(File photo: Eyad Baba/AFP)
Get the latest news on developments in the Middle East here.
Iran must stop attacks on neighbors – Hamas
The Palestinian Islamic movement Hamas called on Iran on Saturday to stop its attacks on neighboring countries, while reaffirming Tehran’s right to defend itself against the US and Israel.
“The movement appeals to the brothers in Iran to avoid targeting neighboring countries,” reads a statement from Hamas.
Hamas, which was engaged in a two-year war with Israel in Gaza, also appealed to the international community to intervene and help bring an end to the ongoing war.
The group had previously condemned the death of Ali Khamenei, Iran’s former supreme leader, on the first day of the war as a “heinous crime” and acknowledged his years of support for the Palestinian movement.
“He gave all forms of political, diplomatic and military support to our people, our cause and our resistance,” the movement said shortly after Khamenei’s death. – AFP
Please join me in praying for the six service members who lost their lives in a plane crash over the skies of Iraq. Three were Ohioans serving with the 121st Air Refueling Wing, a unit I was honored to visit as a senator. A grateful nation mourns their loss. pic.twitter.com/2dXtFUTMd5
— JD Vance (@JDVance) March 14, 2026
‘No damage’ to Iranian oil facility after US attack
A neighborhood in Lebanon targeted overnight in Israeli attacks. (Photo: AFP)
No oil infrastructure was damaged during US attacks on Kharg Island.
The island is Tehran’s crude oil export hub in the Gulf.
The news agency Fars reported that according to sources on the island of Kharg, there was “no damage” to oil facilities after pres. Donald Trump of the US earlier said the attacks only destroyed military targets.
In a social media post, Trump threatened to target oil infrastructure on the island – a key asset for Iran – if Tehran continued to disrupt the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
Iran, in turn, has threatened to target oil infrastructure with US ties.
Fars reported that the US operation sought to damage the army’s defense systems, the Joshan naval base, the flight tower and the helicopter hangar of the Iranian Continental Shelf Oil Company.
Kharg Island is located in the northern Gulf, about 30 km from the Iranian coast and processes almost 90% of Iran’s crude oil exports. – AFP
“Moments ago, at my direction, the United States Central Command executed one of the most powerful bombing raids in the History of the Middle East, and totally obliterated every MILITARY target in Iran’s crown jewel, Kharg Island… Iran has NO ability to defend anything that we… pic.twitter.com/2iEzCOyA3P
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 13, 2026
Oil price still above $100
(File photo: Orkhan Farmanli/Unsplash)
The price of oil was still above the $100 mark per barrel on Friday, while stock markets also fell back with investors worried about a protracted crisis that could accelerate inflation and deal a blow to the global economy.
The price of Brent crude closed at $103.14 per barrel on Friday and has risen by more than 42% since the start of the conflict. – AFP
Two weeks later and no end to war
Two weeks after the outbreak of war, the Islamic regime of the ayatollahs in Iran confirms that the free movement of ships through the Strait of Hormuz has always been their greatest weapon since the 1979 revolution, writes Jaco Kleynhans here.
Neighborhood in north of Beirut bombed
An Israeli attack targeted an apartment building in a northern neighborhood of Beirut that was also targeted a day before, Lebanese media reported on Saturday.
An AFP correspondent saw emergency workers at the scene at the building in the neighborhood of Nabaa-Burj Hammoud, outside one of the Iran-backed Hezbollah group’s strongholds in the capital’s southern neighborhoods.
The same building was also hit on Friday, but no injuries were reported. – AFP
US Embassy in Baghdad attacked
The American Embassy in Baghdad, Iraq. (Photo: Ahmad Al-Rubaye/AFP)
A drone struck the US embassy in Baghdad on Saturday, an Iraqi security official confirmed. Smoke could be seen billowing from the complex, while a second security source confirmed that the attack targeted the diplomatic mission in the city.
Explosions rocked the Iraqi capital on Saturday after two attacks targeting the influential Iran-backed group Kataeb Hezbollah. Two people, including a “key figure”, were killed, security sources said.
The sources did not say who was responsible for the attacks. – AFP
Trump says Iran ‘has been defeated’; look for agreement
Pres. Donald Trump of the US said on Friday that Iran had been “totally defeated” by the US-Israeli campaign against the country. This despite Iranian officials insisting that the fight will continue.
“The fake news media hates to report how well the US military has done against Iran…who is completely defeated and is looking for a deal. But not a deal I will accept,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. – AFP
https://t.co/qm2p4aodwk
— Commentary Donald J. Trump Posts From Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) March 14, 2026
US to escort oil tankers; evacuate key areas in Qatar
Oil tankers are moored in a French port. (Photo: Thibaud Moritz/AFP)
Trump told reporters on Friday that the US Navy would “very soon” begin escorting tankers through the strategic Strait of Hormuz.
This is expected to be done to stabilize oil exports as Trump struggles to rein in sky-high energy prices.
Qatar’s interior department, meanwhile, said several “key areas” were being abandoned as Iran continued its retaliatory airstrikes against Gulf countries.
In Doha’s central Musheireb district, some residents received cell phone notifications telling them to leave the area immediately and find safe shelter elsewhere as a precaution. – AFP
F1 races suspended
(File photo: Guiseppe Cacace/AFP)
Formula 1 races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia are expected to be canceled or rescheduled as the war in the region rages on, a source said.
The Bahrain race is currently scheduled for 10-12 April, with the race in Saudi Arabia a week later. – AFP