Iran to target USS Abraham Lincoln carrier if it moves within range
French foreign minister condemns killing of journalists in Lebanon
France’s foreign minister said it would be “extremely serious” if Israel had deliberately targeted three journalists killed the previous day in a strike on south Lebanon.
“If it is indeed confirmed that the journalists in question were deliberately targeted by the Israeli army, then this is extremely serious and a blatant violation of international law,” Jean-Noel Barrot told public broadcaster France 3.
He said journalists in war zones “must never be targeted in theatres of war, including when they have links with parties to the conflict”.
Adviser to UAE president says political solution for Iran attacks should include reparations
Anwar Gargash, the diplomatic adviser to the UAE’s president, said that any political solution addressing Iranian attacks on Gulf states should include Iranian reparations for targeting vital facilities as well as civilians.
The solutions should include clear guarantees to prevent a repetition of the attacks, he said in a post on X.
Israeli strike on ambulance in south Lebanon kills paramedic
An Israeli strike on an ambulance belonging to the Hezbollah-affiliated Islamic Health Committee killed one paramedic and his patient Sunday, the group’s spokesperson said.
“A paramedic and a wounded person who was with him were killed in an Israeli raid on an ambulance in the town of Bint Jbeil,” Islamic Health Committee spokesperson Mahmoud Karaki told AFP.
Pope Leo says God rejects prayers of leaders who wage wars
Pope Leo has told that God rejects the prayers of leaders who start wars and have “hands full of blood”, in unusually forceful remarks as the Iran war entered its second month.
Addressing tens of thousands of people in St. Peter’s Square on Palm Sunday, the celebration that opens the holiest week of the year in the lead-up to Easter for the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, the pontiff said that Jesus cannot be used to justify any wars.
“This is our God: Jesus, King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war,” Leo, the first US pope, told crowds in brilliant sunshine.
US talks about diplomacy while plotting ground attack, says Iran’s parliament speaker
Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has accused the United States of plotting a ground attack while professing to be engaged in diplomatic efforts aimed at ending the war.
“The enemy publicly sends messages of negotiation and dialogue while secretly planning a ground attack,” Ghalibaf said in a statement carried by the official IRNA news agency.
US Marines arrive in Middle East, fuelling speculation about ground operation
Washington has dispatched thousands of Marines to the Middle East, with the first of two contingents arriving on an amphibious assault ship.
According to a Washington Post report on Saturday, US officials said the Pentagon was preparing for weeks of ground operations in Iran, possibly involving raids by Special Operations and conventional infantry troops.
Whether President Donald Trump would approve plans for deploying ground troops remained uncertain, the Post reported.
Iran’s Internet blackout continues one month into war
Online access in Iran has remained almost entirely unavailable for the past 30 days, the NetBlocks Internet watchdog reports.
Qatari news channel Al Araby TV says Tehran office damaged in strike
Qatari news channel Al Araby says an Israeli missile hit the building housing its office in Tehran, causing damage.
“An Israeli missile targets the Al Araby TV channel building in the capital, Tehran… extensive damage and the suspension of live broadcasting,” the channel said in a post on X.
Footage from inside the office showed broken windows, shattered glass and debris. Outside the building, images showed the streets covered in debris along with damage to surrounding buildings.
Iran foreign minister condemns Israeli killing of journalists in Lebanon
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has condemned Israel’s killing of three journalists in Lebanonon Saturday.
On his official Telegram channel, Araghchi said the killings amounted to “targeted assassination” and “flagrant violation of international law”.
A journalist carries burned safety gear following the Israeli strike that killed three journalists in the town of Jezzine, south Lebanon, on March 28, 2026. © Mohammed Zaatari, AP
Syria says repelled drone attack from Iraq on US base
Syria’s assistant defence minister says his country’s forces repelled a drone attack from neighbouring Iraq that targeted one of Syria’s last US military bases.
“Earlier today, the US base in Qasrak, located on our territory, was attacked by four drones launched from Iraqi territory,” Sipan Hamo said on X, adding that “the drones were shot down without casualties”.
“We hold Iraq responsible and call upon it to prevent the recurrence of attacks that threaten our stability.”
Missile strikes hit Iranian port city near Hormuz strait
US-Israeli strikes hit a quay at an Iranian port city near the strategic Strait of Hormuz, killing five people, Iranian state media report.
“The American-Zionist enemy carried out a criminal attack at the quay of Bandar Khamir, killing five people and injuring four others,” the official IRNA news agency reported.
Israeli military says another soldier killed in south Lebanon
The Israeli army has announced the death in combat of a soldier in south Lebanon, the fifth since the start of the latest war.
“Sergeant Moshe Yitzchak hacohen Katz, aged 22, from New Haven, Connecticut, a soldier of the 890th battalion, Paratroopers Brigade, fell during combat in southern Lebanon,” a military statement said.
Iran Guards threaten to hit US universities in Mideast
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps has threatened to target US universities in the Middle East after saying US-Israeli strikes had destroyed two Iranian universities.
“If the US government wants its universities in the region to be free from retaliation… it must condemn the bombing of the universities in an official statement by 12 noon on Monday, March 30, Tehran time,” said the statement published by Iranian media.
The statement added: “We advise all employees, professors, and students of American universities in the region and residents of their surrounding areas” stay a kilometre away from campuses.
Several US universities have campuses scattered throughout the Gulf region, such as Texas A&M University in Qatar and New York University in the United Arab Emirates.
Strikes overnight Friday to Saturday hit Tehran’s university of science and technology in the northeast of the capital, damaging buildings but not causing any casualties, according to media reports.
Two loud explosions heard in northern Tehran
Two powerful explosions shook northern Tehran earlier this morning, an AFP journalist reported.
The blasts occurred in the Iranian capital around 7:20 am (0350 GMT) as air defences operated, although it was not clear what was targeted.
Iran Guards say struck Bahrain, UAE aluminium plants
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards say they launched missile and drone strikes on aluminium plants in Bahrain and the UAE over the weekend, targeting what they described as industries linked to the US military.
Since the Middle East war erupted at the end of February, Bahrain and other Gulf countries have regularly been targeted by Iranian missile and drone strikes in retaliation for the US-Israeli campaign, now in its second month.
In a statement carried by Iranian state broadcaster IRIB, the Guards said they hit an aluminium facility in the UAE and Aluminium Bahrain’s main plant, calling both sites “industries affiliated with and connected to the US military and aerospace sectors in the region”.
The IRGC said the strikes were retaliation for a US-Israeli attack on Iranian industrial infrastructure launched from bases in Gulf states.
Houthi missile strike widens war, threatens further shipping disruption
Yemen’s Houthi rebels announced their entry into the Middle East war on Saturday by launching a ballistic missile towards Israel, as the world struggled to contain the economic damage of a conflict now entering its second month.
FRANCE 24’s Kethevane Gorjestani looks at the implications of the Houthis’ move.
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Iranian-backed Houthi rebels have entered the monthlong war in the Middle East, claiming two missile launches at Israel and further escalating the conflict.
The Houthi attacks come as about 2,500 US Marines arrived in the region, fuelling talk of a possible ground attack on Iran.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s government said regional powers plan to meet today to discuss how to end the fighting.