Opening summary

Welcome to our continuing live coverage of the US-Israel war on Iran and its effects on the region, the world and the global economy.

Donald Trump has threatened to “massively blow up” the entire South Pars gas field if Iran carries out any more retaliatory attacks on Qatar’s LNG gas facilities.

The US president also said in a post on his Truth Social platform that the US “knew nothing” about Israel’s Wednesday attack at the South Pars field, which Iran shares with Qatar, and neither did Doha. Trump said that “no more attacks will be made by Israel” on the field – unless Iran “decides to attack a very innocent, in this case, Qatar”.

Trump added: “In which instance the United States of America, with or without the help or consent of Israel, will massively blow up the entirety of the South Pars Gas Field at an amount of strength and power that Iran has never seen or witnessed before.”

Israel struck the giant South Pars gasfield on Wednesday, marking a major escalation of the war, hours after Israeli forces killed the regime’s intelligence minister and launched some of the most intense airstrikes in Beirut for decades.

Iran condemned the South Pars strike, with President Masoud Pezeshkian warning of “uncontrollable consequences” that “could engulf the entire world”. Iran later launched strikes on its Gulf neighbours’ energy facilities: Qatar’s massive Ras Laffan liquefied natural gas facility, and the Habshan gas facility and Bab field in the United Arab Emirates. The UAE said the Habshan and Bab field operations were shut down after interceptions over the sites.

The UAE government called Iran’s retaliatory strikes a “dangerous escalation” in the war. Qatar ordered Iranian embassy officials to leave the country within 24 hours.

Other developments include:

• The Pentagon has asked the White House to approve a more than $200bn request to Congress to fund the war in Iran, according to a senior administration official, the Washington Post reports.

• The oil price climbed towards $110 a barrel on Wednesday as the mounting threat to the Gulf’s oil and gas infrastructure fuelled concerns of more disruption to global supplies, amid the continuing blockade of the strait of Hormuz.

• QatarEnergy said “sizeable fires” caused extensive damage at its LNG facilities after Iranian missile attacks in the early hours of Thursday.

• An attack set a ship ablaze early on Thursday off the UAE coast, authorities said. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre said “a vessel has been hit by an unknown projectile, which has resulted in a fire onboard”.

• French president Emmanuel Macron called for an immediate moratorium on striking civilian infrastructure, and said civilian populations and their needs must be “protected from military escalation”.

• Three Palestinian women were killed in an Iranian missile attack in the occupied West Bank late on Wednesday, the Palestinian Red Crescent said, in the first deadly Iranian strike there and the first to kill Palestinians since the start of the US-Israel war with Iran.

• A man was killed in central Israel in the latest round of Iranian missile fire, medics say. It brought the death roll in Israel from the war to 15.

• Republicans in the US Senate blocked a measure that aimed to reign in Donald Trump’s power to wage war against Iran without congressional authorisation, winning a 53-47 vote.

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Updated at 01.01 EDT

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Australia seeks to be ‘over-prepared’ amid fuel crunch

Turning to Australia now, a petrol tsar will manage “unprecedented” supply issues caused by the Middle East conflict as the finishing touches are put on measures to address dire shortages in many regional areas.

Prime minister Anthony Albanese convened a snap virtual meeting of the national cabinet on Thursday to discuss major price shocks and shortages driven by the US-Israel war on Iran.

The former Australian Energy Regulator CEO Anthea Harris was announced as the co-ordinator of a fuel-supply taskforce and will oversee work involving the nation’s different tiers of government on fuel-security and supply-chain issues, reports Australian Associated Press.

State leaders who demanded faster action and a long-term plan from the federal government welcomed the move.

Albanese said there was a “good feeling of common purpose” during their meeting, telling reporters:

double quotation markMy government will be announcing more measures to prepare the nation for supply chain challenges over coming days and weeks.

Our fuel supply is currently secure. However, I want us to be over-prepared.

Meanwhile, Australia’s competition watchdog is investigating major fuel suppliers including Ampol, BP, Mobil and Viva Energy for alleged anti-competitive conduct amid growing shortages sparked by the Iran war. The full report from Tom McIlroy is here:

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The UK Maritime Trade Operations centre has reported another vessel being hit by an unknown projectile, this time in the Persian Gulf.

All crew were reported to be “safe and well” after the incident east of Ras Laffan, Qatar, the agency said.

It received the report at 01.30 GMT on Thursday and authorities were continuing to investigate.

UKMTO said earlier that another vessel was hit east of the UAE port of Khawr Fakkan in the Gulf of Oman by an unknown projectile that caused a fire onboard. That report came at 23.00 GMT on Wednesday.

Vessels have been reported hit in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman overnight. Photograph: Andre M Chang/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

Iran launched overnight strikes on Qatar’s huge liquefied natural gas facility at Ras Laffan after Israel struck the giant South Pars gasfield on Wednesday in a major escalation of the war.

Qatari officials are saying now that all fires at the Ras Laffan hub have been contained.

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Updated at 01.41 EDT

Iran has executed three people convicted of killing police officers and carrying out operations helping the US and Israel during unrest earlier this year, the judiciary said.

“Three individuals convicted in the Dey [January] unrest, on charges of murder and operational actions in favour of the Zionist regime and the United States, were hanged this morning,” the judiciary’s Mizan Online website said on Thursday, cited by the AFP news agency.

It added that those executed were involved in the killing of two law-enforcement personnel.

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Updated at 00.39 EDT

Qatar officials are reporting that “all fires” at its major gas hub have been contained after the Iranian attack.

“Civil Defence has fully brought all fires under control in the Ras Laffan Industrial Area without any reported injuries. Cooling and sites-securing operations are still ongoing,” the ministry said in a post on X.

We’ll give you more news on this as it comes.

Smoke and fire rise near the South Pars gas field following an attack, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Bushehr Province, Iran, March 18, 2026, in this screen-grab obtained from a social media video. Photograph: Social Media/ReutersShare

Updated at 00.37 EDT

Japan’s central bank has said it expects inflation to increase because of the “recent rise in crude oil prices” caused by the Middle East war.

The Bank of Japan statement on Thursday – in which it also said it had left its key interest rate unchanged at 0.75% – came as the government began an emergency subsidy programme to drive down the cost of gasoline.

The world’s fourth-largest economy depends on the Middle East for 95% of its oil imports.

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Updated at 00.30 EDT

Saudi Arabia reserves ‘right to take military actions’ over Iran attacks

Saudi Arabia has not ruled out military action in response to repeated missile and drone attacks from Iran, the foreign minister said.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting in Riyadh of foreign ministers from the region, Prince Faisal bin Farhan said on Thursday that Iran “tries to pressure its neighbours” with attacks.

He said:

double quotation markThe kingdom is not going to succumb to pressure, and on the contrary, this pressure will backfire … and certainly, as we have stated quite clearly, we have reserved the right to take military actions if deemed necessary.

Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, chairs a meeting of foreign ministers from a group of Arab and Islamic countries in Riyadh. Photograph: Baraa Anwer/APShare

Updated at 00.30 EDT

Ship attacked near strait of Hormuz – UK agency

In case you missed this news earlier, an attack set a ship ablaze early on Thursday off the coast of the United Arab Emirates.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre said a vessel was “hit by an unknown projectile, which has resulted in a fire onboard”.

The agency said the vessel was just off the coast of Khor Fakkan in the UAE, near the mouth of the strait of Hormuz.

More than 20 vessels have been attacked during the Iran war so far.

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Updated at 00.50 EDT

In other Asia business news today, Japan’s Nikkei was down 2.5%, while South Korean equities fell 1.5%.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell more than 1.5%.

“This latest escalation feels like a turning point for markets because the conflict is no longer just about military headlines or strait of Hormuz closure,” Charu Chanana, the chief investment strategist at Saxo in Singapore, told Reuters.

double quotation mark“It is now hitting the plumbing of the global energy system. What is unsettling markets now is the growing stagflation risk … It means this is no longer just a geopolitical story but a macro one.

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Updated at 00.24 EDT

Cathay Pacific suspends Dubai flights until end of April

Cathay Pacific has suspended flights to and from Dubai over the war in the Middle East.

“In view of the developing situation in the Middle East, all Cathay Pacific flights to and from Dubai have been cancelled up to and including 30 April 2026,” the company said in a statement.

The Hong Kong aviation giant added that “further changes to our flight schedule may be needed in the coming days”.

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Updated at 00.24 EDT

Opening summary

Welcome to our continuing live coverage of the US-Israel war on Iran and its effects on the region, the world and the global economy.

Donald Trump has threatened to “massively blow up” the entire South Pars gas field if Iran carries out any more retaliatory attacks on Qatar’s LNG gas facilities.

The US president also said in a post on his Truth Social platform that the US “knew nothing” about Israel’s Wednesday attack at the South Pars field, which Iran shares with Qatar, and neither did Doha. Trump said that “no more attacks will be made by Israel” on the field – unless Iran “decides to attack a very innocent, in this case, Qatar”.

Trump added: “In which instance the United States of America, with or without the help or consent of Israel, will massively blow up the entirety of the South Pars Gas Field at an amount of strength and power that Iran has never seen or witnessed before.”

Israel struck the giant South Pars gasfield on Wednesday, marking a major escalation of the war, hours after Israeli forces killed the regime’s intelligence minister and launched some of the most intense airstrikes in Beirut for decades.

Iran condemned the South Pars strike, with President Masoud Pezeshkian warning of “uncontrollable consequences” that “could engulf the entire world”. Iran later launched strikes on its Gulf neighbours’ energy facilities: Qatar’s massive Ras Laffan liquefied natural gas facility, and the Habshan gas facility and Bab field in the United Arab Emirates. The UAE said the Habshan and Bab field operations were shut down after interceptions over the sites.

The UAE government called Iran’s retaliatory strikes a “dangerous escalation” in the war. Qatar ordered Iranian embassy officials to leave the country within 24 hours.

Other developments include:

• The Pentagon has asked the White House to approve a more than $200bn request to Congress to fund the war in Iran, according to a senior administration official, the Washington Post reports.

• The oil price climbed towards $110 a barrel on Wednesday as the mounting threat to the Gulf’s oil and gas infrastructure fuelled concerns of more disruption to global supplies, amid the continuing blockade of the strait of Hormuz.

• QatarEnergy said “sizeable fires” caused extensive damage at its LNG facilities after Iranian missile attacks in the early hours of Thursday.

• An attack set a ship ablaze early on Thursday off the UAE coast, authorities said. The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre said “a vessel has been hit by an unknown projectile, which has resulted in a fire onboard”.

• French president Emmanuel Macron called for an immediate moratorium on striking civilian infrastructure, and said civilian populations and their needs must be “protected from military escalation”.

• Three Palestinian women were killed in an Iranian missile attack in the occupied West Bank late on Wednesday, the Palestinian Red Crescent said, in the first deadly Iranian strike there and the first to kill Palestinians since the start of the US-Israel war with Iran.

• A man was killed in central Israel in the latest round of Iranian missile fire, medics say. It brought the death roll in Israel from the war to 15.

• Republicans in the US Senate blocked a measure that aimed to reign in Donald Trump’s power to wage war against Iran without congressional authorisation, winning a 53-47 vote.

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Updated at 01.01 EDT