DUBAI, March 17 (Reuters) - Iraq's oil minister said Baghdad is talking to Iran about allowing some of the country's oil tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, the state news agency reported on Tuesday, as Iraq seeks to ease disruptions to crude exports following recent attacks on tankers in its own waters.

Iraq is also working to restore a disused pipeline that would allow oil to be pumped directly to Turkey's Ceyhan port without passing through the Kurdistan region, Oil Minister Hayan Abdel-Ghani said in a video statement released on Monday.

DUBAI, March 17 (Reuters) - Israeli media said on Tuesday that the military has targeted Iran's security chief Ali Larijani, adding that it was not immediately clear whether he was killed or injured.

Iran has not yet commented on the report.

(Reporting by Jana Choukeir; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)

March 17 (Reuters) - Iran's football federation is in discussions with FIFA about moving their World Cup matches to Mexico from the United States due to concerns about the safety of their players, Iranian football president Mehdi Taj said on Monday.

Iran's participation in the global soccer showpiece was thrown into doubt after co-hosts the United States launched joint air strikes at the country along with Israel.

By Antoni Slodkowski

BEIJING, March 17 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's request to delay the planned summit in Beijing with Chinese leader Xi Jinping casts a shadow over mutual ties that have been stable since their last meeting in October, but is unlikely to cause a major setback, analysts said.

Trump's move shows how the Iran conflict has upended his foreign policy agenda and added war to trade and Taiwan among the spectrum of issues separating the world's two biggest economies.

March 17 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is due to meet Prime Minister Keir Starmer in London on Tuesday to agree a deeper defence and industrial partnership, the British government said.

The two leaders are expected to agree on anexpanded declaration aimed at joint production and supply of drones and other military technologies, Downing Street said in a statement.

Britain and Ukraine will also look at opportunities for increased defence industrial and technological cooperation with other countries, the statement added.

By Mohammad Yunus Yawar

KABUL, March 17 (Reuters) - Ahmad, 50, watched flames engulf his friends at a drug rehabilitation centre in Kabul where he was undergoing treatment, unable to save them as they cried for help after a Pakistani air strike, leaving a scene he said resembled "doomsday".

The Afghan Taliban government says at least 400 people were killed and 250 injured in the Monday night attack, but Islamabad denied having targeted any such facility, saying it had struck military installations and "terrorist support infrastructure".

Loud explosions shook Tehran Tuesday after a night of bombing, as US President Donald Trump pressed allies to help in the war that has engulfed the Middle East and sparked global economic turmoil.

Oil prices rose more than five percent Tuesday after several countries pushed back on Trump's demand they help protect shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway that is key to the transit of crude and liquefied natural gas.

ISLAMABAD, March 17 (Reuters) - Pakistan has been the Afghan Taliban's closest friend for decades. It was Islamabad that helped give birth to the Taliban in the early 1990s – as a way to give Pakistan "strategic depth" in its rivalry with India. What's gone wrong?

On Monday night, Pakistan carried out an air strike on Afghan capital Kabul, the latest attack in fighting between the neighbours that has flared in recent weeks.

By Alexander Cornwell and Jonathan Landay

March 17 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump accused some Western allies of ingratitude after several countries rebuffed his demand to send warships to escort oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, as Iran continued to target oil facilities in the Gulf.

The U.S.-Israeli war on Iran is in its third week with no end in sight. The critical Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of the world's oil and liquefied natural gas flow, remains largely closed off, raising energy prices and fears of inflation.

Iran's football federation is "negotiating" with FIFA to relocate the country's first-round matches at the World Cup to Mexico from the United States, citing the conflict in the Middle East, Iran's embassy in Mexico said Monday.

Iran's participation at this summer's finals in the United States, Canada and Mexico has been thrown into doubt since the war began late last month.