Middle East | DD News

March 31, 2026 9:17 AM

Giant oil tanker off Dubai hit by Iranian strike, Trump threatens to obliterate Iran energy, oil plants

Iran attacked and set ablaze a fully loaded crude oil tanker off Dubai on Monday, as President Donald Trump warned the U.S. would obliterate Iran's energy plants and oil wells if it does not open the Strait of Hormuz. The apparent strike on the Kuwait-flagged Al-Salmi is the latest in a string of assaults on merchant vessels by missiles or explosive air and sea drones in the Gulf and Strait of Hormuz since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on February 28. The month-long conflict has spread acr...

March 30, 2026 2:35 PM

Israel reports second attack from Yemen as Middle East conflict escalates

The Israeli military said on Monday that Iran launched multiple waves of missiles at Israel, and an attack had also been launched from Yemen for only the second time since the U.S.-Israeli war began. It said two drones from Yemen were intercepted early Monday but gave no further details. Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi militia entered the war on Saturday, firing missiles at Israel, escalating a conflict that has engulfed the Middle East. Israel's military also said the Air Force was carrying out st...

March 27, 2026 9:26 AM

Trump extends pause on striking Iran’s energy plants into April

U.S. President Donald Trump said he will extend a pause on attacks against Iran's energy plants into April and that talks with Iran were going "very well," but an Iranian official said a U.S. proposal for ending the war as "one-sided and unfair." The four-week war has spread across the Middle East killing thousands of people and hit the global economy with soaring energy prices, fuelling global inflation fears. The United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February 28 after talks ab...

March 25, 2026 1:00 PM

US expected to send thousands more soldiers to Middle East, sources say

The Pentagon is expected to send thousands of soldiers from the U.S. Army's elite 82nd Airborne Division to the Middle East, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday, adding to a massive U.S. military buildup even as President Donald Trump talks about a possible deal with Tehran to end the war. Reuters first reported on March 18 that Trump's administration was considering deploying thousands of additional U.S. troops, a move that would expand options to include deployment of ...

March 25, 2026 9:29 AM

Trump cites progress with Iran, US proposes plan to end war

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday the U.S. was making progress in its efforts to negotiate an end to war with Iran, including winning an important concession from Tehran, while a source confirmed that Washington had sent Iran a 15-point settlement proposal. Trump told reporters at the White House the U.S. was talking to "the right people" in Iran in order to reach a deal to end hostilities, adding the Iranians wanted to reach a deal very badly. "We're in negotiations right now," he s...

March 24, 2026 10:08 AM

Ukraine has ‘irrefutable’ evidence of Russia providing intelligence to Iran, Zelenskiy says

Ukraine's military intelligence has "irrefutable" evidence that Russia continues to provide intelligence to Iran and such activity can only prolong the war in the Middle East, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Monday. "Russia is using its own signals intelligence and electronic intelligence capabilities, as well as part of the data obtained through cooperation with partners in the Middle East," he said on X after meeting the head of military intelligence. Speaking later in his ni...

March 23, 2026 10:02 PM

Middle East shock gives Dangote Refinery leverage as cheap imports dry up

Nigeria's Dangote Petroleum Refinery has stepped up gasoline exports across Africa as disruptions to energy flows due to the Iran conflict squeeze traditional fuel supply routes, curbing the cheap imports that long dominated West African markets. Data from tanker-tracking firm Kpler show Nigeria's exports of clean petroleum products - which include gasoline, diesel, kerosene and jet fuel - have risen to about 214,000 barrels per day so far in March from an average 100,000 bpd in February. Ship...

March 20, 2026 9:35 AM

Israel launches new wave of attacks on Iran as crisis deepens

Israel launched a fresh wave of attacks on Iran on Friday, a day after President Donald Trump told it not to repeat its strikes on Iranian natural gas infrastructure, which sharply escalated the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. The conflict has killed thousands of people, spread to neighbouring nations and hit the global economy since the United States and Israel launched strikes on February 28, after talks about Tehran's nuclear program failed to yield a deal. "The IDF has just begun a wave of strik...

March 19, 2026 1:05 PM

Soccer-Iran continuing World Cup preparations but will not play in US, says soccer chief

The Iranian national team are continuing to prepare for the World Cup finals and have no intention of pulling out of the tournament even if they will not travel to the United States, soccer chief Mehdi Taj said on Wednesday. Iran were one of the first nations to qualify for the finals but their participation has been in doubt since the conflict between the Islamic Republic and the United States began in late February. The tournament runs from June 11 to July 19 and is being staged in the U.S.,...

March 19, 2026 11:38 AM

How many people have been killed in the US-Israeli war on Iran?

Thousands of people have been killed across the Middle East since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on February 28 and Iran launched strikes in response. Here are the tolls reported by Thursday, which Reuters has not independently verified. IRAN U.S.-based rights group HRANA said on Tuesday that 3,114 people have been killed. It said 1,354 of those were civilians including 207 children. The group says its data comes from field reports, local contacts, medical and emergency sources, civil soc...