Iran-US war latest: Netanyahu says Tehran ‘weaker than ever’ and praises ‘good friend’ Trump
France’s foreign minister to arrive in Israel tomorrow
France’s foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot will arrive in Israel on Friday, in an unscheduled visit, after visiting Beirut as part of efforts to secure a ceasefire in Lebanon.
As it announced Barrot’s visit, the French foreign ministry added that Barrot would discuss with Israeli authorities regional security and humanitarian aid issues, and attempts to de-escalate the conflicts in the Middle East
Dan Haygarth19 March 2026 21:15
Netanyahu is copying Putin’s tactics by bombing Iran’s energy system – it will backfire badly
The Israeli bombing of the South Pars gas field has chilling parallels to Russia’s bombing of Ukrainian infrastructure, which has been condemned as a possible war crime.
World affairs editor Sam Kiley writes that such a strategy will cause needless pain and do nothing to bring the regime to its knees.
Dan Haygarth19 March 2026 21:00
Missile explodes yards from British journalist during news report from Lebanon
Missile explodes yards from British journalist during news report from Lebanon
Dan Haygarth19 March 2026 20:45
Recap: Iran intensified attacks on fuel facilities
Iran intensified its attacks on oil and natural gas facilities around the Gulf on Thursday, raising the stakes in a war that is sending shock waves through the global economy.
The strikes, in retaliation for an Israeli attack on a key Iranian gas field, sent fuel prices soaring and risked drawing Iran’s Arab neighbours directly into the conflict.
Iran’s targeting of energy production further stressed global supplies already under pressure because of its stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway through which a fifth of the world’s oil is transported.
Since the US and Israel launched the war on 28 February, Iran’s top leaders have been killed in air strikes and the country’s military capabilities have been severely degraded.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said late Thursday that Iran no longer has the ability to enrich uranium or make ballistic missiles.
Still, Iran – now led by the son of the supreme leader killed in the war’s opening salvo – remains capable of missile and drone attacks rattling its Gulf Arab neighbours and a global economy dependent on the energy they produce.
Dan Haygarth19 March 2026 20:30
Donald Trump is now trapped in a war even he can’t chicken out of
The president is supposed to be a good enough businessman to know when to cut his losses and call it quits – he should go back to making America great again while he has the chance, writes Sean O’Grady.
Dan Haygarth19 March 2026 20:15
Netanyahu: Iran’s ‘navy is lying at the bottom of the sea’
Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a press conference (Reuters)
Benjamin Netanyahu said “Iran’s air defences have been rendered useless, their navy is lying at the bottom of the sea… their air force is nearly destroyed”.
In a press conference this evening, the Israeli leader said he hopes the Iranian people will rise up against the Islamic Republic that has ruled for nearly half a century, but he conceded “it’s too early” to say whether that will happen.
There has been no sign of such an uprising since the war began, after Iranian authorities quelled mass protests in January.
Dan Haygarth19 March 2026 20:00
Iranian strikes on energy sites serious escalation of conflict, says John Healey
Defence Secretary John Healey said the UK would offer more defensive support to Gulf nations in the wake of Iranian strikes on their energy facilities ((Toby Shepheard/PA))
Britain will “step up” defensive support for Gulf states after Iran attacked energy sites across the region in a “serious escalation” of the war, the defence secretary has said.
John Healey told the Press Association that Tehran’s attacks overnight threatened to further destabilise the region as he reiterated the Government’s call for de-escalation.
Following an Israeli strike on its main natural gas field, Iran hit multiple energy sites across the Gulf last night, including a Saudi oil refinery, Qatari gas facilities and two more oil refineries in Kuwait.
Speaking to PA on a visit to Dreghorn Barracks in Edinburgh, Mr Healey said the UK shared concerns about Iranian attacks.
He said: “They’re a serious escalation. They further destabilise the region and we will step up the defensive support that we can offer to those Gulf states.”
British forces are already deployed to the Middle East, with RAF jets flying defensive sorties against Iranian drones across the Gulf and British air defence systems protecting critical infrastructure in Saudi Arabia.
UK military planners have also joined the US Central Command to help formulate proposals for opening the Strait of Hormuz, a critical trade route for the world’s oil and gas.
Mr Healey told PA: “We can see the impact here on the cost of living, the price of fuel, so it’s important that we do everything we can with a lot of other countries that need to be involved in trying to reopen those straits.”
He added that the best way of taking the pressure off world oil prices was “to see a de-escalation and an end to the conflict”.
Dan Haygarth19 March 2026 19:45
‘It takes money to kill the bad guys’: Senate skeptical of Trump and Hegseth’s $200B Iran war funding request
Thune told CNN that the reported amount, which Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said Thursday morning was not a final number, would be reviewed by Congress but gave no prediction whether it could pass the Senate, where Republicans have a 53-vote majority.
Dan Haygarth19 March 2026 19:30
Netanyahu claims he cannot influence Trump on Iran
Netanyahu claims he cannot influence Trump on Iran
Dan Haygarth19 March 2026 19:21
Netanyahu is asked whether Trump knew about Israeli strike on Iran’s gas field
Netanyahu said: “Israel acted alone against the gas compound”, speaking about the attack on Iran’s South Pars gas field.
He added: “President Trump asked us to hold off on future attacks, and we’re holding out.”
Dan Haygarth19 March 2026 19:19
