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Issued on: 27/03/2026 – 04:24Modified: 27/03/2026 – 04:47
Domestically built Iranian missiles are displayed as part of a permanent exhibition in a recreational area of northern Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, March 24, 2026. © Vahid Salemi, AP
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Friday they conducted missile and drone strikes the previous day against targets in Israel and US-linked military facilities across the Gulf, hitting sites in the UAE, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain, including a Patriot air-defence maintenance facility. Follow our liveblog for the latest updates.
27/03/2026 – 04:47Marcos says ASEAN summit to proceed with pared-down agenda
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Friday that the ASEAN Leaders’ summit will go ahead in May, but will be shortened to a “bare-bones” programme focusing on issues such as fuel supplies, food prices and migrant workers.
Marcos said he had consulted his counterparts in the regional bloc and asked whether they preferred to postpone the summit due to the conflict in the Middle East.
“The consensus that we came to is that it is precisely now that we must coordinate our efforts,” Marcos told reporters.
27/03/2026 – 04:31Rubio thanks KRG for helping Iraqi oil reach global markets
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with Kurdistan Regional Government Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Thursday, the State Department said, adding he expressed “gratitude” to the KRG for enabling oil from Iraq, including from the Iraq Kurdistan Region, to reach global markets.
“The secretary also expressed his gratitude to the Kurdistan Regional Government for enabling oil from Iraq, including from the Iraq Kurdistan Region, to reach global markets,” the State Department said in a statement.
The Iran war has raised oil prices and shaken global markets.
The State Department said Rubio “offered his condolences to the families of the Peshmerga killed in an Iranian missile attack on March 24 and wished a speedy recovery to those injured.”
27/03/2026 – 04:30Dubai crude premium plunges as result of US‑Israeli war with Iran
Spot premium for Dubai crude plunged by more than half on Thursday to its lowest level in three weeks, as an influx of sellers crowded the market while TotalEnergies remained the sole bidder, traders and Reuters data showed.
The premium for the Middle East benchmark – which prices millions of barrels of crude imported by Asia – fell sharply to around $17 a barrel, down more than 60% from $51.20 in the previous session, highlighting extreme price volatility caused by the US‑Israeli war with Iran – which has disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
27/03/2026 – 04:29Asian shares fall after Wall Street sell-off amid Iran war concerns
Asian shares mostly fell on Friday after Wall Street suffered its worst day since the start of the Iran war amid growing doubts over a de-escalation.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index dropped 1.2% to 52,982.86 in early trading, while South Korea’s Kospi sank 3.1% to 5,293.26.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.1% to 24,825.50, and the Shanghai Composite index rose 0.1% to 3,893.21.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 fell 0.5%, and Taiwan’s Taiex was trading 1.5% lower.
27/03/2026 – 04:26Iran Revolutionary Guards report missile and drone strikes on Israel and Gulf sites
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Friday they had carried out missile and drone strikes the previous day targeting sites in Israel and military facilities in the Gulf used by US forces.
The strikes involved long- and medium-range missiles and “destructive and roaming drones”, and targeted sites in Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain, the Guards said in a statement carried by the IRNA and Fars news agencies.
The statement said a maintenance facility for the US air-defence system Patriot was targeted in Bahrain.
Yesterday’s key developments: US President Donald Trump extended the deadline to open the Strait of Hormuz to April 6.
Iran claimed to have not requested the 10-day pause on strikes on its energy plants, and has yet to deliver a final response to the US’s 15-point plan to end the war.
Israel took Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf off its hit-list after Pakistan asked Washington not to target them.
(FRANCE 24 with Reuters, AP and AFP)