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France will never take part in operations to unblock Hormuz Strait amid hostilities, says Macron

PARIS, March 17 (Reuters) - President Emmanuel Macron said France would never take part in operations to unblock the Strait of Hormuz, and that France was carrying on with work to prepare a coalition that could provide freedom of navigation once hostilities ended.

"We are not party to the conflict and therefore France will never take part in operations to open or liberate the Strait of Hormuz in the current context," Macron said at the start of a cabinet meeting to discuss the conflicts in the Middle East.

FILE PHOTO: France's President Emmanuel Macron delivers a speech during a joint press conference with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, in Paris, March 13, 2026. LUDOVIC MARIN/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo

Mexico open to hosting Iran's World Cup games, president says

MEXICO CITY, March 17 (Reuters) - Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Tuesday that her country would have no problem hosting Iran's matches in the 2026 World Cup, if soccer governing body FIFA agrees.

Iran's football federation has asked FIFA to move their World Cup matches to Mexico from the United States due to concerns about the safety of their players after the U.S. launched joint air strikes at the country.

(Reporting by Aida Pelaez-Fernandez and Raul Cortes; Editing by Kylie Madry)

Soccer Football - FIFA World Cup - Trophy on display in Monterrey - Estadio BBVA, Monterrey, Mexico - March 14, 2026 General view of the World Cup trophy on display REUTERS/Daniel Becerril

Netherlands probing if Rotterdam synagogue attack has Iran link, minister says

AMSTERDAM, March 17 (Reuters) - The Netherlands is investigating whether Iran was involved in the attack on a Rotterdam synagogue on Friday, Justice Minister David van Weel has said, adding that the suspects apprehended for the attack had most likely been recruited.

"The possibility that Iran is involved in this attack is... being explicitly investigated", Van Weel told parliament on Tuesday, though he did not cite a conclusive link between Iran and the attack ahead of the investigation's conclusions.

FILE PHOTO: Dutch Foreign Minister David van Weel speaks to the media, on the day of a Council of Europe diplomatic conference to launch a convention establishing the International Claims Commission for Ukraine, aimed at handling compensation claims related to Russia's war in Ukraine, in The Hague, Netherlands, December 16, 2025. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw/File Photo

Dutch probing Iran links to synagogue attack: minister

The four youths arrested on suspicion of detonating an explosive device outside a Rotterdam synagogue were probably "recruited", the Dutch justice minister said Tuesday, with investigators probing possible links to Iran.

The attack on the synagogue in the early hours of Friday was followed by similar explosions outside a Jewish school and an office building in Amsterdam.

The blasts caused minimal damage to the buildings and no one was hurt.

"Until now, everything points to the fact that the young men in Rotterdam were recruited," David van Weel told parliament.

The blast damaged the door to the synagogue

US National Counterterrorism Center director resigns over war in Iran

WASHINGTON, March 17 (Reuters) - The head of the National Counterterrorism Center resigned on Tuesday, becoming the first and most senior member of U.S. President Donald Trump's administration to resign over the war in Iran, saying Tehran posed no imminent threat to the United States.

"I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran. Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful lobby," Joseph Kent wrote in a letter to Trump posted on X.

FILE PHOTO: National Counterterrorism Center Director Joseph Kent attends a House Homeland Security hearing entitled "Worldwide Threats to the Homeland," on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S. December 11, 2025.  REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz/File Photo

In shadow of Iran war, Gazans prepare for Eid

For the first time since war began in Gaza, Raeda Abu Diya has bought special clothes for her daughter for the upcoming Eid al-Fitr holiday, marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Bu while a fragile ceasefire now holds in the Israel-Hamas war, Palestinians in Gaza fear the Iran war will make the world forget their suffering, and lead to prolonged shortages of crucial aid.

Gazans are preparing for Eid, despite the shortages and uncertainty they face

Senior US counterterrorism official resigns to protest Iran war

A senior US counterterrorism official resigned on Tuesday to protest the US-Israeli war against Iran and said the Islamic Republic posed no imminent threat to the United States.

"I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran," Joseph Kent, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, said in his resignation letter to President Donald Trump.

Joseph Kent, director of the National Counterterrorism Center, resigned to protest the US-Israel war on Iran

Southern Lebanon paramedics risk deadly Israeli strikes to do their work

Youssef Assaf was in a Lebanese Red Cross ambulance when it was targeted by an Israeli strike near Tyre, in southern Lebanon. The 35-year-old paramedic died of his wounds two days later.

"I was called around 10:30 pm and told that he was wounded and in the hospital," his wife, Jeanne d'Arc Boutros, told AFP from northern Lebanon, where she had fled to a relative's home.

"I knew my husband is strong and can endure. I didn't react at all -- I just kept praying and repeating in my heart that nothing bad would happen to him," the 32-year-old schoolteacher said.

Youssef Assaf was killed by and Israeli strike while volunteering for the Lebanese Red Cross

Iran detains dozens, warns of risk from 'enemy' during festival

DUBAI, March 17 (Reuters) - Iran arrested 10 foreigners among dozens rounded up on suspicion of collaborating with Israel and the U.S., Iranian media said on Tuesday, as officials warned people to stay at home during a festival that they said could be exploited by "the enemy".

Iran's police chief Ahmadreza Radan said on Sunday that at least 500 people had been arrested since the start of the war pitting Tehran against Israel and Washington, accusing the detainees of sharing information with adversaries.

FILE PHOTO: A woman walks across the street, with a banner of all three leaders of Iran, late Ruhollah Khomeini, late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and Mojtaba Khamenei in the background, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Tehran, Iran, March 15, 2026. REUTERS/Alaa Al-Marjani/File Photo