West Asia conflict

March 19, 2026 4:42 PM

Govt launches ‘RELIEF’ Scheme to support exporters amid West Asia logistics disruptions

The Government on Thursday approved a new intervention titled RELIEF (Resilience & Logistics Intervention for Export Facilitation) under the Export Promotion Mission (EPM) to support Indian exporters facing disruptions due to the evolving geopolitical situation in West Asia. The move comes amid heightened security concerns around the Strait of Hormuz, which have led to vessel diversions, longer shipping routes, congestion at transshipment hubs, and increased freight and insurance costs. Th...

March 18, 2026 5:06 PM

Domestic LPG production rises 40%; no port congestion, says govt

India’s domestic liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) production has increased by 40 per cent, the government said on Wednesday, even as concerns over supply disruptions persist due to tensions in West Asia and the strategic Strait of Hormuz. Addressing a joint briefing, Sujata Sharma, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, said the country has adequate stocks of crude oil, petrol, diesel, and aviation turbine fuel (ATF), with no reports of dry-outs at fuel stations. However,...

March 18, 2026 3:35 PM

Middle East tensions escalate as US strikes Iran near Strait of Hormuz

Tensions across the Middle East have surged sharply, with US Central Command launching heavy strikes on Iranian missile positions near the Strait of Hormuz - a critical artery for global oil supplies. Officials say five-thousand-pound bunker-buster munitions were used to target fortified underground sites threatening international shipping. The situation intensified further with reported strikes near Iran’s Bushehr nuclear facility, though damage assessments are still underway. Across the Gul...

March 18, 2026 3:32 PM

Riyadh hosts emergency ministerial meet amid escalating regional crisis

Saudi Arabia is hosting an emergency meeting of foreign ministers from Arab and Islamic countries in Riyadh this evening, as tensions across West Asia continue to intensify. The high-level talks come nearly three weeks into a widening conflict involving the United States, Israel, and Iran, which has already triggered missile strikes on Gulf infrastructure and disrupted global shipping and aviation. Saudi authorities say the meeting aims to strengthen coordination and support regional security a...

March 18, 2026 1:45 PM

Indian-flagged tanker Jag Laadki reaches Mundra amid West Asia tensions

Indian-flagged crude oil tanker Jag Laadki has successfully arrived at Mundra Port in Gujarat, marking a significant addition to the country’s energy imports amid rising tensions in West Asia. The vessel docked at the port carrying approximately 80,886 metric tonnes of crude oil, sourced from the United Arab Emirates and loaded at Fujairah Port. Measuring 274.19 metres in length with a beam of 50.04 metres, the tanker has a deadweight tonnage of around 164,716 tonnes and a gross tonnage of a...

March 18, 2026 1:01 PM

Top US security official quits, says Iran did not pose immediate threat

A top security official in U.S. President Donald Trump's administration resigned over the war in Iran on Tuesday, saying the country had posed no imminent threat to the United States. Joe Kent, who headed the National Counterterrorism Center, is the first senior official in Trump's administration to resign over the conflict, now in its third week. "I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war ...

March 18, 2026 9:38 AM

UAE could join any US-led effort to secure Strait of Hormuz, says senior official

The United Arab Emirates may join a U.S.-led effort to protect shipping in the Strait of Hormuz after Iran all but shut the vital waterway to ships as Tehran wages war with Israel and the United States, a senior Emirati official said on Tuesday. Anwar Gargash, the diplomatic adviser to the UAE president, said talks were ongoing and no formal plan had been agreed, but that "big countries" in Asia, the Middle East, and Europe bore responsibility for ensuring the flow of trade and energy. "This i...

March 18, 2026 9:36 AM

Trump postpones trip to Beijing as Iran war delays China reset

President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he was postponing a highly anticipated trip to Beijing to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping as the war with Iran upends U.S. foreign policy and delays an effort to ease tensions between the world’s two biggest economies. "We are resetting the meeting," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office. "We're working with China. They were fine with it." Trump had been set to travel to Beijing from March 31 to April 2 for the first trip there of his 14-month-...

March 18, 2026 9:34 AM

Trump says NATO’s refusal to help on Iran is ‘very foolish mistake’

President Donald Trump on Tuesday said the United States had been informed by most of its NATO allies that they did not want to get involved with the country's military operation in Iran, a move he described as a "very foolish mistake." But Trump gave no indication that he plans to punish NATO allies for their stances, as he took questions from reporters in the Oval Office during the St. Patrick's Day visit of Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin. Trump said NATO countries were supportive of th...

March 18, 2026 12:56 PM

Iran strikes Tel Aviv with cluster warheads in retaliation for killing of security chief

A defiant Iran said Israel's killing of security chief Ali Larijani and other key officials would not hinder its operations with replacements swiftly appointed, as Israel launched a swathe of strikes against Iran-backed Hezbollah in Lebanon. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said the U.S. and Israel did not understand that the Islamic Republic was a robust political system and did not depend on any single individual. The death of senior officials would not disrupt governance and the stat...