Israel strikes nuclear sites, FBI chief hacked as Iran defies ‘bullies’: As it happened on March 27

27 March 2026

Elon Musk joined a recent phone call between Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the Iran crisis, the New York Times has reported, citing unnamed US officials, in a rare instance of a private citizen taking part in talks between two heads of state.

The call on Tuesday focused on the escalating situation in the Middle East, including tensions around the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump envoy Steve Witkoff has said talks with Iran could take place this week, expressing optimism and pointing to ships continuing to pass through the Strait of Hormuz as a “very, very good sign.” 

“And I think the president wants a peace deal,” he added.

Iran’s ISNA news agency has posted photos it says show damage to residential areas from the latest US and Israeli strikes, stating that “once again residential neighborhoods, once again innocent civilians” have been targeted.

The IAEA says Iran has informed it that the Shahid Rezayee Nejad yellowcake production facility in Yazd province, also known as Ardakan, was attacked on Friday. The agency reported no increase in off‑site radiation levels and said it is looking into the report. Director General Rafael Grossi reiterated his call for military restraint to avoid any risk of a nuclear accident.

Araghchi has told his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in a phone call that insecurity in the Strait of Hormuz stems from US and Israeli military actions, and that blocking vessels belonging to “aggressors and their allies” is Iran’s legal right as a coastal state, while other ships can pass in coordination with Tehran. 

He also condemned continued US-Israeli strikes on Iranian targets, including civilian sites, while Lavrov reiterated Moscow’s opposition to the attacks and its readiness to help de-escalate the conflict, according to a statement by the Iranian foreign minister on Telegram.

Russia’s Emergency Situations Ministry (EMERCOM) has delivered 313 tons of medical supplies to Iran. The second “major shipment” was carried out with the assistance of Azerbaijan, the agency said.

Araghchi has said Israel struck “two of Iran’s largest steel factories, a power plant and civilian nuclear sites,” along with other infrastructure, adding the attacks were carried out “in coordination with the US.” 

In a post on X, he argued the strikes contradict Trump’s decision to extend a pause on attacks on Iran’s energy plants into April and warned that Tehran will exact a “heavy price” for what he called Israeli “crimes.”

Backwardation is when the current spot price of a commodity is higher than its futures price. It is often a sign of supply disruptions or shortages. 

In this case, buyers needing crude oil now are paying a hefty premium relative to those who are buying with future delivery. This is a tell-tale sign of worsening physical shortages in the oil market.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has questioned whether the US‑Israeli campaign against Iran can achieve its aims, warning that attempts to replace governments have “mostly gone wrong” in past wars, including Afghanistan. Speaking at a forum in Frankfurt, he asked “Is regime change really the goal?” and said he does not believe such an outcome is realistic in the current conflict.

“Our mission is clear. Iran will never obtain a nuclear weapon,” Rubio posted on X after meeting G7 foreign ministers in France. Tehran insists its nuclear program is purely civilian and has repeatedly denied seeking atomic weapons.

Rubio has also accused Iran of trying to “set up a tolling system in the Strait of Hormuz,” calling the alleged move “illegal,” “unacceptable” and “dangerous.” He told reporters “it’s important that the world have a plan to confront it,” adding that the US is “prepared to be a part of that plan.” Tehran says “non‑hostile” ships are free to transit Hormuz, and has urged international recognition of its “sovereign right to exercise authority over the Strait of Hormuz” as part of any ceasefire arrangement.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has declined to say whether Washington is considering deploying ground troops to the Middle East, telling reporters after a G7 meeting in France that he would not discuss “military tactics.” He insisted, however, that the US has clear objectives in the conflict and said “we are very confident we are on the verge of achieving them very, very soon.”

Iran has warned staff at industrial companies linked to the US and Israel to “immediately leave the workplace so their lives are not put at risk,” according to a post on X by IRGC General Seyed Majid Moosavi. He said Tehran would no longer respond on an “eye for an eye” basis if its infrastructure is attacked again, telling employees at firms tied to “the Americans and the Zionist regime” to leave and warning opponents to “wait and see.”

US‑Israeli strikes on Iran have damaged at least 120 museums, historical buildings, and cultural sites across the country since the start of the war, the head of Tehran city council’s heritage committee, Ahmad Alavi, has said. 

According to state media, notable sites hit include the UNESCO‑listed Golestan Palace, Tehran’s Marble Palace, and the Saadabad Palace complex, with Iranian authorities calling the destruction “a clear crime” against the country’s heritage and a violation of the Hague Convention on the protection of cultural property in wartime.

The US and Israel have bombed Iran’s Arak heavy water complex in two separate strikes, the Fars news agency has reported citing a government official. The outlet noted that the strikes on the nuclear facility, located southwest of Tehran, did not result in human casualties and that there is no danger threatening the local population.

Iran-linked hackers have reportedly breached FBI director Kash Patel’s personal email and have published his photographs and other documents. 

The Handala Hack Team group, who describe themselves as pro-Palestinian vigilante hackers, posted the images on their website, writing that Patel will “now find his name among the list of successfully hacked victims.”

A US Justice Department official has confirmed that Patel’s email was breached and that the materials published by the group appear to be authentic.

More than 92,000 civilian building units have been damaged across Iran in US-Israeli strikes, the Iranian Red Crescent reports. 

The damaged buildings include 71,356 residential units, 290 health facilities, 600 schools, as well as 17 Red Crescent centers, 48 rescue vehicles, and 46 ambulances, according to the organization.

Israel has announced another wave of airstrikes in Beirut, claiming to target Hezbollah’s infrastructure. Al Jazeera has reported blasts in the Lebanese capital’s southern suburbs with warplanes heard flying low over the city.

Videos circulating on social media purport to show smoke rising above the city following the latest strikes.

Iran could still have a significant missile inventory as the US can only reliably confirm it has destroyed about a third of Tehran’s arsenal, American intelligence sources have told Reuters.

According to the outlet, another third is considered to have likely been damaged in US-Israeli bombings or buried in underground tunnels and bunkers.

Similar numbers are cited for Iran’s drone capability, with one source telling Reuters there was some degree of clarity about only a third having been destroyed.

Lebanon faces a real risk of humanitarian catastrophe following Israeli strikes and widespread evacuation orders, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) has warned.

Since Israel expanded its military operations in the country earlier this month, more than a million people, or one in five, have been forced to flee their homes, according to the UNHCR.

The people of Hormuz Island formed a ‘human chain’ to protect it amid US threats, in a symbolic show of solidarity with the Iranian government.

RT’s Tehran bureau chief, Hami Hamedi, reports from the site of a strike in southern Tehran where a residential building was hit overnight, causing casualties and leaving people trapped under rubble.

“The building you see here was hit around 3 AM local time… So far, they have been able to extract three bodies, but there are still many people trapped under the rubble,” he said.

A local resident described the blast as devastating: “It was just like a storm hitting the doors and walls… all the houses had collapsed, and the fire was like the end of the world.”

A firefighter at the scene said civilians were among those affected: “You can see the situation here, they’re targeting residential areas… there are currently about ten to 15 ordinary people in this building.”

Members of Iran’s national football team have paid tribute to victims of the Minab school strike – which killed 175 children and teachers – during a friendly against Nigeria in Antalya, Türkiye.

Players walked out carrying children’s backpacks resembling those seen in the rubble of the destroyed school, and wore black armbands as they sang the national anthem.

Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has questioned Washington’s ability to protect its own troops if the US deploys ground forces to Iran, warning that American forces are already vulnerable at regional bases.

“How can the US, which can’t even protect its own soldiers at its bases in the region and instead leaves them stashed away in hotels and parks, protect them on our soil?” he wrote on X.

Defense Minister Israel Katz has threatened to “intensify” Israeli attacks on Iran and expand strikes to a broader range of targets, accusing Tehran of targeting Israel’s civilian population.

“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and I warned the Iranian terror regime to stop firing missiles at the civilian population in Israel. Despite the warnings, the firing continues; therefore, strikes in Iran will escalate and expand,” he added. “They will pay a heavy price… and we will continue to operate in Iran with full force until all war objectives are completed.”

His remarks come after Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused the Israeli military of targeting civilians, telling the UN Security Council earlier in the day that more than 600 schools have been damaged or destroyed by strikes on Iran since February 28.

The Iran war could escalate in the coming days, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has claimed, without giving details.

“I have reasons to believe, also based on information we’ve received from our allies, that stabilization is unlikely in the coming days. On the contrary, a new escalation may occur,” Tusk, whose country is a NATO member, told reporters.

Jordan says three missiles have been fired from Iran in the past 24 hours, with its air defenses intercepting two.

A third missile fell in the east of the country, causing “material damage” but no casualties, the military said in a statement carried by state media.

The UAE says its air defenses have intercepted six ballistic missiles and nine drones launched from Iran.

The Defense Ministry said the total number of intercepted ballistic missiles since the start of the war has reached 378, with 1,835 drones downed. Emirati systems have also shot down 15 cruise missiles during the conflict.

The Iranian military has struck what it described as the IDF’s largest transportation and logistics hub in Tel Aviv with drones, Tasnim reported citing a statement from IRGC.

Seven trucks carrying around 150 tonnes of Russian humanitarian aid have crossed into Iran via the Azerbaijani border, according to the Russian Foreign Ministry. The cargo has been handed over to Iranian authorities for distribution among citizens.

US CENTCOM has released another unclassified video claiming its forces “continue to eliminate the Iranian regime’s ability to project military power beyond its borders.”

Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky says Kiev and Saudi Arabia have reached “an important arrangement” on defense cooperation.

In a post on X, Zelensky claimed Ukrainian drone warfare specialists are assisting five Middle East and Gulf countries in countering Iranian attacks on US bases in the region.

Zelensky recently revealed that the US has based security guarantees for Kiev on accepting the loss of Donbass, and has recently been promoting Ukrainian drone-defense practices to Gulf countries exposed by Iran’s retaliation to US and Israeli strikes.

Saudi Arabia has renewed its call for all citizens to leave Lebanon immediately, citing the “repercussions of current events” and the deteriorating security situation.

In a statement on X, the Saudi Embassy in Beirut reiterated the ban on travel to Lebanon.

Israeli attacks this month have killed at least 121 children and injured 399 in Lebanon, with more than 370,000 others displaced, UNICEF’s representative in the country, Marcoluigi Corsi, has said.

France’s armed forces minister, Catherine Vautrin, has said the war with Iran is “not ours,” insisting Paris’ approach in the Middle East is strictly defensive and focused on diplomacy to avoid further escalation.

“The goal, I repeat, is truly to facilitate the diplomatic path,” she told Europe 1 and CNews. Referring to the de facto blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, Vautrin added: “The aim is truly this diplomatic approach, which is the only one that can guarantee a return to peace. Many countries are concerned, and it is absolutely essential that we find a solution.”

At least 26 people have been killed by a US-Israeli strike on a residential area in Iran’s Isfahan, according to the state-affiliated Mehr News. “Seven children [and] seven women” are among the dead, according to the report.

Iran’s IRGC says its navy turned back three container ships of different nationalities after they attempted to enter the designated corridor in the Strait of Hormuz.

The military said the vessels withdrew after receiving a warning, adding the strait remains closed despite “lies” by US President Donald Trump that it is open.

The IRGC warned any unauthorized transit will face a “firm response,” and said vessels linked to countries supporting the US or Israel are “strictly prohibited” from passing.

UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper has accused Iran of holding the global economy “hostage” by blocking shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.

“We are very clear we need to see a swift resolution to this conflict that restores regional stability,” Cooper said ahead of a G7 foreign ministers meeting in France. “Iran cannot be able to just hold the global economy hostage as a result of a Strait which is about international shipping routes and the freedom of navigation that has been so strongly supported at the UN.”

These comments come the same week that the UK threatened to seize ships under the Russian flag in the English Channel.

Iran has, however, allowed “non-hostile vessels” to proceed provided their countries “neither participate in nor support acts of aggression against Iran” and fully comply with safety and security rules in coordination with Iranian authorities.

Araghchi has said more than 600 schools have been damaged or destroyed in US-Israeli strikes on Iran since February 28, with over 1,000 students and teachers killed or wounded.

The UN session – convened by Iran, China, and Cuba – addressed the Israeli-US strike on a school in Minab that killed 175 children and teachers.

“The attack on the school in Minab was not a mere incident, nor a miscalculation,” Araghchi said, accusing the US of targeting civilians and infrastructure “with no regard for laws of war and basic principles of humanity.”

“This barbaric attack is but the visible tip of a far bigger iceberg, one that conceals beneath its surface far graver catastrophes, namely the normalization of the most abhorrent violations of human rights and humanitarian law and the audacity to commit atrocious crimes with impunity.”

Araghchi urged “unequivocal condemnation by all, and unambiguous accountability for the culprits.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has accused the US and Israel of “bullying,” calling their “illegal war” on Iran “blatantly unjustified and brutal.”

“They initiated this aggression on 28 February while Iran and the US were engaged in a diplomatic process to resolve Americans’ alleged concerns over Iran’s nuclear program,” he told an emergency session of the UN Human Rights Council. “They betrayed diplomacy for a second time in the course of nine months by torpedoing the negotiating table.”

Saudi Arabia’s Defense Ministry has said six ballistic missiles were launched toward the Riyadh area. Air defenses intercepted two of the projectiles, while the remaining four landed in uninhabited areas or Gulf waters, the ministry said.

Iran’s IRGC has urged civilians across the Middle East to leave areas that host US forces, saying Iran is “duty-bound” to strike US troops “wherever we find them.”

“We strongly recommend that you immediately leave areas where US forces are stationed so that you are not harmed,” the IRGC’s public relations office said in a statement carried by Tasnim.

The Kuwaiti authorities say Mubarak Al Kabeer port on Bubiyan Island has been struck by “hostile drones and cruise missiles,” causing material damage but no casualties. Officials also reported a separate attack on Shuwaikh Port.

Previously, a drone barrage struck a fuel depot at Kuwait International Airport, causing a fire.

US-Israeli strikes against Iran have killed at least 250 teachers and students, according to the head of the Iranian Education Ministry’s public relations center, Hossein Sadeghi.

The attacks have also damaged 723 education and cultural facilities, he told IRNA.

Deputy Health Minister Ali Jafarian earlier said the overall death toll has reached at least 1,937 since the initial strikes on February 28.

The Israeli Air Force says it struck Iran’s “most central” naval weapons production site, targeting a facility in Yazd, central Iran.

According to Israel, the site was used to plan, develop, assemble, and store advanced missiles designed for launch from ships, submarines, and helicopters against maritime targets.

“This is a site where most of the missiles and naval mines are developed by the Iranian navy forces,” the military claimed.

Several drones have been “intercepted and destroyed” over Riyadh and Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province, the Defense Ministry has said.

The Iranian military has warned that hotels hosting US troops across the Middle East could be considered legitimate targets.

“When all the [American forces] go into a hotel, then from our perspective that hotel becomes American,” spokesman Abolfazl Shekarchi has told state media. “Should we just stand by and let the Americans strike us? When we respond, naturally we have to strike wherever they are.”

marandi

Israeli propaganda is no longer effective because people “have woken up” to what the Israeli “regime” stands for, Iranian Professor Seyed Mohammed Marandi has told RT, pointing to what he called Israel’s “genocidal acts in Lebanon and in Gaza.”

“People have woken up to the reality of what the regime stands for, what Zionism stands for,” he said. “They saw it in Gaza. They see the slaughter every day of children in Palestine, the bombing of ambulances. They’re bombing ambulances in Iran. They’re bombing ambulances in Lebanon every day and murdering paramedics.”

He also accused Israeli propaganda entities of staging attacks and vandalizing synagogues and graveyards to “blame it on Iran or Muslims or the Palestinians or supporters of the axis of resistance.”

Finnish President Alexander Stubb has warned that the Israel-US war on Iran could trigger a “self-inflicted global recession” potentially worse than the Covid-19 pandemic – echoing similar concerns raised earlier by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“I think we’re now in a situation whereby this could be a self-inflicted global recession,” Stubb told Politico. “It shows you what happens when you act outside the framework of international rules and norms.”

He also criticized Trump’s ‘America First’ approach, arguing that the idea of a world in which countries are not interdependent is an illusion. “Some people are creating this illusion that you can live in a world with national boundaries and that we’re not interdependent, and I think nothing is further from the truth, as we can see in the Strait of Hormuz right now. We’re all affected, if nowhere else, at least at the gas pump.”

Stubb also signaled reluctance to follow the US into the conflict, saying, “this might sound a bit harsh, but Iran is not my war.”

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz earlier made a similar remark, prompting Trump to reply: “Well, Ukraine is not our war either. We helped, but Ukraine is not our war.”

Commenting on India’s decision to slash fuel taxes, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the move will “provide protection to consumers from [a] rise in prices.”

The country – one of the world’s largest crude importers, relying on foreign supplies for more than 85% of its needs, with Russia its biggest supplier – earlier cut petrol and diesel taxes by 10 rupees ($0.11) per liter.

The Indian Oil Ministry insisted the country has “nearly two months” of supply available regardless of global shocks, but social media has been flooded with videos of panic buying that has led to long lines at gas stations and even scuffles.

The Israeli military has issued an evacuation warning for the village of Sejoud in southern Lebanon. The IDF’s Arabic spokesperson said the military is set to operate against alleged Hezbollah targets in the village.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has said the US and Iran have had indirect contact and could soon meet for direct talks in Pakistan.

“Based on my information, there have been indirect contacts, and preparations have been made to meet directly. That would be very soon in Pakistan, apparently,” he told Deutschlandfunk radio.

Iran has not confirmed that it has had contact with the US, nor that a direct meeting is planned. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi earlier noted that receiving messages does not constitute “talks.”

The Pentagon is drawing up options for a “final blow” against Iran, including ground operations and a large-scale bombing campaign, Axios reports, citing sources.

Officials have reportedly outlined four main scenarios for Trump, including: Seizing or blockading Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil export hub; taking Larak Island, which hosts bunkers, attack craft, and radar systems; capturing Abu Musa and two nearby islands at the western entrance to the Strait of Hormuz; or intercepting ships exporting Iranian oil on the eastern side of the strait.

The US military has also prepared contingency plans for ground incursions deep inside Iran to secure highly enriched uranium stored at nuclear facilities.
Trump has not made a decision, the report notes, and White House officials describe ground operations as hypothetical.

Moscow is quietly benefiting from the Iran war, Jiang Xueqin, an academic and host of the YouTube show Predictive History, has told RT’s Rick Sanchez.

“Russia is really benefiting from this war because as Iran attacks the global economy, the United States has no choice but to reduce sanctions on Russian oil. So the Russian economy will benefit tremendously from this war,” he said.

Jiang also predicts the US will eventually be forced out of the Middle East, opening the door to further opportunities for Moscow.

“With the US out of the Middle East... Russia and Iran can build a closer trade partnership, establishing a north-south corridor which will then allow Russia to access Africa, the Middle East, and Asia through Iran,” he stated.

Iranian media has released a new Lego-style video portraying Iran’s retaliation against the US and Israel, while mocking the US and Israeli leaders.

Titled ‘Victory Chronicles – Part Two’, it depicts cartoon versions of Trump and Netanyahu alongside the Devil and a figure resembling an effigy of the ancient deity Baal adorned with the Star of David, shown drafting a ceasefire request to Tehran.

It then shows Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian tearing up the proposal and ordering strikes. Subsequent scenes feature missiles bearing inscriptions including “In memory of the girls of Minab school” and “In memory of the victims of Epstein Island,” followed by strikes on US positions across the region.

The video ends with a shot of the Trump figure holding a ‘victory’ sign that reads “I’m a loser.”

The Israeli military has said it struck ballistic missile and air defense production sites across Iran.

In the country’s west, it targeted facilities linked to what it described as Iranian “firepower arrays,” including missile launchers and storage sites that it said “posed a threat to the State of Israel.”

India has slashed special excise duties on gasoline and diesel amid surging prices.

In an order issued on Thursday, the Finance Ministry cut the gasoline duty to 3 rupees ($0.032) per liter from 13 rupees, and reduced the diesel duty to zero from ten rupees.

Vietnam’s Trade Ministry says it has temporarily waived an environmental tax on fuel, cutting prices by more than a quarter.

The tax on gasoline, diesel, and airplane fuel has been reduced to zero until April 15, the ministry said on Friday, calling it an “urgent and effective” step to stabilize the petroleum market and safeguard energy security amid the escalating Strait of Hormuz crisis, described as the “biggest energy bottleneck ever.”

The UAE has informed the US and other Western states it is ready to join a multinational maritime task force aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz, the Financial Times reports, citing sources.

According to the report, the UAE is also working with Bahrain on a UN Security Council resolution to provide a mandate for a future task force.

Washington has lifted some of its sanctions on Belarusian chemical and fertilizer companies Belaruskali, Belarusian Potash Company and Agrorozkvit, after the ongoing US war on Iran left many American farmers unable to obtain fertilizers amid skyrocketing prices.

President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he plans to roll out a “variety” of policies “to support American farmers” amid global fallout from the US war on Iran. The State Department has argued that current “circumstances no longer warrant the prohibitions” against Russia’s neighbor.

The US-Israeli war on Iran has shut fertilizer plants throughout the Gulf and choked off shipping routes. The longer it drags on, the greater the risk of a global food crisis. For farmers in the northern hemisphere, the war has come at the worst possible time. The spring planting season has begun, and fertilizer is in high demand. While rising fuel costs are the most obvious consequence of the war to consumers, the price of fertilizer is also increasing, and supply of its ingredients is tightening.

At least 1,116 people have been killed, including 81 women and 121 children, and over 3,200 were wounded since the beginning of Israel’s offensive in Lebanon, according to the health ministry’s latest tally.

Rescuers have found a survivor under the rubble of a residential building in Tehran, according to footage shared by the Iranian Red Crescent.

Search and rescue operations are also underway in Tehran, where a residential area has also come under US-Israeli attacks, according to the Iranian Red Crescent.

The Iranian Red Crescent has published a video of search and rescue operations in the rubble of a residential building in Urmia, the capital of Iran’s West Azerbaijan province.

Hezbollah has reportedly carried out over 100 operations over the past 24 hours against northern Israel and IDF forces that have crossed into Lebanese territory.

Since midnight local time, the Lebanese militant group said it has launched multiple rocket attacks on Israeli soldiers and their vehicles in the town of Qantara in the Marjayoun district, including strikes on troops gathered near the cemetery and the town square. A guided missile attack was also reported on Israeli forces advancing near the town of Beit Lif in the Bint Jbeil district.

Videos released by Hezbollah purportedly show the group striking Israeli Merkava tanks and armored vehicles using FPV drones and anti-tank guided missiles.

A US-Israeli strike in the Iranian city of Urmia, the capital of West Azerbaijan province, has “completely destroyed” four residential buildings and “left a number of citizens killed and injured,” IRNA news agency reports, citing the local crisis management center.

Moscow has requested a UN Security Council meeting to discuss US-Israeli attacks on civilian infrastructure in Iran, including a reported strike near the Russia-operated Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant earlier this week.

The US, which holds the council’s rotating presidency this month, has scheduled a closed consultation for Friday morning, according to AP sources.

Iran sent a letter to the United Nations accusing the US and Israel of “state-sponsored terrorism,” after a Wall Street Journal report alleged that Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf were “temporarily” removed from the list of assassination targets.

“The reports indicate the existence of an operational framework contemplating the assassination of the highest-ranking political officials of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” said the letter dated Thursday and signed by Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani.

“The conditional nature of the purported ‘suspension’ further underscores that the threat remains real, deliberate and ongoing,” it added.

Israel has announced that it had just “completed a wave of strikes in the heart of Tehran.” The wide-scale bombing raid allegedly targeted unspecified infrastructure, with the IDF promising to release further details soon.

Republican Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina told CBS News that she would oppose sending American ground forces into Iran and argued that military officials left “most of our questions unanswered” during a House Armed Services Committee briefing this week.

“I have grave concerns about the Washington war machine getting us into another 20-year-plus endless war,” Mace said, adding that “a lot of us share the heartburn” over the direction of the conflict.

While Mace said she remains a strong supporter of President Trump and believes US operations have successfully degraded Iran’s missile capabilities, she urged the president to “declare victory” rather than allowing the conflict to become a “never-ending war.”

“I haven’t seen an exit strategy yet,” she added. “I believe we owe the American public, the American people, the men and women we’re sending into war, we owe them an answer to the question: how does this end?”

The Department of War is considering deploying up to 10,000 additional ground forces to the Middle East to expand President Trump’s military options, according to officials familiar with the planning, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The prospective force is expected to include infantry units and armored vehicles. If approved, the deployment would add to thousands of troops already ordered to the region, including approximately 2,000 to 3,000 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division and two Marine Expeditionary Units totaling an estimated 4,500 to 5,000 Marines and support personnel.

Some 40,000 US troops were already stationed across the region before the US and Israel launched their attack on Iran on February 28.

US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth said during a White House Cabinet meeting that he would welcome a negotiated peace deal with Iran, but in the meantime the Pentagon will keep “negotiating with bombs.”

“We pray for a deal, and we welcome a deal and we have the ultimate dealmaker to make it happen – but in the meantime, as I said yesterday, the Department of War will continue negotiating with bombs,” Hegseth stated.

President Donald Trump’s approval rating has hit its lowest across both of his terms, according to a new Fox News poll. The survey found that 59 percent of registered voters do not approve of Trump’s handling of the presidency – while 64 percent specifically said they do not approve of his handling of the war with Iran.

“I hate Fox polls,” Trump told the network’s The Five show on Thursday. “Honestly, whoever does your polls are terrible.”

The UN nuclear watchdog has expressed “deep concern” about the US-Israeli strikes “reportedly occurring” near Iran’s Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant following the latest attack earlier this week.

“Given that it is an operating nuclear power plant with a large amount of nuclear material, DG Grossi warns that damage to the facility could result in a major radiological accident affecting a large area in Iran and beyond,” the IAEA said in a statement, calling for “maximum restraint to avoid the risk of such a nuclear accident.”

The head of Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom, Alexei Likhachev, said Wednesday that the situation at Bushehr is developing along a “worst-case scenario.” The strike, which caused no casualties, occurred at around 1800 GMT on Tuesday and hit an area near an operational power unit, Likhachev said. Rosatom has begun a third phase of personnel evacuation. Until the situation stabilizes, the corporation is temporarily reducing the number of staff at the plant to a minimum.

Bushehr, Iran’s first nuclear power plant, was built with Russian assistance. Its first 1,000 MW unit was commissioned in 2013, with construction of a second and third phase beginning in 2016. The facility remains a critical piece of energy infrastructure in the region.

26 March 2026

The IDF has again instructed residents to seek shelter amid a new wave of Iranian missile attacks, just 90 minutes after permitting them to leave protected spaces.

Israeli Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir has warned that the military will “collapse in on itself” due to a mounting manpower shortage as it fights on multiple fronts. Speaking at a security cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Zamir said he was “raising 10 red flags” before ministers, according to Israeli media reports.

He reportedly stated that the military requires a conscription law, a reserve duty law and a law to extend mandatory service, warning that before long the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) would be unable to perform its routine missions and the reserve system “will not hold.”

Tehran has not requested a pause to US strikes on its energy infrastructure, and has yet to deliver a final response to Washington’s 15-point ultimatum to end the war, the Wall Street Journal has reported, citing mediators in the indirect talks.

President Trump has claimed that his unnamed contacts in Tehran initially asked him to pause US strikes on the city’s energy infrastructure for seven days, and were “very thankful” after he instead gave them ten.

“They said to me very nicely, through my people, ‘Could we have more time?’ Because we’re talking about tomorrow night, which is pretty quick, and if they don’t do what they have to do, I will knock out their power plants,” Trump told Fox News.

“They asked for seven, and I said, ‘I’m going to give you 10,’ because they gave me ships,” he said, adding that Iranian officials were “very thankful” about that.

The US president claimed earlier in the day that Iran had gifted him ten “big boats” of oil, allowing the tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz in a show of goodwill. Tehran insists that the strategic waterway is and has always been open for passage for all vessels unaffiliated with “hostile” nations.

The US Central Command has shared several photos showing US soldiers maintaining Patriot mobile interceptor missile systems, which it called a part of “the most extensive air defense umbrella in the Middle East.”

The continuing US-Israeli regime change efforts in Iran have led to rapid consumption of munitions and interceptors by the attackers and Washington’s regional partners enduring Iranian retaliation, raising concerns in Ukraine about the continuity of Western military support.

The US could redirect arms supplies originally designated for Ukraine to America’s own war with Iran, the Washington Post reported on Thursday, citing sources familiar with discussions on the matter. According to the WaPo, internal discussions within the Department of War are focused on determining the appropriate level of Ukraine supplies. While deliveries are expected to proceed, Patriot interceptors may be excluded. In certain scenarios, shipments could be redirected entirely, sources indicated.

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has recently emphasized that replenishing US arsenals for conducting American military operations takes precedence over supplying Kiev.

The IDF has detected a new wave of missiles fired by Tehran at Israel, shortly after it bragged about the destruction of “more than 1,000 production-related targets” across Iran.

“Defensive systems are operating to intercept the threat,” the military said in a statement, warning residents to seek shelter in a protected space and remain there until further notice.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has said it is “intensifying strikes” on Iranian weapons production industries, with more than 1,000 production-related targets struck so far since the start of its Operation Roaring Lion, conducted in coordination with the US’s Operation Epic Fury.

In a statement, the IDF said the Israeli Air Force, Intelligence Directorate and Operations Directorate are leading an ongoing effort to “degrade” Tehran’s industrial capabilities.

“This effort includes the systematic targeting of production lines, with the aim of degrading the regime’s manufacturing, development, and research capabilities across its military industries,” it said.

The IDF claimed that “much of Iranian development is carried out in cooperation with private companies operating in coordination with the regime’s security apparatus, led by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).”

President Donald Trump has stepped back from his promise to resume strikes on the Islamic Republic’s power facilities when a five-day pause expires on Friday, and extended the deadline for another ten days.

“As per Iranian Government request, please let this statement serve to represent that I am pausing the period of Energy Plant destruction by 10 Days to Monday, April 6, 2026, at 8 P.M., Eastern Time. Talks are ongoing and, despite erroneous statements to the contrary by the Fake News Media, and others, they are going very well,” Tump wrote in a post on Truth Social.