Middle East crisis live: Trump extends pause on energy site strikes; German minister says US-Iran talks to take place ‘very soon’ | US-Israel war on Iran
US and Iran plan to meet soon in Pakistan, says German minister
Germany’s foreign minister is saying the US and Iran have had indirect negotiations and that representatives from both sides plan to meet shortly in Pakistan.
“Based on my information there have been indirect contacts, and preparations have been made to meet directly. That would be very soon in Pakistan, apparently,” Johann Wadephul told Deutschlandfunk radio on Friday, cited by Reuters.
The report could not be independently confirmed.
Key events
David Hambling
Iran’s black rain is latest grim example of weather in war zones
Black rain fell in Iran earlier this month, a grim phenomenon seen previously in other war zones.
Strikes on oil facilities burned thousands of tons of stored fuel. Unlike the clean controlled combustion inside an engine, uncontrolled burning leaves many particles of unburned fuel, producing a pall of toxic smoke over affected areas.
The particulate matter rises on the hot updraft from the fire and effectively seeds rainclouds, with the particles forming nuclei for raindrops. The resulting dirty rainfall helps clean the air, but potentially harmful pollutants may end up in drinking water.
Similar black rain occurred after oil wells in Kuwait were set ablaze during the 1991 Gulf war.
David Hambling is a journalist, specialising mainly in science, technology and strange phenomena.
Saudi Arabia urging US to keep up Iran attacks, intelligence source confirms
Julian Borger
Saudi Arabia has urged the US to ramp up attacks on Iran, a Saudi intelligence source has confirmed, while it is weighing a decision on whether to join the fight directly.
The Saudi source confirmed reporting in the New York Times, which said the kingdom’s de facto leader, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has urged Donald Trump not to cut short his war against Iran, and that the US-Israeli campaign represented a “historic opportunity” to remake the Middle East.
The intelligence source said Riyadh was not just calling for the military campaign to be continued, but to be intensified. Trump appeared to confirm the report about the crown prince’s role, telling journalists on Tuesday: “Yeah, he’s a warrior. He’s fighting with us.”
There are no reports of active Saudi military involvement in the nearly four-week-old war so far, but a Saudi political analyst said the kingdom was likely to take that step if current peace efforts led by Pakistan failed.
Julian Borger is the Guardian’s senior international correspondent and Aram Roston is senior political enterprise reporter for the Guardian US.
US troops using Persian Gulf citizens as human shields, says Iranian foreign minister
Local people in Persian Gulf states are being used as human shields during the US-Israeli war on Iran, the Iranian foreign minister has said, according to the semi-official Tasnim News Agency.
double quotation mark From outset of this war, US soldiers fled military bases in GCC to hide in hotels and offices. They use GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council] citizens as human shield.Hotels in US deny bookings to officers who may endanger customers. GCC hotels should do same.”
Abbas Araghchi said in a post on his X account on Thursday.
Pakistan’s emerging role as broker in US-Iran peace talks
Pakistan’s prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, said on Tuesday his country is ready to “facilitate meaningful and conclusive talks” to end the war in the Middle East amid attempts to push Islamabad as a possible venue for negotiations between the US and Iran.
The White House confirmed that Pakistan’s army chief, Asim Munir, had a call with Donald Trump last weekend to discuss the conflict.
Qatar, Turkey and Egypt have been touted as potential venues for talks, but reportedly Tehran’s preference is Islamabad.
Read more about Pakistan and the role of JD Vance in Hannah Ellis-Peterson and Shah Meer Baloch’s report
Israeli military says it carried out ‘wide-scale’ strikes on Tehran
Israel’s military said it carried out strikes on targets in Tehran early on Friday, according to AFP.
A brief military statement said Israeli forces “completed a wide-scale wave of strikes targeting infrastructure of the Iranian terror regime in the heart of Tehran”.
The military said in a separate statement that it had also struck “ballistic missiles and aerial defense systems production sites across Iran”.
It reported hitting missile launchers and storage sites in western Iran, as well as missile production sites in the capital.
Donald Trump has in recent days repeatedly claimed progress in talks with Iran, even as Tehran denied any formal negotiations were taking place.
Interim summary
In case you’re just tuning in to today’s live coverage of the US-Israel war on Iran, here’s a snapshot of the latest. It’s 10.30am in Tehran, 9am in Tel Aviv and Beirut and 3am in Washington DC.
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Donald Trump said he would extend – again – his pause on his threat to attack Iran’s energy infrastructure for 10 days until 6 April, claiming that the request came from Tehran and that talks were going “very well”. The US president threatened last Saturday he would destroy Iranian power plants if Tehran did not reopen the strait of Hormuz. Then, on Monday, he postponed his threat for five days (until Friday), citing “very good and productive conversations” with Iran on ending the war – which Tehran dismissed as “fake news” designed to “manipulate” the oil markets. Now, he’s pushing that deadline back again.
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The price of Brent crude oil dropped after Trump’s latest announcement, but stock markets fell sharply in the US and Europe on Thursday and followed suit in Asia on Friday as investors worried about the war dragging on.
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The Pentagon is looking at sending up to 10,000 additional ground troops to the Middle East to give Trump more military options even as he weighs peace talks with Tehran, the Wall Street Journal reported, quoting defence department officials.
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Lebanese media said an Israeli strike hit Beirut’s southern suburbs early on Friday. Several explosions were heard from the Hezbollah stronghold and smoke was later billowing from the area. Israel has previously issued sweeping evacuation warnings for the area but provided no specific warning in advance of Friday’s strike, AFP said. It was unclear if there were any casualties.
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Yemen’s Houthis said there was “no cause for concern”, Lloyd’s List reported, amid fears that if Trump follows through on threats to seize Iran’s Kharg Island, Tehran may ask them to attack shipping in the Red Sea.
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A Thai-flagged cargo ship that was hit by unknown projectiles in the strait of Hormuz earlier this month has run aground off Iran’s Qeshm Island, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency said on Friday.
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India has slashed taxes on diesel and petrol, the government announced, amid the war’s continued disruption of global energy supplies.
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The United Arab Emirates has told allies that it would participate in a multinational maritime task force intended to reopen the strait of Hormuz as it lobbies to form a coalition to ensure shipping can pass through the vital waterway, the Financial Times reported.
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The Israel Defence Forces’ chief of staff has warned that the military will “collapse in on itself” as it faces increasing demands and a growing manpower shortage while fighting on multiple fronts, according to Israeli media reports.
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Vietnam’s trade ministry says it has temporarily waived an environmental tax on fuel to cut soaring prices by more than a quarter.
Kuwait’s Shuwaikh port has been hit by drones that caused material damage, the Gulf state’s ports authority said on Friday, cited by Reuters.
No injuries were reported, it said.
US and Iran plan to meet soon in Pakistan, says German minister
Germany’s foreign minister is saying the US and Iran have had indirect negotiations and that representatives from both sides plan to meet shortly in Pakistan.
“Based on my information there have been indirect contacts, and preparations have been made to meet directly. That would be very soon in Pakistan, apparently,” Johann Wadephul told Deutschlandfunk radio on Friday, cited by Reuters.
The report could not be independently confirmed.
Here are some of the latest images coming in from the Middle East as the US-Israel war on Iran continues in its fourth week.
More now on India slashing taxes on diesel and petrol amid the global disruption in energy supplies: finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the move would “provide protection to consumers from rise in prices”.
The country is one of the world’s largest crude oil importers and relies on foreign suppliers for more than 85% of its oil needs, with Russia being the biggest supplier.
Sitharaman said that “in view of the West Asia crisis” – referring to the Middle East war – taxes on petrol and diesel had been slashed by 10 rupees ($0.11) a litre, AFP reports.
She also announced charges on exports of diesel and aviation turbine fuel at 21.5 rupees ($0.23) and 29.5 rupees ($0.31) a litre.
“This will ensure adequate availability of these products for domestic consumption,” she said.
India insists it has adequate supplies, with the oil ministry saying it has “nearly two months of steady supply available for every Indian citizen regardless of what happens globally”.
But despite the repeated assurances, panicking citizens have triggered long queues at filling stations.
UAE pushing for international force to reopen strait of Hormuz – report
The United Arab Emirates has told allies that it would participate in a multinational maritime task force intended to reopen the strait of Hormuz as it lobbies to form a coalition to ensure shipping can is pass through the vital waterway, the Financial Times is reporting.
The newspaper says the UAE told the US and other western states that it would take part, according to three people familiar with the situation, two of whom said Abu Dhabi would deploy its own navy.
The move reflects the country’s hardened stance towards Iran as it bears the brunt of Tehran’s retaliation to war from the US and Israel, it says.
The report could not be immediately verified.
It also says the UAE is working on a UN security council resolution with Bahrain to provide any future task force with a mandate, but Russia and China could oppose the move, one of the people said.
Gulf states are concerned that Iran could seek to maintain control even if the war ends, the report says. There is a growing conviction among some Gulf states and the Trump administration that there is no easy means to reopen the blocked strait without naval escorts.
Jason Burke
The Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ naval commander who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Thursday was a veteran hardliner with a taste for fiery rhetoric who grasped better than many the strategic importance of the strait of Hormuz.
During naval exercises in the Gulf in January, Alireza Tangsiri said the Iranian revolution of 1979 represented “a turning point in the history of the Iranian nation and a new dawn for the awakening of the oppressed nations of the world”.
Like many senior officials of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), Tangsiri won his regime credentials as a young man during the bloody 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war. He then received a series of promotions, eventually becoming the commander of the IRGC’s maritime force in 2018, where he pioneered the unconventional weapons that would allow Iran to project power and influence in the Persian Gulf and beyond.
As well as cruise missiles and armed drones, a third weapon Tangsiri strongly supported was fast boats – light, manoeuvrable craft that can threaten civilian shipping but also, he hoped, evade the defence systems of modern warships.
You can read more here:
Circling back to Donald Trump’s press conference at the White House earlier, the US president took another swipe at Nato, the UK and Australia for not being more involved in his war on Iran.
We have covered the Nato comments here:
But Australia got a mention too – late in the press conference – in response to a question about his phone calls with British prime minister Keir Starmer. Trump said:
double quotation mark [Starmer] did something that was shocking: he didn’t want to help us. And maybe in particular that country, you know, the longest bond, the longest ally.Australia, too, Australia was not great. I was a little surprised by Australia.
I wouldn’t say anybody was great, other than the five countries in the Middle East. We never really had very much support.
More on petrol prices: Vietnam’s trade ministry is saying it has temporarily waived an environmental tax on fuel to cut soaring prices by more than a quarter.
The environmental protection tax rate on gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel would be slashed to zero from today until 15 April, the ministry said on Friday, adding:
double quotation mark This is considered an urgent and effective solution to stabilise the petroleum market and ensure national energy security amidst the escalating conflict in the strait of Hormuz, which is creating the ‘biggest energy bottleneck ever’.
India has slashed its special excise duties on petrol and diesel amid the soaring prices triggered by the Iran war.
In a government order, the Indian finance ministry on Thursday cut the excise duty on petrol to 3 rupees ($0.032) a litre from 13 rupees earlier. It also cut the duty on diesel to zero from 10 rupees.
In case you missed it earlier, Lebanese media said an Israeli strike hit Beirut’s southern suburbs early on Friday.
Several explosions were heard from the Hezbollah stronghold and smoke was billowing from the area after the raid, Agence France-Presse reported.
Israel has previously issued sweeping evacuation warnings for the area but provided no specific warning in advance of Friday’s strike. It was unclear if there were any casualties.
Israel has sent ground troops into south Lebanon in a push to establish what it calls a “defensive buffer” zone, and Hezbollah said its fighters kept up its attacks on troops there early on Friday.
And just to recap, on Thursday Wall Street had its worst day since the war with Iran started.
The S+P 500 fell 1.7%, and the index is headed for a fifth straight losing week, which would be the longest such losing streak in almost four years. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 1%, and the Nasdaq composite sank 2.4%.
Some news on the Asian markets, after early Friday trading.
South Korean shares have fallen more than 3% today and are set to end the week lower. Japan’s Nikkei share average is also down today, and is on track for a fourth straight weekly decline, amid fading hopes for an imminent ceasefire.
Elsewhere, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.1%, while the Shanghai Composite index was up 0.1%. Australia’s S+P/ASX 200 fell 0.5%, while Taiwan’s Taiex was trading 1.5% lower.
World Trade Organisation chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala has warned the global trading system is experiencing the “worst disruptions in the past 80 years”.
“The world order and the multilateral system we used to know has irrevocably changed,” she said on Thursday, at the WTO ministerial conference. “We cannot deny the scale of the problems confronting the world today.”
Welcome summary
Hello and welcome to our continuing live coverage of the US-Israel war on Iran and the consequences for the region, the world and the global economy.
Here are the latest developments:
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Donald Trump said he would extend – once again – his pause on his threat to attack Iran’s energy infrastructure for 10 days until 6 April, claiming that the request came from Tehran and that talks were going “very well”. The US president threatened last Saturday he would strike Iranian energy infrastructure if Tehran did not reopen the strait of Hormuz. Then, on Monday, he postponed his threat for five days (until Friday), citing “very good and productive conversations” with Iran on ending the war (which Tehran dismissed as “fake news” designed to “manipulate” the oil markets). Now, he’s pushing that deadline back, again.
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The price of Brent crude also dropped following Trump’s latest announcement. Oil prices rose to their highest level this week, with Brent crude trading at roughly $108 a barrel after Trump’s cabinet meeting earlier on Thursday.
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Yemen’s Houthis have said there is no need to worry amid fears that if Trump follows through on threats to seize Iran’s Kharg Island, Tehran may ask them to attack shipping in the Red Sea.
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A day after Tehran dismissed Trump’s 15-point ceasefire plan, the US president claimed Iran was “begging to make a deal”. and that he wasn’t the one pushing for negotiations. Earlier, he told Tehran to “get serious soon” on negotiating a deal to end the war.
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Trump rejected reports he was looking for an exit ramp, as oil prices soar and political pressure mounts to avoid the kind of drawn-out Middle East war he once spurned. “I read a story today that I’m desperate to make a deal,” Trump told reporters. “I’m the opposite of desperate. I don’t care.”
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A US proposal for ending nearly four weeks of fighting is “one-sided and unfair”, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Thursday.
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Trump said Iran was allowing some oil tankers through strait of Hormuz as a sign of good faith for talks. He said Iran allowed 10 oil tankers to pass through the strategic strait as a “present” to show it was serious about negotiations to end the war.
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The Pentagon is looking at sending up to 10,000 additional ground troops to the Middle East to give Trump more military options even as he weighs peace talks with Tehran, the Wall Street Journal reported, quoting defence department officials.
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The Israel Defence Forces’ chief of staff has warned that the military will “collapse in on itself” as it faces increasing demands and a growing manpower shortage while fighting on multiple fronts, according to Israeli media reports.
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A Thai-flagged cargo ship that was hit by unknown projectiles in the strait of Hormuz earlier this month has run aground off Iran’s Qeshm Island, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency said on Friday.
