Main PointsYemen’s Houthi have confirmed an attack on Israel, in a further expansion of the conflict in the Middle EastIsrael’s military says it has launched new strikes on IranFifteen US troops were wounded, five of them seriously, in an Iranian military strike on Prince Sultan airbase in Saudi ArabiaUS secretary of state Marco Rubio says the US expects the military campaign against Iran to end within weeksKey Reads
Conor Pope – 1 minute ago
Trust needed before talks on conflict resolution – Iranian PM
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has told Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif that trust is needed to facilitate talks and mediation on the conflict in the Middle East, the prime minister’s office said this morning.
It said Pezeshkian had praised Pakistan’s diplomatic efforts and that the two leaders had discussed hostilities in the region and efforts to end the conflict during a call that lasted over an hour. Sharif briefed Pezeshkian on Pakistan’s diplomatic contacts with the United States and Gulf states, it said.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar has confirmed that he is to host the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt in Islamabad tomorrow and Monday for a series of “in-depth discussions” focussing on efforts to “de-escalate tensions in the region”.
Conor Pope – 27 minutes ago
Ukraine and UAE agree to work together on security
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has met with United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan after which he said they had agreed to cooperate in the field of security and defence.
“Our teams will finalise the details,” Zelenskiy said on the Telegram app.
The two leaders tackled opportunities to advance bilateral cooperation under the Comprehensive Economic Agreement between the two sides, the Emirati state news agency WAM said, without further elaborating.
They also discussed the security developments and military escalation in the region and their impact on international navigation and the global economy, WAM added.
Conor Pope – 50 minutes ago
Drones attack Kuwait’s main airport
Kuwait International Airport was targeted by multiple drone attacks that caused significant damage to its radar system but resulted in no casualties, state news agency KUNA has said citing the country’s Civil Aviation Authority.
Going back to the Iranian attack on an airbase in Saudi Arabia, more than two dozen US troops have been wounded in Iranian attacks on the Prince Sultan airbase in the past week, AP sources say.
Iran fired six ballistic missiles and 29 drones at the base in a Friday attack that wounded at least 15 troops, including five seriously, according to the sources.
US officials initially reported that at least 10 US troops were injured, including two seriously wounded. The base had come under attack twice earlier this week.
Houthi supporters shout slogans during a rally against Israeli and US war in Iran, in Sanaa, Yemen. Photograph: Osamah Abdulrahman/AP Yemen’s Houthis confirm attack on Israel
Yemen’s Houthis say an attack on Israel on Saturday came after continued targeting of infrastructure in Iran, Lebanon, Iraq and Palestinian territories.
The group said the attack was made with a barrage of missiles, adding that their operations would continue until the “aggression” on all fronts ends.
The entry into the war of the Houthis has called into question whether the rebel group, backed by Tehran, will again target commercial shipping travelling through the Red Sea corridor. – Guardian
Sirens sounding in Bahrain
Sirens have been sounding in Bahrain through Saturday morning, with authorities warnings of potential attacks.
The country’s interior ministry has urged people to head to the nearest safe location. Earlier in the day, the ministry said civil defence officials had extinguished a fire at a facility that had been targeted by Iran.
Bahrain has so far seen two deaths since the war began, with the most recent drone strike hitting a residential building in the capital Manama, according to the interior ministry.
in Oman, a worker has been injured in a drone attack at Salalah port while a crane suffered limited damage, Oman’s government said on Saturday.
Oman had served as a mediator between the US and Iran before the current war.
But earlier this month, Oman’s foreign minister claimed the US had “lost control of its own foreign policy” and accused Israel of persuading Donald Trump’s administration to go to war with Iran. – Guardian
US will end Iran campaign in weeks, claims Rubio
The US expects its military operations against Iran to conclude within weeks, not months, and Washington can meet all its objectives without using ground troops, US secretary of state Marco Rubio said on Friday.
Rubio told reporters after meeting G7 counterparts in France that Washington was “on or ahead of schedule in that operation, and expect to conclude it at the appropriate time here – a matter of weeks, not months”.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio speaks to the press at the airport in Le Bourget, outside Paris, following a G7 foreign ministers’ meeting. Photograph: Brendan SMIALOWSKI/ POOL/AFP via Getty Images
While he said the US could achieve its aims without ground troops, he acknowledged it was deploying some to the region “to give the president maximum optionality and maximum opportunity to adjust the contingencies, should they emerge”.
While the G7 met, Iran kept firing missiles at Israel and Gulf nations on Friday. – Guardian
People clean up rubble in an apartment damaged by air strikes in Tehran, Iran, on Friday, March 27th, 2026. Photograph: Arash Khamooshi/The New York Times
A woman makes a phone call at the site of a strike in Tel Aviv on March 28th, 2026. As the Israeli army reported missiles fired by Iran, sirens sounded in Jerusalem and explosions were heard in Jericho, in the occupied West Bank, according to journalists. Photograph: Ilia YEFIMOVICH/AFP via Getty Images At least 12 US soldiers injured in Iranian attack on US base
Elsewhere, an Iranian attack on a base in Saudi Arabia has wounded at least 12 American soldiers, two of them seriously, US media reported on Friday.
The attack on the Prince Sultan airbase in Saudi Arabia included at least one missile and several drones, the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal reported, citing officials.
The soldiers were inside a building at the base when it was struck, the Journal reported. Several aerial refuelling planes also reportedly suffered damage in the attack.
Saudi Arabia has previously intercepted several missiles fired near the base.
Iran has kept up retaliatory attacks on Gulf nations it accuses of serving as a launch pad for US strikes on it. – Guardian
Israel claims missile launched from Yemen
Good morning, and welcome to continuing coverage of the US and Israeli war on Iran.
The Israeli military claimed on Saturday it has identified the launch of a missile from Yemen, after Iran’s Houthi allies threatened to join the fighting.
A military statement said Israeli forces had “identified the launch of a missile from Yemen toward Israeli territory, aerial defence systems are operating to intercept the threat”.
It was the first such statement mentioning a launch from Yemen during the war, which has entered its second month.
The statement follows reports the previous day that Iran had attacked Tel Aviv with at least five rounds of missiles in about five hours, triggering air defence systems and warning sirens late on Friday and into Saturday.