![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1774690210_480_image-1-1-1727085849.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nPublished On 28 Mar 202628 Mar 2026<\/p>\n
President Donald Trump said he is \u201cvery disappointed\u201d with NATO\u2019s response to the United States-Israeli war on Iran<\/a>, accusing the alliance of failing to support Washington despite years of US military spending on its allies.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Iran warned a \u201cheavy price\u201d will be paid after Israeli attacks on nuclear and industrial sites, with Tehran accusing the US and Israel of \u201cplaying with fire\u201d by targeting energy infrastructure. Iran also said there was no radioactive leak following attacks on two nuclear facilities.<\/p>\n The warnings come as fighting and tensions continue to escalate across the Middle East, with growing fears of a wider conflict.<\/p>\n Here is what we know:<\/p>\n In Iran
\nIsrael hits Tehran: Israel\u2019s military said it launched attacks on Iranian \u201cregime targets\u201d early Saturday.
\nHopes for Iran talks this week: US envoy Steve Witkoff said he expects meetings with Iran \u201cthis week\u201d and is waiting for Tehran\u2019s response to a 15-point peace plan<\/a>.
\nIran pledges \u201cheavy price\u201d for plant strikes: Iran\u2019s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran would exact a \u201cheavy price for Israeli crimes\u201d after attacks on nuclear sites and two of the country\u2019s largest steel factories.
\nIran feels \u201cforced\u201d into talks: Al Jazeera\u2019s Mohamed Vall, reporting from Tehran, said many Iranians believe they are being pushed into negotiations that are not in their favour, with the sense that \u201cthe Americans are bombing their way towards a negotiation table.\u201d Rather than relying on US or Israeli promises, he said Iran is relying on \u201cits missiles, its drones, and the resolve of its soldiers\u201d.
\nRussia likely aiding Iran with satellite intelligence: Al Jazeera\u2019s Mansur Mirovalev reported Iran is likely receiving data on US military assets from Russia\u2019s Liana spy satellite<\/a> system, according to a space programme expert.
\nWar diplomacy
\nTrump criticises NATO over Hormuz: Trump said NATO allies \u201cweren\u2019t there\u201d when asked to help secure the Strait of Hormuz, despite the US spending \u201chundreds of billions\u201d protecting them. \u201cI\u2019ve always said NATO is a paper tiger. And I always said we help NATO, but they\u2019ll never help us.\u201d
\nPossible Pakistan meeting: Turkiye said talks with Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt could take place in Pakistan this weekend as Islamabad mediates between Iran and the US.
\nUN nuclear watchdog urges \u201crestraint\u201d: The International Atomic Energy Agency repeated its call for \u201crestraint\u201d in the Middle East war after Israel struck two Iranian nuclear facilities<\/a>, including a uranium processing plant.
\n\u201cRegime change\u201d unlikely: The war is unlikely to lead to \u201cregime change\u201d in Iran, said German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. \u201cIf that\u2019s the goal, I don\u2019t think you\u2019ll achieve it. It\u2019s mostly gone wrong\u201d in past conflicts, he said, pointing to the Afghanistan war.
\nIn the Gulf
\nSaudi Arabia intercepts missile: Saudi Arabia said it \u201cintercepted and destroyed\u201d a missile targeting the capital Riyadh. Meanwhile, at least 12 US military personnel were wounded, including two seriously, in an Iranian attack on an airbase in the kingdom, The Associated Press and Reuters news agencies reported on Friday.
\nUnited Arab Emirates: The UAE\u2019s Ministry of Defence reported that air defence systems and fighter jets intercepted and shot down incoming missiles and drones from Iran.
\nKuwait: Though experiencing some slower nights recently, residents in Kuwait say they have grown accustomed to the disruption of alarms sounding throughout the night.
\nIn the US
\nUS aims to finish war in \u201cweeks\u201d: Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington expects<\/a> to complete its Iran war objectives in the \u201cnext couple weeks\u201d, leaving Iran \u201cweaker\u201d.
\nUS soldiers wounded: More than 300 American soldiers have been wounded since the start of the war on February 28, US Central Command said.
\nIn Israel
\nDirect attacks: Israel continues to face significant incoming fire on multiple fronts. Iran launched a missile salvo that struck a busy commercial street in Tel Aviv.
\nMan killed: Israeli emergency responders said a man was killed in Tel Aviv on Friday, and several others were wounded across the country after the military reported missiles fired from Iran.
\nIn Lebanon, Yemen, occupied West Bank
\nHouthis warn they\u2019ll join the fight: Yemen\u2019s Houthi rebels warned they would enter the war if attacks on Iran continue or if more countries join the conflict. The Houthis have in the past attacked shipping in the Red Sea in response to regional conflicts, but have so far not intervened in this war.
\nIsrael expands ground war in Lebanon: Israeli troops entered Khiam and clashed with Hezbollah near Tyre as Israel pushes to create a \u201csecurity zone\u201d up to the Litani River. Hezbollah said it attacked Israeli tanks and fired at a warplane over Beirut.
\nIsrael cites Hezbollah threat: Al Jazeera\u2019s Rob McBride, reporting from Amman, said Israel is using the threat from Hezbollah in the north to justify expanding its ground incursion into southern Lebanon to push Hezbollah back and create a \u201cbuffer zone\u201d.
\nHezbollah escalation: Hezbollah forces have fiercely resisted the Israeli advance, claiming to have carried out 82 operations against Israeli troops within 24 hours.
\nWest Bank violence continues: Israeli forces killed three Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, including a 15-year-old boy in Dheisheh refugee camp and two men in Qalandiya.
\nOil, food, and gas crises
\nStrait of Hormuz: To prevent a \u201cmassive humanitarian crisis\u201d, the United Nations has established a new task force led by Jorge Moreira da Silva. It aims to ensure ships carrying fertiliser and raw materials can safely cross the strait, warning that maritime trade disruptions could severely affect global agricultural production and humanitarian needs.
\nEgypt imposes business curfew: Egypt has ordered shops, restaurants, and shopping malls to close at 9pm (19:00 GMT) from Saturday, hoping to curb energy bills that have more than doubled because of the Iran war.
\nOvernight queues in Ethiopia: Many Ethiopians slept in their cars in hours-long queues for petrol as shortages caused by the war began to take their toll. The Horn of Africa country is particularly vulnerable as it imports all its petrol, primarily from the Gulf.
\nTea stuck in Kenya: Between 6,000 and 8,000 tonnes of tea worth $24m is stuck at Kenya\u2019s port of Mombasa because of the war, trade officials said. About 65 percent of the East African tea market has been affected by the war that began on February 28. This is happening because the war is disrupting shipping routes through the Red Sea and the Strait of Hormuz, which are key routes for trade between Asia, the Middle East and Europe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tensions continue to rise with Iran warning a \u2018heavy price\u2019 will be paid after Israeli attacks on nuclear…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":550157,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,1127,11501,801,803,129,4379,3,45063,21,19,22,20,25,1209,231941,24],"class_list":["post-550156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-conflict","tag-explainer","tag-iran","tag-israel","tag-middle-east","tag-military","tag-news","tag-oil-and-gas","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-us-canada","tag-us-israel-war-on-iran","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550156","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=550156"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550156\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/550157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=550156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=550156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=550156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}