US/Israel Iran War recap for March 31

Recap of the war between US-Israel and Iran, including the latest political news, and updates on attacks across the regions.

🔹 ️President Donald Trump told aides he is open to ending the military campaign against Iran even if the Strait of Hormuz remained largely closed, according to WSJ, citing administration officials, stating Trump and his team concluded that reopening the waterway would likelyextend the conflict beyond his preferred four-to-six week deadline, so instead, the US aims to weaken Iran’s naval and missile capabilities before scaling back operations and attempting diplomatic pressure to restore shipping, but if diplomacy fails, Washington will press European and Gulf allies to take the lead in reopening the Strait.

🔹 ️Trump then took to Truth Social on Tuesday morning, saying: “All of those countries that can’t get fuel because of the Strait of Hormuz, like the United Kingdom, which refused to get involved in the decapitation of Iran, I have a suggestion for you: Number 1, buy from the US, we have plenty, and Number 2, build up some delayed courage, go to the Strait, and just take it. You’ll have to start learning how to fight for yourself, the USA won’t be there to help you anymore, just like you weren’t there for us. Iran has been, essentially decimated. The hard part is done. Go get your own oil!!!”

🔹 ️Italy allegedly denied permission for US military bombers bound for the Middle East to land at the Sigonella base in Sicily, according to Corriere della Sera, stating the flights lacked proper authorisation and were not classified as routine or logistical missions, meaning they required formal approval and parliamentary oversight, however, no requests were made, and Italy military leadership was not consulted, with the plan only communicated after the aircraft were already in the air.

🔹 ️Defence Minister Guido Crosetto denied reports that Italy had suspended the use of its bases for US military assets, saying that bases remained active and nothing ad changed, adding that the government continues to follow international agreements that govern the US presence in Italy and there is no tension with the United States.

🔹 ️Soon after the report about Italy, Trump took to Truth social claiming France had also refused military support flights bound for Israel: “The country of France wouldn’t let planes headed to Israel, loaded up with military supplies, fly over French Territory. France has been very unhelpful, with respect to the Butcher of Iran, who has been successfully eliminated! The USA will remember!!!”

🔹 ️Israeli officials have said that French President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to deny US aircraft overflight rights to Israel was ‘the straw that broke the camel’s back’ and led to a halt in defence procurement from France, reported i24NEWS, adding that officials also accused Paris of failing to act meaningfully to disarm Hezbollah in Lebanon and trying to restrain Israel’s operations against the group.

🔹 ️According to the Elysée, France did not change the overflight rights of US Air Force aircrafts above its territory, adding that the earlier accusation by Trump was a surprise, noting that bombers based in the UK fly every day above France to perform strikes on Iran.

🔹 ️However, by this point Israel had cancelled a visit by French Defence Ministry official Alice Rufo, who is a senior figure in France’s defence ministry and is considered close to President Macron, noting the visit was called off despite discussions in which Israel clarified the shipments were intended for the war with Iran.

🔹 ️Iraq’s Council of Ministers has approved the purchase of air defence systems from the UK and Turkey at a cost of $340 million, and the cabinet stated the contract is partof ongoing efforts to equip the armed forces with modern equipment and raise operational capabilities in light of regional developments.

🔹 ️Poland has been requested to deploy a Patriot missile battery to the Middle East by the US, but Warsaw denied, and Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said the systems were needed to defend Polish airspace and NATO’s eastern flank, adding that there were no plans to move them elsewhere.

🔹 ️Israeli PM Netanyahu told ministers that the Iran of today cannot be compared to the Iran of 30 days ago, saying that the Americans are discussing dealing with the Strait of Hormuz, but there is an alternative, which is to redirect energy pipelines from Iran to Israel via Saudi Arabia, describing a rare opportunity for alliances with Arab countries and called on ministers to act as ambassadors for the initiative.

🔹 ️European Union’s Energy Chief Dan Jørgensen urged countries to safeguard fuel supplies amid a potentially prolonged disruption in global energy markets, saying countries should consider measures to reduce demand, similar to those being implemented across Asia, while also warning against policies such as fuel price caps that could increase demand or discourage production.

🔹 ️Britain and the US were showing early signs of strain as tensions between President Trump and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer over Iran begin to affect diplomacy, military and intelligence coordination, according to the FT, claiming Trump’s public criticism of Starmer had contributed to a cooler working environment, with reports of tighter information-sharing, US officials being excluded from some UK meetings, and slower British approvals for American use of bases like RAF Fairford. Starmer’s reluctance to allow UK bases to be used for initial strikes on Iran also caused friction, but UK officials say cooperation continues on a case-by-case basis, along with operational ties, particularly between military and intelligence services, remained intact. However, British diplomats reported reduced access to decision-makers in Washington due to a more centralised inner circle around Trump.

🔹 ️Israeli Defence Forces said they had completed another wave of strikes against weapon production sites in the Tehran area overnight, with targets including a facility used for casting and filling ballistic missile warheads, a ballistic missiles component site, a production, research and development site for components used in anti-tank missiles, anti-aircraft missiles, and other weapons.

🔹 ️Military officials said they had carried out more than 230 strikes over Iran in a 24 hour period, targeting alleged missile launchers ready for launch, weapon production sites and air defence systems, as the IDF released footage of precision strikes against air defence systems across Tehran, describing the operation as part of a systemic effort to degrade Iranian firepower arrays.

🔹 ️Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez condemned Israel’s approval of the death penalty for Palestinians, calling it an asymmetric measure that would not apply to Israelis who committed the same offences: “Same crime, different punishment. That is not justice. It is another step towards apartheid,” he said, adding that the world cannot remain silent.

🔹 ️US Central Command published an image of a B-52 Bomber refueling in the ongoing Operation Epic Fury, dated March 26, which OSINT specialists geolocated to northwest of Ar Rafah, east of the King Abdulaziz Royal Reserve, eastern Saudi Arabia, moving in a northwest direction which indicated it’s therefore returning from an attack on Iran and heading back to base (likely in the UK), but Saudi Arabia has consistently asserted it hasn’t given the US permission to use its airspace to launch attacks on Iran.

🔹 ️Jordan’s armed forces claimed to have successfully intercepted four missiles that targeted their country in the previous 24 hours, but have responded to 17 incidents of falling debris and projectiles in the same period.

🔹 ️European Council President Antonio Costa held a call with President Masoud Pezeshkian, where Costa stressed the need for de-escalation and the protection of civilians and infrastructure, requesting an end to attacks on regional countries and calling for cooperation with the UN to ensure freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.

🔹 ️Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi briefed Russian President Vladimir Putin on Egypt’s efforts to de-escalate the situation in the region during a phone call on Tuesday, stating that Russia was able to help bring an end to the war.

🔹 ️Soon after, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty briefed his counterparts from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Jordan on the latest mediation efforts aimed at ending the war, and the call followed meetings over the weekend in Islamabad in which Pakistani and Turkish ministers focused on bringing Iran and the United States back to the negotiating table.

🔹 ️IRGC warned that for every assassination of Iranian citizens, a US company would be destroyed, stating American ICT and AI companies played a central role in identifying targets, while naming 18 firms including Cisco, Intel, Microsoft, Apple, Google, Meta, Nvidia, Tesla and Boing, and the IRGC advised employees to leave workplaces immediately and residents within one kilometre to evacuate, warning that from 20:00 Tehran time on Wednesday 1st April, the companies would become targets.

🔹 ️According to Reuters, a White House official responded to the IRGC’s threat to attack US businesses in the region, reassuring that the US military is prepared to thwart any and all attacks by Iran: “The United States military is and was prepared to curtail any attacks by Iran, as evidenced by the 90 percent drop in ballistic missile and drone attacks by the terrorist regime.”

🔹 ️Commander of US Central Command Admiral Brad Cooper said that the US was making undeniable progress in eliminating Iran’s ability to project power outside its borders, stating that Iran’s navy isn’t sailing, its aircraft aren’t flying, while its air defence and missile defence systems have largely been destroyed. Cooper said every branch of the military has contributed to the campaign, with naval forces launching cruise missiles and fighter aircraft, air forces executing a high volume of airstrikes, and the Space Force delivering space superiority as a critical enabler, adding that US forces are operating the largest active air defence umbrella in the world to defend against Iranian missile and drone attacks.

🔹 ️China and Pakistan put forward a five-point initiative calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities, urging all parties to stop attacks on energy, desalination and power facilities, and to safeguard the security of shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, as the two countries stressed that dialogue and diplomacy are the only viable options, calling for adherence to international humanitarian law and the primacy of the UN Charter. Axios later reported that the US response to the joint statement was neither an attack or criticism: “The negotiations with Iran to end the war are progressing well.”

🔹 ️IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said the ‘Iranian regime’s axis of terror’ is beginning to collapse, according to remarks released by the military from his meeting with US Central Command Chief Admiral Brad Cooper, as the two commanders discussed cooperation between their militaries in the operation against Iran and coordinated next steps.

🔹 ️UK are set to deploy its Sky Sabre air defence system to Saudi Arabia as part of a broader defensive coordination across the region, the Ministry of Defence said, accoding to Reuters, noting that the deployment includes additional military personnel to help install, operate and integrate the system with regional air defence networks, but the UK is also sending further military assets to the Middle East too, including Typhoon fighter jets and support aircraft, as part of efforts to protect allies and deter further escalation.

🔹 ️Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait and Bahrain have said privately they don’t want the operation to end until there are significant changes in the Iranian leadership or a there’s a dramatic shift in Iranian Behavior, officials told AP, stating that the Gulf countries are also privately urging Trump to continue the war until Iran is decisively defeated, according to Gulf, US and Israeli officials. Netanyahu later said that Israel were in talks to form an alliance with Arab nations to fight alongside them, having held past secret talks with leaders about the Iranian threat, and they now realise the threat is real, noting that the Strait of Hormuz must be seized, adding that the US was threatening to deal with the issue using force, which Netanyahu hoped they would.

🔹 ️Iranian FM Araghchi said Tehran hasn’t responded to the 15 US points and has not set out any conditions, describing the current exchanges as messages, not negotiations, sent directly via regional partners, saying that Iran would not agree to a ceasefire but demands a complete end to the war across the region, adding that the Strait of Hormuz remained open for friendly nations and that Iran was prepared for any ground invasion, warning adversaries not to miscalculate.

🔹 ️Hackers have ramped up cyber operations on behalf of Iran, deploying hackers alongside military efforts in what the Financial Times described as a ‘parallel digital battlefield,’ highlighting how cyber units are targeting infrastructure, financial systems and information networks, while reflecting an expansion of the conflict into cyber warfare.

🔹 ️UAE imposed an immediate ban on entry and transit for all Iranian passport holders, including those with valid residency permits (such as Golden Visas), tourist visas, and passengers on connecting flights through Dubai – airlines have already begun enforcing the restriction.

🔹 ️Commander of the IRGC Aerospace Forces Moosavi took to X to state that Iran had struck a gathering of two hundred US troops in Al Kharj, Saudi Arabia. Soon after, the US Department of State issued a statement saying they were tracking reports of threats against locations where Americans gather, advising US citizens that hotels and gathering points include US businesses and US educational institutions may be potential targets, adding that the US Embassy in Riyadh had directed all US government employees to shelter in place, while recommending all Americans in Saudi Arabia do the same until further notice.”

🔹 ️Indonesia has introduced fuel rationing and required civil servants to work from home as it tries to conserve energy supplies amid rising global prices, as Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto said private vehicles would be limited to 50 litres of fuel per day under the new measures.

🔹 ️President Pezeshkian and FM Araghchi joined Iranians at a pro-government street gathering in Tehran on Tuesday night, as Araghchi told reporters: “I came to boost my morale – seeing these people reallygives a great inspiration to everyone – I want to get inspired and enjoy the unity and solidarity of the people. These people are so motivated, with passion, with a very high spirit.”

🔹 ️Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez finished the day’s comments, saying that 23 years ago, the US government dragged Spain into the war with Iraq, noting that the goal was to destroy Saddam Hussein’s nuclear weapons and establish democracy, however, no nuclear weapons were ever found in Iraq – ‘you will not fool us twice.’