Crisis en Oriente Medio en vivo: Trump dice que quiere tomar el petróleo en Irán y podría apoderarse de la isla de Kharg fácilmente

Bahrain's interior ministry said earlier today that a fire that had broken out in a commercial building in Al Dair, a coastal village near Bahrain International Airport, had been extinguished.

“No injuries were reported. Investigations are underway to determine the cause of the fire,†it said in a social media post.

Here are some of the latest images being sent to us over the newswires from the Lebanese capital of Beirut following Israeli airstrikes.

The Israeli military said in a post on X about an hour ago that it was striking Hezbollah's “infrastructure†in Beirut.

But the IDF's attacks regularly damage civilian property and hit residential areas, killing many civilians with nothing to do with Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed Lebanese militant group and political party.

In its latest update, Israel's health ministry said that 6,008 injured people have been evacuated to hospitals since the beginning of the war, of whom 121 are currently hospitalised – including one in critical condition, and 16 in serious condition.

The Iranian government has “repeatedly†used cluster munitions delivered by ballistic missiles in attacks on Israel since the US-Israeli war on Iran started on 28 February, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a report.

HRW said at least four civilians have been killed in the airstrikes, which may amount to war crimes.

“Iran's use of cluster munitions in populated areas in Israel pose a foreseeable and long-lasting danger to civilians,†Patrick Thompson, a researcher in the crisis, conflict and arms division at HRW said.

“Cluster munition bomblets are dispersed over a wide area, making them unlawfully indiscriminate in violation of the laws of war.â€

As my colleague Lorenzo Tondo notes in this story, since the start of the war, Iran's cluster munitions – which disperse dozens of bomblets mid-air – have tested Israel's highly advanced, multi-tier missile defence network, including Iron Dome, which is designed to counter threats across ranges, altitudes and speeds, exposing gaps that interception alone has struggled to close.

As well as its war with the US on Iran and its expanding assault on Lebanon, Israel is continuing its attacks on Gaza, where airstrikes are still killing civilians and the humanitarian situation remains dire despite a ceasefire.

At least three Palestinian people were killed this morning in an Israeli airstrike that targeted a group of civilians near a mosque in the Zeitoun neighbourhood south of Gaza City, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa, which cited medical sources in its report.

In its latest update, Gaza's health ministry said at least 72,278 Palestinian people have been killed and 172,013 others injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza since 7 October 2023.

At least 702 Palestinian people have been killed in Israeli attacks since a ceasefire came into effect in October 2025, according to the ministry, whose figures the UN generally find reliable. Most of the people killed have been civilians and the true death toll is likely much higher given the number of people still buried under rubble across the Gaza Strip.

Many legal scholars and organisations such as Amnesty International have said Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza. The 1948 UN genocide convention defines it as any of five “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious groupâ€. Israel is fighting allegations at the world's top court, the international court of justice, of committing genocide in Gaza.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) have confirmed the death of Alireza Tangsiri, the IRGC naval commander who was killed in an Israeli airstrike last Thursday, according to a statement by the guards being carried in Iranian media.

According to the US Treasury, which sanctioned him in 2019 and in 2023, Tangsiri oversaw the IRGC Navy's testing of cruise missiles and sat on the board of a company that developed armed drones.

Tangsiri had reportedly been leading Iran's successful effort to effectively close the strait of Hormuz – through which around 20% of the world's oil supply normally passes – to almost all shipping traffic.

Israel's defence ministry said it signed a $48m (£36.2m; 150m shekels) deal with Elbit Systems for “tens of thousands†of 155mm artillery shells.

The ministry said in a LinkedIn post that the deal will help “reduce reliance on external munitions sources and grow Israel's domestic defence production baseâ€. The US is overwhelmingly the biggest supplier of arms to Israel.

Donald Trump's latest comments that he wants to “take the oil†have failed to calm the markets with the price of Brent crude rising again. You can follow all the developments on our business blog with my colleague Julia Kollewe.

A strike hit Beirut's southern suburbs on Monday, after Israel issued a warning for people in the Hezbollah stronghold to leave.

The strike is the first since Friday in the area, which is now largely deserted since Israel began frequent attacks against Hezbollah in early March.

Pictures from AFP showed plumes of smoke rising from the southern suburbs.

Donald Trump has also claimed that Iran had agreed to allow 20 ships carrying oil through the Strait of Hormuz starting Monday morning and continuing over the next few days as a “presentâ€.

“They gave us 10 [ships through the strait],†he said. “Now they're giving 20…â€

Trump added that Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, Iran's parliamentary speaker, had authorised the additional tankers.

“He's the one who authorised the ships to me,†Trump told the Financial Times. “Remember I said they're giving me a present? And everyone said: ‘What's the present? Bullshit.' When they heard about that they kept their mouth shut and the negotiations are going very well.â€

Yesterday Ghalibaf said that Iranian forces were “waiting for the arrival of American troops on the ground to set them on fire and punish their regional partners for everâ€.

He also accused the US of secretly preparing a ground assault while publicly seeking talks.

In case you're just tuning in to today's live coverage of the US-Israel war on Iran, here's a recap of the latest developments. It's 9.30am in Tehran, 9am in Tel Aviv and Beirut and 2am in Washington DC.

• Donald Trump has said his “preference would be to take the oil†in Iran and that US forces could seize the regime's export hub on Kharg Island, the Financial Times is reporting. But as about 2,500 US Marines reportedly arrived in the Middle East, Trump also told the paper that “my favourite thing is to take the oil in Iran, but some stupid people back in the US say: ‘why are you doing that?'†He also said: “Maybe we take Kharg Island, maybe we don't. We have a lot of options.â€

• Trump said separately that the US and Iran had been meeting “directly and indirectly†and that Iran's new leaders had been “very reasonableâ€. His remarks came after Pakistan – which is acting as an intermediary between Tehran and Washington – said it was preparing to host “meaningful talks†in the coming days aimed at ending the month-long war.

• Oil prices rallied and stocks tumbled again on Monday as the Middle East crisis escalated with the entry of Yemen's Houthis into the war and concerns the US will send in ground troops. The price of brent crude had now gone over $116 a barrel, while stock markets slumped in Asia as investors dig in for a protracted conflict.

• Indonesia condemned the death of an Indonesian peacekeeper with the UN mission in Lebanon (Unifil) on Monday, after a projectile exploded at one of its positions near a southern Lebanese village on Sunday. Unifil said earlier that another peacekeeper was critically injured.

• The Israeli air force intercepted two drones launched from Yemen, the IDF posted online.

• The Israeli military said early on Monday it was attacking the Iranian regime's infrastructure “throughout Tehranâ€. It said later it was responding to missiles fired from Iran.

• Benjamin Netanyahu earlier announced an expansion of Israel's invasion of southern Lebanon as his forces target Hezbollah and expand the “existing security buffer zoneâ€. “We are determined to fundamentally change the situation in the north,†â the Israeli PM said.

• Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Iranian forces were “waiting†for US ground troops to arrive so they could “rain fire upon themâ€. It came after reports that the Pentagon was preparing for weeks of possible “ground operations†in Iran.

• Trump is weighing a military operation to extract nearly 1,000 pounds (454kg) of uranium from Iran, the Wall Street Journal is reporting, citing unnamed US officials.

• Power has reportedly been restored across parts of Iran after Israeli strikes hit “electricity infrastructureâ€, Iran's energy minister said.

• The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed that Iran's heavy-water production plant at Khondab – which Israel attacked on 27 March – had “sustained severe damage and is no longer operationalâ€. It added that the Khondab heavy water research reactor “contains no declared nuclear materialâ€.

• A fire at an industrial site in southern Israel was brought under control, hours after being declared a “hazardous materials incident†in the area.

• I‌ranian supreme ‌leader Mojtaba ​Khamenei thanked ​the ‌Iraqi ​people and religious leadership for ​their â support â of Iran “in ‌the face of aggressionâ€, Iranian state media reported.

• On Palm Sunday, the Pope said God rejected the prayers of leaders who started wars and ​had “hands full of bloodâ€, in an apparent rebuke to Trump's administration.

The entry of Yemen's Houthi forces into the US-Israel war on Iran represents a dangerous spread of the conflict and brings the threat of more damage to the global economy.

But who exactly are the militant group that have previously caused huge disruption to global trade through attacks on Red Sea shipping?

My colleague Jonathan Yerushalmy explains that they emerged from a years-long civil war in Yemen as the country's most powerful political force and are part of Iran's “axis of resistance†in the region.

See more in this quick rundown:

Donald Trump has said the US and Iran have been meeting “directly and indirectly†and that Iran's new leaders have been “very reasonableâ€.

More US troops have arrived in the Middle East, meanwhile, and Tehran warned it would not accept humiliation.

Trump's remarks on Sunday came after Pakistan – which is acting as an intermediary between Tehran and Washington – said it was preparing to host “meaningful talks†in the coming days aimed at ending the month-long Iran war.

Reuters reports the US president as telling reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday:

I think we'll make a deal with them, I'm pretty sure, but it's possible we won't.

Trump said he thought the US had already accomplished regime change in Iran after strikes killed the country's supreme leader and other top officials, but said twice that their replacements seemed “reasonableâ€.

An initial Israeli strike on 28 February killed Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was replaced by his son Mojtaba.

Pakistani foreign minister Ishaq Dar said talks between regional foreign ministers on Sunday covered ways to bring an early end to the war, and potential US-Iran talks in Islamabad.

It was not clear whether the US and Iran had agreed to attend.

Islamabad is attempting high-wire diplomacy between US and Iran – but Israel could spoil any chance of success, writes Saeed Shah in Islamabad. His analysis is here:

The Egyptian government is seeking ways to conserve oil-powered electricity during the US-Israel war with Iran, enacting at least one policy that threatens Cairo's identity as a city that never sleeps.

The government imposed new nationwide closing times at the weekend for stores, restaurants and cafes, ordering them to shut early and interfering with their ability to operate during critical hours.

The decision is one of a series of measures the government has taken in recent weeks to mitigate the fallout of the energy crisis, which has shaken the Middle East and the global economy.

Egypt is not a party to the widening conflict but the country is one of the most impacted by the war's far-reaching repercussions, including higher oil prices and disrupted shipping routes.

The early closures will have dire repercussions on hundreds of thousands of small businesses found on almost every street, alley and lane across the country. Some of them – including many eateries, juice shops and cafes – usually operate nonstop.