LIVE: Saudi Arabia threatens to attack Iran

by Stephen M Lepore, US Senior Reporter

Donald Trump has called for US forces to open a new front in Iran as jets pound Iranian ships in an all-out battle to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Global fuel supplies have been under intense pressure because of Iran´s stranglehold on the strait, a strategic waterway through which a fifth of the world’s oil is transported.

American forces have sent low-flying A-10 Warthogs and Apache attack helicopters to shoot at Iranian ships and drones.

The Pentagon is trying to nullify danger from Iranian weapons and reopen the strait, which has only seen about 90 ships cross since the war began.

The belief is that US military warships could act as an escort for ships to get in and out of the region through the strait.

An Israeli media outlet has posted footage showing how an Iranian missile struck a neighbourhood in northern Israel just 16 seconds after the warning siren sounded.

Drivers abandoned their cars to run for cover as the sirens rang out just moments before the blast impact.

Israeli television channel C14 said the footage was captured via a home security camera.

It was reported the explosion on a residential building in Kiryat Shmona caused serious injuries and extensive destruction.

US Central Command, or CENTCOM, has today released new video of the American military striking targets inside Iran.

According to intelligence experts, the latest footage shows American bunker busting bombs were deployed in Iran.

Yesterday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said more than 7,000 targets have been hit across Iran and its military infrastructure.

Police in the UAE say they have arrested over 100 people for filming and posting ‘misleading’ information during the Middle East war.

It comes as Gulf countries crack down on footage and posts related to Iran’s attacks with British nationals warned they could be jailed or deported for posting pictures of missile strikes on social media.

‘Abu Dhabi Police announced the arrest of 109 individuals of various nationalities who filmed sites and incidents and circulated incorrect information via social media platforms during current events,’ it said in a statement on X, adding that some of the people had shared ‘misleading information’.

Similar measures have been taken across the Gulf as Iran hits US assets but also civilian infrastructure including landmarks, oil and gas facilities, airports and residential areas.

In Qatar, authorities have arrested more than 300 people for sharing images and what they described as “misleading information” during the war.

Bahrain and Kuwait have also made similar moves.

by Olivia Allhusen, Foreign News Reporter

A French sailor appears to have accidently revealed the position of an aircraft carrier after recording a run on the fitness app Strava while jogging on deck.

The crew member logged a 4.3-mile workout lasting around 35 minutes as he ran laps aboard the Charles de Gaulle while it sailed towards the eastern Mediterranean on March 13.

Data from the run was uploaded to a public Strava account, effectively pinpointing the vessel’s location in near real time, French newspaper Le Monde reported on Thursday.

Satellite imagery taken shortly afterwards is said to show the distinctive outline of the 262-metre-long warship in the same area.

France’s flagship carrier, the Charles de Gaulle, had been deployed to the region by President Emmanuel Macron in the days following US-Israeli strikes in late February, as tensions with Iran escalated.

The United States and Israel have struck 16 Iranian cargo vessels in port towns on the Gulf, Iranian media has reported.

‘Following the American-Zionist air attack, at least 16 cargo vessels belonging to citizens of the towns of Bandar Lengeh and Bandar Kong were completely burnt in the fire,’ a local offical from the southern Hormozgan province said, quoted by the Tasnim news agency.

Seafarers stuck in the Gulf say they are rationing food and water amid hopes they will get through Iran’s blockade that has left them stranded for three weeks.

‘We don’t have enough water on board right now. We got food a few days back,’ said one Indian seaman stuck in a small refuelling boat off Iraq, within sight of the Iranian shore.

‘Till yesterday we had proper drinking water and fresh water for baths and stuff. But now since drinking water is over, we have contacted the owner for the drinking water and I hope they get it by today or tomorrow,’ he added.

‘Till then, we are boiling the water for drinking,’ said the young sailor, who asked to be identified only by his last name, Pereira.

One ship’s captain said his vessel was stuck at anchor off Qatar near the major Ras Laffan liquefied natural gas plant, which was hit by an Iranian attack on Thursday.

‘If the port shuts down completely, then there is no possibility of getting the crew out. So that’s one worry,’ said the captain, who asked not to be named so his vessel could not be identified.

Kharg Island is one of Tehran’s most important economic assets and the launch point of 90 per cent of its oil exports.

Here’s a graphic explaining why it’s so important in the Iran war.

Iran would be taken ‘by the balls’ if Donald Trump approves plans for the US to invade Kharg Island, White House sources have said.

Axios is reporting the Trump administration is considering whether to occupy or blockade the island key to Iranian oil exports to force the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz which carries a fifth of the world’s oil supplies.

But sources say Tehran’s military would require further degrading before an operation can take place.

‘We need about a month to weaken the Iranians more with strikes, take the island and then get them by the balls and use it for negotiations,’ an insider told Axios.

It comes as the White House and Pentagon consider plans to deploy more troops to the Middle East although Trump has insisted he will not put boots on the ground.

‘He wants Hormuz open. If he has to take Kharg Island to make it happen, that’s going to happen. If he decides to have a coastal invasion, that’s going to happen. But that decision hasn’t been made,’ an administration official told Axios.

UAE security authorities have dismantled a ‘terrorist network’ allegedly funded and operated by Hezbollah and its backer Iran, state media has reported.

It said the network, which had been operating under a fictitious commercial cover, was involved in ‘money laundering, financing terrorism and threatening national security’, and sought to undermine financial stability.

Lebanon’s Foreign Ministry strongly condemned what it described as a ‘terrorist plot’ against the UAE, denounced Hezbollah’s alleged involvement, and offered cooperation by Lebanese authorities to ensure those responsible are held accountable.

In a post on X, it also reiterated a Lebanese government decision issued earlier this month banning Hezbollah’s military and security activities.

There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah or Iran.

The development follows a separate incident in Kuwait, where authorities said on Monday they had uncovered a group linked to Hezbollah that was planning acts aimed at undermining national security. They seized weapons, ammunition, and drones.

Stark before-and-after images show how an alleged Iranian missile factory was completely destroyed by US airstrikes.

Aerial images revealed yesterday show how US forces have targeted the country’s military supply infrastructure.

US Central Command (Centcom) said: ‘Prior to Operation Epic Fury, the Iranian regime used the Karaj Surface-to-Surface Missile Plant to assemble ballistic missiles that threatened Americans, neighbouring countries, and commercial shipping.

‘The photo dated March 1, 2026, shows the plant prior to US strikes. The image dated March 11, 2026, shows the same location after US forces struck the facility with precision munitions.’

Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey said reopening the Strait of Hormuz is the ‘best thing to do’ to prevent interest rates rising, after a vote to leave the rate unchanged at 3.75 per cent yesterday.

Mr Bailey said any further cuts are ‘not on the horizon’ as he hinted at possible hikes, adding that the war in the Middle East will likely increase household energy costs in summer and put pressure on food prices.

He told LBC’s Andrew Marr: ‘The duration of this problem is crucial. I would also say very clearly that the best way to solve this situation is not through monetary policy. It is through sorting out the source of what’s going on.

‘Frankly, reopening the Strait of Hormuz is the best thing to do. Get the energy market back on its normal footing, as it were.’

Iran has increasingly targeted energy sites in Gulf states after Israel bombed the South Pars offshore natural gas field on Wednesday.