US-Israel-Iran War Updates: Trump Calls NATO members Cowards, Iran Says Israeli, US Officials Unsafe After Strikes

Members of Iran’s national women’s soccer team were greeted with a welcome ceremony upon their return to the Islamic Republic after several of the players had sought asylum in Australia.

“First of all we are so happy to be in Iran, because Iran is our homeland,” midfielder Fatemeh Shaban said.

People in the crowd waved flags, while some players held bouquets of flowers and signed what appeared to be miniature soccer balls. Iranian media had reported that the team returned Wednesday.

“I wasn’t expecting this many people to come to welcome us, and I am happy to be the daughter of Iran,” Shaban said in translated comments.

Others who initially sought asylum after the team was knocked out of the Women’s Asian Cup later changed their minds and said they would return.

Heavy explosions shook Dubai in the United Arab Emirates early Friday as air defenses intercepted incoming fire over the city.

A missile alert sounded prior to the strike, with authorities saying there were activating air defenses to counter an Iranian barrage.

The Dubai Media Office, the sheikhdom’s government communication’s arm, said, “Authorities in Dubai confirm the success of all air interception operations, with no injuries reported.”

The attack came as the UAE marked Eid al-Fitr, the end of the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, and as mosques made the day’s first call to prayers.

Airstrikes started early on Friday morning as Iranians celebrated Nowruz, the Persian New Year.

Israel’s military said very early Friday it had begun to strike the capital, Tehran.

Following Israel's declaration of a fresh round of attacks, activists reported hearing strikes in the Tehran area.

The declaration followed a day of heavy Iranian missile strikes against Israel, including over a dozen launches on Thursday alone, according to Israel's military.

Meeting Trump at the White House, Takaichi said Iran’s nuclear weapons development must never be tolerated and that Japan had consistently called for a response.

“The global security environment, including the current Middle East situation, is extremely grave, and the world economy is also under significant strain,” the Japanese prime minister said.

“However, I firmly believe that it is only you, Donald, who can achieve peace and prosperity across the world.  I am ready to reach out to many of the partners in the international community to achieve our objective together. Today, I have come to convey that message,” she said.

The United Arab Emirates announced Friday it disrupted what it called “a terrorist network funded and operated by Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Iran,” arresting its operatives.

The UAE accused the men of “operating within the country under a fictitious commercial cover and sought to infiltrate the national economy and carry out external schemes threatening the country’s financial stability.”

It described the men as allegedly laundering money.

It published images of five prisoners on its state-run WAM news agency, without identifying the men. It wasn’t immediately clear if they had lawyers.

AP

Kuwaiti refinery hit by Iran one of three in country. Mina Al-Ahmadi can process some 730,000 barrels of oil per day. It is one of three oil refineries in Kuwait, a tiny, oil-rich nation on the Persian Gulf. The attack Friday comes as Iran increasingly targets energy sites in Gulf Arab states after Israel on Wednesday bombed Iran’s massive South Pars offshore natural gas field in the Persian Gulf.

Israel’s military said Friday it struck sites in Syria in response to attacks against the Druze. The army said it struck infrastructure belonging to Syria in response to attacks on Druze population in Sweida in southern Syria.

Syria’s state-run SANA news agency did not immediately acknowledge the attack, which marks the first Israeli attack on Syria as its war with the United States targeting Iran continues.

Israel has a significant Druze population. Israel previously has intervened in defense of the Druze in Syria, launching dozens of airstrikes on convoys of government fighters and even striking the Syrian Defense Ministry headquarters in central Damascus.

AP

In an attempt to refute Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's assertion that Tehran could no longer produce missiles, the spokesperson for Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard maintained on Friday that Tehran was still doing so.

General Ali Mohammad Naeini made the remarks in a report that Iran's state-run IRAN daily cited.

Referencing how Iranian schools consider a 20 as a perfect score, the general said: “Our missile industry score is 20 and there is no concern in this regard because we are producing missiles even during war conditions, which is amazing, and there is no particular problem in stockpiling.”

He also said the war would go on.

“These people expect the war to continue until the enemy is completely exhausted,” the general said of the Iranian public. “This war must end when the shadow of war is lifted from the country.

Iranian  foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said, Tehran had deployed only a “fraction” of its capabilities in retaliatory strikes on regional energy infrastructure, following Israel’s attack on Iran’s South Pars gasfield. He warned that Iran would show “zero restraint” if its energy facilities are targeted again.

Iran’s strike on the Ras Laffan gas facility is expected to reduce Qatar’s liquefied natural gas export capacity by around 17%, potentially disrupting energy supplies across Europe, Asia, and other regions.

- Al Jazeera

Iran launched strikes on a Saudi refinery along the Red Sea, set ablaze key liquefied natural gas facilities in Qatar, and hit two major oil refineries in Kuwait, while also causing minor damage to an Israeli refinery. The coordinated attacks were carried out in retaliation for Israel’s strike on Iran’s South Pars gasfield, marking a sharp escalation in the conflict.

The fallout rattled global energy markets, with fuel prices surging—Brent crude oil has jumped significantly since the war began, amid fears of prolonged supply disruptions.

- AP

General Ali Mohammad Naeini the spokesperson of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard was killed in an early Friday airstrike, according to Iranian state television.

General Naeini had asserted that Tehran retained the capability to continue producing missiles despite ongoing attacks by Israel and the U.S just before his death.

- AP

Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei on Friday called for Iran’s enemies to have their “security” taken away, in his latest public message.

The remarks were issued in a statement to President Masoud Pezeshkian after Israel killed Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib.

Khamenei has not been seen since assuming office, succeeding his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on February 28, the first day of the war.

American and Israeli officials have since suggested that Mojtaba Khamenei may have been injured during the conflict.

- AP

Israeli police said on Friday (March 20, 2026) they had arrested an army reservist who served on the Iron Dome air defence system on suspicion of passing secrets to Iran.

The arrest comes as Israel and the United States are locked in a war with Iran that has spread across West Asia.

“Raz Cohen, a 26-year-old resident of Jerusalem who served in the reserves in the Iron Dome system, was recently arrested on suspicion of committing security offenses involving contact with Iranian intelligence,” Israeli police said.

“Over the course of several months, the citizen maintained contact with Iranian intelligence operatives and, under their instructions, was asked to carry out various security missions, including passing on sensitive security information.”

Iran has been firing barrages of missiles at Israel in retaliation for a US-Israeli bombing campaign that began on February 28 with the killing of supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

Israel’s state-of-the-art air defences have managed to intercept many of the missiles fired by Tehran, but there have been deaths and damage to some strategic sites.

According to Israeli rescue services and authorities, Iranian missile fire toward Israel has killed 15 civilians in the country since the start of the war.

Four Palestinian women also died after Iranian missile fire in the occupied West Bank, the Ramallah-based Health Ministry said.

Source: AFP

Russia’s foreign ministry has summoned the Israeli ambassador, Oded Joseph, in Moscow after an Israeli missile strike wounded a Russia Today television crew reporting in southern Lebanon.

On Thursday, Maria Zakharova, the ministry’s spokeswoman, said that the “circumstances [around the Israeli strike] indicate that the attack on the journalists was deliberate and targeted”, and called them a “gross violation of international law”.

Source: Al Jazeera

Petrol prices increase restricted to premium variant of fuel, by ₹2-3/litre, and not the regular version which remains unaffected. Common public will not be affected: Sujata Sharma, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG)

India’s embassy in Saudi Arabia has said an Indian national was killed during attacks in the country on March 18 amid the ongoing hostilities in the region.

“The Embassy is in touch with the family and local authorities. We remain committed to extending all possible assistance in this matter,” the embassy posted on X.

The Bahrain Defence Force has said that it has faced 141 missiles and 242 drones from Iran since the start of the war on February 28.

The country’s security forces, the BDF said, “continue to confront successive waves of the sinful Iranian terrorist aggression targeting the Kingdom of Bahrain”.

Israel’s military said on Friday (March 20, 2026) it was launching strikes in Iran’s Noor region on the shores of the Caspian Sea, as it kept up its bombing campaign after almost three weeks of war.

“The IDF has begun striking targets belonging to the Iranian terror regime,” the army said in a statement.

The fresh strikes come after Israel’s military said Thursday its jets had hit several Iranian naval vessels in the Caspian Sea. 

Source: AFP

Switzerland has halted approvals for weapons exports to the United States, citing its neutrality amid the ongoing Israeli-US war on Iran.

In a statement on Friday, the government said “the export of war materiel to countries involved in the international armed conflict with Iran cannot be authorised for the duration of the conflict”.

“Exports of war materiel to the USA cannot currently be authorised,” the statement added.

France’s president has said the war on Iran will not divert Paris from its support for Ukraine. Emmanuel Macron said 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.”

His remarks came as the French navy intercepted an oil tanker linked to Russia’s so-called shadow fleet in the western Mediterranean.

Officials said the vessel, sailing from Murmansk, was suspected of operating under a false flag before French forces boarded it.

The Netherlands is stepping up security for Iranian dissidents after a 36-year-old police official of Iranian descent, known for criticising the Iranian government, was seriously injured in a shooting.

Authorities have not identified a suspect and say it is unclear whether the attack is linked to Iran, with all scenarios under investigation.

Justice Minister David van Weel said security agencies are on alert and taking necessary measures.

An Indian airline group representing IndiGo, Air India, and SpiceJet has warned the Indian government of route withdrawals and fleet delays as fuel prices rise amid the ongoing US-Israel’s war on Iran.

In a letter, the Federation of Indian Airlines asked the government to drop the fare caps earlier imposed in December.

Reuters reported that Indian airlines are incurring “huge” revenue losses and facing higher operational costs, in part due to rising fuel prices, as hostilities engulf the Middle East.

“If the current situation continues, airlines will face ‌severe ⁠financial losses, pushing several operators closer to unsustainable financial conditions and potentially threatening their continued viability,” the letter, seen by Reuters, noted.

HSBC analysts have estimated that a $1 per barrel change in fuel prices could increase IndiGo’s full-year fuel bill by about 3 billion rupees ($32 million).

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies from Qatar to India could be impacted following Iranian strikes ‌on energy facilities in the Middle Eastern nation, a government official ⁠said on Friday.

India, the world’s fourth-largest LNG importer, relies on Qatar for about 41% of ‌its gas imports.

In 2024/25, India imported over 27 million metric ‌tons of LNG, with Qatar supplying 11.2 ‌million ⁠tons, according to government data.

“(LNG) capacity ⁠of Qatar has been hit, this will hit us too,” Sujata Sharma, a joint secretary in the federal oil ministry, ‌told a news conference. India is Qatar’s second biggest LNG customer.

Source: Reuters

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies from Qatar to India could be impacted following Iranian strikes ‌on energy facilities in the Middle Eastern nation, a government official ⁠said on Friday.

India, the world’s fourth-largest LNG importer, relies on Qatar for about 41% of ‌its gas imports.

In 2024/25, India imported over 27 million metric ‌tons of LNG, with Qatar supplying 11.2 ‌million ⁠tons, according to government data.

“(LNG) capacity ⁠of Qatar has been hit, this will hit us too,” Sujata Sharma, a joint secretary in the federal oil ministry, ‌told a news conference. India is Qatar’s second biggest LNG customer.

Source: Reuters

An attack has killed three people and injured three others in the northwestern city of Osku in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province, reports Iran’s Tasnim news agency, citing the East Azerbaijan governor’s office.

Israel’s military says it has detected yet another wave of missiles heading towards the country from Iran.