WASHINGTON, March 20 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Friday replied "I think so" when asked if Israel would be ready to end the war on Iran once the United States completed its military action.
(Reporting by Gram Slattery and Humeyra Pamuk, editing by Michelle Nichols)
Around 80,000 fans were hoping to see Lionel Messi take on Lamine Yamal in Doha, while thousands more were gearing up for the F1 grands prix in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, but the war in the Middle East had other plans.
The Gulf countries have invested vast sums of money in bringing global sporting events to their shores as they try to diversify their hydrocarbon-dependant economies and improve their images abroad.
But weeks of repeated drone and missile attacks from Iran, in retaliation against ongoing US-Israeli bombing, have put paid to that strategy, for now at least.
Here are the latest developments in the Middle East war:
- 48 hour Hormuz deadline -
US President Donald Trump on Saturday gave Iran a 48-hour deadline to open the Strait of Hormuz to shipping traffic or face the destruction of its energy infrastructure.
"If Iran doesn't FULLY OPEN, WITHOUT THREAT, the Strait of Hormuz, within 48 HOURS from this exact point in time, the United States of America will hit and obliterate their various POWER PLANTS, STARTING WITH THE BIGGEST ONE FIRST!" Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.
LONDON, March 20 (Reuters) - The British government gave authorisation on Friday for the United States to use military bases in Britain to carry out strikes on Iranian missile sites that are attacking ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
British ministers met on Friday to discuss the war with Iran and Iran's blocking of the Strait of Hormuz, according to a Downing Street statement.
In Iraq's northern Kurdistan region, women perform a traditional dance, their long dresses spinning, gold tassels and heavy necklaces catching the firelight, as smaller crowds than usual celebrate Nowruz, overshadowed by the Middle East conflict.
Among them were Iranian Kurds Sirwa Mustafazada and Kwestan Aminpana, who fled their home country as a result of their activism in 2018.
After three weeks of war, they share the same yearning: "Next year we will be back."
Iranians are managing to get online during the current war with the US and Israel despite drastic censorship and frequent blackouts, throwing the spotlight on to providers of tools such as VPNs (virtual private networks).
AFP asked Adam Fisk, head of US-based nonprofit Lantern, which offers an advanced VPN, how his technology and similar apps can get around such heavy-handed blocking.
Question: How does Iran's internet blocking work?
March 20 (Reuters) - Iranian missiles and drones have continued to strike crucial energy facilities and other targets in Gulf countries and the wider Middle East nearly three weeks into the war.
Neutralising Iran's missile and drone capabilities is a crucial war aim for both the U.S. and Israel, which launched the conflict on February 28, but that may prove very difficult.
Here's why:
HOW BIG IS IRAN'S MISSILE AND DRONE STOCKPILE?
BRUSSELS, March 20 (Reuters) - NATO has withdrawn all of its troops from an advisory missionin Iraq, the military alliance said on Friday, as the repercussions of the Iran war spread across the Middle East.
"I would like to thank the Republic of Iraq and all the Allies who assisted in the safe relocation of NATO personnel from Iraq," U.S. Air Force Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe, said in a statement.
March 20 (Reuters) - Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei released a message on Friday marking the start of Persian New Year which he named the year of a "resistance economy under national unity and national security."
In the statement, released on his Telegram channel, Khamenei said that attacks against Turkey and Oman were not carried out by Iran or its allied forces.
(Reporting by Parisa Hafezi; Writing by Enas Alashray; Editing by William Maclean)
By Nate Raymond and Jonathan Stempel
BOSTON, March 20 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's administration escalated its attacks on Harvard University on Friday, as it sued the Ivy League school to recover billions of dollars for allegedly failing to protect Jewish and Israeli students.
Harvard has been a central focus of the president's campaign to force changes at major U.S. universities, which Trump has derided for alleged antisemitic and "radical left" ideologies, by threatening to withhold or take back federal funding.
