Iran US war news highlights: Iranian strike on Saudi base leaves US troops injured, damages planes

Iran US war news highlights: The Israeli military confirmed it struck a heavy water reactor and a uranium processing plant in central Iran on Friday. “A short while ago, the Israeli Air Force... struck the heavy water plant in Arak, central Iran,” the Israeli military said in a statement, while describing the site as a “key plutonium production site for nuclear weapons.”

Following the attacks, Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran would exact a “heavy price for Israeli “crimes.”" “Israel has hit 2 of Iran's largest steel factories, a power plant, and civilian nuclear sites among other infrastructure. Israel claims it acted in coordination with the US,” Araghchi said in a post on X.

Iran foreign minister Abbas Araghchi on Friday termed the US attack on Tehran school a 'calculated' assault. Over a hundred students were killed in Tehran on February 28 after US strikes hit an elementary girls' school. The students who died were aged between seven and 12.

Saudi Arabia said that six missiles were intercepted in Riyadh, of which two were shot down. The other four, according to reports, fell over uninhabited areas or Gulf waters.

Earlier, Saudi said drones were intercepted in Riyadh and oil-rich eastern region. The attacks comes amid Iran's intensified attacks on US facilities in the region, while the US has claimed negotiations with Tehran.

At least six people have been killed in Iran's Qom city as US-Israel strikes targeted residential areas, Iran's Fras news agency reported. Qom’s deputy governor said the number of injured remains unknown.

Abandoned Thai ship runs ashore

Mayuree Naree, the Thai-flagged cargo ship that was attacked by Iran in Strait of Hormuz early this month, has run ashore near the village of Ramchah on Qeshm Island, Iranian media reported.

The cargo ship was attacked on March 11 with three of its crew members going missing and still not found.

US preparing for ground invasion?

The US may send more ground troops to the Middle East even as President Donald Trump has made claims on negotiations with Iran amid the raging war. The Pentagon is mulling to send additional 10,000 ground troops to the region, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Trump pauses strikes on Iran energy sector till April 6

Trump on Thursday announced to delay the deadline and said he decided to extend the window to 10 days, pushing the deadline to April 6.

Trump, while speaking to Fox News, claimed Iran had approached the US administration requesting more time as part of the ongoing diplomatic engagement between the two sides amid the raging war in the Middle East that has been going on for a month now and has disrupted the global energy supplies.

"They said to me very nicely, through my people, 'Could we have more time?' Because we're talking about tomorrow night, which is pretty quick, and if they don't do what they have to do, I will knock out their power plants," Trump said.

Trump says US has ‘won the war’

While Trump made another shift in his stand as he had Trump’s earlier warned that the US would target Iran’s energy plants if Strait of Hormuz, the crucial shipping lane remained closed. Now with the pause in the strikes announcement, Trump also said that the US has "already won the war" against Iran "militarily", claiming that US and Israeli strikes have significantly degraded Tehran's naval and missile capabilities.

Did Iran request pause in energy sector attacks?

Iran hasn’t asked for a pause in strikes on its energy sites, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing mediators. This contradicts Trump’s claim that Tehran had requested a 10-day halt in the strikes.