Washington:  The number of Americans wounded in the Iran war has grown beyond 300, with more than two dozen troops injured this week from attacks on a Saudi air base.Iran fired six ballistic missiles and 29 drones at Saudi Arabia’s Prince Sultan air base in an attack on Friday that injured at least 15 troops, including five seriously, according to two people briefed on the matter.US officials initially reported that at least 10 US troops were injured, including two who were seriously wounded.More American forces are reaching the Middle East, with a Navy ship carrying about 2,500 Marines having now arrived in the region, US Central Command announced on Saturday.The Pentagon did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on Saturday regarding the American casualties at the Saudi base.Iran has responded to attacks by the United States and Israel with strikes against Israel and neighbouring Gulf Arab states. The war has upended global air travel, disrupted oil exports and caused fuel prices to soar. Iran’s stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway, has exacerbated the economic fallout.The latest attacks on the Saudi air base happened after Trump claimed talks on ending the war were going “very well”.Trump said he had given Tehran until April 6 to reopen the strait. Iran says it has not engaged in any negotiations.Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis strike at Israel as attacks on Iran continueMarch 28, 2026 9:56 pmCAIRO/PARIS: Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis launched missiles at Israel on Saturday, their first such attack since the start of the Iran war, heightening the risk that a conflict that has entered its fifth week could expand further across the region. The group, which has launched regular missile attacks against Israel in recent years, has shown an ability to strike targets far beyond Yemen and disrupt shipping lanes around the Arabian Peninsula and the Red Sea as they did in support of Hamas in Gaza after October 7, 2023.Israeli airstrike in southern Lebanon kills 3 journalists covering the warMarch 28, 2026 8:38 pmBeirut: An Israeli airstrike on southern Lebanon on Saturday killed three journalists who were covering the latest Israel-Hezbollah war, their TV stations said. Hezbollah’s al-Manar TV said that its longtime correspondent Ali Shoeib was killed Saturday in southern Lebanon. The Israeli military said that it had targeted Shoeib, accusing him of being a Hezbollah intelligence operative without providing evidence.1 month into Iran war, some Trump objectives are unfulfilled as he looks to wind down conflictMarch 28, 2026 11:21 amWashington: President Donald Trump has listed five objectives that the US wants to achieve before ending its war with Iran. Now, one month into the conflict, he has suggested the U.S. may soon be “winding down” the operation, even though some of his key aims remain undefined or unfulfilled. Trump last week outlined five goals for the massive air campaign. That’s up from four laid out by his staff since the war’s start on Feb 28 (and up from the three generally enumerated by the Pentagon and Secretary of State Marco Rubio). Though the Trump administration has said its objectives are clear and unchanging, the list of priorities has expanded and shifted as the war has taken a toll on the global economy, tested alliances and raised unanswered questions about the planning for the conflict, its justification and its aftermath. APDeath toll climbs, primarily in Iran and LebanonMarch 28, 2026 11:11 amDubai: Nineteen people have died in Israel, while four Israeli soldiers have been killed in Lebanon. Authorities said more than 1,100 people have been killed in Lebanon, and over 1,900 people in Iran. At least 13 American troops have been killed, and four people in the occupied West Bank and 20 in Gulf Arab states have also died. In Iraq, where Iranian-supported militia groups have entered the conflict, 80 members of the security forces have died. APDiplomatic wrangling endures even as US sends more troopsMarch 28, 2026 11:11 amDubai: Diplomats from several countries including Pakistan and Turkey have tried to organize a direct meeting between US and Iranian envoys. Separately, G7 foreign ministers meeting Friday in France formally asked for an immediate halt to attacks against populations and infrastructure. APAttacks appear to intensify early SaturdayMarch 28, 2026 11:10 amDubai: Witnesses in eastern Tehran reported a partial power outage following airstrikes. In Israel, loud explosions filled the air in Tel Aviv and emergency crews responded to nearly a dozen impact sites. APUS pushes diplomatic solutionMarch 28, 2026 11:06 amDubai: Word of the attacks on Iran came after Trump claimed that talks on ending the war were going “very well” and that he had given Tehran more time to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Iran maintains that it has not engaged in any negotiations. With stock markets reeling and economic fallout from the war extending far beyond the Middle East, Trump is under growing pressure to end Iran’s chokehold on the strait. APTrump renews call for Israeli-Saudi tiesMarch 28, 2026 10:42 amDubai: Speaking in Miami at an event sponsored by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund, Trump reiterated his desire for those two countries to normalise relations. The president has been pressing the two biggest powers in the Middle East on that for years as part of his Abraham Accords efforts, and he said the time will be right when hostilities end with Iran. “It’s now time,” he said. “We’ve now taken them out, and they are out bigly. We got to get into the Abraham Accords.” APIsrael strikes Iranian nuclear facilitiesMarch 28, 2026 8:43 amDubai: Bahreini’s announcement came just hours after Iranian state media said two nuclear facilities had come under attack. Israel, which had threatened to “escalate and expand” its campaign against Tehran, claimed responsibility, and Iran quickly threatened to retaliate. “Iran will exact HEAVY price for Israeli crimes,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said via X. AP