By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON, March 20 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump and his top officials have offered shifting objectives and reasons for the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, which critics say shows a lack of planning for the conflict and its aftermath.

Stated objectives and expected timeline have varied, including toppling Iran's government, weakening Iran's military, security and nuclear capabilities and its regional influence, as well as supporting Israeli interests.

Here is how Trump described his war goals and timeline:

WASHINGTON, March 20 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump said on Friday the U.S. was getting very close to meeting its objectives as it considers winding down its military efforts in the Iran war and called on countries that use Strait of Hormuz to guard and police it "as necessary."

"The Hormuz Strait will have to be guarded and policed, as necessary, by other Nations who use it — The United States does not!," Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

PANAMA CITY, March 20 (Reuters) - The Panama Canal is operating at top capacity with a daily passage of between 36 and 38 vessels, the waterway's chief Ricaurte Vasquez told reporters on Friday, adding that the Iran war is boosting demand by owners and operators of liquefied natural gas tankers, particularly those loading at U.S. ports.

The world's second busiest waterway, which was already seeing increased traffic of LNG vessels through Panama before the war, is getting ready to offer one slot per day for LNG tankers to pass the canal, from four per month in previous months.

A UN expert claimed Israel was systematically torturing Palestinians on a scale "that suggests collective vengeance and destructive intent", in a report released to media on Friday.

Francesca Albanese, the UN's special rapporteur on the rights situation in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, said that since Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack, which triggered the Gaza war, Palestinians in custody "have been subjected to exceptionally ruthless physical and psychological abuse".

By Aref , Mohammed and Ahmed Rasheed

BAGHDAD, March 20 (Reuters) - Iraq has declared force majeure on all oilfields developed by foreign oil companies after military operations in the region disrupted navigation through the Strait of Hormuz, halting most of the country's crude exports, three energy officials with direct knowledge of the decision said.

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."