The United States and Israel carried out attacks on Iran’s Isfahan city in the early hours of Sunday, killing at least 15 people, as the conflict entered its 16th day.
Sirens blared in central Israel on Sunday as Iran launched multiple barrages of missiles in retaliatory attacks on the country. Tehran has continued its attacks in the Gulf countries.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump claimed that Tehran “wants to make a deal”, as he called for a naval coalition to help keep the Strait of Hormuz open.
Here is what we know about what happened in the past 24 hours:
Demonstrators gather at Times Square for Al-Quds Day in Manhattan, New York, US, March 13, 2026 [David ‘Dee’ Delgado/Reuters]
In Iran
Residential areas in Shiraz, the capital of Fars province, were attacked. “The Zionist-American criminal regime attacked a residential and deprived area in the city of Shiraz in a terrorist and anti-human act,” Tasnim news agency reported this morning.
An attack on the industrial city of Isfahan in central Iran killed 15 people and wounded several.
Twenty people were arrested in northwestern Iran for attempting to cooperate with Israel, according to a Tasnim report citing a statement by the prosecutor’s office in the West Azerbaijan province. They are accused of sending location details on Iran’s military and security assets to Israel.
IRGC’s 50th wave of attacks: The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it launched its “50th wave” of operations against US bases in the region. The operation was “carried out against the bases of the US terrorist army” in the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait.
On Kharg attacks: Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the US used cruise missiles launched from the UAE, near Dubai. Tehran could retaliate, and it would be dangerous for the region, he added.
New supreme leader: Araghchi said there is “no problem” with the new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, after US officials claimed earlier that he was wounded and “likely disfigured”.
The IRGC warned the US to move its industries out of the Middle East and urged people to stay away from factories in which US companies hold shares, Iranian state media reported, following strikes that killed several civilian workers at nonmilitary factories in Iran.
On Strait of Hormuz: IRGC’s navy commander, Alireza Tangsiri, said Iran has not yet closed the strait, and the vital waterway is “only being controlled”.
Damage in Iran: Tehran’s governor reported that at least 10,000 residential homes were “damaged or completely destroyed” because of US-Israeli attacks. More than 1,400 people have been killed since Israel and US launched the war on February 28. Earlier, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth claimed at least 15,000 “enemy targets” have been struck – more than 1,000 a day – since the war began.
Iran confirmed that its senior military figure, Brigadier-General Abdullah Jalali Nasab, was killed in an Israeli attack. That is now in addition to the killing of Abdolrahim Mousavi, chief of staff of Iran’s armed forces; Aziz Nasirzadeh, defence minister and deputy chief of staff of the armed forces; and Mohammad Pakpour, IRGC commander-in-chief.
Smoke could be seen rising from the direction of a major UAE energy installation on March 14, 2026 [AFP]
In Gulf countries
Saudi Arabia: The Ministry of Defence said four drones were intercepted in the Riyadh metropolitan area. At least two people were killed and 12 injured in the attacks since Iran started retaliatory attacks. Earlier, the ministry said six ballistic missiles launched towards the kingdom’s al-Kharj governorate were destroyed, in addition to two drones intercepted in the Eastern province.
UAE: The IRGC said it launched 10 missiles and several drones against US forces at the UAE’s al-Dhafra airbase, according to a statement carried by Iranian news agencies. On Saturday, black smoke rose over the port of Fujairah, situated just outside the Strait of Hormuz, after debris from a drone interception fell, injuring a Jordanian citizen.
Abu Dhabi accused Iran of “moral bankruptcy” following Iranian claims that US attacks on the strategic Kharg Island originated from the UAE.
Bahrain: The Bahrain Ministry of Interior said sirens were activated and residents were urged to remain calm and head to the nearest safe location. It said the police arrested six people on charges of posting videos and spreading misinformation about Iranian attacks on the country. So far, at least two people have been killed and dozens wounded in Iranian strikes.
Kuwait: Two missiles struck the perimeter of Ahmad al-Jaber airbase, wounding three soldiers, authorities in Kuwait reported. Drones struck facilities at Kuwait’s international airport, damaging part of its radar system, they said.
Qatar: The Gulf state intercepted all four ballistic missiles and drones launched from Iran, said the Ministry of Defence on Saturday.
Trump speaks to the media at the White House, Washington, DC, March 11, 2026 [Yuri Gripas/Pool via EPA]
In the US
President speaks: Trump told NBC News in a phone interview that Iran “wants to make a deal”, but he is not ready for one “because the terms aren’t good enough yet”. He also repeated that he is working with other countries on a plan to secure passage through the Strait of Hormuz.
On new supreme leader: He questioned whether Mojtaba Khamenei is “even alive” after Hegseth’s earlier claim that he was “likely disfigured”. Trump added that the US attacks on Iran’s strategic Kharg Island “totally demolished” most of the island, but that “we may hit it a few more times just for fun”.
On Strait of Hormuz: He called on allies and countries that depend on Gulf oil, including China, to send warships to the strait to escort ships. However, no country has confirmed this. Japan responded, saying “the bar would be too high” for such action.
The Trump administration also warned news outlets could have their broadcasting licences revoked over critical reporting on the war against Iran while accusing the media of “distortions”.
On negotiations: While he claimed that Iran has reached out with a peace plan, the Reuters news agency reported that the Trump administration has rebuffed efforts by Middle East allies to start diplomatic negotiations aimed at ending the war. Iran, for its part, has rejected the possibility of any ceasefire until US and Israeli strikes end.
Support for war in the US: The latest Quinnipiac University poll suggests that 53 percent of US voters are against the attacks, while nearly three-quarters of those surveyed say they do not support deploying US ground forces to Iran.
(Al Jazeera)
In Israel
Israel’s Ministry of Health said 108 injured people were taken to hospitals as a result of the conflict with Iran in the past 24 hours, according to The Times of Israel newspaper.
Air raid sirens blared across Israel through the night and into the morning amid missile and rocket fire from Iran and Hezbollah in Lebanon, as falling debris caused a fire in the city of Holon.
Fragments from Iranian missiles fell in areas near Tel Aviv in central Israel after air defence systems intercepted incoming projectiles.
Israel informed the US this week that it is running critically low on ballistic missile interceptors as the conflict with Iran rages, the US news website Semafor reported.
Smoke from a building in the centre of Beirut, Lebanon, on March 12, 2026 [Adri Salido/Getty Images]
In Lebanon
Hezbollah battles to stop advances by the Israeli military in southern Lebanese towns as Israeli air raids and artillery fire struck multiple towns.
The group said it targeted Israeli soldiers at al-Khazan hill in the border town of Odaisseh and near Fatima Gate in Kfar Kila in southern Lebanon, and shelled an Israeli artillery position in the settlement of Dishon with missiles.
Lebanon’s emergency services said Israeli attacks on two towns in the country’s south killed at least five people, including a child, and wounded seven.
Another Israeli air attack killed an entire family in southern Lebanon’s Qantara, including two children. Israeli attacks have killed 826 people and displaced more than 800,000 in the country since the US-Israeli assault on Iran began on February 28.
The head of the World Health Organization said a total of 14 health workers were killed in attacks in southern Lebanon over the past 24 hours.
Iraq and Jordan
The US Embassy in Baghdad said on Saturday that all US citizens “should leave Iraq now”. “US citizens choosing to remain in Iraq are strongly encouraged to reconsider in light of the significant threat posed by Iran-aligned terrorist militia groups,” it added.
Iraq’s Ministry of Justice says the surrounding areas of Baghdad’s international prison and the central airport prison have been subjected to repeated attacks in recent days.
A drone strike hit the Lanaz oil refinery on the outskirts of Erbil, triggering a fire. Iraqi authorities said they have suspended activities to assess the damage.
The Jordanian military said it intercepted 79 of the 85 missiles and drones launched by Iran targeting “vital sites” in the kingdom during the second week of the Middle East war. At least 14 people were wounded in total in Jordan from Iranian strikes.
