Dubai: Israel kept up its campaign of targeting Iran’s leaders on Wednesday, saying it killed the country’s intelligence minister, and an Iranian offshore natural gas field was struck in a sign of the war’s mounting pressure from both sides — on the region’s economic lifeblood: energy.Iran has been taking aim at its Gulf Arab neighbours’ energy facilities since the war started on February 28, and has made the Strait of Hormuz shipping channel – through which one-fifth of the world’s oil travels – nearly impassable.On Wednesday, Iran struck a province of Saudi Arabia where many oil fields are located, and it threatened to ratchet up strikes against oil and gas infrastructure in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, too.With oil trading surging above USD 108 a barrel on international markets – up more than 40 per cent since the start of the war – the price of gasoline and other goods are also rising, putting pressure on consumers and economies around the world. APIran keeps up strikes on Gulf countries’ oil facilitiesMarch 18, 2026 8:50 pmDubai: Iran has been targeting the energy infrastructure of its Gulf Arab neighbours, as well as military bases, as part of a strategy to drive up oil prices and put pressure on Washington to back down. Iran attacked Saudi Arabia’s vast Eastern Province, home to many of its oil fields, as well as Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates on Wednesday. Iran has vowed to continue to crimp shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, which leads from the Persian Gulf to the open ocean. Since the war started, a few ships have gotten through – some Iranian, but also vessels from India, Turkey and elsewhere. Iran insists the waterway is open, just not to the US or many of its allies. APJournalist with Hebzollah’s Al-Manar TV killed in airstrikeMarch 18, 2026 6:54 pmDubai: Al-Manar said that the head of its political program Mohammed Sherri was killed along with his wife in the strike on central Beirut’s Zokak Blatt neighbourhood. Al-Manar added that Sherri’s children and grandchildren were wounded in the strike early on Wednesday. Sherri had been a presenter at the station for many years and had been well-known in the country. APNATO deploys Patriot air defence battery to southern TurkeyMarch 18, 2026 6:53 pmDubai: Turkish military spokesperson Rear Adm Zeki Akturk said a second Patriot missile system was being sent to Adana province, where the US and other countries maintain a military presence alongside Turkish troops at Incirlik Air Base. The battery was being sent by the Allied Air Command in Ramstein, Germany, he said on Wednesday. APKremlin condemns Larijani killingMarch 18, 2026 6:52 pmDubai: The Kremlin on Wednesday condemned Israel’s killing of Iran’s senior security officials. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said “we resolutely condemn” the killing of members of the Iranian leadership, including Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council and one of the country’s most powerful figures. APIsrael says Basij chief was killed while hiding in a tentMarch 18, 2026 6:51 pmDubai: A senior Israeli military intelligence official says Israel killed the head of Iran’s Basij force while he was hiding in a tent hidden in a wooded area under some trees. The official says Gen Gholam Reza Soleimani was killed with his top staff in the strike. APFrench envoy bashes Hezbollah and IsraelMarch 18, 2026 6:47 pmDubai: France’s special envoy for Lebanon, Jean-Yves Le Drian, speaking to the France Info radio station on Wednesday, said the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group Hezbollah “bears full responsibility for the resumption of fighting in Lebanon” but “Israel’s response has been disproportionate and counterproductive, as it unites various actors against Israel”. He criticised Israel for mass evacuation orders that have driven the displacement of more than 1 million people in Lebanon and for spurning offers by the Lebanese government to enter into negotiations. APIsrael says strikes targeted Hezbollah-linked financial institutionMarch 18, 2026 6:46 pmDubai: The Israeli military said it hit branches of al-Qard al-Hasan, a Hezbollah-linked microfinance institution that Israel says is being used to fund the group’s military wing. A wave of Israeli strikes overnight hit several neighbourhoods in central Beirut and killed 10 people, the Lebanese Health Ministry said. Israel also said its navy targeted Hezbollah militants in Beirut. APAt least 8 killed in Iran courthouse airstrikeMarch 18, 2026 6:44 pmDubai: At least eight people were killed in an airstrike on a courthouse complex in Iran’s Larestan County on Wednesday, according to Iran’s official judiciary news agency Mizan. The head of the Fars province judiciary told Mizan that one lawyer, six clients and a member of the judicial staff were killed, but the agency reports the exact number of those killed and wounded is not yet known. APIranian state media says natural gas facilities attackedMarch 18, 2026 6:44 pmDubai: Facilities associated with Iran’s massive offshore South Pars natural gas field came under attack on Wednesday, state media reported. Iranian state television and the state-run IRNA news agency reported on the attack targeting facilities at Asaluyeh in Iran’s southern Bushehr province. They did not immediately elaborate. APUAE says 13 missiles and 27 drones fired on the countryMarch 18, 2026 6:43 pmDubai: The United Arab Emirates has tallied 13 ballistic missiles and 27 drones fired on Wednesday on the oil-rich nation. APIsrael says Iranian Intelligence Minister Khatib killed overnightMarch 18, 2026 4:08 pmIsrael’s Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday that Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib was “eliminated” in a strike overnight. There has been no confirmation from Iran regarding Khatib’s reported death. ReutersIran’s judiciary says ‘attack’ struck southern Iran, killing & wounding staff, civiliansMarch 18, 2026 1:55 pmDubai: Iran’s judiciary reported on Wednesday that an “attack” hit southern Iran, killing and wounding civilians and judicial staff. The judiciary’s Mizan news agency reported the attack at a judiciary site in Larestan County in Iran’s Fars province. The site “was targeted in an attack by the enemy,” Mizan said. “A number of staff members and civilians were martyred and injured; the exact number is still unknown.” It wasn’t clear if the attack was an airstrike or an attack by militants. APIran rejects proposals to ease tensions, official saysMarch 18, 2026 12:29 pmDubai/Tel Aviv: The US-Israeli war on Iran shows no signs of de-escalation nearly three weeks in, with Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, rejecting proposals conveyed to Iran’s Foreign Ministry for “reducing tensions or ceasefire with the United States,” according to a senior Iranian official who asked not to be identified. Khamenei, attending his first foreign-policy meeting since his appointment, said it was not “the right time for peace until the United States and Israel are brought to their knees, accept defeat, and pay compensation,” according to the official. ReutersIran strikes Gulf StatesMarch 18, 2026 12:06 pmDubai: New attacks were reported in multiple Gulf countries early Wednesday, including on Saudi Arabia’s vast Eastern Province, which is home to many of its oil fields, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said a projectile caused a small fire at its base in the UAE near Dubai but caused no injuries. His comments appeared to correspond with explosions heard near Al Minhad Air Base, used by Western nations as a transit hub for the wider Mideast. Saudi Arabia shot down a ballistic missile targeting the area of the Prince Sultan Air Base, which hosts American forces and aircraft. APIran says US forces’ presence in cities has led to urban-area strikes in GulfMarch 18, 2026 11:59 amDubai: Iranian strikes near Gulf countries’ urban areas are due to US forces relocating out of military bases into hotels inside cities, Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told Al Jazeera in remarks relayed in Iranian media on Wednesday. “Wherever there were American forces gathering, wherever there were facilities belonging to them, they were targeted. It is possible some of these places were near urban areas,” the top Iranian diplomat said. Araqchi acknowledged that regional countries are “upset and their people have been harmed or bothered” by Iranian strikes, but added that the blame lay entirely with the US for starting the war on February 28. ReutersGasoline price hike from Iran war could push consumers toward EVs, hybridsMarch 18, 2026 11:49 amGuildford, England/Richmond, Virginia: The rising price of gasoline from the Iran war has triggered angst and uncertainty for carmakers, dealers and vehicle owners at the pump. For Martin Miller, it presents an opportunity. Miller owns a used electric-car dealership southwest of London and logged his busiest Saturday ever one week after the war began on February 28 with the bombing of Iran by Israel and the United States. The conflict has disrupted shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, through which roughly 20% of global oil supplies are transported. ReutersIsraeli strikes in central Beirut kill six people, Lebanese authorities sayMarch 18, 2026 11:06 amBeirut: Israeli airstrikes in Beirut killed at least six people on Wednesday, the Lebanese health ministry said, shaking the heart of the Lebanese capital as Israel intensified its offensive against the Iran-backed Hezbollah group. ReutersJapan PM ‘in a tight spot’, set to face Trump’s Hormuz mission demandMarch 18, 2026 10:57 amJapanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi visits the White House on Thursday for meetings that offer US President Donald Trump a chance to lean on a key security partner for support in his Iran war, threatening to strain a decades-old alliance. Read more: https://www.Jattvibe.com/news/world/japan-pm-in-a-tight-spot-set-to-face-trumps-hormuz-mission-demand-at-thursday-meetings/About 90 ships cross Strait of Hormuz as Iran exports millions of barrels of oil despite warMarch 18, 2026 10:55 amHong Kong: About 90 ships including oil tankers have crossed the Strait of Hormuz since the outset of the war with Iran and it is still exporting millions of barrels of oil at a time when the waterway has been effectively closed, according to maritime and trade data platforms. Many of the vessels that passed through the strait were so-called “dark” transits evading Western government sanctions and oversight that likely have ties to Iran, maritime data firm Lloyd’s List Intelligence said. More recently, vessels with ties to India and Pakistan have also successfully crossed the strait as governments stepped up negotiations. APIran strikes Tel Aviv with cluster warheads in retaliation for killing of security chiefMarch 18, 2026 10:53 amDubai/Tel Aviv: Iran targeted Tel Aviv with missiles carrying cluster warheads in what it said was retaliation for Israel’s assassination of Iran’s security chief Ali Larijani, Iranian state television reported on Wednesday. The attack overnight on Tuesday killed two people in a neighbourhood close to densely populated Tel Aviv, where there are also key military facilities, bringing the death toll in Israel from the war to at least 14. A statement by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps read on state TV said weapons used included Khorramshahr 4 and Qadr missiles, both with multi-warheads. Israel has said that Iran has repeatedly used cluster warheads, which disperse into multiple smaller explosives mid-air and spread over a wide area, making them difficult to intercept. ReutersIran executes man it says spied for IsraelMarch 18, 2026 10:50 amDubai: Iran’s judiciary announced a man had been executed on charges that he spied for Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency. The judiciary’s Mizan news agency identified the man as Kourosh Keyvani and alleged that he “provided images and information on sensitive locations” to Israel. APAirlines cancel more flights as Middle East conflict escalatesMarch 18, 2026 10:45 amGlobal air travel remains severely disrupted after the war in Iran forced the closure of key Middle Eastern hubs including Dubai, Doha and Abu Dhabi, stranding tens of thousands of passengers. ReutersIsraeli strike hits central Beirut after evacuation warningMarch 18, 2026 10:42 amBeirut: An Israeli airstrike hit Beirut’s Bachoura neighbourhood in the centre of the city on Wednesday, a Reuters witness said, with a loud explosion heard in the area after the Israeli military warned residents to evacuate a building ahead of the strike. The attack was part of a broader wave of Israeli strikes on Lebanon on Wednesday, including raids on other parts of the Lebanese capital, as well as southern and eastern areas of the country, signalling an intensification of Israel’s campaign against the Iran-backed Hezbollah. Earlier on Wednesday, other Israeli strikes on Beirut killed at least six people and wounded 24 others, Lebanon’s health ministry said. In southern and eastern Lebanon, at least 14 people were killed in separate Israeli airstrikes, the state news agency reported, citing the health ministry. The Israeli military said on Wednesday that it had begun striking Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon. ReutersAsian shares gain, oil slips back despite barrage of attacks by IranMarch 18, 2026 10:42 amHong Kong: Asia shares were mostly higher on Wednesday with benchmarks in Japan and South Korea jumping as oil prices fell back slightly despite a barrage of attacks by Iran on its Gulf neighbours. US futures rose 0.4 per cent after a session of moderate gains on Wall Street ahead of the Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rates later in the day. With higher oil prices feeding into other inflation, the Fed is widely expected to keep rates on hold. Worries over global oil and gas supplies and rising prices are still clouding global markets, though Brent crude, the international standard, fell 2.3 per cent to around USD 101 per barrel, down from above USD 106 on Monday. US benchmark crude fell more than 3 per cent to USD 93.17 per barrel. APIran war has US farmers worried about cost, availability of fertiliserMarch 18, 2026 10:42 amBismarck (US): Tennessee farmer Todd Littleton expects to pay USD 100,000 more for fertiliser this season, a 40 per cent spike from his bill last year, thanks to the war in Iran – and he is scrambling to cover that extra cost. “The problem is, we’re so strained financially coming into this issue,” said Littleton, a third-generation farmer from Gibson County in the state’s northwest corner. “We have had a couple of record losses the last couple of years, so everyone’s kinda grabbing at straws anyway, and then to have input prices increase yet again, it just really couldn’t happen at a worse time.” Littleton, who grows corn, soybeans and wheat, is among thousands of farmers across the country who will pay far more this spring than they expected for fertiliser that is essential to their crops. Nitrogen-based fertiliser is especially vital for corn, usually the largest crop in the US and one that feeds the nation’s livestock and is converted into fuel that helps power most US cars and trucks. APRenewed Israeli strikes in LebanonMarch 18, 2026 9:11 amDubai: The Israeli military continued its strikes on Iran-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. A strike in the Nabatiyeh district killed three people and wounded another, Lebanon’s health ministry said Wednesday. Rescue teams were searching for eight missing people, it said. Israel’s strikes have displaced more than 1 million Lebanese – roughly 20% of the population – according to the Lebanese government, which says 912 people have been killed. In Israel, 14 people have been killed by Iranian missile fire. At least 13 U.S. military members have been killed. APUS hits Iran’s anti-ship missile sites near Strait of HormuzMarch 18, 2026 9:10 amHours ago, U.S. forces successfully employed multiple 5,000-pound deep penetrator munitions on hardened Iranian missile sites along Iran’s coastline near the Strait of Hormuz. The Iranian anti-ship cruise missiles in these sites posed a risk to international shipping in the… pic.twitter.com/hgCSFH0cqO— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) March 17, 2026Iranian strikes pressure neighbours and oil marketsMarch 18, 2026 9:10 amDubai: In the United Arab Emirates, explosions rang out early Wednesday morning in Dubai, followed by a missile alert. The government’s Dubai Media Office said “the sounds heard across parts of the city” were the successful interceptions by air defense operations. Iran’s grip on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil is transported, is sparking concerns about tightening energy supplies – unnerving the world economy. A few ships have crossed through the strait, and Iran has said the waterway technically remains open – just not for the United States, Israel and their allies. About 20 vessels have been struck. APIsrael says killings are to undermine Iranian regimeMarch 18, 2026 8:33 amDubai: Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Tuesday that Larijani and Soleimani “were eliminated” in strikes overnight. The Israeli military said it also struck more than 10 Basij posts across Tehran. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the killings were aimed at “undermining this regime to give the Iranian people the opportunity to remove it.” But there have been no signs of anti-government protests since the war began, as many Iranians shelter from the American and Israeli strikes. AP