EconoTicker

The United Arab Emirates strongly condemned the targeting of, or threats to target, civilian infrastructure and civilian facilities across the region, including schools, universities, hospitals, water facilities, energy installations, transport hubs, and residential areas. Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan said such actions are a grave violation of international law and cannot be justified under any circumstances.

He warned that turning energy facilities, ports, airports, and international maritime passages into military targets does not only endanger one country, but also threatens global economic stability, critical supply chains, and broader regional and international security. The UAE also stressed that civilian infrastructure must not become a battlefield and called for an immediate halt to such attacks.

Source: UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The White House said on X that U.S. forces have struck 10,000 Iranian military targets, presenting the campaign as evidence of overwhelming American military pressure. In the same message, the administration said U.S. forces are operating at peak strength and are humiliating the enemy more with each passing day, underscoring the increasingly aggressive tone surrounding the conflict. Reuters separately reported on March 27 that U.S. strikes had hit more than 10,000 Iranian military targets as of that week, citing U.S. Central Command.

The claim reinforces Washington’s effort to frame the operation as both extensive and strategically successful, even as outside assessments remain more cautious about how much of Iran’s missile arsenal has been definitively destroyed. Reuters reported that U.S. intelligence could confirm with certainty the destruction of only about a third of Iran’s missile stockpile, highlighting the gap between battlefield messaging and verified damage assessments.

Source: White House on X; Reuters

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he discussed potential security cooperation with Jordan’s King Abdullah II, along with the broader situation in the Middle East and the Persian Gulf. The talks highlight Kyiv’s effort to deepen regional security ties while concerns over instability across the Middle East remain elevated.

Zelensky added that Ukraine is ready for joint cooperation in defending against drone and missile attacks. In that context, he pointed to Ukraine’s experience confronting Iranian-made drones during Russia’s full-scale war, signaling that Kyiv sees its battlefield expertise as a potential area of practical cooperation with regional partners.

Source: Volodymyr Zelensky on X

Donald Trump said indirect negotiations between the United States and Iran, conducted through Pakistani envoys, are progressing well. He added that the number of Pakistani-flagged oil tankers allowed by the Islamic Republic to pass through the Strait of Hormuz has doubled to 20 vessels, suggesting a possible easing in selected regional shipping arrangements.

Trump also said that Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, speaker of Iran’s parliament, had authorized the passage of the additional tankers. In another striking part of the interview, Trump stated that he wants to “take Iran’s oil” and said he may seek control of the Khark Island export hub, underscoring how energy security and geopolitical pressure remain tightly linked in the current U.S.-Iran narrative.

Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis said they carried out a second attack on Israel in less than 24 hours, using missiles and drones, according to a statement delivered by military spokesperson Yahya Saree. The group also said it would continue military operations in the coming days, signaling that it intends to stay active in the widening regional conflict.

The announcement points to a sharper escalation from the Houthis, who only just confirmed their entry into the current war and are now presenting repeated strikes on Israel as part of a continuing campaign.

Source: Reuters.

European allies are telling U.S. diplomats, both publicly and privately, that Russia is directly and materially helping Iran’s war effort more than Washington has publicly acknowledged, according to CBS News. The report says European officials argue the wars in Ukraine and Iran are increasingly intertwined, given the depth of Moscow-Tehran defense cooperation. A British official cited by CBS said Iran not only supplied Shahed drones to Russia for use in Ukraine, but also transferred production know-how that later helped Tehran refine its own drone warfare capabilities.

The concerns were also raised at the G7 meeting in France, where Reuters reported that European ministers pressed Secretary of State Marco Rubio over accusations that Moscow has provided satellite imagery and drone-related support to Tehran. Reuters said two Western security sources and a regional official close to Tehran described Russian assistance that included imagery and help upgrading Iranian drones. EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas went further, saying Russia was helping Iran with intelligence to target Americans. Russia has denied passing intelligence to Iran.

Source: CBS News; Reuters

The Israeli military says it has killed around 800 Hezbollah fighters over the past month, including hundreds from the elite Radwan force, as fighting on the Lebanon front deepens alongside the wider regional war. In the latest Israeli military reporting reflected in Israeli media, the figure was put at at least 770, with officials signaling the real number could be higher.

Israel also says it struck about 170 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon in recent days, while ground forces continue operating in the south. The claims underline how the Lebanon front remains one of the most active parallel theaters of the conflict.

At the same time, the broader toll inside Lebanon keeps rising. Two sources familiar with Hezbollah’s count told Reuters on Friday that more than 400 Hezbollah fighters had been killed since March 2, while Lebanon’s health ministry said 1,142 people had been killed overall, without distinguishing between civilians and combatants.

Source: Israeli military; Reuters

Israel Hayom reported that U.S. President Donald Trump rejected a request from the Islamic Republic for a ceasefire while Tehran prepares its response to Washington’s proposal for ending the war. The report points to another sign that the White House still prefers to keep military pressure in place while waiting for an Iranian reply.

The broader diplomatic picture remains tense and uncertain. Reuters reported earlier this week that Iran’s initial response to the U.S. 15-point proposal was effectively negative, though Tehran was still reviewing the details, while the White House later downplayed reports that the plan had been fully rejected and said contacts remained productive.

That means the reported rejection of a temporary ceasefire, if accurate, would fit a wider pattern in which Washington is keeping the diplomatic channel open but is not yet willing to ease pressure before receiving a more concrete Iranian answer. I could not independently verify the specific Israel Hayom claim beyond the report itself.

Source: Israel Hayom; Reuters; Axios.

U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance said Washington will keep its military campaign against the Islamic Republic going for “a little while longer” until Iran is weakened enough that the United States does not have to return to war again in the near future. Speaking on Benny Johnson’s program, Vance said the goal is to prevent Tehran from re-emerging as a long-term threat and to stop it from advancing toward a nuclear weapon. He also said the U.S. has already achieved most of its military objectives, but wants to ensure those gains become more durable.

Vance added that Washington is not seeking a prolonged presence inside Iran and expects U.S. forces to leave once the main security goals are secured. He also downplayed the recent rise in energy prices, describing it as a temporary reaction to what he expects to remain a relatively short conflict.

Source: Benny Johnson interview with J.D. Vance, as reported by New York Post, Ynet, and Rudaw.

The U.S. military said its campaign against Iran has expanded sharply, with more than 10,000 targets confirmed earlier this week and later reports citing CENTCOM saying the total had risen to over 11,000. Washington also says more than 150 Iranian vessels have now been destroyed or damaged, underscoring the scale of the maritime and air campaign alongside strikes on missile, drone, and military infrastructure.

The figures point to a widening U.S. effort to degrade Iran’s broader warfighting capacity, not only on land but also at sea, as Washington presses ahead with Operation Epic Fury.

Source: U.S. Central Command, as cited by Anadolu Agency and later reports citing CENTCOM.

An airstrike on a Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) headquarters in Mosul killed at least two Iraqi police officers and wounded two others, according to Reuters, which cited security sources. The report said the PMF site was located next to a police facility, helping explain why police personnel were among the casualties.

The incident adds to mounting pressure on Iraq as attacks linked to the wider regional conflict continue to hit PMF-linked locations and nearby state security sites. The latest strike also underlines how the overlap between militia compounds and official security infrastructure is increasing the risk of spillover casualties inside Iraq.

Source: Reuters.

The Israeli military said it struck more than 250 targets in Iran and Lebanon over the weekend, underscoring a further expansion of its regional campaign. According to Reuters, Israel said it hit more than 100 targets in Iran since Friday, including ballistic missile production and storage facilities as well as government infrastructure sites in Tehran, while also striking more than 170 targets in Lebanon.

The scale of the attacks suggests Israel is continuing to widen pressure on both Iran’s military-industrial base and Hezbollah-linked fronts in Lebanon at the same time. Reuters reported that the Lebanese front also saw continued fatalities, including journalists and a soldier, as the conflict remained active across multiple theaters.

Source: Israeli military; Reuters.