Key events
Here are some of the latest images coming in from the widening war in the Middle East.
Air defences in the United Arab Emirates are responding to missile and drone attacks from Iran, the ministry of defence has said.
“… The sounds heard in scattered areas of the country are the result of the air defense systems intercepting ballistic missiles, as well as fighter jets intercepting drones and loitering munitions,” the ministry said in a post on X.
Pictures have come in after Dubai authorities announced a temporary suspension of flights at the city’s international airport after a fire in the area.
A “drone-related incident” incident impacted a fuel tank, the media office in the Gulf financial hub said on Monday. It later added that authorities had extinguished the blaze that broke out.
The office also said no injuries had been reported.
Justin McCurry
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Japan’s prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, has said she has no immediate plans to send her country’s maritime self-defence forces to help protect tanker traffic in the strait of Homuz.
She told MPs on Monday:
We have not made any decisions whatsoever about dispatching escort ships. We are continuing to examine what Japan can do independently and what can be done within the legal framework.
Japan can deploy its military overseas to support an ally if it believes its own security is threatened, but any military involvement in the war against Iran would be politically and legally hard for Tokyo to justify, as well as unpopular among voters.
Takaichi, who will discuss the Iran conflict when she meets Donald Trump in Washington this week, added:
I would like to engage in solid discussions based on Japan’s views and position regarding the need for early de-escalation.
US moving troops from Japan to Middle East – reports
Justin McCurry
The US has started moving more than 2,000 marines from the Japanese island of Okinawa to the Middle East, according to media reports, soon after Washington began the redeployment of a missile defence system based in South Korea.
The marines are reportedly aboard the amphibious assault ship, the Tripoli, whose home port is in Sasebo, south-western Japan.
The troops belong to the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit in Okinawa, which hosts more than half the 50,000 US military personnel based in Japan.
The Tripoli, equipped with F-35 fighter jets, is expected to take one to two weeks to reach the Middle East.
The redeployment of US military assets from north-east Asia has raised concerns over Washington’s commitment to the security of Japan and South Korea, amid increased Chinese naval activity in the East and South China seas, and North Korea’s development of ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons.
The North test-fired around 10 ballistic missiles at the weekend in protest at the start of joint US-South Korea military drills.
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Kiran Stacey
British ministers are drawing up plans to send minesweeping drones to the strait of Hormuz amid concerns in Whitehall that complying with Donald Trump’s demand to send ships could escalate the crisis.
The government is considering dispatching aerial minesweepers to help clear the vital waterway of mines in an attempt to allow the flow of oil exports to resume. However, officials said that sending ships, as requested over the weekend by the US president, could worsen the situation given the volatile nature of the war.
Keir Starmer will announce tens of millions of pounds to support Britons feeling the impact of higher energy prices at a Downing Street press conference on Monday, where he will also emphasise the importance of de-escalating the crisis.
The prime minister is to say:
We will continue to work towards a swift resolution of the situation in the Middle East. Because there is no question that ending the war is the quickest way to reduce the cost of living.
Speaking to the BBC on Sunday, the energy secretary, Ed Miliband, said:
It is very important that we get the strait of Hormuz reopened … There are different ways that we could contribute, including with mine-hunting drones.
He added:
All of these things are being looked at in concert with our allies … Any options that can help to get the strait reopened are being looked at.
See the full story here:
Japan starts release of strategic oil reserves
Japan said on Monday it was beginning the release of its strategic oil reserves after the International Energy Agency indicated earlier that the release would begin in Asia and Oceania before other regions.
IEA members agreed on March 11 to tap oil stockpiles to cushion the surge in prices caused by the war in the Middle East – by far the largest-ever response of its kind.
Japan, which depends on the Middle East for 95% of its oil imports, said on Monday in a notice in its official government gazette that the level of oil reserves in the country “is being lowered”.
The AFP news agency also reports that the issuance of the notice compels managers of oil reserves to release part of their stockpile to meet the new standard.
Many Japanese media interpreted the notice as confirmation the release had already begun.
Minoru Kihara, top spokesperson for the government, said on Monday the country would release 15 days’ worth of private-sector petroleum reserves.
Japan’s strategic oil reserves are among the world’s largest and stood at more than 400 million barrels as of December.
Israel says it still has thousands of targets in Iran
Israel has said its military remains focused on thousands of potential targets in Iran, even as Tehran warned neighbouring nations against further involvement in the expanding regional war.
The stern warning from Iran coincided with reports from Rome that a base in Kuwait, housing both US and Italian personnel, was targeted in a drone strike. Tehran claims it has “ample evidence” that US military installations on neighbouring territory are being used as launch points for the ongoing campaign of airstrikes.
Israeli military spokesperson Brig Gen Effie Defrin said on Sunday, as the sustained US-Israeli operations entered their third week:
We still have thousands of targets in Iran, and we are identifying new targets every day.
We are ready, in coordination with our US allies, with plans through at least the Jewish holiday of Passover, about three weeks from now. And we have deeper plans for even three weeks beyond that.
In response to the offensive, Iran has continued to threaten the vital strait of Hormuz. This escalating maritime crisis was a primary focus of a Sunday discussion between Donald Trump and British prime minister Keir Starmer.
Trump has called for an international coalition to secure the waterway, while Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi used a call with his French counterpart Jean-Noel Barrot to urge other nations to “refrain from any action that could lead to escalation and expansion of the conflict”.
Nick Visser
The captain of the Iranian women’s football squad has left Australia after withdrawing her claim of asylum.
Zahra Ghanbari became the fifth member of the football cohort to change her mind after initially taking up an offer to stay in the country following the Asian Cup.
The office of home affairs minister Tony Burke confirmed on Monday that another team member had left late on Sunday night.
Ghanbari’s decision to join fellow players in Malaysia was reported by Iranian state news agency Irna, which has seized on the about-face from all but two members of the cohort as a propaganda coup for the nation’s under-siege regime.
Australia initially granted asylum to seven members of the party, including one from the support staff, last week while they were in the country for the Asian Cup.
Burke said on Sunday, after three of the women decided to return to Iran, that the players were given repeated chances to talk about their options after telling Australian officials they had made this decision.
Iran’s foreign minister has claimed Israeli strikes on fuel depots across Tehran amount to “ecocide”, citing the impact on the health of the Iranian capital’s residents.
“Israel’s bombings of fuel depots in Tehran violate international law and constitute ecocide,” Abbas Araghchi said on X.
Residents face long-term damage to their health and well-being. Contamination of soil and groundwater could have generational impacts.
Israel “must be punished for its war crimes”, he added.
Japan and Australia not planning to send ships to help secure strait of Hormuz
Japan has said it will not send warships “at the moment” to help reopen the strait of Hormuz, after Donald Trump urged countries to join a “team effort” to protect vessels from Iranian strikes.
The strait has been all but closed since the start of the war, raising global energy supply fears, and the US president repeatedly pressed countries at the weekend to help secure this weekend.
Trump specifically named China, the UK, Japan, France and South Korea – and earlier warned that Nato faced a “very bad” future if its members failed to step up.
Japan’s defence minister Shinjiro Koizumi told the country’s parliament:
In the current Iran situation, we are not at the moment considering issuing a maritime security operation.
In the UK, ministers are drawing up plans to send minesweeping drones to the strait, my colleague Kiran Stacey reported earlier, amid concerns in Whitehall that complying with Trump’s demand to send ships could escalate the crisis.
Australia has also confirmed it will not send ships. “We know how incredibly important that is, but that’s not something we’ve been asked, or we’re contributing to,” transport minister Catherine King told the national broadcaster ABC.
Donald Trump is said to be working to build a coalition of countries that will attempt to reopen the strait of Hormuz.
The US president hopes to unveil the list later this week, Axios reported, citing four unnamed sources.
Over the weekend, Trump claimed that “many countries” would send warships to the region – before publicly urging a string of countries to do so. The response has been muted, my colleague Hannah Ellis-Petersen hs reported from Dubai.
A fifth of the world’s oil supply normally passes through the strait of Hormuz, a narrow waterway on Iran’s southern coast. Iran’s effective closure of it in retaliation for US-Israel attacks has been catastrophic for global energy and trade flows, causing soaring global oil prices amid what’s been called “the largest oil supply disruption in history”.
Welcome summary
Hello and welcome to our continuing live coverage of the US-Israel war against Iran and the consequences for the region, the world and the global economy.
Here are the latest developments:
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Donald Trump has warned that Nato faces a “very bad” future if US allies fail to assist in opening up the strait of Hormuz, the Financial Times has reported. He also said on Sunday that he has demanded about seven countries send warships to keep the strait of Hormuz open, but his appeals have brought no commitments as oil prices soar during the Iran war. The president declined to name the countries heavily reliant on Middle East crude that the administration is negotiating with to join a coalition to police the waterway where about one-fifth the world’s traded oil normally flows. Australia and Japan have declined to send their navies to the strait.
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Flights were temporarily suspended at Dubai’s airport, previously one of the world’s busiest, after a “drone-related incident” sparked a fire nearby, city authorities said on Monday. The incident impacted a fuel tank, the Gulf financial hub’s media office said, later adding authorities had extinguished the blaze that broke out. The office said no injuries had been reported.
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Israel said that its military remains focused on thousands of potential targets within Iran, even as Tehran issued a stern warning to neighbouring nations against further involvement in the rapidly expanding regional war.
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Oil prices have climbed again amid mounting supply fears after the US struck Iran’s vital Kharg Island oil hub and Trump demanded allies help reopen the strait of Hormuz. Brent crude, the international benchmark, rose 1.8% to $104.98 per barrel during early trading on Monday. Another weekend of violence across the Middle East compounded concerns over the conflict, and its ramifications for global energy markets.
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British prime minister Keir Starmer discussed the need to reopen the strait of Hormuz to end disruption to global shipping with Trump, a Downing Street spokeswoman said on Sunday. Starmer also spoke with Canadian prime minister Mark Carney, with the leaders discussing the impact of the strait’s continued closure on international shipping, the spokeswoman told Reuters.
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Italy’s military said there had been a drone attack on the Ali Al Salem airbase in Kuwait hosting Italian and US forces, but said all its personnel were safe. “This morning, Ali Al Salem base in Kuwait was the target of a drone attack that hit a shelter housing a remotely piloted aircraft of the Italian Task Force Air (TFA), which was destroyed,” the chief of the defence general staff, Luciano Portolano, said in a statement.
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UN peacekeepers said they were fired upon “likely by non-state armed groups” in south Lebanon on Sunday, while a Hamas source said an Israeli strike killed an official from the Palestinian militant group.
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A rocket attack on Baghdad international airport in Iraq, which houses a US diplomatic facility, wounded five people, Iraqi authorities said. The Iraqi government’s security media cell said “five rockets targeted Baghdad International Airport and its surrounding area, injuring four airport employees and security personnel, and an engineer”.
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US energy secretary Chris Wright said that there was “a very good chance” gas prices could drop below $3 a gallon by summer, though that is contingent on the Iran conflict’s end. Wright told NBC’s Meet the Press that while US drivers “are feeling it right now” at the pump and “will feel it for a few more weeks”, once the Iran war is over “we’ll go to a world more abundant” and “more affordable” in energy.
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Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a brief video to mock viral social media rumours suggesting he had been killed. Taking a sip from a steaming cup at a cafe near Jerusalem, he jokingly posted to his official X account, “I’m dead for coffee,” utilizing a Hebrew slang term that equates being “dead” for something with loving it.
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The World Health Organisation said on Sunday it had released $2 m from its Contingency Fund for Emergencies (CFE) to support the health response in Lebanon, Iraq and Syria amid the Middle East crisis.
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