Conflicting reports emerge regarding the effectiveness of the US blockade on Iranian ports, with Iran claiming successful transit of vessels and the US asserting complete maritime dominance.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday announced that France and the United Kingdom will jointly lead a multinational initiative to restore free and secure navigation in the Strait of Hormuz amid uncertainty over the virtual control of the strategic waterway between the US and Iran.
Afghanistan national cricket team players visited injured civilians in Kabul hospitals after deadly airstrikes, as calls grow for an international investigation.
The US has threatened to prosecute those buying or selling sanctioned Iranian oil and has announced a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz after peace talks failed.
Two expatriate workers were killed after debris from a downed drone fell in an industrial area in the Sohar province of Oman.
Iran has formally turned down a proposal from the United States for a 48-hour ceasefire, according to Al Jazeera, citing reports from the semi-official Fars news agency.
The Iranian military has asserted that its forces successfully targeted and downed a US A-10 aircraft, according to a report by Al Jazeera.
US President Donald Trump has asserted that the destruction of an American military aircraft will have no bearing on diplomatic discussions with Iran, according to a report by NBC News.
US forces have launched search and rescue efforts for a US fighter jet, which several news outlets, including the Wall Street Journal and CNN, said had been shot down over Iran.
The targeted eastern area is of immense strategic importance, as it is where the "majority of the country's oil resources are located."
The ongoing conflict involving the United States, Israel, and Iran intensified sharply with attacks on critical energy infrastructure across the Gulf, even as US President Donald Trump said he had cautioned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against targeting Iran's key South Pars Gas Field.
United States President Donald Trump warned Iran of potential strikes on its infrastructure, including bridges and electric power plants, saying the US military 'hasn't even started destroying what's left in Iran'.
'US and Iran have not annulled the ceasefire, and the possibility of continuing negotiations remains open.'
Satellite imagery and expert analysis suggest that a deadly explosion at a school in southern Iran last week was likely caused by a United States airstrike that also targeted a nearby compound linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), according to media reports.
Iran launched retaliatory military strikes targeting Israel and American military bases across the region, including in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan.
The West Asia conflict escalated sharply as Iran launched missiles towards Israel, while Tehran confirmed the killing of its intelligence minister in Israeli strikes, marking the third assassination of a senior Iranian official in two days.
The cost of the war is being counted not in the corridors of power in Washington or Tehran, but in Firozabad's darkened furnace rooms, Howrah's idle casting sheds, and a barbershop in Kochi where the wait is suddenly, inexplicably, an hour long, notes Prem Panicker in his must read blog on the Iran War.
Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi has warned the United States that Iran is ready to confront American troops if the US launches a ground invasion, calling such a move a potential 'big disaster' for Washington.
'TTP has vowed to take revenge for the attacks that Pakistan is carrying out against Afghanistan.' 'To diminish this threat, Pakistan is hitting Afghanistan hard.'
The intriguing bit is that Trump is likely to attend the talks in Islamabad this weekend -- if he does, it will be the clearest signal yet that the US is ready to exit the war with some sort of win to show, since he cannot afford to go for the talks and return empty-handed, notes Prem Panicker in his must read blog on the Iran War
The ceasefire is still technically holding, to the extent that no overt hostilities have been reported yet, but the rhetoric has hardened dangerously. The week ahead will also clarify whether the Islamabad failure was a negotiating tactic or whether Washington has genuinely locked itself into a position from which the only exits are climb-down, escalation, or the slow bleed of a new status quo that nobody chose and nobody controls. Prem Panicker continues his must read blog on the Iran War.
Tensions escalated dramatically on March 5, 2026, as the United States and Israel launched coordinated strikes on Iran, triggering retaliatory explosions across Tehran, Sanandaj, and beyond.
Tensions escalate at the UN Security Council as the US and Israel defend their military actions against Iran, while Iran condemns the strikes as war crimes, raising fears of a wider Middle East conflict.
The 'rescue' operation occurred within kilometres of Iran's underground tunnel complex at Isfahan, assessed by the IAEA and US intelligence as holding a substantial portion of the country's 60 per cent enriched uranium stockpile. Retired senior US military officers have highlighted that the mission's footprint -- hundreds of special operators, multiple heavy-lift aircraft deep inside Iran -- appears outsized for recovering a single airman. Prem Panicker continues his must read blog on the Iran War.
'We need to give Pakistan something serious to think about on its eastern front -- that is the only way to actually help Afghanistan right now.'
'The next two to three weeks will not be decided in Washington.' 'They will be decided in Tehran, in whatever calculation Iran makes about the costs of continued resistance against the costs of appearing to have yielded.'
Three individuals of Indian origin have been killed in Canada in separate incidents, raising concerns about potential hate crimes and prompting investigations by Canadian authorities.
Three individuals of Indian origin have been killed in Canada in separate incidents, raising concerns about potential hate crimes and prompting investigations by Canadian authorities.
'If this region destabilises, then we are not far away. This region should not destabilise.'
Referring to local sources, IRNA shared a video clip that it claims shows the downing of the American F-15 fighter jet in Kuwait.
By appearing to privilege ideological affinity over strategic balance, India risks eroding the trust painstakingly built across West Asia. Once the perception takes hold that India's friendship is conditional and transactional, rebuilding credibility will be difficult, warns Amberish K Diwanji.
'Strikes into the Gulf countries are proof that the security guarantees offered by the US are ineffective and that the Gulf countries cannot rely on American security assurances for their safety.'
United States and Israeli officials are assessing potential policy options in response to ongoing unrest in Iran, according to multiple indications received by Israeli media reports The Jerusalem Post.
This comes as people in Iran continue to protest against rising prices and economic hardship pouring into the streets across several provinces in Iran, with some protests escalating into fatal confrontations with security forces, CNN reported.
Iran is fighting a different war: Older, slower, and in some ways more dangerous. Iran doesn't need to shoot down an F/A-18. It only needs to make the Strait of Hormuz feel dangerous long enough for insurance markets, shipping companies, and oil futures traders to do the rest. Prem Panicker continues his must-read daily blog on the war in the Middle East.
Afghans have deep self-respect and are the last people to put up with humiliation. Is it any surprise that relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan have touched an all-time low and the two countries are now at war? asks M R Narayan Swamy.
For weeks, the war skirted the edge of catastrophe without tipping over. Missiles flew, there was much destruction, commanders were assassinated, cities across the Gulf and even in Israel struggled to absorb the shock. But one line held: Energy infrastructure, the arteries of the global economy, remained largely untouched. That is no longer true. Prem Panicker continues his must read daily blog on the Gulf War.
When everyone has footage and no one can verify it, the loudest voice wins, notes Prem Panicker who begins a daily blog on the War in the Middle East.
The two policemen were injured by "hard and blunt instruments", while "two protesters with firearm injuries" were also brought to JPMC, the surgeon told Dawn.
'Without ground troops the US will not be able to oust the Iranian Islamic regime. Political change does not happen just by using bombs or planes.'
