Democracy Dies with Dictatorship
NY Times
Mar 27, 2026
Iran War Live Updates: Trump Claims Progress in Talks and Extends Strait of Hormuz Deadline
President Trump has threatened to attack Iran’s power plants unless it fully reopens the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil route, by April 6. Israel on Friday launched more strikes on Iran.
Here’s the latest
President Trump extended from Friday to April 6 his deadline for Iran to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face attacks on its power plants, claiming progress in talks to end a war that has choked oil supplies and roiled economies around the world.
Mr. Trump said on Thursday that the extension was requested by the Iranian government, which has so far publicly denied any negotiations with the United States. Mr. Trump wrote on social media: “Talks are ongoing and, despite erroneous statements to the contrary by the Fake News Media, and others, they are going very well.” He made the announcement minutes after the U.S. stock market ended one of its worst days this year.
Mr. Trump first announced his intention to strike power plants last Saturday, giving Iran 48 hours to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. On Monday, he extended it to Friday.
There was little indication of a breakthrough to help end the war that started when the United States and Israel began striking Iran on Feb. 28. The Israeli military said early Friday that it had detected missile launches from Iran toward Israel, and later that it had completed another wave of strikes “in the heart of Tehran.”
The hostilities have threatened energy infrastructure and shipping in the Persian Gulf, a vital source of oil and gas for the global economy. The threat of Iranian attacks has effectively choked traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a conduit for a quarter of the world’s seaborne oil and a fifth of its gas before the war.
Mr. Trump has urged other countries — including Britain, France and Japan — to send warships to help ward off Iranian attacks in the Strait of Hormuz. But his call has been mostly ignored or rejected. Secretary of State Marco Rubio reiterated the message before traveling to France for a gathering of top diplomats from the Group of 7 nations on Friday.
“Well, it’s in their interests to help,” Mr. Rubio said of allied countries before leaving the United States. “Very little of our energy comes through the Strait of Hormuz. It’s the world that has a great interest in that, so they should step up and deal with it.”
The fighting in the Middle East is expected to dominate the G7 meetings. The de-escalation of the conflict and the reopening of maritime and trade routes are on the agenda for discussions.
Here’s what else we’re covering:
Pentagon: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will not hold a news conference this week, the Pentagon said on Thursday. That means the two leaders won’t take questions from reporters on the Iran war until Monday — at least 11 days since their last news conference.
Lebanon: More than one million people have been displaced in Lebanon during Israel’s war on Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militia, and many have fled to the capital, Beirut, according to the country’s health ministry. Over 100,000 people are relying on shelters in schools and other public buildings, according to the United Nations, as Israel plans to expand its occupation of southern Lebanon. Read more ›
Oman: Residents of a tranquil coastal town in Oman, directly across the Strait of Hormuz from Iran, described a decline in tourism and an unsettling quiet as war rages nearby. Read more ›
Death tolls: The Human Rights Activists News Agency has reported that more than 1,492 civilians have been killed in Iran. More than 1,110 people in Lebanon have been killed, the health ministry there said on Thursday. At least 16 people have been killed in Iranian attacks on Israel, officials said. And the American death toll stands at 13 service members.
March 27, 2026, 7:10 a.m. ET16 minutes ago
Reporting from Tel Aviv
As President Trump claimed progress in talks with Iran, Israeli attacks in Iran continued into Friday. Israel’s defense minister, Israel Katz, indicated in a statement Friday that the country’s offensive would only intensify.
Missile launches toward Israel appear to have intensified. The Israeli military had said that it had detected at least 10 volleys throughout the day on Thursday and four more so far on Friday.
March 27, 2026, 6:21 a.m. ET1 hour ago
Leily Nikounazar and Yeganeh Torbati
Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, told the U.N. Human Rights Council on Friday the Feb. 28 U.S. strike on an elementary school in southern Iran that killed dozens of children was not a mistake, but a “calculated” assault. “They are targeting civilians and civilian infrastructures with no regard for laws of war and basic principles of humanity and civility,” Araghchi said by video to a session of the council focusing on the strike.
The New York Times reported this month that a preliminary U.S. investigation had determined that the strike was the result of a targeting mistake. The school building was formerly part of an adjacent Iranian military base that U.S. forces were striking. U.S. officials emphasized that the findings were preliminary and that questions remained about why the outdated information had not been double-checked. The investigation is ongoing.
March 27, 2026, 6:04 a.m. ET1 hour ago
Rubio is expected to press allies over the Strait of Hormuz at a G7 meeting.
The war in Iran is set to dominate a meeting of top diplomats from the Group of 7 nations on Friday morning in France, where Secretary of State Marco Rubio was expected to press European and Asian allies to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
An agenda provided by France’s foreign ministry, which is hosting the meeting in the town of Vaux-de-Cernay, near Paris, said the group would discuss efforts to stop the war, end Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile development, and reopen maritime trade routes.
Many of the foreign ministers whom Mr. Rubio will meet are from countries that have rebuffed President Trump’s call to send warships to the Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf waterway traversed by a fifth of the world’s oil shipments.
In addition to the United States, the Group of 7 comprises Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Britain.
Iran’s efforts to choke off the strait have driven up global energy costs, especially affecting Asia, which buys most of the fuel produced in the Gulf.
“Very little of our energy comes from the Strait of Hormuz,” Mr. Rubio said on Thursday as he departed for France. “It’s the world that has a great interest in that, so they should step up and deal with it.”
Other than Japan, the rest of the Group of 7 nations also belong to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which the Trump administration has criticized for not helping the United States with its war in Iran.
“There was a couple of leaders in Europe who said that this was not Europe’s war,” Mr. Rubio said. “Well, Ukraine is not America’s war, and yet we’ve contributed more to that fight than any other country in the world.”
European and Asian countries counter that Mr. Trump and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel started the war in Iran without consulting them. Europe also argues that NATO is a defensive alliance that does not traditionally involve itself in the Middle East.
European members of the Group of 7 are eager to keep support for Ukraine on the agenda. The French foreign ministry said the meeting would attempt to step up pressure on Russia’s shadow fleet, which has transported sanctioned goods like oil. Earlier this month the Trump administration paused sanctions on some Russian oil in an effort ease the energy crunch.
Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s top diplomat, said as she arrived at the meeting on Thursday that European countries wanted an off-ramp to the war in Iran for Ukraine’s sake.
“This oil price hike is giving Russia the possibility to fund this war again, which is really not good for the Ukrainians,” she said.
March 27, 2026, 4:48 a.m. ET3 hours ago
Reporting from Jerusalem
Kuwait’s public works ministry said Mubarak al-Kabeer Port was attacked by drones and missiles on Friday. Initial reports said there was material damage but no injuries, according to the ministry.
Earlier on Friday, the Kuwait Ports Authority said that Shuwaikh Port was struck by a “hostile drone.”
March 27, 2026, 4:21 a.m. ET3 hours ago
Iran correspondent
One businessman, who lives in Tehran and spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid reprisal from the government, said he could hear the sound of jets and bombing on Thursday night and into early Friday morning. The booms of explosions mixed with the sound of thunder from a storm made it an especially frightening night, he said.
March 27, 2026, 3:43 a.m. ET4 hours ago
Reporting from Tel Aviv
The Israeli military said Friday that it had struck targets across Tehran and western Iran overnight, including sites involved in the production of ballistic missiles. It also said that it had stuck Iran’s “primary facility for the production of missiles and sea mines” in the city of Yazd, without specifying when those strikes took place.
March 27, 2026, 3:30 a.m. ET4 hours ago
Reporting from Jerusalem
The Kuwait Ports Authority said that Shuwaikh Port near Kuwait City was attacked by a “hostile drone” on Friday. The ports authority said the drone caused material damage but no one was injured. The port authority describes Shuwaikh as Kuwait’s main commercial port.