By Naveen Thukral

SINGAPORE, April 2 (Reuters) - Australian farmers are expected to favour less nitrogen-intensive crops such as barley over wheat and canola in the upcoming season, as surging fertiliser and fuel costs driven by the Iran war weigh on planting decisions in one of the world's top food exporters.

Planting of wheat, canola and other crops is set to gather pace this month across much of Australia and farmers need ample supplies of crop nutrients to support early growth.

DUBAI, April 2 (Reuters) - Iran's operational headquarters must monitor "enemy movements with utmost pessimism and accuracy" and be ready to counter any method of attack, the country's army commander-in-chief Amir Hatami was quoted as saying by state media on Thursday.

U.S. President Donald Trump has said the Iran conflict is “nearing completion” and could end within weeks, but a parallel buildup of additional U.S. troops in the Gulf has raised concerns that preparations may be underway for potential ground operations.

Here are the latest developments in the Middle East war:

- Iran attacks US, Israeli interests -

A military statement carried on Iranian state television said that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps had launched a fresh wave of attacks on American steel factories in the UAE and Bahrain, as well as an arms factory in Israel.

The statement said the latest salvos were in response to attacks on its own steel industries.

- Pakistan petrol hikes -

By Saad Sayeed

April 2 (Reuters) - A diplomatic outcast a year ago, Pakistan has become a trusted regional partner and a mediator between the U.S. and Iran to end the war in the Middle East, a remarkable transformation for the South Asian nation driven mostly by its powerful military chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir.

Munir has had several meetings with President Donald Trump, including an unprecedented one-on-one lunch at the White House, while the government has apprehended an Islamic State bomber accused of killing American troops and handed him over to the U.S.

By Pesha Magid

TULKARM, West Bank, April 2 (Reuters) - The sight and sound of Iranian rockets arcing overhead have become near-daily for the Palestinian Ghanem family, expelled by the Israeli military from a refugee camp and now living in a rickety shack with a thin metal roof offering little protection.

The family are among an estimated 32,000 people who Israel's military forced last year from homes in three longstanding camps housing Palestinian refugees and their descendants in the occupied West Bank.

April 2 (Reuters) - Pakistan is holding talks with Afghanistan to end the worst conflict between the South Asian neighbours since ‌the Taliban returned to power in 2021, Pakistan's Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Thursday.

The talks in the northwestern Chinese city of Urumqi were being held between senior officials of the two countries, the spokesperson said.

(Reporting by Asif Shahzad, writing by Shanima A; Editing by YP Rajesh)

By Alexander Dziadosz, Aaron McNicholas and Vinaya K

CAIRO, April 2 (Reuters) - Eastern Libya's military leader, Khalifa Haftar, has acquired what appear to be Chinese and Turkish combat drones, Reuters reporting has found, despite a long-standing U.N. embargo on supplying weapons to the divided North African country.

Commercial satellite images show at least three drones at Al Khadim airbase, located in the desert about 100 kilometres (62 miles) east of the city of Benghazi, between late April and December. Their arrival has not previously been reported.

SEOUL, April 2 (Reuters) - South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Thursday urged parliament to promptly pass a 26.2 trillion won ($17.3 billion) supplementary budget to shore up the economy amid "the worst energy security threat" posed by the Middle East crisis.

"Even if the war ends tomorrow, it will take a considerable period of time for the destroyed energy infrastructure facilities in the Middle East to be restored and supplies to run as smoothly as before," Lee told parliament in a televised speech.

Parliament is expected to pass the extra budget by April 10.

Iran and its allies traded fire with Israel and the United States, as Washington-linked assets across the Middle East were targeted alongside civilian infrastructure -- with the month-long war on Friday showing little sign of easing.

Strikes have increasingly targeted economic and industrial sites, raising fears of wider disruption to global energy supplies and deepening the conflict's impact beyond the battlefield.

Violence by extremist Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, denounced as "Jewish terrorism" by politicians and former Israeli security officials, has surged since the start of the war with Iran, with rights groups alleging that perpetrators operate in near-total impunity.

Assaults by violent settlers against Palestinians have persisted for years, often to the indifference of mainstream Israeli society.