US-Israel-Iran War: UN Warns Of Humanitarian Crisis In Lebanon; Israel Plans For More Attacks On Iran

Iran’s Parliament is working on a bill to formalise the fees it is reportedly charging on some ships transiting through the Strait of Hormuz, local media reported.

The Fars and Tasnim news agencies, both close to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, quoted lawmaker Mohammadreza Rezaei Kouchi as saying that “Parliament is pursuing a plan to formally codify Iran’s sovereignty, control and oversight over the Strait of Hormuz while also creating a source of revenue through the collection of fees

Donald Trump says Iran asked him for a pause of seven days on striking energy plants, but that he gave them ten, and Tehran was "very thankful". Earlier, Trump announced on Truth Social that he would extend a pause on striking Iranian energy plants from five days to two weeks.

The pause was set to expire tomorrow, but this new extension means the pause will be in effect until April 6.

Speaking on the phone to Fox News just now, Trump says the US is in conversations with Iran which are going "fairly well". "They said to me, very nicely, through my people: 'Could we have more time?'," the US president tells the hosts of Fox's The Five. "They asked for seven days]. And I said, 'I'm going to give you ten', because they gave me ships. You know, we talked about the eight ships. You know, the 'present' that I talked about the other day."

Japan’s government plans to temporarily lift restrictions on coal-fired power plants, as it seeks to ease an energy strain caused by war in the Middle East.

Takahide Soeda, an official from the Japanese industry ministry, confirmed the accuracy of the reports to the AFP news agency.

He stated that the plan would be formally presented during an expert panel meeting scheduled to begin at 11am local time (02:00 GMT) on Friday.

Australia’s leader said on Friday (March 27, 2026) it was not consulted over the war with Iran which was having a “massive global economic impact”, responding to President Donald Trump’s swipe the U.S. ally was not doing enough.

Trump has urged nations to dispatch warships to secure crucial oil supply routes through the Strait of Hormuz.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Australia was in close contact with Gulf states under attack from Iran, providing a surveillance aircraft to help defend the United Arab Emirates, where many Australians live.

“There is no request been made to Australia that has not been agreed to,” Mr. Albanese told reporters in Canberra on Friday.

Source: AFP

Oil prices have fallen as US President Donald Trump pushed back a deadline for US attacks on Iran’s energy facilities.

The gains on Friday only partially pared the previous day’s price surge amid growing anxiety that the conflict will last far longer than first thought.

Brent crude was down 1.5 percent at 02:30 GMT on Friday, selling at $93.07 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was down 1.8 percent, at $106.12.

Brent is up almost 50 percent in price since the war on Iran began, while WTI has risen about 40 percent.

The UN Security Council has scheduled a closed consultation on Iran at 10am New York time on Friday.

According to the Associated Press news agency, Russia asked for the meeting on US-Israeli attacks on civilian infrastructure in the country, two UN diplomats said.

The US, which currently holds the rotating Security Council presidency, scheduled the meeting.

Asian shares mostly fell Friday after Wall Street had its worst day since the start of the Iran war over growing doubts about a de-escalation.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index dropped 1.2% to 52,982.86 in early trading. South Korea’s Kospi sank 3.1% to 5,293.26.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.1% to 24,825.50, while the Shanghai Composite index was up 0.1% to 3,893.21.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.5%, while Taiwan’s Taiex was trading 1.5% lower.

Source: AP

Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said the upcoming Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leadership summit, scheduled for May, will proceed as planned, but with a shortened “bare-bones” programme focused on the fallout from the Iran war. 

The itinerary will focus on issues such fuel supplies, food prices and migrant workers, according to the Philippines online Inquirer news site.

“It will be a very barebone summit, which will focus very closely on those three subject matters,” Marcos said, according to the site.

Vietnam temporarily waived an environmental tax on fuel to cut soaring petrol prices by more than a quarter on Friday (March 27, 2026), the Trade Ministry said.

The environmental protection tax rate on gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel would be slashed to zero from Friday to April 15, the Ministry said.

“This is considered an urgent and effective solution to stabilise the petroleum market and ensure national energy security amidst the escalating conflict in the Strait of Hormuz, which is creating the ‘biggest energy bottleneck ever’,” the trade ministry said.

Source: AP

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio landed in France to join a meeting of G7 foreign ministers on Friday (March 27, 2026), an AFP correspondent said.

Mr. Rubio, who skipped the first day of the talks outside Paris, said before departing that it was in the “interest” of all G7 nations to push for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz currently blocked by Iran.

Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan — the other G7 members — on Thursday (March 26) signalled their hope for a diplomatic solution to the conflict.

Source: AFP

Lebanese media reported an Israeli strike hit Beirut’s southern suburbs early on friday, as AFP correspondents heard several explosions from the Hezbollah stronghold that Israel has repeatedly struck since war erupted this month.

AFPTV footage showed smoke billowing from the area after the raid.

Lebanon’s official National News Agency reported that “enemy aircraft” carried out a raid on Tahouitet al-Ghadir in the southern suburbs at dawn.

Israel has previously issued sweeping evacuation warnings for the area, but provided no specific warning in advance of Friday’s strike.

The usually densely populated area has largely emptied of residents since the hostilities erupted, and it was unclear whether there were any casualties.

Hours later, Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee called on residents of Sejoud village in southern Lebanon to evacuate to the north of Zahrani river, warning of an imminent attack against Hezbollah.

Source: AFP

A Thai-flagged cargo ship that came under attack from Iran in the Strait of Hormuz and was abandoned by its crew has run aground, Iranian media report.

The Mayuree Naree came under attack March 11 with three of its mariners going missing and still not found.

The semi-official Tasnim and Fars news agencies, believed to be close to Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, reported the cargo ship ran aground near the village of Ramchah on Qeshm Island.

The UN Security Council will hold closed-door consultations on Friday to discuss strikes on Iran at Moscow’s request, Russian state media reported, as the West Asia war nears its second month.

Iran has come under near-daily bombardment since U.S.-Israeli strikes on February 28 triggered the war, which has since widened to large parts of the region.

“The Russian Federation has requested closed-door consultations with the UN Security Council due to the ongoing strikes on civilian infrastructure in Iran, including educational and healthcare facilities,” said Evgeny Uspensky, spokesman for Russia’s envoy to the United Nations, according to state news agency TASS

Indonesia’s Energy Minister said supplies of fuel and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) remain stable despite ongoing disruptions linked to the West Asia conflict.

-Reuters

• Bahrain’s Interior Ministry confirmed that alarm sirens have been sounded across the country. Authorities urged citizens and residents to remain calm and move to the nearest safe location.

-Al Jazeera

Israel carried out a new wave of strikes on Iran early Friday (March 27), ahead of a scheduled U.N. Security Council meeting to address attacks on Iranian civilian infrastructure. The move comes amid a deepening diplomatic deadlock between Iran and the United States, raising fears of further escalation as the conflict approaches its one-month mark.

The strikes reportedly targeted sites “in the heart of Tehran”, following Israel’s earlier statement that it would intensify attacks on Iranian weapons production facilities.

-AP

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

-Al Jazeera

Israel’s military said it had carried out air strikes on what it described as Iran’s primary production site for missiles and sea mines in the central city of Yazd.

According to the military, the facility plays a key role in the “planning, development, assembly and storage of advanced missiles”, including those designed for launch from cruise platforms, submarines and helicopters.

-Al Jazeera

The United States is considering deploying up to 10,000 additional troops to West Asia, U.S. media reported on Friday.

The move would significantly expand Washington’s military presence in the region, even as US President Donald Trump has maintained that Tehran is engaged in peace talks with Washington aimed at ending the war.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the potential deployment is intended to provide Trump with “more military options” in a region that has been engulfed in conflict since U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28.

Kuwaiti authorities have reported another attack on the country’s infrastructure, this time targeting Mubarak Al Kabeer port on Bubiyan Island.

According to Kuwait’s Ministry of Public Works, the port was hit by "hostile drones and cruise missiles", causing material damage but no casualties.

Earlier in the day, a separate strike also targeted Shuwaikh Port, resulting in additional damage, authorities said.

-Al Jazeera

Saudi Arabia’s Defence Ministry said six ballistic missiles were fired towards the Riyadh area.

Air defences intercepted two of the missiles, while the remaining four fell in uninhabited areas or into Gulf waters, the ministry added.

-Al Jazeera

Bahrain’s military said its air defences have intercepted 154 missiles and 362 drones launched from Iran since the start of the war.

In a statement, the military praised its personnel for their “operational efficiency” and urged the public to remain cautious, avoid damaged sites and suspicious objects, and refrain from filming impact areas.

-Al Jazeera

China’s Foreign Ministry on Friday (March 27, 2026) dismissed as “false information” a media report claiming the country’s leading semiconductor firm had sent chipmaking equipment to Iran.

The report, citing two unnamed senior officials in the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, alleged that contract chipmaker SMIC began shipping the tools to Iran around a year ago.

A US official quoted in the report said there was “no reason to believe that any of this has stopped”.

-AFP

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also said more than 600 schools have been damaged or demolished and more than 1,000 students and teachers “martyred or wounded” in Iran during the war.

“The aggressors’ targeting pattern accompanied by their rhetoric leave little doubt as to their clear intent to commit genocide,” Araghchi said by video during an urgent debate at the Human Rights Council in Geneva on Friday.

The debate focused on a Feb. 28 strike at an elementary school in the southern city of Minab. More than 165 people were killed, most of them of children, according to Iranian state media. Experts says evidence suggests the blast was likely caused by U.S. airstrikes. U.S. officials have said an investigation is underway.

AP

Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a statement that attacks on Iran will expand, noting that he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “warned the Iranian terrorist regime to stop firing missiles at the civilian population in Israel.”

“Despite the warnings, the firing continues — and therefore (Israeli military) attacks in Iran will escalate and expand to additional targets and areas that assist the regime in building and operating weapons against Israeli citizens,” Katz said.

“They will pay heavy, increasing prices for this war crime.”

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has said more ⁠than ⁠1,900 people have been killed and at ⁠least 20,000 wounded in ⁠Iran since the start of US and Israeli attacks.

‌Maria Martinez, representing the society, said that the Iranian Red Crescent ⁠continues to ⁠serve as the only nationwide humanitarian organisation operating ‌across the country during the escalating conflict. 1116 people have died in Lebanon and over 3000 injured.

Nearly a month into the US-Israel war on Iran, Lebanon is facing a deepening humanitarian crisis that now risks teetering over into a catastrophe, the UN refugee agency has warned.

Since Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah expanded their offensive on March 2, more than a million people – one in five residents – have been forced to flee their homes, said the UNHCR.

Al Jazeera reported that Beirut's southern suburbs are hit by Israeli strikes.

Iran-linked hackers have publicly claimed the breach of FBI Director Kash Patel’s personal inbox, publishing photographs of the director and his purported resume.

A US Justice Department official confirmed to Reuters that Patel’s emails were compromised but did not go into detail. The FBI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

- Al Jazeera