Iran war: What is happening on day 20 of US-Israel attacks?
The Iran war enters day 20 as Israeli and Iranian attacks hit energy infrastructure across the region.
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People mourn on the day of the funeral of the victims following a reported strike on a school in Minab, Iran, March 3, 2026 [Amir Hossein Khorgooei/Reuters]
Updated: 19 Mar 2026 09:04 PM (GMT)Updated: 19 Mar 2026 09:04 PM (GMT)
The Israel-Iran war is escalating across several fronts, with assassinations of senior Iranian officials, and Israeli and Iranian attacks on key energy infrastructure.
On day 20 of the conflict, Israel struck Iran’s South Pars gasfield, the world’s largest. Hours later, Iran launched missiles against oil and gas facilities across Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, hitting Qatar’s Ras Laffan Industrial City and setting off fires there.
Meanwhile, in the United States, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has been accused of altering her Senate testimony on Iran, allegedly omitting intelligence details that contradicted President Donald Trump’s claims that Tehran posed an imminent threat.
Here is the latest:
In Iran
Assassination of senior officials: Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has declared that Israel will pay for the assassination of three senior Iranian security officials over the course of two days, which includes the recent killing of Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib, and the previous killings of security chief Ali Larijani and head of the Basij paramilitary force, Gholamreza Soleimani.
Attacks on Iranian energy and territory: Israel struck Iran’s South Pars gasfield, the largest gasfield in the world. Following this, the Israeli military announced that it had begun striking targets in northern Iran for the first time since the war began on February 28.
Warnings: The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) issued an alert that it would respond to the South Pars hit by attacking oil and gas facilities of neighbouring Gulf states – and hours later, it acted on that threat.
US airbase in Germany: Iran said it had asked Germany to clarify the role of the Ramstein airbase in the war. “The role of Ramstein is not officially clear for us,” Tehran’s ambassador to Germany Majid Nili Ahmadabadi told the AFP news agency.
(Al Jazeera)
In the Gulf
Retaliation against Gulf neighbours: Iran’s missiles heavily damaged Qatar’s Ras Laffan liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility – the world’s largest. Analysts warn this could lead to global supply shortages and elevated gas prices. Iran’s missiles also targeted Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, but those strikes were intercepted.
Qatar expels several Iranian diplomats: The country declared the military and security attaches of the Iranian embassy were persona non grata, ordering them and their staff to leave the country within 24 hours due to Iran’s repeated attacks.
Saudi Arabia: Riyadh declared that the “little trust that remained in Iran has been completely shattered”. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud warned that “nonpolitical” options are on the table if Iran continues its attacks, cautioning Tehran that Riyadh and other Gulf capitals had the military capabilities to respond forcefully to Iran if it did not immediately stop its strikes against them. “The patience that is being exhibited is not unlimited. Do they [the Iranians] have a day, two, a week? I’m not going to telegraph that,” he added.
‘Terror cell’ thwarted in Kuwait: Kuwaiti security services said they had thwarted a planned “terrorist” operation against the country’s critical infrastructure. Authorities arrested 10 Kuwaiti citizens who were part of a cell allegedly affiliated with Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Lebanese group.
Bahrain: The government announced that its air defences have intercepted and destroyed 132 missiles and 234 drones since the war began.
US and Qatar: US President Donald Trump issued a statement on Truth Social insisting that neither the US nor Qatar had any involvement or prior knowledge of Israel’s initial strike on the South Pars field. He said Israel would not attack South Pars again. However, he issued a stark ultimatum to Iran, warning that if Qatar’s energy facilities are attacked again, the US will “massively blow up the entirety of the South Pars Gas Field”.
Regional context: Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister suggested that Iran’s decision to attack Qatar’s Ras Laffan complex, as well as targets in Riyadh, while a diplomatic meeting was taking place, was a calculated attempt by Iran to “blackmail Arab and Islamic countries”. He also said the Iranian attacks against its Gulf neighbours appeared to have been “premeditated, preplanned, preorganised and well thought-out”.
$16bn arms sales: The US announced that it has approved $16bn in arms sales to the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, which have been hit hard as a result of the war.
In the US
No US ground troops: Trump said he was not sending ground troops to Iran, telling reporters, “If I were, I certainly wouldn’t tell you. But I’m not putting troops.”
US intelligence controversy: US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard has been accused of altering her testimony to the US Senate regarding Iran. Her written statement said US intelligence had concluded that Iran had not attempted to rebuild its uranium enrichment capabilities after they were bombed in June last year – an assertion that undercuts Trump’s insistence that Iran was close to building a nuclear bomb before the current war began on February 28. But in her oral testimony, she did not mention this intelligence finding.
Trump waives shipping law: Trump temporarily waived a century-old shipping law to help ease energy costs. The move to issue a 60-day Jones Act waiver would lift a ban on foreign-flagged vessels transporting cargo between US ports over this period.
In Israel
Israel refinery hit: Israeli media reported that an oil refinery in the northern city of Haifa was hit, after the military warned of incoming missiles from Iran.
War ending?: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told a press conference he saw “this war ending a lot faster than people think”.
‘Winning’: Netanyahu said “we are winning and Iran is being decimated”, adding that it was no longer able to enrich uranium or to build ballistic missiles. Netanyahu also denied that Israel “dragged” the US into the war, asking, “Does anyone really think that someone can tell President Trump what to do?”
Israel ‘acted alone’: Netanyahu said Israel acted on its own when it struck an Iranian gasfield, which sparked a retaliatory strike by Tehran on Qatar’s main gas hub. “Israel acted alone against the Asaluyeh gas compound,” he said. “President Trump asked us to hold off on future attacks, and we’re holding out.”
Caspian Sea strikes: The Israeli military said that its fighter jets had struck several Iranian naval vessels in the Caspian Sea the previous day, including vessels equipped with anti-submarine missiles.
Military operations against Iran: Israel has expanded its military campaign, attacking targets in northern Iran for the first time since the war began on February 28.
‘Regime collapse’: Former Israeli negotiator Daniel Levy suggests that Israel’s goal is to bring about “regime collapse and state collapse to implode Iran”. Levy argues that Israel’s recent escalatory steps are calculated moves intended to “burn off-ramps” and deliberately prevent the US from backing out of the conflict.
In Lebanon
Ongoing clashes in South Lebanon: Fighting continues in the border region, with Hezbollah announcing that it recently attacked groups of Israeli soldiers in the southern Lebanese town of Taybeh. The group also reported targeting Israeli troops stationed across the border in the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona.
Mass displacement: Israel’s military assault on Lebanon has forcibly displaced more than a million Lebanese people in less than three weeks.
Lebanon truce: Lebanese President Joseph Aoun renewed his call for a truce and the opening of negotiations with Israel to stop the war between it and Hezbollah, as he received France’s foreign minister.
In Iraq
Attack in Salah al-Din: Three security personnel from the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF) were wounded, with one in critical condition, following an attack on the 6th Brigade’s headquarters in the Beiji district of the Salah al-Din governorate in Iraq.
The role of the PMF: The PMF (also known as Hashd al-Shaabi) is an umbrella organisation of mostly Shia paramilitary factions originally formed to fight the ISIL (ISIS) group. Although it is formally integrated into Iraq’s state security forces, the PMF includes several factions that are closely aligned with Iran.
Oil markets
Significant damage to Qatar’s LNG exports: Iranian retaliatory attacks have heavily impacted Qatar, knocking out 17 percent of the country’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) export capacity. The CEO of QatarEnergy stated that the damage is causing an estimated $20bn in lost annual revenue.
South Korea secures UAE oil: South Korea said it would receive an additional 18 million barrels of oil from the United Arab Emirates through alternative supply channels, bypassing the need to use the Strait of Hormuz.
US Fed raises inflation outlook: The US Federal Reserve raised its outlook for inflation as it held interest rates steady, citing an “uncertain” economic outlook due to the war in Iran. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said he expected higher energy prices to boost inflation in the near term, though he added that further economic effects remain uncertain.
