Iran war news highlights: Iran strikes fully loaded Kuwait oil tanker after Trump’s Kharg island warning

Iran US war news LIVE updates: The spot price of Brent crude oil, the international standard, was around $115 early Monday, up nearly 60% from Feb. 28, when the US and Israel started the war with attacks on Iran. West Texas Intermediate jumped above $100.

Brent has surged around 60% in March as the war between the US, Israel and Iran upended global markets and triggered concern about a simultaneous spike in inflation and slowdown in growth.

The conflict has entered its fifth week and is showing no sign of abating despite a diplomatic push by Washington last week and separate peace talks over the weekend in Pakistan.

Iran US war news LIVE updates: Airlines across the world have started raising fares and cutting flight capacity to deal with the sharp rise in oil prices. However, the industry’s profits may depend on whether travellers reduce flying as fuel costs begin to affect household budgets.

Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airways has increased fuel surcharges twice in the past month. From Wednesday, a return ticket from Sydney to London will carry an $800 fuel surcharge. Before the Iran conflict, a standard round-trip economy fare on this route was about A$2,000 ($1,369.60).

Analysts told news agency Reuters that low-cost airlines may face the biggest challenge, as their passengers are more sensitive to price increases compared to business travellers and wealthier customers, who are increasingly being targeted by premium carriers such as Delta Air Lines and United Airlines.

Iran US war news LIVE updates: An Indian national was killed in Kuwait in Iranian strikes on a power and water desalination plant, taking the total number of Indian fatalities from the ongoing conflict in West Asia to eight since it began a month back.

Kuwait's Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy said a service building at the facility was damaged in Sunday's attack, Kuwait's state-run KUNA news agency reported.

The Indian embassy in Kuwait confirmed the death of the Indian national.

The embassy of India in Kuwait expresses its deepest condolences at the "tragic demise" of an Indian national due to an attack on a desalination facility in Kuwait, the mission said in a social media post.

"The Embassy is closely coordinating with the Kuwaiti authorities to render all possible support and assistance," it said.

Iran US war news LIVE updates: Iranian authorities executed two men on Monday after convicting them of membership in a banned opposition group and attempting to overthrow the Islamic republic, the judiciary said.

"After confirmation and final approval of the sentence by the Supreme Court, Akbar Daneshvarkar and Mohammad Taghavi-Sangdehi were hanged this morning," the judiciary's Mizan Online website said.

The executions come as Iran is at war with the United States and Israel following strikes against the Islamic republic on February 28 that triggered a wider regional conflict.

Iran US war news LIVE updates: A strike hit Beirut's southern suburbs on Monday, AFP reported, after Israel issued a warning for people in the Hezbollah stronghold to leave.

The strike is the first since Friday in the area, which is now largely deserted since Israel began frequent attacks against Hezbollah in early March.

Iran US war news LIVE updates: US President Donald Trump has raised the idea of American forces seizing Iran’s Kharg Island, its main oil terminal in the Persian Gulf.

“Maybe we take Kharg Island, maybe we don’t. We have a lot of options,” Trump told the Financial Times in an interview on Monday. “It would also mean we had to be there (on Kharg Island) for a while.”

Iran US war news LIVE updates: Qatar strongly condemned the Iranian strikes on a power station and desalination plant in Kuwait that killed an Indian worker.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasises the necessity of stopping the unjustified Iranian aggressions against sisterly states, and in this context, affirms the State of Qatar’s full solidarity with the State of Kuwait and its support for all measures it takes to preserve its sovereignty and security,” it said in a post on X.

Iran US war news LIVE updates: Saudi Arabia’s ministry of defence said on Monday that it had intercepted and destroyed five drones over the past few hours.

Earlier, the spokesperson for Kuwait’s National Guard said that forces had shot down a drone along with four other unmanned aerial vehicles.

Iran US war news LIVE updates: The spokesperson for Kuwait’s National Guard said on Monday that forces had shot down a drone along with four other unmanned aerial vehicles in areas under their control.

Earlier in Kuwait, an Indian national was killed in Iranian strikes on a power and water desalination plant, the Indian Embassy said on Monday.

Iran US war news LIVE updates: Iran’s Red Crescent Society said about 600 educational centres have been hit during strikes carried out by the United States and Israel.

Razieh Alishvandi, the body’s deputy for international affairs and humanitarian law, made the remarks on Sunday. She warned that such attacks breached international humanitarian law and amounted to war crimes, Iran's Press TV reported.

The sites that were hit included schools, universities, and other educational and academic institutions, she said. She added that the strikes had put the lives of schoolchildren, university students, researchers, and professors at risk.

Iran US war news LIVE updates: The Israeli military said the latest Iranian ballistic missile aimed at Israel, in the third attack since morning, was intercepted.

Sirens were heard in southern Israel, and no injuries have been reported.

Iran US war news LIVE updates: More than 1,000 people of Iranian descent gathered in the US capital on Sunday to voice support for the war, riding on calls to bring back Iran's exiled crown prince who has emerged as a figure of intense interest.

Reza Pahlavi, the US-based son of Iran's last shah who was ousted by the 1979 Islamic revolution, has positioned himself as a potential transitional leader following the killing of Tehran's supreme leader in US-Israeli strikes last month.

The rally on the lawn of the National Mall, not far from the White House, was a sea of Iranian and American flags, with chants of "USA! USA!" and "Javid shah" ("Long live the shah") bolstering the crowd, along with songs in Persian, news agency AFP reported.

Israeli authorities said they intercepted two drones over the strategically important port city of Eilat in the south and claimed that they had come from Yemen.

Ever since the Houthis entered this conflict a couple of days ago, the Israeli military, and especially their air defences, have known they have now engaged on a third front, and have been looking southwards to see what has been coming from Yemen.

What began with surprise US and Israeli strikes on Iran one month ago has hardened into a grinding stand-off, with no clear way out.

The conflict's opening blows on February 28 killed senior leaders in Tehran, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei – prompting retaliatory missile and drone attacks on Israel, US bases and Gulf infrastructure.

Years of tension over Iran's nuclear programme and its regional influence have now boiled over into open warfare, with diplomacy faltering as both sides entrench their positions.

On the ground in Iran, the violence is worsening what was already a strained human rights situation. News reporting from within the country carries daily images of damaged neighbourhoods, overwhelmed hospitals and families fleeing tit-for-tat strikes.

One incident in particular – the US airstrike on a school in Minab in southern Iran that left dozens of girls dead – highlights the scale of the devastation, as well as the war's murky legal context.

Future war crimes investigators will need to ask some obvious questions. Was the school a civilian site, was it used for military purposes, what precautions were taken and was the civilian harm excessive relative to any military advantage?

Only then will responsibility be able to be determined – but such clarity is likely to be a long way off.

Iran US war news LIVE updates: The Israeli military said on Monday that its air defence systems were responding to missiles fired from Iran.

"A short while ago, the IDF identified missiles launched from Iran toward the territory of the State of Israel," the military said in a statement.

"Defensive systems are operating to intercept the threat," it added, asking people to remain in shelters until further notice.

Iran US war news LIVE updates: Iranian media said on Monday that a facility belonging to Tabriz Petrochemical was hit in a northern province of the country. They added that no dangerous materials were released.

The company processes crude oil or natural gas into chemical products. These are then used to make common items such as plastics and other chemicals.

Iran US war news LIVE updates: The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Sunday that Iran's heavy water production plant in Khondab was no longer operational after an Israeli military strike.

The Israeli military said Friday it carried out a strike against a heavy water plant in Arak, central Iran, describing the site as a "key plutonium production site for nuclear weapons".

On Sunday, the IAEA said that based on an independent analysis of satellite imagery, the heavy water production plant at Khondab, which Iran reported had been attacked on 27 March, had "sustained severe damage and is no longer operational".

It added the "installation contains no declared nuclear material".

Iran US war news LIVE updates: US President Donald Trump is weighing a military operation to take control of Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium, as part of efforts to stop Tehran from developing nuclear weapons, the Wall Street Journal reported.

According to the report, the proposal being discussed involves US forces going into Iran to secure and remove about 1,000 pounds of enriched uranium.

Officials told the newspaper that the operation could require troops to remain inside the country for several days or even longer.

The report said Trump has not taken a final call and is also asking his advisers to explore a diplomatic route, which would require Iran to hand over the uranium as part of a negotiated settlement.

Iran US war news LIVE updates: The Israeli military said it is “currently attacking the infrastructure” of the Iranian government across Tehran.

Loud explosions were reported early Tuesday morning in several cities across Iran, including Qom, Qazvin, Tehran and the port city of Bandar Abbas along the Persian Gulf, Iran International reported.

Iran US war news LIVE updates: Australia has halved its taxes on gasoline and diesel and removed a tax on heavy vehicles to counter the economic impacts of soaring fuel prices.

The government announced on Monday it expects the tax reductions will cost federal coffers 2.55 billion Australian dollars ($1.74 billion) over three months.

Taxes on gasoline and diesel will be halved to 26.3 Australian cents a liter (68.2 cents a gallon) from Wednesday. The heavy vehicle road user charge of 32.4 Australian cents per liter of diesel (84.1 cents a gallon) that truck and bus operators pay to compensate for the added damage they cause roads will be removed.

Iran US war news LIVE updates: US President Donald Trump said Sunday that the US-Israel war against Iran has achieved regime change and a deal could be reached "soon" with Tehran.

Trump, citing the number of Iranian leaders who have been killed in the month-long US-Israeli war against Iran, said regime change has already been achieved and the new leadership is "much more reasonable".

"We've had regime change," he told reporters aboard Air Force One. "We're dealing with different people than anybody's dealt with before. It's a whole different group of people. So I would consider that regime change."

Iran US war news LIVE updates: Trump said Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE and Bahrain were “surprised to be hit” but are now “fighting back” against Iran.

“They were surprised to be hit. I was very surprised they got hit. And once they got hit, they started fighting very well. [We have] very strong communications, but all of those kinds of people said, they’ve all been fighting,” he added.

Iran US war news LIVE updates: Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei thanked the people of Iraq for their support in the war against the United States and Israel in a written message, Iranian media said on Sunday.

Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of former supreme leader Ali Khamenei who was killed in an airstrike at the start of the war on February 28, has still yet to appear in public after being named and has only issued a handful of written statements.

In the a message, Khamenei "expressed his appreciation to the supreme religious authority (in Iraq) and the people of Iraq for their clear stance against aggression against Iran and their support for our country", the ISNA news agency said, referring to the Iraq-based Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, one of the most revered figures in Shia Islam.

The message was delivered following a meeting between the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, a Shia party, and the Iranian ambassador to Baghdad, it said.

Iran US war news LIVE updates: Fars news agency has reported a blast in the city of Ray, which lies within the Greater Tehran area of Iran. More details are awaited.

Iran US war news LIVE updates: US President Donald Trump said in an interview with the Financial Times on Sunday that he could take Iran's Kharg Island "very easily."

Kharg Island, located off the west coast of Iran, is a vital oil terminal for the Middle Eastern country and is being eyed by the Pentagon for ground operations, though the United States insisted it would stop short of a full-scale invasion.

When asked about the state of Iranian defence on the island Trump said "I don't think they have any defence. We could take it very easily."