MUNICH, March 6 (Reuters) - German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Friday called for Iran's territorial integrity to be preserved as the war against Tehran initiated by Israel and the United States last week threatens to expand across the Middle East. Merz said that the collapse
By John Davison BAGHDAD, March 6 (Reuters) - Iran has spent decades and billions of dollars preparing foreign proxy fighters like A.J., a commander in a pro-Iranian paramilitary group in Iraq, for a moment just like this. Since the U.S. and Israel went to war on the Islamic
By Emma Farge GENEVA, March 6 (Reuters) - The World Health Organization said on Friday that medical supplies in Gaza were running critically low despite Israel's reopening of a key crossing this week. Supplies of some items such as gauze and needles have already run out, said
A US submarine this week torpedoing an Iranian warship during the Middle East conflict raised the crucial question of who controls the seas during wartime. The sinking of IRIS Dena on Wednesday in international waters off the coast of Sri Lanka killed at least 86 crew members,
By Jonathan Spicer, Feras Dalatey and Jonathan Saul ISTANBUL/DAMASCUS/LONDON, March 6 (Reuters) - Turkey’s intelligence agency asked itsBritish counterpart MI6 last month to take a larger role in protecting Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa after recent assassination plots,
By Michele Kambas NICOSIA, March 6 (Reuters) - A drone strike this week on a British air base in Cyprus has renewed calls for an end to British military presence on the Mediterranean island as many fear being dragged into the wider Iran conflict. Cypriot politicians have long
Iranian drone strikes on Azerbaijan have raised fears that the Middle East war could spill into the Caucasus, as Baku, an ally of Israel, vows to respond. Azerbaijan announced on Friday it was withdrawing diplomatic staff from Iran, a day after drones launched from Iranian
Israel's air superiority over Iranian skies in the war with the Islamic republic reflects decades of strategic thinking and a singular partnership with Washington, experts told AFP. Its air force appears to have been able to bomb Iran at will, a success owed to "20 years of
BEIRUT, March 6 (Reuters) - About 100,000 people have fled to shelters in Lebanon and the number of displaced is expected to rapidly increase following "unprecedented" Israeli warnings ordering people out of large parts of the country, a senior U.N. official said on Friday.
By Uditha Jayasinghe GALLE, Sri Lanka, March 6 (Reuters) - Sri Lankan authorities said on Friday they were escorting a second Iranian naval vessel to harbour and moving 208 of its crew to a camp, two days after a U.S. submarine sank an Iranian warship in the same area.
By Emily Rose JERUSALEM, March 6 (Reuters) - Israeli attacks against Lebanon's Iranian-backed Hezbollah group will likely continue after its joint air war with the U.S. against Iran ends, a source briefed on Israel's military strategy told Reuters, describing the two fronts as
GENEVA, March 6 (Reuters) - The U.N. refugee agency said on Friday that nearly 100,000 people have been displaced within Lebanon and tens of thousands of Syrian refugees there have fled back over the border, calling the situation in the region a "major humanitarian emergency".
GENEVA, March 6 (Reuters) - The United Nations human rights chief will travel to Washington this month, he said on Friday, but expressed doubt he could influence the development of the Middle East crisis amid mounting concerns. "I hope to go to Washington D.C. later this month,
BAKU, March 6 (Reuters) - Azerbaijan is evacuating its diplomats from Iran for their own safety, Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov said on Friday, a day after Baku said four Iranian drones had crossed its border and injured four people in the Nakhchivan exclave. Speaking at a
State officials have said their leadership is growing discontent about the way the Trump administration is handling the war effort, particularly its preferential defense of Israel relative to its allies in the Gulf
By Olivia Le Poidevin GENEVA, March 6 (Reuters) - Large-scale evacuation orders issued by the Israeli army for southern Lebanon and Beirut's southern suburbs raise serious concerns under international law, the U.N. human rights chief said on Friday. "These blanket, massive
By Olivia Le Poidevin and Emma Farge GENEVA, March 6 (Reuters) - Key humanitarian air, sea and land routes are being constricted by disruption from the war in the Middle East, delaying life-saving shipments to some of the world's worst crises, 10 aid officials have told
By Mohammad Yunus Yawar KABUL, March 6 (Reuters) - Pakistani and Afghan troops exchanged fire at dozens of points along their border on Friday as the U.N. said their week-old conflict has forced the displacement of more than 100,000 people. The South Asian nations show no signs
Fresh Israeli strikes on Friday battered Lebanon, where Prime Minister Nawaf Salam warned "a humanitarian disaster is looming" due to mass displacement. An Israeli strike on an office building in the southern city of Sidon killed five people and wounded seven, the Lebanese
Israeli air strikes left behind massive destruction in Beirut's southern suburbs on Friday morning, with the Israeli military saying it had destroyed Hezbollah targets. The attacks came after the Israeli military issued an unprecedented evacuation warning for the area, which is
SEOUL, March 6 (Reuters) - South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun said on Friday the U.S. and South Korean militaries are discussing the possible redeployment of some U.S. Patriot missile defence systems based in South Korea to be used in the war against Iran. Cho was
COPENHAGEN, March 6 (Reuters) - Maersk, one of the world's biggest container shipping groups, said on Friday it has temporarily suspended two services linking the Middle East to Asia and Europe as the Iran conflict continues to disrupt global supply chains. The Danish group
PARIS, March 6 (Reuters) - Around 50 French ships are currently blocked in the Persian Gulf and another eight in the Red Sea, France's Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot said on Friday, as Paris seeks support to build a coalition of countries to secure shipping traffic in the
Here are the latest main events related to the war in the Middle East: - 'Underestimated' - Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said "some countries" had begun mediation efforts to end the war. "Mediation should address those who underestimated the Iranian people and ignited
Global stock markets fluctuated and oil prices jumped Friday at the end of a volatile week's trading unleashed by the Middle East conflict. Stock markets have been rattled by the US-Israel war on Iran and Tehran's retaliatory attacks across the Gulf region, which have upended
Asian markets mostly down Friday as the war in the Middle East showed no sign of ending, though there was some reprieve from the surge in oil prices after the United States looked to ease supply concerns. After a torrid week on trading floors, investors were limping into the
Asian markets were mixed Friday as the war in the Middle East showed no sign of ending, though there was some reprieve from the surge in oil prices after the United States looked to ease supply concerns. After a torrid week on trading floors, investors were limping into the
By Xinghui Kok, Rae Wee and Yantoultra Ngui SINGAPORE/DUBAI, March 6 (Reuters) - Soon after the first Iranian missile and drone attacks on Dubai last week, two Indian entrepreneurs based there tried to move more than $100,000 each from their local bank accounts to Singapore to
BEIRUT/JERUSALEM, March 6 (Reuters) - Israel carried out heavy airstrikes on the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs of Beirut overnight after ordering its residents to leave, while the Iran-backed group warned Israelis to leave towns and villages at the frontier. Explosions
While the Israeli prime minister gave recorded statements and an interview to Fox News, he has yet to answer questions from the Israeli media or hold a press conference. By contrast, President Trump granted interviews to U.S. outlets and responded directly to reporters' questions
The Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court also canceled the house arrest and restrictive conditions imposed by the police. 'It is unacceptable that the fact that a person has a different opinion, however extreme, grants authorities the right to carry out unlawful actions,' the ruling said
The girls' school in Minab, in southern Iran, was hit on Saturday during the first day of U.S. and Israeli attacks on the country. Iran's ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva, Ali Bahreini, said the strike killed 150 students. Reuters could not independently confirm the death toll
By Jeslyn Lerh SINGAPORE, March 6 (Reuters) - Fuel oil traders in Asia are struggling to secure alternative supply as the Iran war curtails shipments from key Middle Eastern suppliers through the Strait of Hormuz, prompting them to look to the West for replacement cargoes.
JAKARTA, March 6 (Reuters) - Indonesia's President Prabowo Subianto has reassured local Islamic groups that he will withdraw from U.S. President Donald Trump's 'Board of Peace' if the platform does not benefit Palestinians, a government statement said on Friday. The
Fresh strikes rocked Iran and Lebanon on Friday, as Israel vowed to escalate to a new phase in the Middle East war that has spiralled rapidly throughout the region and beyond. AFPTV images from Beirut's southern suburbs showed mangled buildings and burned-out vehicles after
Heavy attacks were reported in Tehran on Friday after Israel said it was hitting "regime infrastructure" in a "new phase" of the war it launched with the United States against Iran. As the conflict entered its seventh day, its regional repercussions continued -- with Qatar
By Parisa Hafezi and Steve Holland DUBAI/WASHINGTON, March 6 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump encouraged Iranian Kurdish forces in Iraq to launch attacks against Iran as the Middle East conflict widened, with Azerbaijan warning it would retaliate for being targeted by
By Julie Zhu HONG KONG, March 6 (Reuters) - Emirates and Etihad Airways were resuming limited flight schedules to key global cities from their United Arab Emirates hubs on Friday, though the ongoing threat of missile fire piled pressure on airlines as they scramble to
By Steve Holland, Jarrett Renshaw, Nandita Bose and Bo Erickson WASHINGTON, March 5 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Thursday he was not concerned about rising U.S. gas prices driven by the widening Iran conflict, telling Reuters in an exclusive interview that the
March 6 (Reuters) - Lebanon's Hezbollah warned Israeli residents to evacuate towns within 5 km (3.11 miles) of the border between the countries in a message posted on its Telegram channel in Hebrew early on Friday. Hezbollah's message came less than a day after Israel warned
By Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali March 5 (Reuters) - U.S. military investigators believe it is likely that U.S. forces were responsible for an apparent strike on an Iranian girls' school that killed scores of children on Saturday but have not yet reached a final conclusion or
(Fixes typo in headline) SYDNEY, March 6 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Friday that three Australian defence personnel were on board a United States submarine that sank an Iranian warship with a torpedo in the Indian Ocean, but stressed they did not take
The latest Iranian missile barrage sparked a wave of explosions across Tel Aviv as firefighters worked to contain a blaze at a residential building near Israel's commercial hub on Friday. The blasts came after Israel expanded its campaign against Hezbollah, vowing retribution
US Central Command (CENTCOM) has devised plans to prevent Iran’s remaining enriched uranium from being weaponized by remnants of the Iranian regime, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth suggested.
TAMPA, Florida, March 5 (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Thursday the United States was not expanding its military objectives in Iran, after President Donald Trump told Reuters that the United States must be involved in choosing the next leader of Iran.
WASHINGTON, March 5 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Thursday said Tehran was reaching out to the United States about making a deal amid U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran, adding that further action to reduce pressure on oil was imminent. "They're calling, they're saying
When the United States fought the 1991 Gulf War, president George H.W. Bush boasted of building a broad coalition unseen in decades. When his son attacked Iraq in 2003, he faced wide criticism but secured several steadfast US allies. Now, a generation later, President Donald
By Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON, March 5 (Reuters) - The U.S. House of Representatives rejected an effort on Thursday to stop President Donald Trump's air war on Iran and require that any hostilities against Iran be authorized by Congress, backing the Republican president's