Trump Says 'Many Countries' May Deploy Warships To Protect Strait Of Hormuz
US President Donald Trump says that countries affected by Iran’s attempt to close the Strait of Hormuz may send warships to help keep the key shipping route open alongside American forces.
“Many Countries… will be sending War Ships, in conjunction with the United States… to keep the Strait open and safe,” he wrote on the Truth Social platform on March 14.
Trump claimed the United States had “already destroyed 100% of Iran’s Military capability,” and that the threat posed by Iran had been "totally decapitated." However, he warned Iran could still threaten shipping with drones, mines, or missiles.
He added that the United States would continue striking Iranian coastal targets and vessels, saying Washington would ensure the strait is “OPEN, SAFE, and FREE.”
Inside Israel’s largest hospital, doctors work two stories underground as the war with Iran continues. At the Sheba Medical Center, much of the facility has moved below ground to keep operating despite the threat of Iranian missile strikes. (Video report by RFE/RL's Ray Furlong.)
Iranian Lawmaker Warns Ukraine Is Becoming 'Legitimate Target'
Iranian lawmaker Ebrahim Azizi, who heads the Iranian parliament’s National Security Commission, warned on X that Ukraine is becoming a “legitimate target” for providing “drone support to the Israeli regime.”
Iran itself has been supplying drones to Russia that have been widely used in attacks on Ukrainian cities and energy infrastructure since the start of Moscow’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
Israeli Defense Minister Says Iran Campaign Will Continue 'As Long As Necessary'
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said the US–Israeli military campaign against Iran was entering a decisive phase and would continue “as long as necessary” to achieve its objectives.
Speaking at briefing alongside senior military officials on March 14, Katz said operations were hitting "strategic targets" in Tehran and across Tehran, and were intended to weaken the regime and create conditions for the Iranian public to challenge it.
Katz said the offensive would proceed without a set timetable until Israel and its allies achieve victory in the campaign.
He added that strikes were being conducted systematically against key regime institutions and security forces while Israel monitored developments inside Iran.
Iran Says 56 Cultural Sites Damaged In US-Israeli Attacks
Iran’s Ministry of Cultural Heritage said on March 14 that at least 56 museums, historic buildings, and cultural sites across the country have suffered serious damage in the two weeks since the start of joint US-Israeli attacks.
The ministry said the highest number of damaged sites was recorded in Tehran, with 19, and Kurdistan Province, with 12.
Among the sites listed on the Iranian government’s official account on the social media platform X were Asif Mansion, Salar Saeed Mansion, and Khosroabad Mansion in the Kurdish city of Sanandaj, historic 19th-century Qajar-era residences.
Photographs circulating earlier also showed damage to Golestan Palace in Tehran, a UNESCO-listed royal complex, and Ali Qapu Palace in Isfahan, a landmark Safavid-era palace overlooking Naqsh-e Jahan Square.
In Israel's Medical Bunkers, Doctors Ready To Work 'Indefinitely'
- By Ray Furlong
TEL AVIV – After several twists down a concrete stairwell, a buzzing underground world is revealed. Ambulances unloading patients on gurneys, rows of field-hospital tents, workmen fixing overhead cables, and medical personnel in an array of uniforms.
This is the Sheba Medical Center, the largest hospital in the Middle East, with 11,000 employees, 1,700 doctors, and over 3,000 nurses. And most of it is functioning underground to stay out of reach of Iranian ballistic missiles.
“This place is not a field hospital. This is the hospital. It is just subterranean,” Yardena Koppel, a pediatric doctor, told RFE/RL.
Rattling off a list of departments that are, she said, fully functioning, Koppel added: “Each area is well-oiled and functions within itself. It's something really incredible, something I've never seen before.”
The hospital has moved some operations below ground in Israel’s previous conflicts, but never on such a scale. This location, two stories below ground, is just one of five containing hundreds of patients -- while some sections of the hospital are deemed well-protected enough to keep working in their usual places.
Read more here.
CENTCOM Says It Carried Out 'Large-Scale Precision Strike' On Kharg Island
The US Central Command CENTCOM) says its forces "executed a large-scale precision strike on Kharg Island" on March 14.
"The strike destroyed naval mine storage facilities, missile storage bunkers, and multiple other military sites," CENTCOM said on social media, posting a video previously shared by US President Donald Trump that appeared show explosions on the island
"U.S. forces successfully struck more than 90 Iranian military targets on Kharg Island, while preserving the oil infrastructure," CENTCOM added.
Fire Reportedly Disrupts Oil-Loading At Key UAE Port
Some oil-loading operations were suspended at the United Arab Emirates’ port of Fujairah, a major refueling hub for ships outside the Strait of Hormuz, after a fire broke out on March 14, industry and trade sources said.
Authorities said the fire started when debris fell during the interception of a drone. No injuries were reported, and civil defense teams were working to contain the blaze, the emirate’s media office said.
Officials did not confirm the reported suspension of port operations.
Earlier, Bloomberg News reported that some oil-loading activities at Fujairah port had been halted following a drone attack and fire.
The Abu Dhabi state oil company ADNOC, which operates in the emirate, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
With reporting by Reuters
Bombing Of Several Military Sites Reported Around The City Of Tabriz
Hours after the Israeli military warned residents in parts of the city of Tabriz in northwestern Iran, an official from the East Azerbaijan provincial administration confirmed that Israel had attacked “several military sites.”
According to the head of crisis management at the East Azerbaijan provincial governor’s office, the Israeli military bombed “a private industrial facility in western Tabriz, a production unit in the Akhula area, and several military centers around the city,” the state-aligned Mehr news agency reported.
He did not provide further details.
The official also reported that five people were injured in the attacks.
Iranian Activists: 'No To War And No To The Islamic Republic'
Hundreds of Iranian academic, civil, cultural, and political activists have issued a statement condemning both the Islamic Republic’s policies and the US and Israeli military attacks on Iran, which they described as “contrary to recognized principles of international law.”
Some 350 signatories called for an immediate halt to the war.
They wrote: “From our perspective, as supporters of ‘No to war and no to the Islamic Republic,’ this war -- like all destructive wars -- is an absolute evil that brings neither democracy nor security and prosperity for the people.”
The activists criticized the Tehran government's policies that they said -- “through the suppression of citizens’ rights, the killing of protesters, hostility toward the West, calls for the destruction of Israel, regional adventurism, and support for proxy forces -- have no connection to the national interests of Iranians.”
They also urged support for peace initiatives and diplomatic efforts to end the conflict.