Middle East war latest: Iran arrest ‘foreign spies’, oil prices continue to soar, 1 killed in Abu Dhabi

2026-03-17 - 07:53

Here are the latest developments Monday in the Middle East war: Loud explosions heard in Iran’s capital: AFP journalist Loud explosions shook Iran’s capital on Tuesday, an AFP journalist said, after a night of bombing in the war with the United States and Israel. It was not immediately clear what the targets were, but the blasts were heard in Tehran city centre, and followed a night of heavy explosions mixed with thunder and rain across the city, the reporter said. Iran Guards say 10 ‘foreign spies’ arrested Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Tuesday their forces had arrested 10 “foreign spies” as the war with Israel and the United States continued. “Ten mercenary, treacherous elements were identified and arrested,” the Guards intelligence organisation in the northeastern Razavi Khorasan province said, according to ISNA news agency, without identifying their nationalities. The Guards said fours among them were gathering information “on sensitive sites and economic infrastructure” while others were linked to a “monarchist terrorist group.” Missile debris kills one in Abu Dhabi: govt statement Falling shrapnel from an intercepted missile killed a Pakistani national in Abu Dhabi, the government media office said Tuesday. The incident took place in the Bani Yas area “following the interception of a ballistic missile by air defences”, the Abu Dhabi Media Office said. Several explosions heard in Doha Several explosions were heard in Doha on Tuesday, an AFP journalist said, a day after several blasts resounded across the Qatari capital. Qatar, like several Gulf nations, has been targeted by drones and missiles in the last days as Tehran presses a retaliatory campaign over attacks by the United States and Israel on Iran. Explosions heard in Dubai after missile alert: AFP correspondent Three explosions echoed across Dubai after a missile alert early on Tuesday, according to an AFP correspondent. The blasts followed a mobile phone alert to residents to “immediately seek a safe place” over “potential missile threats”. Lebanese state media says Israel struck three areas of Beirut Lebanese state media said Tuesday that Israel carried out dawn airstrikes on three Beirut neighbourhoods, hitting a residential building. “A series of raids and artillery shelling targeted southern towns at dawn,” Lebanon’s National News Agency reported. “Israeli warplanes carried out two airstrikes targeting the Kafaat and Haret Hreik areas. In another raid, the aircraft struck a residential apartment on the upper floors of a building located at the end of Venice Street in the Doha Aramoun area.” Israel strikes Tehran, Beirut Israel’s army said Tuesday it had launched a “wide scale wave of strikes” in the Iranian capital Tehran and started striking Hezbollah targets in the Lebanese capital Beirut. US embassy in Baghdad attacked A drone and rocket attack targeted the US embassy in Baghdad early Tuesday, a security official said. The security official said that “three drones and four rockets attacked the embassy, with at least one drone crashing inside it”. Baghdad house strike A missile strike on a house in Iraq’s capital Baghdad killed four people, with initial reports suggesting two of the victims were “Iranian advisors” to Tehran-backed groups, a security official told AFP. Iraq was drawn into the Middle East war after having long been a proxy battleground between the United States and Iran, with strikes targeting Iran-backed groups that have claimed daily attacks on US interests in Iraq and the region. Trump wants Hormuz ‘enthusiasm’ US President Donald Trump demanded that US allies help secure the Strait of Hormuz, but European powers pushed back on a possible mission to reopen the vital waterway shut by Iran in response to US-Israeli attacks. Trump criticised the lukewarm response to his call for world powers to send warships to escort tankers through the strait, which normally carries a fifth of global crude oil, demanding nations “get involved quickly and with great enthusiasm”. Israel president chides Europe Israel’s President Isaac Herzog told AFP that Europe should back his country’s fight against Hezbollah, as Israeli forces carried out ground operations in Lebanon. Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war when Hezbollah attacked Israel on March 2 in response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes. “Europe should support any effort, any effort, to eradicate Hezbollah now,” Herzog said. Netanyahu sends Nowruz wishes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent wishes to Iranians for the coming Nowruz holidays, marking the Persian new year. “This year this holiday has special meaning...I take this opportunity to wish you a happy Nowruz — a year of freedom. A new beginning of hope to all of you,” he added, referring to the holiday that will be celebrated Friday. Baghdad hotel attack A drone sparked a fire Monday at a luxury hotel frequented by foreign diplomats in Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone shortly before air defences foiled a rocket attack at the US embassy. Fire at major UAE oil field A drone strike caused a fire at a major oil field in the United Arab Emirates, authorities said, as Iran continued its drone and missile strikes across the Gulf. Authorities in the emirate of Abu Dhabi said they were still responding to the fire at the Shah oil field, without reporting injuries. Hezbollah targets Israeli troops Hezbollah said it targeted Israeli troops and vehicles in at least three Lebanese border towns, after the Israeli army announced it had begun limited ground operations in Lebanon. Iraq’s Kataeb Hezbollah commander killed Iraq’s powerful armed group Kataeb Hezbollah said its senior security commander Abu Ali al-Askari had been killed, without providing details on the circumstances of his death. He was also the spokesperson in charge of issuing all key statements in the group’s name. Drone targets Iraqi oil field Two drones targeted a major southern Iraqi oil field late Monday, an oil ministry spokesperson told AFP, after the second attack in four days. Majnoon oil field was “targeted by two drones, one hit a telecommunication tower,” oil ministry spokesperson Saheb Bazoun said, adding that there had been no damage. Hezbollah targets Israeli city Hezbollah said it launched an attack on Monday targeting the northern Israeli city of Nahariya, where Israeli first responders reported a man was wounded. Trump: unclear if new Iran leader ‘dead or not’ Trump said that he does not know whether Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is still alive, adding that Washington was unclear who it could negotiate with in Tehran. “We don’t know... if he’s dead or not,” Trump told reporters at the White House. 1 million displaced in Lebanon Lebanese authorities said more than one million people had registered as displaced since war erupted on March 2 between Israel and Hezbollah. Shrapnel falls on Jerusalem holy sites Israeli police said they found missile and interceptor fragments at holy sites in Jerusalem’s Old City, including areas near the Al-Aqsa mosque and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. “During the recent missile salvo fired from Iran toward Jerusalem, several intercepts occurred over the city,” the police said. Merz: Israel’s Lebanon ground offensive an ‘error’ German Chancellor Friedrich Merz warned that an Israeli ground offensive in Lebanon was an “error” which would “further exacerbate the already highly tense humanitarian situation” in the country. “We urgently call on our Israeli friends: Do not take this path — it would be an error,” Merz said. Key UAE port suspends oil loading The UAE’s state-owned energy giant ADNOC halted the loading of oil into storage tanks at their Fujairah facility, a source with knowledge of the operations told AFP, following repeated strikes on the installation. Fujairah is home to a major port where Iranian attacks have already targeted oil storage tanks.