US-Iran war highlights: Blasts heard in Jerusalem; Netanyahu says seeing 'cracks' in Iran leadership

US Iran war LIVE updates: Amid Iranian strikes on energy facilities in Gulf countries after Israeli attacks on South Pars facilities, Oman has stressed on the necessity of adhering to the international law.

Oman has also asked countries to refrain from targeting civilian facilities and global energy supplies, Reuters news agency reported.

US Iran war LIVE updates: The port of Yanbu in Saudi Arabia halted oil loadings on Thursday, two sources told Reuters news agency.

This comes after the ministry of defence of Saudi Arabia said air defences had intercepted a ballistic missile over the city. Earlier today, a drone crashed at the SAMREF refinery in Saudi, where damage assessment is underway.

US Iran war LIVE updates: Fresh blasts were heard over Tel Aviv in Israel on Thursday, hours after Iran struck major oil and gas facilities in Gulf countries, AFP reported citing its correspondent.

US Iran war LIVE updates: European Commission President Kaja Kallas on Thursday called for a cessation of hostilities in West Asia.

Kallas said that there was need for an exit from the Iran war, not an escalation, while also asserting that this was “equally important” for a solution on Ukraine.

US Iran war LIVE updates: One Palestinian was killed and another wounded in an Israeli air attack on a gathering in eastern Gaza City, according to Al Jazeera and the Wafa news agency.

The attack took place in Tuffah area.

US Iran war LIVE updates: Israeli strikes were reported across several towns in southern Lebanon, Al Jazeera reported.

US Iran war LIVE updates: Saudi Arabia says a drone hits SAMREF refinery in the port city of Yanbu on the Red Sea, AFP reported.

US Iran war LIVE updates: Iran won’t boycott World Cup, says it will shun US, says football chief.

(AFP)

US Iran war LIVE updates: A US-Israeli airstrike killed one fighter from Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) and wounded two others in the Nineveh Plain in northern Iraq, the group said.

The Iran-backed militia added that a separate strike on its Sixth Brigade headquarters in Saladin governorate injured three people, including one critically.

US Iran war LIVE updates: Kuwait says second oil refinery on fire after drone attack, AP reported.

US Iran war LIVE updates: Saudi Arabia will host a consultative meeting of foreign ministers from Arab and Islamic countries in Riyadh on Wednesday to discuss regional security and stability amid the Iran war, its foreign ministry said.

A Turkish diplomatic source said representatives from Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Pakistan, Qatar, Syria, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates are expected to attend.

US Iran war LIVE updates: Saudi civil defense said the situation in Yanbu governorate is now safe, adding that the danger has passed, according to an official statement.

US Iran war LIVE updates: A drone attack triggered a fire at Kuwait’s Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery, one of the Middle East’s largest, with no injuries reported, state news agency KUNA said, citing Kuwait Petroleum Corp. The facility has a production capacity of about 730,000 barrels per day, AP reported.

US Iran war LIVE updates: European gas prices jumped more than 30% following strikes on Qatar’s LNG hub, raising concerns over supply disruptions and rattling global energy markets.

US Iran war LIVE updates: Two drones targeted a US camp near Baghdad International Airport, an Iraqi security source said, amid a wave of escalating attacks on Iran-linked groups and sites across Iraq, Al Jazeera reported.

The incident follows deadly strikes on facilities linked to the Popular Mobilisation Forces, an umbrella of paramilitary factions aligned with Iran.

US Iran war LIVE updates: China’s foreign ministry said it has always opposed the use of force and called on all parties to stop military operations, responding to reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the killing of Iranian officials, Reuters reported.

US Iran war LIVE updates: Former US National Counterterrorism Center Director Joe Kent said Israel played a major role in shaping the decision to begin the US-Israel-Iran confrontation, speaking on the Tucker Carlson Show about the perceived nuclear threat from Iran.

On the possible impact of the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Kent said, "I don't think the Ayatollah feared dying. Not because he's some crazy lunatic but because he knew if he was killed the regime would survive."

Earlier, US President Donald Trump reacted to Kent’s resignation, calling his exit “a good thing” and criticising his position on Iran.

US Iran war LIVE updates: According to reports, Iran launched the attack in Ras Laffan in retaliation for Israeli strikes on its South Pars and Asaluyeh gas fields, a critical part of its energy infrastructure.

The strike targeting the world's largest LNG plant also comes after Israel killed three top Iranian officials in two days this week. Iran confirmed on March 18 that it lost Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib in an overnight attack by Israel. Ali Larijani, Iran's security chief and and Gholamreza Soleimani, head of the Basij paramilitary force, were also killed on Tuesday in the Israeli air strikes. Read more here

US Iran war LIVE updates: A US-Israeli attack struck a residential area in western Iran’s Dorud county, according to Iran’s Tasnim news agency citing a local security official, Al Jazeera reported

The strike killed at least 12 people and injured 116 others, the official said.

US Iran war LIVE updates: Saudi Aramco’s SAMREF refinery targeted in aerial attack, impact minimal

US Iran war LIVE updates: Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei has warned the United States and Israel that they ‘will pay’ for the death of Iran's National Security chief Ali Larijani. In a statement on X, Khamenei said, “Every drop of blood has its due retribution that the criminal murderers of these martyrs will soon have to pay.”

Iran on Wednesday confirmed the death of Tehran's most prominent figure, Larijani, in the ongoing war against the US and Israel.

“Let the adversaries of Islam know that shedding the blood of such people at the foot of the mighty tree of the Islamic system will only make it stronger,” Khamenei said.

US Iran war LIVE updates: Italy’s government has approved a temporary cut in fuel’s excise taxes in a bid to help citizens deal with with higher costs caused by the conflict in the Middle East.

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on Wednesday that her cabinet approved a €0.25 ($0.29) per liter cut on fuel prices, part of a broader package of measures taken as an emergency backstop against soaring energy prices.

The measures are worth hundreds of millions of euros, her deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini said earlier, and will be in place only for a limited period of time.

US Iran war LIVE updates: European Union leaders are meeting in Brussels on Thursday to discuss the Iran war, rising energy prices, migration concerns and a major Ukraine loan stalled by Hungary, AP reported.

Several leaders have resisted calls from US President Donald Trump to deploy military assets to secure the Strait of Hormuz, a critical route for global oil, gas and fertilizer supplies.

With energy costs climbing and fears of a fresh refugee crisis growing, the Middle East conflict has emerged as a key priority at the summit.

US Iran war LIVE updates: Sirens sound across Israel, West Bank amid incoming missile warnings, Al Jazeera reported.

US Iran war LIVE updates: Oil prices surged after attacks on key energy facilities in the Middle East heightened concerns about deeper disruptions from the nearly three-week-old conflict.

Brent crude rose as much as 5.1% to nearly $113 a barrel, while the most-active West Texas Intermediate contract traded close to $96. US natural gas also climbed up to 6.5%.

The spike follows Iranian attacks on a major LNG site in Qatar, part of a broader escalation after strikes on Iran’s South Pars gas field.

Oil has risen about 50% since the war began, as the conflict disrupts shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and curtails oil and gas production across the region.

However, Iran’s upstream energy sector had largely remained untouched until now, limiting fears of a more prolonged supply shock.