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Iraqis mourn fighters killed in attacks

Hunched against the cold and drizzle, Iraqi army medic Ahmed and two colleagues looked across the wreckage that just days ago was their clinic, now rubble after a strike on Wednesday.

"We're the only ones left of the medical unit," he said, his voice breaking with grief.

"They were all either killed or wounded."

Iraq has been drawn into the war sparked by US and Israeli strikes against Iran on February 28, which has since engulfed much of the region.

An Iraqi soldier guards the site of the destroyed health centre at the Habbaniyah military base

What's happening with Iran-US 'talks'?

Diplomatic efforts to end the Iran war are gathering pace, even though Tehran continues to insist talks with the United States are not happening.

Here is what we know about the behind-the-scenes mediation efforts:

- What is on the table? -

After announcing "very good" talks with an unnamed "top person" in Iran on Monday, Trump said Tuesday that he had sent a plan and that it "all starts with, they cannot have a nuclear weapon".

US President Donald Trump speaks during the National Republican Congressional Committee's annual President's Dinner

EU's Kallas warns against Ukraine land concessions, calls territorial demands 'Russian playbook'

PARIS, March 26 (Reuters) - The European Unions is worried about Ukraine being pressured by the United States into ceding territory in negotiations with Russia, the EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Thursday.

"This is clearly a wrongapproach. It is, of course, the Russian playbook of negotiations, that they are demanding something that has never been theirs, and that's why we are also flagging that this is the trap that we should not walk into," Kallas said on the sidelines of a G7 meeting in France.

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas, attends the official signing event of the EU-Ghana Security and Defense Partnership in Accra, Ghana, March 24, 2026 REUTERS/Francis Kokoroko

Lebanon to complain to Security Council over Israeli attacks

Fighting between Israel and Hezbollah on Thursday claimed casualties on both sides as Lebanon said it would complain to the United Nations Security Council over Israeli attacks.

In a sign of divisions, Lebanese ministers from Hezbollah and its ally Amal boycotted a cabinet session over the government decision this week to declare the Iranian ambassador persona non grata, as demonstrators rallied in support of Iran outside its embassy in Beirut.

Women demonstrators at a pro-Hezbollah rally outside the Iranian embassy in Beirut

Yemen's Houthis ready to join Iran war if needed, raising new shipping risk

By Mohammed Ghobari and Emma Farge

ADEN/GENEVA, March 26 - Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthi movement, whose attacks on the Red Sea caused international shipping and trade chaos during the Gaza war, stands ready to strike the key waterway again in solidarity with Tehran, one Houthi leader told Reuters, a move that would deepen a global oil and economic crisis brought on by the Middle East war.

A person walks with children as Houthi supporters demonstrate in solidarity with Iran and Lebanon, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Sanaa, Yemen. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah

Factbox-What does each side in the Iran war say it would accept for a deal?

March 26 (Reuters) - The United States, Israel and Iran have laid out maximalist positions to end warfare that has set the Middle East aflame and threatened the global economy by choking off Gulf energy supplies.

This is what the sides are saying about their positions in the conflict in which the U.S. and Israel have launched airstrikes on Iran since February 28 and Iran has carried out strikes against Israel, U.S. bases and Gulf states.

WHAT ARE THE AMERICANS SAYING?

U.S. President Donald Trump has passed a 15-point plan to Iran via Pakistan.

A view of a residential building damaged by a strike, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Tehran, Iran, March 23, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

Iran may believe it has the upper hand as Trump seeks talks

Iran's decision to rebuff a 15-point peace proposal from US President Donald Trump and outline its own conditions for a ceasefire reflects growing confidence in its negotiating position after nearly four weeks of war, analysts say.

Despite US-Israeli airstrikes that have killed its top leaders and inflicted huge material damage, Iran's governing system remains in place and it retains the ability to fire missiles and drones at its neighbours and Israel.

Iranians waved national flags and portraits of supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei as they march in support of the country's armed forces in the capital Tehran

Iran allowing Malaysian vessels to pass in Strait, PM says after talks with regional leaders

KUALA LUMPUR, March 26 (Reuters) - Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Thursday he had spoken to the leaders of Iran, Egypt, Turkey and other regional countries and said Malaysian vessels were now being allowed to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.

Anwar in a televised address thanked Iran's president for allowing the passage of Malaysian ships.

"We are now in the process of releasing the Malaysian oil tankers and the workers involved so that they may continue their journey home," he said.

Malaysia's Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim attends the 28th ASEAN-Japan Summit, as part of the 47th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia October 26, 2025. REUTERS/Chalinee Thirasupa/Pool

Iran war cools early summer tourist interest in Cyprus, Greece

By Michele Kambas

LIMASSOL, Cyprus, March 26 (Rtrs) - The Iran conflict is causing a rise in tourist cancellations and a dive in new bookings in Cyprus and to a lesser extent other countries whose economies relyheavily on summer visitors.

The U.S. and Israel launched attacks on Iran on February 28, just as Cyprus's tourism industry was reopening after winter. Then on March 2, as Iran launched a series of counter-strikes, a drone struck a British naval base on the island, triggering a wave of touristcancellations.

General Manager of the Cyprus Hotel Associations Christos Angelides speaks during an interview with Reuters in Nicosia, Cyprus, March 24, 2026. REUTERS/Yiannis Kourtoglou