Key events29 Mar 2026Millions of Australians to get free public transport amid fuel crisis29 Mar 2026India’s ceramics industry ‘suffering’ as plants shut amid energy crunch29 Mar 2026Pentagon is preparing for ground operations in Iran – report28 Mar 2026Reza Pahlavi tells CPAC he wants to 'make Iran great again'28 Mar 2026Iran Guards threaten to hit US universities in Middle East28 Mar 2026US condemns attack on home of the leader of autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan28 Mar 2026Media association condemns ‘violent assault’ on CNN crew by Israeli soldiers28 Mar 2026The day so far28 Mar 2026Iran’s foreign ministry condemns ‘deliberate’ attacks on universities28 Mar 2026Houthis confirm second strike against Israel and vow to continue military operations in coming days28 Mar 2026Pakistan’s foreign minister says Iran to allow 20 Pakistani ships through strait of Hormuz28 Mar 2026Thousands of US marines and sailors arrive in Middle East28 Mar 2026'More tragedy' as five separate attacks on southern Lebanon kill nine paramedics and wound seven others, WHO chief says28 Mar 2026IDF says it has hit Iran's headquarters for naval weapons28 Mar 2026Lebanon says it is preparing to file complaint to UN security council over Israeli killings of journalists28 Mar 2026Second Houthi missile fired at Israel - report28 Mar 2026Lebanon condemns ‘blatant war crime’ after Israel kills three journalists28 Mar 2026How likely is Trump to order boots on the ground?28 Mar 2026Summary of developments so far28 Mar 2026Iran claims to have targeted US military vessel near Oman port28 Mar 2026Pakistan PM and Iran president discuss hostilities in phone call28 Mar 2026Yemen’s Houthis confirm attack on Israel28 Mar 2026Thailand reaches strait of Hormuz deal with Iran, PM says28 Mar 2026Israel reports war's first missile attack from Yemen28 Mar 2026Another strike reported in area of Iran nuclear power plant28 Mar 2026At least 12 American soldiers injured in Iranian attack on US base in Saudi28 Mar 2026Explosions reported in Syrian capital Damascus28 Mar 2026Welcome summaryShow key events onlyPlease turn on JavaScript to use this featureUkraine has denied Iran’s claim that it had targeted and destroyed a Ukrainian anti-drone system depot in the UAE, calling it a “lie” and a “disinformation”.“This is a lie, we officially refute this information. The Iranian regime often conducts such disinformation operations – and in this it is no different from the Russians,” the Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesperson, Georgiy Tykhym, said, according to the AFP news agency.Summary of developments so far

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have attacked Israel for the first time since the start of the Israel-US war on Iran, which enters a second month. The Houthis said the attack came after continued targeting of infrastructure in Iran, Lebanon, Iraq and the Palestinian territories, adding that their operations would continue until the “aggression” on all fronts ends.

Pakistan is preparing to host talks with officials from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt aimed at ending the war. Foreign ministers will attend the talks on Sunday in Islamabad. Pakistan did not say if officials from the US or Iran are involved.

Pakistan’s prime minister Shehbaz Sharif said he has held “extensive discussions” with Iran’s president Masoud Pezeshkian. Discussing ongoing hostilities in the Middle East, Sharif said Pezeshkian was briefed on Pakistan’s diplomatic efforts to engage the US as well as Gulf and other Islamic nations during the conversation that lasted more than an hour.

Elsewhere in the region, drones struck the airport in Kuwait, damaging its radar, and the key port of Salalah in Oman. Kuwait did not say where the drones came from, while Iran acknowledged an attack near the Omani port, claiming to have targeted a US “military support vessel” there.

Authorities in Abu Dhabi said falling debris from a missile interception injured six people. The UAE’s defence ministry said its forces were intercepting missile and drone attacks from Iran.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country and the UAE have agreed to “cooperate in the field of security and defence”. During an unannounced visit to Abu Dhabi, Zelenskyy said he and the Emirati president, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, reviewed the security situation in the UAE, focusing on Iranian strikes and the blockade of the strait of Hormuz.

Israel carried out dawn airstrikes on several towns in southern Lebanon, state media reported, while Hezbollah announced attacks on Israeli forces. The Israeli military has issued a new order for people in several villages near the town of Tyre in southern Lebanon to flee the area and move north, as it escalates its efforts to uproot the Iran-backed militant group.
Jason BurkeYemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis have confirmed that they launched an attack on Israel for the first time since the outbreak of the Israel-US war on Iran, marking their entry to the conflict just hours after Marco Rubio said the US expected to conclude military operations within “weeks, not months”.While Israel was again hitting targets across Iran’s capital on Saturday, it identified what it said was a missile launched from Yemen. The Houthis said the attack came after continued targeting of infrastructure in Iran, Lebanon, Iraq and the Palestinian territories, adding that their operations would continue until the “aggression” on all fronts ends.Houthi involvement in the war could risk broadening the conflict, given their ability to strike targets far beyond Yemen and disrupt shipping lanes around the Arabian Peninsula and the Red Sea, which they had done in support of Hamas in Gaza after the 7 October attacks on Israel.Speaking to reporters on Friday, after meeting G7 foreign ministers in France, Rubio – the US secretary of state – said of Iran: “When we are done with them here in the next couple weeks, they will be weaker than they’ve been in recent history.”Read the full report here:Iran said it has targeted a Ukrainian anti-drone system depot in the UAE which it claimed was used to assist US forces, the AFP news agency reported.In a statement to state media, Iran’s military central operational command Khatam Al-Anbiya said: “As the hideouts of American commanders and soldiers in Dubai were targeted … a Ukrainian anti-drone system depot that was located in Dubai to assist the US military … was targeted and destroyed.”The statement came a short time after the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced his country and the UAE have agreed to “cooperate in the field of security and defence”. You can read an earlier post on that here.There has been no immediate comment from the UAE on the purported attack in Dubai.Here are some images on the newswires from across the Middle East as the US-Israeli war on Iran reaches the one-month mark.The Israeli military has issued a new order for people in several villages near the town of Tyre in southern Lebanon to flee the area and move north.In a post of X, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, warned that seven villages need to “immediately evacuate and move north of the Zahrani river”.Israel escalated its attacks against Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah and issued sweeping evacuation orders for areas south of Lebanon’s Litani River. In recent days, Israeli airstrikes have destroyed most of the bridges over the river, severing wide swathes of the country – including the port city of Tyre – from the rest of Lebanon.Officials in Lebanon have said more than 1,100 people have been killed since the start of the war and more than a million have been displaced.Iran claims to have targeted US military vessel near Oman portIran has claimed to have targeted a US “military support vessel” near Oman’s commercial port of Salalah, following an earlier statement by the Omani government that the port had come under attack.“A logistics vessel supporting the aggressive US army was targeted by the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran at a considerable distance from the port of Salalah in Oman,” Lt Col Ebrahim Zolfaghari, a spokesperson for the Khatam-al Anbiya central headquarters, which coordinates the army and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said in a statement carried by state media.The official Oman News Agency reported this morning that the port was targeted by two drones, injuring one foreign worker and damaging one of the cranes.Oman has acted as mediator between the US and Iran in the three rounds of nuclear talks that took place in the weeks before the conflict began last month. Earlier this month, Oman said the US had “lost control of its own foreign policy” and accused Israel of persuading Donald Trump to go to war with Iran.“As we previously announced, the national sovereignty of the brotherly and friendly country of Oman is respected by the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Zolfaghari added in the statement.Pakistan PM and Iran president discuss hostilities in phone callThe Pakistani prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, said he held a one-hour phone call with the Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, as Islamabad prepares for talks with regional leaders.In a post on X, Sharif said he expressed Pakistan’s solidarity with Iran and condemnation of Israeli attacks. He said he also thanked Pezeshkian “for his appreciation of Pakistan’s sincere efforts to advance peace and facilitate dialogue in the region”.The Pakistani foreign ministry announced earlier today that the country’s foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, will meet with his counterparts from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt in Islamabad to hold “in-depth discussions on a range of issues, including efforts to de-escalate tensions in the region”.The ministers, who are expected to begin the two-day talks tomorrow, will also meet with Sharif, the foreign ministry said in a statement.Islamabad has positioned itself as a potential venue for US-Iran negotiations, with officials confirming Pakistan delivered Washington’s 15-point ceasefire proposal to Tehran earlier this week.Dar posted on X that he was “looking forward to welcoming my brother foreign ministers”.Iran is said to be reviewing the US proposal, although one official has dismissed it as “one-sided and unfair”. Iranian media reported that Tehran has put forward its own five-point plan, with conditions including an end to the fighting and the assassination of its officials, guarantees that no other war is started against it, reparations for the current conflict, and Iranian control over the strait of Hormuz.Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his country and the UAE have agreed to cooperate on defence, as the Gulf nation faces continued attacks from Iran.Zelenskyy said he met with Emirati president Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and that the two leaders agreed to “cooperate in the field of security and defence”.In a post on X, he said:
double quotation markWe discussed the security situation in the Emirates, Iranian strikes, and the blockade of the strait of Hormuz, which directly affects the global oil market. For all normal states, it is important to ensure stability and protect lives amid today’s threats. Ukraine has relevant expertise in this area – our cities, unfortunately, have been under daily attack for four years of full-scale war. Ukrainians have developed an appropriate protection system that delivers a significant interception rate against enemy drones and missiles. This systematic approach and integration of experience is exactly what we are offering to our partners.
The official Abu Dhabi Media Office has provided an update on the missile attack this morning in the UAE capital, saying six people were injured, increasing an earlier casualty toll of five.Authorities said a missile interception led to debris falling near the Khalifa Economic Zone in Abu Dhabi, close to Khalifa Port.In a statement, the media office said: “Authorities further confirmed an additional injury as a result of the incident, to a Pakistani national, bringing the total number of injured individuals to six, with injuries ranging from minor to moderate.”It did not say where the attack was launched from, but the country’s defence ministry said earlier that its forces were intercepting missile and drone attacks from Iran.