US & ‘Israel’ at war with Iran | Day 32 coverage
The 2026 Iran War began on February 28 when the United States and ‘Israel’ launched an operation dubbed Epic Fury by the US and Lion's Roar by ‘Israel’, unleashing nearly 900 airstrikes in 12 hours on Iranian missile systems, air defenses, nuclear facilities, military bases, and leadership targets.
Yemen’s Houthi movement entered the war early, launching missile and drone attacks toward ‘Israel’ and expanding the war beyond the Gulf and Levant theaters.
This direct assault followed years of shadow war, including the first-ever Iran-‘Israel’ missile exchanges in April and October 2024 and a limited 12-day war in June 2025 that damaged Tehran’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and dozens of top officials were killed in the opening salvo, while a US Tomahawk strike on a school adjacent to a naval base near Bandar Abbas killed about 170 civilians, mostly children.
Iran responded within hours by firing hundreds of ballistic missiles and launching thousands of drones at ‘Israel’, US bases in the Gulf, and targets in Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait.
Tehran restricted passage through the Strait of Hormuz—through which 20% of global oil flows—disrupting shipping and spiking oil prices.
The retaliation reignited fighting with Hezbollah in Lebanon, prompting ‘Israeli’ strikes there and spreading the conflict regionally while hitting civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, airports, and heritage sites.
Over the next three weeks, US-‘Israeli’ forces conducted sustained air campaigns that destroyed much of Iran’s air-defense network, missile production sites and navy assets.
Iran appointed Mojtaba Khamenei as the new supreme leader, but pragmatic senior official Ali Larijani was assassinated in an ‘Israeli’ strike on March 17.
More than 80,000 civilian sites were hit, including 260 medical facilities and UNESCO-listed buildings, causing widespread blackouts, fuel shortages, toxic pollution, and over 2,000 total deaths across Iran, ‘Israel’, Lebanon, and Gulf states.
The war remained active in its fourth week with ongoing US-‘Israeli’ airstrikes on remaining Iranian targets and Iranian retaliatory barrages, including recent cluster-munition attacks on ‘Israel’ and a failed long-range missile attempt at Diego Garcia.
Trump has threatened to destroy Iran’s power plants unless the Strait of Hormuz reopens fully but has signaled possible winding down or deals, which Tehran denies pursuing.
Day 32 of the US-‘Israeli’ war on Iran
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US sends third aircraft carrier to Middle East amid Iran war: report
The United States Navy started the deployment of the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush and its accompanying warships to the Middle East, marking the arrival of a third carrier strike group in the region amid the ongoing war with Iran.
According to US officials cited in a Wall Street Journal report, the Bush departed Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia on Tuesday and is expected to join the USS Abraham Lincoln, which is currently operating in the Arabian Sea, and the USS Gerald R. Ford, which remains at port in Croatia for repairs.
The transit could require several weeks.
The officials further stated that the United States could maintain three aircraft carriers in the Middle East for the foreseeable future.
This deployment occurs as Trump evaluates additional military options in the conflict with Iran, with US forces continuing to flow into the region.
Over the weekend, a Marine expeditionary unit embarked on amphibious warships entered Middle Eastern waters, enhancing ground and expeditionary capabilities already in the region.
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth addressed the situation in a joint press conference with Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Dan Caine, declaring that “the coming days in the war will be decisive.”
Hegseth also said that the number of projectiles launched by Iran in the past 24 hours represented the lowest during the conflict.
‘Israeli’ strikes in south Lebanon kill 8, including paramedic: health ministry
‘Israeli’ strikes in south Lebanon killed at least eight people on Tuesday, one of them a paramedic, according to the ministry of health.
In separate statements, the ministry said a strike in Tyre district killed three people and wounded 19 more, while another attack in Sidon district killed four.
A third strike in Bint Jbeil district hit a gathering point for the Risala Scouts -- a rescue organisation -- killing a paramedic and wounding 13 other people.
Pope says he hopes Trump looking for “off-ramp” in Mideast war
Pope Leo XIV said Tuesday he hoped that US President Donald Trump was looking to end the war in the Middle East, as he called for a halt to violence ahead of Easter.
"I'm told that President Trump recently stated that he would like to end the war, hopefully he's looking for an off-ramp, hopefully he's looking for a way to decrease the amount of violence, of bombing," the pope told journalists as he left his residence in Castel Gandolfo, outside Rome, for the Vatican.
That, the pope said, "would be a significant contribution to removing the hatred that's being created and that's increasing constantly in the Middle East and elsewhere".
"I would certainly continue to give this call to all leaders of the world to say: 'Come back to the table to dialogue, let's look for solutions of problems'," said the 70-year-old American pontiff.
With the Christian holiday of Easter approaching, "it should be the holiest, most sacred time of the whole year," said Leo.
"It is a time of peace, a time for deep reflection, but as we all know, once again in the world, in many places we are seeing so much suffering, so many deaths, even innocent children.
"We continually make an appeal for peace, but unfortunately many people want to promote hatred, violence and war."
The pope is preparing to celebrate Easter for the first time as pontiff on Sunday.
Netanyahu says ‘Israel’ will continue to “crush Iran's terror regime”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that ‘Israel’ would press ahead with its military campaign against Tehran, declaring that it would continue to "crush Iran's terror regime".
"The campaign is not over," he said in a televised statement.
“We will continue to crush the terror regime.”
Netanyahu's comments came shortly after Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country had the "necessary will" to end the war with ‘Israel’ and the United States, but was seeking guarantees that the conflict would not be repeated.
VIDEO - Settlers flee to shelters after rocket salvo from Lebanon
Several settlers in north ‘Israel’ run across a park and parking lot toward a building, seeking to go into shelters, after a rocket salvo from Lebanon.
Hezbollah and ‘Israel’ have been embroiled in clashes since early March, after the Lebanese group retaliated for the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in US-‘Israeli’ strikes.
VIDEO - ‘Israeli’ troops seen in southern Lebanon
‘Israeli’ military vehicles drive through the destruction in southern Lebanon, seen from the ‘Israeli’ borders, as ‘Israel's’ Defence Minister Israel Katz says the military will occupy a swathe of southern Lebanon even after the war against Hezbollah.
US won’t be in Iran “much longer”: Trump
US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the Iran war is likely to end soon, in statements to the New York Post.
“We’re not going to be there too much longer. We’re obliterating the s–t out of them right now, it’s a total obliteration,” Trump said in a phone interview with the outlet.
“But we won’t have to be there much longer — but we have more work to do in terms of killing their offensive, whatever offensive capability they have left.”
“Well, I think it’ll automatically open, but my attitude is, I’ve obliterated the country. They have no strength left, and let the countries that are using the strait, let them go and open it… because I would imagine whoever’s controlling the oil will be very happy to open the strait,” Trump said on the Strait of Hormuz.
When asked about a report by the Wall Street Journal that he is willing to end the without reopening the strait, Trump told the New York Post:
“I don’t think about it, to be honest. My sole function was to make sure that they don’t have a nuclear weapon. They’re not going to have a nuclear weapon. When we leave the strait will automatically open.”
Overnight strikes on the city of Isfahan in Iran, which also contains a nuclear site, generated a massive explosion as shown by footage.
“I’d rather not say, but you’ll learn soon enough. They were rather large, weren’t they?” Trump said of the strike.
“It’ll come out, but it was just another one of their wonderful areas that we took care of”.
“That was a beauty. That was a beauty. That was stuff that we blew up. That was some explosion,” he continued.
“It was actually bigger than we thought, meaning they had a lot of stuff. Well, we’re taking away their nuclear capability, and we’ve achieved regime change. You know, we’re dealing right now with a totally different group of people, and they’re much more reasonable than previous, much more reasonable.
“And that is truly regime change.”
US stocks jump after Iran says has “will” to end war
Wall Street stocks added to gains Tuesday after Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country had the "necessary will" to end the war with the United States and ‘Israel’ depending on conditions.
Near 1720 GMT, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 2.1 percent at 49,164.55.
The broad-based S&P 500 gained 2.5 percent to 6,503.08, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index jumped 3.6 percent to 21,533.15.
Cat in Iran trapped under rubble of US-‘Israeli’ strike
Iran has “will” to end war: president
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Tuesday his country had the "necessary will" to end the ongoing war with ‘Israel’ and the United States, but was seeking guarantees that the conflict would not be repeated.
"We possess the necessary will to end this conflict, provided that essential conditions are met -- especially the guarantees required to prevent repetition of the aggression," Pezeshkian said in a phone conversation with the president of the European Council, according to a statement from his office, reiterating a key demand of Tehran's.
VIDEO - Massive hit: ‘Israeli’ army strikes building in Lebanon’s Beirut
Multiple videos documenting an ‘Israeli’ airstrike on a building in the area of Ghobeiry in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
People in the vicinity are seen running for cover as the multi-story building is hit.
Several injured in ‘Israeli’ strike on Beirut's southern suburbs
Several people were injured after an ‘Israeli’ airstrike targeted a threatened building in the Ghobeiry area of Beirut’s southern suburbs, Roya's correspondent said.
Emergency teams rushed to the scene to assist the wounded and assess the impact.
Iran says will target US tech firms if more leaders killed
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Tuesday that they would target leading US technology firms like Apple, Google and Meta if more Iranian leaders were killed in "targeted assassinations".
"These companies, starting from 8:00 pm (1630 GMT) Tehran time on Wednesday, April 1, should expect the destruction of their relevant units in exchange for every assassination in Iran," the Guards said in a statement listing the names of 18 companies it claimed were complicit in the "targeted assassination" of officials.
"We advise the employees of these institutions to immediately leave their workplaces to preserve their lives," it added.
According to the list, the companies are:
- Cisco
- HP
- Intel
- Oracle
- Microsoft
- Apple
- Meta
- IBM
- Dell
- Palantir
- Nvidia
- JP Morgan
- Tesla
- GE
- Spire Solutions
- G42
- Boeing
Kuwait detects 12 missiles, drones in 24 hours
Kuwaiti army said it detected five ballistic missiles and seven drones over the past 24 hours, adding that all threats were handled in line with established procedures.
Authorities did not report any casualties or significant damage.
Iran's 88th wave of missiles and drones
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it had launched the 88th wave of its “True Promise 4” operations, targeting sites in ‘Israel’ as well as locations it claims are linked to US forces in the region.
Iran vows to “cut off feet” of any aggressor: Khatim al-Anbiya
Ebrahim Zolfaghar, spokesperson for Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, the operational headquarters of both of Iran's regular armed forces and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), warned ‘Israel’ and the United States that "incorrect assessments" of Iran’s military resolve have placed both nations on a "path to destruction."
In an address released by IRNA news outlet, Zolfaghar said that Western leaders are mistakenly measuring Iran’s strength by "material and worldly standards," failing to account for the "miraculous" resilience of its armed forces and the revolutionary fervor of its citizens.
“The incorrect assessments of the American President and the criminal leaders of the Zionist regime have led them to measure the heroic and enemy-fighting nation and the powerful and brave armed forces of Iran by their own material and worldly standards,” Zolfaghar said.
Zolfaghar said that recent US and ‘Israeli’ actions as a "strategic error" that has resulted in international humiliation for both allies.
“This strategic error by the American and Zionist enemies of Islamic Iran has humiliated them and placed them on the path to destruction.”
He dismissed Western "propaganda warfare" and the display of advanced military hardware as "fantasies and delusions," claiming such tactics—alongside the targeting of Iranian scientists and commanders—would never force a surrender.
Khatim al-Anbiya explicitly warned against any attempts to seize control of the Strait of Hormuz, stating that such aspirations would be "carried to the grave."
“In their futile and false imagination, they believe they can gain control over the Strait of Hormuz, an aspiration they will carry to their graves forever,” he continued.
The spokesperson concluded by vowing that the Iranian military is prepared to "cut off the feet" of any aggressor, promising a response that would leave invaders in "misery and humiliation."
Big explosions heard in Riyadh
Residents told Roya News English they heard explosions over Riyadh.
Four hours earlier, falling shrapnel from the interception of a drone in Al-Kharj governorate left two people with minor injuries and caused limited damage to three homes and several vehicles, the Saudi Civil Defense said.
Next days in Iran war will be 'decisive': Pentagon chief
The next days of the Iran war will be "decisive," Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth, who revealed he had visited US troops in the Middle East over the weekend, said Tuesday.
"The upcoming days will be decisive. Iran knows that, and there's almost nothing they can militarily do about it," Hegseth told a news conference, his first in nearly two weeks.
