<\/p>\n
Smoke and flames rise from an Israeli airstrike that hit the Qasmiyeh Bridge near the coastal city of Tyre, Lebanon, Sunday, March 22, 2026.<\/p>\n
Mohammad Zaatari\/AP<\/p>\n
A displaced girl feeds a baby as other children stand at tents sheltering people who fled Israeli airstrikes in Dahiyeh, in Beirut’s southern suburbs, along the wall of the Pine Residence, the official residence of the French ambassador, in Lebanon.<\/p>\n
Hassan Ammar\/AP<\/p>\n
Israeli security forces survey the site that was struck by an Iranian missile in Dimona, southern Israel, Sunday, March 22, 2026.<\/p>\n
Ariel Schalit\/AP<\/p>\n
A cargo ship carrying vehicles sails through the Arabian Gulf toward the Strait of Hormuz in the United Arab Emirates, Sunday, March 22, 2026.<\/p>\n
AP<\/p>\n
Iran said it would target regional power plants and float mines in the Persian Gulf if U.S. President Donald Trump went ahead with his threat to bomb Iranian energy stations or ordered a land invasion.<\/p>\n
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The top commander of the U.S. military\u2019s Central Command said the campaign against Iran was \u201cahead or on plan.” The Israeli military early Monday began what it called \u201ca wide-scale wave of strikes targeting Iranian terror regime infrastructure.\u201d<\/p>\n
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The death toll from the war has risen to more than 1,500 people in Iran, more than 1,000 people in Lebanon, 15 in Israel and 13 U.S. military members, as well as a number of civilians on land and sea in the Gulf region. Millions of people in Lebanon and Iran have been displaced.<\/p>\n
The Kremlin warns US against striking Iran\u2019s nuclear power plant<\/p>\n
The Kremlin said Monday that any U.S. strikes on Iran\u2019s Russia-built nuclear power plant could trigger \u201cirreparable\u201d consequences.<\/p>\n
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Asked about President Donald Trump\u2019s warning to \u201cobliterate\u201d Iran\u2019s power plants if it doesn\u2019t fully open the Strait of Hormuz, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that the \u201ccatastrophically tense\u201d situation in the region could only be settled by political and diplomatic means.<\/p>\n
Peskov warned that any strikes on nuclear facilities would be \u201cextremely dangerous and fraught with possibly irreparable consequences,\u201d adding that Russia has \u201cconveyed relevant signals\u201d to the U.S.<\/p>\n
Israeli military says farmer killed in the north was hit by its own shelling<\/p>\n
Ofer \u201cPoshko\u201d Moskovitz was killed on Sunday in Misgav Am, a northern community on the border with Lebanon.<\/p>\n
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The army said Monday that following an examination it determined that Moskovitz was hit by Israeli artillery fire due to \u201coperational errors,\u201d including directing the fire \u201cat an incorrect angle\u201d and not following protocol.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a result, five artillery shells were fired at the Misgav Am ridge instead of toward the enemy target,\u201d the army said in a statement. It expressed regret over the incident, which it described as \u201cvery severe.\u201d<\/p>\n
Egypt denounces Israel\u2019s strikes on Lebanon\u2019s infrastructure<\/p>\n
\u201cThe deliberate destruction of infrastructure in Lebanon represents a blatant Israeli policy of collective punishment,\u201d the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a Monday statement.<\/p>\n
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It criticized Israel\u2019s \u201csystemic and deliberate\u201d strikes, including on bridges on the Litani River in south Lebanon.<\/p>\n
Sara Netanyahu flies to US for conference of first spouses<\/p>\n
The wife of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu flew to Washington early Monday morning to take part in a meeting of first spouses from dozens of countries organized by first lady Melania Trump.<\/p>\n
According to the prime minister\u2019s office, Netanyahu will be in the states for two or three days and is expected to return to Israel immediately afterward. The White House said the meeting of first spouses will focus on supporting children through the \u201csafe and innovative use of technology.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Israeli airstrike destroys bridge on Litani River in south Lebanon<\/p>\n
The strike on the bridge Monday in the southern village of Qaaqaaiyet al-Jisr cut a main link between the southern city of Nabatiyeh and al-Hujair valley region farther south.<\/p>\n
The state-run National News Agency gave no further details about the latest strike on a bridge on the Litani river to be destroyed in recent days.<\/p>\n
On Sunday, Israel struck the Qasmiyeh bridge near the southern port city of Tyre.<\/p>\n
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Lebanese President Joseph Aoun called Israel\u2019s new targeting of bridges in the south \u201ca prelude to a ground invasion.\u201d<\/p>\n
Iran threatens to deploy naval mines across the \u2018entire Persian Gulf\u2019 if a land invasion happens<\/p>\n
Iran\u2019s Defense Council issued the statement as concern in Tehran grows about the potential arrival of U.S. Marines to the region.<\/p>\n
\u201cAny attempt by the enemy to target Iran\u2019s coasts or islands will, naturally and in accordance with established military practice, lead to the mining of all access routes … in the Persian Gulf and along the coasts,\u201d the council said.<\/p>\n
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The U.S. has been trying to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf, to energy shipments. The Marines could come ashore to seize either islands or territory in Iran to support that mission. Israel also has suggested a ground operation could take part in the war.<\/p>\n
Head of National Iranian American Council says striking Iran’s energy plants is collective punishment<\/p>\n
Jamal Abdi, head of the National Iranian American Council, described President Donald Trump\u2019s threat to strike Iran\u2019s energy facilities as a \u201ccollective punishment.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThreatening to bomb Iran\u2019s power plants is a threat to millions of civilians,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is not a \u2018targeted\u2019 strike. This is collective punishment.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Iran war has \u2018far reaching\u2019 impact on millions in Africa and Asia, UN official says<\/p>\n
A senior United Nations official said the war in the Middle East has \u201cfar reaching\u201d impact on millions of people particularly in developing countries in Asia and Africa.<\/p>\n
In a Monday statement, Jorge Moreira da Silva, executive director of the U.N. Office for Project Services, detailed the ripple effects of the war, now in its fourth week, including \u201cexponential price hikes in oil, fuel and gas.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOur world is the most violent it has been since the Second World War,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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He warned that the number of hungry people is likely to increase by tens of millions over the course of the year, as the widening war threatens remittance flows.<\/p>\n
The war also displaced 3.2 million people in Iran and 1 million in Lebanon, he said.<\/p>\n
He called for diplomacy to end the conflict, saying: \u201cThere is no military solution.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trump threat likely would target natural gas electricity generation sites<\/p>\n
As Trump\u2019s 48-hour deadline to bomb power-generation sites in Iran over the opening of the Strait of Hormuz approaches, there are several electrical sites that could be targets in the Islamic Republic.<\/p>\n
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Some 80% of all power generated in Iran is created at plants powered by natural gas.<\/p>\n
Those plants have continued working, even after Israel last week bombed Iran\u2019s South Pars offshore natural gas field in the Persian Gulf.<\/p>\n
Among the top natural gas plants are Damavand Power Plant, Shahid Salimi Neka Power Plant and Shahid Rajaee Power Plant \u2013 all around Iran\u2019s capital, Tehran.<\/p>\n
Knocking those plants offline could affect businesses and homes in Tehran, as well as halt gas stations and other crucial sites.<\/p>\n
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UAE presidential adviser criticizes Arab and Islamic response to Iranian attacks<\/p>\n
An adviser to the UAE has criticized Arab and Islamic organizations\u2019 response to Iran\u2019s continued attacks in the Arab Gulf countries.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere are the joint Arab and Islamic labor institutions,\u201d Anwar Gargash said in a social media post Monday, naming the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.<\/p>\n
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Gargash, who is a former state minister for foreign affairs, said it will be \u201cunacceptable\u201d after the war to talk about \u201cthe decline of the Arab and Islamic role or to criticize the American and Western presence\u201d in the Gulf region which hosts U.S. and Western bases.<\/p>\n
The UAE, which has close ties with Israel and the U.S., has been the hardest hit by Iranian missiles and drones since the war in the Middle East began on Feb. 28.<\/p>\n
Iran issues indirect threat as media list Mideast electrical, water stations, and UAE nuclear plant<\/p>\n
After Iran threatened power plants across the Mideast, news outlets published a list of such facilities, including the United Arab Emirates\u2019 nuclear power plant.<\/p>\n
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The report by the semiofficial Fars news agency, close to its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, appeared to be an indirect threat to the sites, including desalination plants in the Middle East. The list also included the UAE\u2019s Barakah nuclear power plant, which has four reactors out in the western deserts of the country near its border with Saudi Arabia.<\/p>\n
The judiciary\u2019s Mizan news agency also published the list.<\/p>\n
The threat by Tehran puts at risk both electrical supplies and water in the Gulf Arab states, particularly as the desert nations commingle their power stations with desalination plants crucial for supplying drinking water.<\/p>\n
Trump\u2019s self-declared 48-hour deadline expires just before midnight GMT Tuesday, further raising the stakes of the ongoing war with Iran that has disrupted global energy supplies, sending natural gas and gasoline prices soaring.<\/p>\n
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Trump reiterates his \u2018peace through strength\u2019 slogan<\/p>\n
U.S. President Donald Trump wrote on his Truth Social website early Monday: \u201cPEACE THROUGH STRENGTH, TO PUT IT MILDLY!!!\u201d<\/p>\n
US Central Command\u2019s Cooper says Iran \u2018operating in a sign of desperation\u2019<\/p>\n
The head of the U.S. military\u2019s Central Command says Iran is \u201coperating in a sign of desperation\u201d by targeting civilian sites in the war.<\/p>\n
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In an interview with the Farsi-language satellite network Iran International aired early Monday, U.S. Navy Adm. Brad Cooper said: \u201cThey\u2019re operating in a sign of desperation. … In the last couple of weeks, they\u2019ve attacked civilian targets very deliberately, more than 300 times.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cooper also noted the slowdown in Iranian incoming fire across the Mideast as the war has entered its fourth week.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the beginning of the conflict, you saw large volumes in the dozens of drones and missiles,\u201d Cooper said.<\/p>\n
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\u201cYou no longer see that. It\u2019s all one or two at a time.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Smoke and flames rise from an Israeli airstrike that hit the Qasmiyeh Bridge near the coastal city of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":31986,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[10343,41,2290,2488,38,34,14763,37,3985,14764,849,93,4731,3284,3285,39,14765,14766,12510,3282,12511,3281,3283,12512],"class_list":{"0":"post-31985","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-persian-gulf","8":"tag-anwar-gargash","9":"tag-benjamin-netanyahu","10":"tag-brad-cooper","11":"tag-dmitry-peskov","12":"tag-donald-trump","13":"tag-iran","14":"tag-iran-israel-us-latest-march-23-2026","15":"tag-israel","16":"tag-jon-gambrell","17":"tag-jorge-moreira-da-silva","18":"tag-joseph-aoun","19":"tag-lebanon","20":"tag-melania-trump","21":"tag-package-100024-ap-online","22":"tag-package-100373-mc-complete-state-national","23":"tag-persian-gulf","24":"tag-product-30117-ap-washington-dc-state-news-no-weather","25":"tag-product-30119-ap-washington-state-news-no-weather","26":"tag-product-30597-ap-business-news-f-wire","27":"tag-product-30598-ap-national-news-report-a-wire","28":"tag-product-31995-ap-online-general-financial-business-news","29":"tag-product-31998-ap-online-national-news","30":"tag-product-32505-ap-online-middle-east-news","31":"tag-product-32509-ap-online-religion-columns"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31985","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31985"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31985\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/iran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}