AJ
Recap of the war between US-Israel and Iran, including the latest political news, and updates on attacks across the regions.
President Donald Trump’s public address topped the bill for Wednesday night as the world tuned in to find out why a 20-minute broadcast slot had been reserved, and although White House officials were pleased with how Trump handled the address, oil prices jumped more than 4% following the US President saying that the US would continue strikes against Iran.
🔹 ️White House officials were pleased with how President Trump handled his address, noting that he largely adhered to the prepared script, reported CNN, noting that the address was designed to reassure the American public that the war was approaching its conclusion, while reinforcing confidence in the administration’s handling of the conflict, while officials stated the formal tone of the address was intended to strengthen public trust, as polling indicated growing fatigue among US citizens over the ongoing war.
🔹 ️Secretary of State Marco Rubio praised President Trump’s address in an X post, describing it as powerful, and said that Trump’s speech sent a clear message to the world that the United States would defend its people and its interests while upholding peace through strength.
🔹 ️Iran’s first launch was around 3:15am on Thursday morning, using two ballistic missiles targeting Shephelah and the Greater Tel Aviv area, but the launch targeting northern Israel were allowed to fall in an open area, while the one targeting central Israel was intercepted.
🔹 ️Around three hours later, another launch by Iran, as trails from Iranian missiles were seen over the Ahvaz area of Iran at dawn, while reports of interceptions and explosions in Haifa were reported by Israeli media, and missile debris reportedly fell in the Carmel area.
🔹 ️Gulf states are exploring new pipeline projects to bypass the Strait of Hormuz, as ongoing conflict and disruption threaten one of the world’s most critical energy chokepoints, reported the Financial Times, stating that the plans aim to replicate and expand existing infrastructure such as Saudi Arabia’s East-West pipeline and the UAE’s route to Fujairah, allowing crude exports to reach global markets without passing through the Strait, however, such projects face major obstacles including high costs, long construction timelines and security risks.
🔹 ️Abu Dhabi authorities reported on Thursday morning that Iranian missile debris fell in the vicinity of the Khalifa Economic Zones Abu Dhabi, causing minor damage, but no injuries were reported as a result of the incident.
🔹 ️Iran confirmed that the Trump administration and Israel had completely missed Iran’s true strategic missile facilities, as the spokesperson for the IRGC, Ebrahim Zolfaghari, revealed the missiles were hidden in ‘unknown locations’ and promised ‘devastating retaliation,’ adding that the Pentagon was completely blind.
🔹 ️Fuel tanks were reportedly struck at Mashhad Airport in a wave of strikes targeting Iran around lunchtime local time.
🔹 ️Residents of Nineveh province in Iraq recorded intensive military aircraft flights taking flight over the sky of Nineveh province after several explosions, and reports began to emerge of fires in Tal Afar in the Nineveh Province soon after, as Al Jazeera later confirmed the Headquarters of the 58th Brigade in the Qayyarah area, south of Nineveh province, had been targeted in an attack. Governor of Erbil Omed Khashnaw said the city saw about 25 drone attacks on Wednesday with no casualties, but three rockets hit the headquarters of an Iranian Kurdish opposition party on the outskirts of Erbil.
🔹 ️Another American attack targeted the headquarters of the 57th Brigade of the PMF in Hadithah in Anbar province, but there were no reported casualties from this attack, reported Naya.
🔹 ️Israeli media allegedly reported more than 760 drones were launched towards Israel, noting that some of them had penetrated the air defence systems and hit sensitive locations, adding that the Iranians are producing huge numbers of accurate and cheap drones and Iran is prepared for a large battle, reported Naya.
🔹 ️Bahrain’s Defence Forces reported intercepted and destroyed 188 missiles and 429 drones since the start of the war.
🔹 ️Jordan’s military reportedly intercepted and destroyed one missile that targeted the Kingdom over the previous 24 hours, according to state media, but the Security Services received four reports of falling shrapnel in various areas with no casualties reported.
🔹 ️UAE’s air defences intercepted 19 ballistic missiles and 26 drones in 24 hours, making a total of 457 ballistic missiles, 19 cruise missiles and 2,038 drones since the start of the war, the Defence Ministry said.
🔹 ️Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baqaei said Tehran had no choice but to confront the aggression, explaining that Iran restricts shipping in the Strait of Hormuz to prevent aggressors using the waterway for military attacks on the country, noting that ships not belonging to or supporting the aggressors would be allowed to pass after coordination with the Iranian authorities to ensure safe transit, stating that he couldn’t predict US actions, but stressed that Iran was fully determined to continue defending itself: “This is our land, this is an unjust war imposed on Iranians, therefore, we have no choice but to confront severely.”
🔹 ️Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Thani received a call from Germany’s Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul to discuss serious regional and international repercussions, affirming the need to stop unjustified Iranian attacks on Qatar and the region, warning against targeting vital water, food and energy infrastructure, while also speaking with the KRG Prime Minister Masrour Barzani about resolving differences peacefully.
🔹 ️Iranian Defence Minister Major General Amir Hatami said that if the ‘enemy carries out a ground invasion, not a single one should survive,’ as the Army Chief ordered operational headquarters to monitor ‘enemy’ movements with utmost suspicion, precision, and to execute counter-assault plans when appropriate, stating that the shadow of war must be lifted from the country and that security must exist for all, because it is unacceptable for some places to be secure while the Iranian people are not.
🔹 ️French President Emmanuel Macron said any military operation to liberate the Strait of Hormuz would be unrealistic, accusing US President Trump of undermining NATO by expressing doubts about US commitments, adding that war cannot provide a permanent solution to the Iranian nuclear issue, and that the decision to go to war in Iran was taken by the Americans and Israelis alone, not by Europe.
🔹 ️British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper told a virtual meeting of more than 40 foreign ministers that there was an urgent need to restore freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, saying that in the last 24 hours, only 25 vessels had passed through, compared to the usual 150, and that approximately 20,000 seafarers remained trapped on some 2,000 ships due to Iran’s blockade. Cooper condemned Iran’s ‘recklessness’ for harming global security, saying that discussions would be followed by a meeting of military planners to examine collective action to guarantee the safety of ships and enable a safe, sustained reopening of the Strait.
🔹 ️Cooper later said that countries across the world were determined to use ‘every possible diplomatic, economic and coordinated measure’ to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, adding that more than 40 countries had come together to support the reopening of the vital waterway, which Iran has all but closed, putting significant pressure on global supply chains and energy prices.
🔹 ️Evacuations of a number of experts and employees working in oil companies, including the British company BP operating in the southern Rumaila field, and the Iraqi company Al-Harriya, towards Kuwait via the Safwan boarder crossing on Thursday.
🔹 ️US/Israeli airstrikes took place on Tehran and Karaj on Thursday afternoon, with multiple explosions heard in both cities, and soon after, reports surfaced that the ‘B1’ bridge on the Northern Bypass west of Tehran, a major highway project connecting the capital to the northern regions, had been targeted in Karaj, (the tallest bridge in the Middle East that crosses the Karaj river), by Fars News Agency, who added that the infrastructure was damaged and several people were injured in the attack, while later unconfirmed reports suggested an high-level assassination attempt had taken place. Four hours later, Iranian media outlet Tasnim reported renewed strikes on the B1 bridge in Karaj, as the Alborz provincial government asked residents to stay away from the bridge, adding that emergency services had been dispatched to the scene and roads to the bridge have been closed. 8 people were killed and 95 wounded in what Iran has described as a ‘brutal attack.’
🔹 ️Iran’s former Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi was gravely wounded in what was an apparent assassination attempt on his home in Tehran, which also killed his wife, reported Al Jazeera, stating that the attack is believed to be linked to his role in diplomatic efforts, including contacts involving Pakistan and potential engagement with US officials, but the motive for the attack remained unclear.
🔹 ️Later, President Trump announced that the strike on the B1 bridge in Kharaj was carried out by the US Air Force, as Trump claimed responsibility for the attack, stating that the bridge was used to carry heavy weapons and transportation for the military from Tehran to the northeast of the country, and threatening to demolish further infrastructure if the Strait of Hormuz wasn’t reopened immediately.
🔹 ️Trump then took to Truth Social in the evening, saying: “The biggest bridge in Iran comes tumbling down, never to be used again – Much more to follow! It is time for Iran to make a deal before it is too late, and there is nothing left of what still could become a great country,” the President wrote.
🔹 ️Iran’s Fars News Agency listed several bridges in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi and Jordan as possible targets for military operations following the targeting of the B1 bridge in Kharaj.
🔹 ️Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi took to X saying: “Striking civilian structures, including unfinished bridges, will not compel Iranians to surrender. It only conveys the defeat and moral collapse of an enemy in disarray. Every bridge and building will be built back stronger. What will never recover: damage to America’s standing.”
🔹 ️Commander of the US Central Command Admiral Brad Cooper repeated a previous statement that five weeks after the campaign in Iran, undeniable progress has been made, with Iran’s navy no longer sailing, its aircraft not flying, and its air and defence missile systems largely destroyed.
🔹 ️Iranian Parliamentary Speaker Mohammed Bagher Ghalibaf claimed that seven million Iranians had volunteered to fight any US ground invasion: “Right now, in less than a week, a powerful national campaign sweeping the country has brought forward around 7 million Iranians who have already stepped up and declared they’re ready to pick up arms and stand in defence of our nation,” Ghalibaf wrote, adding: “You come for our home… you’re gonna meet the whole family.”
🔹 ️An Iranian-aligned militia, Kata’ib Hezbollah, has offered to negotiate with the Iraqi government for the release of kidnapped American journalist Shelly Kittleson, reported the New York Times, stating the group was demanding the release of several detained militia members in exchange for freeing her, according to two Iraqi security officials.
🔹 ️Famous Iranian human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh has been detained by Iranian authorities without explanation, her daughter said, noting that Sotoudeh was taken on Wednesday night and several electronic devices were seized in the raid – Sotoudeh received the EU’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought in 2012.
🔹 ️Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi praised Iran’s ‘great effectiveness’ in confronting ‘US-Israeli aggression,’ saying Iranian missile and drone waves had destroyed US military bases in the region and inflicted unprecedented losses on American and Israeli forces, calling on the Islamic nation to unite against what he described as an openly declared ‘Zionist regime’ targeting all Muslims. Al-Houthi said the resistance axis’s joint operations are continuing and escalating, announcing that the Houthis had begun launching missiles and drones as part of that coordination, while condemning the closure of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the new Israeli law allowing the execution of prisoners, calling for a million-strong protest in Sanaa and other provinces on Friday.
🔹 ️Iranian Brigadier General Mohammad-Ali Fath-Alizadeh, commander of the IRG Ground Forces’ Fattahin commando unit, was reportedly killed in a US-Israeli airstrike on Wednesday.
🔹 ️Qatar’s Ministry of Defence announced that Qatar had been subjected to an attack involving a number of drones from Iran on Thursday afternoon, stating that the Qatari Armed Forces successfully intercepted and neutralised all incoming drones.
🔹 ️Iran has launched roughly 20 ballistic missiles in a 24 hour period, of which around half were intercepted, the IDF reported, noting that the remainder fell in ‘open areas as per protocols,’ adding that at least two missiles carried cluster warheads.
🔹 ️US-Israeli strikes have damaged around 33,000 homes in Tehran, according to the Mayor’s office, noting that around 1,869 families have been affected, with roughly 1,234 relocated to 23 residential complexes.
🔹 ️Israeli forces admitted the killing of Jamshid Eshaghi, who was a Brigadier General in the Iranian army, serving as Chief of the Office of Budget and Financial Affairs within the Armed Forces General Staff, making him responsible for managing the military budgets and finances across Iran’s armed forces. In his role, Eshaghi coordinated with the IRGC on alleged illicit crude oil sales to China, using front companies such as Sepehr Energy to generate revenue for Iran’s alleged military projects and its proxies, including Hezbollah and the Houthis. Eshaghi was sanctioned by the US Treasury in February 2025 as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist for allegedly facilitating oil-smuggling networks that fund regional militant groups.
🔹 ️GCC’s chief Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi said Iranian aggression against Gulf states has targeted civilian and vital infrastructure, crossing red lines by threatening navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, and called on the UN Security Council to take all measures to restore freedom of navigation and affirmed the Gulf states’ right to self-defence.
🔹 ️IRGC Aerospace Force Commander Majid Moosavi said: “It is you who are taking your soldiers to their graves, not Iran, whom you seek to drag back to the Stone Age. Hollywood delusions have so poisoned your minds that, with your paltry 250-year history, you threaten a civilisation over 6,000 years old.”
🔹 ️Missile debris fell in the Jordanian city of Zarqa on Thursday afternoon following an interception of an Iranian missile that was on route to Israel, which was likely from a missile barrage that targeted the Beit Shemesh area.
🔹 ️Iran’s Foreign Ministry said the United States threats to destroy its energy infrastructure amounts to incitement to commit war crimes, stating that US President Trump’s repeated threats to attack Iranian energy and service infrastructure confirm Washington’s intention to commit the most heinous crimes, and that all governments are obliged under international law to condemn such threatening rhetoric.
🔹 ️UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the Middle East was on the edge of a wider war with dramatic global impacts, saying Iran’s strangling of the Strait of Hormuz was raising food and energy costs worldwide, urging the US and Israel to stop the war and Iran to stop attacking its neighbours, adding that conflicts only ever end ‘when leaders choose dialogue over destruction.’
🔹 ️An announcement by Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi stated that Iran would soon establish tolls for ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, saying that a new protocol was being discussed with Oman to set out the rules for commercial and military vessels, including the responsibilities of coastal states and ship owners, but the details, including the exact fees, are still under review and will be available soon.
🔹 ️Iran’s semi-official state media Mehr claimed that Iran carried out a drone attack on Thursday targeting a US military air base in Jordan, identified as Al-Azraq, reporting that the strike was aimed at facilities hosting advanced US fighter jets and drone operations, describing the base as a key hub for American military activity in the region.
🔹 ️Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told EU Foreign Policy chief Kaja Kallas and German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul that Beijing is willing to work to end the war in Iran as soon as possible, while in a separate call with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, Wang said the most urgent matter is halting the fighting.
🔹 ️Bahrain’s draft proposal at the UN Security Council to reopen the Strait of Hormuz reached an impasse after China and Russia objected to language authorising ‘all necessary means’ to protect commercial shipping, and despite minor changes, Moscow and Beijing argued the wording goes too far, as China’s UN mission said council actions should ease tensions and bring about a ceasefire, not endorse illegal acts of war. Bahrain announced they would hold a vote on a resolution to keep the Strait open on Friday, but the draft will still face opposition from China and Russia, Bahrain’s Foreign Minister Abdullatif al-Zayani accused Iran of threatening the global economy by restricting navigation.
🔹 ️Gulf States are also considering using military force to enable passage through the Strait, alongside diplomatic pressure from other countries, according to Israeli KAN News, noting that the UK held a meeting with around 40 countries and a British official stated that military planning was underway, including minesweeping operations, with another meeting scheduled for next week, but the issue of the Strait remains unresolved and it is unclear what President Trump will do militarily to help reopen it.
🔹 ️Argentina declared Iran’s chargé d’affaires, Mohsen Soltani Tehrani, persona non grata and ordered him to leave the country within 48 hours, with the decision coming after an Iranian Foreign Ministry statement accusing Argentinian President Javier Milei of acting under the influence of the United States and the ‘Zionist regime.’ In late March, Argentina designated the IRGC as a terrorist organisation, allowing authorities to freeze its assets. Argentina has long held Iran responsible for the 1992 bombing of the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires and the 1994 AMIA Jewish community centre attack, which together killed more than 110 people.
🔹 ️Kata’ib Hezbollah thanked the Iraqi people for their support of the ‘axis of resistance,’ while accusing the rulers of Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the UAE of siding with US-Israeli criminality against Iran, calling on the Iraqi government to punish Jordan by fully closing the land border and halting Iraqi oil shipments, describing Jordan as a launchpad for enemy aircraft targeting Iraqi security forces. The group said Iraqi resistance fighters had targeted US forces in Kuwait in the early days of the war but had avoided harming Qatar’s economic interests or infrastructure, acknowledging Qatar’s responsible positions towards the Palestinian cause and the resistance axis, warning other countries allied with the enemy against allowing their territory to be used for attacks against Iran.
🔹 ️Israeli’s Defence Forces announced that during the Passover holiday, the IDF struck more than 50 ballistic missile targets across Iran, adding that in the previous 24 hours, the Israeli Air Force had completed more than 20 strike sorties in central and western Iran, hitting dozens of alleged launch and storage sites with more than 140 munitions, as footage released by the IDF showed a F-35i ‘Adir’ fighter jet detecting a ballistic missile launcher inside a storage site and destroyed it, thwarting planned launches against Israel.
🔹 ️Mobarakeh Steel Company, Iran’s largest steel producer, announced that it fully shut down plants and halted all production lines following combined Israeli/US attacks on infrastructure on Wednesday.
🔹 ️Russia will ask the United States and Israel to guarantee a ceasefire that would allow them to evacuate more Russian staff from the Bushehr nuclear power plant in Iran, according to TASS, noting that Rosatom Chief Alexei Likhachev said that Russia would notify Israel and US authorities of the movement routes and demand strict adherence to a ceasefire during the convoy’s travel, adding that the final evacuation wave, involving around 200 people, is tentatively scheduled for next week.
🔹 ️IDF Spokesperson Brigadier General Effie Defrin announced that the Israeli Military had killed Mukram Azimi, the Commander of Iran’s ballistic missile forces in the Kermanshah area, stating that Azimi was allegedly responsible for many of the missile launches targeting Israel. The IDF also confirmed the elimination of three battalion commanders from Iran’s ballistic missile command who led fire on Israel.
🔹 ️Missiles were launched by Iran towards Israel at around 7:30pm, at least one of them being a cluster missile, while one missile directly impacted in Petah Tikva, assumed to be a single warhead of around 400kg, causing devastating damage to a warehouse and civilian buildings nearby were damaged as a result of the blast wave. During the same attack, Ansarullah also fired missiles from Yemen towards central Israel, with impacts and explosions reported in Jerusalem.
🔹 ️Victoria Air Base in Baghdad was also targeted by Iraqi militia forces for another night, as AFP reported the attack caused damage to an American logistics centre, according to local sources.
🔹 ️Parliament Speaker Ghalibaf said on X that Iran had followed the money: “Last week, a handful of bankers and hedge funds met, decided to hold Washington’s Iran war policy hostage, then launched a campaign,” with a poll asking whether Ghalibaf should release the names of those responsible.
🔹 ️Foreign Minister Araghchi took to X an hour later to comment on President Trump’s Truth Social from Wednesday: “There’s one striking difference between the present and the Stone Age: there was no oil or gas being pumped in the Middle East back then. Are POTUS and Americans who put him in office sure that they want to turn back the clock?”
🔹 ️President Trump is seeking an off-ramp to end the war against Iran while still declaring victory, aiming to avoid a prolonged conflict while achieving key objectives like blocking Iran’s nuclear ambitions, TIME Magazine reported, noting that Netanyahu and other Israelis have pushed for a longer, more decisive campaign, arguing that recent gains should be built upon rather than concluded.
🔹 ️Meanwhile, White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles has been concerned that aides were presenting Trump with overly positive assessments of the Iran war, telling him what he wanted to hear rather than what he needed to know, motivating him to keep going, stating that Trump had been starting many mornings by watching curated clips from military officials highlighting ‘battlefield successes.’
🔹 ️Secretary of War Pete Hegseth was caught off guard by the scale of Iran’s retaliatory attacks, which struck US and Israel targets across multiple countries in the region, including Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatar, TIME Magazine reported, stating that Hegseth had argued before the war that Iran would likely react in a restrained and controlled manner based on past reactions.
🔹 ️Houthi-led Yemeni Armed Forces Spokesperson Yahya Qasim Saree announced that a joint military operation with Iran and Hezbollah included a volley of ballistic missiles fired from Yemen to vital Israeli targets in the Jaffa area, noting that the operation achieved its objectives successfully, while describing its intervention in the war as gradual and stated that it will not stop at this level, but will respond in accordance to the enemy’s escalation or de-escalation, praising the resistance axis in Lebanon, Iraq, Iran and Palestine for defending the nation’s dignity against what it called the ‘Western-Zionist scheme.’
🔹 ️The CEO of Lufthansa Airlines released a statement saying the company was preparing for the possibility of fuel shortages at airports outside of Europe due to disruptions caused by the ban on crossing the Strait of Hormuz and rising jet fuel prices, reported Naya, stating that if there was a fuel shortage, the first effects would be felt in regions outside of Europe, including some Asian airports like Vietnam, who have stopped accepting additional flights due to fuel access restrictions.
🔹 ️Iranian media reported the shooting down of what initially appeared to be an American F15 fighter jet, noting the plane fell between the islands of Qeshm and Hormuz in the Persian Gulf, but this was later disputed by Russian intelligence groups, who note that the footage appeared to show an American F18 jet deploying what appeared to be flares, and there was no footage of any impact or falling of the plane.
🔹 ️Data centres of American companies including Oracle in Dubai and Amazon in Bahrain had come under attack by the IRGC Navy in the previous 24 hours, noting they had warned their action is a response to the assassination of Iranians, disabling the assassination machine, adding that Trump’s foolishness imposes huge costs on the US military. The spokesperson for the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces later said that one of the companies targeted is worth twice as much as the Falak-e Mobarakeh company in Isfahan, as they targeted company’s capital and products belonging to the Americans who would not be able to rebuild the facility for many years.
🔹 ️President Trump is set to unveil a new war chest on Friday with a $1.5 trillion defence budget, the largest year over year increase in defence spending since World War II, needed as a result of the war in Iran, reported Reuters.
🔹 ️The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies have warned that medical needs in Iran are rapidly increasing while critical supplies risk running out due to the conflict, according to Reuters, who stated more than 21,000 people had been injured and more than 1,900 killed since the conflict began, placing a severe strain on healthcare services. Representatives of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies Maria Martinez reported that three of the agency’s workers were killed in a strike on a medical facility in Zanjan on March 31st.
🔹 ️Despite what the White House called positive speeches on Wednesday night, the price of physical oil (Dated Brent) surged above $140 a barrel – the highest since 2008 – amid the Iran war, while futures traded much lower, but the physical market reflects a severe supply squeeze, according to the Clash Report.
🔹 ️Secretary of War Hegseth asked US Army Chief of Staff General Randy George to step down and take immediate retirement, according to CBS News, noting that Hegseth wants someone in the role who will implement his and President Trump’s vision for the Army as the war continues and a ground operation in Iran could still happen.
🔹 ️Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Iranian FM Araghchi held a telephone call to discuss regional developments amid the continued US-Israeli aggression, in which Araghchi stated the insecurity in the Strait of Hormuz was a direct result of the military aggression, adding that ships from countries not involved in the aggression can transit with coordination, warning that a UN Security Council resolution on the Strait would only worsen the situation, while Lavrov reiterated Russia’s condemnation of the aggression and stressed the need for a return to diplomacy, saying Moscow has put forward initiatives to reduce tensions.
🔹 ️Explosions were heard in the vicinity of the American-occupied Victoria Airbase in Baghdad during Thursday evening, while an explosion also occurred at the US base in Erbil, reported Sabereen news, as footage released showed what appeared to be a major fire engulfing a refinery in the Erbil province.
🔹 ️The USS Gerald R Ford has completed the unscheduled maintenance and restocked on supplies, and has now left the port of Split in Croatia, awaiting new orders and ready to take on Iran.
