Building hit in Tel Aviv. Tehran: risk for all if attacks on installations continue

Donald Trump does not want any more attacks on Iranian energy sites and facilities. The Wall Street Journal reports this, citing sources that the president had been informed in advance of Israel's raid against the South Pars gas field, the largest in the world. Trump saw the attack as a message to Tehran in response to the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. According to the commander-in-chief, Iran got the message. That is why it now - American officials report - opposes further attacks against Iran's energy infrastructure.

EU High Representative Kaja Kallas spoke this morning with Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi about the impact of the war on freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. This is according to EU sources. Kallas stressed that free transit through this waterway is a priority for Europe. He urged Iran to cease all attacks on critical infrastructure in the region and emphasised that the EU supports the easing of tensions and a diplomatic solution to the conflict. The conversation, it is noted, took place before the execution of a European citizen detained by the regime, which Kallas condemns in the strongest terms.

"The execution of a Swedish citizen by the Iranian regime is a brutal act of senseless violence and we condemn it". This was written in a note by the EU High Representative, Kaja Kallas, returning "to call on Iran to halt all executions and abolish the death penalty". "The extremely serious human rights situation in Iran and the worrying increase in executions are unacceptable and show the true face of the regime," she stressed. "The Swedish citizen had been detained since June 2025. The EU expresses its deepest condolences to the victim's family and expresses its full solidarity with Sweden," he adds.

The Israeli army will continue its operations to 'eliminate' Iranian leaders. "Over the past 24 hours, we have continued the hunt for and elimination of senior regime officials, assassins responsible for numerous terrorist operations," said General Effie Defrin, army spokeswoman, in a televised address, after Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib was killed today, "We will continue to hunt down all senior regime officials. The series of eliminations will not stop'.

Qatar's Interior Ministry reported on X that the fire at the Ras Laffan plant, the target of an Iranian missile attack this evening, is 'under control'. The site had been evacuated for several hours after Tehran's threats. The plant, located in the north-eastern part of the country, is the largest LNG production facility in the world.

QatarEnergy confirms that the Ras Laffan industrial area was the target of Iranian missile attacks that caused "severe damage" to the gas plant. "Emergency response teams were immediately deployed to contain the resulting fires due to the extensive damage. All personnel have been accounted for and no casualties are reported at this time, QatarEnergy wrote in a note assuring that it "will continue to provide updates as they become available".

Riyadh said it had destroyed a drone heading towards a gas site in the east of the country, just hours after Iran threatened attacks on energy infrastructure in the Gulf in retaliation for Israeli-US raids against its facilities. "A drone attempting to approach a gas site in the eastern province was intercepted and destroyed," the Saudi Defence Ministry said. Meanwhile, Afp reported a second series of heavy explosions in Riyadh, after four ballistic missiles heading towards the capital had already been intercepted earlier in the day.

Qatar's Interior Ministry said that an Iranian attack caused a fire at the Gulf country's main gas plant, located on its northern coast. "Civil defence is intervening to put out a fire in the Ras Laffan area following an Iranian attack," the ministry said in a statement, after Tehran announced it would target energy infrastructure across the Gulf following the joint US-Israeli attack on its gas facilities.

Gli impianti di produzione di gas naturale liquefatto (GNL) di QatarEnergy, sullo sfondo del conflitto tra Stati Uniti, Israele e Iran, nella città industriale di Ras Laffan, in Qatar, il 2 marzo 2026. REUTERS/Stringer/Foto d'archivio

The Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, condemned on X 'the attacks on Iran's energy infrastructure' in recent hours. "Such aggressive acts will bring nothing to the Zionist-American enemy and their supporters. This will complicate the situation and could have uncontrollable consequences, the scope of which could overwhelm the entire world,' his post states.

The "ambiguous and hypocritical" attitude of some European countries and senior EU officials regarding the "military aggression of the United States and the Zionist regime against Iran" was criticised by the Iranian Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, during a telephone conversation with the EU High Representative for Foreign Policy, Kaja Kallas. According to a Tehran Foreign Ministry note, Araghchi stressed that "any support or leniency towards the blatant violations committed by these two regimes would be considered complicity in their crimes against the Iranian nation".

"Once the president makes a decision, it is up to the members of his administration to make it as successful as possible. That is how I do my job'. These were the words of Vice-President JD Vance in response to reporters asking him for comment on Joe Kent's resignation from his post as head of US counter-terrorism, over his dissent on the war in Iran. "If you're part of the president's team and you can't implement his decisions, which he has the right to make, then it's a good thing to resign," Vance added while speaking in Michigan.

"It was a sign of what might happen next". This was stated to Axios by a senior Israeli official, referring to the Israeli raid that hit a natural gas processing plant in southwestern Iran. The official explained that the operation was coordinated between the Israeli prime minister's office and the White House. The attack, he added, was intended to send a "signal" to Tehran: if Iran continues to block the passage of oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, there could be an escalation with further attacks against energy infrastructure and a consequent worsening of the economic crisis in the Islamic Republic.

US President Donald Trump has not yet decided whether to send American forces into Iran to seize the country's nuclear material, an operation that would be extremely dangerous, according to sources familiar with the matter told US broadcaster CBS News. In private conversations, President Trump reportedly confided to people close to him: 'I have a lot of decisions to make'. According to CBS News reports, Trump believes Iran's military assets are drastically weakened, with the navy and air force virtually wiped out, but he is concerned about Iran's ability to lay mines. The president believes the Iranians can block oil traffic in the Strait of Hormuz because mine-laying operations only require about three people.

US Director of Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard refuted the official White House thesis on the Iran war in a written statement submitted to the Senate Intelligence Committee, in which she stated that Iran had not attempted to rebuild its enrichment facilities after the US attack in June 2025. Then, however, he adjusted his focus in his testimony: 'Prior to Operation Epic Fury, Iran was attempting to recover from the June attacks and continued to refuse to comply with its IAEA obligations,' he said.

Tulsi Gabbard was pressed by Democratic senators on the discrepancy between her written and verbal statement on Iran. "Only President Trump can determine whether a threat is imminent or not," she said in a hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Il 18 marzo 2026, Tulsi Gabbard, Direttore dell'Intelligence Nazionale (DNI), testimonia durante un'audizione della Commissione Intelligence del Senato a Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C., Stati Uniti. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

"The murder" of Ali Larijani "shows his importance and the hatred that the enemies of Islam have for him. The anti-Islamists must realise that shedding this blood at the foot of the tree of the Islamic system only strengthens it. And of course, every blood has a price that the criminal murderers of the martyrs will soon have to pay'. This was stated by Iran's Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei in a message of condolence for the killing of Ali Larijani, Tasnim reported. Khamenei described Larijani as 'a prominent figure' in the Islamic Republic.

Further reading

Iran, why eliminating the leaders may not be enough for Israel

18 March 2026

The US eased sanctions on Venezuelan oil to facilitate the flow of crude oil during the Iran war. In fact, the US Treasury issued an authorisation allowing Pdvsa to sell Venezuelan oil directly to American companies and on global markets.

The Trump administration has been rocked by the first heavy defection in protest against the war in Iran and its stated reasons. The director of the National Counterterrorism Centre, Joe Kent, announced his resignation and did so with a cutting j'accuse: he called it a misfortune that Tehran posed an "imminent risk to our country".

And he openly criticised what he called the Israeli government's influence on the White House in triggering the conflict, drawing accusations of anti-Semitism but bringing to the fore the rift caused by the conflict among Donald Trump's supporters.

"What would I tell them? To end it as soon as possible because the danger of an escalation is at the gates". This was said by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Secretary of State of the Holy See, arriving in the Sala della Lupa in Montecitorio for the presentation of the book "Leone XIV - Chi dite che io sia? I am a son of Augustine', by Ignazio Ingrao and Giuseppe Pagano, to those who asked him what he would say to Trump right now. "I would say to leave Lebanon alone," he added, "this message should also be addressed to the Israelis and really to try to solve the problems that there may be or that they believe there are through the peaceful ways of diplomacy and dialogue.

There have been 968 deaths in Lebanon since 2 March. This is the latest official toll released by the Ministry of Health in Beirut and reported by the local media. The injured number 2,432.

The attack on the German section of the Jordanian al-Azraq airbase early last week was more serious than previously thought. Satellite images show that a large part of an accommodation building in the German section of the vast field was completely destroyed by the impact. A large crater now opens in the single-storey building where German soldiers usually slept. In the night between Sunday and Monday, the al-Azraq airbase was attacked by several Iranian projectiles, presumably a mix of drones and ballistic missiles. Most of the projectiles were intercepted by the air defences surrounding the base in eastern Jordan. According to initial investigations, the German armed forces believe that a ballistic missile, which was not intercepted, hit the military building. At the time of the attack, German soldiers were not in the building; for security reasons, the already greatly reduced German contingent had retreated to the camp's shelters. However, that same night, a US soldier was wounded. The US Air Force, like the German Air Force, uses the base for missions in the region.

Kirill Dmitriev, the Russian president's special envoy for economic cooperation with foreign countries, wrote on his X profile today that the EU and the UK are trying to 'blackmail' US President Donald Trump over the Strait of Hormuz.

"The UK and the EU have stopped hiding their deep anti-Trump convictions and now want to blackmail President Trump and the US over the Strait of Hormuz. The blackmail approach could backfire on them," Dmitriev wrote on X.

"Italia is not participating in this war, no European nation is participating in this war, it is not our war. We have every interest, the whole world has an interest that Hormuz should not be involved in this war, because more than 20 per cent of the gas and oil that every day supplies the rest of the world, all the commercial activities, all the life in the rest of the world, passes through that Strait. An international agreement is needed for this to happen. We as Italia would be very happy if there was a mission that brought the whole world together to guarantee the passage of energy to Hormuz. However, it is not a feasible thing to send ships that could be interpreted as participating in war and not in a corridor of peace. The way to create it is to start perhaps with an organisation above the parties like the United Nations'. This was said by Defence Minister Guido Crosetto to Mattino Cinque, who clarified that 'participation in a mission under the UN aegis, whose decision is up to Parliament, would mean acting within a framework of total security'.

Iraqi gas imports from Iran were completely cut off today, Baghdad's energy ministry spokesman said, following US and Israeli attacks on a major Iranian gas facility. Ahmed Moussa told the Iraqi News Agency (INA) that 'due to regional developments, Iranian gas supplies to Iraq were completely cut off an hour ago', resulting in a reduction of about 3,100 megawatts of power, which 'will certainly affect the network'. Despite Iraq's abundant oil and gas reserves, its power plants are heavily dependent on gas imported from Iran.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is not aware of the status of the nuclear plant in Isfahan, Iran. This was stated by the director general of the IAEA, Rafael Mariano Grossi, explaining that the one in Isfahan is a new plant ''underground, but we have not visited it yet''. Iran had informed the IAEA of the existence of the new facility and inspectors had been sent by Grossi at the end of June to inspect it, but were forced to cancel the mission after the nuclear complex was hit at the start of the twelve-day war with Israel. Therefore, Grossi explained from Washington, the IAEA is unable to say "whether it is simply an empty shed'', whether it houses concrete pads awaiting the installation of centrifuges, or whether some centrifuges have already been installed. "There are many questions that we will only be able to answer when we are able to return'' to Isfahan, Grossi said.

The governor of Asaluyeh in Iran, Eskandar Pasalar, said that the attacks on Iran's South Pars facilities meant that the 'swing of the war has shifted' towards a 'full-scale economic war'. Pasalar condemned the attack, calling it a 'political suicide' on the part of the US and Israel and said it marks a 'new phase in the war equations', reports the British newspaper Financial Times. 'Energy security in the region has reached ground zero,' Pasalar further stated.

According to a military source who spoke to the Israel Hayom newspaper, Israel foresees an escalation by Iran after the attack on the South Pars gas facility: 'Tehran will probably respond by trying to hit energy infrastructure in Israel and throughout the region'. According to data from the US Energy Information Administration (Eia), natural gas supplies about 86% of Iran's electricity production, making this field a vital artery for the Iranian economy and the country's energy supply.

A projectile hit the Bushehr nuclear power plant in southwestern Iran, reported Iran, which notified the IEA of the incident, and the Russian state-owned company Rosatom - which has helped develop the plant that has been operational since 2011, the only civil nuclear power plant in Iran. The CEO of Rosatom, Aleksei Likhachyov, explained that last night a spot adjacent to the plant's operating unit with sensors and measuring instruments was hit. There were no casualties and radioactive levels are within normal limits. "We categorically condemn what happened and call on all parties to exert all possible efforts to de escalate the situation in the vicinity of the Bushehr nuclear power plant," Likhachyov added. Tehran notified the IAEA that "a projectile hit the Bushehr site last night" and specified that there were no casualties or damage, the same agency in Vienna reported. Earlier this month, following the start of US and Israeli attacks on Iran, construction of two more units at the Bushehr plant was suspended, although Russian personnel sent to Iran remained at the site for maintenance operations. According to Likhachyov, about 480 Rosatom employees are still in Iran after two different operations to evacuate personnel from the country.

"Italia is not participating in this war, no European nation is participating in this war, it is not our war. We have every interest, the whole world has an interest that Hormuz should not be involved in this war, because more than 20 per cent of the gas and oil that every day supplies the rest of the world, all the commercial activities, all the life in the rest of the world, passes through that Strait. An international agreement is needed for this to happen. We as Italia would be very happy if there was a mission that brought the whole world together to guarantee the passage of energy to Hormuz. However, it is not a feasible thing to send ships that could be interpreted as participating in war and not in a corridor of peace. The way to create it is to start perhaps with an organisation above the parties like the United Nations'. This was said by Defence Minister Guido Crosetto on Mattino Cinque, who specified: 'Participation in a mission under the aegis of the UN, whose decision is up to Parliament, would mean acting in a framework of total security

"Remember, for all those absolute 'idiots' out there, that Iran is considered by all to be the MAIN SPONSOR STATE OF TERRORISM. We are quickly putting them out of business!" This was written on Truth Social by US President Donald Trump, who in another post wrote: "I wonder what would happen if we 'eliminated' what's left of the Iranian terrorist state and let the countries that use it, we don't, take responsibility for the so-called 'Straits'? That would make some of our unresponsive 'allies' move fast!!!".

According to Iranian state media, part of the South Pars gas field and Asaluyeh facilities were hit by a US-Israeli attack. "Part of the oil and gas facilities in South Pars and Asaluyeh were targeted by the Zionist-American enemy," the Mizan news agency reported.

Sweden has announced that Iran has executed a Swedish citizen, who was arrested by authorities in Tehran in June 2025. "It is with dismay that I learned of the news of the execution of a Swedish citizen in Iran today," Foreign Minister Malmer Stenergard said in a statement quoted by the Tt news agency.

He is Kourosh Keyvani, who was arrested on the fourth day of the so-called 12-Day War by the Revolutionary Guard intelligence. This was announced by the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Stockholm, Maria Malmer Stenergard

Israel has announced that it has suspended shipments of Unicef aid to Gaza from Egypt following an attempt to smuggle tobacco and nicotine products. Cogat, the Israeli military body in charge of coordinating aid to Gaza, said it found the products yesterday during an inspection of a Unicef aid shipment at the Kerem Shalom crossing. Lieutenant General Yoram Halevi of Cogat said they found bottles containing nicotine substances hidden inside boxes of hygiene kits, and let it be known that the suspension will remain in place until Unicef provides an explanation.

Oil prices rose again after the Iranian official media reported an attack on the country's oil facility in Asaluyeh. Wti crude oil, which was losing ground in the morning with a drop of more than 3 per cent, immediately changed course and has now risen again to 95.5 dollars a barrel, down 0.7 per cent.

"I wonder what would happen if we 'eliminated' what remains of the Iranian terrorist state and let the countries that use it, we don't, take responsibility for the so-called 'Strategy'? That would make some of our unresponsive 'allies' move fast!!!" This was written by US President Donald Trump on his social Truth, speculating about giving the Strait of Hormuz to the countries that use it.

The IDF spokesman confirms the killing of Iranian Intelligence Minister Ismail Khatib in a targeted attack by the Israeli Air Force tonight in Tehran. "Khatib had been appointed intelligence minister by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in 2021. In his role, he played a key role in supporting the regime's internal repression and terrorist activities through surveillance, spying and carrying out covert operations around the world, particularly against the State of Israel and Iranian citizens themselves," the spokesman's statement reported.

The State Department has ordered all US embassies and consulates worldwide to "immediately" initiate a review of security measures, referring to "the ongoing situation in the Middle East and possible spillover effects". This is what is stated in a cable sent to "all locations worldwide" with the order to convene Emergency Action Committees, multi-agency teams designated to identify and counter threats, with the aim of reviewing their "security posture". Since the beginning of the war against Iran, messages of this kind have been sent to diplomatic offices in the region, but this is the first time that the message - sent by Under Secretary Jason Evans and signed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, according to the Washington Post, which has seen the confidential document - has been sent globally. In these more than two weeks of conflict, several American diplomatic offices in the region have been the target of attacks by Iran and its proxies, with the US embassy in Riyadh in particular suffering extensive damage, with part of the roof collapsing after a drone strike. There was no shortage of incidents outside the region, including gunfire outside the US consulate in Toronto and an explosion near the US embassy in Oslo.

Saudi Arabia will host the foreign ministers of Arab and Islamic countries in Riyadh this evening for a meeting dedicated to 'security' in the region. This was confirmed by the foreign ministry of the Gulf monarchy, which on X speaks of a 'consultative ministerial meeting' with the 'aim of further consultation and coordination on ways to support security and stability in the region'.

(About 20,000 sailors are stranded on board 3,200 ships in the Persian Gulf, west of the Strait of Hormuz, due to the war in Iran. This was announced by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO). Imo Secretary General Arsenio Dominguez urged the ships' flag states and coastal countries to give 'priority to supporting seafarers in distress' and 'encouraged their repatriation wherever possible'.

Further reading

Iran - Israel - US crisis, the impact of the Strait of Hormuz

15 June 2025

The head of the Iranian Judiciary, Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejei, said that despite the ongoing conflict with the US and Israel and the killing of the Islamic Republic's most important leaders, there is no disruption in the country's administration. "The enemy believed that by imposing war, the country's stability would be compromised," Ejei said, as reported by the Iranian Judiciary website 'Mizan' on X. "Despite the martyrdom of great figures in the country, including the Supreme Guide (Ali Khamenei) and commanders, there has been no disruption in the people's resolve or in the country's administration; on the contrary, motivation, resistance and steadfastness have increased," the head of the Iranian Judiciary added.

''Important surprises are expected in the course of the day in all areas''. This was announced by Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz, saying in a meeting with top security officials that ''we are intensifying the war we are waging against Iran and Hezbollah''. Katz added that ''the intensity of the attacks in Iran is increasing: we are in the middle of the decisive phase. Israel's policy is clear and unequivocal: no one in Iran enjoys immunity and everyone is in the crosshairs'.

Among the gutted buildings and dust-covered streets of Beirut's southern suburbs, the grave timbre of a cello resounds at dawn. In Haret Hreik, one of the neighbourhoods of the Lebanese capital hardest hit by Israel's fury, Lebanese musician Mahdi Sahili chose to sit among the rubble and play two pieces by Antonin Dvorak and Aram Khatchatourian. The video, spread on social media, has gone viral. And it recounts with a few images the pain caused by the war, recalling other similar gestures born in martyred cities: the piano played among the ruins of the Palestinian camp of Yarmuk in Damascus by Ayham Ahmad and the cello of Bosnian musician Vedran Smailović who, during the siege of Sarajevo, played among the bombed streets, defying the snipers.

The Iranian Intelligence Ministry stated that it had dismantled 'monarchist cells' and arrested four alleged spies in the service of the United States, as part of an operation conducted throughout the country. According to the statement reported by the Tasnim news agency, '111 people, members of monarchist paramilitary cells in 26 provinces of the country, were identified and arrested' and 'numerous weapons' were found. "In addition, four spies of the US regime and its proxy services were identified and arrested" in the provinces of Hamedan and West Azerbaijan, who "reported to the enemy the location of headquarters, equipment depots, and the deployment of security forces," the note states.

Further reading

Reza Pahlavi, the exiled prince at the centre of the ambiguities of Iran's future

11 January 2026

Around 90 ships, including oil tankers, have crossed the Strait of Hormuz since the beginning of the war, allowing Iran to continue exporting over 16 million barrels of oil despite the fact that the waterway is effectively closed. According to maritime data company Lloyd's List Intelligence, many of the ships that crossed the strait were part of so-called 'shadow fleets', designed to evade sanctions and supervision by Western governments and probably linked to Iran. Ships with links to India and Pakistan also managed to cross the strait, as negotiations between the governments intensified. Due to Western sanctions and their associated risks, China has been the main buyer of Iranian oil. Again according to Lloyd's List Intelligence, at least 89 ships crossed the Strait of Hormuz between 1 and 15 March, including 16 oil tankers. This is down from around 100-135 daily transits before the war. More than a fifth of the 89 ships were believed to be affiliated with Iran, while the remainder included Chinese and Greek ships.

Further reading

A safe maritime corridor for oil: the 'Black Sea' model that could unlock Hormuz

17 March 2026

We will need ''a negotiated agreement'' that can ''contain the Iranian threat'' once ''the fighting stops'' that ''has weakened the Iranian regime's military capabilities''. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer wrote this in a post on Substack. "It is now clear that the US operation has greatly weakened the military capabilities of the abominable Iranian regime, but the question is: what happens next?" wondered Stermar. "When the fighting stops, we will need some kind of negotiated settlement to contain the threat posed by Iran, to limit its ability to rebuild its nuclear programme, to pose a ballistic missile threat, to arm its proxy militias and to limit the threat it can pose to international shipping,'' the British PM stressed.

"Russia strongly condemns any action aimed at harming the health or, even more so, killing or liquidating representatives of the Iranian leadership, as well as those of other countries," Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said in the daily briefing to journalists.

Further reading

This is why Khamenei's death risks leaving Putin more isolated

01 March 2026

NATO will deploy another US Patriot air defence system in southern Turkey. This was announced by the Turkish Ministry of Defence as part of the measures taken by the alliance to strengthen its defences against missile threats linked to the war with Iran. The system will be deployed in the province of Adana, where the Incirlik air base is located, where US and other allied countries' personnel are stationed, the ministry added. This was reported by Anadolu Agency. "In addition to the nationwide measures in Adana, another Patriot system is being implemented in addition to the Spanish Patriot system already in use," the ministry said.

Israel conducted an air raid in Iran with the aim of eliminating Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmaeil Khatib overnight. The Ynet website writes this. According to Iran International, the London-based Iranian opposition newspaper, the raid was successful and the minister was killed.

Two people died of serious injuries in the impact of an Iranian ballistic missile in the Tel Aviv suburb of Ramat Gan. This was announced by the Israeli emergency services.

The Iranian Revolutionary Guardians have announced that they hit over 100 Israeli targets in the attack launched to "avenge the martyrdom of Ali Larijani", the secretary of the Supreme National Security Council who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Monday night. "In the 61st wave of attacks since the beginning of Operation True Promise 4, in response to the Israeli-American military campaign against Iran, the Iranian Armed Forces launched a barrage of Khorramshahr-4, Qadr, Emad and Khaybar-shekan missiles against Tel Aviv to avenge the martyrdom of the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Ali Larijani, and his associates,' reads the note reported by Iranian news agencies, 'the Khorramshahr-4 and Qadr missiles, equipped with multiple warheads, penetrated the Zionist regime's sophisticated multi-layered air defence system and successfully struck over 100 military and security targets in the heart of the occupied territories.

I residenti si radunano sul luogo dell'attacco missilistico iraniano che ha causato la morte di due persone a Ramat Gan, in Israele, mercoledì 18 marzo 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg) Associated Press / LaPresse Solo Italia e Spagna

South Korea will receive an additional 18 million barrels of oil from the United Arab Emirates. About 70 per cent of South Korea's crude oil imports transit through the Strait of Hormuz, which has been blocked by Iran since the start of the Israeli-US offensive against the country on 28 February. "The United Arab Emirates will deliver six million barrels via three Emirates-flagged ships, and another 12 million barrels will be delivered by six South Korean-flagged ships," announced Kang Hoon-sik, the president's chief of staff, at a press conference. The oil will be delivered through 'diversified supply channels', he specified, without giving further details on the route. "Given that 70 per cent of the crude oil we import transits through the Strait of Hormuz, there is an urgent need to ensure alternative supply routes that bypass the strait," he added. The country, the world's eighth largest consumer of crude oil, has also reached an agreement with the United Arab Emirates that allows it to 'make emergency purchases of crude oil at any time'.

Oil prices fell sharply on the markets after the agreement between Iraq and the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan to reactivate the pipeline that runs through Turkey, thus avoiding the blockade of Hormuz. Texas' Wti crude oil dropped 3.3 per cent while Brent crude fell 2 per cent, revising the $101 per barrel mark. Iraq, one of the Opec members, saw its crude production fall by a third to about 1.4 million barrels per day. The reopening of the pipeline, according to Bloomberg's estimates, may however only partially rebalance the pre-war numbers.

Four explosions were heard in Erbil, Iraqi Kurdistan. This was reported by Afp journalists.

Iran has executed a man accused of spying for Israel. This was reported by Reuters, relaying the Mizan agency, linked to the Iranian judicial system, according to which the convicted man was named Kurosh Keyvani. The execution took place today, the day after the killing of the Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Ali Larijani, claimed by Israel. According to the same source, Keyvani was found guilty of providing Mossad, the Israeli intelligence service, with photos and information on sensitive sites in Iran.

The Ministry of Defence of Saudi Arabia stated in a statement released on X that it had shot down a drone heading towards the embassy district. The news is reported by several international media. Furthermore, writes the BBC in particular, this morning there are reports of explosions in Dubai and Baghdad as Iran resumes its attacks against the Gulf states.

- Two people were seriously injured on the outskirts of Tel Aviv and the Savidor train station devastated by the latest missile launch from Iran. Missile fragments fell in a schoolyard in Jerusalem. Rescuers report this.

Stung by Iranian attacks and the disruption of the Strait of Hormuz, the United Arab Emirates and some other Persian Gulf states now consider the Iranian theocracy an existential enemy and want the regime they once courted to be neutralised, if not dismantled, at the end of the conflict, so that such an ordeal never happens again. The Wall Street Journal writes this, pointing out that the UAE has borne the brunt of the Iranian attacks: more than 2,000 drones and missiles have been fired at the country since the US and Israel started the war on 28 February. According to the government in Abu Dhabi, more than 80% of the attacks were directed against civilian infrastructure, including oil facilities, refineries, airports, ports, hotels and data centres, resulting in the deaths of six civilians and injuring 157 others. All six Gulf Cooperation Council states have so far refrained from reacting openly, limiting themselves to self-defence. "This is not a military exchange. This is an attack on a peaceful nation, a nation that has worked with commitment and dedication for diplomacy,' Sultan al-Jaber, UAE Minister of Industry and Advanced Technologies, said in an interview. "Any long-term political solution must address the full spectrum of threats, including Iran's nuclear programme, ballistic missile capabilities and the network of regional armed groups," added Jaber, who is also CEO of Iranian oil giant ADNOC.

The Israeli Air Force struck several Iranian military headquarters in Tehran yesterday during a series of attacks, according to military reports. According to the Israel Defence Forces, the targets included the headquarters of a security unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, "responsible for managing protests"; a maintenance centre for the internal security forces; and an Iranian ballistic missile force headquarters. The army also claims to have hit several Iranian air defence systems during the wave of attacks, 'to extend the air superiority of the air force over Iranian skies'. Meanwhile, Israeli air defence systems intercepted a missile attack from Iran. No casualties are reported at the moment.

The killing of the secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, Ali Larijani, does not destabilise the Iranian political system. This was said by the Iranian Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, in an interview with Al Jazeera.

"I do not understand why the Americans and Israelis have not yet understood this point: the Islamic Republic of Iran has a solid political structure with established political, economic, and social institutions," said Araghchi, "the presence or absence of a single individual does not affect this structure."

The USS Tripoli with about 2,200 marines on board has set sail from Singapore bound for the Middle East. Cnn reports this, citing informed sources.

- The Lebanese Ministry of Health said that two Israeli raids on downtown Beirut in the early hours of today killed at least six people and wounded 24 others, specifying that the toll is preliminary. "Human remains were also recovered at the scene and their identities will be determined through DNA tests," the ministry statement read.

The US Central Command announced that it had struck sites along the Iranian coast near the Strait of Hormuz. "A few hours ago, US forces launched several 5,000-pound armour-piercing projectiles at Iranian missile sites along the Iranian coast near the Strait of Hormuz," reads a command post in which it explains that "Iranian anti-ship missiles at these sites posed a risk to international shipping in the Strait."