Life and freedom are integral to the Iranian spirit. Even amid these dark days, I have hope that the conflict could liberate my people What is a writer’s responsibility? I feel that it has always been to give voice to those who have been silenced and to keep people alive through recreating them in our imagination, time and time again.
I had to deal with energy shock in Germany after Putin invaded Ukraine. The solution now is the same: buy ourselves out of the fossil fuels trap Yes, there are big differences between the war of aggression that Russia has now been waging against Ukraine for four years and the war the US and Israel launched against Iran. The biggest difference: the US is still a democracy.
Iran Guards said they fired missiles at Israel and US forces in bases in Kuwait, Jordan and Bahrain; crude oil prices fall sharply in early trading Trump’s rehashed 15-point Iran plan unlikely to appease Tehran Welcome to our ongoing coverage of the US-Israeli war on Iran and its wider repercussions in the Middle East and globally. More American troops are prepared to head to the Middle East . At least 1,000 troops from the 82nd Airborne Division will be sent in the coming days, three people with knowledge of the plans told the Associated Press.
Foreign minister reiterates condemnation of Iran over the strait of Hormuz, and says Australia does not want to see occupation of southern Lebanon by Israel Penny Wong has told her Israeli counterpart that Australia supports Lebanon’s sovereignty and does not want to see the southern part of the country occupied by Israel, after the Netanyahu government revealed plans to pursue a “defensive buffer” against Iran-backed armed group, Hezbollah. It comes as Israel vowed to continue striking Iran, dimming hopes of de-escalation even as US president Donald Trump talked up the prospects of a deal to end the conflict. Continue reading...
Andrew Roth on why the war on Iran is unpopular with the US public and what it means for Maga insiders Andrew Roth, the Guardian’s global affairs correspondent based in Washington DC, says reporting on the US and Israeli war on Iran gives you “whiplash”. “We’re so used to going into these kinds of wars and conflicts where there’s a massive plan for what’s going to happen six weeks from now, six months from now,” he tells Michael Safi. Continue reading...
President continues to tout ‘very good’ talks with Iran, which Iranian officials continue to deny – key US politics stories from 24 March 2026 at a glance Donald Trump declared victory in his war on Iran on Tuesday amid reports that the US is in the process of deploying about 1,000 more soldiers to the region as the president touts “very good” talks with Iran are ongoing. Iranian officials continue to deny that. Iranian barrages targeted Israel, Gulf Arab states and northern Iraq on Tuesday, while Israeli and US warplanes continued to carry out strikes across Tehran and on other targets in the Islamic Republic.
Diplomats say US president’s latest claimed plan probably based on now outdated framework put forward in May 2025 Middle East crisis – live updates The 15-point framework plan for peace with Iran that Donald Trump has said is being discussed is based on a proposal put forward by his negotiating team during nuclear talks almost a year ago, diplomats with knowledge of the talks believe. That original 15-point plan was the basis for negotiations in late May 2025, shortly before the talks collapsed due to Israeli airstrikes on Iran’s nuclear programme. Continue reading...
Defence chiefs have been discussing how to unblock the conduit for about a fifth of the world’s oil supplies The UK has offered to host an international security summit to draw up a “viable, collective plan” to reopen the strait of Hormuz as economic fallout from the Iran conflict continues. Defence chiefs have been discussing how they might unblock the vital shipping lane, through which about 20% of global oil supplies usually pass, amid the Middle East crisis unleashed by the US and Israel. Continue reading...
British investigators are circumspect, but experts and security officials say incident has hallmarks of Iranian intelligence Middle East crisis – live updates From Golders Green, where four ambulances belonging to a Jewish charity were set alight in the early hours of Monday, a tangled trail likely leads across two continents to Tehran. British investigators are circumspect. Speaking at an event on Monday evening, Sir Mark Rowley, the head of the Metropolitan police, described a “very relevant and rolling threat” from Iran to the UK and specifically to Jewish targets but warned it was still “too early” to attribute the attack in north London to Tehran.
Continue reading...
An investigation is under way into an arson attack on four ambulances belonging to a Jewish charity in north London. Efforts are being made to verify a claim of responsibility by a group known as Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia (HAYI). Security sources have cautioned against a rush to tie Iran to arson and it has not so far been designated as a terrorist incident.
Now the rightwing press are accusing the PM of cowardice over Iran. He must stop letting them craft his narrative and create his own If there was one thing Keir Starmer might have hoped the UK media would support him over, it was his refusal to follow a US president blindly into war in the Middle East. After all, his Labour predecessor Tony Blair only really got hammered in the press over warmongering in Iraq.
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, who has threatened US, being weighed up as potential interlocutor to bring war to an end Middle East crisis – live updates Just as in 1967 when a rank outsider won the Grand National due to a massive pile-up of other horses at one of the final fences, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s parliament and Donald Trump’s putative interlocutor , appears to have come to the front as the field around him rapidly thinned. In the pantheon of Iran’s leaders, ruthlessly reduced by targeted assassinations, Ghalibaf stands out as a survivor, but if the US president hopes he has finally located the Delsy Rodríguez of Iran – a pragmatic leader from within the regime willing to do business with America – he may need to think again. Continue reading...
Israel and Gulf states targeted and Iran hit by airstrikes as Tehran denies negotiations are taking place to end war Middle East crisis – live updates Violence has continued across much of the Middle East, a day after Donald Trump said the US was in “very good” talks with Iran to end the war in the region soon. Iranian barrages targeted Israel, Gulf Arab states and northern Iraq on Tuesday, while Israeli and US warplanes continued to carry out strikes across Tehran and on other targets in the Islamic Republic. Continue reading...
Israeli PM says ‘there’s more to come’ while Iran’s IRGC promise to attack ‘without restraint’ if conflict continues Middle East crisis – live updates An Iranian missile has struck central Tel Aviv and the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has vowed to continue striking Tehran and Lebanon, dimming hopes of de-escalation after Donald Trump played up the chances of a deal to end the conflict . “There’s more to come,” Netanyahu said in remarks that appeared to corroborate those of three Israeli officials who told Reuters they thought it was improbable that Iran would accept US demands in any new round of negotiations. Continue reading...
Richard Nixon’s strategy was about shielding his own reputation. Now Trump needs a face-saving exit of his own Donald Trump’s struggle to justify continuing his war with Iran reminds me of Richard Nixon’s quest for “peace with honor” in Vietnam. Nixon caused years of death and suffering in pursuit of his elusive goal.
Diplomatic sources say negotiations in Islamabad may begin next week, though no formal agreement is in place Middle East crisis – live updates Pakistan’s military leadership has been attempting to broker negotiations between the US and Iran, after the White House confirmed that Pakistan’s army chief, Asim Munir, had a phonecall with Donald Trump on Sunday to discuss the conflict. Diplomatic sources said the US and Iran could meet for negotiations in Islamabad as early as this week, to discuss an end to the war which began almost a month ago. Continue reading...
Iranian parliament speaker says ‘no negotiations’ held with US, as Trump postpones energy strikes for five days; European Commission chief says war must come to negotiated end Trump claims ‘productive’ talks with Iran but Tehran denies contact Israel launches new strikes on Tehran as Trump pauses Iran energy attacks Welcome to our ongoing coverage of the US-Israeli war on Iran and its wider repercussions in the Middle East and globally. Donald Trump has claimed the US and Iran have held talks in which the two sides had “major points of agreement”, and speculated that a deal could soon be done to end the war, a claim contradicted by Tehran. Trump said the threatened US strikes on Iranian power plants had been postponed after “very good and productive” discussions with Iran about a “complete and total resolution of our hostilities” in the Middle East.
Tehran denied negotiations that delayed US strikes and Trump was vague on the details, but talks signal renewed push for peace from regional powers There have been so many abortive rounds of diplomacy between the US and Iran – the latest appearing to be led by Pakistan after Washington has burned through many other regional mediators – that it was hardly a surprise that President Trump’s claims of “very good” talks with Tehran initially provoked disbelief – especially after Iran denied that any negotiations were taking place at all. Nonetheless, standing beside Air Force One, Trump did his best to sell the sudden detente with little detail as a US ultimatum to bomb Iran’s power plants loomed unless Tehran opened up the strait of Hormuz. It was lost on few that the sudden about-face came just hours before US markets were to open for what promised to be another punishing round of trading on Monday.
Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf at first dismissed talks took place, insisting Trump’s claim was ‘fake news’ designed to soothe markets Middle East crisis – live updates The backchannel talks between Donald Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, and the Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, were not a secret in the sense that the Egyptian Foreign Ministry had tweeted that conversations were under way on Sunday, 24 hours before Donald Trump’s late Monday deadline to start blowing up Iran’s energy infrastructure. But such is the chaos surrounding the process that the discussions – thought to be well short of negotiations – may have lasted longer than Sunday, with more than one mediator, as is often the case, jostling for the title of peacemaker in chief. Pakistan’s army chief, Asim Munir, for instance, spoke with Trump on Sunday, while Pakistani prime minister, Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif, held talks with Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, on Monday.
