Live updates: Iran warns the US against a ground invasion as regional powers meet in Pakistan

Israel’s military on Sunday night said Iran had launched another salvo of missiles at the country. Sirens went off in the Beersheba area, which has been targeted repeatedly in the last days.

Late on Sunday, Israel’s military said that over the past 24 hours its fighter jets had dropped more than 120 munitions in Tehran, targeting sites used for weapons research, development and production.

Around the same time, Iran’s state television said power was back in areas of Tehran that had experienced outages.

The U.N. nuclear watchdog said Sunday that satellite imagery confirmed severe damage to the Khondab heavy water production plant near Arak

The International Atomic Energy Agency added that the installation has no declared nuclear material. Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization reported on Friday that the facility was hit and Israel claimed responsibility for the strike.

Since the war began a month ago, several strikes targeted nuclear sites across Iran.

The foreign ministers of Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt departed late Sunday night for their respective capitals after attending a meeting convened by Pakistan to review progress in bringing the United States and Iran to the negotiating table to end war in the region, the ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

It gave no further details.

Pakistan earlier said that top diplomats from Egypt, Turkey and Saudi Arabia would visit Islamabad from March 29 to 30 for in-depth discussions on a range of issues, including efforts to de-escalate regional tensions.

An agriculture company that produces pesticides in southern Israel said it suffered damage to a warehouse on Sunday.

Israel’s Fire and Rescue Services responded to a massive blaze that began around 3:30 pm from an Iranian missile or shrapnel fragments. The company, ADAMA, said the damage accorded at its Makhteshim plant in the town of Ramot Hovav, on the outskirts of Beersheba, and there was no damage to production facilities.

ADAMA said its workers evacuated according to instructions from the emergency services. Israel’s Fire and Rescue said the evacuation included the immediate plant as well as a nearby highway and the evacuation was lifted after about an hour.

Dramatic footage after the strike showed pillars of smoke and billowing flames reaching high into the sky. There were no injuries, according to Israel’s rescue services.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had said the Israeli military is expanding its security zone in the tiny Mediterranean country. Ground forces are clashing with the Hezbollah militant group in their ongoing invasion, intent to create what officials have called a “security zone”.

Mohammad Doghman who fled the southern city of Nabatieh slammed Netanyahu, calling Israel “an expansionist state.”

Over one million Lebanese have been displaced in the latest war between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group, sheltering in public schools or in tents pitched on the side of the road. Israel says its aim is to protect the country from Hezbollah rocket attacks.

Displaced Lebanese fear that this invasion would be a pretext to a new occupation, but some are still hopeful they will return home.

“They take it, and we take it back again, like every time,” said Mohammad Wansa, a displaced Lebanese from the village of Dibbeen living in a tent in central Beirut. “We will return to our homes; we will return to them.”

In a message attributed to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, he expressed his appreciation to senior religious authorities in Iraq for their supportive stance toward Iran during the war, according to two semi-official Iranian news agencies.

Since he was named third supreme leader of Iran, Khamenei has made no public appearance, but has conveyed only rare messages.

Iran-backed militias in Iraq have claimed responsibility for several attacks on U.S. bases in the country in solidarity with Tehran.

The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, in a statement posted on X Sunday, warned that Iran and allied militias “may intend to target the American Universities in Baghdad, Sulaymaniyah, and Dohuk, along with other universities perceived to be associated with the United States,” after Iran threatened American universities across the Middle East.

The statement added that Iran and affiliated militias have already carried out “widespread attacks on U.S. citizens, targets associated with the United States throughout Iraq” and the “Iraqi government has not prevented terrorist attacks against the United States and regional countries from Iraqi territory.”

It reiterated a warning for U.S. citizens to leave the country.

Many universities around the region have already moved to teaching online since the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran triggered the ongoing war in the Middle East.

Iran’s energy ministry says power was cut in Tehran and Alborz provinces after attacks on electricity facilities. The state media reports late Sunday did not say who attacked.

Israel’s Fire and Rescue Services warned that a missile or missile fragment that hit a factory near the southern Israeli city of Beersheba had set a massive blaze and was upgraded to a hazardous materials incident.

Authorities evacuated people in the immediate area, but there were no injuries.

Israel’s fire and rescue services said the fragment set a pesticide tank on fire, sending plumes of smoke high over the entire city of Beersheba, the largest city in Israel’s Negev desert. Additional waves of launches of missiles from Iran hit over 20 sites in Beersheba but did not create major damage nor injuries, according to Israel’s emergency rescue service Magen David Adom.

Pakistan’s foreign minister says Islamabad soon will host talks between the U.S. and Iran.

Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar made the announcement Sunday. He did not specify whether the talks would be direct or indirect. There was no immediate word from the U.S. or Iran.

“Pakistan is very happy that both Iran and the U.S. have expressed their confidence in Pakistan’s facilitation” of the talks, which will happen in the “coming days,” Dar said in a televised speech after top diplomats from regional countries met in Islamabad.

He said the foreign ministers of Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia endorsed Pakistan’s peace efforts. The ministers are expected to meet again Monday.

Pakistan has emerged as a mediator, having relatively good ties with both Washington and Tehran. Pakistani officials have said their public effort follows weeks of quiet diplomacy.

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The announcement from the university in the heart of the Lebanese capital comes as American universities and schools across the Mideast fear strikes that may target their facilities.

President Fadlo Khuri in an announcement Sunday said it was a precautionary measure and that there was “no evidence of direct threats” to the prestigious university and its renowned hospital.

“The American University of Beirut has stood for the peaceful emancipation and progress of the people we educate and serve for more than a century and a half,” said Khuri.

The threat from Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard comes after comes after recent U.S. and Israeli strikes on two campuses in the Islamic Republic.

The head of the U.S. oil and natural industry’s top lobbying group says “the only real solution” to rising energy and consumer prices as a result of the war with Iran is to get the Strait of Hormuz open.

“If we can do that this week with targeted regime actions, I think we have to take that opportunity because it’s only going to get worse over time,” said Mike Sommers, president and CEO of the American Petroleum Institute.

Sommers told Fox News Channel’s “The Sunday Briefing” that “that artery has to be reopened and fast” because “the longer this goes on, the higher prices are going to go.”

Sommers is also troubled by the entry of the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels.

“If the Houthis start attacking ships going through the Red Sea, that could really put us on the cusp of a major energy crisis throughout the world. That is a top concern this week, as well,” he says.

Over 3,500 people were also wounded since the start of this latest military escalation, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. Among the killed are 52 health workers.

Israel launched intense airstrikes over Lebanon after the Hezbollah militant group fired rockets towards northern Israel in solidarity with Iran on March 2.

Since then, over one million Lebanese have been displaced as Israeli ground forces continue an invasion into southern Lebanon.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Sunday that Israel will widen its invasion of southern Lebanon.

Netanyahu said Israel would expand what he called the “existing security strip” in Lebanon as Israeli forces continue to target the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group.

“We are determined to fundamentally change the situation in the north,” he said on a visit to northern Israel, adding that “Hezbollah still has residual capability to fire rockets at us.”

There were no immediate details.

In Lebanon, officials say more than 1,100 people have been killed in the fighting since the Iran war began.

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The Houthis joined the war over the weekend with a missile attack on Israel. Their entry has raised concerns that they could resume attacks on vessels in the Red Sea further disrupting the global shipping industry and sending oil prices much higher.

Nomi Bar-Yaacov, fellow at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy, said the Houthis’ potential disruption of oil export in the Red Sea will create a “point where we have not been before.”

At this time, both the Homuz and Bab al-Mandab straits will be closed, she said.

“All eyes are on the mediation, but the oil crisis is, I think, at an unprecedented state,” she said.

Kuwait’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Jarrah Jaber Al Sabah said Sunday that what the region is witnessing is “systematic pattern of undermining regional stability led by Iran”, as the monthlong war continues to destabilize the region.

In a statement reported by the state-run Kuna news agency, Al Sabah said that Iran is destabilizing the region through “exploiting chaos and terrorism as tools of influence.”

Kuwait’s Armed Forces said Sunday that projectile attacks injured 10 members of its forces, and its Defense Ministry said that the warehouses of a private logistics company were hit, resulting in only material damage, as the country intercepted 26 other Iranian missiles and drones over the past 24 hours.

Also on Sunday, Qatar and Bahrain said that they intercepted missiles and drones launched toward them.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Jordan Sunday, part of his tour of Gulf Arab states as Kyiv continues to offer its drone expertise to help governments blunt Iranian attacks during the war in the Middle East.

“Security is the top priority, and it is important that all partners make the necessary efforts toward it. Ukraine is doing its part. Important meetings ahead,” Zelenskyy wrote on his social media channels, alongside a video that showed him arriving by air.

Jordan’s state news agency reported that Zelenskyy would meet with King Abdullah II for talks on regional developments and bilateral relations.

Nearly a thousand people gathered in central Istanbul Sunday afternoon despite heavy rains to protest the ongoing conflicts in Iran, Lebanon and Palestine.

Organized by several religious conservative NGOs, the rally featured slogans like, “Resist, Gaza will prevail” and “Muslims don’t bow to oppression,” as well as signs saying, “Killer Israel, Killer United States” and criticizing the Israeli closure of Al-Aqsa Mosque.

“We are here for all the oppressed in the world. Lebanon, Iran, Palestine, yesterday it was Venezuela, tomorrow it will probably be Cuba, we are here for all of them,” protester Mehmet Yilmaz told The Associated Press.

“When Iran launches a missile, despite claiming no one can hurt them with their Iron Dome, they (Israelis) all scurry into their holes like mice the second the sirens blare,” Ekrem Saylan told AP. “What do the Iranians do? They take to the streets. This is about belief, faith. If they [Israelis] had faith they wouldn’t be afraid of death.”

Dozens of Christian faithful gathered Sunday in the Holy Family Church in Gaza to celebrate Palm Sunday, marking the first time for the sacred celebration in the war-torn territory where a fragile ceasefire was reached in October.

“Many of our Christian relatives are missing this year. We lost 6% of our Latin and Greek Orthodox Christians in the war, and this is a great loss, a very great sorrow,” said the Rev. Gabriel Romanelli, the parish priest of the Catholic community based at Holy Family Church in Gaza.

While weapons have largely fallen silent in Gaza, Christians are celebrating among near-daily Israeli strikes and heightened regional tension. Inside the church, altar servers waved branches and fronds, and the Palestinians attended the mass in silence and reverence.

“We pray for the people of Jerusalem, for all of Palestine, and for the entire region, that God Almighty may grant peace, justice, and reconciliation to all the peoples of the region,” Romanelli said.

Pakistan’s prime minister on Sunday pledged continued support for Saudi Arabia during talks with the kingdom’s foreign minister, as both countries discussed regional stability and efforts to end ongoing conflict.

Shehbaz Sharif renewed Pakistan’s support to the kingdom during a meeting with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, who is visiting Islamabad to attend a meeting of top diplomats from Islamic countries to discuss how to end the Iran war.

According to statement from Sharif’s office, Sharif “appreciated the remarkable restraint exercised by Saudi Arabia amid the current crisis” and said Pakistan would “always stand shoulder to shoulder” with the kingdom.

Sharif briefed the Saudi foreign minister on Islamabad’s diplomatic efforts aimed at helping end the war in the region.

Source: ISRAELI FIRE AND RESCUE AUTHORITY

A missile fragment that fell on a factory outside of the southern Israeli city of Beersheba on Sunday set a pesticide tank on fire, according to Israel’s Fire and Rescue, sending black plumes of smoke and billowing flames high into the air.

Fire and Rescue services said there were no injuries from the fire and no danger to the public, but evacuated people nearby as a precaution as multiple crews attempted to get the fire under control.

Iranians crossing into southern Iraq on Sunday urged the United States to end the war, describing relentless airstrikes, rising prices and worsening living conditions, but insisting they would not leave their country.

“A message to America: Stop the war,” said Atef al-Fatlawi, 30, who arrived from Ahvaz with her husband and young son. She said daily life had deteriorated sharply, with insecurity replacing what she described as previous stability. The family crossed into Iraq via the Shalamcha crossing in Basra.

Al-Fatlawi crossed into Iraq to buy groceries, including rice, which is now cheaper than in Iran due to soaring costs. She said an explosion near her home shattered windows and frightened her child.

“There is fear. My son is scared, so we brought him with us,” she said.

Others made brief trips for basic needs. Fatima Ghaffari, 39, said she crossed the border mainly to access the internet before returning to her home in Abadan. “It’s scary, so scary,” she said of daily life in Ahvaz.

Italy formally protested to Israel on Sunday after Jerusalem police prevented top Catholic officials from reaching the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to celebrate Palm Sunday Mass.

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani instructed Italy’s ambassador to Israel to convey the protest “and to reaffirm Italy’s commitment to protecting religious freedom at all times and under all circumstances.”

Tajani also summoned the Israeli ambassador to Italy for talks Monday at the foreign ministry to seek clarification for the decision.

“It is unacceptable that they were prevented from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem,” Tajani said in a statement posted on X. “For the first time, Israeli police denied the leaders of the Catholic Church the opportunity to celebrate Palm Sunday Mass in one of the holiest sites for millions of faithful around the world.”

Earlier, Premier Giorgia Meloni condemned the incident as an “offense” to believers.

Iranians crossed into Iraq via the Shalamcha border on Sunday, hours after an airstrike hit near the Iranian side, cutting power and halting trade for several hours, said Haider Abdul Samad, the crossing’s deputy director.

The strike occurred around 3 a.m. and was not the first since the war began, he said, without providing details on casualties or the strike. Electricity was restored and trade resumed by mid-morning, but Abdul Samad said such disruptions have become routine amid the ongoing war.

Cross-border movement has significantly declined, though dozens of Iranians continue to enter Iraq seeking cheaper goods, internet access and brief family visits before returning to nearby cities such as Abadan and Ahvaz.
Many described the U.S. and Israeli strikes as relentless and frightening but said they would not leave.

“There is no reassurance. We don’t know when our homes could be targeted,” said Razzak Saghir Al-Mousawi, 71, who entered Iraq from Iran on Sunday.
“I am definitely afraid,” he added.

Asif Durrani, a senior defense analyst in Pakistan, said his country’s mediation efforts are gaining credible regional backing, pointing to the presence of foreign ministers from Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia in the capital.

“Dialogue, not pressure, is the only path to durable peace and stability,” he said.

Durrani said Tehran’s overnight decision to allow 20 additional Pakistani-flagged ships through the Strait of Hormuz reflects its trust in Pakistan and confidence in its mediatory role.

“It also sends a clear signal that Iran remains open for business with the world, provided the United States abandons coercion,” he said, adding that any meaningful progress in the peace process would require Washington to demonstrate “sincerity” in the proposed negotiations being facilitated by Pakistan.

Foreign ministers from key regional powers are meeting in Pakistan’s capital to discuss ways to end the fighting in the Middle East, officials said.

State-run Pakistan Television showed Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar receiving Egypt’s Badr Abdelatty, Turkey’s Hakan Fidan and Saudi Arabia’s Prince Faisal bin Farhan at the Foreign Ministry ahead of Sunday’s meeting.

The talks will review progress in the ongoing indirect contacts between Washington and Tehran and explore ways to advance diplomatic efforts to end the conflict, officials said.

Sunday’s meeting comes a day after Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif spoke with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and held what officials described as “extensive discussions” on the evolving regional situation.

The United Arab Emirates said its air defense systems are responding to more missile and drone attacks.

Its defense ministry said that sounds heard across the country on Sunday were from interception efforts.

The UAE faced attacks from 16 missiles and 42 drones in the past 24 hours, according to the ministry.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan arrived in Pakistan on Sunday to attend a meeting of diplomats from Islamic countries focused on ongoing efforts to end war in the Middle East.

According to a statement from Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry, the two sides will hold talks on the evolving regional situation.

Prince Faisal is also expected to meet with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and other Pakistani officials during his visit.

An adviser to the United Arab Emirates has called for any settlement to the war in the Middle East to include “clear guarantees” that Iranian attacks on its neighbors won’t be repeated.

In a social media post, Anwar Gargash said the Iranian government has become “the main threat” to the Persian Gulf security.

He called for compensation for attacking civilian and vital infrastructure.

Pope Leo XIV has rejected claims that God justifies war and offered prayers for Christians in the Middle East during a Palm Sunday Mass.

Leo dedicated his Palm Sunday homily in St. Peter’s Square to insist that God is the “king of peace” who rejects violence and comforts those who are oppressed.

“Brothers and sisters, this is our God: Jesus, King of Peace, who rejects war, whom no one can use to justify war,” Leo said. “He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them.”

He said he was praying for Christians “suffering the consequences of an atrocious conflict. In many cases, they cannot live fully the rites of these holy days.”

The Latin Patriarchate said Jerusalem police prevented the Catholic church’s senior leaders from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem for the Palm Sunday mass.

It was “the first time in centuries” that Church leaders were prevented from celebrating Palm Sunday at the place where Christians believe Jesus was crucified, the Patriarchate said.

“Preventing the entry of the Cardinal and the Custos, who bear the highest ecclesiastical responsibility for the Catholic Church and Holy Places, constitutes a manifestly unreasonable and grossly disproportionate measure,” the Latin Patriarchate said.

The Jerusalem police did not comment.

U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran have driven up prices, darkened the outlook for the world economy, sent global stock markets reeling and forced developing countries to ration fuel and subsidize energy costs to protect their poorest.

Ongoing strikes and counterstrikes on Persian Gulf refineries, pipelines, gas fields and tanker terminals threaten to the prolong the global economic pain for months, even years.

“A week ago or certainly two weeks ago, I would have said: If the war stopped that day, the long-term implications would be pretty small,’’ said Christopher Knittel, an energy economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “But what we’re seeing is infrastructure actually being destroyed, which means the ramifications of this war are going to be long-lived.’’

Iran’s parliament speaker on Sunday warned the U.S. against a ground invasion, threatening to set the American troops “on fire” and step up attacks on US allies, according to Iranian official media.

Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf said Iranian forces “are waiting for the arrival of American troops on the ground to set them on fire and punish their regional partners forever.”

He added: “Our firing continues. Our missiles are in place. Our determination and faith have increased.”

He described the U.S.'s 15-point plan which Pakistan passed to Iran last week as “their wishes” and said the Trump administration is attempting to do through the plan what it has failed to achieve by force.

“As long as the Americans seek Iran’s surrender, our response is clear: Far be it from us to accept humiliation,” he said.

Israel and the U.S. are “working in very close coordination” to respond after Yemen’s Houthi rebels said they had launched missiles toward Israeli targets, Israeli military spokesperson Col. Nadav Shoshani told reporters on Sunday.

He declined to provide details on operations against the Iran-backed group, which controls parts of Yemen, but said Israel had grown accustomed to confronting repeated attacks from the Houthis, who have for more than two years launched missiles and drones toward Israel and shipping targets in the Red Sea.

He also said Israeli military statements about nearing completion of top-priority strikes did not mean it was running out of overall targets.

“There are many more groups of targets and there are also many more targets when it comes to (ballistic missile) production,” he said.

Mourners gathered on Sunday in Choueifat, south of Beirut, for the funerals of three journalists killed by an Israeli airstrike.

Ali Shoeib, a correspondent with Hezbollah’s al-Manar TV, Fatima Ftouni, a reporter with the pan-Arab al-Mayadeen TV, and her brother Mohammed, a cameraman with the station, were killed in a strike on their car while covering the Israel-Hezbollah war in southern Lebanon on Saturday.

Israel’s military said it had targeted Shoeib, accusing him of being a Hezbollah intelligence operative, without providing evidence. Lebanese officials have condemned the strike as a war crime.

Mourners chanted, “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” as the bodies were buried in an empty lot converted into a temporary graveyard during the war.

“It’s not the first time our colleagues are killed,” said Mohammad Ali Badreddine, an SNG engineer with al-Mayadeen. “It’s a big loss... they were among the brightest and most professional people and also among the kindest people.”

Al Araby Television Network said a missile slammed into its office building in Iran’s capital, Tehran, forcing its live broadcast to stop, and left “extensive damage” to the office.

In a video posted on the channel’s social media accounts, one of its reporters showed the damage to the office. Equipment, furniture, and debris could be seen scattered on the ground.

Rubble and damaged vehicles down the street could be seen in the video.

The Defense Ministry said it intercepted and destroyed 10 drones attacking the oil-rich country Sunday morning.

Hakan Fidan met Sunday with Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar in Islamabad, with both sides calling for dialogue and diplomacy to ease tensions in the Middle East.

According to a statement from Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the two sides emphasized the need for de-escalation, diplomatic engagement and closer coordination to promote peace and stability in the region.

Kuwait says air defense systems intercepted four drones attacking the oil-rich country Sunday morning.

Radar systems at the Kuwait International Airport were damaged in a strike Saturday.

The Israeli military says residents in “relevant areas” have received warnings and air defenses are working to intercept the incoming fire.

The Israeli military says it struck targets in Tehran and other parts of the country.

Egypt’s top diplomat met Pakistan’s foreign minister in Islamabad Sunday to discuss efforts to help bring the United States and Iran back to the negotiating table and ease tensions in the region, officials said.

Ishaq Dar and Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty will hold bilateral talks on regional developments, according to a statement by Pakistan’s foreign ministry.

The Egyptian foreign ministry said that the meeting will discuss “the developments of the military escalation … and de-escalation efforts in the region.”

During a stop in Qatar Saturday, Abdelatty said their efforts aim to establish a “direct dialogue” between the United States and Iran.

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan arrived in Pakistan late Saturday. Saudi Arabia’s top diplomat is expected in Islamabad Sunday.

The Revolutionary Guard’s warning on Sunday said it would consider Israeli universities and branches of American universities in the region “legitimate targets,” state media reported.

“If the U.S. government wants its universities in the region spared, it should condemn the bombardment of (Iranian) universities by 12 o’clock Monday, March 30, in an official statement,” the Guard said in a statement, urging the evacuations of American and Israeli educational facilities and telling students and staff to stay at least one kilometer (0.6 miles) away.

The Guard also demanded the United States stop Israel from striking Iranian universities and research centers, which have been attacked in recent days.
Israel’s military has acknowledged striking Iranian universities it says are connected to weapons development.

This is the first time Iran has threatened to strike Israeli and American universities.

The Israeli military identified the dead soldier as Sgt. Moshe Yitzchak Hacohen Katz, originally from New Haven, Connecticut.

Rabbi Yehoshua Hecht, a relative in Connecticut, spoke to Israel’s Army Radio station, describing his great nephew as a “very special young man” who was religious, a good student and “enjoyed every moment of life.”

Katz was killed in combat in southern Lebanon as Israel expands an invasion there.