Blast Rocks Tehran After Israeli Threat
Top US, China economy officials to meet for talks in Paris
WASHINGTON, United States: Top economic officials from the United States and China are set to convene in Paris, the Treasury Department said Thursday, ahead of President Donald Trump's planned meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in April.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is set to meet Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng in France between March 15 and 16, the department said.
"Thanks to the bonds of mutual respect between President Trump and President Xi, the trade and economic dialogue between the United States and China is moving forward," Bessent added in a statement. — AFP
UK says drones wounded US personnel at a base in northern Iraq
British military officials say several U.S. personnel were injured in drone strikes in northern Iraq on Wednesday night, without specifying if the wounded were American troops.
Brig. Guy Foden said a number of drones hit a base in Erbil that houses both British and American troops.
Another officer, Lt. Gen. Nick Perry, said there were no British casualties, while the U.S. sustained some casualties but “nothing too serious.” — AP
Trump says it’s not ‘appropriate’ for Iranian team to attend World Cup
“The Iran National Soccer Team is welcome to The World Cup,” Trump wrote on his social media site Thursday, “but I really don’t believe it is appropriate that they be there, for their own life and safety.”
This appears to depart somewhat from the message he relayed Tuesday evening at the White House to FIFA President Gianni Infantino, who later publicly said that Trump assured him the Iranian players and coaches would still be welcome.
On Thursday, the White House did not immediately clarify what the president meant by “their own life and safety,” such as whether he anticipated threats against them while in the United States.
Iranian leaders said this week that it’s “not possible” for the country to participate in this year’s World Cup. — AP
Trump says stopping ‘evil empire’ higher priority than surging oil prices
The president made the statement after oil prices surged in early morning trading in the U.S. following more Iranian attacks on oil tankers.
“The United States is the largest Oil Producer in the World, by far, so when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money,” Trump said in a social media post. “BUT, of far greater interest and importance to me, as President, is stoping an evil Empire, Iran, from having Nuclear Weapons, and destroying the Middle East and, indeed, the World. I won’t ever let that happen!”
Trump’s post came shortly before Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei issued his first statement since being elevated to succeed his father.
Khamenei in part said closing the Strait of Hormuz should be used by Iran for leverage in the conflict. — AP
Japan expresses concern over Strait of Hormuz safety after damage to Japanese ships
“As we pay serious attention to the situation surrounding the Strait of Hormuz and actively gather information, we are deeply concerned about the development involving damage to the ships,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara told reporters.
Mitsui O.S.K. Lines confirmed Thursday that the stern of a Japanese-flagged container ship, One Majesty, was damaged Wednesday while anchored in the Persian Gulf, though all crew members were safe and the ship had no fire, flooding or oil leak.
Another Mitsui-operated oil tanker had minor damage from unidentified falling objects last week while in the Gulf of Oman. Mitsui said both incidents are being investigated. — AP
Goldman Sachs sees war slowing growth, raising inflation this year
The investment bank said early Thursday that the Iran war could have a sustained, if modest, impact on the U.S. economy, with inflation and unemployment higher and growth slower.
Goldman now thinks the Federal Reserve won’t cut its key interest rate until September, and its forecasts suggest Americans will keep seeing higher costs for gas, utilities and potentially groceries as they prepare to vote in this year’s elections.
Before this war began, Goldman forecast that inflation would cool as the impact of Trump’s tariffs fades. The bank now expects the Fed’s preferred inflation measure to end this year at 2.9%, remaining above the Fed’s target of 2%.
And that’s based on average oil prices rising 40% to $98 a barrel in March and April. Should the war cause oil prices rise to an average $110 over those two months, inflation would hit 3.3%, Goldman economists estimate. — AP
California governor sees no imminent Iran threat despite FBI warning about a possible drone attack
Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom said drone issues “have always been top of mind.”
“We’ve been aware of that information. ... It’s all about a posture of preparedness for worst-case scenarios,” the governor said Wednesday.
The FBI recently warned police departments that Iran could try to strike the state.
“Iran allegedly aspired to conduct a surprise attack using unmanned aerial vehicles from an unidentified vessel off the coast of the United State Homeland, specifically against unspecified targets in California, in the event that the US conducted strikes against Iran,” the alert said, according to ABC News.
The FBI alert said it had no additional information. — AP
US State Department says demand for evacuation flights is going down
The State Department said the vast majority of the 47,000 Americans who have left the region did so commercially without government help, although by the end of Thursday it will have completed roughly 50 free charter evacuation flights for Americans.
The department said that about 32,000 Americans in the region had reached out for either security information or travel assistance and that all of them had been contacted by phone, text or email. However, it said that most offered seats on the charter flights have declined them, preferring to arrange their own travel or to remain in the Middle East.
The department said it would adjust its charter flight planning depending on the demand for seats. — AP
Iran's Supreme Leader Issues First Statement Since His Appointment
Dubai : Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei has issued his first statement since his appointment as the war with the United States and Israel rages. The statement was read on state television Thursday by a news anchor.
Iran's unrelenting attacks on shipping traffic and energy infrastructure in the Persian Gulf pushed oil back above $100 a barrel on Thursday, as American and Israeli strikes pounded the Islamic Republic with no sign of an end to the war in sight.
Iran is trying to inflict enough global economic pain to pressure the United States and Israel to halt their bombardment, which started the war on Feb. 28. Iran's president said its attacks would continue until Iran gets security guarantees against another assault, indicating that even a ceasefire or U.S. declaration of victory might not halt the conflict.
U.S. President Donald Trump has meanwhile promised to “finish the job,” even though he claimed Iran is “virtually destroyed.”
Iran-backed Hezbollah militants meanwhile launched some 200 rockets from Lebanon at northern Israel while sirens rang out and loud booms from the interception of Iranian missiles could be heard in other areas. Israel launched another wave of attacks on Tehran and in Lebanon, where 11 people were killed.
The U.N. refugee agency said up to 3.2 million people in Iran have been displaced by the ongoing war. It said most have fled from Tehran and other major cities toward the north of the country or rural areas. It says at least 759,000 people have been internally displaced in Lebanon .
Iranian officials dismiss any notion of backing down Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian suggested online Thursday that for the war to end, the world would need to recognize Iran’s “legitimate rights,” pay reparations and offer guarantees against future attacks.
In addition to attacking energy infrastructure around the region, Iran has a stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz , the waterway leading from the Persian Gulf toward the Indian Ocean through which a fifth of the world's oil is transported.
Amid speculation that the U.S. might target Kharg Island in the Persian Gulf, Iran’s main oil terminal, Iran's parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf threatened in a social media post that any attempt to take Iranian islands would “make the Persian Gulf run with the blood of invaders.”
With traffic in the strait effectively stopped, the price of Brent crude oil, the international standard , rose another 9% to more than $100 a barrel, up some 38% over what it cost when the war started. Prices have swung back and forth in recent days, at one point surging to around $120 a barrel.
Iran and Hezbollah launch multiple attacks on Israel It was a sleepless night for many Israelis as Hezbollah launched some 200 rockets at the country’s north and deeper into Israel, according to the Israeli military.
“The noise was extraordinary, it was really scary,” said Naama Porat, a resident of the rural community of Klil, some 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the Lebanese border. As the sound of explosions and interceptions rang out, she dashed with her son to a shelter and spent the night there.
No serious injuries were reported, but the extent of the fire shook residents of the north, who have repeatedly been told by their leaders that Hezbollah was dealt a devastating blow in 2024 during its last war with Israel.
“They have stocks of weapons and it just doesn’t end. We don’t know how much and what to expect,” Porat said.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned Lebanon that if its government does not prevent Hezbollah from attacking, Israel “will take the territory and do it ourselves.”
More than 20 killed in strikes on Lebanon and Iran Israel, meantime, hit a car in a seaside area of Lebanon's capital where dozens of displaced people have been sheltering, killing eight and wounding 31, the Lebanese Health Ministry said. The Israeli military said it was “not aware” of a strike at that location.
The Israeli military said it struck a nuclear facility in Iran in recent days. Israel had destroyed the “Taleghan 2” site in an airstrike in October 2024. Earlier this year satellite photos raised concerns that Iran was working to restore the facility.
The U.S. and Israel say that destroying whatever remains of Iran's nuclear program is one of the central aims of the war. They have long suspected Iran seeks nuclear weapons, while the Islamic Republic says its nuclear program is peaceful.
In Tehran, security force checkpoints came under attack for the first time on Wednesday night, the semiofficial Fars news agency reported. At least 10 people were killed in the suspected drone assaults.
Israel and the U.S. military did not immediately respond to requests for comment over whether they were behind the attacks.
Iran fires at Gulf Arab countries and hits ship in Persian Gulf Iran’s latest attacks on its Gulf neighbors flouted a U.N. Security Council resolution approved Wednesday.
Early Thursday, a container ship was hit with a projectile off the coast of Dubai, sparking a small fire, according to British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center. It said the crew were safe.
An Iranian attack sparked a major fire on Muharraq Island, home to Bahrain's international airport. Kuwait authorities said an Iranian drone smashed into a residential building, wounding two people, and that a drone attack on Kuwait International Airport had caused damage but no casualties.
The UAE said it had activated air defenses twice to protect the futuristic city of Dubai from attacks, and firefighters extinguished a blaze at a tower after a drone hit.
Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, said it shot down a drone targeting the diplomatic quarter in its capital, Riyadh, and other drones in the east, including at least one trying to target its Shaybah oil field.
Following an attack on Iraq's Basra port Wednesday that killed at least one person, officials said Thursday that operations were halted at all the country's oil terminals.
In the UAE, Citibank said it would close all but one of its branches due to an Iranian threat — not yet realized — to target financial institutions in the region.
Iran Security Chief Threatens Reciprocal Attacks In Region If US Targets Electricity
Tehran : Iran's security chief Ali Larijani threatened on Thursday to target power grids in the region if the United States attacked the Islamic republic's electricity supplies.
"If they do that, the whole region will go dark in less than half an hour and darkness provides ample opportunity to hunt down US servicemen running for safety," said Larijani in a post on X.
US President Donald Trump had said US forces could knock out Iran's electricity supply "within one hour" -- leaving the country with reconstruction that could take a generation.