Democracy Dies with Dictatorship
The Guardian
Mar 16, 2026
Middle East crisis live: Trump threatens ‘very bad’ future for Nato if allies fail to help secure strait of Hormuz
by Yohannes Lowe; Vicky Graham and Adam Fulton
Summary
Here’s a snapshot of the latest key developments in the US-Israel war on Iran to bring you up to speed.
The Israeli army said on Monday it had begun what it described as “limited ground operations” against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. It said that before the troops’ entry into the area, it conducted air force and artillery strikes against “numerous terrorist targets in order to mitigate threats”.
Donald Trump warned that Nato faced a “very bad” future if US allies failed to assist in opening up the strait of Hormuz, the Financial Times reported. Trump has urged a string of countries to send warships to the region but the response has been muted. Japan and Australia have declined to send ships.
Flights are “gradually” resuming at Dubai international airport, according to its operator, after a “drone-related incident” earlier sparked a fuel tank fire nearby. No injuries were reported, the city’s media office said.
The US has started moving more than 2,000 marines from the Japanese island of Okinawa to the Middle East, according to news reports.
Japan said it was beginning the release of its strategic oil reserves after the International Energy Agency indicated earlier that the release would begin in Asia and Oceania before other regions.
Oil prices climbed again amid mounting supply fears, with brent crude – the international benchmark – rosing 1.8% to $104.98 a barrel during early trading on Monday.
British prime minister Keir Starmer discussed with Trump the need to reopen the strait of Hormuz, a Downing Street spokeswoman said on Sunday. Starmer also spoke with Canadian prime minister Mark Carney about the impact of the strait’s continued closure on international shipping.
Italy’s military said there had been a drone attack on the Ali Al Salem airbase in Kuwait hosting Italian and US forces, but that all its personnel were safe.
A rocket attack on Baghdad international airport in Iraq wounded five people, Iraqi authorities said. The airport houses a US diplomatic facility.
The UK’s prime minister, Keir Starmer, is giving a news conference where he is expected to announce millions of pounds worth of support for Britons hit by the spike in energy prices from the US-Israeli war on Iran, which has caused oil prices to jump and has reawakened global inflation fears. You can follow the latest political developments in our UK live blog.
Iran’s Tasnim news agency has quoted the governor of Tehran as saying 12,000 residential units in the capital have suffered “partial” or “total” damage during the US-Israeli war.
In a separate post on Telegram, the news agency said residential areas in Tehran had been targeted in attacks this afternoon (it has just gone past 1.50pm), which it says will likely result in a “significant” amount of injuries and deaths. We have not been able to independently verify these reports yet.
IDF says it has launched 'extensive' strikes across Iran
The IDF said it has launched a wave of “extensive” strikes in Tehran, Iran’s capital; Shiraz; a city in south-western Iran; and Tabriz, in northwestern Iran, “simultaneously”.
The Israeli military said it is targeting “infrastructure” of the Iranian regime but many civilians have been killed in their attacks since the war was launched on 28 February alongside the US.
A spokesperson for China’s foreign ministry, Lin Jian, was asked a question this morning about Donald Trump suggesting he may delay his heavily anticipated trip to China later this month if Beijing does not help to secure the strait of Hormuz.
“Head-of-state diplomacy plays an irreplaceable, strategic guiding role in China-US relations,” Jian was quoted as having replied.
According to the BBC, the spokesperson said Beijing and Washington had “maintained communication” regarding Trump’s visit, which had been scheduled for 31 March to 2 April.
When asked about Trump’s comments calling for countries, including China, the UK and France, to send warships to help keep the strait of Hormuz open, Jian said the recent tensions have disrupted trade routes and undermined peace.
“China reiterates its call for all parties to immediately cease military operations,” he said, adding that Beijing was “committed to promoting de-escalation”.
Germany’s foreign minister, Johann Wadephul, has said Berlin does not see a role for Nato in addressing the effective closure of the strait of Hormuz, after Donald Trump said in an interview in the FT that it would be “very bad for the future” of the alliance if allies do not help secure the shipping lane.
Speaking in Brussels ahead of a meeting of the EU foreign affairs council, Wadephul said:
I don’t see that Nato has made any decision in this direction or could assume responsibility for the strait of Hormuz.If that were the case, then the Nato bodies would address it accordingly.
Wadephul was later quoted by the Associated Press as saying he would back sanctions against those responsible for blocking the strait of Hormuz.
He said once there is clarity on the US-Israeli aims it will be time for a phase when “a security architecture for this whole region” is defined, which will involve speaking to Iran.
Bahrain’s defence ministry said air defence systems have responded to attacks this morning. The ministry said four missiles and three drones were fired.
Meanwhile, monitoring organisation Netblocks said the internet blackout in Iran has entered its 17th day.
“Over the last day a decline has been tracked in reserved telecoms network infrastructure, further reducing VPN availability and sending some whitelisted users and NIN services offline,” Netblocks said.
Those without access to Starlink or alternative ways to communicate – which are often expensive – are cut off, not only from the outside world but the blackout also severely curtails Iranian’s ability to communicate with each other, making mobilisation, for example, much more difficult.
According to the Hareetz newspaper, Israel is considering a French proposal in which Lebanon would formally recognise Israel in exchange for guarantees that there would be no more Israeli airstrikes and that Israeli troops would pull back from five locations in the country’s south that provide vantage points or are situated across from communities in northern Israel. Israel has maintained troops in the five areas of southern Lebanon in violation of the November 2024 ceasefire agreement.
A source told Hareetz that the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is undecided on the French proposal. It reports that officials in Washington expect America’s “patience” for the war in Lebanon to be exhausted once the “main” war on Iran is over.
This means there is a narrow window of opportunity for negotiation with Lebanon, whose government would likely pay a heavy diplomatic price for officially recognising Israel, Hareetz reports. Axios reports that under the French proposal, Israel and Lebanon would begin US and French backed negotiations on a “political declaration” to be agreed within one month.
Israel’s latest war on Lebanon was triggered on 2 March, after Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel following joint US-Israeli attacks on Iran, which killed the country’s supreme leader.
The Lebanese health ministry said yesterday that 850 people, including many children, have been killed in Israeli attacks since 2 March.
Fire broke out at UAE’s Fujairah oil industry zone after drone strike - media office
A fire broke out on Monday after a drone attack on an industrial oil facility in the UAE’s Fujairah, officials have said.
The Media Office in Fujairah said a drone targeted the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone, causing an “advanced” fire. The civil defence teams are trying to control the fire, which did not result in any immediate casualties.
The Fujairah Oil Industry Zone hosts the Middle East’s largest commercial storage capacity for refined products.
It also serves as a vital global hub for trading and bunkering located outside the strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most important shipping channels, which is now effectively closed.
Bloomberg reported yesterday that oil-loading operations at Fujairah had restarted after it was targeted by a drone strike on Saturday.
In a post on X, the Abu Dhabi Media office said a Palestinian civilian was killed in Abu Dhabi after an incident involving a missile falling on a civilian vehicle in the al Bahyah area of the UAE capital.
“The public is advised to obtain information only from official sources and to avoid spreading rumours or unverified information",” it added.
The UAE is among the Gulf countries whose air defences have been regularly intercepting ballistic missiles and drones from Iran. The country’s Ministry of Defence said this morning that they were responding to missile attacks from Iran, with their fighter jets intercepting drones and “loitering munitions”.