Dubai: Iran’s missiles set alight a refinery and damaged a desalination plant in Kuwait on Friday as Israeli and US strikes kept hitting Iran.As the war that began on February 28 was to enter its sixth week, Israel, Bahrain and Kuwait warned about incoming missile fire, although it was unclear if anything was struck. Activists in Iran reported strikes around Tehran and the central city of Isfahan.Iran’s attacks on Gulf region energy infrastructure and its tight grip on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil and natural gas transits in peacetime, has sent oil prices skyrocketing.President Donald Trump said US forces will keep hitting Iran “very hard” in the next two or three weeks.The largest American aircraft carrier in service sailed out of Split, Croatia, and “remains poised for full mission tasking in support of national objectives in any area of operation”, the Navy’s 6th Fleet announced.It was unclear where it was going. The USS Abraham Lincoln remains in the Arabian Sea and the USS George HW Bush aircraft carrier departed Norfolk on Wednesday to head to the Mideast. APUS fighter jet shot down over Iran, search under way for crew, US official saysApril 3, 2026 7:48 pmWashington: A US fighter jet was shot down over Iran and a search and rescue operation was under way for any survivors, a US official told Reuters on Friday. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, did not offer further details. The Pentagon and US Central Command did not immediately respond to requests for comment. ReutersUNSC to vote Saturday on Bahrain-led resolution on Strait of HormuzApril 3, 2026 6:57 pmUnited Nations: The UN Security Council will vote on a draft resolution proposed by Bahrain on Saturday on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, even as permanent members China and Russia voiced opposition to earlier versions of the text that would have allowed use of force by countries. The draft Security Council resolution affirms that the Strait of Hormuz is open for all transit passage. No state has the right to close or control it. It authorises States to take “exclusively defensive measures” to secure transit passage and deter any acts to impede international navigation through the Strait. It also provides a clear legal basis for all States to mobilise and support safe passage while following international law and international humanitarian law. PTIAmnesty warns Iran is recruiting children as young as 12April 3, 2026 5:21 pmDubai: Amnesty International is warning Iran that its recruitment of children as young as 12 for the Revolutionary Guard’s all-volunteer Basij force amounts to a war crime. The Guard has put out the call recently as the Basij finds its checkpoints under attack during the war with the United States and Israel. Amnesty also said that eyewitnesses and its own analysis of video footage “show child soldiers having been deployed” to checkpoints and patrols, some armed with weapons including Kalashnikov-style assaults rifles. “As US and Israeli strikes hit thousands of (Guard) sites, including Basij facilities, across the country, including through drone attacks targeting security patrols and checkpoints, the deployment of child soldiers alongside (Guard) personnel or in their facilities puts them at grave risk of death and injury,” Erika Guevara-Rosas of Amnesty International said. APUkraine says it’s willing to support efforts to reopen the Strait of HormuzApril 3, 2026 5:08 pmDubai: President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukraine could contribute to protecting maritime routes if invited, citing experience gained from keeping Black Sea shipping lanes open under sustained Russian attack. “If we are invited, we will help,” Zelenskyy said, without elaborating. “The strait must be unblocked.” Kyiv’s offer comes as it deepens cooperation with Gulf countries such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, shifting towards a long-term role as a security partner. Ukrainian teams have already been deployed to the region to advise on air defence, infrastructure protection and maritime security. APDeath toll keeps risingApril 3, 2026 2:25 pmMore than 1,900 people have been killed in Iran during the war, while 19 have been reported dead in Israel. More than two dozen people have died in Gulf states and the occupied West Bank, while 13 US service members have been killed. More than 1,300 people have been killed and more than 1 million displaced in Lebanon, where Israel has launched a ground invasion in its fight with the pro-Iranian Hezbollah militant group. Ten Israeli soldiers have also died there.Kuwait says Iranian attack damaged desalination plantApril 3, 2026 2:25 pmKuwait said on Friday an Iranian attack damaged a desalination plant. The attack came after an oil refinery was hit by drones on Friday morning. Kuwait said without elaborating that the attack on the desalination plant caused “material damage to some of the plant’s components.”Iran’s former top diplomat suggests terms to end the warApril 3, 2026 2:24 pmThe US has presented Iran with a 15-point plan for a ceasefire that includes reopening the Strait of Hormuz, but no signs of progress were apparent in the diplomatic effort, with Iran regularly noting the US has attacked the nation the last two times it was in negotiations with the Trump administration, including to start this war.UN Security Council to take up Strait of Hormuz security questionApril 3, 2026 2:24 pmThe UN Security Council was expected to vote Saturday on a proposal from Bahrain that would authorise defensive action to ensure vessels can safely transit the Strait of Hormuz. Bahrain’s initial draft would have allowed countries to “use all necessary means” to secure the strait, but Russia, China and France — who have veto power on the Council – expressed opposition to approving the use of force.Iran launches missiles at Israel, Gulf states as explosions heard around TehranApril 3, 2026 12:05 pmIran fired missiles at Israel and some Gulf nations, setting alight a refinery in Kuwait, while explosions could be heard around Tehran and the central Iranian city of Isfahan on Friday, as the United States prepared to further reinforce its already significant military forces in the Middle East. Israel, Bahrain, and Kuwait warned about incoming missile fire, although it was unclear if anything was struck. Activists reported strikes around Tehran and the central city of Isfahan, but it wasn’t immediately clear what was hit.Drones hit Kuwait’s Mina al-Ahmadi refinery; fires reported, no injuriesApril 3, 2026 10:57 amKuwait Petroleum Corporation said its Mina al-Ahmadi refinery was hit by drones early on Friday, setting off fires at operating units, according to the state news agency, but no injuries were reported.US vows to target more Iranian infrastructureApril 3, 2026 10:32 amPresident Donald Trump said the US “hasn’t even started destroying what’s left in Iran”, reiterating vows to increase the ferocity of attacks on its infrastructure, as dozens of countries sought ways to restart vital energy shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. Trump has stepped up his rhetoric in recent days as negotiations conducted via intermediaries with new leaders in Iran show limited signs of progress. The US military “hasn’t even started destroying what’s left in Iran. Bridges next, then Electric Power Plants,” Trump wrote on social media late on Thursday, adding that Iran’s leadership “knows what has to be done, and has to be done, FAST!”Iran claims to be drafting proposal with Oman to ‘monitor’ Strait of HormuzApril 3, 2026 10:32 amIran on Thursday claimed its drafting a proposal with Oman to ‘monitor’ Strait of Hormuz. The comments by Kazem Gharibabadi, an Iranian diplomat, quoted by the state-run IRNA news agency, described the proposal as “intended to facilitate and ensure safe passage and provide better services to ships passing through this route.” It is unclear what the proposal would mean. Oman did not immediately acknowledge it. The strait runs through Iranian and Omani territorial waters but is considered an international waterway that should freely allow ships to pass.Trump threatens to strike Iran’s bridges and electric power plantsApril 3, 2026 9:00 amUS President Donald Trump warned on Thursday about striking and destroying bridges and electric power plants in Iran in his latest threat to hit the country’s infrastructure. The US military “hasn’t even started destroying what’s left in Iran. Bridges next, then Electric Power Plants,” Trump wrote on social media.Nearly three dozen nations talk about securing Strait of HormuzApril 3, 2026 8:24 amIranian attacks on about two dozen commercial ships, and the threat of more, have halted nearly all traffic in the waterway that connects the Persian Gulf to the open ocean. Since March 1, traffic through the strait has dropped 94 per cent over the same period last year, according to the Lloyds List Intelligence shipping data firm. Two ships are confirmed to have paid a fee, the firm said, while others were allowed through based on agreements with their home governments.No sign of war winding down in Middle EastApril 3, 2026 8:24 amThere was little sign Friday of the war in the Middle East winding down as Israel said it faced incoming fire from Iran, Kuwait and Bahrain reported being under attack, and Iran said eight people were killed while celebrating the close of Persian new year near a major bridge hit by a US strike. Iran decried the strike on the bridge, which also injured 95 people celebrating Nature Day, when Iranians gather for picnics and other celebrations outdoors on the last day of Nowruz, the Persian new year. “Striking civilian infrastructure only conveys the defeat and moral collapse of an enemy in disarray,” Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote Thursday in a post on X.