Iran war news LIVE: Israeli media report fire at Haifa refinery after strike, rockets hit Iraqi air base

Iran US war news LIVE updates: A fire broke out at Israel’s Oil Refineries in the northern city of Haifa after debris from an intercepted missile hit a fuel tanker, Reuters news agency reported Israel’s Fire and Rescue Service as saying. No casualties were reported.

According to the Fire and Rescue Service, a direct hit was identified on a tanker parked within the factory grounds, following which smoke was seen from the roof of a nearby structure. Firefighters are trying to bring the blaze under control to prevent it from spreading to additional areas.

Iran US war news LIVE updates: An Israeli strike hit the Lebanese army checkpoint in the country’s south, a Lebanese military official told AFP.

This is the first direct attack on a military post since the start of the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. At least five soldiers were wounded in the attack, the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told AFP. The Lebanese military has, since the start of the conflict on March 2, mourned eight soldiers killed by Israeli fire in southern and eastern Lebanon while off duty.

Iran US war news LIVE updates: Iran foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said it was “welcome” that regional countries were pursuing peace.

However, Baghaei said it was necessary that the nations take a “realistic” view of events, Reuters news agency reported.

Iran US war news LIVE updates: Iran’s foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei on Monday said the proposals conveyed to Iran had been mostly “unrealistic, unreasonable and excessive,” Reuters news agency reported.

Baghaei said no direct talks with the US had taken place, adding that messages had been exchanged through intermediaries.

Iran US war news LIVE updates: The Mohamad Alaa air base in Iraq, locatd beside Baghdad International Airport, was hit by rockets in the early hours of Monday, Iraq’s defence ministry said, according to Reuters news agency.

An aircraft was destroyed in the strikes, but no casualties were reported, the ministry said. It added that authorities are assessing the damage and tracking the source of the attack.

Iran US war news LIVE updates: Israel’s Kan said a fire broke out at the Haifa oil refinery following a hit, Reuters news agency reported.

Iran US war news LIVE updates: Israeli television channels reported an impact at an oil refinery in the northern city of Haifa Monday. This came after the military said it had detected new incoming missiles from Iran.

Thick black smoke was seen billowing into the sky from the site, television network Channel 12 reported.

Iran US war news LIVE updates: “We appreciate Pakistan’s efforts to help de-escalate the situation, support Pakistan in continuing to play a mediating role,” said China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning.

She told a daily briefing in Beijing that China is ready to coordinate with Pakistan and any other relevant party “to jointly promote peace and cease hostilities to safeguard regional peace and stability.”

Pakistan announced Sunday that it would soon host talks between the US and Iran, though there was no immediate word from Washington or Tehran, and it was unclear whether discussions on the monthlong war would be direct or indirect.

Iran US war news LIVE updates: Iraq’s defence ministry said on Monday that the Mohamad Alaa air base, located beside Baghdad International Airport, was hit by rockets in the early hours of Monday, destroying an aircraft but causing no casualties.

The ministry added that authorities are assessing the damage and tracking the source of the attack.

Iran US war news LIVE updates: Israel’s health ministry said that 6,008 people have been taken to hospitals since the war with Iran began on February 28, and 121 of them are still under treatment.

In the last 24 hours, officials said 232 injured people were admitted to hospitals, Al Jazeera reported.

Iran US war news LIVE updates: Iran confirmed on Monday the death of Revolutionary Guards navy commander Alireza Tangsiri following severe injuries, Iranian media reported, based on a statement by the guards.

Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz said on March 26: “In a precise and lethal operation, the IDF eliminated the commander of the IRGC Navy, Tangsiri, along with senior naval command officials.”

Iran US war news LIVE updates: The spot price of Brent crude oil, the international standard, was around $115 early Monday, up nearly 60% from Feb. 28, when the US and Israel started the war with attacks on Iran. West Texas Intermediate jumped above $100.

Brent has surged around 60% in March as the war between the US, Israel and Iran upended global markets and triggered concern about a simultaneous spike in inflation and slowdown in growth.

The conflict has entered its fifth week and is showing no sign of abating despite a diplomatic push by Washington last week and separate peace talks over the weekend in Pakistan.

Iran US war news LIVE updates: Airlines across the world have started raising fares and cutting flight capacity to deal with the sharp rise in oil prices. However, the industry’s profits may depend on whether travellers reduce flying as fuel costs begin to affect household budgets.

Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific Airways has increased fuel surcharges twice in the past month. From Wednesday, a return ticket from Sydney to London will carry an $800 fuel surcharge. Before the Iran conflict, a standard round-trip economy fare on this route was about A$2,000 ($1,369.60).

Analysts told news agency Reuters that low-cost airlines may face the biggest challenge, as their passengers are more sensitive to price increases compared to business travellers and wealthier customers, who are increasingly being targeted by premium carriers such as Delta Air Lines and United Airlines.

Iran US war news LIVE updates: An Indian national was killed in Kuwait in Iranian strikes on a power and water desalination plant, taking the total number of Indian fatalities from the ongoing conflict in West Asia to eight since it began a month back.

Kuwait’s Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy said a service building at the facility was damaged in Sunday’s attack, Kuwait’s state-run KUNA news agency reported.

The Indian embassy in Kuwait confirmed the death of the Indian national.

The embassy of India in Kuwait expresses its deepest condolences at the “tragic demise” of an Indian national due to an attack on a desalination facility in Kuwait, the mission said in a social media post.

“The Embassy is closely coordinating with the Kuwaiti authorities to render all possible support and assistance,” it said.

Iran US war news LIVE updates: Iranian authorities executed two men on Monday after convicting them of membership in a banned opposition group and attempting to overthrow the Islamic republic, the judiciary said.

“After confirmation and final approval of the sentence by the Supreme Court, Akbar Daneshvarkar and Mohammad Taghavi-Sangdehi were hanged this morning,” the judiciary’s Mizan Online website said.

The executions come as Iran is at war with the United States and Israel following strikes against the Islamic republic on February 28 that triggered a wider regional conflict.

Iran US war news LIVE updates: A strike hit Beirut’s southern suburbs on Monday, AFP reported, after Israel issued a warning for people in the Hezbollah stronghold to leave.

The strike is the first since Friday in the area, which is now largely deserted since Israel began frequent attacks against Hezbollah in early March.

Iran US war news LIVE updates: US President Donald Trump has raised the idea of American forces seizing Iran’s Kharg Island, its main oil terminal in the Persian Gulf.

“Maybe we take Kharg Island, maybe we don’t. We have a lot of options,” Trump told the Financial Times in an interview on Monday. “It would also mean we had to be there (on Kharg Island) for a while.”

Iran US war news LIVE updates: Qatar strongly condemned the Iranian strikes on a power station and desalination plant in Kuwait that killed an Indian worker.

“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasises the necessity of stopping the unjustified Iranian aggressions against sisterly states, and in this context, affirms the State of Qatar’s full solidarity with the State of Kuwait and its support for all measures it takes to preserve its sovereignty and security,” it said in a post on X.

Iran US war news LIVE updates: Saudi Arabia’s ministry of defence said on Monday that it had intercepted and destroyed five drones over the past few hours.

Earlier, the spokesperson for Kuwait’s National Guard said that forces had shot down a drone along with four other unmanned aerial vehicles.

Iran US war news LIVE updates: The spokesperson for Kuwait’s National Guard said on Monday that forces had shot down a drone along with four other unmanned aerial vehicles in areas under their control.

Earlier in Kuwait, an Indian national was killed in Iranian strikes on a power and water desalination plant, the Indian Embassy said on Monday.

Iran US war news LIVE updates: Iran’s Red Crescent Society said about 600 educational centres have been hit during strikes carried out by the United States and Israel.

Razieh Alishvandi, the body’s deputy for international affairs and humanitarian law, made the remarks on Sunday. She warned that such attacks breached international humanitarian law and amounted to war crimes, Iran’s Press TV reported.

The sites that were hit included schools, universities, and other educational and academic institutions, she said. She added that the strikes had put the lives of schoolchildren, university students, researchers, and professors at risk.

Iran US war news LIVE updates: The Israeli military said the latest Iranian ballistic missile aimed at Israel, in the third attack since morning, was intercepted.

Sirens were heard in southern Israel, and no injuries have been reported.

Iran US war news LIVE updates: More than 1,000 people of Iranian descent gathered in the US capital on Sunday to voice support for the war, riding on calls to bring back Iran’s exiled crown prince who has emerged as a figure of intense interest.

Reza Pahlavi, the US-based son of Iran’s last shah who was ousted by the 1979 Islamic revolution, has positioned himself as a potential transitional leader following the killing of Tehran’s supreme leader in US-Israeli strikes last month.

The rally on the lawn of the National Mall, not far from the White House, was a sea of Iranian and American flags, with chants of “USA! USA!” and “Javid shah” (“Long live the shah”) bolstering the crowd, along with songs in Persian, news agency AFP reported.

Israeli authorities said they intercepted two drones over the strategically important port city of Eilat in the south and claimed that they had come from Yemen.

Ever since the Houthis entered this conflict a couple of days ago, the Israeli military, and especially their air defences, have known they have now engaged on a third front, and have been looking southwards to see what has been coming from Yemen.

What began with surprise US and Israeli strikes on Iran one month ago has hardened into a grinding stand-off, with no clear way out.

The conflict’s opening blows on February 28 killed senior leaders in Tehran, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei – prompting retaliatory missile and drone attacks on Israel, US bases and Gulf infrastructure.

Years of tension over Iran’s nuclear programme and its regional influence have now boiled over into open warfare, with diplomacy faltering as both sides entrench their positions.

On the ground in Iran, the violence is worsening what was already a strained human rights situation. News reporting from within the country carries daily images of damaged neighbourhoods, overwhelmed hospitals and families fleeing tit-for-tat strikes.

One incident in particular – the US airstrike on a school in Minab in southern Iran that left dozens of girls dead – highlights the scale of the devastation, as well as the war’s murky legal context.

Future war crimes investigators will need to ask some obvious questions. Was the school a civilian site, was it used for military purposes, what precautions were taken and was the civilian harm excessive relative to any military advantage?

Only then will responsibility be able to be determined – but such clarity is likely to be a long way off.