The Strait is a crucial waterway through which a fifth of the world\u2019s oil is shipped<\/a> in peacetime.<\/p>\n The laws of armed conflict allow attacks on civilian infrastructure such as energy plants only if the military advantage outweighs the civilian harm, legal scholars say. It\u2019s considered a high bar to clear, and causing excessive suffering to civilians can constitute a war crime.<\/p>\n A 22-year-old resident of Karaj, near Tehran, said his area lost power for several hours overnight following nearby strikes.<\/p>\n \u201cI was really scared. I thought that they\u2019d hit the power plants and that we are not going to have power anymore,\u201d he said, speaking on condition of anonymity out of security fears.<\/p>\n In the FT interview, Trump said his preference would be to \u201ctake the oil in Iran\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe we take Kharg Island<\/a>, maybe we don\u2019t,\u201d he said, referring to a terminal through which nearly all of Iran’s oil exports pass.<\/p>\n Iran says US demands are ‘excessive, unrealistic and irrational’<\/p>\n Members of the Basij paramilitary force stand at a checkpoint in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 29, 2026. (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n The US already has targeted military positions on Kharg. Iran has threatened to launch its own ground invasion of Gulf Arab countries and mine the Persian Gulf if US troops set foot on its territory.<\/p>\n Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei said Tehran had received a 15-point proposal from the Trump administration containing \u201cexcessive, unrealistic and irrational\u201d demands, while denying there had been any direct talks.<\/p>\n Earlier, Iran\u2019s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, dismissed the talks in Pakistan as a cover while more US troops are brought to the region<\/a>. He said Iranian forces were \u201cwaiting for the arrival of American troops on the ground to set them on fire and punish their regional partners forever,\u201d according to state media.<\/p>\n Twice during Trump\u2019s second term, the US has attacked Iran during high-level diplomatic talks, including with the February 28 strikes that started the current war.<\/p>\n Iran attacks Israel and Gulf infrastructure<\/p>\n Sirens sounded at dawn near Israel\u2019s main nuclear research centre, a part of the country that has been targeted repeatedly in recent days. Israel\u2019s military also said it had taken out two drones launched from Yemen, where the Iran-backed Houthi rebels entered the war on Saturday with their first missile attack.<\/p>\n Iran kept up the pressure on its Gulf Arab neighbours: Saudi Arabia intercepted five missiles targeting its oil-rich Eastern province, a fireball erupted over Dubai, United Arab Emirates, as a missile was intercepted; and in Kuwait, an Iranian attack hit a power and desalination plant, killing one worker and wounding 10 soldiers, the state-run KUNA news agency reported.<\/p>\n An Emirati official signalled that the UAE wants more than just a ceasefire.<\/p>\n \u201cAn Iranian regime that launches ballistic missiles at homes, weaponises global trade and supports proxies is no longer an acceptable feature of the regional landscape,\u201d Noura Al Kaabi, a minister of state at the UAE\u2019s Foreign Ministry, wrote in a column published by the state-linked, English-language newspaper The National.<\/p>\n She added: \u201cWe want a guarantee that this will never happen again.\u201d<\/p>\n NATO air defences intercepted a ballistic missile over Turkey that was fired from Iran, Turkey’s Defence Ministry said, in the fourth such incident since the start of the war. Iran has denied firing the previous missiles. Turkey has tried to maintain a neutral position and is taking part in mediation efforts.<\/p>\n Israel launched a new wave of attacks on Iran, saying it was striking \u201cmilitary infrastructure\u201d across Tehran. Explosions were heard in the Iranian capital, and Iranian state media reported a petrochemicals plant in Tabriz, in the north, sustained damage in an airstrike.<\/p>\n Peacekeepers killed in Lebanon, where Israel is battling Hezbollah<\/p>\n A portrait of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, left, is seen, as smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut’s southern suburbs, Lebanon, Monday, March 30, 2026. (Source: Associated Press)<\/p>\n The United Nations peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon, where Israel is battling the Iran-backed Hezbollah<\/a>, said three peacekeepers have been killed in less than 24 hours. The peacekeeping mission known as UNIFIL did not say who was responsible for the deaths overnight and into Monday.<\/p>\n An Israeli airstrike on a Beirut suburb killed one person and wounded 17, including four children, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry.<\/p>\n Over the weekend, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military would widen its invasion, expanding the \u201cexisting security strip\u201d in southern Lebanon.<\/p>\n![\"Members](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/members-of-the-basij-paramilitary-force-stand-at-a-checkpoin-636MYUOC35C6HDIN563KE6IA5M.jpg\")
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