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Israeli Defence Forces said it had launched a wave of strikes against infrastructure of the Iranian regime at the heart of Tehran, just as heavy airstrikes were launched on the Parchin missile complex southeast of Tehran, resulting in more than 40 explosions heard, and smoke was seen rising from the missile complex following the strikes, while smoke was also reported over Tehran’s Sattarkhan district following a strike in the area.
Soon after explosions had been reported in the Marina area of Dubai, the UAE announced that an Iranian missile had been intercepted over Dubai, while another loud explosion was heard from an interceptor over Arabian Ranches.
Several drones which could have been launched by Iran or militia groups once again targeted the al-Ahmadi refinery which sparked fires at the operational units, resulting in parts of the refinery being closed down.
US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth was once again called a liar, this time by a father of a US service member who was killed in the war, as Hegseth claimed families urged them to keep fighting, but at least one father says he never said that, instead expressing uncertainty about the war, while another official also didn’t hear families telling Trump to ‘finish the job,’ reported NBC.
An Iranian missile attack in the morning hit south of Tel Aviv, as emergency services reported the impact of ‘debris’ on the city of Rehovot in the south of Tel Aviv, with photos later proving damage was caused to a building in the area, while Channel 12 Israel reported hearing areas of Ashdod and Yavne in southern occupied Palestine.
Other reports from Tasnim News Agency suggested that more than 20 explosions had occurred following yesterday morning’s missile attacks on southern Tel Aviv and occupied territories, while visual confirmation showed a building on fire in Tel Aviv.
26-year-old IDF reservist Raz Cohen served in an Iron Dome air defence unit, but had been arrested on charges of spying for Iran, having communicated with an Iran intelligence agent via Telegram beginning last December, sharing sensitive information about the Iron Dome system, locations of Israeli Air Force bases and Iron Dome batteries as well as personal details and contact information of several individuals, according to an indictment.
These actions were taken at the agent’s request, with the goal of assessing the possibility of recruiting them to cooperate with Iranian intelligence, the indictment stated, also noting that Cohen was aware he was in contact with an Iranian intelligence agent while carrying out these activities.
Qatari authorities arrested Al Jazeera political analysts Saeed Ziad and Fatima Al-Samadi on charges described as supporting Iran in the current war. Al-Samadi had praised Ali Larijani in a tweet, but after the publication of these posts, Qatari authorities closed her X account. Former Al Jazeera journalist Mouni Hawa, who was previously dismissed from Al Jazeera for criticising the Al-Julani regime in Syria, has also been arrested for a similar reason as Al-Samadi.
Massive explosions were reported by Arab media on Friday at American interests and facilities in Saudi Arabia, as some sources stated suicide drones had hit the Prince Sultan airbase in eastern Saudi Arabia, causing explosions and fires, while Iraqi media outlet Sabrin News also wrote that since dawn on Friday, the sound of explosions in Saudi Arabia hadn’t stopped and relentless drone attacks on the US bases continued.
Fars News Agency confirmed that Sardar Ali Mohammad Naeini, the spokesperson for the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, was killed in the early hours of Friday morning.
Iran’s army claimed that drone attacks had been carried out on Israeli refueling aircraft positions at Ben Gurion Airport, while also targeting the Israeli Channel 13 and the Ministry of Internal Security in Tel Aviv with drones.
Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that Iranian missile attacks have killed 21 people and injured more than 4,000 since the outbreak of the war.
Britain announced it had given America approval to use RAF Fairford and Diego Garcia to carry out attacks on Iranian missile sites targeting the shipping of the Strait of Hormuz in a move that is described as part of a limited and defensive effort to counter Iranian missile attacks on the maritime routes in the region.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that Iran criticised Britain and some European countries for their negative and biased stance towards the US-Israeli aggression, stating that they didn’t intend to attack neighbouring countries, but unfortunately Iran was being attacked from the US bases within their territories, so any assistance that allows an attack on Iran will escalate tensions in the region.
Eighteen hours later, Iran targeted the joint US-UK military base in the Indian ocean with two ballistic missiles, with one failing in flight, while the other was engaged by a US guided-missile destroyer utilising the SM-3, but the base is around 4,000km from Iran, so it is likely the Khorramshahr-4 was used, which is said to have a range of plus 4,000, though it had only been proven at 2,000-3,000km, and the attack shows that Iran’s previous claims of having missiles limited to 2,000km was a blatant lie.
President Trump’s administration is allegedly considering plans to seize or blockade Iran’s Kharg Island to pressure Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, but an operation to take over the Island could put US and regional troops more directly in the line of fire, at both bases or on boats in the sea.
Such an operation could only be launched after the US military has further degraded Iran’s military capacity around the Strait of Hormuz, and should such an operation was approved, it would require more than the Delta Force and Marine units that are on their way to the region, as an official said: “If Trump has to take Kharg Island to make it happen, that’s going to happen – if he decides to have a coastal invasion, that’s going to happen – but that decision hasn’t been made.”
Israel’s Defence Forces announced a wave of airstrikes over Iran on the morning of March 20, as reports of explosions (along with visual confirmations), indicated explosions in the Shahmirzad countryside, as well as Shiraz in western Iran, and at least four strikes on the Bandar Abbas Airport in southern Iran.
Four people were killed and eight others were injured, reported the Assistant Governor of Alborz, noting that an Israeli-American attack occurred in the city of Karaj, western Tehran.
According to the US Energy Secretary, Iranian oil will begin arriving at ports in the coming days following the lifting of sanctions, with some expected to arrive within three to four days, while noting the release of oil from the strategic reserve could take place over the coming months too.
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa said that what is happening now in Iran is a major and rare event that hasn’t been witnessed since World War II, so Syria are carefully calculating their steps and working to keep the country away from any conflict so it can maintain its path of development and construction.
“It is important to remember that Syria has always been an arena of conflict and strict during the past 15 years and before that, but today it is harmony with all the neighbouring countries regionally and internationally – the country has shifted from a conflict zone to an active force for domestic and regional stability,” President al-Sharaa added.
According to The Washington Post, a Middle East official said that the goal of regime change was reflected in Israel’s military tactics, because about 40% of its estimated 80,000 strikes had been against Iranian security forces and installations that would be used to suppress another popular uprising,” appearing to try to inform Iranian’s to head back onto the streets again, a plan that Israeli officials had said they expected to fail because Iran had become united against a common enemy.
Meanwhile, a senior US administration official claimed that Israel was pursuing a scorched-earth campaign of regime change, which is not what our [the US] goal is: “Bibi wants to wreck Iran’s economy and decimate its energy Infrastructure, but Trump wants to keep it intact,” the official said.
An Iranian-backed militia projectile impacted at the US Victoria Base in Baghdad, Iraq, last night, causing a massive fire to break out in what appeared to be a logistical warehouse and possible supplies for the Israel-US war.
Other Headlines:
Abu Dhabi Police arrested 109 people for filming events and circulating ‘misleading information,’ as members of the public are advised to erase all data and make sure they erase metadata should anyone decide to capture any images near any facilities or military operations.
232 American troops have been wounded since the start of the War in Iran, most suffering traumatic brain injuries, with 207 already returned to duty and 10 classified as seriously wounded, a US official told ABC News.
Bazan Company, who own and operate the Haifa refineries, stated that the infrastructure suffered major damage and repairs would take several days – this refinery is one of two that Israel rely on to supply fuel to the country.
Abu Dhabi’s Ministry of Defence stated that they dealt with 4 ballistic missiles and 26 drones yesterday that had been fired from Iranian soil, making it a total of 338 ballistic missiles intercepted, along with 15 cruise missiles and 1,740 drones launched since the start of the fighting, and a total of 158 people have been injured since the beginning of the attacks.
American and Israeli intelligence officials told the Washington Post that the ‘Iranian regime is not collapsing and the regime remains in control of power.’
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said that the attack on the Iranian port of Anzali had damaged the economic interests of Russia and other Caspian Sea countries, adding that they were observing with increasing concern the expanding scale of Israeli and American missile and bomb strikes in Iran.
Reports from Politico suggested that Russia had offered to stop intelligence sharing with Iran if the US stopped providing Ukraine with intelligence, but the US rejected, however Putin’s Envoy Kirill Dmitriev called the Politico report fake news.
New Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei sent a message to President Massoud Barzani following the martyrdom of the Minister of Intelligence, saying that there was no doubt that the void left by the killing of the Minister of Security should be compensated by redoubling the efforts of other officials in that sensitive ministry.
Khamenei’s Telegram page wrote that attacks in Turkey and Oman were not carried out by Iranian forces or allied groups, describing them as false flag operations intended to create tensions between Iran and its neighbours, adding that the incidents aimed to undermine relations with regional partners and warned similar actions could occur in other countries.
NATO is effectively putting the NATO Mission Iraq on hold and has withdrawn 600 personnel from the country – NMI was a non-combat advisory operation aimed at helping Iraq build a more sustainable, transparent, inclusive and effective armed forces and security institutions.
CCTV footage captured somewhere in central Israel showed missile debris landing during an Iranian missile wave.
Evacuation warnings were reiterated by the IDF to all residents of southern Lebanon, urging them to evacuate north of the Zahrani river.
An Iraqi security source told Al-Mayadeen that a large number of vehicles had been seen moving along the Syrian border with air cover from American forces, parallel to the border strip with Iraq, taking advantage of poor weather conditions to make their advances.
Al-Mayadeen was also told by an Iraqi source that 100 Italian soldiers from the NATO forces present in Iraq had fled to Jordan following the attacks, while other sources reported that Poland had also withdrawn their troops from Iraq yesterday.
Switzerland have decided not to allow the export of war materials to countries participating in the aggression against Iran in for the entire duration of the conflict, as a Federal Council member stated that a joint expert committee would regularly review current licences and exports to ensure their compliance with the neutrality law.
Israel Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar tried to convince his French counterpart Jean-Noël Barrot that the Lebanese government and its army are taking no significant action against Hezbollah, either military or otherwise: “Israel will continue to defend itself and its citizens, and will act firmly against anyone seeking its harm,” he said.
During the meeting, Sa’ar proposed that France and the EU designate Hezbollah in its entirety as a ‘terrorist organisation,’ which means not just the military wing, a step that has already been taken by several European countries, Sa’ar added.
An Israeli airstrike targeted the 12th Brigade, 40th Division and the 89th Regiment in Daraa Governorate in Syria, and while there was no confirmed reports of casualties, the strikes allegedly hit supply depots and logistical equipment in these areas, while adding that they’d also destroyed around 120 Hezbollah command centres since the war resumed.
UK Police arrested a 34-year-old Iranian man and woman on suspicion of attempting to enter the HM Naval Base Clyde near Glasgow. Authorities said the pair were detained after approaching the high security facility, with reports suggesting possible Iranian links, while investigations remain ongoing.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed to journalists yesterday that 228 Ukrainian drone specialists were in the gulf states of Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the Levant country of Jordan in order to support their air defences against Iranian Shahed drones.
Soon after news had stated that two B-52 Bombers had entered Iranian airspace, the Bushehr Airbase was struck multiple times within a 30-minute period, while secondary explosions were also reported, indicating ammunition depots were likely targeted; meanwhile, two loud explosions were also heard in the Isfahan countryside in central Iran, possibly near the missile launch facilities, as locals reported the ‘shaking of the ground in the middle of the city;” Explosions were also reported at the Parchin Military Complex which is located in the southern area of Tehran.
FM Araghchi said yesterday that the vast majority of the British people did not want any part in the Israel-American war of choice on Iran: “Ignoring his own people, Mr Starmer is putting British lives in danger by allowing UK bases to be used for aggression against Iran,” Araghchi said, adding that Iran would exercise its right to self-defence.
According to NPR, the F-35 pilot that had been hit by Iranian fire was in a stable condition having suffered from shrapnel injuries, while the jet had to make a ‘hard landling’ and is not expected to return to service any time soon.
According to the IDF, Mehdi Rostami Shamastan, a senior official in the Iranian Intelligence Ministry, was killed in an airstrike earlier this week, and according to the statement, Mossad was also involved in the operation.
Saudi’s Ministry of Defence announced they had intercepted 18 drones over the Eastern province in a four hour period, just before midnight last night, and soon after decided to open King Fahd Air Base in Taif, western Saudi Arabia for its war on Iran, reported the Middle East Eye, which is believed to also aid air defences in the region after an influx of drones and missiles recently.
Reports also surfaced last night that Iranian missiles had completely burned the main supply base of the Israeli army in Ben Ami, stating that the central logistics hub at the IDF base, worth almost 2 billion dollars, has been destroyed.
An Iranian woman was recording near other civilians when missiles rained down causing their deaths, and during the double tap, the woman herself was also killed as the camera eventually ended up destroyed.
UAE Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdulla bin Zayed told his counterpart, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, that the UAE is prepared for the war to last up to nine months, a US official told Middle East Eye.
