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Marzia Rezaei reacts while standing near the grave of her son, Erfan, who was killed in the US-Israeli war on Iran, at Behesht-e Zahra cemetery, in Tehran, Iran, March 16, 2026 [Alaa al-Marjani/Reuters]
By Lyndal Rowlands, Zaid Sabah, Priyanka Shankar, Elis Gjevori, Sarah Haider, Yashraj Sharma, Tim Hume, Caolán Magee, Stephen Quillen and Mariamne Everett
Published On 20 Mar 2026

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21 Mar 2026 - 00:00
 (00:00 GMT)

Our live coverage continues

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Join us for all the latest developments, analyses and reactions here.

Families displaced by Israel’s attack on Lebanon sit next to their tents covered with plastic sheets to shield from stormy weather, erected along Beirut’s seafront area on Friday [Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP]
20 Mar 2026 - 23:50
 (23:50 GMT)

Here’s what happened today

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Here are some of today’s top events:

  • US President Donald Trump has said he doesn’t want a ceasefire in Iran, before saying in a post on his Truth Social platform that the US is “very close” to meeting its objectives in Iran and is considering “winding down” military action.
  • Israel’s military has claimed it assassinated two more high-ranking Iranian officials earlier this week, identifying them as Esmail Ahmadi, intelligence chief of the Basij force, and Mehdi Rostami Shamastan, a senior Intelligence Ministry official.
  • At least 20 people were killed and 57 wounded in the latest Israeli attacks on Lebanon, the Lebanese Disaster Risk Management Unit says, bringing the total number killed since March 2 to 1,021.
  • Drones struck Kuwait’s largest oil refinery, the Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery, for the second day as Iran continued a sweeping assault on energy infrastructure across the Gulf, causing a fire in the facility.
  • A US logistics support camp near Baghdad international airport has been hit with successive attacks, an Iraqi security source has told Al Jazeera.
  • NATO has temporarily pulled all personnel from its mission in Iraq and relocated them to a command centre in Naples, Italy, as fallout from the Israeli-US war on Iran raises regional security concerns.
20 Mar 2026 - 23:40
 (23:40 GMT)

Hezbollah says it attacked Israeli soldiers near border

Hezbollah says it carried out a series of attacks on the Israeli military, including launching rockets at troops in northern Israel near the border with Lebanon.

The Lebanese group said it targeted Israeli soldiers south of the Lebanese border towns of Maqba and Maroun al-Ras.

It also said it targeted the illegal Israeli settlement of Kiryat Shmona for the seventh time.

Israeli army vehicles drive through the illegal Israeli settlement of Kiryat Shmona in the north of Israel near Lebanon in 2024 [File: Amir Levy/Getty Images]
20 Mar 2026 - 23:35
 (23:35 GMT)
Houthi

US says it will temporarily lift sanctions on oil from Iran for 30 days

The US Treasury Department has said it is removing its own sanctions on Iranian crude oil and petroleum products for 30 days, as the US-Israeli war on Iran continues to cause oil price and supply shocks around the world.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the temporary authorisation only applies to sanctioned oil that was already in transit and not to new orders.

Iran has been attacking ships that it says are linked to the US and Israel, preventing shipments of oil and gas from transiting the Strait of Hormuz, causing price shocks around the world and fears of broader economic consequences for the global economy.

20 Mar 2026 - 23:25
 (23:25 GMT)

Iranian officials envision new post-war regional order

By Ali Hashem

Reporting from Tehran, Iran

Iranian officials have a vision of a new regional order after this war. We saw this alluded to not just in Iranian President Pezeshkian’s Nowruz message today, but also in comments by Iran’s foreign minister and parliament speaker.

The Iranians think after this war ends, there should be a new regional system and that this system should be managed by regional states, without any intervention from international players or superpowers, mainly the United States.

20 Mar 2026 - 23:10
 (23:10 GMT)

Iran threatens ‘tourist destinations’ as US-Israel war enters week 3

Iran has threatened to expand its retaliatory attacks to include recreational and tourist sites worldwide.

Iran’s top military spokesman, General Abolfazl Shekarchi, warned that “parks, recreational areas and tourist destinations” worldwide won’t be safe for the country’s enemies.

The threat renewed concerns that Iran may revert to using asymmetric attacks beyond the Middle East as a pressure tactic.

Iran has stepped up its attacks on energy sites in Gulf Arab states after Israel bombed Iran’s massive South Pars offshore natural gasfield earlier in the week.

Two waves of Iranian drones attacked a Kuwaiti oil refinery early Friday, sparking a fire. The Mina Al-Ahmadi refinery, which can process some 730,000 barrels of oil per day, is one of the largest in the Middle East.

20 Mar 2026 - 22:55
 (22:55 GMT)

WATCH: Alone at the Strait – Trump, Iran and a fractured NATO

The war with Iran and the battle to reopen the Strait of Hormuz are exposing deep rifts between the United States and its closest allies.

As President Trump pressures NATO and Asian partners to send warships and share the burden of securing a vital energy chokepoint, European leaders insist “this is not our war”, favour diplomacy over direct involvement, and resist turning NATO into a Middle East fighting force.

Donald Jensen, former US diplomat to Europe, and Heino Klinck, former director of US Army international affairs, join Al Jazeera live in Washington, DC.

20 Mar 2026 - 22:40
 (22:40 GMT)

Saudi Arabia says 5 more drones shot down

Saudi Arabia’s Defence Ministry says it intercepted and destroyed five more drones in the country’s eastern region.

The ministry did not provide details on the origin of the drone or whether there were any casualties or damage.

The statement came shortly after it reported the interception of three other unmanned aerial vehicles in the east.

20 Mar 2026 - 22:25
 (22:25 GMT)
Houthi

Explosions heard, air defences activated in Tehran

Two explosions have been reported in Tehran, Iran’s Fars news agency reports.

The Tasnim news agency reported air defences were being activated over the city.

20 Mar 2026 - 22:10
 (22:10 GMT)

Qatar, Jordan, Egypt condemn Israeli attack on southern Syria

Qatar, Jordan and Egypt have expressed their strong condemnation of an Israeli attack on military infrastructure in southern Syria.

In a statement, Qatar’s Foreign Ministry said Doha considered the attack “a flagrant violation of its sovereignty and a clear breach of international law and the Charter of the United Nations”.

It said the continuation of such attacks without deterrence was undermining the foundations of regional security, adding the international community’s inability to curb such violations has contributed to the worsening of the crisis facing the region.

Jordan and Egypt also condemned the attack, which the Israeli army said in response to what it called attacks on Druze civilians by Syrian authorities in the Suwayda area on Thursday.

20 Mar 2026 - 22:00
 (22:00 GMT)

Panama Canal operating at top capacity as Iran war boosts demand

The ⁠Panama ⁠Canal is operating at top capacity with demand increasing for the passage of liquefied natural gas (LNG) tankers amid the impacts of the war on Iran, the waterway’s chief Ricaurte Vasquez told reporters.

He said the canal is seeing between 36 and 38 ⁠vessels pass each day.

Vasquez said it’s preparing to offer one slot a day for LNG tankers to pass through the canal, a significant boost from the four per month preceding the war.

The Taiwanese cargo ship Yang Ming sailing out of the Panama Canal in October [File: Martin Bernetti/AFP]
20 Mar 2026 - 21:50
 (21:50 GMT)

Trump trying to ‘bully allies into cooperation’

By John Hendren

Reporting from Washington, DC

President Trump has gone on a tear against NATO and the European allies. Speaking to reporters outside the White House earlier, he said the UK didn’t act quickly enough in letting the US use its military bases.

He went on to criticise Europe, Australia, Japan and South Korea for not doing enough in his view to help out by sending ships to keep the Strait of Hormuz open.

What he apparently wants is some kind of big military operation because the US military is largely otherwise occupied. But one of the problems he runs into is that he didn’t warn most of these countries that the US was going to get into the war alongside Israel.

He said he wanted the “surprise” factor. Well, he got surprise, but what he didn’t get was cooperation. Now, Trump is attacking the US allies and trying to bully them into cooperation. Perhaps that contributed to the fact that the UK finally agreed to let the US use its bases, but of course, that didn’t satisfy Trump either. 

This is Trump versus his allies in the middle of a war.

20 Mar 2026 - 21:40
 (21:40 GMT)

Iran says it has no surplus oil to offer global markets

Iran says it has no surplus crude oil to offer to international markets after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Washington could lift sanctions on Iranian oil at sea.

“Currently, Iran basically has no surplus crude oil left on the water or for supply in other international markets, and the US Treasury secretary’s statement is solely aimed at giving hope to buyers,” Oil Ministry spokesman Saman Ghoddoosi wrote in a post on social media.

20 Mar 2026 - 21:38
 (21:38 GMT)
Houthi

Trump says US looking to ‘wind down military efforts’ in Iran

The US president has issued a new statement on the war in Iran, saying Washington is “very close” to meeting its objectives in Iran and considering “winding down” military action.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, he repeated his claim that the US does not use the Strait of Hormuz, which he said should be “guarded and policed” by other nations that have a stake in it.

The US would assist in such efforts if asked, but “it shouldn’t be necessary once Iran’s threat is eradicated”, said Trump.

20 Mar 2026 - 21:35
 (21:35 GMT)
Houthi

Israeli military issues new displacement threat for Beirut’s southern suburbs 

Israel’s Arabic-language military spokesman Avichay Adraee has called on residents of Beirut’s southern suburbs to “evacuate immediately”, saying it will target infrastructure belonging to Hezbollah.

He singled out the neighbourhoods of Haret Hreik, Ghobeiry, Laylaki, Hadath, Burj al-Barajneh, Tahwitat al-Ghadir and Chiyah as being under threat of attack.

Israel has repeatedly launched deadly strikes in these neighbourhoods and throughout southern Beirut since it intensified its attacks in Lebanon on March 2.

20 Mar 2026 - 21:31
 (21:31 GMT)
Houthi

Saudi Arabia says three more drones intercepted in eastern region

Saudi Arabia’s Defence Ministry says it intercepted and destroyed three more drones in the country’s eastern region.

The ministry did not provide details on the origin of the drone or whether there were any casualties or damage.

The statement came shortly after it reported the interception of another unmanned aerial vehicle in the east.

20 Mar 2026 - 21:30
 (21:30 GMT)

At least 21 wounded in Israeli attack on southern Lebanon

Twenty-one people have been injured in an Israeli air strike on Deir ez-Zahrani in southern Lebanon, the Health Ministry says.

Two of those hurt were women, the ministry added.

As we reported earlier, Lebanon’s Disaster Risk Management Unit said 20 people have been killed in Israeli attacks on Lebanon today.

20 Mar 2026 - 21:20
 (21:20 GMT)

Iran vows to hit UAE’s Ras al-Khaimah if attacks launched again

Iran’s military has warned it will target the UAE’s Ras al-Khaimah if Iranian Gulf islands are attacked again from there.

“We warn the United Arab Emirates, in case of repeated encroachment from the source of that country to the Iranian islands … in the Persian Gulf, the powerful Iranian armed forces will put Ras al-Khaimah … under their crushing blows,” its spokesperson said in a statement carried by Iran’s Tasnim news agency.

The islands are located near the Strait of Hormuz, a globally vital shipping lane through which roughly one-fifth of the world’s oil and gas passes.

The UAE government announced earlier this month that a drone had been successfully intercepted by air defence systems, causing debris to fall in the al-Hamra village area in Ras al-Khaimah.

20 Mar 2026 - 21:16
 (21:16 GMT)
Houthi

Explosions heard near Baghdad international airport

An Al Jazeera team on the ground is reporting hearing explosions near Baghdad international airport.

An Iraqi security source says a US logistics support camp near the airport has come under attack from rockets.

20 Mar 2026 - 21:15
 (21:15 GMT)
Houthi

Bahrain intercepts two more missiles from Iran

Bahrain’s defence force says air defences have intercepted and destroyed two more missiles fired from Iran in the past few hours.

In a post on X, it said it has now destroyed 143 missiles and 242 drones since the Iranian attacks began last month.