War in the Middle East: latest developments

Here are the latest events in the Middle East war:

- 'Empty' threats -

Iran's security chief Ali Larijani brushed off threats by US President Donald Trump to hit the Islamic republic harder if the flow of oil stops through the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

"Iran is not afraid of your empty threats. Even those greater than you could not eliminate the Iranian nation. Take care of yourself not to be eliminated!" he wrote in a post on X.

- Fresh Tehran strikes -

The Israeli military said it has begun a new wave of strikes on Tehran.

Shortly afterwards, AFP journalists in Tehran reported hearing a loud explosion in the city centre while Iranian media reported blasts across the capital.

- Qatar rebuke -

A spokesman for the Qatari foreign ministry, Majed al-Ansari, said that Iran has pressed its attacks against Qatar's civilian infrastructure "and we rebuke any justification that the Iranians are offering for these attacks".

He warned that attacks on energy facilities would "cause repercussions throughout the world".

- Oil markets warning -

The head of Saudi Arabia's state-owned Aramco energy giant, president and CEO Amin H. Nasser, warned the war could have "catastrophic consequences" on oil markets and said it was "absolutely critical" that oil shipping resumes in the Strait of Hormuz.

- Displaced in Lebanon -

More than 100,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon in a single day, the UN said, as Israel continued to pound Iran-backed Hezbollah militants.

- Fresh Lebanon strike -

A new strike hit Lebanon's southern city of Tyre, state media reported.

The strike came after Israel's military said it would hit Hezbollah targets there and in Sidon, telling residents to move away at least 300 metres (985 feet) from buildings that it said were Hezbollah's military infrastructure.

- Azerbaijan aid -

Azerbaijan sent humanitarian aid to Iran, days after an Iranian drone attack. The aid was shipped after the presidents of the two countries spoke by phone on March 8.

- Energy prices drop, stocks rally -

Oil and gas prices tumbled after US President Donald Trump said "I think the war is very complete, pretty much".

World oil prices dropped by around eight percent, while the European benchmark gas price, the Dutch TTF natural gas contract, fell around 15 percent.

European stocks jumped at open on Tuesday, after Asian markets rallied and all three main indexes on Wall Street ended sharply higher at their Monday close.

- Talks 'not on agenda' -

Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, told PBS news that "I don't think talking with the Americans would be on our agenda anymore", adding that Tehran had a "very bitter experience" during previous negotiations.

- 'Not done yet' -

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the offensive against Iran was "not done yet".

"Our aspiration is to bring the Iranian people to cast off the yoke of tyranny; ultimately, it depends on them. But there is no doubt that with the actions taken so far, we are breaking their bones -- and we are not done yet".

- Patriot in Turkey -

Ankara said a US-made Patriot missile defence system would be deployed to central Turkey, a day after NATO shot down a second ballistic missile fired from Iran in Turkish airspace.

- Iran targets US base in Iraq -

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they targeted a US base in Iraq's Kurdistan region, the Al-Harir air base, with five missiles.

- Iran vows to block oil exports -

Iranian forces will not allow the export of oil from the region to US and Israeli allies as long as the war continues, Iran's Tasnim news agency quoted a spokesman for the Revolutionary Guards as saying.

- Pakistan escorts -

Pakistan's navy said its ships began escorting merchant vessels "to ensure the uninterrupted flow of national energy supplies and the security of sea lines of communication".

- Pro-Iran fighters killed in Iraq -

The Tehran-backed Kataeb Imam Ali armed group said four of its fighters were killed in air strikes it blamed on the US in northern Iraq, in the Debs district in Kirkuk province.

- Trump says war will end 'soon' -

Trump suggested the Iran war could soon end, but remained vague on a timeline for stopping the attacks.

"It's going to be ended soon, and if it starts up again they'll be hit even harder," Trump said at a news conference in Florida.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards retorted that it will be they who "determine the end of the war".

burs/yad/sbk