Authorities in Dubai said Tuesday morning they "contained" a Kuwaiti oil tanker after it came under attack from Iran. Officials said there was "no oil leakage and no injuries reported." The Dubai Media office earlier said a drone hit the Kuwaiti tanker in Dubai waters.
Meanwhile, U.S. gas prices jumped past an average of $4 a gallon for the first time since 2022 as fuel prices continue to soar worldwide. The last time U.S. drivers were collectively paying this much at the pump was nearly four years ago, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Trump on Tuesday said nations upset by high fuel prices should "go get your own oil" as Iran maintains its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz.
Also, Israel and the U.S. launched a new wave of strikes on Iran, hitting Tehran in the early morning hours.
Here is the latest:
Officials condemn killing of UN peacekeepers as investigation continues
At an emergency U.N. Security Council session Tuesday, world powers denounced the two incidents in the last two days that led to the killing of three peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, saying it’s part of a pattern of aggression towards the officers carrying out the mission.
“These are sadly not the only dangerous incidents faced by UNIFIL’s courageous peacekeepers,” Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the U.N. peacekeeping chief, said during his briefing. “There has been a worrying increase in denials of freedom of movement and aggressive behavior.”
He described several incidents in the last week where the Israel Defense Forces fired warning shots at a UNIFIL patrol and days later another patrol was subjected to heavy small arms fire “from a group of approximately 20 individuals blocking the road.”
Lacroix added that the investigation into the origin of the attacks is ongoing and it’s not clear which side was responsible for the death of the three Indonesian officers.
Earlier Tuesday, Italy and France expressed concern over the attacks against U.N. personnel and Turkey has condemned such attacks.
FIFA’s president attends soccer game between Iran and Costa Rica
Players on Iran’s national soccer team used the friendly international game against Costa Rica on Tuesday to honor children allegedly killed by U.S. and Israeli airstrikes and bombardment of their country.
There were no spectators at the stadium in Antalya in southern Turkey but FIFA's President Gianni Infantino was present at the game.
They were joined by Iran’s coach Amir Ghalenoei, Iran’s Football Federation Vice President Mehdi Mohammad Nabi and staff members, posing with the photographs of children in their hands while singing the national anthem ahead of the match that served Iran as a World Cup warmup ahead of the tournament being co-hosted by the United States, Mexico and Canada.
China and Pakistan to promote five points aimed at ending the war
China and Pakistan agreed to promote a five-point proposal aimed at restoring peace in the Middle East after a monthlong war.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Tuesday received his Pakistani counterpart, Ishaq Dar, and both agreed on the five points they’ll pursue: an immediate cessation of hostilities, the start of peace talks as soon as possible, ensuring the safety of non-military targets, guaranteeing the safety of navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, and safeguarding the primacy of the U.N. charter.
Chinese state media and Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry announced the agreement.
Both countries called on all parties to follow the proposals, but they didn’t mention any other concrete steps.
Dar traveled to Beijing as Pakistan has been acting as a mediator between Iran and the United States. The South Asian country is using its relatively good ties with both Washington and Tehran to try to help end the war.
Seizing Kharg Island would risk US troops’ lives and may not end Iran war, experts say
President Trump is threatening to deploy ground troops to seize critical oil infrastructure on Iran's Kharg Island, a military gambit experts say would risk American lives and could still fail to end the war.
If Trump wants to hobble Iran's oil industry for leverage in negotiations, a better option might be setting up a blockade at sea against ships that have filled up at Kharg Island's oil terminals, the experts said.
The island — located on the other side of the Persian Gulf from U.S. bases in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia — is the beating heart of Iran's oil industry, through which 90% of its exports pass.
“Putting people on the ground might be the most psychologically compelling way of striking a blow at Iran,” said Michael Eisenstadt, a former U.S. military analyst who now directs the Military and Security Studies Program at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
“On the other hand, you’re putting your own troops at jeopardy,” said Eisenstadt, a retired Army reserve officer who served in Iraq. “It’s not far from the mainland. So they can potentially rain a lot of destruction on the island, if they’re willing to inflict damage on their own infrastructure.”
US stocks bounce back as crude oil prices stabilize
U.S. stocks are bouncing back as the spike for oil prices caused by the war with Iran slows.
The S&P 500 climbed 1.2% early Tuesday. A day earlier, it closed more than 9% below the all-time high it set early this year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 410 points, and the Nasdaq composite added 1.6%.
Steadying oil prices took some pressure off Wall Street. The worry is that if oil prices stay high for a long time because of the war, it could set off a brutal blast of global inflation. Treasury yields ease again in the bond market.
Death toll in Lebanon reaches 1,268 since the latest Israel-Hezbollah war began
The Health Ministry in Beirut said Tuesday that 21 people were killed and 70 wounded over the past 24 hours.
The ministry says 1,268 have been killed and 3,750 wounded since the latest Israel-Hezbollah war began March 2.
The dead include 125 children and 88 women, the ministry says.
Israeli airstrike kills a father and his 5-year-old son in southern Gaza
That’s according to health officials at Nasser hospital, where the casualties were taken Tuesday.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In the courtyard of Nasser hospital, the family and acquaintances of the father and his son gathered for the funeral prayer, carrying their bodies in white burial shrouds, in tears and agony.
The Gaza Strip has seen near-daily Israeli fire and strikes since a fragile ceasefire was reached in October and nearly 709 Palestinians have been killed since, according to figures from the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry. Israel and Hamas have traded accusations of violating the ceasefire.
Gaza’s militants have sat out the current Iran conflict.
Iranian foreign minister warns against targeting infrastructure
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Tuesday issued a warning against Israel “unashamedly” bombing pharmaceutical companies as part of the Iranian infrastructure the U.S. and Israel have been targeting since the war began.
“Their intentions are clear. What they’ve gotten wrong is that they’re not dealing with defenseless Palestinian civilians. Our Powerful Armed Forces will severely punish aggressors,” he wrote on X.
Israel’s defense minister outlined plans for Israeli invasion of Lebanon
Speaking to military officials, minister Israel Katz reiterated that the military aims to control the area south of the Litani River — some 20 miles (about 30 kilometers) north of the border.
He said Israel will prohibit the return of 600,000 Lebanese who fled the area over the last few weeks until safety and security were “ensured” for residents of Israel’s north.
Hezbollah and Israel have exchanged consistent cross-border fire since the latest flareup that began March 2. He said all homes in the Lebanese villages directly across the border from Israel would be demolished “in order to remove once and for all the threats near the border from residents of the north.”
Indonesian government implements efficiency measures as the Iran war squeezes the energy sector
The Indonesian government has started to implement a work-from-home policy for civil servants as an adaptive and proactive measure in response to global developments of the ongoing war in the Middle East that’s straining global supply chains, particularly in the energy sector.
“Implementing work-from-home arrangements for civil servants at the central and regional levels, with one workday per week on Fridays,” Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto said in a broadcasted conference Tuesday.
The government is also implementing mobility efficiency measures that include a 50% reduction in official vehicle use, except for operational purposes and electric vehicles, and encouraging the use of public transportation.
The measure include a reduction of up to 50% in domestic business trips and up to 70% in international business trips, Hartarto said.
Recommendations regarding working from home and efficiency have also been provided to the private sector, taking into account the needs and characteristics of each business.
Trump says the US isn’t pulling assets from around the Strait of Hormuz just yet
“At some point I will, not quite yet, but countries have to come in and take care of it,” he told CBS News in a telephone interview Tuesday. “Iran has been decimated, but they’re going to have to come in and do their own work.”
The conversation followed Trump’s social media post in which he lashed out at allies over their unwillingness to help the U.S. reopen the critical passageway. He said Iran has been “decimated” and no longer poses a “real threat.”
“Let them come up and take it. They didn’t want to give a hand to anybody. NATO is terrible, and they’re all terrible,” Trump said. “So if they want oil, come up and grab it.”
Hegseth says Britain and other allies should ‘step up’ to open the Strait of Hormuz
“There are countries around the world who ought be prepared to step up on this critical waterway as well,” Hegseth said Tuesday, speaking at a news conference from the Pentagon. “It’s not just the United States Navy. Last time I checked, there was supposed to be a big, bad Royal Navy that could be prepared to do things like that as well.”
In a social media post Tuesday, President Trump said nations upset by high fuel prices should “go get your own oil” as as average U.S. gas prices shot past $4 a gallon.
If countries don’t stand with you, it’s not much of an alliance, Hegseth says
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday the U.S. undertook the war in Iran for the “free world” and questioned the value of the NATO alliance if those countries don’t stand with America.
Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine have wrapped up a news conference at the Pentagon. Hegseth pointed to a social media post from President Donald Trump about allies and said Iranian missiles don’t reach the U.S. but could hit allies and others.
“The president’s pointing out you don’t have much of an, an alliance if you have countries that are not willing to stand with you when you need them,” Hegseth said.
Hegseth won’t say if US will put ‘boots on the ground’ in Iran
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declined to tell reporters Tuesday whether or not the U.S. military will deploy ground troops against Iran.
“You can’t fight and win a war if you tell your adversary what you are willing to do or what you are not willing to do to include boots on the ground,” he said.
Hegseth added: “Our adversary right now thinks there are 15 different ways we could come at them with boots on the ground. And guess what? There are. ”
Hegseth also said talks with Iran to end the conflict are ongoing.
“We don’t want to have to do more militarily than we have to,” he said. “But I didn’t mean it flippantly when I said, in the meantime, we’ll negotiate with bombs.”
Gen. Caine says US strikes are focused on Iranian naval targets and defense industrial sites
Speaking at a news conference from the Pentagon on Tuesday, Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said U.S. military action in Iran remains focused on “targeting their minelaying capability, their naval assets.”
“We’ve taken out again more than 150 ships,” Caine said, adding that attack helicopters are now joining in the effort targeting Iranian naval targets.
Another key objective of the war is disabling Iran’s defense industrial base, including nuclear research sites, Caine said.
“This includes factories, warehouses, nuclear weapons research and development labs, and the associated infrastructure required for Iran to reconstitute its combat capability,” Caine said.
UN’s refugee agency says more than 200,000 people crossed from Lebanon into Syria in March
The agency says the tally follows renewed fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in the war and covers a period from March 2 to March 27.
The vast majority – nearly 180,000 – were Syrians returning to their war-battered country, in addition to more than 28,000 Lebanese.
“Most are people fleeing the intense Israeli bombardments. They arrive exhausted, traumatized and with very, very few belongings,” UNHCR’s representative in Syria, Aseer Al-Madaien, told a U.N. briefing in Geneva by video from Damascus.
The agency has already helped more than 3 million people displaced both within Syria and abroad who’ve returned home following the fall of President Bashar Assad in December 2024.
Unlike the 2024 Israel-Hezbollah war, when Lebanese could flee across the border without visas, the current Syrian government has restricted the entry of Lebanese unless they have residency in Syria, a Syrian spouse or parent, or other exceptional circumstances.
Hegseth says he visited US troops fighting in Iran war
Speaking at a news conference from the Pentagon on Tuesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he visited American service members in the Middle East. He said he wouldn’t disclose the base names or locations for operational security.
Hegseth said he visited areas under the responsibility of U.S. Central Command on Saturday for about half a day.
“Suffice it to say, the trip was in honor,” Hegseth told reporters. “I had a chance to bear witness, and I witnessed the best of America.”
Israel begins new wave of airstrikes on Hezbollah in Beirut
Israel’s military says it has begun a new wave of airstrikes on Hezbollah infrastructure in Beirut.
Italy says its relationship with the US is ‘solid’ after reports it denied use of a base to the US
The Italian government says its relationship with the U.S. is “solid and based on full and loyal cooperation,” following reports it denied the use of a Sicilian base to U.S. aircraft headed to the Middle East.
The government of Premier Giorgia Meloni said in a statement that Italy is acting “in full compliance with existing international agreements and the government’s guidelines expressed in parliament.”
It said each request for military use of Italian bases is examined on a case-by-case basis, its longstanding procedure.
“No critical issues or frictions with international partners have been registered,” it added.
New airstrikes target Tehran
Airstrikes hit Iran’s capital, Tehran, on Tuesday afternoon as air defenses could be heard firing.
Trump says nations upset by high fuel prices should ‘go get your own oil’
U.S. President Donald Trump says nations upset by high fuel prices should ‘go get your own oil’ as Iran maintains its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz.
His comments in a social media post on Tuesday came as average U.S. gas prices shot past $4 a gallon.
He expressed his frustration toward allies that have been unwilling to help the U.S. reopen the critical passageway. He also said they should buy from the U.S. because “we have plenty.”
Gasoline and diesel prices jump in UAE
The United Arab Emirates set sharply highly gasoline and diesel fuel prices on Tuesday for the coming month, with gasoline going up by over 30% and diesel jumping up more than 70%.
The UAE government sets the price monthly in line with international pricing, which has spiked over the Iran war and Tehran maintaining its chokehold over the Strait of Hormuz.
In the UAE, diesel fuel will jump to 4.69 dirhams ($1.28) a liter, up from 2.72 dirhams (74 cents). The new price is $4.38 a gallon for diesel, lower than the average gallon of diesel in the U.S., which sits at $5.45 a gallon.
Premium gasoline in the UAE will be 3.39 dirhams (92 cents) a liter. That’s $3.49 a gallon, where premium on average in the U.S. is $4.90 a gallon.
Egyptian president briefs Russia leader in call
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi briefed Russian leader Vladimir Putin about Egypt’s efforts to de-escalate in the region during a phone call Tuesday, according to el-Sissi’s office.
He said Russia is able to help put an end to the war, a statement from the office said.
Italy refuses US permission to use air base
Italy has refused permission for U.S. military assets to use the Sigonella air base in Sicily for an operation linked to the Middle East offensive, an official said.
The refusal was issued a few days ago and concerned U.S. aircraft including bombers, which were intended to land at the base before continuing toward the Middle East, the official said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
Under agreements governing U.S. military use of bases in Italy, Rome must be formally consulted and grant approval before operations can proceed.
The request was denied because Italian authorities were not alerted in time and the U.S. assets included bombers, the official said.
Premier Giorgia Meloni’s government has pledged decisions involving military actions would require parliamentary approval.
Italy’s defense ministry did not immediately issue a statement on the decision.
Turkey condemns attacks on UN peacekeepers in Lebanon
Turkey has denounced attacks targeting personnel with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon as a serious violation of international law.
The statement from the Turkish Foreign Ministry issued Tuesday added that those responsible for attacking UNIFIL peacekeepers must face justice.
The statement criticized Israel’s invasion of Lebanon, saying it was deepening regional instability, and issued a call to the international community to end “Israel’s expansionism, aggression, and occupation.”
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