missiles towards Israel in support of Iran.
They have threatened to join the war ever since it started a month ago.
Now, Yemen’s Ansar Allah, also known as the Houthis, have followed up on their threat and launched missiles towards Israel.
This move marks a significant escalation in the US-Israel war on Iran.
There are fears that the Iran-aligned group could attack shipping in the Red Sea, as it has done before.
This would further disrupt global trade, already affected by Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
Will Israel and the US retaliate? And if so, how?
Presenter: James Bays
Guests:
Hisham Al-Omeisy – senior Yemen adviser at the European Institute of Peace
H A Hellyer – senior associate fellow in defence and security studies at the Royal United Services Institute
Michael Mulroy – former US deputy assistant secretary of defence for the Middle East
Published On 29 Mar 2026
Iran accuses US of plotting ground attack, as Israel steps up bombardment | US-Israel war on Iran News
Iran’s parliament speaker has accused the United States of plotting a ground attack despite publicly pushing for a negotiated deal, as the US deploys thousands of military personnel to the Middle East.
“Our men are waiting for the arrival of the American soldiers on the ground to set them on fire and punish their regional allies once and for all,” Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said in a statement on Sunday, carried by the official IRNA news agency, as Iran struggled with power cuts amid escalating Israeli attacks on central and western areas of the country.
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Iran’s Ministry of Energy reported power outages in the capital, Tehran, its surrounding region and neighbouring Alborz province on Sunday, “following attacks on electricity industry facilities”. The Fars news agency reported later that the outages were being resolved.
It was unclear whether the attacks were related to US President Donald Trump’s threats to strike Iranian power stations and other energy infrastructure if Tehran did not agree to a deal to end the war. Trump extended his deadline by 10 days through April 6 as Washington presented a 15-point plan for peace that critics described as “maximalist”.
Al Jazeera’s Ali Hashem, reporting from Tehran, said that authorities had activated substations to restore power. “This gives an indication of how much they’ve been also preparing for such situations,” he said.
Ghalibaf’s comments on Iran’s readiness for a ground assault came as The Washington Post reported that the Pentagon was preparing for weeks of limited ground operations in Iran, potentially including raids on Kharg Island, a crude export hub, and coastal sites near the Strait of Hormuz shipping chokepoint.
As the US-Israel war on Iran stretches into its fifth week, the Trump administration is also planning to send thousands of soldiers from the army’s 82nd Airborne to the region, following a US Central Command (CENTCOM) announcement Saturday that about 3,500 military personnel had arrived in the Middle East on board the USS Tripoli.
IRGC threatens retaliation after university attacks
The Israeli military said it dropped more than 120 munitions on sites used for research, development, and production of weaponry in Tehran on Sunday.
Iran’s Ministry of Health reported that 2,076 people had been killed since the start of the war, including 216 children.
Among the deaths, six people were killed in a US-Israeli attack on a residential area in the Iranian village of Osmavandan, according to the Mehr news agency, which added that five houses were destroyed and 22 were severely damaged.
A university in Iran’s central city of Isfahan said it was hit by US-Israeli air strikes on Sunday for the second time since the war erupted, leaving four university staff members wounded.
The strike followed an attack the previous day on Iran’s University of Science and Technology. After that attack, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it would target two Israeli or US universities in the region in retaliation, according to Iranian state television.
Hossein Sadeghi, head of the Information and Public Relations Center at Iran’s Ministry of Education, told the IRNA news agency that at least 250 students and teachers have been killed amid strikes on 600 educational facilities across Iran since the war began.
Also on Sunday, a commercial building housing Qatar’s Al-Araby TV in Tehran was hit, with video footage showing walls and windows blown out of the multistorey block. “It was a real miracle we survived,” said Al Araby camera operator Mohammadreza Shademan. “There was no military target here”.
As the civilian cost of the war mounts, Iran is demanding compensation in a five-point plan presented to the US.
That plan also includes a halt to killings of Iranian officials, an end to hostilities, safeguards against the outbreak of more war, and Iran’s “exercise of sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz”.
Iran, Hezbollah launch attacks
Israel’s military said on Sunday evening that it had detected seven new incoming missile salvoes fired from Iran during the day. These coincided with Hezbollah rocket attacks on northern Israel, with sirens triggered in more than 100 towns.
Israel’s ADAMA, a pesticide maker in the Neot Hovav industrial zone, located 9km (6 miles) south of the city of Beersheba, said its Makhteshim plant was hit either by an Iranian missile or debris from a missile. No casualties were reported, and no leak of hazardous materials was found.
Reporting from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh said it was “an incident that raises a lot of alarms”.
“This industrial zone has about 19 different factories, including a bromide factory and some pharmaceutical factories. But it’s also home to the main hazardous disposal sites in Israel. So a lot is at stake here,” she said.
Another missile hit open ground near homes in Beersheba, injuring 11 people.
Israeli media reported that missile fragments fell on the northern port city of Haifa after missiles launched by Iran and Hezbollah were intercepted.
Houthis enter fray amid talks
As the war raged on, foreign ministers from Pakistan, Turkiye, Egypt and Saudi Arabia met in Islamabad, looking to de-escalate the conflict, which has also ensnarled Gulf nations hosting US military assets.
Across the Gulf, the United Arab Emirates said it had intercepted 16 ballistic missiles and 42 drones launched from Iran, while Saudi Arabia reported downing 10 drones. Sirens sounded in Kuwait and Bahrain.
The Iranian army said it had targeted US forces based in Jordan, launching drones on the living quarters and military equipment sites at the Muwaffaq Salti airbase in Azraq, the ISNA news agency reported.
Meanwhile, readying itself for attacks amid the US military build-up, an Iranian naval commander, cited by state media, said Iran had complete control of waters near the Strait of Hormuz, a vital chokepoint for a fifth of the world’s oil.
He said Iran was waiting for US forces to come within range, warning they could be targeted with coastal missile systems.
As oil prices shoot up and the world’s economy slides, the arrival of Yemen’s Houthis into the conflict, with Saturday’s strikes on Israel, further complicates matters, raising fears that the Yemeni group could block the Bab al-Mandeb Strait.
Houthi attacks on shipping vessels in the Red Sea during Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza upended commercial traffic worth about $1 trillion a year.
A premature ceasefire risks ‘another round of conflict’ in future | Donald Trump News
Abas Aslani, senior research fellow at the Center for Middle East Strategic Studies, says a premature ceasefire in the US-Israeli war on Iran could spark another round of fighting, pointing to a lack of trust in talks as the US ramps up troop deployments despite calls for de-escalation.
Published On 29 Mar 2026
Israeli police bar priest from Jerusalem’s Holy Sepulchre on Palm Sunday | US-Israel war on Iran
Christians in Jerusalem and Gaza marked Holy Week under wartime restrictions, with Israeli police blocking the Latin Patriarch from the Holy Sepulchre for the first time in centuries. In Gaza, a small Christian community continued Palm Sunday rites despite ongoing attacks and severe shortages of basic essentials.
Published On 29 Mar 2026
IRGC spokesperson says Trump ‘only understands the language of force’ | Donald Trump News
IRGC spokesperson Ebrahim Zolfaghari dismisses threats of US ground operations. He says the US president ‘only understands force’ as the Pentagon prepares plans that could involve thousands of troops on the ground in Iran, according to a report by The Washington Post.
Published On 29 Mar 2026
Iran Wants To Make Deal To End War, Trump Claims (Updated)
President Donald Trump claims that Washington and Tehran have had “very good and productive conversations regarding a complete and total resolution of our hostilities in the Middle East.” On the back of this development, the U.S. leader said today that he would order a five-day pause in all U.S. airstrikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure. Iran has denied any knowledge of these talks, however. Over the weekend, the Trump administration had also given 48 hours for Tehran to lift its blockade of the strategic Strait of Hormuz, or to face the consequences.
Speaking to reporters today, Trump reaffirmed his claim that discussions were taking place with Iran about ending the war and that there were “major points of agreement” between the two parties. He said he expects a deal to be agreed on very soon, adding “I didn’t call, they called — and they wanted to make a deal.”
On Saturday, Trump had threatened to bomb Iran’s power plants after 48 hours unless Iran agreed to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the strategic oil shipping route that Iran has effectively blocked.
As of today, however, Trump says he has instructed the Pentagon to postpone all airstrikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for a five-day period, which he said reflected the progress made on a possible deal.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump added that his latest instruction to the Pentagon is subject to the “success” of ongoing “meetings and discussions.”
“We’re doing a five-day period, and we’ll see how that goes. If it goes well, we’re going to end up with settling this,” Trump told reporters, referring to earlier comments about the bombing pause. “Otherwise, we’ll just keep bombing our little hearts out.”
Trump has said that the latest talks took place on Sunday and involved his Middle East envoys, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff. Trump claims they were talking to a “respected” Iranian leader, but that it was not the new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei.
The status of Mojtaba Khamenei remains unclear, after U.S. War Secretary Pete Hegseth last week said that the new supreme leader was wounded and “likely disfigured,” presumably as the result of an airstrike.
For its part, Tehran has denied that it has conducted talks with Washington and instead has said that the U.S. president’s comments show that he has “backed down.”
Iran’s Fars News Agency, which is linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), quoted a source as saying there has been “no direct or indirect” contact between Iran and Trump.
Iran continues to warn that it will “irreversibly destroy” essential infrastructure across the Middle East, a message that it began to push in response to U.S. threats to hit Iranian power plants. Iran said it would hit power plants in all areas that supply electricity to American bases, “as well as the economic, industrial, and energy infrastructures in which Americans have shares.”
The U.S. president also said that “we’re gonna get” the “nuclear dust,” referring to the enriched uranium in Iran. Asked how, he said, “We’re going down, and we’re going to take it ourselves.”
Trump has said that ending Iran’s nuclear program is critical for any deal and has now claimed that Iran has agreed to that.
“We are very willing to make a deal. It’s got to be a good deal, and it’s got to be no more wars, no more nuclear weapons. They’re not going to have nuclear weapons anymore. They’re agreeing to that. Any of that stuff, there is no deal,” Trump said when asked about the Iranian nuclear program.
It should be recalled that Iran has always insisted it was not going to pursue the development of nuclear weapons, and that its uranium-enrichment efforts were entirely peaceful.
Iran’s foreign ministry hit back at Trump’s statements, saying they were “part of efforts to reduce energy prices and buy time to implement his military plans,” which could still involve a possible occupation or blockading of Iran’s strategically crucial Kharg Island — a prospect that we have discussed in detail in the past.
“Yes, there are initiatives from regional countries to reduce tensions, and our response to all of them is clear: We are not the party that started this war, and all these requests should be referred to Washington,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry was quoted as saying.
UPDATES:
We have ended today’s rolling coverage.
3:50PM EST—
Iranian officials have repeatedly threatened the United States and Israel with secretive new super-weapons, the details of which are notably thin.
The latest such threat comes from Major General Ali Abdollahi Aliabadi, who heads up the unified combatant command headquarters of the Iranian Armed Forces. “The use of a new, secret weapon will begin soon, and it will bring an end to the enemy’s operations,” he claimed.
The U.K. Royal Navy’s Type 45 destroyer HMS Dragon has arrived on station in the eastern Mediterranean. The U.K. government faced criticism for the slow pace of response, three weeks after an Iranian-made drone hit the British base of RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus. U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey said that the destroyer will begin “operational integration into Cyprus’s defense” starting on Monday night.
3:45PM EST—
Abigail Hauslohner, Washington-based correspondent for the U.K. Financial Times, reports that Trump today claimed the idea of launching a war against Iran came from the U.S. War Secretary Pete Hegseth.
“Pete, I think you were the first one to speak up, and you said: ‘Let’s do it because you can’t let them have a nuclear weapon’,” Trump is quoted as saying.
There are signs, too, that Hegseth may be lined up as a negotiating partner with Iran. Abas Aslani, a journalist and senior research fellow at the Center for Middle East Strategic Studies (CMESS), reports that Washington has suggested that Vance take part in talks with Iran’s Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf. Iran has not yet responded to the idea, which apparently derives from Iranian distrust of Steve Witkoff.
3:35PM EST—
Barak Ravid, global affairs reporter with Axios, writes that U.S. Vice President JD Vance spoke today with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, updating him on plans for negotiations between the United States and Iran. Ravid cites an unnamed source who says that Vance and Netanyahu discussed the components of a possible agreement to end the war with Iran. Such a development would seem to suggest that Trump’s talk of an imminent deal with Iran may be premature.
A video circulating on social media this evening shows apparent Israeli airstrikes targeting what is reported to be an Iranian missile complex in Isfahan. Iran’s largest missile production and assembly facility is in Isfahan, and the plant has manufactured solid and liquid rocket fuels as well as various missile components. Also located close to Isfahan city is the Isfahan Nuclear Research Center, formerly known as the Uranium Conversion Facility.
Open-source intelligence sources have collated more information pointing to the ongoing deployment of U.S. forces from the Continental United States. Based on this, at least 35 C-17 transport flights to the Middle East have been identified since March 12, with 11 more flights on the way. Among the origins of these flights are key CONUS military installations, including Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Fort Bragg is notably the home of the 82nd Airborne Division. Reported destinations of these flights include airbases in Israel and Jordan.
1:50PM EST—
Additional details about the talks with Iran, as reported by Barak Ravid, global affairs reporter with Axios:
Turkey, Egypt, and Pakistan are the countries that conveyed messages between the US and Iran in the last two days
Senior officials from the three countries held separate talks with White House envoy Steve Witkoff and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi
“The mediation continues and is progressing. The discussion is about ending the war and resolving all remaining open issues. We hope to receive answers soon,” the source said
This is in line with other reporting, including from the British Financial Times, that suggests that Pakistan is taking an increasingly important role in brokering talks between Tehran and Washington.
Iranian police say they have arrested 68 people for filming areas hit by airstrikes. It also says 67 were basically anti-regime individuals. Regardless, arrests for doing similar activities are also happening in allied Arab countries.
If the war explodes into a focus on targeting basic infrastructure, desalination plants would be among the most troubling targets, as they provide clean water to populations and industry.
Prime Minister of the U.K. Keir Starmer says it is totally unclear if Diego Garcia was targeted by Iranian ballistic missiles, which has been the prevailing narrative of the strange long-range missile attack by Iran.
1:21PM EST—
B-52s are now launching from the United Kingdom with full loads of GBU-31 JDAMs equipped with BLU-109 bunker buster warheads. This indicates that the bombers are now making direct attacks on targets in Iran, although these would still be in the lowest threat areas, and especially not deep into the eastern part of the country. Up until now, B-52s, which are the most vulnerable type within the U.S. bomber force, have been burning through stealthy AGM-158 JASSM cruise missiles for standoff strikes in Iran, as air supremacy has not been in place across the country, which you can read all about in our past report here.
Some tankers are trickling through the Strait of Hormuz:
Iran’s missile technology continues to be quite impressive, with more advanced types still being fired at Israel and eluding air defenses. We have seen multiple occasions where Iranian maneuverable reentry vehicles (MaRVs) have been able to pierce interceptor barrages during the terminal stage.
The U.S. and Israel continue to strike at Iran’s ability to quickly restart production of standoff weaponry.
The damage done to energy production infrastructure in the Middle East is becoming more clear. AFP states at least 40 energy assets have been destroyed or badly damaged in nine countries. The long-term economic fallout from Iran’s strikes on these targets remains unclear, but economists are warning that the damage done, as well as the Strait remaining closed for a prolonged period, could spark a global recession.
Iran has released a new video showing its underground ‘missile cities,’ this time showcasing air defense weapons still stored there. Clearly, this is intended to convey that air supremacy is not achieved and won’t be achieved, although many of these facilities have had their entrances collapsed by strikes, trapping everything inside from being used.
South Korea’s military is active in the UAE and has supplied air defense assets to help counter the Iranian barrages, according to The Diplomat.
New York Times reports that Israel had a secret plan to spark a rebellion in Iran that would quickly overrun the regime, but that never occurred:
NATO Secretary Rutte says 22 nations are working together to reopen the Strait. Currently, this appears to be a diplomatic endeavor not a military one.
Data centers continue to be new high-profile targets in the age of AI and cloud computing.
12:40PM EST—
In a further effort to put pressure on the United States, Iran’s defense council today threatened to lay sea mines to block the entire Gulf if Iran’s coasts or islands are attacked.
The fact that two U.S. Navy Independence class Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) configured for minesweeping duties — representing a substantial portion of the Navy’s mine countermeasures capacity for the Middle East region — were last reported thousands of miles away in a completely different part of the world is something TWZ has already reported on.
Oman, which has emerged as a key player in terms of its efforts to mediate between Tehran and Washington, is also seeking a way to reopen the strait.
The Omanis are “working intensively” to “put in place safe passage arrangements” for the strait, Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi wrote on X.
“Whatever your view of Iran, this war is not of their making. This is already causing widespread economic problems, and I fear they promise to get much worse if the war continues,” Albusaidi added.
The U.S. military’s recent use of the new Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) short-range ballistic missiles against Iran was the longest field artillery strike launched by the U.S. Army in its history. This is the claim of Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), in his latest update on Operation Epic Fury.
The PrSM strike, on March 19, “took out Iranian military infrastructure, demonstrating the U.S. military’s unmatched reach and lethality,” Cooper said. The CENTCOM chief said that Iran “has lost significant combat capability,” with U.S. forces having destroyed “thousands” of Iranian missiles, advanced attack drones, and “all of Iran’s Navy.”
The Iran conflict was the first combat use of the PrSM, which only began entering service roughly two years ago. The new missiles offer significantly greater range compared to their predecessors, the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS), and provide a much-expanded area in which American units can now hold targets at risk.
Cooper also said that the U.S. military has struck a total of 130 Iranian vessels, which constitutes “the largest elimination of a navy over a three-week period since World War II,” Cooper said.
“Their navy is not sailing, their tactical fighters are not flying, and they’ve lost the ability to launch missiles and drones at the high rates seen at the beginning of the conflict,” Cooper added. He also claimed that the U.S. military has been able to “maintain air superiority over Iran’s skies” in the course of over 8,000 combat flights. The reality of the air picture over Iran is somewhat different, as we have discussed in the past, and the continued risk to U.S. and Israeli aircraft appears to have been underscored by the emergency landing of a U.S. Air Force F-35A fighter after a mission over Iran last week.
The F-35 in question was apparently hit by ground fire, and, while the incident is still under investigation, the U.S. military has confirmed that the pilot suffered shrapnel wounds.
Iran’s IRGC posted a video on March 19 purporting to show an F-35 being targeted and struck by an Iranian air defense system. The authenticity of the video has not been confirmed.
There are signs that the storied 82nd Airborne Division of the U.S. Army could be headed to the Middle East. Based on the movement of cargo flights between Fort Bragg in North Carolina and the Middle East, the Pentagon could be moving elements of the elite paratrooper unit into the region.
There had been earlier signs that the 82nd Airborne was at least being prepared for a possible deployment, with the cancellation of a major training exercise in which its headquarters unit would have been involved.
The division includes a brigade combat team of between 4,000 and 5,000 soldiers that are on constant alert for rapid deployment anywhere in the world within hours. They can be assigned various high-priority missions, including seizing critical objectives, reinforcing U.S. embassies, and enabling emergency evacuations.
It is also quite possible that at least part of the deployment was scheduled in advance of the war.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) today said they have launched another wave of strikes in Tehran. Among the claimed targets were a Quds Force base used as a command post, an IRGC aerial defense headquarters, a Ground Forces headquarters, a Quds Force intelligence headquarters, and a naval cruise missile manufacturing site.
While unconfirmed, it appears that the IDF is on board with the U.S.-announced five-day pause on strikes against Iranian energy infrastructure.
Yesterday, the IDF issued details of its overnight airstrikes, claiming to have struck several Iranian weapon production sites and various headquarters of the regime. The IDF said that Israeli Air Force fighters had hit targets including an Iranian Army training base that included a storage site for anti-aircraft missiles; a weapons production and storage site of the Iranian defense ministry; a weapons production site of the IRGC Air Force; a headquarters of the Iranian intelligence ministry; and a headquarters of Khatam-al Anbiya, the Iranian military emergency command.
Meanwhile, Israel continues to fight on a second front in Lebanon. Among the targets that have been struck repeatedly are bridges across from the Litani River in southern Lebanon. The video below purportedly shows an Israeli Air Force strike on the Qasmiya Bridge yesterday. The IDF says strikes like these are meant to prevent Hezbollah from moving operatives and weapons into southern Lebanon.
The U.S. State Department has issued a “worldwide caution” to all Americans. “The Department of State advises Americans worldwide, and especially in the Middle East, to exercise increased caution. Americans abroad should follow the guidance in security alerts issued by the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate,” the State Department said in a statement.
Over the weekend, remarkable footage emerged showing the apparent interception of an Iranian medium-range ballistic missile. The video was reportedly captured in the Deir ez-Zor governorate of eastern Syria. While its authenticity cannot be confirmed, it bears the hallmarks of an exoatmospheric interception, of the kind that could be carried out by a Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) fired by a U.S. Navy Arleigh Burke class destroyer. It is important to remember that Israel’s own Arrow 3 anti-ballistic missile interceptors are also capable of engaging threats outside of the Earth’s atmosphere and use kinetic kill vehicles to destroy their targets.
Iranian missiles continue to threaten the air defense umbrella over Israel, as the video below confirms. In this case, an apparent cluster munition delivered by an Iranian missile, or otherwise debris from an intercepted missile, struck a car in the city of Tel Aviv.
Footage has emerged showing the immediate results of apparent airstrikes on Yazd, in central Iran. The site has been struck by the United States and Israel on multiple occasions this month and is considered one of the most significant underground missile-launch facilities in the country. The fact that the base has been targeted repeatedly suggests that it is proving tricky to render inoperational.
According to a recent CNN investigation, satellite images from 27 Iranian underground bases indicate that the U.S.-Israeli campaign has struck 77 percent of the tunnel entrances that could be imaged. However, construction equipment was seen appearing at bombed sites typically within 48 hours. This would be used for digging out blocked entrances and restoring access to the tunnel systems below, likely making the sites operational again.
Last Friday morning local time, Iran reportedly launched two intermediate-range ballistic missiles at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, but neither of them struck the base.
More analysis of that abortive attack is now emerging. This airbase has hosted a significant build-up of U.S. military aircraft, although not, so far, long-range bombers. This would be an option, however, since the United Kingdom gave the go-ahead for the United States to use the island for strikes on Iran. The threat posed to Diego Garcia by Iranian long-range attack drones and missiles is something we have discussed in the past.
In his analysis of the attempted attack, missile and drone expert Fabian Hinz outlines the various weapons that Iran could have called upon, as well as their various advantages and disadvantages.
While we have seen similar footage before, it is interesting to note that U.S. Navy F/A-18E/F Super Hornets continue to use their onboard 20mm cannons to strafe targets along the Iranian coast.
A photo from the perimeter fence at RAF Fairford in England confirms that U.S. Air Force bombers — and planespotters — have been busy in recent days.
Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com
Houthis open new front against Israel, is Red Sea shipping at risk? | US-Israel war on Iran News
The Houthis in Yemen have launched their first attacks on Israel, opening a new front in the month-long regional war. Al Jazeera’s Virginia Pietromarchi explains why the move could raise new risks for oil shipping, and civilians in Yemen.
Published On 29 Mar 2026
‘We can insure the ship, but we cannot insure a human life.’
International Maritime Organization chief Arsenio Dominguez warns of 20,000 seafarers stranded in the Strait of Hormuz.
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Iran hits industrial zone in southern Israel | US-Israel war on Iran News
An Iranian missile barrage has caused a fire a chemical plant near Beersheba in southern Israel, following expanded attacks on Iranian infrastructure.
Published On 29 Mar 2026
Iran warns against U.S. ground troops; targets Israeli industrial site
Speaker of the Parliament of Iran Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf speaks during a news conference in Beirut, Lebanon, on October 12, 2024. File Photo by Wael Hamzeh/EPA
March 29 (UPI) — Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, issued a warning Saturday against a possible ground troop invasion as the U.S. military sends more troops to the region.
Ghalibaf made the comments in a message marking 30 days since the start of the war. The United States and Israel began strikes on Iran on Feb. 28 in their efforts to diminish the country’s nuclear weapons program.
Ghalibaf accused the United States of secretly planning a ground invasion of Iran. On Saturday, two U.S. ships arrived in the region carrying 3,500 U.S. service members as well as fighter jets, transport aircraft, amphibious assault vessels and other tactical assets. More troops were expected, U.S. Central Command said.
“The enemy publicly sends messages of negotiation while secretly planning a ground invasion — unaware that our men are waiting for American troops to enter on the ground, ready to unleash devastation upon them and punish their regional allies,” Ghalibaf said, as reported by CNN.
Last week, the Trump administration proposed a 15-point peace plan with Iran. President Donald Trump also ordered a 10-day halt on strikes against Iranian energy sites, though Israel carried out its own attacks on energy sites Friday.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday that Iran had not responded to the peace proposal.
“The United States speaks of its aspirations, presenting what it failed to achieve in war as a 15-point list to pursue through diplomacy,” Ghalibaf said.
“As long as the Americans seek Iran’s surrender, the answer of your sons remains clear: ‘Far be it from us to accept humiliation.'”
Ghalibaf’s message came in the wake of a Saturday report by The Washington Post that the Defense Department has drawn up plans for a weeks-long ground operation in Iran. Officials told The Post the plan isn’t considered a full-scale ground invasion, but would involve Special Operations forces and infantry troops.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt issued a statement in response to the possibility of ground troops in Iran.
“It’s the job of the Pentagon to make preparations in order to give the commander in chief maximum optionality,” she said. “It does not mean the president has made a decision.”
Iran has launched attacks on Israeli and other U.S. allies in the Persian Gulf region, including one Sunday on a military camp in Kuwait, which killed 10 Kuwaiti service members. The army said it detected 14 ballistic missiles and 12 hostile drones in Kuwaiti airspace over the previous 24 hours. Since the start of the war, it has monitored more than 300 ballistic missiles, 2 cruise missiles and more than 600 hostile drones.
Meanwhile, Israeli officials said emergency officials were working on a large fire that broke out at a hazardous materials factory at the Neot Hovav industrial complex, The Guardian reported. The Israeli military blamed “a weapon fragment or interceptor fragment” for the damage and fire.
Iran, immigration inspire attendees at No Kings protests
March 29 (UPI) — Participants in the thousands of No Kings demonstrations across the United States said they came out to protest President Donald Trump for his crackdown on immigration, his decision to go to war in Iran, and even his decisions to put his name on federal property and money.
The organizers behind the No Kings movement estimated that about 8 million people turned out for Saturday’s protests, which took place across at least 3,000 individual locations in every single congressional district in the country. The New York Times reported, though, that the estimate could be off because organizers’ figures in some cases were higher than those reported by local public safety officials.
The marquee event at the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul drew more than 200,000, people, organizers said. Among them were Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., singer Joan Baez, actor Jane Fonda and Gov. Tim Walz. Rocker Bruce Springsteen performed his original song, “Streets of Minneapolis, inspired by civilian deaths at the hands of federal immigration officials during an enforcement crackdown earlier this year.
The Minnesota Star Tribune reported that the St. Paul demonstration had a dual purpose — condemning the Trump administration while also celebrating the those in the state who stood against the federal immigration enforcement surge.
Speaking at the St. Paul event, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison called on attendees to “look past Trump and into the society we dream about.”
“Every right we fought for and won is under attack right now,” he said. “In part, we got ourselves into this mess because of an election, and we’re going to get out of this mess with an election.”
At the University of Iowa, organizers Katy Gates told The Times many college-age attendees were inspired to protest in response to the war in Iran. Trump authorized attacks on Iran in conjunction with Israel beginning Feb. 28. Some have taken issue with the now-monthlong involvement in a war without congressional approval.
“Our generation has grown up with this idea of endless war in the Middle East,” she said. “And the idea of getting into yet another is something that people are rightfully angry about.”
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., went beyond protesting Saturday, announcing a bill to ban sitting presidents from putting their names on federal property and currency.
“In America, we do not bow to kings,” she said. “Our president should be focused on bringing down grocery prices, making healthcare affordable and ensuring every family can get ahead, not using their position to boost their own personal brand.
“It is time that we institute this ban and make sure that our government serves the people, not one person’s ego.”
Inspired by the addition of Trump’s name to the John F. Kennedy Performing Arts Center in Washington, D.C., and his plans to add his own signature to currency, the legislation would also ban banners with the president’s face on the side of federal buildings, naming a class of warships after a sitting president and putting their image on commemorative coins.
‘We will see a new government in Venezuela, in Cuba and in Iran’
Senator Ted Cruz says US President Donald Trump’s approach could lead to government changes in Venezuela, Cuba and Iran.
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Pakistan hosts four-nation bid to encourage US, Iran towards diplomacy | US-Israel war on Iran News
Islamabad, Pakistan – The US-Israel war on Iran has not paused. The strikes have not stopped from either side. However, diplomacy is now moving at a pace not seen since the conflict that affected Iran’s neighbours and rattled the world economy for a month.
Two-day consultations of foreign ministers of Turkiye, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Pakistan started in Islamabad on Sunday as the capital turned into the centre of a rapidly forming diplomatic track in what officials describe as the most coordinated regional effort yet to push the United States and Iran towards direct talks.
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Hours before the meeting, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held a 90-minute phone call with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian – his second conversation with the Iranian leader in five days.
According to officials, the call focused on de-escalation and what Tehran calls the missing ingredient in all previous negotiations: trust.
Pezeshkian told Sharif that Iran had twice been attacked during earlier nuclear talks with the US and said the contradiction – talks on one hand, strikes on the other – had deepened Iranian scepticism about Washington’s intentions.
He stressed that confidence-building measures would be required before Tehran could consider direct dialogue.
The quad
The Islamabad meeting is not improvised. It is the evolution of a mechanism first discussed during a broader gathering of Muslim and Arab states in Riyadh earlier this month.
That mechanism has now hardened into a four-country diplomatic track, with Pakistan acting as the central interlocutor between Iran and the US.
Originally planned to take place in the Turkish capital, Ankara, the meeting was moved to Islamabad because of Pakistan’s deepening involvement in relaying messages between Washington and Tehran.
At the same time, China has conveyed support to Tehran for Pakistan’s mediation efforts and encouraged Iran to engage with the diplomatic process – a sign that global powers are beginning to line up behind the regional initiative.
Can they make Iran and the US talk to each other?
Diplomats say the four-nation meeting is not designed to produce a ceasefire itself. Its purpose is to align regional positions and prepare the ground for a possible direct US-Iran engagement.
Diplomacy over the war on Iran is no longer theoretical. A document exists. And now, the world is waiting.
Officials suggest that if current contacts hold, talks between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi could take place within days, potentially in Pakistan.
US Vice President JD Vance has also been named as someone who could talk to the Iranians. However, timelines remain conditional.
One diplomat told Al Jazeera that any such meeting would likely require Washington to announce at least a temporary pause in strikes to meet Tehran’s demand for confidence-building measures.
A senior Pakistani source confirmed to Al Jazeera that Washington and Iran’s demands have been presented by Islamabad, and that is where Pakistan’s role ends.
“We can take the horse to the water; whether the horse drinks or not is entirely up to them.”
What does Tehran want?
The four-country meeting is expected to review Iran’s response and coordinate messaging back to Washington. Iran has already transmitted its reply to the US proposal via Islamabad, according to officials familiar with the process.
Tehran’s demands include an end to hostilities, reparations for damages, guarantees against future attacks and recognition of its strategic leverage in the Strait of Hormuz.
The meeting agenda
During his call with Sharif, President Pezeshkian warned that Israel was attempting to expand the conflict to other countries in the region and expressed concern over the use of foreign territory for attacks on Iran.
Islamabad’s view is that any dialogue must take place in an atmosphere of mutual respect and an end to the killing of Iranian officials and civilians.
Pakistan has condemned Israeli attacks and stood in solidarity with the Gulf countries regarding Iranian attacks on their infrastructure.
These statements underline a growing divide between regional powers and Washington’s military approach – even as those same powers work to prevent the conflict from spiralling further.
Limits to the Islamabad meeting
The talks in Islamabad do not include US or Iranian officials. It is not a negotiation. It is preparation.
Its goals are to consolidate regional backing for de-escalation. That requires harmonising positions on ceasefire sequencing and reducing the risk that competing mediation efforts undercut each other.
If successful, it could provide the political cover both Washington and Tehran need to enter talks without appearing to concede.
Officials say the next 48 to 72 hours will determine whether this diplomatic push produces a meeting. Pakistan has now spoken to Iran, hosted regional powers and transmitted proposals in both directions.
What happens next will depend on decisions taken not in Islamabad, but in Washington and Tehran.
For now, though, one fact is clear: the centre of gravity in the diplomatic effort to end this war has shifted to Pakistan’s capital. If this collapses under the weight of mistrust and continued fighting, a regional war risks becoming something far larger.