{"id":543124,"date":"2026-03-24T22:16:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T22:16:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/543124\/"},"modified":"2026-03-24T22:16:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T22:16:09","slug":"airstrikes-batter-iran-as-it-attacks-israel-and-gulf-states-while-diplomatic-efforts-gather-pace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/543124\/","title":{"rendered":"Airstrikes batter Iran as it attacks Israel and Gulf states, while diplomatic efforts gather pace"},"content":{"rendered":"

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) \u2014 Airstrikes battered Iran and Iranian missiles and drones targeted Israel and sites across the Mideast on Tuesday, even as President Donald Trump said the United States was in talks<\/a> with the Islamic Republic to end the war.<\/p>\n

With thousands more U.S. Marines on their way to the Gulf, both sides firing barrages and Iran denying any negotiations are taking place, the war\u2019s tempo remained high<\/a> a day after Trump delayed his self-imposed deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran\u2019s chokehold on that crucial waterway has snarled international shipping, sent fuel prices skyrocketing<\/a>, and threatened the world economy.<\/p>\n

\"PalestiniansPalestinians gather around the wreckage of an Iranian missile that landed in the West Bank village of Kifl Haris Tuesday, March 24, 2026.(Majdi Mohammed | AP Photo\/Majdi Mohammed)<\/p>\n

Pakistan offered to host diplomatic talks, but Iran remained defiant, vowing to fight \u201cuntil complete victory.\u201d<\/p>\n

Any talks between the U.S. and Iran<\/a> would face monumental challenges. Many of Washington\u2019s shifting objectives, particularly over Iran\u2019s ballistic missile and nuclear programs, remain difficult to achieve. Meanwhile, it\u2019s not clear who in Iran\u2019s government would have the authority to negotiate \u2014 or be willing to, as Israel has vowed to continue taking out leaders after killing several.<\/p>\n

Iran remains highly suspicious of the United States, which twice under the Trump administration has attacked during high-level diplomatic talks, including with the Feb. 28 strikes that started the current war.<\/p>\n

Pakistan says it is ready to host talks<\/p>\n

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif wrote on X that Pakistan is ready to \u201cfacilitate meaningful and conclusive talks\u201d to end the Iran war.<\/p>\n

The U.S. had agreed in principle to join talks in Pakistan, according to three Pakistani officials, one Egyptian official and a Gulf diplomat, while mediators were still working to convince Iran.<\/p>\n

One diplomat from the region said the talks could happen this week or early next week, and that special envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump\u2019s son-in-law Jared Kushner are expected to represent the U.S. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to provide the details to the media.<\/p>\n

The State Department declined to comment on the reported efforts.<\/p>\n

Speaking Tuesday at the White House, the president said the U.S. is \u201cin negotiations right now\u201d and that the participants included Witkoff, Kushner, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Vice President JD Vance.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a number of people doing it,\u201d Trump said. \u201cAnd the other side, I can tell you, they\u2019d like to make a deal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi\u2019s office said he has been discussing the war this week with several counterparts. But Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf<\/a>, the speaker of Iran\u2019s parliament, denied Trump\u2019s claim of direct talks, and an Iranian military spokesman issued a newly defiant statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cIran\u2019s powerful armed forces are proud, victorious and steadfast in defending Iran\u2019s integrity, and this path will continue until complete victory,\u201d Iranian state television quoted Maj. Gen. Ali Abdollahi Aliabadi as saying Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Aliabadi did not say what victory would look like, but Iran\u2019s military could be trying to warn political leaders against offering concessions in any possible negotiations.<\/p>\n

The Egyptian official said efforts are centered on \u201ctrust-building\u201d between the U.S. and Iran, with the aim of bringing about a pause in fighting. Israel is not involved.<\/p>\n

The official, who is involved in the efforts, said the priority is to prevent attacks on regional energy infrastructure and that they were working on a \u201cmechanism\u201d for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n

Talk of negotiations briefly drove down oil prices and boosted stocks. But that respite was short-lived<\/a>, with the price of Brent crude, the international standard, nudging back over $100 a barrel Tuesday, up nearly 40% since the war started.<\/p>\n

Iranian missiles injure dozens across southern Israel. (CNN)Iran hits Israel and Gulf neighbors while Israel attacks Beirut<\/p>\n

Israel said it carried out an extensive series of strikes on Iranian \u201cproduction sites,\u201d without providing more information. In Tehran, a massive blast was heard in northern neighborhoods and another in the city center.<\/p>\n

Iran also fired at least 10 waves of missiles at Israel<\/a>, and first responders said three people were wounded in southern Israel, and four others suffered minor wounds in Tel Aviv.<\/p>\n

A Moroccan civilian contractor with the United Arab Emirates\u2019 armed forces was killed in Bahrain in an Iranian attack, the UAE Defense Ministry said. In Kuwait, power lines were hit by air defense shrapnel, causing partial electricity outages for several hours. Saudi Arabia said it destroyed Iranian drones targeting its oil-rich Eastern Province.<\/p>\n

Israel pounded Beirut\u2019s southern suburbs, saying that it was targeting infrastructure used by the Iran-linked Hezbollah militant group.<\/p>\n

A strike on a residential apartment southeast of the Lebanese capital killed at least three people, including a 3-year-old girl, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. Another five people were killed in the south.<\/p>\n

In northern Israel, a woman was killed by shrapnel during an attack from Lebanon.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Lebanon declared Iran\u2019s ambassador persona non grata and ordered him to leave by Sunday.<\/p>\n

Iranian flights have been banned from landing in Lebanon, out of fear that they would carry weapons or funding for Hezbollah, and some top Lebanese government officials have accused Iran of dragging Lebanon into another war with Israel.<\/p>\n

Authorities say Israeli strikes have killed more than 1,000 people in Lebanon and displaced more than 1 million.<\/p>\n

Iran\u2019s death toll has surpassed 1,500, its Health Ministry has said. In Israel, 16 people have been killed. At least 13 U.S. military members have been killed, along with more than a dozen civilians in the occupied West Bank and Gulf Arab states.<\/p>\n

Marines are on the way to the Persian Gulf<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s announcement came as thousands of Marines headed to the region, raising speculation the U.S. may try to seize Kharg Island<\/a>, which is vital to Iran\u2019s oil network. The U.S. bombed the Persian Gulf island more than a week ago, hitting its defenses but saying it had left oil infrastructure intact.<\/p>\n

Iran has threatened to mine the Gulf if the U.S. appears to be on the verge of landing troops.<\/p>\n

Trump said he would hold off on a threat to bomb Iran\u2019s power stations while talks unfold \u2014 a delay that could be aimed at buying time for the Marines to arrive, the New York-based Soufan Center think tank wrote in an analysis.<\/p>\n

However, the center also noted that \u201cTrump could be actively seeking an offramp.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump has said he has no plans to send ground forces into Iran but has not ruled it out. Israel has suggested its ground forces could participate in the war.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

This story has been corrected to show that the individual killed in Bahrain was a Moroccan civilian contractor with the UAE armed forces and not an Emirati soldier.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Rising reported from Bangkok and Magdy from Cairo. Associated Press writers Sam Mednick in Tel Aviv, Israel, Munir Ahmed in Islamabad, Elena Becatoros in Athens, Greece, Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut and Farnoush Amiri at the United Nations contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) \u2014 Airstrikes battered Iran and Iranian missiles and drones targeted Israel and sites…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":543125,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[193250,23,38011,801,803,129,68162,3,21,19,22,20,25,24],"class_list":["post-543124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-airstrikes","tag-america","tag-drone","tag-iran","tag-israel","tag-middle-east","tag-missiles","tag-news","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=543124"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543124\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/543125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=543124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=543124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=543124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}