live Russia Evacuates More Staff From Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant In Iran

The Israeli military said Iran’s weapons production capabilities will be largely destroyed "within a few days" and that it will take Tehran a "long time" to reconstitute them. Military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin said the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) aim to "complete their attacks on all key components of the [Iranian] military industry" in the coming days. "This means that we will have destroyed most military production capabilities," he added. "It will take the regime a long time to rebuild them." The IDF claims to have struck some 90 percent of the key sites of the Iranian arms industry since the start of the US-Israeli war with Iran on February 28, according to the Times of Israel.

Yemen's Houthi rebels attacked Israel on March 28 for the second time in less than 24 hours, vowing to continue military operations, according to the group's military spokesperson, Yahya Saree.

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Houthi Entry Into Iran War Raises Specter Of Twin Chokepoint Crisis

A US-designated terrorist organization, the Houthis' involvement risks prolonging a war that has already drawn in US forces, Gulf Arab states, and Israel across multiple fronts.

Their entry into the conflict, ending nearly a month of restraint since the war began, raised immediate fears of a simultaneous disruption to two of the world's most critical shipping lanes.

Iran has already effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz; the Houthis have now signaled they could move against the Bab al-Mandab Strait, through which roughly 10 percent of the world's seaborne oil passes.

Pakistan's Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said on March 28 that Iran had agreed to allow an additional 20 Pakistani-flagged ships to pass through the Strait of Hormuz, with two vessels permitted to transit daily.

The Strait of Hormuz accounts for around one-fifth of global oil shipments and the effective closure of it by Iranian forces has become a central issue of the conflict, which started with US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28.

Last weekend, US President Donald Trump said the United States would "obliterate" Iran's power plants if Tehran keeps blocking the key waterway after 48 hours.

He later extended the deadline to March 27 and then by another 10 days, as Washington awaited Iran's official response to its 15-point peace proposal, which included several key demands the United States had been pushing for prior to the war.

The Pakistani government has been acting as a mediator between Iran and the United States and has conveyed the US peace plan to Tehran. It also announced that it would host the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Egypt for talks on the matter on March 29–30.

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Three Islands That Could Be Key In Keeping The Strait Of Hormuz Open

In separate comments on March 26, Trump said that he believed Iran was seeking negotiations because of its "present" to the United States, which he said allowed 10 oil tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.

Tehran has earlier suggested that ships from "non-hostile" nations would have clear passage through the Strait of Hormuz. However, even if some vessels are allowed through, the overall uncertainty has made it difficult to secure insurance, effectively preventing ships from using the waterway.

Media outlets close to the Islamic Republic reported that branches of a local cafe network in Tehran have been closed by order of the authorities due to what they described as "suspicious designs" on the cafe's products.

By depicting an empty chair on its paper cups, Cafe Lamiz was allegedly hinting at Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was reportedly killed in US-Israeli airstrikes at the start of the war on February 28.

It was later revealed that the design was an older painting by Farshid Mesghali, an Iranian painter and graphic artist. The painting had previously been featured on the poster of the 10th Children and Youth Film Festival, which was held in 1975.

Earlier in the year, Iranian state-affiliated media accused Cafe Lamiz of actions against national security during the January protests.

The protests were the largest in years. A subsequent crackdown by Iranian authorities resulted in the deaths of thousands of civilians and led to the closure of a number of businesses.

Rosatom, the Russian operator of the Bushehr nuclear power plant in western Iran, has evacuated 163 more of its staff, saying the situation at the facility continues to deteriorate.

On March 27, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said that Tehran had informed it of another strike that targeted the area near Bushehr. The attack made it the third such incident in the past 10 days.

While no damage to the operating reactor and no release of radiation were reported, the Russian Foreign Ministry called for "unequivocal and firm condemnation" of the attack near the power plant.

"We hope that... the Director General of the IAEA will be able to convey a simple message to the aggressors immediately and unequivocally: 'It is time for you to stop!'," Russia's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said in a statement.

The Russian-built Bushehr plant, on the Gulf coast, is Iran's sole nuclear power plant; it is fueled by uranium produced in Russia, not Iran, and is monitored by the IAEA. Russia has already evacuated some staff, but hundreds remain.

Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA) said its Al Taweelah production base in the United Arab Emirates was significantly damaged following Iranian missile and drone attacks.

EGA's chief executive, Abdulnasser bin Kalban, reported that a number of the company's employees were injured in the attacks, that targeted Khalifa Economic Zone in Abu Dhabi. He added that none of the injuries were life-threatening.

"The safety and security of our people is our top priority at EGA at all times," Kalban said in a statement published on March 28. "We are deeply saddened and are assessing the damage to our facilities," he added.

Due to the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway accounting for a significant share of global supply, most of the aluminium produced in the Gulf -- around one tenth of world trade -- has been unable to be shipped since the start of the war in the Middle East one month ago.

Earlier in the month, Reuters reported that EGA planned to reroute aluminium exports and raw material imports via the Omani port of Sohar.

With reporting by Reuters.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has secured defense cooperation agreements with the United Arab Emirates and Qatar during his Gulf visit, amid the ongoing conflict with Iran.

Qatar’s Defense Ministry announced that Doha and Kyiv signed a defense cooperation agreement which focuses on sharing expertise in countering missiles and unmanned aerial systems.

Earlier in the United Arab Emirates, Zelenskyy met President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, with both countries agreeing to cooperate in security and defense.

The deals permit Ukraine to share its extensive experience in shooting down Russian drones and missiles with Gulf partners now confronting similar Iranian attacks.

Zelenskyy also signed a defense cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia on March 26.

Ukraine has flatly denied an Iranian claim that the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) destroyed a Ukrainian anti-drone weapons depot in Dubai, calling it disinformation.

"This is a lie. We officially refute this information," Foreign Ministry spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi told reporters on March 28, adding that the Islamic republic "frequently carries out such disinformation campaigns."

The IRGC's Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters -- Iran's military central command -- had claimed its aerospace and naval forces carried out a combined operation destroying the facility, which it said was supporting the US military. It also claimed 21 Ukrainian nationals were present at the site at the time. The United Arab Emirates and United States did not immediately comment.

The UAE has borne the brunt of Iran's retaliation in the Persian Gulf, with Emirati air defenses engaging nearly 2,200 drones and missiles since Tehran launched its campaign in response to the US-Israeli operation on February 28, according to local officials.

European intelligence agencies have made an assessment that Russia "is in the final stages of preparing to supply drones to Iran for use in its war with the US and Israel," according to a report in The Guardian, citing an unnamed senior European official.

This follows a recent report by the Financial Times that Russia is completing a "multi-phase delivery of drones, medicine, and food" to Iran.

Iran has previously supplied thousands of Shahed-series kamikaze drones for Russia's war on Ukraine.

According to The Guardian, if this shipment reaches Iran, it "would mark the first evidence of lethal support since the start of the war."

US officials, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and others have said that Russia has shared intelligence with Iran since the beginning of the war, including satellite imagery and targeting data.

The Financial Times reported that the delivery of the drone shipment to Iran would "likely take place by the middle of this week."

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the reports of Russia sending drones to Iran were "fake news."