US-Israel War on Iran Day 28: Trump halts targeting Iran energy facilities; Iran attacks 2 Kuwait ports

Saudi Arabia on Friday called on Saudi nationals currently present in Lebanon to leave the country immediately because of the security situation there.

In a statement on its social media platform X, the Saudi Embassy in Beirut urged its citizens to comply with the travel ban to Lebanon and called on all nationals currently present in the country to leave immediately citing the security developments.

The embassy emphasized the need to contact it in case of any emergency, wishing safety and security for all.

The UAE’s air defence systems intercepted six ballistic missiles and nine unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) launched from Iran on March 27, 2026, authorities said.

Since the start of the blatant Iranian attacks, the UAE has intercepted 378 ballistic missiles, 15 cruise missiles and 1,835 UAVs.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also said more than 600 schools have been damaged or demolished and more than 1,000 students and teachers "martyred or wounded" in Iran during the war.

"The aggressors' targeting pattern accompanied by their rhetoric leave little doubt as to their clear intent to commit genocide," Araghchi said by video during an urgent debate at the Human Rights Council in Geneva on Friday.

The debate focused on a Feb. 28 strike at an elementary school in the southern city of Minab. More than 165 people were killed, most of them of children, according to Iranian state media. Experts says evidence suggests the blast was likely caused by U.S. airstrikes. U.S. officials have said an investigation is underway. The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.

Israel's defence minister said on Friday that Israeli attacks on Iran "will escalate and expand."

Israel Katz made the comment in a statement noting that he and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu "warned the Iranian terrorist regime to stop firing missiles at the civilian population in Israel."

"Despite the warnings, the firing continues - and therefore (Israeli military) attacks in Iran will escalate and expand to additional targets and areas that assist the regime in building and operating weapons against Israeli citizens," Katz said.

"They will pay heavy, increasing prices for this war crime."

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has called for a "swift resolution" to the war in the Middle East and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

Speaking at a meeting of G7 foreign ministers on the outskirts of Paris, Cooper said Iran is undermining the global economy by blocking international shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, the world's most important waterway for oil shipments. "Frankly, Iran cannot be allowed to hold the global economy hostage as a result of a strait that is vital to international shipping routes and the freedom of navigation," she said.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Friday that they had turned back three ships trying to transit the Strait of Hormuz, adding the route was closed to vessels travelling to and from ports linked to its "enemies".

"This morning, following the lies of the corrupt US president claiming that the Strait of Hormuz was open, three container ships of different nationalities... were turned back after a warning from the IRGC Navy," the Guards said on their Sepah News website.

"The movement of any vessel 'to and from' ports of origin belonging to allies and supporters of the Zionist-American enemies, to any destination and through any corridor, is prohibited," it added.

The energy market intelligence firm Kpler said Friday it had identified two container ships belonging to Chinese firm COSCO that had attempted to cross the narrow waterway off the coast of Iran, but had turned around.

It said the two vessels had been stuck in the Gulf since the start of the war, sparked by US and Israeli attacks on February 28.

"This marks the first such crossing attempt by a major carrier since the beginning of the conflict," data analyst Rebecca Gerdes at Kpler said in a statement.

US President Donald Trump said Thursday that Iran had allowed 10 oil tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz as a "present" to show it was serious about negotiations to end the war.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio is in France meeting his Group of Seven foreign minister counterparts Friday, after President Donald Trump criticized NATO countries over a reluctance or refusal to take part in the Iran war.

Rubio will have a hard time trying to sell the other top diplomats from G7 countries on the U.S. strategy for the Iran conflict, to which almost all nations have raised objections. On his arrival at the meeting venue at a historic 12-century abbey in Vaux-de-Cerney outside of Paris, Rubio posed for a group photo with his fellow foreign ministers but none of them spoke.

US and Israeli strikes on Iran have damaged at least 120 museums and cultural and historic sites across the country since the start of the war, the head of Tehran city council's cultural heritage committee said.

"At least 120 museums, historical buildings and cultural sites across various provinces were directly targeted and sustained serious structural damage," said Ahmad Alavi.

He was quoted by state TV as naming UNESCO-listed Golestan Palace along with other sites damaged in the war, including Saadabad Palace, the Marble Palace and Teymourtash house, also known as the War Museum.

The deadly bombing of an Iranian school on the first day of the Middle East war was a "calculated" assault by the United States, Iran's foreign minister said Friday.

In a video address to the United Nations Human Rights Council, Abbas Araghchi slammed the "calculated, phased assault" on an elementary school "in the city of Minab, south of Iran, where more than 175 students and teachers were slaughtered in cold blood".

"The United States' contradictory remarks aimed at justifying their crime could not, in any manner, elude their responsibility," he said, describing the February 28 attack as "a war crime and a crime against humanity".

Kuwait’s Mubarak Al Kabeer Port infrastructure came under a drone and missile attack early Friday, the Ministry of Public Works said.

In a statement, the ministry confirmed that initial reports indicated no casualties, with only material damage recorded.

It added that emergency measures were swiftly implemented in coordination with relevant authorities.

The deadly bombing of an Iranian school on February 28 spurred "visceral horror", the UN rights chief said Friday, urging Washington to conclude its probe and demanding justice "for the terrible harm done".

"The bombing of the Shajareh Tayyebeh Elementary School in Minab evoked a visceral horror," Volker Turk told the United Nations Human Rights Council, stressing that "the onus is on those who carried out the attack to investigate it promptly, impartially, transparently and thoroughly".

"Senior US officials have said the strike is under investigation. I call for that process to be concluded as soon as possible, and for its findings to be made public. There must be justice for the terrible harm done," he insisted.

The UN Security Council will hold closed-door consultations on Friday to discuss strikes on Iran at Moscow's request, Russian state media reported.

"The Russian Federation has requested closed-door consultations with the UN Security Council due to the ongoing strikes on civilian infrastructure in Iran, including educational and healthcare facilities," said Evgeny Uspensky, spokesman for Russia's envoy to the United Nations, according to state news agency TASS.

Iran has witnessed massive cryptocurrency flows since the start of the Middle East conflict,

Experts say they are being used to circumvent sanctions placed on Iran's Revolutionary Guards as well as a financial safe haven by civilians hit by soaring inflation.

In an unusually large movement, more than $10 million worth of cryptocurrencies left Iranian exchange platforms between February 28 - the first day of Israeli-US airstrikes - and March 2, according to data analytics firm Chainalysis.

Kuwait's main commercial port was damaged in a drone attack on Friday, authorities said, as Iran pressed on with its campaign in the Gulf in retaliation for US-Israeli strikes.

The Shuwaikh port was targeted at dawn "by enemy drones, preliminary reports revealed material damage but no human casualties", the Kuwait port authority said in a statement on X.

Sri Lanka has jailed a man for three weeks after he admitted to hoarding four litres of petrol during a nationwide fuel shortage triggered by the Middle East war, local media reported Friday.

The 48-year-old man initially said the fuel was for his lawnmower.

A magistrate in Nikaweratiya, 125 kilometres (78 miles) northeast of the capital Colombo, also imposed a fine of 1,500 rupees ($5), according to the Lankadeepa daily newspaper.

It added that the man had been charged with hoarding petrol and trying to sell it on the black market at a time when authorities had imposed fuel rationing.

Motorists on the South Asian island are currently receiving fuel every other day.

Authorities say existing diesel stocks are sufficient until mid-May, while petrol supplies could last about a week longer.

Fuel prices across Sri Lanka have risen by a third since the United States and Israel began bombing Iran, triggering retaliatory attacks that disrupted global supplies.

New Delhi: The Indian government has dismissed rumours suggesting a possible nationwide lockdown due to the ongoing Iran conflict, calling the claims “completely false”.

Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said there is no proposal under consideration for any such restrictions, urging the public not to believe or circulate unverified information.

India has reduced taxes on diesel and petrol, the government announced Friday, as the Middle East war continues to disrupt global energy supplies.

"In view of the West Asia crisis, the central excise duty on petrol and diesel for domestic consumption has been reduced", Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in a statement, referring to the Middle East war that began late last month.

A Thai-flagged cargo ship that came under attack from Iran in the Strait of Hormuz and was abandoned by its crew has run aground, Iranian media reported Friday.

The Mayuree Naree came under attack March 11, with three of its mariners going missing and still not found.

The semiofficial Tasnim and Fars news agencies, believed to be close to Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, reported that the cargo ship ran aground near the village of Ramchah on Qeshm Island.

The Israeli military said it needs more troops for deployment in southern Lebanon, where forces are engaged in fighting Hezbollah as part of efforts to establish a so-called "buffer zone".

"On the Lebanese front, the forward defensive zone that we are creating requires additional (Israeli army) forces," military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin said, noting that the military is operating across multiple fronts, including the West Bank, Gaza and Syria.

Australia's leader said Friday it was not consulted over the war with Iran, responding to President Donald Trump's swipe the US ally was not doing enough.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Australia was in close contact with Gulf states under attack from Iran, providing a surveillance aircraft to help defend the United Arab Emirates, where many Australians live.

"There is no request been made to Australia that has not been agreed to," Albanese told reporters in Canberra.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is in France to meet his Group of Seven counterparts Friday after President Donald Trump attacked NATO countries over a reluctance or refusal to take part in the Iran war, a conflict that some of America's closest allies have met with deep skepticism.

Rubio will have a hard time trying to sell the other top diplomats from G7 countries on the U.S. strategy for the Iran conflict, to which almost all nations have raised objections. Trump's vitriolic comments about NATO during a Cabinet meeting Thursday will make it an even tougher task. Of the G7 nations - besides the U.S. - Britain, Canada, France, Germany and Italy are members of the transatlantic military alliance. Japan is the only one that is not.

Rubio left Washington for the G7 meeting outside Paris just hours after Trump complained bitterly about NATO countries not stepping up to help the U.S. and Israel in the Iran war.

"We are very disappointed with NATO because NATO has done absolutely nothing," Trump said.

Oil prices fell Friday after Donald Trump again pushed back a deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, though most equities also dropped as traders shrugged at the news following a series of conflicting messaging from the White House.

Oil prices fell more than one percent Friday, though that only partially pared the previous day's surge amid growing anxiety that the conflict will last far longer than first thought.

Brent is up almost 50 percent since the war began on February 28, while West Texas Intermediate has risen around 40 percent.

Equities struggled following hefty losses in Wall Street.

Tokyo and Seoul, which had been the standout performers in the first two months of the year, were among the biggest losers, while Hong Kong, Sydney, Wellington, Taipei Jakarta and Manila were also sharply lower.

Shanghai and Singapore fluctuated.

Investors are also increasingly sceptical about the messaging from the White House, with Trump often flipping between threats and talk of peace.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Friday they had carried out missile and drone strikes the previous day targeting sites in Israel and military facilities in the Gulf used by US forces.

The strikes involved long- and medium-range missiles and "destructive and roaming drones", and targeted sites in Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain, the Guards said in a statement carried by the IRNA and Fars news agencies.

The statement said a maintenance facility for US air defence system Patriot was targeted in Bahrain.

Israel's military said its forces carried out strikes on "infrastructure" targets in Tehran early Friday, nearly a month into the Middle East war.

A brief military statement said Israeli forces "completed a wide-scale wave of strikes targeting infrastructure of the Iranian terror regime in the heart of Tehran".

The US Central Command has confirmed the death of Admiral Alireza Tangsiri even as the US military called on Iranians serving in the IRGC Navy to "immediately abandon their post and return home".

“US military strikes on the IRGC-N will continue. Therefore, we call on every Iranian serving in the IRGC-N to immediately abandon their post and return home to avoid further risk of unnecessary injury or death,” said US Admiral Brad Cooper, CentCom Commander.

Lebanese media reported an Israeli strike hit Beirut's southern suburbs early Friday, as AFP correspondents heard several explosions from the Hezbollah stronghold, which Israel has repeatedly struck since war erupted this month.

AFPTV footage showed smoke billowing from the area after the raid.

Israel has previously issued sweeping evacuation warnings for the area, but provided no specific warning in advance of Friday's strike, which came in the early hours of the morning.

Jordan has strongly condemned Iranian attack on United Arab Emirates, which resulted in the deaths of two individuals of Pakistani and Indian nationality. Several others were injured, including a Jordanian citizen, an Emirati national, and an Indian national, following fall of debris in Abu Dhabi.

Shipping lanes through the Strait of Hormuz are showing early signs of life again, with the US Department of the Treasury signaling a cautious rebound in maritime traffic — even as war tensions with Iran continue to dominate headlines.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said vessel movement in and out of the Arabian Gulf is now "increasing day by day", describing the shift as “the beginning” of a broader recovery.

"You're starting to see more and more movement in and out of the Gulf today, and this is more than yesterday, and this is the beginning."

US President Donald J. Trump announced a suspension of operations linked to targeting Iran's energy facilities for 10 days, effective until 6 April 2026. This move represents a 10-day extension of the current pause and comes as part of ongoing talks.

In a statement published on Truth Social, President Trump explained that the decision followed a request from the Iranian government. He noted that current discussions "are going very well," despite what he described as "erroneous statements to the contrary."

Day 27: Trump insists Iran is ‘begging’ to make a deal, not him

Day 26: US preparing to deploy 1,000 troops to Middle East

Day 25: UAE intercepts threats from Iran ; 1dead, 5 hurt in Bahrain

Day 24: Netanyahu speaks with Trump, vows to protect Israel's interests

Day 23: Trump gives Iran 48 hours to reopen Strait of Hormuz

Day 22: Trump says US considering ‘winding down’ war

Day 21: UK to let US use bases for strikes on Iran threats

Day 20: Trump vows to destroy Iran gas field; UAE intercepts threats

Day 19: Iran warns of 'consequences' after gas field hit

Day 18: Iran confirms security chief Ali Larijani killed

Day 17:  Trump urges allies to secure Strait of Hormuz,

Day 16: Trump calls for allies on Strait of Hormuz security

Day 15: Trump threatens Iran’s oil infrastructure after US bombs Kharg