Iran’s initial response to the US proposal to end the war has not been “positive”, a senior Iranian official told Reuters.
The unnamed official said that Iran’s initial response has been delivered to Pakistan to be conveyed to Washington, but added that Tehran was still reviewing the proposal.
Arabic channels also reported that Tehran has informed Pakistan that it cannot accept the 15 points of the American proposal for negotiations.
Iran dismisses US peace plan
Iran has dismissed an American proposal to end the war against it, and proposed counterdemands which include payment of war damages and reparations, state media has reported.
“Iran will end the war when it decides to do so and when its own conditions are met,” a senior official told Press TV today, according to the government-controlled channel. The official suggested that Tehran viewed the US proposals as “excessive” and “disconnected from the reality of America’s failure on the battlefield”, Press TV reported.
It outlined five specific conditions under which Iran would agree to end the war, including: a complete halt to “aggression and assassinations” by the enemy; concrete mechanisms to ensure that the war does not break out again, and “guaranteed and clearly defined payment of war damages and reparations”.
Iran is also asking for the “conclusion of the war across all fronts and for all resistance groups involved throughout the region” — likely to be a reference to Israel’s war against Hezbollah in Lebanon — and “international recognition and guarantees regarding Iran’s sovereign right to exercise authority over the Strait of Hormuz”.
These terms are in addition to demands previously presented by Tehran to the Trump administration during rounds of negotiations in Geneva, which took place just days before the US and Israel started the war on February 28.
A ceasefire is contingent on the acceptance of all the Iranian conditions, the Press TV report said.
“No negotiations will be held prior to that,” it quoted the official as saying, adding that Iran’s “defensive operations will persist” until its conditions are met.
Philippines seeks US sanctions waivers
The Philippines is working with Washington to secure waivers and exemptions that will allow it to obtain oil from US-sanctioned countries and guarantee supplies, its ambassador to the United States said. The Philippines, which relies heavily on imported fuel, declared a state of national energy emergency on Tuesday to deal with the fallout from the Middle East war, including the disruptions to oil procurement.
“We are working with the state department to get waivers or exemptions to purchase oil from US-sanctioned countries,” Jose Manuel Romualdez told Reuters. Asked if imports of oil from Venezuela and Iran were part of the discussions, Romualdez said: “All options are being considered.” Asked what the response from the state department had been, the ambassador said: “Work in progress.”
As of March 20, the government said the Philippines had about 45 days of fuel supply, and was procuring one million more barrels of oil to build its buffer stock.
Six in ten Americans say military action is excessive
Most Americans believe that US military action in Iran has been excessive, according to a survey.
Nearly six in ten adults (59 per cent) said the military action against Iran had gone too far, 26 per cent said it had been about right, and 13 per cent said it had not gone far enough, the AP-NORC poll found.
Two thirds supported the goal of preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
However, 45 per cent of those polled this month said they were extremely or very concerned about being able to afford fuel in the next few months, up from 30 per cent at the beginning of the war.
The survey of 1,150 adults found 62 per cent opposed deploying US ground troops to fight Iran.
Friedrich Merz: Ending war can stop energy price rise
Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, said on Wednesday that the best way to combat rising energy prices was to end the war in Iran.
Merz told the Bundestag, Germany’s parliament, that his government may be able to consider measures to balance the economic repercussions of the war but he said public finances could not make up for price rises in every area. He added that “we cannot offset every price trend through tax measures or measures funded from the federal budget”.
The German foreign minister welcomed President Trump’s attempts at negotiations to end the war and advised Iran to respond positively. “It is commendable that the US president has postponed his ultimatum to the Iranian regime for a few days and is now seeking negotiations,” Johann Wadephul said alongside his Tunisian counterpart in Berlin. “Iran’s regime would be well-advised to respond to this now. So, if there is a window of opportunity for diplomacy, we should definitely give talks a chance.”
Two Israeli men injured in Hezbollah missile attack
At least two Israelis, both men in their fifties, have been injured by a Hezbollah missile attack on the northern city of Karmiel.
Israel’s emergency services noted that the men were hurt by a blast and shrapnel, as cross-border attacks continue. Earlier Hezbollah said it fired a barrage of rockets towards the city.
Intercepted Iranian missile caused explosion in Beirut
The interception of an Iranian ballistic missile that was likely to have been launched towards Cyprus caused an explosion north of Beirut, Lebanese officials said on Wednesday.
Cyprus, which hosts two British military bases, was previously targeted by an Iranian-made drone on March 1.
In the latest attack on Tuesday, the “missile was a guided ballistic missile of the Iranian-made ‘Qadr-110’ type,” the Lebanese army said. Officials said that they believed the missile was likely to have been targeting Cyprus and was intercepted by a warship in the Mediterranean.
The Lebanese army said the missile “exploded at a high altitude, which suggests that its target lay outside Lebanese territory. As for the cause of the explosion, it was either a technical malfunction or an interceptor missile,” it said, adding that there were “no interceptor missile platforms” inside Lebanon that could have shot the missile down.
In pictures: paramedics killed by Israeli strike
The mother of one of two paramedics killed by an Israeli strike mourns in Nabatieh, Lebanon
YARA NARDI/REUTERS
Iranian newspaper depicts Trump as Pinocchio
The newspaper Javan’s front page
Iranian newspapers on Wednesday ridiculed what they called Donald Trump’s “lies” about diplomatic discussions to end the war, publishing cartoons of the US president styled as Pinocchio.
A caricature of Trump with an elongated nose looming over a map of the Strait of Hormuz appeared on the front page of the conservative daily Javan, under the headline: “The world’s most pathetic and dishonourable liar.” Javan accused Trump of lying to calm the markets and push down oil prices, which have surged since Israel and the United States launched hostilities on February 28.
Since Iran’s denial that negotiations were taking place, “oil and gas prices have risen once again”, the paper noted, comparing Trump to “a gambler in a slump” in a war he believed he could win quickly, like a lucky hand of poker.
The Tasnim news agency also mocked Trump, showing him with dishevelled hair and a defeated expression.
“The politics of lies,” headlined the daily Sobh-e No (New Morning) newspaper, echoing other reactions and commentaries across Iranian media.
Kremlin casts doubt on Iran peace plan reports
The Kremlin has said it has received no information concerning the alleged 15-point US plan on ending the war with Iran, and drew parallels with the “jumble” of unsuccessful plans to end the war in Ukraine.
“No, our Iranian friends have not passed that kind of information to us … we do not know to what extent these reports are reliable,” Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said on Wednesday when asked by journalists to comment on reports that the US had drawn up terms for ending the conflict. Peskov’s comments were quoted by the Tass news agency.
“You will remember the jumble of plans involving different numbers of points related to a Ukraine settlement. Now, there are lots of, let’s say, parallels you could draw with these current reports. We do not know how reliable they are,” Peskov added.
Starmer: Golders Green firebombing was an attack on us all
Sir Keir Starmer said the firebombing of Jewish ambulances in Golders Green, north London, was a “shocking antisemitic attack”.
The Metropolitan Police announced it had arrested two men on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life.
The prime minister said the government would be accelerating its social cohesion plan to strengthen “British values of tolerance, decency and respect”. He told the Commons: “It was a shocking antisemitic attack. An attack on British Jews is an attack on all of us.”
Starmer was also asked by the former Conservative leader, Sir Iain Duncan Smith, about proscribing the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) as a terrorist organisation saying the government should send the “brutal bunch of thugs packing”.
The prime minister said the IRGC had been already sanctioned, adding: “The existing proscription powers are not made for state bodies but we will keep this under review.”
Iran urged to ‘cease unprovoked attacks’ on Gulf neighbours
A woman holds a picture of Iran’s supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, in Tehran
GETTY IMAGES
The UN human rights council on Wednesday condemned Iran’s “egregious attacks” on its Gulf neighbours, calling for full and swift “reparation” to all victims of its strikes.
The 47-member council backed a resolution brought by the six Gulf Co-operation Council countries and Jordan condemning Tehran’s actions aimed at closing the Strait of Hormuz, and demanding Iran immediately “cease all unprovoked attacks”.
Shipping company faces $50m weekly bill due to Iran war
Hapag-Lloyd, the container shipping company, faces additional costs of $40 million to $50 million a week due to the Iran crisis, its chief executive was quoted as saying on Wednesday, citing higher fuel costs, insurance premiums, and storage charges for containers.
“We can’t just brush that off easily,” Rolf Habben Jansen told the Norwegian news broadcaster NTV. The extra costs are likely to be passed on to customers, the chief executive was quoted as saying.
His comments underline how businesses could be affected beyond the immediate impact on oil and gas deliveries through the Strait of Hormuz.
Who are the 82nd airborne division troops?
Troops on their way to board a plane at their base, Fort Bragg in North Carolina
ANDREW CRAFT/AP
President Trump has ordered thousands of elite US paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East, giving him the option to mount an invasion of Kharg Island.
Though Trump has said he is involved in talks to end the war, the Immediate Response Force, a brigade of about 3,000 troops based at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, could help him seize the island through which 90 per cent of Iranian oil is exported.
Nicknamed the “all Americans”, the paratroopers of the division were heavily involved in the Iraq war and are regarded as some of the most elite soldiers in the US army.
• Read in full: Who are the 82nd airborne division troops being deployed to Iran?
What’s in the 15-point plan? Nuclear is key
Iranian diplomats have been handed a 15-point plan to end the war from the US, mediators in Pakistan have said, although the full details of the plan have not been confirmed.
Pakistani officials told the Associated Press news agency that the proposal broadly covered sanctions relief, civilian nuclear co-operation, a rollback of Iran’s nuclear programme, monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Agency, missile limits and access for shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
The Israeli broadcaster Channel 12, meanwhile, reported that the plan stipulated that Iran’s nuclear facilities at Natanz, Isfahan, and Fordow would be decommissioned and destroyed, that Iran would commit to never trying to obtain nuclear weapons and would abandon the use of proxy militia groups across the Middle East.
The Strait of Hormuz would remain open and be designated a “free maritime zone” under the terms, the broadcaster added.
In return, Iran would receive US assistance in developing a civilian nuclear power project and all sanctions would be removed.
There are also reports that a possible month-long ceasefire would apply while discussions take place, but this also remains unconfirmed and no details have been given by the White House.
Iran has offered no immediate comment on the terms.
Starmer: We won’t risk energy security by joining war
Sir Keir Starmer said the best way to bring down energy bills was to avoid joining the war in Iran.
In response to questions from Kemi Badenoch about the failure to allow new drilling in the North Sea, the prime minister said that the UK was committed to steering clear of active engagement in the Middle East conflict.
Kemi Badenoch challenged Sir Keir Starmer over Labour’s North Sea oil policy
HOUSE OF COMMONS/UK PARLIAMENT/PA
“We need to de-escalate. That’s why we chose not to join the war,” he told the Commons. “The most important thing to get energy security is to not join the war.”
Starmer said that the UK had been on the “fossil fuel rollercoaster” since the outbreak of war sent oil and gas prices soaring. He said the Labour government was committed to the greater use of renewable energy, to lessen the UK’s reliance on gas.
Is Tehran listening to Trump’s 15-point peace plan?
Trump and Iran have different views on where the negotiations stand as the conflict continues in the Middle East
Another day, another switch from President Trump — this time his social media account is no longer offering peace in our time but once again demanding “unconditional surrender”.
He has also said he is negotiating with Iran via Pakistani intermediaries. That is not how the Iranians see it. Their official response has been to suggest that US officials are in fact negotiating with each other.
Whether an unconditional surrender is something that is negotiated — logic might suggest otherwise — the 15-point plan Trump’s advisers are said to have sent to the Iranians is, from the point of view of Iran, just that: a demand for unconditional surrender.
• Trump has a 15-point peace plan. Is Tehran listening?
Israeli strikes in Iran continue
Damage in the Iranian city of Isfahan after a strike
GETTY IMAGES
Israel’s air force has said it had completed several more strikes against targets in the Iranian capital, Tehran, on Wednesday.
“The air force, guided by military intelligence, completed a short time ago several waves of strikes targeting infrastructure of the Iranian terror regime in Tehran,” the IDF said on X, adding that there would be “further details to follow”.
Israeli boy, 14, charged with spying for Iran
A 14-year-old boy in Israel has been charged with spying on behalf of Iran.
The teenager made contact with an Iranian agent on the Telegram app last April and began carrying out tasks for him, earning more than $1,170 in cryptocurrency, prosecutors said.
The boy, who has not been identified because he is a minor, was indicted on Wednesday in the Tel Aviv juvenile court on charges of maintaining contact with a foreign agent and passing intelligence to the enemy, among other offences.
He is accused of taking videos of the Kirya complex, the headquarters of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), in Tel Aviv, along with other locations. He is also said to have spray-painted a Shia slogan, “we are committed to the covenant”, across various locations in the city.
Israeli media said that prosecutors did not specify when the alleged offences took place. But they added that the defendant told his Iranian contact that he couldn’t carry out tasks during the school year, and that it would have to wait until the holidays.
Iran claims to have fired missiles at US carrier
Iran fired cruise missiles at the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, its military said in a statement carried by state television, warning of further launches if the vessel and its support ships come in range.
“The Iranian navy’s Qader cruise missiles [shore-based anti-ship missile] targeted the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier belonging to the US and forced it to change its position,” the statement said.
Press TV, a state media outlet, published a video which it claimed showed the launches of the missiles, which have a range of 300km (186 miles).
The Iranian news agency IRNA cited Admiral Shahram Irani, the head of the navy, who said the carrier group’s movements were “constantly being monitored … and as soon as this hostile fleet comes within range of our missile systems, it will be subjected to powerful strikes by the Iranian navy”.
There was no confirmation from the US of the claims.
Iranian missile shrapnel lands in Jordan
Overnight, shrapnel from Iranian missiles fell near Jordan’s capital, Amman.
The debris landed in an uninhabited area in Marj al-Hamam, southwest of the city, causing no injury or damage, local officials said.
Air raid warnings rang out in Bahrain although there was no reports of impacts.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps earlier said they fired a volley of “precision-guided” missiles and drones at Israel and bases hosting US forces in Kuwait, Jordan and Bahrain.
Kuwait airport fuel depot hit by Iranian drones
Smoke rises after an attack on a fuel depot at Kuwait International Airport
GETTY IMAGES
An Iranian drone attack targeted a fuel tank at Kuwait International Airport, causing a fire to break out at the site, the country’s civil aviation authority confirmed on Wednesday.
Large plumes of smoke were seen rising from the scene on Wednesday.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation said on X that the damage is limited to material losses, with no casualties reported.
‘Soldiers will fall victim to Netanyahu’s delusions’
The speaker of Iran’s parliament has warned the US not to test the Islamic republic’s “resolve to defend our land”.
After the United States was reported to be sending more troops to the Middle East, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf posted on X: “We are closely monitoring all US movements in the region, especially troop deployments.
“What the generals have broke, the soldiers can’t fix; instead, they will fall victim to Netanyahu’s delusions,” he added, referring to the Israeli prime minister. “Do not test our resolve to defend our land.”
Pakistan delivers US peace plan to Iran
Pakistan has delivered an American proposal to Iran, a senior Iranian source told Reuters, but the venue of any talks between Tehran and Washington to end the war has yet to be decided.
The source, who asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, did not disclose details of the proposal and whether it was a 15-point framework proposal to end the war. The source also said Turkey was helping to find ways to end the war and “either Turkey or Pakistan are under consideration as the venue for such talks”.
Iran’s ambassador to Pakistan earlier stated that his country was neither directly nor indirectly negotiating with the US, Iranian state media reported.
Reza Amiri Moghadam was quoted as saying, however, that “friendly countries seek to lay the ground for dialogue between Tehran and Washington, which we hope will be fruitful in ending this imposed war”.
Iran has 400kg of ‘near-military level’ uranium, UN nuclear chief warns
Rafael Grossi, who as head of the International Atomic Energy Agency oversaw inspections of Iran’s nuclear facilities in recent years, confirmed that Iran still possessed uranium enriched to 60 per cent, “almost a military level.”
He said at least 400kg of the material, which would need to be enriched to 90 per cent to build a warhead, was underground at the Iranian site at Isfahan, but that there was also some at Natanz.
“Iran produced it, claiming it was material needed for energy and economic development. But 60 per cent is almost a military level. The Iranians say that those who have the right can do it, and that can’t be denied, but it’s a worrying development. No country in the world that doesn’t possess nuclear weapons enriches to this level.”
Asked what had changed since the 2016 Iran nuclear deal, signed with Britain and other countries, but which Trump withdrew from in 2018, Grossi added: “Everything. In recent years, Iran has developed its nuclear programme impressively. […] The end of the agreement is, to some extent, the reason for all these wars.”
US and Iran ‘could hold talks this weekend’
The head of the United Nations’ nuclear monitor has said that “there could be talks this weekend” between the US and Iran, but said that he was not involved in the conversations, unlike previous talks between the two sides before the war.
Rafael Grossi, of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said that he imagined that any new talks would be “broader” than those in Geneva which focussed on Iran’s nuclear programme. He told the Corriere Della Sera: “This time, missiles, militias allied to the Islamic Republic, and security guarantees for Iran will also be on the table,” he added.
He said it was “important for Iran to protect the principle of nuclear autonomy. But an agreement on this point is possible. A temporary suspension [of Iran’s enrichment of uranium] could be considered”.
Asked what the best and most viable agreement might entail, Grossi replied: “Peace, first and foremost. […] A diplomatic negotiation is needed; the solution can’t be military. Military pressure has its effects, but Iran still possesses all the capabilities. The nuclear material is still there.”
Spanish PM: Iran war worse than 2003 Iraq invasion
Pedro Sanchez, the Spanish prime minister, warned that the Middle East war presented a “far worse” scenario than the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Sanchez said the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 had failed to achieve its goals and instead made life worse for ordinary people, adding that it led to a sharp increase in fuel and grocery prices, a migration crisis and jihadist attacks in Europe. He warned that the attacks on Iran could have a similar economic impact for millions. “Every bomb that falls in the Middle East eventually hits — as we are already seeing — the wallets of our families,” Sanchez said.
Spain has refused Washington’s requests to use its military bases against Iran, despite President Trump’s threat to sever trade as a result.
Sanchez’s government approved last week a sweeping package worth €5 billion aimed at cushioning the economic impact of the Middle East war, which included reductions on taxes on fuel.
The FTSE 100 rose back above 10,000, gaining 0.9 per cent to 10,058, with shares in gold miners, financial companies and housebuilders rising. The index ended a four-day losing streak on Tuesday. The more UK-biased FTSE 250 rose 1.3 per cent.
Markets in Germany and France were sharply higher. Earlier, Japanese stocks rose 3 per cent, while markets in Australia and South Korea gained 2 per cent, recouping recent losses but not weeks of declines since the conflict broke out. Gold was buoyed by a weaker dollar, rising 2 per cent to $4,563 an ounce.
The oil price fell sharply and stock markets rallied following reports of a 15-point ceasefire proposal sent by President Trump to Iran, fueling hopes for an easing of supply tensions in the region.
Brent crude fell nearly 6 per cent to $94.66 a barrel despite an Iranian military spokesperson mocking the attempts at a ceasefire deal, insisting the US was only negotiating with itself.
• Read in full: Oil price drops sharply and stocks rally on Trump ceasefire bid
UN chief warns over missile strikes near nuclear sites
“States are flirting with unmitigated catastrophe,” the UN human rights chief said on Wednesday, pointing to strikes around Iran and Israel’s nuclear sites.
“Recent missile strikes near nuclear sites in both Israel and Iran underscore the immense danger of further escalation. States are flirting with unmitigated catastrophe,” Volker Turk said in a video statement as the UN Human Rights Council met to discuss Tehran’s attacks across the Gulf.
Two arrested in Golders Green arson attack
Two men have been arrested in connection to the Golders Green arson attack on Jewish community ambulances.
The Metropolitan Police said the men, aged 47 and 45, were arrested on Wednesday morning at addresses in northwest London and central London. Arrested on suspicion of arson with intent to endanger life, both men remain in custody at a London police station while officers are carrying out searches at the two addresses.
The arrests are linked to the ongoing investigation into an arson attack at approximately 1.35am on Monday March 23. Four ambulances from Hatzola, a volunteer-led ambulance service operating in the Golders Green area of north London, were set on fire during the incident.
Spanish PM compares Lebanon destruction to Gaza
Iranian missiles above the coastal city of Netanya, Israel
JACK GUEZ/GETTY IMAGES
The Spanish prime minister has said that his Israeli counterpart, Binyamin Netanyahu, “seeks to inflict the same level of damage and destruction” on Lebanon as Israeli forces had wrought on the Gaza Strip.
Pedro Sanchez made the comment before the lower house as he explained his government’s stance against the US-Israeli war on Iran.
Sanchez added that Iran’s new supreme leader was more hardline than his predecessor. “Mojtaba Khamenei is an equally dictatorial and even more bloodthirsty tyrant than his father,” he said.
EU diplomats say Nato chief has put them in ‘awkward situation’
Nato’s secretary-general has riled European capitals by supporting Preisdent Trump’s war with Iran, according to a report.
“He’s doing this to make the whole world safe,” Mark Rutte said on Sunday of Trump’s decision to join Israel in bombing Iran. “It’s only logical that European countries take a couple of weeks to come together,” he added, with reference to the US president’s demand for Nato allies to help escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz.
However the remarks have caused frustration in several European capitals, according to the Financial Times, quoting unnamed diplomats. “It puts us in a really awkward and uncomfortable spot,” one EU diplomat said. “We want to show willing, but it’s also true that we are not in a position to get involved [in the conflict] in any way.”
Oil falls, stock markets rise on peace talk hopes
Oil has fallen and equity markets have rallied in volatile early trading, after reports that the US had sent a 15-point ceasefire plan to Iran, through Pakistan, late last night.
Brent crude was trading 4 per cent lower at about $96.18 a barrel a short while ago, as Trump claimed peace talks with Iran were making progress. An Iranian military spokesman has since mocked US attempts at a ceasefire deal, insisting the US was only negotiating with itself.
Japanese stocks jumped 3 per cent, while markets in Australia and South Korea rose 2 per cent, recouping recent losses but not weeks of falls since the war broke out. The FTSE 100 is forecast to open higher.
Iranian media mock Trump’s ‘present’ claim
President Trump claimed on Tuesday that Iran’s leadership gave the US a major “present” related to oil and gas and the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump said the gift was “worth a tremendous amount of money”, and a “very significant prize” but added: “I’m not going to tell you what that present is.”
There has been no official Iranian reaction to the remarks but Iranian state media outlets have mocked the claim. The Mehr News Agency jokingly posted footage of Iranian missile strikes on US bases in Iraqi Kurdistan as “the gift we sent Trump”.
Saeed Jalili, an ultraconservative Iranian politician, commented: “He who spoke of regime change and the disintegration of Iran now dreams that someone in Iran will talk to him.”
Esmail Saqab Esfahani, the vice-president for the Energy Optimisation and Strategic Management Organisation, dismissed Trump’s claimed breakthrough, stating that Iran’s negotiating position had likely not changed since before the war. He warned: “Now you are the one who must offer attractive proposals; otherwise, await further surprises on the battlefield.”
The spokesman for the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, Iran’s top military command, dismissed the idea of talks, warning: “Do not call your defeat an agreement”.
Film director’s home hit in Tehran bombing
Damage after airstrikes targeting Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran
AP
The Iranian foreign ministry spokesman said that the home of an award-winning Iranian director had been bombed during what he called the US-Israeli “war of whims”.
“Remember Abbas Kiarostami, the renowned Iranian director who won the Palme d’Or at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival for his masterpiece Taste of Cherry? Even his HOME was not spared from the bombs of the American-Israeli aggressors,” Esmaeil Baqaei posted on X.
“Was Kiarostami’s home part of the alleged ‘imminent threat’ to the United States?!” he added, referring to one of Trump’s justifications for the war. “The truth is that this American-Israeli war of whims is not merely against a state — it is against a deep-rooted culture, civilisation, and identity,” Baqaei wrote.
Kiarostami, who died in 2016, was one of Iran’s most acclaimed directors whose international work included the 2010 French drama Certified Copy starring Juliette Binoche.
His son Ahmad posted on social media this week that “the Chizar neighborhood in Tehran was bombed, where both my mother’s and my father’s houses are located … this morning I learned that my father’s house was damaged.”
‘We have had a very bad experience with American diplomacy’
A US F-22 Raptor prepares for a combat flight
No one can trust American diplomacy, Iran’s foreign ministry spokesman declared on Wednesday, despite President Trump’s claims that Tehran was negotiating an end to the war.
In an interview with India Today, Esmaeil Baqaei repeated Iran’s complaint that the war started after it last engaged with US officials.
“We have had a very bad experience with American diplomacy, and while we were in the middle of the negotiation process, we were attacked twice in the span of nine months. This was a betrayal of diplomacy, and it happened not once, but twice,” he said, referring to the 12-day war fought with Israel and America last June as well as the current conflict, which is in its 26th day.
“There are no talks or negotiations between Iran and the United States, and the Iranian armed forces are focused on defending the country’s territory,” Baqaei added.
More than 5,000 Israelis treated for injuries
After a missile strike in Bnei Brak, on the eastern outskirts of Tel Aviv
ILIA YEFIMOVICH/GETTY IMAGES
More than 5,000 people in Israel have required hospital treatment for injuries suffered during strikes from Iran, the country’s health ministry has said.
Although most Iranian missiles launched against the country have been intercepted, at least 16 people have died in the attacks, and in the last 24 hours, 204 people were taken to hospitals.
The ministry says that since the beginning of the war with Iran on February 28, 5,045 people have been admitted to hospitals, 120 of whom remain inpatients.
The ministry does not give a breakdown of the causes of injuries, meaning some may have been injured by debris from interceptions, or as they rushed to the shelter, rather than as a direct result of missile fire from Iran or rocket fire across the northern border from Lebanon.
Iran grants safe passage to Thai tanker
A Thai oil tanker safely passed through the Strait of Hormuz after diplomatic co-ordination between Thailand and Iran, officials said on Wednesday.
In a sign that Iran will selectively let some vessels through, the tanker owned by the Bangchak Corporation crossed the strategic waterway on Monday, but only after negotiations between the Thai foreign minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow and Iran’s ambassador to Bangkok.
The company and a source in the Thai foreign ministry said no payment was involved.
“I requested that if Thai ships need to pass through the strait, could they assist in ensuring safe passage?” Phuangketkeow told reporters late on Tuesday. “They responded that they would take care of it and asked us to provide the names of the vessels that would be transiting.”
Another Thai vessel, owned by SCG Chemicals, is awaiting clearance to transit the strait, Phuangketkeow said.
Two weeks ago, the Thailand-flagged bulk carrier Mayuree Naree was attacked by a projectile in the strait, causing a fire onboard and forcing the crew to evacuate.
Fresh missile strike hits Iraqi base
A strike in western Iraq targeted the former paramilitary coalition Hashed al-Shaabi, a security official said on Wednesday.
The incident came a day after a similar attack killed 15 Iraqi fighters — the deadliest in the country since the start of the Middle East war.
“Two missiles were fired from a fighter jet” at the same base in Anbar province that was struck on Tuesday, the official said.
Tuesday’s strike prompted the government to grant former paramilitaries within the official armed forces a “right to respond” to any attack against them.
Royal Navy leads talks on coalition to reopen Strait of Hormuz
Britain is leading talks on a two-stage coalition mission involving warships and autonomous systems to reopen the Strait of Hormuz once the conflict subsides, defence officials say.
A bulk carrier sits anchored at a port in Muscat, Oman, as maritime traffic through the strait has mostly come to a halt
ELKE SCHOLIERS/GETTY IMAGES
The Royal Navy could deploy a “mothership” equipped with torpedo-shaped drones that can target mines laid by Iran in the narrow strait between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.
Once free of mines, uncrewed and crewed ships would protect merchant vessels as part of a multinational escorting mission to restore traffic through the chokepoint, officials said.
• Read in full: Warships and mine-clearing drones could be deployed in the Gulf
‘US is only negotiating with itself’ says Iranian military spokesman
Tehran has claimed the US is ‘negotiating with itself’
An Iranian military spokesman has mocked US attempts at a ceasefire deal, insisting the US was only negotiating with itself.
Lieutenant Colonel Ebrahim Zolfaghari, a spokesman for the Iranian military’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, made the statement in a prerecorded video aired on state television.
He said: “The strategic power you used to talk about has turned into a strategic failure. The one claiming to be a global superpower would have already gotten out of this mess if it could. Don’t dress up your defeat as an agreement. Your era of empty promises has come to an end. Have your internal conflicts reached the point where you are negotiating with yourselves?”
Zolfaghari’s statement came shortly after the Trump administration sent a 15-point ceasefire plan to Iran through Pakistan.
“Our first and last word has been the same from day one, and it will stay that way. Someone like us will never come to terms with someone like you,” Zolfaghari said. “Not now, not ever.”
Israeli strikes in Lebanon kill at least six
Four people were killed in an “Israeli enemy raid” on the town of Adloun, and another two in a strike on an apartment in the Mieh Mieh refugee camp that left four wounded, Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) said, citing the health ministry.
In another area of southern Lebanon, an Israeli raid on the town of Habboush killed at least three people and wounded 18 others, the NNA said.
Israel has ramped up its campaign against the Tehran-backed militant group Hezbollah, whose rocket attacks on March 2 in response to US-Israeli strikes on Iran pulled Lebanon into the regional war.
The Israeli campaign has killed at least 1,072 people in Lebanon, with more than one million people displaced, according to Lebanese authorities.
Israel, which occupied southern Lebanon for nearly two decades until 2000, has said its military would take control of the border area up to the Litani River, about 20 miles from the frontier.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps sets high bar in ceasefire talks
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has consolidated power within the Iranian regime and is making demands of the Trump administration to enter ceasefire negotiations, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Citing people familiar with the matter, the newspaper claimed demands included the closure of all US bases in the Gulf, lifting all sanctions on Iran and reparations for attacks on Iran.
Other demands included allowing Iran to collect fees from ships that transit the Strait of Hormuz, an end to Israel’s strikes on Hezbollah and no limits on its missile program. A US official called the demands ridiculous and unrealistic, the paper said.
Cargo ships have largely been unable to pass through the strait since the conflict began
REUTERS
The US has sent Iran a 15-point plan to end the war that would include strict limits on its nuclear programme and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, according to reports.
Israel struck the Iranian capital Tehran early on Wednesday, Israeli military and Iranian media said.
The Israeli Defence Forces said in a Telegram post that it had launched a wave of strikes targeting infrastructure across Tehran. The Iranian SNN News Agency said the strikes hit a residential area in the city, with rescuers searching the rubble.
Kuwait and Saudi Arabia said on Wednesday they had repelled fresh drone attacks, without stating where they originated. Drones targeted a fuel tank at Kuwait International Airport, causing a fire but no casualties, Kuwait’s Civil Aviation Authority said.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps said it had launched a new wave of attacks against locations in Israel including Tel Aviv and Kiryat Shmona, as well as US bases in Kuwait, Jordan and Bahrain, Iranian state media reported.
Damage at a site struck by a projectile in Bnei Brak, on the eastern outskirts of Tel Aviv
ILIA YEFIMOVICH/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Israel has continued its strikes in southern Lebanon after announcing plans to occupy part of Lebanon.
Israel Katz, the defence minister, said he had ordered the military to establish a “security zone” south of Lebanon’s Litani River to prevent the Shia group from firing into northern Israel.
Katz said the IDF was “following the model of Rafah and Beit Hanoun”, two Palestinian cities reduced largely to rubble during the Gaza war, and would raze houses in Lebanon near the border that were suspected of being used as “terror outposts”.
Israel has been hitting sites from the air and launching limited ground operations since March 2, when Hezbollah fired rockets from Lebanon to protest against the assassination of Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Hassan Fadlallah, an MP representing Hezbollah in the Lebanese parliament, said the group would fight occupation by Israel, describing it as an “existential threat” to Lebanon.
• Read in full: Hezbollah clashes divide Lebanese as Israeli troops advance further
In pictures: missile strikes
A building damaged by an Iranian missile in Bnei Brak, Israel
SAEED QAQ/ANADOLU/GETTY IMAGES
Smoke rises from Beirut’s southern suburbs following an Israeli strike
REUTERS
Destruction in Tyre, Lebanon
REUTERS/MANU BRABO
Fears of a global recession
Larry Fink, the CEO of BlackRock, told the BBC that he feared a global recession if Iran remained a threat and oil prices stay high.
There could be “years of above $100, closer to $150 oil, which has profound implications in the economy … and a probably stark and steep recession,” Fink said.
BlackRock is the world’s largest asset manager.
Iran death toll surpasses 1,500
More than 1,500 people have died in Iran since the US launched Operation Epic Fury on February 28, the country’s health ministry has said.
Damage caused by an airstrike in in Tabriz, northwestern Iran, on Tuesday
MATIN HASHEMI/AP
The death toll in Lebanon has surpassed 1,000, while 16 have died in Israel.
The US military has lost 13 troops.
Clogged toilets, a fire and no beds: US warship pulled from Middle East
The USS Gerald R Ford, the largest military ship ever built, is undergoing repairs in Greece after withdrawing from the Middle East amid reports of a fire in the laundry room, not enough beds for sailors and clogged toilets.
The fire, which happened earlier this month, lasted more than 30 hours and destroyed much of the berthing. More than 200 sailors were treated for smoke inhalation and two others sustained lacerations.
The withdrawal of the 1,106ft, $13 billion ship comes amid reports of concerns on how it would fare against Iranian drones and attack boats.
• Read in full: Clogged toilets, laundry room fire and no beds: USS Gerald R Ford in turmoil
Iran gives US ‘ridiculous and unrealistic’ demands
Iran is demanding to keep its nuclear programme, the closure of all American army bases in the Gulf, a new system that would allow Tehran to collect fees from ships passing the Strait of Hormuz and a halt to all sanctions the country currently faces, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The Journal reported that those were just a few of the many conditions Iranian officials have communicated to the US as the two countries prepare to hold direct talks.
A US official told the outlet the “ridiculous and unrealistic” demands were relayed to the US by Middle Eastern mediators.
Senate votes against war powers measure
The Senate has rejected, for the third time, a resolution to limit President Trump’s military powers in the war with Iran.
The measure, which was spearheaded by Senator Chris Murphy, a Democrat, sought to make Trump need Congress approval before using military force.
Senator Rand Paul was the only Republican who voted in favour of the resolution. Senator John Fetterman, a Democrat and an Israel supporter, voted against it.
“If Republicans won’t hold a debate and vote on this illegal, incompletely run war, then Democrats will,” Murphy said on Tuesday.
Iran appoints new security chief
Iran has appointed Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr as secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, replacing Ali Larijani, who was killed in strikes launched by Israel last week.
Zolghadr, 72, was formerly a deputy commander in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps who also served as a deputy interior minister during the former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s first term.
Trump’s approval rating at lowest since White House return
President Trump’s approval rating has fallen to its lowest point since he returned to the White House, hit by a surge in fuel prices and widespread disapproval of the war he launched on Iran, an Reuters/Ipsos poll has found.
The poll, data for which was collected over the weekend, showed that 36 per cent of Americans approved of Trump’s performance. Last week it was 40 per cent.
Trump’s standing within the Republican Party remains mostly strong. Only about one in five Republicans said they disapproved of his overall performance in the White House, little changed from about one in seven last week. But the share of Republicans who disapproved of his handling of the cost of living rose to 34 per cent from 27 per cent last week.
Trump’s approval rating was 47 per cent in the first days of his presidency and since last summer had largely held at about 40 per cent.
• Read in full: Donald Trump approval rating: today’s polls and popularity tracked
Trump: This war has been won
Yesterday, President Trump declared that he had achieved “regime change” in Iran, an aim he highlighted when the war began.
Talking about the military action and the assassination of senior Iranian leaders, Trump said: “We have really achieved change, this is a change in the regime because the leaders are different to the ones that caused all those problems.”
He added: “We can say we really have regime change. This war has been won. The only ones that … keep it going is the fake news.”
Canada condemns Israeli plan to occupy part of Lebanon
Canada has criticised Israeli plans to occupy southern Lebanon up to the Litani River.
A social media post from Canada’s foreign ministry said Lebanon’s “sovereignty and territorial integrity must not be violated”.
Reopening Strait is ‘risky’
Reopening the Strait of Hormuz is a plausible possibility but also a risky one, Elliott Abrams, President Trump’s former special representative to Iran, told Times Radio.
“It would require hitting more of the Iranian sites, particularly along the shore, so as to try to eliminate more of their ability to attack ships,” Abrams explained.
“And then it would require a lot of ships going to convoy the tankers and try to defend the tankers. That is something that, in my view, other countries could contribute to.”
He added: “I’m sure we can do it. The question is really, will the president want to take the risk that the Iranians have one lucky shot and kill a very substantial number of American sailors?”
‘We will control the Strait of Hormuz’, says former US general
Jack Keane, a retired four-star general and the US army’s former vice chief of staff, told Times Radio that “there’s no doubt” the American military will gain control of the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.
He said: “We don’t have reservations about that. And those plans are in the works. We’re stripping away, as we speak, the ability of the Iranians to retaliate against such a thing, given what they have left. We know what that is, and we’re dealing with it.
“And at some point, we would obviously occupy the Gulf and in the vicinity of the Straits so we could do just that.”
More details emerge on US plan
Further details are emerging about the reported 15-point plan US officials have handed to Iran.
Among the other demands, according to reports in the US, is the dismantling of Iran’s Natanz, Isfahan and Fordow nuclear facilities. Future Iranian missiles would also be restricted to “self-defence” and Iran must halt “the funding, direction and arming of it regional proxies”, it is being reported.
So far, only 14 points of the plan have emerged.
The US previously put forward a 15-point plan to the Iranians as part of negotiations between the two countries in spring last year.
Israel launches fresh strikes
Israel says it has launched a fresh wave of strikes on the Iranian capital, Tehran, within the last hour.
The Israeli Defence Forces said the strikes were targeting Iranian infrastructure sites.
US sends paratroopers to Gulf as Trump weighs up Kharg invasion
President Trump has ordered thousands of elite US paratroopers to the Middle East as he considers an invasion of Kharg Island, the oil-exporting hub on which the Iranian economy relies.
Based at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, the Immediate Response Force is a brigade of about 3,000 troops from the 82nd Airborne Division that can deploy anywhere in the world within 18 hours.
The division’s commander, Major General Brandon Tegtmeier, and his headquarters staff are also heading for the region before a possible troop landing on the island, according to Fox News.
• Read in full: US sends paratroopers to Gulf as Trump weighs Kharg invasion
Europe risks fuel shortages as soon as next month, says Shell boss
The boss of Shell has warned that Europe risks fuel shortages as soon as next month as supplies dwindle and Gulf exports remain severely limited.
Wael Sawan, the company’s chief executive, said that the global oil and gas supply squeeze had already forced parts of Asia to cut energy consumption and that the “ripple effect” was threatening to spread west within days.
Speaking at a conference in Houston, Sawan said that European governments may soon need to cut consumptions themselves — a step not taken since the 2022 energy crisis.
“It is a ripple effect,” he said. “We see south Asia first to get that brunt, that moves to southeast Asia, northeast Asia and then more so into Europe as we get into April.
“So we are trying to work with governments to alert them to the levers they may need to pull — including demand‑side measures, what they need to do around storage, what they need to do around purchasing stock and so on and so forth.”
US sends 15-point war-ending plan to Iran
The United States has sent Iran a 15-point plan to end the war that would include strict limits on its nuclear programme and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz, according to reports.
The New York Times, quoting two anonymous officials, said that the proposal was sent to Iran via Pakistan, which has offered to mediate.
Israel’s Channel 12 said that the US and Iran would declare a month-long ceasefire during which they would negotiate on the basis of the proposal.
The plan calls for an end to any uranium enrichment on Iranian soil and the handing over of enriched material, which Israel and the US say could be developed into a nuclear bomb.
The plan also says that Iran will allow unimpeded access through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran in turn would see an end to all sanctions, the Israeli report said.
Iran would also receive assistance in developing civil nuclear energy at Bushehr, a key site that Tehran on Tuesday accused Israel of striking.
There is no talk in the apparent plan of forcing governmental change in Iran, whose cleric-run state weeks earlier ruthlessly put down mass protests, killing thousands.
Iran: ‘Non-hostile’ vessels can travel through Strait of Hormuz
Iran has told the United Nations Security Council and the International Maritime Organization that “non-hostile vessels” may travel through the Strait of Hormuz if they co-ordinate with Iranian authorities.
A statement on X said: “Non-hostile vessels, including those belonging to or associated with other States, may — provided that they neither participate in nor support acts of aggression against Iran and fully comply with the declared safety and security regulations — benefit from safe passage through the Strait of Hormuz in coordination with the competent Iranian authorities.”
Tehran had effectively shut the waterway, where a fifth of the world’s oil normally transits, after the US and Israel launched attacks four weeks ago, sending fuel prices soaring around the world.
Speaking at the White House on Tuesday Trump said the US had received a “present” from Iran that related to the Strait of Hormuz.
“It was a very big present, worth a tremendous amount of money,” Trump said, adding: “It was a very nice thing they did.”