Latest developments in Middle East war

Here are the latest developments in the Middle East war on Tuesday, March 17, 2026:

Israel targets Larijani

Israeli media reported that Israel targeted Iranian national security chief Ali Larijani in an overnight strike, though there was no immediate confirmation from Israeli officials.

Last week, a defiant Larijani made one of the most high-profile public appearances by an Iranian official since the February 28 strike that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and other top officials, marching in a mass rally in Tehran where he dismissed US-Israeli attacks as being “out of fear, out of desperation”.

China offers help

China said it will provide humanitarian assistance to Middle Eastern countries, including Iran and Lebanon.

“China has decided to provide emergency humanitarian assistance to Iran, Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq. It is hoped this will help alleviate the humanitarian plight faced by the local populations,” foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told a press conference, without providing further details.

Blasts in Tehran

Loud explosions shook Iran’s capital, after a night of bombing in the war with the United States and Israel.

It was not immediately clear what the targets were but the blasts were heard in Tehran city centre, and followed a night of heavy explosions mixed with thunder and rain across the city.

Iran arrests ‘foreign spies’

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said their forces had arrested 10 “foreign spies” in the northeastern Razavi Khorasan province but did not reveal their nationalities.

The Guards said four among them were gathering information “on sensitive sites and economic infrastructure” while others were linked to a “monarchist terrorist group”.

Oil prices jump

The price of oil jumped more than five per cent as several countries pushed back against US President Donald Trump’s demand that they help secure the key Strait of Hormuz, while Iran targeted crude-producing neighbours.

At around 0615 GMT, US benchmark West Texas Intermediate was up 5.16 per cent at $98.32 a barrel while Brent Crude also rose above five per cent before easing back.

Meanwhile, a new drone strike hit the Fujairah oil complex on the UAE’s east coast, causing a fire but no injuries, local authorities said.

The facility, which sits on the Gulf of Oman and enables the UAE to bypass the Strait of Hormuz for some exports, was already hit on Monday.

‘Safe place’

Qatar said it had intercepted a missile attack after several explosions in Doha.

In nearby Dubai, three explosions were heard after a mobile phone alert warned residents of the United Arab Emirates’ most populous city to “immediately seek a safe place” over “potential missile threats”.

In Abu Dhabi, falling shrapnel from an intercepted missile killed a Pakistani national, city authorities said.

Oil prices rise as Iran war halts supply

Tanker struck near Oman

An “unknown projectile” struck a tanker off the coast of Oman, a UK maritime agency said, noting there were no reported injuries and only “minor structural damage”.

Israel strikes Tehran, Beirut

Israel’s army said it had launched a “wide scale wave of strikes” in the Iranian capital Tehran and started striking Hezbollah targets in the Lebanese capital Beirut.

Lebanese state media later said Israeli strikes hit three neighborhoods in Beirut, including a residential apartment building.

An Ethiopian woman was wounded in the Beirut strikes, media said, quoting the health ministry.

US embassy in Baghdad attacked

A drone and rocket attack targeted the US embassy in Baghdad, a security official said.

The security official said that “three drones and four rockets attacked the embassy, with at least one drone crashing inside it”.

Baghdad house strike

A missile strike on a house in Iraq’s capital Baghdad killed four people, with initial reports suggesting two of the victims were “Iranian advisors” to Tehran-backed groups, a security official told AFP.

Iraq was drawn into the Middle East war after having long been a proxy battleground between the United States and Iran, with strikes targeting Iran-backed groups that have claimed daily attacks on US interests in Iraq and the region.

Trump wants Hormuz ‘enthusiasm’

The US president demanded on Monday that allies help secure the Strait of Hormuz, but European powers pushed back on a possible mission to reopen the vital waterway shut by Iran in response to US-Israeli attacks.

Trump criticised the lukewarm response to his call for world powers to send warships to escort tankers through the strait, which normally carries a fifth of global crude oil, demanding nations “get involved quickly and with great enthusiasm”.

The Star