US-Iran war LIVE: Iran launches missile toward Israel after strikes on Mahshahr petrochemical hub

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps condemned the attack on the US embassy in Riyadh and said Tehran had no role in the incident. As per Press TV, The IRGC strongly condemned the incident and mentioned, “This event has absolutely no connection to the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

The International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran informed it that a projectile landed near the Bushehr nuclear power plant earlier in the day. Tehran also told the watchdog that a member of the site’s security team was killed by fragments from the impact, as per Reuters.

Even as Iran continue using drones and missiles to attack Israeli infrastructure and US assets in West Asia, most of its ballistic missiles are “combat ineffective” and would be unable to fulfil their intended missions, even if half of the launchers remain “intact,” US-based think tank Institute of the Study of War’s report stated on Saturday.

Iran has carried out missiles toward the country, according to Israel’s military, reported AP. This comes after Iran’s Mahshahr petrochemical hub was hit.

A projectile from a US-Israeli attack targeted near the Bushehr nuclear power plant in southern Iran on Saturday and left one person dead, state media reported.

“Following the US-Zionist criminal attacks, this Saturday morning, around 8:30 am, a projectile hit the area near the Bushehr nuclear power plant in the southwest,” said the official IRNA news agency.

It mentioned that one of the building’s guards was killed but said that there was no damage to the plant’s facilities.

The US military continued an urgent search on Saturday for a missing pilot after Iran shot down an American F-15E Strike Eagle. Iran urged citizens to locate the pilot, offering a reward for assistance, as per AP. The aircraft was one of two targeted on Friday, with one crew member rescued and another still unaccounted for. This marks the first time US planes have been lost on Iranian soil during the six-week-long conflict, potentially signaling a new phase in the war.

Iran’s Tasnim news agency said incident didn’t damage main parts of the plant, and production remains unaffected.

US-Israeli strikes on Saturday targeted a petrochemicals hub in southwestern Iran, wounding five people, Iranian media cited an official as saying.

“Explosions occurred in the Special Petrochemical Zone of Mahshahr,” said Fars news agency, citing the deputy governor for Khuzestan province Valiollah Hayati. (AFP)

Bandar Imam petrochemical complex in Iran’s Southwestern khuzestan province targeted by air attacks, with some sections sustaining damage, Reuters reported citing Iran’s Mehr.

Several blasts shook northern Tehran, an AFP journalist heard, as the Middle East war neared its sixth week.

The blasts occurred at about 7:30 am (0400 GMT) and were accompanied by a loud sound from above as if coming from a drone, said AFP’s correspondent in the Iranian capital. (AFP)

A second Turkish-flagged ship has crossed the Strait of Hormuz, Transport Minister Abdulkadir Uraloglu said.

“At the time the war broke out, there were 15 ships belonging to Turkish shipowners… Two of these 15 made the crossing,” he said. (AFP)

‘High chance’ of casualties in US-Israeli attack on Mahshahr special petrochemical zone in Iran’s Khuzestan province, reported Iran’s ISNA.

An attack killed one fighter from the former paramilitary coalition Hashed al-Shaabi on Saturday, the alliance said, blaming the US and Israel, AFP reported.

US-Israeli strikes hit petrochemical hub in southwestern Iran: media

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday expressed gratitude towards Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan for facilitating the evacuation of Indian fishermen from Iran amid the conflict in West Asia.

“Thank FM Ararat Mirzoyan and the Government of Armenia for facilitating the evacuation of Indian fishermen today from Iran, through Armenia to India,” Jaishankar wrote on X.

British prosecutors said on Friday they had charged three men in connection with an arson attack last month on Jewish community ambulances in north London, as reported by Reuters.

The ambulances were set on fire on March 23 in what British Prime Minister Keir Starmer described as a “deeply shocking antisemitic arson attack”. (Reuters)

Several loud explosions were heard in Tehran on Friday as planes flew overhead, an AFP correspondent said.

Iran’s Fars news agency said air defences were activated in the capital. It was not immediately clear what was targeted. (AFP)

Shrapnel from intercepted drones injured four people in Bahrain, authorities said on Saturday, as Iran pressed its attacks on its Gulf neighbours. (AFP)

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday noted that India has “solidly come through” the turbulent global environment amid the West Asian conflict and the Russia-Ukraine war, “managing domestic and external challenges successfully.”

Addressing the 15th Annual Convocation Ceremony of IIM Raipur, EAM Jaishankar called for “hedging, de-risking and diversifying” to secure India’s interests as he noted that the resources can be used as leverage amid shifting power structures across the globe. (ANI)

Israel’s rescue services said Saturday the man sustained glass shrapnel wounds after an Iranian missile hit the central city of Bnei Brak.

It wasn’t clear if the glass shrapnel was caused by a direct strike or falling debris from an intercepted missile. (AP)

India-flagged large gas carrier Green Sanvi has safely transited the Strait of Hormuz on Friday night, carrying approximately 46,650 metric tonnes of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cargo, official sources said.

Earlier on March 28, a shipment of 47,000 metric tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) arrived at the Vadinar Terminal of DPA Kandla in Jamnagar, Gujarat, on Saturday. (ANI)

The International Monetary Fund urged the Bank of Japan to continue raising interest rates, even as the Middle East war posed “significant new risks” to the country’s economic outlook. (Reuters)

Dutch police on Saturday said they were investigating reports of an explosion overnight at the Israel Centre in the central Dutch town of Nijkerk, Reuters reported.

A fire broke out early on Saturday at storage facilities belonging to foreign oil companies west of Iraq’s Basra after a drone strike, security sources told Reuters.

The is a winding channel, narrowing to roughly 33 kilometres (21 miles) at its tightest point, linking the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman.

From there, vessels can reach global shipping routes. Although Iran and Oman control portions of the strait’s waters, it is generally considered an international passage open to all ships. Nearby, the United Arab Emirates—home to the towering, skyline-filled city of Dubai—lies close to this strategic waterway, AP reported.

Throughout history, the Strait of Hormuz has been a crucial trade route, facilitating the movement of goods like ceramics, ivory, silk, and textiles from China.

Today, it serves as a key passage for supertankers transporting oil and gas from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Qatar, Bahrain, the UAE, and Iran. Most of this energy flows to Asian markets, including China, which remains Iran’s sole significant oil customer.

Iran on Saturday executed two men it said were convicted of links to an opposition group, the People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran, and of carrying out armed attacks, domestic media reported, Reuters reported.

In a security alert on Friday, the U.S. embassy in Beirut said Iran and armed groups aligned with it may target universities in Lebanon and urged U.S. citizens to leave while commercial flights still operated.

“Our Military, the greatest and most powerful (by far!) anywhere in the World, hasn’t even started destroying what’s left in Iran. Bridges next, then Electric Power Plants!” he wrote.

Meanwhile, “Striking civilian structures, including unfinished bridges, will not compel Iranians to surrender,” Iran Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a statement.

Iran, located in Western Asia, shares land borders with seven countries: Iraq, Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. It also has coastlines along the Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, and the Caspian Sea, giving it maritime borders with nations like Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE, and Oman.

Its location at the crossroads of the Middle East, Central Asia, and South Asia makes it geopolitically significant.

U.S. oil prices settled more than 11% higher and Brent soared nearly 8% on Thursday in volatile trading, as traders worried about prolonged disruptions to oil supply the day after President Donald Trump said the United States would continue attacks on Iran, Reuters reported.

Brent crude futures closed $7.87, or 7.78%, higher at $109.03 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose $11.42, or 11.41%, at $111.54 per barrel, settling at their biggest absolute price rise since 2020. (Reuters)

Iranian fire brought down a two-seat U.S. F-15E jet, officials in both countries said, while two U.S. officials said the pilot ejected from an A-10 Warthog fighter aircraft that crashed in Kuwait after being hit by Iranian fire, as reported by Reuters.

Two Black Hawk helicopters engaged in the search for the missing pilot were hit by Iranian fire but made it out of Iranian airspace, the two U.S. officials told Reuters.

The ongoing conflict in West Asia has started to impact exporters in the Bikaner region, with shipments of popular food items, such as bhujia, papad and spices to Gulf and European countries facing severe disruptions, traders said. (PTI)

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni began a surprise visit to Saudi Arabia on Friday as part of a Gulf tour to boost “national energy security”, a government source said, as the Middle East war rages, AFP reported.

Meloni began her unannounced trip in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah, the source said, adding that she was the first leader of a European Union or NATO country to visit the region since the war began on February 28, AFP reported.

On US President Donald Trump’s statements regarding opening the Strait of Hormuz, Assistant Professor at Isfahan University, Dr Mohsen Farkhani, says, “Trump is enjoying the ambiguity of strategies. The Strait of Hormuz is in our territorial waters. Why should we keep and maintain laws that Trump has already exited and abolished? He has signed exits in the United States from more than 66 international organisations. When America doesn’t maintain its commitments to these international orders and laws, then why should Iran keep doing that?… There would be no ceasefire, and the one begging for a ceasefire is actually the United States…”

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte will visit the United States from April 8-12, 2026, for meetings with President Donald Trump and top officials amid rising alliance tensions regarding the Iran conflict.

On West Asia crisis, Foreign Expert Waiel Awwad says, “I think the United States has already been sanctioning Iranians for many years. Unilaterally, they put Iran under very harsh economic sanctions, and that’s why they tried to create internal disturbances. They failed. When they went to this war, for the first time last year, they were thinking that the government would fall under the economic hardship and the attack of the Americans and Israelis. Second attack, which is still going on right now, after killing so many of the leaders, including the supreme leaders, and killing so many kids in the schools and all these things; now they have opted to attack their bridges, their civilian installations, and all this gives you an indication that the US and Israel are desperately trying to get some advantage of the situation and trying to break Iran internally, which they have failed. Iran, now, if they have already imposed this sort of a sanction, I don’t think any country which is supporting the United States will be in a position, including the United States, to get any ship coming out from the Strait of Hormuz without the permission of the Iranians.” (ANI)

“Striking civilian structures, including unfinished bridges, will not compel Iranians to surrender,” Iran Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a statement.

This comes after US President Donald Trump persisted with threats on Thursday, saying in a social media post: “IT IS TIME FOR IRAN TO MAKE A DEAL BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE”.

He also posted video of the U.S. bombing a newly constructed bridge on Thursday between Tehran and the major northwest suburb of Karaj. The B1 bridge was scheduled to open to traffic this year. According to Iran’s state media, eight people were killed and 95 others were wounded in the U.S. attack. (Reuters)

So far, the conflict has killed 3,300, wounded 30,000 and caused the displacement of over 4 million people, AP reported.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reiterated on Friday his agency’s appeal for $ 30.3 million in immediate funding to support strained health services in Iran and another four Arab countries including Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan and Syria.

“This appeal will support essential health services and trauma care, disease surveillance and early warning systems, mass casualty management and national readiness for chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear emergencies,” he said on the social platform X.

The Abu Dhabi government media office said Friday that one Egyptian national was killed in fires caused by falling debris at Habshan gas facilities, following the interception of an Iranian aerial attack, according to a statement posted on X.

1. A fire broke out early on Saturday at storage facilities belonging to foreign oil companies west of Iraq’s Basra after a drone strike, security sources told Reuters.
2. Iran executed on Saturday two men it says were convicted of links to an opposition group, the People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran, and of carrying out armed attacks, domestic media reported.
3. Authorities in Dubai said the facades of two buildings were damaged by debris from intercepted drones, including one belonging to U.S. tech firm Oracle. No injuries were reported.
4. As of Friday, 247 of the wounded were Army soldiers, 63 were Navy sailors, 19 were Marines and 36 were Air Force airmen, according to Pentagon data available online.
5. The Gulf nation of Bahrain, which holds the presidency of the U.N. Security Council this month, postponed the vote on a resolution aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz that had been watered down significantly because of opposition from Russia and China, two U.N. diplomats said.
   (With inputs from AP, Reuters)

Authorities in Dubai said the facades of two buildings were damaged by debris from intercepted drones, including one belonging to U.S. tech firm Oracle. No injuries were reported.

The Iranian State Media, Press TV, on Saturday released unverified pictures of a US CH-47 helicopter in Kuwait, which, according to the media, was targeted by Iran. There has been no immediate confirmation from the US administration in this regard.

Another Iranian media, Mehr News Agency, reported that an Iranian projectile struck a US helicopter, which, according to Mehr News Agency, was under an operation to search for the downed pilot of the US F-15E Strike Eagle fighter jet. (ANI)

Iran executed on Saturday two men it says were convicted of links to an opposition group, the People’s Mojahedin Organisation of Iran, and of carrying out armed attacks, Reuters reported citing domestic media.

Several blasts were heard in northern Tehran on Saturday, news agency AFP said citing ground reporters.

The blasts occurred at about 7:30 am (0400 GMT) and were accompanied by a loud sound from above as if coming from a drone, the news agency further said.

The Islamic Resistance, an umbrella body of Iran-backed militia, has carried out 19 drone and missile attacks targeting the United States’ bases in Iraq and in the region on Friday (local time), Al Jazeera reported.

1. One crew member was rescued Friday after an American aircraft was shot down in Iran, according to one U.S. and one Israeli official, who both spoke on condition of anonymity to describe sensitive ongoing military operations, AP reported.
2. The rescue occurred as the U.S. military was conducting a search and rescue operation, according to three people familiar who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitivity of the situation. Israel is helping the United States with the operation, AP reported.
3. A U.S. A-10 aircraft has been hit by Iranian air defenses, Iranian state media reported, citing Iran’s Army public relations office, AP reported.
4. In a brief telephone interview with NBC News, Trump declined to discuss the search and rescue effort, AP reported.

The current death toll remains at 13 service members killed in combat, AP reporte.

As of Friday, 247 of the wounded were Army soldiers, 63 were Navy sailors, 19 were Marines and 36 were Air Force airmen, according to Pentagon data available online.

It is unclear if the data includes any of the service members involved in the downing of two combat aircraft reported Friday. (AP)