We are now closing the live blog for the day. We'll be back tomorrow at 7:30 a.m. Central European time to cover the latest events across the Middle East.
Iran Advances A Plan To Tighten Control Of The Strait Of Hormuz
Iranian parliament's National Security Commission approved a plan on March 30 elaborating how Tehran would manage the Strait of Hormuz. The document covers a range of proposed actions from passage tolls for ships to a complete ban on vessels belonging to Israel and the US. Ships from countries that participate in international sanctions regime against Iran are to be restricted.
According to Iranian state media, this way Iran sees itself as exercising its "sovereign right," and is also envisaging cooperation with Oman to establish "the legal regime of the strait."
Over the past weeks, Alladin Borujerdi, a member of the parliament's National Security Commission, floated an idea of a $2-million fee for some ships passing through Hormuz.
The White House reiterated on March 30 that any attempts by Iran to regulate traffic through Hormuz or charge for passage are unacceptable.
The Strait of Hormuz is one of the key energy transport routes, with about a fifth of the world's crude oil and LNG passing through it under normal circumstances. Since the start of US and Israel's war with Iran on February 28, this volume dropped by about 95 percent with Iran blocking the passage as its retaliatory measure.
White House: US May Ask Arab States To Help Pay For War
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told a briefing on March 30 that US President Donald Trump may consider asking Arab nations to help pay for the Iran war.
"I think it's something the president would be quite interested in calling them to do," she said. "I won't get ahead of him on that, but certainly it's an idea that I know that he has and something that I think you'll hear more from him on."
Arab countries in the Persian Gulf have repeatedly come under Iranian attack since US and Israeli air strikes on Iran on February 28. They have not joined the war on Iran. However, the attacks coupled with Iran's blockage of the Strait of Hormuz have caused them substantial economic losses as well as civilian casualties.
Leavitt also repeated the US position that talks with Iran were continuing and were going well, which Iran has denied.
"Despite all of the public posturing you hear from the regime and false reporting, talks are continuing and going well. What is said publicly is, of course, much different than what's being communicated to us privately," Leavitt said.
Iranian And Israeli Oil Facilities In Flames As Strikes Continue
Iran and Israel continued to trade attacks that left a petrochemical plant in the Iranian city of Tabriz in flames, according to Iran's state media on March 30. It was followed by a strike on an Israeli refinery in Haifa. An Iraqi Air Force transport plane was also targeted by Iran-backed militias at Baghdad International Airport as the conflict in the region entered its fifth week.
Syrian President Condemns Iran's Attacks On Persian Gulf Countries
Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa, who is in Germany, expressed sympathy for the Arab countries of the Persian Gulf in a press conference on March 30, in which he condemned Iran's attacks on these countries.
Al-Shara stressed that Iran's neighboring Arab countries to the south "did not want" to enter the war, but Iran was attacking them.
The Syrian president, who visited Germany for the first time in his capacity and met with the country's chancellor on March 30, said that the current war, which has just entered its fifth week, "poses a great danger" to global energy supplies.
He also emphasized that the parties to the conflict must "reach an agreement based on a specific formula" as soon as possible, otherwise the continuation of the war would be fraught with potential dangers.
Turkey Says Fourth Iranian Missile Intercepted
The Turkish Defense Ministry announced on March 30 that a ballistic missile launched from Iran had been intercepted and destroyed.
According to a statement from the ministry, the missile was intercepted by NATO air and missile defenses based in the eastern Mediterranean.
This is the fourth Iranian ballistic missile to be intercepted in or en route to Turkish airspace.
Egyptian President Calls On Trump To Stop War
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has called on US President Donald Trump to stop the war in the region.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Egyptian Energy Exhibition, Al-Sisi said: "I say to President Trump: No one but you can stop the war in our region in the Persian Gulf."
The foreign ministers of Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey met in Islamabad at the end of last week to find a way to end the US-Israeli war with Iran, but the outcome of these talks is still unclear.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdel Ati also contacted his US counterpart, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in recent days and called for a diplomatic solution to end the conflicts in the region.
Kuwaiti Desalination Plant Hit; Iran Blames Israel
Hours after Kuwait announced that a desalination facility in the country had been attacked, a spokesman for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) blamed Israel for the attack.
Kuwait's Ministry of Electricity, Water and Renewable Energy confirmed the attack on one of the country's electricity generation and water distillation facilities on March 30, saying an Indian worker was killed in the attack and that "significant material damage" was caused.
Kuwait said that Iran was behind the strike.
However, the IRGC issued a statement claiming the attack on Kuwait's desalination facilities was carried out by Israel "under the pretext of accusing the Islamic republic."
The statement also called for an end to the presence of US military forces in the region.
Iran Says It Rejects 'Unrealistic' US Peace Plan
Tehran has said it received, reviewed, and rejected a 15-point US peace plan that was delivered through Pakistani emissaries.
On March 30, Iran called the plan "unrealistic, illogical, and excessive" while launching more missiles and drones at targets in Israel.
"What has been discussed so far have been messages about America's willingness and request for negotiations, which we received from some intermediaries, including Pakistan," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ismail Baghaei said.
Trump has imposed an April 6 deadline for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz and accept a deal ending the war or face US strikes on its power plants.
On March 29, Trump hailed progress in talks with Iran, saying they were being held directly and indirectly with "reasonable" leaders and asserted Tehran was partially opening the crucial Strait of Hormuz, the waterway through which some 20 percent of the world's oil and natural gas supplies pass.
But he has yet to elaborate on what he called direct talks with Iran, whose leaders deny negotiations are taking place.
To read the full report, click here.
Trump Renews Warning To Iran: Reach Deal Soon Or Face Energy Sector Attacks
US President Donald Trump has renewed his warning to Tehran to reach a deal to end the war soon and open the Strait of Hormuz or he will order air strikes with the aim of "completely obliterating" Iran's oil export hub of Kharg Island, oil wells, and power plants.
For the second day in a row, the US leader said a deal is likely at hand, but he also said in a social media post on March 30 that "if for any reason a deal is not shortly reached" US forces will react " by blowing up and completely obliterating all of their Electric Generating Plants, Oil Wells and Kharg Island (and possibly all desalinization plants!), which we have purposefully not yet 'touched.'"
To read the full report, click here.