Strike was first time a fossil fuel energy production facility has been hit. But why is it significant and who does it affect? Strikes by both sides on so-called upstream gas production facilities in recent days are a significant escalation in the war in the Middle East, with potentially long-term consequences.
Officials say military planners liaising with US Central Command but situation remains too dangerous for anything to happen soon Middle East crisis – live updates Britain has said it remains involved in discussions with the US and European allies over escorting merchant shipping through the strait of Hormuz but the situation remains too dangerous for it to happen soon. Iran is still considered to pose a threat and have a wide range of weapons available – from cruise missiles to sea drones – despite 19 days of US-led bombing of its navy and coastal sites. Continue reading...
Attempt to ‘decapitate’ state may harden resistance instead of destabilising regime Middle East crisis – live updates Fighting intensifies between Israel and Hezbollah in southern Lebanon Israel’s decision to authorise its military to kill any senior Iranian official on its assassination list has raised significant new questions about its so-called decapitation strategy – and what it is intended to achieve. Privately, Israeli officials have briefed their US counterparts that in the event of an uprising, Iran’s opposition would be “slaughtered” . Continue reading...
Steady UK opposition to the war and the US president’s insults mean MPs are finding it easier to point out the obvious When is a U-turn definitely a U-turn? To the consternation of politicians through the ages, this is rarely something within their control, but decided instead by the herd. And thus it is with Kemi Badnoch over Iran and Donald Trump.
Iran, the strait of Hormuz and a global economic shock. Plus: Feminism fights on Get the Guardian Weekly delivered to your home address As fighting in the Middle East entered its third week, focus has shifted to Tehran’s closure of a key maritime passage, and the potentially huge global economic impact. For our big story this week, Jillian Ambrose explains how the war in Iran has effectively blocked the Gulf states from exporting a fifth of the world’s oil supply through the strait of Hormuz.
Readers respond to Gordon Brown’s article about the effects of war on children following the bombing of the Shajareh Tayyebeh school in Minab, Iran We welcome Gordon Brown’s powerful focus on the traumatic effects of war on children in Iran ( Children killed, a school turned into a graveyard: even in wartime, we can’t accept this, 12 March ). In our work with child psychologists in Ukraine, Gaza and other conflict zones, we have seen how wars blight the lives not only of children who are injured but also of those who lose their homes, families and communities. Disrupted schooling, displacement to other countries, bereavement in their peer group and family, witnessing the horrors of conflict and feeling the terrors of air raids or ground attacks – all of these catastrophic experiences can lead to lifelong psychological disturbance.
Prof Kaveh Madani, winner of the Stockholm water prize, was accused of sabotage with his environmental work Eight years before he got the call telling him he had won the Stockholm water prize, Prof Kaveh Madani was being interrogated by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, accused of being a spy for the CIA, MI6 or the Mossad. Today he is in exile and on Wednesday won the world’s most prestigious water prize for combining “groundbreaking research on water management with policy, diplomacy and global outreach, often under personal risk and political complexity”. Continue reading...
Nick Timothy said an event attended by the mayor of London that included prayers was an ‘act of domination’ Polanski says the government should be doing more to improve home insulation, and on the drive towards renewable energy. And he says the government should commit to ensuring energy bills do not rise above the April-June price cap. The government should guarantee right now that it will not allow energy bills to rise beyond the April-June price cap – instead setting aside approximately £8.
Emanuel Fabian says his routine report became focus of wager with $23m at stake on online prediction platform An Israeli journalist received threatening messages from users of the online prediction platform Polymarket after one of his reports, on a minor missile strike near Jerusalem, suddenly became the focus of an unresolved bet about the Israel-Iran conflict. “After you make us lose $900,000 we will invest no less than that to finish you,” said one message to the journalist, Emanuel Fabian. Continue reading...
Esmail Khatib said to be third senior Iranian figure killed in 24 hours as Israel authorises military to kill targeted officials Middle East crisis – live updates Israel claimed on Wednesday to have killed a third senior Iranian figure in 24 hours, stating that its forces had “eliminated” Tehran’s intelligence minister, Esmail Khatib, in an overnight strike. If confirmed, his death would follow those of Ali Larijani , the head of the supreme national security apparatus, and the commander of the Basij militia, Gholamreza Soleimani. Continue reading...
Instead of regime change, all the bombing has produced so far is regime reinforcement and no end in sight With the US-Israeli bombing of Iran now in its third week, its costs are mounting, its purpose is increasingly muddled and potential off-ramps have become frustratingly elusive. Yet rather than succumb to despair, we should urgently press for this destructive war to end. Iran never engaged in an actual or imminent attack that would justify a war of self-defense.
Republicans almost certain to push through appointment following the ousting of Noem amid public backlash to her aggressive immigration approach Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inbox Hello and welcome to the US politics live blog. A Senate committee later today is expected to give a quick confirmation to Markwayne Mullin, a first-term Republican senator from Oklahoma, to lead the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). A top counter-terrorism official in the Trump administration resigned over the ongoing war on Iran .
Two people were reported killed after a barrage of Iranian missiles hit Ramat Gan, east of Tel Aviv, on Wednesday. Israel and the US launched attacks on Iran last month which have prompted a war that quickly spread across the Middle East. The war has killed at least 1,300 people in Iran, more than 900 in Lebanon and 14 in Israel, according to officials in the countries Middle East crisis – live updates Continue reading...
Tehran residents try to stay safe from bombing and cling to their livelihoods as war stretches into third week Up to 3. 2 million people have been temporarily displaced in Iran since the start of the US-Israeli military campaign, the UN’s refugee agency estimates , a figure that is likely to rise as the war stretches into a third week. A burning oil depot in the distance after an airstrike, 8 March.
Last year it was China’s answer to tariffs, now it’s Iran’s retaliation to airstrikes – ‘America First’ keeps foundering on global economics Donald Trump is teaching the world a lesson, but not the one he thinks. The attack on Iran was meant to be a dazzling display of military supremacy. It has instead illuminated chinks in the US’s armour.
Negotiators had reached agreement on key issues despite Trump team’s idiosyncratic approach. Two days later, war began In the many bizarre exchanges that occurred in the run-up to the US-Israeli attack on Iran, perhaps the most unexpected was an invitation by Donald Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff for the Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, to join him and Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, for a visit to the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group. The idea that Araghchi would leave talks in Oman about the future of Iran’s nuclear programme to tour a ship sent to the Gulf in an effort to dislodge his government seemed idiosyncratic at best.
Prime minister says no Australian personnel were injured and maintains Australia is not at war with Iran Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast An Iranian projectile hit near Australia’s headquarters at the Al Minhad airbase in the United Arab Emirates, damaging an accommodation block and a medical facility. The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, confirmed that no Australian personnel were injured in the strike at 9. 15am AEDT on Wednesday morning.
Progressive and green groups join call for tax on major fossil-fuel companies to help offset rising living costs With big oil companies poised to reap billions of dollars in profits from the war in Iran, Democratic lawmakers and progressive groups are calling for a windfall tax on major fossil fuel companies. The US-Israeli strikes on Iran have triggered the largest ever disruption to fuel supply, according to the International Energy Agency, sending crude costs surging over $100 per barrel in recent days. Those high prices have hit US pocketbooks, with average domestic gas prices topping $3.
Ukraine’s president says mass attacks on civilians are no longer the preserve of a ‘madman like Putin’ European nations should prepare for attacks by non-state actors including criminal networks, terror groups and lone attackers as drone technology advances, Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned. The Ukrainian president said it was no longer just “a wealthy madman like Putin” who could afford mass attacks as he demonstrated the latest technology to British MPs and peers. Continue reading...
Pipeline, closed since 2015 after huge oil spill, reopens after president cites need to boost US supply amid war on Iran Oil has begun to flow from a controversial California pipeline for the first time in an over decade following a Trump administration order, despite state officials decrying the move. Sable Offshore Corporation, the Houston-based owner of the coastal pipelines, announced on Monday that offshore oil was now flowing through its Santa Ynez unit and Santa Ynez pipeline system, which runs through several California counties. Continue reading...
