The US navy could begin escorting oil tankers through the strait of Hormuz if necessary, president Donald Trump said on Tuesday, in one of the administration’s most aggressive steps yet to attempt to contain soaring energy prices sparked by the US-Israel war with Iran.
As the escalating conflict in the Middle East has raised risks to shipping through key waterways, Trump said that he had ordered the US international Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to provide political risk insurance and financial guarantees for maritime trade in the Gulf.
Global crude prices have spiked since Israeli and US forces began striking Iran over the weekend, leading to fighting that has interrupted Middle East oil tanker shipments.
Ship owners and analysts were uncertain that military escorts and insurance backstopping by the DFC would be enough to stop rising prices, however. The DFC, launched in 2019, is a government agency that partners with private investors to support projects in developing countries.
Trump has made lower fuel costs for Americans central to his economic messaging, and the move signals a willingness to use financial and military tools to prevent disruptions to global crude supplies.
“No matter what, the United States will ensure the free flow of energy to the world,” Trump said in a social media post.
Key events
5h ago
UAE says it was exposed to over 1,000 attacks from Iran
5h ago
Fire near US embassy in Dubai
5h ago
Trump says US Navy to escort tankers through Strait of Hormuz ‘if necessary’
6h ago
France sending only aircraft carrier to Mediterranean and further defences to Cyprus, Macron says
6h ago
British F-35 jets shoot down drones over Jordan, Iraq and Qatar
6h ago
Israeli military says it struck a compound in Iran operated to develop capabilities for nuclear weapons
6h ago
US military says it has hit more than 1,700 targets since beginning of operation against Iran
7h ago
Israel says it killed commander of Iran’s Quds Force in Lebanon
7h ago
The day so far
8h ago
Trump says he is ‘not happy’ with UK and ‘cuts off’ all trade with Spain over Iran
8h ago
Trump insists Israel did not force US hand and repeats claim Iran was going to attack first
10h ago
IDF claims to have struck building housing Iran’s Assembly of Experts – report
11h ago
IDF announces more strikes on Tehran
12h ago
Tens of thousands of people left stranded in the Middle East as conflict complicates routes home
12h ago
UK considering sending warship to Cyprus to defend RAF airbase
12h ago
Interim summary
13h ago
UAE air defences tallied 186 missiles, 812 drones launched toward country since start of conflict
13h ago
Drone crashes near Salalah port in Oman
14h ago
Amid soaring energy prices, QatarEnergy to halt production of some downstream products
14h ago
Iran’s women’s team decline to sing national anthem before Asian Cup tie
14h ago
At least 30,000 displaced in Lebanon, UN says
15h ago
IAEA confirms damage to Iran’s Natanz nuclear site
16h ago
Iranian Red Crescent updates death toll to 787
16h ago
Albanese working with UAE over Australians stranded because of flight disruptions
16h ago
State media: Oman port targeted in suspected drone strike
17h ago
Israel accuses Spanish prime minister of being on wrong side of history
17h ago
Trump criticises Starmer, laments US-UK relationship in interview with The Sun
18h ago
IDF positions soldiers in southern Lebanon
18h ago
Israel’s Iran war brings new Gaza siege that threatens hunger crisis
18h ago
Interim summary
18h ago
US orders ‘non-emergency’ staff to leave Qatar and Kuwait
19h ago
US orders ‘non-emergency’ staff to leave Bahrain, Jordan and Iraq
20h ago
Iran claims attack on US air base in Bahrain
20h ago
US claims to have destroyed Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ command facilities
20h ago
Opening summary
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The Trump administration plans to meet with executives from the biggest US defence contractors at the White House on Friday to discuss accelerating weapons production, as the Pentagon works to replenish supplies after strikes on Iran and several other recent military efforts, five people familiar with the plan told Reuters.
Companies including Lockheed Martin and Raytheon parent RTX, along with other key suppliers, have been invited to attend the meeting, the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the discussions are private.
The meeting underscores the urgency felt in Washington to shore up weapons stocks after the Iran operation drew heavily on munitions.
At least 30,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon, according to the United Nations, following heavy Israeli airstrikes in the country. Thousands of Syrians have crossed the border to their home country, many of whom had fled to Lebanon during the civil war
See this video for on the ground scenes.
Tens of thousands displaced in Lebanon as Israeli strikes continue – videoShare
Callum Jones
Global markets look set for another turbulent day.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 continued to fall on Wednesday, and was down about 1.7% during early trading. In Seoul, the Kospi – which dropped 7.2% on Tuesday – fell by a further 3.1% at the open.
But Wall Street looks set to open flat in New York, according to pre-market trading data.
With all eyes still on the Strait of Hormuz – one of the most important arteries for global trade, which has been in effect closed by Iran – oil prices will also be in focus later after Donald Trump suggested the US could begin escorting tankers.
Donald Trump has attempted to counter a simmering anti-Israel backlash in Congress and among his own Maga supporters by denying suggestions that he had been bounced into attacking Iran because Israel had already decided to do so.
Amid growing criticism among opponents and allies alike, Trump rebuffed claims that he had struck Iran only because Israel had forced his hand, a suspicion fuelled by comments made by Marco Rubio, the secretary of state.
United States President Donald J Trump during a bilateral meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington DC – 03 Mar 2026 Photograph: Samuel Corum/Pool/Samuel Corum – Pool/CNP/Shutterstock
Asked whether Israel had pushed him into launching military action, Trump told reporters: “No. I might have forced their hand.”
Read the full report here:
The Central Intelligence Agency’s station at the US embassy in Saudi Arabia was hit on Monday by a suspected Iranian drone, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.
There is no indication the station was the target, the source said. The CIA declined to comment.
The attack came amid ongoing strikes in the Middle East following Saturday’s US and Israeli attacks on Iran.
The embassy, which is located in the Saudi capital of Riyadh, is among the US sites that have been hit so far in the conflict. Saudi Arabia’s defense ministry said the embassy was hit by two drones, which resulted in a limited fire and some material damage.
The US military has destroyed 17 Iranian ships, including a submarine, and struck nearly 2,000 targets in Iran, the commander of the US Central Command said on Tuesday.
Tankers are seen off the coast of the Fujairah, as Iran vows to close the Strait of Hormuz, amid the US-Israel conflict with Iran, in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, 3 March 2026. Photograph: Amr Alfiky/Reuters
“Today, there is not a single Iranian ship underway in the Arabian Gulf, Strait of Hormuz, or Gulf of Oman,” U.S. Central Command’s Brad Cooper said in a video posted to X.
Canadian prime minister Mark Carney called on Wednesday for the rapid de-escalation of the conflict unleashed by US-Israeli strikes on Iran, urging all parties to respect the international rules of engagement.
Speaking in Sydney, Carney said the war in the Middle East represented “another example of the failure of the international order”.
Canada’s defence minister David McGuinty, left, talks with Canada’s prime minister Mark Carney as they walk to a news conference, in Sydney, Australia, Wednesday, 4 March 2026. Photograph: Adrian Wyld/AP
“Canada calls for a rapid de-escalation of hostilities and is prepared to assist in achieving this goal,” he said.
“Canada reaffirms that international law binds all belligerents,” he said.
The Pentagon has released the names of four of the six service members who have been killed in the Iran war, saying they died in a drone strike in Kuwait.
All four Army Reserve soldiers were killed Sunday when a drone hit a command centre in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait. That was just a day after the US and Israel launched its military campaign against Iran, which has launched retaliatory strikes.
The soldiers, assigned from the 103rd Sustainment Command in Des Moines, lowa, were:
Capt. Cody A. Khork, 35, of Winter Haven, Florida
Sgt. 1st Class Noah L. Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Nebraska
Sgt. 1st Class Nicole M. Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota
Spc. Declan J. Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, lowa.
This combination shows (L/R) Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor, 39, Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, Capt. Cody Khork, 35, and Sgt. 1st Class Noah Tietjens, 42, who died on 1 March 2026 in Kuwait at the Port of Shuaiba, during an unmanned aircraft system attack. Photograph: Brent Newton/US ARMY/AFP/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 19.02 EST
Global oil and gas prices have spiked as the US-Israeli war on Iran has halted energy exports from the Middle East, with Tehran attacking ships and energy facilities, closing navigation in the Gulf and forcing production stoppages from Qatar to Iraq.
The benchmark Brent crude oil contract settled up $3.66, or up 4.7%, at $81.40 a barrel, its highest settlement since January 2025. European gas prices soared as much as 40% before paring gains, adding to a 40% surge on Monday.
Sugar, fertiliser and soy prices have all risen too. The conflict risks triggering a spike in inflation that could choke off economic recovery in Europe and Asia if the war is prolonged in a region that accounts for just under a third of global oil production and almost a fifth of natural gas.
Israel says it has launched a ‘broad wave’ of strikes on Iran.
In a post on X, the IDF confirmed the offensive, saying a wave of “extensive strikes” had now begun targeting launch sites, defense systems, and additional Iranian infrastructure.
The US navy could begin escorting oil tankers through the strait of Hormuz if necessary, president Donald Trump said on Tuesday, in one of the administration’s most aggressive steps yet to attempt to contain soaring energy prices sparked by the US-Israel war with Iran.
As the escalating conflict in the Middle East has raised risks to shipping through key waterways, Trump said that he had ordered the US international Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to provide political risk insurance and financial guarantees for maritime trade in the Gulf.
Global crude prices have spiked since Israeli and US forces began striking Iran over the weekend, leading to fighting that has interrupted Middle East oil tanker shipments.
Ship owners and analysts were uncertain that military escorts and insurance backstopping by the DFC would be enough to stop rising prices, however. The DFC, launched in 2019, is a government agency that partners with private investors to support projects in developing countries.
Trump has made lower fuel costs for Americans central to his economic messaging, and the move signals a willingness to use financial and military tools to prevent disruptions to global crude supplies.
“No matter what, the United States will ensure the free flow of energy to the world,” Trump said in a social media post.
Syria’s defense ministry said it reinforced its border with Lebanon which included rocket units and thousands of troops, sources told Reuters, as conflict spreads in the region including between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The Syrian defense ministry said in a statement the army has reinforced its deployment along the Syrian borders with Lebanon and Iraq as part of efforts to “protect and control the borders amid the escalating regional conflict”.
The deployed units belong to the border guard and reconnaissance battalions tasked with monitoring border activities and combating smuggling, the ministry added.
Sources said the move was aimed at preventing arms and drugs smuggling as well blocking Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah or other militants from infiltrating Syria.
Donald Trump said his biggest fear in the US-Israeli military campaign against Iran would be regime change that brought in leadership “as bad as the previous person”, writes Deborah Cole in Berlin and Sam Jones in Madrid.
At an Oval Office news conference with the visiting German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, the US president was asked by a reporter about the “worst-case scenario” of the risky operation that led to the assassination on Saturday of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
“I don’t know if there’s a worst case,” Trump said, expressing confidence about superior US-Israeli force.
“We have them very much beaten militarily, from the military standpoint. They’re still lobbing some missiles,” he said. “They won’t even be able to do that because we’re hitting all of their carriers. We’re hitting all of their missile stock … and we’re knocking out a lot.”
However Trump admitted that hopes Iran would soon turn a page with a less repressive government could easily be dashed.
“I guess the worst case would be we do this and then somebody takes over who’s as bad as the previous person, right? That could happen. We don’t want that to happen. It would probably be the worst,” he said.
“You go through this and then in five years, you realise you put somebody in who was no better. So we’d like to see somebody in there that’s going to bring it back for the people.”
Kuwait said two of its army personnel were killed on Monday as a result of Iran’s attacks against the country.
It said it relayed a letter to the secretary general of the UN and the security council president.
Updated at 17.42 EST
Qatar’s security agencies said they have arrested two cells of operatives associated with the Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in the country, the state-run Qatar News Agency reports.
Shah Meer Baloch
The opposition leader in the senate of Pakistan, Raja Nasir Abbas, demanded in parliament that the government of Pakistan withdraws from the Gaza Peace Board after the US-Israel strikes in Iran, resulting in massive pro-Iran protests across the country.
Protesters stormed the US consulate in Pakistan that resulted in the killing of more than 30 pro-Iran protesters.
Senator Abbas, referring to US president Donald Trump, said in parliament:
double quotation markThe person came to power in the US and he is creating instability across the world through the use of force. Pakistan should leave the Gaza Peace Board.
The opposition alliance, which includes former PM Imran Khan’s party, soon after the Israeli-US attack on Iran criticized the government for joining the board of peace without taking the parliament and public on board. The opposition alliance said the decision to join the Gaza Peace Board was taken in the ‘closed doors’ without the consultation and any debate.
Pakistan has been facing severe backlash on joining Trump’s constituted board of peace. The country’s former ambassador to the UN and the US, Maliha Lodhi, said on X:
double quotation markTime for Pakistan to leave the Board of Peace which it should not have joined in the first place, set up and headed by a man who has launched attacks against 7 countries and whose admin is complicit in Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
Last month, Pakistan’s prime minister Shehbaz Sharif attended the inaugural meeting of the Gaza board and hailed Trump as “man of peace”.
Rafael Grossi has said that there is no evidence that Iran is building a nuclear bomb but noted that Tehran’s refusal to grant International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors full access to facilities is “cause for serious concern”.
The IAEA director general wrote on social media:
double quotation markI have been very clear and consistent in my reports on Iran’s nuclear programme: while there has been no evidence of Iran building a nuclear bomb, its large stockpile of near-weapons grade enriched uranium and refusal to grant my inspectors full access are cause for serious concern.
For these reasons my previous reports indicate that unless and until Iran assists the IAEA in resolving the outstanding safeguards issues, the agency will not be in a position to provide assurance that Iran’s nuclear programme is exclusively peaceful.
Qatar’s defense ministry has said that Iran launched two missiles towards its territory, with one targeting US-run Al Udeid air base with no reported human loss.