US–Israel Strike Natanz Nuclear Site; Diego Garcia Targeted

The move comes as the White House tries to bring down soaring oil prices.

The pause applies to Iranian oil loaded on ships as of Friday and is set to end on April 19.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent previously suggested the move as a way to prevent China from being the sole beneficiary of Iranian oil.

The Trump administration also eased sanctions on certain Russian oil shipments for 30 days as it looks for ways to boost global oil supplies during the Iran war.

The license has limits including a restriction on sales involving anyone in North Korea or Cuba.

AP

The Israeli military said early Saturday it had begun a wave of strikes targeting Hezbollah positions across Beirut’s southern suburbs

Smoke was seen rising and fires broke out from the strike sites, while loud explosions were heard across parts of central Beirut.

Hours earlier, the army renewed evacuation warnings for seven neighborhoods in Beirut’s southern suburbs, prompting some residents to fire gunshots to alert families who had returned to flee.

No casualties were immediately reported.

Trump said the US was “getting very close to meeting our objectives” as it considers “winding down our great Military efforts in the Middle East” against what he called the “Terrorist Regime of Iran.” In a post on Truth Social, Trump outlined the goals of the campaign, including “completely degrading Iranian missile capability,” “destroying Iran’s defense industrial base,” and “never allowing Iran to get even close to nuclear capability.”

UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres has said the UN is prepared to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, noting that the UN had also helped broker a similar deal in the Black Sea between Russia and Ukraine to allow the transport of Ukrainian grain and fertiliser in 2022.

Speaking to Politico, Guterres said, “My main objective is to see if it is possible to create conditions in the Strait of Hormuz similar to what [existed] in the past."

Though his administration for weeks has maintained that its four objectives remained “unchanged, unambiguous, and consistent” since the operation began, Trump in his social media post added a fifth one.

The four objectives had been to block Iran’s path to a nuclear weapon, stop it from arming proxy militant groups, destroy its navy and destroy its ballistic missile capacity.

In his post Friday, Trump enumerated those and added a fifth: “Protecting, at the highest level, our Middle Eastern Allies” and listed America’s Gulf partners.

AP

Russian President Vladimir Putin ⁠congratulated ‌Iranian ‌leaders ‌on ⁠Nowruz ⁠and said Moscow remained ‌a loyal friend ‌and reliable partner ⁠to ‌Tehran, the Kremlin ‌said on Saturday. 

Abbas Araghchi, Iran's foreign minister said Iran will allow Japanese vessels to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.

“We have not closed the strait. It remains open in our view, but is restricted for ships belonging to our enemies. Vessels from other nations can transit.” Araghachi told Kyodo News on late Friday.

- Al Jazeera

General Saad Maan, head of Iraq’s Security Media Cell said that the drone targeted the headquarters of the National Intelligence Service in Baghdad’s Mansour area. Maan didn’t provide details of the attack and no one has immediately claimed responsibility for the strike.

- AP

A US–Israeli airstrike targeted Iran’s Natanz nuclear enrichment facility, with state media reporting no radioactive leakage or threat to nearby residents.

In Iraq, drone strikes sparked a large fire near a US-linked military complex in Baghdad, which has been repeatedly targeted since the war began.

- Al Jazeera

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is set to convene an emergency meeting next week with senior ministers and Andrew Bailey to assess measures aimed at easing the financial strain on households triggered by the Iran conflict, according to a report by The Times.

Officials from both the Prime Minister’s office and the Bank of England declined to comment. Starmer faces mounting pressure to support consumers as the U.S.-Israel war with Iran pushes up petrol, energy, and mortgage costs.

Earlier this week, Starmer pledged relief for “working people” grappling with rising living expenses linked to the conflict. The government has already announced a £53 million ($70 million) support package to help vulnerable households manage increasing heating oil costs, according to Reuters.

The International Atomic Energy Agency on Saturday (March 21, 2026) said it is assessing reports from Iran that the Natanz Nuclear Facility was targeted amid the ongoing conflict involving the United States and Israel.

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi reiterated a call for “military restraint” to prevent any potential nuclear accident. In a statement posted on X, the agency said it had been informed of the attack but noted that no increase in off-site radiation levels had been detected.

A child has been killed and their parents injured in an airstrike on the city of Ahvaz in western Iran, according to Mehr News Agency and reported by Al Jazeera. Officials said the strike was carried out by U.S. or Israeli forces.

Valiullah Hayati, a deputy governor of Khuzestan Province, told reporters that the attack hit a family of three, killing the child while injuring both parents. Rescue teams are currently clearing debris at the site of the blast.

He also said that an unexploded projectile struck a residential home in Aghajari, east of Ahvaz, though no casualties were reported there.

Israel has launched a fresh wave of airstrikes targeting Hezbollah fighters in the southern suburbs of Beirut, according to the Israeli military.

According to Al Jazeera, thick smoke, fires, and powerful explosions were reported across parts of central Beirut, hours after evacuation warnings were issued for seven neighbourhoods in the area.

The Lebanon government said that the ongoing Israeli strikes on Hezbollah positions have killed more than 1,000 people and displaced over one million.

The broader conflict has also taken a heavy toll elsewhere. In Iran, more than 1,300 people have been killed, while in Israel, 15 people have died in Iranian missile attacks, along with four fatalities reported in the occupied West Bank.

At least 13 U.S. military personnel have been killed and more than 200 others wounded in the escalating violence.

India’s ⁠Prime ⁠Minister Narendra Modi says ⁠on X that he has spoken with Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian.

Modi ‌condemned attacks on critical infrastructure in the Middle East region, while also reiterating ⁠the importance of ensuring ⁠that shipping lanes remain open ⁠and secure.

“Appreciated Iran’s ⁠continued support ⁠for the safety and security of Indian nationals ‌in Iran,” Modi added.

The Iranian nuclear organisation has issued a statement confirming that this strike happened. They did not say how it happened and what types of bombs were used. But they also gave assurances that no nuclear radiation has resulted from this attack, so there is no danger to civilian populations around the facility.

We know that Natanz is one of the key nuclear sites in Iran, towards the middle of the country, along with the Isfahan nuclear facilities. And we know a major goal of this war by the Americans and Israelis was about the nuclear programme of Iran, how to destroy it and prevent Iran from producing a nuclear bomb.

Iran’s military is accusing US and Israeli forces of deliberately attacking private vessels and passenger ships in the Gulf, in frustration, it claims, over their struggle to confront Iran’s “powerful onslaught”.

“We warn that if this cowardly aggression is repeated, severe and retaliatory action will be taken,” an IRGC spokesperson said.

Iran itself has reportedly attacked multiple civilian vessels in the Gulf. It threatened to set ablaze any ship attempting to transit the Strait of Hormuz, but has since signalled a more selective approach.

The Russian ‌Foreign Ministry condemned an attack ⁠on Iran’s Natanz enrichment facility ‌that occurred on ‌Saturday (March 21, 2026).

“This ‌is ⁠a ⁠blatant violation of international law,” the ministry’s ‌spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in ‌a statement. 

Source: Reuters

The airline’s CEO says the US company is also preparing for oil to not return to $100 a barrel until the end of next year.

Scott Kirby said in a message to United employees that jet fuel prices, which have more than doubled over the last three weeks, would cost the airline $11bn a year if they remain where they are now.

The price of Brent crude has zigzagged from roughly $70 per barrel before the US and Israel launched the war on Iran to as high as $119.50 this week.

Of United’s worst-case scenario, Kirby said, “I think there’s a good chance it won’t be that bad but … there isn’t much downside for us to preparing for that outcome.”

The Israeli military has said it hit multiple Iranian targets overnight, including a central IRGC compound that produces ballistic missile components.

It added that a missile production components storage facility, a compound belonging to the Ministry of Defence and a ballistic missiles components production site were also attacked.

“The strikes significantly degrade the Iranian terror regime’s capabilities to continue producing critical components for ballistic missiles at these sites, the Israeli military added.

Israel did not disclose the number of casualties. Al Jazeera could not independently verify Israel’s claims.

Russia has denounced reported attacks on Iran’s Natanz nuclear site, saying they could spell “catastrophe” for the region.

“The international community … must immediately provide an objective and hardline assessment of these irresponsible actions, which pose a real risk of a catastrophe across the Middle East,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said in a statement.

Earlier, as we reported, Iran ⁠said it had ⁠notified the International Atomic Energy ⁠Agency of an attack on Saturday on the Natanz facility, which it said did not cause a leak of radiation.

The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has pushed the UK to allow the US to use British bases for strikes on Iranian sites used for blocking the waterway, said Chris Doyle, a Middle East commentator and director of the London-based Council for Arab-British Understanding.

The question though, Doyle argues, is whether additional military action in the area is the solution.

“When the Strait of Hormuz is closed, and it clearly has an enormous global impact on all the major economies, Britain is pushed toward action because there is concern about fuel shortages and possible rationing … You can understand the concerns of Downing Street, that something has to happen to open the strait,” Doyle told Al Jazeera.

“Now, is this going to work? I think that’s another matter, because I don’t see how more bombing will necessarily resolve the situation.”

Continuing in his call with India’s Prime Minister Modi, Iran’s president says the BRICS alliance, which India currently chairs, should “play an independent role in halting aggressions against Iran”.

Pezeshkian also proposed establishing a regional security framework made up of West Asian countries ” aimed at ensuring peace and stability in the region through regional cooperation without foreign interference”.

Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB says its naval forces destroyed facilities at the Al-Minhad base in the UAE and the Ali Al Salem air base in Kuwait using ballistic missiles and drones.

In a statement posted on Telegram, IRIB said the strikes hit hangars and fuel tanks of what it described as “American-Zionist aircraft”, claiming the bases were used in attacks on Iranian territory.

The claims could not be independently verified. There has been no comment from Kuwait and the UAE.