U.S. President Donald Trump waves as he boards Air Force One at Palm Beach International Airport in West Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., March 29, 2026. (Credit: Elizabeth Frantz/File Photo/Reuters)
Here are the latest developments in the Middle East war:
Explosions and power outages in Tehran
Explosions were heard in Tehran and power cuts hit some parts of the capital, Iranian media reported on Tuesday.
"Power outages in parts of Tehran after multiple explosions heard," Fars news agency reported.
Tasnim news agency reported that power has now been restored in the affected areas.
Israel strikes Iran university
Israel's military said it had struck the Imam Hossein University in Tehran run by Iran's Revolutionary Guards, claiming the institution was used for advanced weapons research.
- Four Israeli soldiers killed in south Lebanon -
The Israeli military said Tuesday that four soldiers had been killed in combat in southern Lebanon, where its forces are clashing with Iran-backed Hezbollah.
A military statement named three soldiers from the same battalion who "fell during combat," and a separate statement said another soldier whose name had not yet been cleared for publication had died in the same incident.
Another soldier was severely wounded and a reservist moderately wounded, according to the second statement.
Netanyahu: progress on war goals
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the war on Iran had achieved more than half its aims, without putting a timeline on when it would end.
"It's definitely beyond the halfway point. But I don't want to put a schedule on it," Netanyahu told the conservative U.S. broadcaster Newsmax.
Explosions over Jerusalem: Israel says intercepted Iranian missiles
Israel's military said its air defenses responded to Iranian missiles on Tuesday as sirens rang out.
At least 10 blasts were heard over Jerusalem, an AFP journalist said.
"A short while ago, the IDF identified missiles launched from Iran toward the territory of the State of Israel," the Israeli military posted on Telegram.
Markets hopeful following Trump's switch in tone
Asian stocks pared early losses and oil prices fell on Tuesday after reports that U.S. President Donald Trump is considering ending Washington’s military campaign against Iran, even if the Strait of Hormuz remains closed.
Citing people familiar with the matter, The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump has told advisers he is prepared to halt the more than month-long intervention, judging that efforts to force the reopening of the strategic waterway could extend the conflict beyond its planned four- to six-week timeframe. The strait typically carries about a fifth of global hydrocarbon flows.
According to the report, Washington would instead seek to persuade Tehran through diplomatic channels to reopen the passage. If that effort fails, Trump may call on European and Gulf allies to pressure Iran into restoring access, U.S. officials told the newspaper.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio voiced hope for working with elements within Iran's government, saying the United States privately had received positive messages.
Rubio said that there were internal "fractures" inside the Islamic republic and that the United States hoped figures with "power to deliver" take charge.
Trump’s remarks mark a shift in his tone from Monday, when he threatened to destroy Iran's oil export hub of Kharg Island, oil wells and power plants if it does not agree soon to a deal to end the war.
Trump wrote on his Truth Social network that while the United States was in "serious discussions" with "a more reasonable regime" in Tehran, if an agreement was not forthcoming Washington would set about "completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!)"
Iran panel approves Hormuz toll plan
Iranian state media reported that a parliamentary commission had approved plans to impose tolls on vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway vital to oil and gas shipments that has been effectively closed due to the Middle East war.
Citing a member of the parliament's security commission, state TV said the plan involved, among other things, "financial arrangements and rial toll systems" and "implementing the sovereign role of Iran", as well as cooperation with Oman on the other side of the strait.
Iran hits Kuwaiti oil tanker in Dubai
An Iranian attack sparked a fire on a Kuwaiti oil tanker at Dubai Port, state media reported Tuesday, adding there were no injuries.
"The Kuwaiti giant crude oil tanker was subjected to a direct and malicious Iranian attack while in the anchorage area of Dubai Port in the UAE," official news agency KUNA reported, citing Kuwait's state-owned oil company.
Also in Dubai, falling debris from an air defense interception sparked a fire and wounded four people in the city, authorities said.
US-Israeli air strikes target Iraqi bases
Iraq's Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) said U.S.-Israeli forces carried out air strikes on two of their bases in the Babil and Anbar provinces.
"The 45th Brigade in the Jurf al-Nasr sector of Babil Governorate was targeted with three airstrikes, while another strike targeted the 31st Brigade in the Karma sector, east of Anbar Governorate," it said on its website.
No casualties were reported.
Drone attack targets US embassy in Baghdad
One civilian was wounded in Iraq's capital Baghdad late Monday after shrapnel from an intercepted drone attack targeting the U.S. embassy fell onto their neighborhood, a police source said.
