The siege of Hormuz is pushing already-fragile Iraq, Lebanon and Syria deeper into chaos while straining economies in Jordan and Egypt. Launching a war in such an energy-sensitive region without a plan is a dangerous strategic gamble with severe possible consequences
Stocks tumbled Monday and oil prices rose after Donald Trump and Iranian leaders traded threats over the key Strait of Hormuz, while Israel said the Middle East war could last several more weeks. With the conflict now in its fourth week and showing no sign of ending, the head
Energy industry leaders will converge on Texas this week for an annual conference dominated by oil and gas supply disruptions from the war launched by the United States and Israel against Iran. More than 10,000 attendees are expected for CERAWeek, the spring gathering in
By Maayan Lubell, Alexander Cornwell and Idrees Ali TEL AVIV/JERUSALEM/WASHINGTON, March 23 (Reuters) - Iran warned it would strike energy and water infrastructure across the Gulf if U.S. President Donald Trump follows through on his threat to attack its electricity grid,
Palestinian residents said Sunday that Israeli settlers torched buildings and cars in attacks on several villages in the occupied West Bank, with Israel's army condemning "violence of any kind" after the fact. The reported arson late Saturday came in the midst of a spate of
With Iranian strikes hitting targets, the UAE's reporting grew more opaque. Authorities have also arrested over 100 people for filming sites and sharing videos of the attacks
Hundreds of Syrians protested in central Damascus on Sunday against new restrictions on alcohol sales, reflecting wider fears that the Islamist authorities may tighten curbs on personal freedoms. The Syrian capital last week banned the sale of alcoholic beverages in restaurants
The Israeli military announced Sunday it was expanding its ground campaign against Hezbollah in Lebanon, warning of a lengthy operation, after Beirut condemned what it called Israel's flagrant violations of Lebanese sovereignty. Israeli forces were ordered earlier Sunday to
Israel struck more targets in south Lebanon on Sunday, including a key bridge, triggering a warning from the Lebanese president that it could be preparing a full ground invasion. Israel's military was ordered to destroy bridges it said are used by the Iran-backed militant group
Here are the latest economic events in the Middle East war: - IEA chief issues warnings - International Energy Agency chief Fatih Birol warned on Monday that the global economy is under "major threat" from the energy crisis caused by the Middle East war, adding that "no country
Isfahan's monumental landmarks, among the greatest achievements of Islamic architecture, have been damaged in recent weeks by bombings, even as some voices in Iran direct their anger elsewhere
The three men are the first executed among tens of thousands arrested in a January crackdown. The director of Iran Human Rights said the executions were 'intended to instill fear in society and deter new protests' amid the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran
The United States may need to "escalate" its attacks against Iran to be able to wind down the war, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Sunday, after President Donald Trump gave seemingly contradictory trajectories for the US military campaign. Trump on Saturday threatened to
WASHINGTON, March 22 (Reuters) - The U.S. government has "plenty of money" to fund the war against Iran, but is requesting supplemental funding from Congress to ensure the military is well supplied in the future, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday. Bessent,
Iran's strike on Qatar's gas facility could disrupt global energy and tech supply chains by affecting helium production. Qatar produces about a third of the world's helium, but production has been halted and exports are expected to drop by 14 percent
DUBAI, March 22 (Reuters) - Iran will completely shut the strategic Strait of Hormuz if U.S. President Trump executes threats to target Iranian energy facilities, the country's Revolutionary Guards said in a statement on Sunday. Trump on Saturday threatened to "obliterate"
No damage was reported following the attacks. Meanwhile, it was reported on Saturday that a U.S.-operated Patriot air defense battery likely fired the interceptor missile involved in the March 9 explosion, which injured over 30
By Alexander Cornwell and Dedi Hayun TEL AVIV/ARAD March 22 (Reuters) - Southern Israeli towns woke to widespread damage on Sunday after air defences failed to intercept two Iranian missiles overnight that injured scores of civilians in one of the worst attacks of the war so
VATICAN CITY, March 22 (Reuters) - Pope Leo on Sunday said death and suffering caused by the war in the Middle East are a "scandal to the whole human family", renewing his plea for an immediate ceasefire. As the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran enters its fourth week, the first U.S.
By Alexander Cornwell TEL AVIV, March 22 (Reuters) - Israel's military has been ordered to destroy all bridges over Lebanon's Litani River and to step up the demolition of Lebanese homes near the Israeli border, the country's defence minister said on Sunday. Earlier, an Israeli
Here are the latest developments in the Middle East war on Monday: - Iraqi group extends pause in US embassy attacks - Kataeb Hezbollah -- an Iran-backed armed group in Iraq -- says it will extend its five-day pause on attacking the US embassy in Baghdad, announced Thursday.
Belgium on Sunday marked 10 years since 2016 jihadist bombings in Brussels, a trauma that still scars the country and that authorities say sharpened focus on intelligence and counterterrorism. The March 22, 2016 attacks claimed by the Islamic State group left 32 people dead and
Galit Amir said she thought the presence of a key Israeli nuclear facility on the edge of her hometown Dimona meant it would be well-protected by air defences during the war with Iran. But that sense of security was torn apart Saturday evening when a direct strike by an Iranian
By Maayan Lubell, Alexander Cornwell and Idrees Ali TEL AVIV/JERUSALEM/WASHINGTON, March 22 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump and Iran threatened to escalate their war by attacking energy facilities in the Gulf, a potential widening of hostilities which could deepen a
The threat of Iranian attacks during the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran has kept most ships from passing through the strait, the conduit for around a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas supplies. Trump threatened to hit Iranian power plants if the strait wasn't opened
Iran threatened on Sunday to "irreversibly destroy" key infrastructure across the Middle East if US President Donald Trump follows through on his vow to "obliterate" the Islamic republic's power plants unless the Strait of Hormuz swiftly reopens. The tit-for-tat threats came as
Israel warned its citizens Sunday to expect weeks more fighting against Iran, after Washington and Tehran traded threats to destroy power plants or block oil and gas exports. The tit-for-tat rhetoric came as the war that has seen drone and missile strikes across the Middle
Iran on Sunday vowed to "irreversibly" destroy key infrastructure across the Middle East if US President Donald Trump acted on his threat to knock out the Islamic republic's power plants unless the Strait of Hormuz was swiftly reopened. Iran also vowed to fully close the strait
Iran threatened on Sunday to attack key infrastructure across the Middle East if US President Donald Trump follows through on his vow to "obliterate" the Islamic republic's power plants unless the Strait of Hormuz swiftly reopens. Iran's defiant response came after its missiles
Iran on Monday faces a deadline by President Donald Trump to open up the crucial Strait of Hormuz or face a major US assault on power plants, as Israel warned of weeks more of war. Israel also gave the clearest signs yet it intends a ground campaign into Lebanon, destroying a
LONDON, March 22 (Reuters) - British cabinet minister Steve Reed said on Sunday that U.S. President Trump spoke for himself when he threatened to "obliterate" Iran's power plants if Tehran did not fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours. Asked what Britain's position
As the Head of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in the Holy Land, I urge the U.S. Ambassador to read the Bible carefully: The land was promised to all of the descendants of Abraham. And rather than justifying modern territorial expansion, the Bible cautions that God sides with
In the suffocating darkness of a sealed shipping container, every thud signalled to Ibrahim Noureldin that one more detainee had died in the crush as Sudanese paramilitary fighters kept forcing more men inside. Thousands of people are estimated to have been detained in the
DUBAI, March 22 (Reuters) - The Strait of Hormuz remains open to all shipping except vessels linked to "Iran's enemies", Iran's representative to the U.N. maritime agency said on Sunday, after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to target Iranian power plants if the waterway
By Jonathan Landay, M.B. Pell and Travis Hartman March 22 (Reuters) - An American-operated Patriot air defense battery likely fired the interceptor missile involved in a pre-dawn explosion that injured dozens of civilians and tore through homes in U.S.-ally Bahrain 10 days into
Sheltering from an Iranian missile attack on his town in southern Israel on Saturday, 17-year-old Ido Franky heard "terrifying" blasts like nothing he had experienced before. An Iranian missile hit Franky's town of Arad, hours after another struck Dimona -- home to a nuclear
TOKYO, March 22 (Reuters) - Japan could consider deploying its military for minesweeping in the Strait of Hormuz, a vital artery for global oil supplies, if a ceasefire is reached in the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said on Sunday. "If there were