+ 
+ 
+ + Here's the latest +
++ • + + US troops: + + Iran’s parliament speaker + + accused the US + + of “secretly planning a ground invasion” while talking of negotiations. The USS Tripoli — carrying 3,500 US service members — has + + arrived in the Middle East + + . +
++ • + + Wartime diplomacy: + + Pakistan said it is + + prepared to host talks + + between the US and Iran “in coming days,” after meeting with regional leaders in Islamabad to discuss efforts on de-escalating the conflict. +
++ + • Energy costs: + + Oil prices climbed after Tehran’s warning about US ground troops, with + + Brent crude rising 2.6% + + to about $115.50. +
++ • + + Israeli operations: + + The Israel Defense Forces said it is + + days away from hitting all the targets + + in Iran that it classifies a “top priority.” Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he’s ordered the expansion of Israel’s security buffer zone in + + southern Lebanon + + , where its forces are exchanging fire with Hezbollah. +
++ Oil prices climb after Iran warns against US ground invasion +
+ ++ Oil prices climbed Sunday after Tehran + + warned against a US ground invasion + + . +
++ Brent crude, the global benchmark, rose 2.6% to $115.50, while US crude rose nearly 3% to $102.61. +
++ The war has caused the largest oil disruption in history because of the Strait of Hormuz’s closure, which 20% of the world’s oil flows through. Strikes targeting oil and gas facilities have also triggered higher gas prices. Americans are paying for the effects of the war at the pump: a gallon of gas in the US cost $3.98 on average Sunday. +
++ Stock futures also fell Sunday, with Dow futures down 0.53%, or 241 points. S&P 500 futures fell 0.46%, while Nasdaq futures declined 0.48%. +
++ + This post has been updated with additional information. + +
++ Frozen US job market might stay on ice due to the war +
+ +
+ + Job growth was + + lackluster + + last year in the United States, but signs of stabilization, if not a rebound, were starting to emerge. +
++ Now, the expanding conflict in the Middle East not only interrupts that potential progress, but also threatens to knock the labor market further off course. +
++ Since the war began thirty days ago, the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz has increased oil prices, hampered the supply chain and pushed up the cost of gasoline. Inflation fears have heightened, as has uncertainty. That’s a dynamic that could strangle the labor market. +
+ ++ The listless, anemic, “low-hire, low-fire” labor market dynamic is expected to persist … for now. +
++ “Uncertainty is delaying, not canceling, hiring plans,” Gregory Daco, chief economist at EY-Parthenon, told CNN last week. +
++ Daco currently expects a “jobless” expansion, with employment gains of around 20,000 per month in the first half of the year and unemployment (currently at 4.4%) drifting toward 4.7% by the end of the year. +
++ “With recession odds around 40%, the risk is that a prolonged pause in hiring eventually turns into more visible softening,” he wrote. “For now, it’s still a cooling, not a cracking. But if uncertainty were to re-escalate, those cracks could emerge by late-spring.” +
++ + Read more about + + + + how the war could impact the US job market + + + + here. + +
++ Iran launches volunteer campaign accepting participants aged 12 and older +
+ +
+
+ + Media outlets linked to Iran’s security establishment have publicized a new volunteer registration campaign in Tehran that allows participants as young as 12 to sign up for roles tied to security and support activities. +
++ According to a post this week by Defa Press, a media outlet affiliated with Iran’s armed forces, the initiative was announced by Iran’s paramilitary forces known as Basij under the title “Homeland Defender Fighters for Iran.” + + The campaign + + is being promoted under the broader slogan “For Iran.” +
++ Officials described the effort as a way to mobilize public assistance and draw on citizens’ abilities across several fields, including defense-related tasks, logistical support and relief work. +
++ Defa Press reported that individuals aged 12 and older are eligible to register for the campaign. +
++ + The campaign is part of a wave of Iranian propaganda, CNN’s Jomana Karadsheh reports: + +
+
+ + With the US sending reinforcements to the Gulf, the Iranian regime has been rolling out propaganda on state media claiming they have more than a million troops organized to fight US forces. CNN’s Jomana Karadsheh reports. +
++ Additional details about the initiative appeared in a video clip shared by Tasnim News, a semi-official Iranian news agency. The segment, which appears to come from Iran’s state-run Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) discussing the program, outlines several potential roles for volunteers. +
++ Among the positions mentioned are participation in “intelligence patrols,” operational patrols and checkpoint duties, suggesting that some volunteers could take part in activities linked to monitoring or local security operations. +
++ Iran has previously relied on mass mobilization structures linked to its paramilitary networks, particularly the Basij, which operates under the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) and has historically recruited volunteers for both wartime and domestic security roles. +
++ Meeting between four regional countries "very productive," Pakistani official says +
+ +
+ + Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar called a meeting of officials from four countries in the region “very productive” in a statement released after talks concluded today. +
++ Foreign ministers from Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan met in Islamabad, Pakistan, where they discussed regional issues and “possible ways to bring an early and permanent end to the war in the region,” Dar wrote. +
++ Dar also said Pakistan is + + prepared to host and facilitate talks + + between the US and Iran “in coming days,” saying both the countries gave their “full support” to potential negotiations. +
++ + Here are other key takeaways from the meeting, according to Dar: + +
+-
+
- + The group agreed the war is “not in favour of anyone and would only lead to death and destruction,” according to the statement. Unity of Muslim identity during the war was of “utmost importance,” he added. + +
- + They expressed concern over the war’s “devastating impact on lives and livelihoods” across the Middle East. + +
- + The foreign ministers agreed that dialogue and diplomacy were the “only viable pathway” to prevent conflict and promote regional peace. + +
- + They talked about ways to strengthen unity among the four countries to de-escalate and “create conditions for structured negotiations between relevant parties.” + +
+ + CNN’s Sophia Saifi and Mohammed Tawfeeq contributed to this report. + +
++ Israeli military says it is carrying out strikes on targets in Tehran +
+ +
+
+ + The Israeli military said Sunday it is currently carrying out strikes on targets belonging to the Iranian regime across the capital Tehran. +
++ In a brief statement, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said its forces are “currently striking Iranian terror regime targets across Tehran,” without providing immediate details on the specific locations or the scale of the operation. +
++ There were no immediate comments from Iranian authorities regarding these strikes. +
++ Iranian official says Tehran will decide war’s end +
+ + + +
+ 
+ + A senior Iranian security official told CNN that Tehran will determine when the war ends and signaled Iran is prepared to sustain offensive operations for an extended period, pushing back on US assessments that the conflict could be wrapped up within weeks. +
++ The official said earlier US estimates that the war would last only a few days were wrong, and dismissed as unrealistic a claim by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio that the fighting would continue for a few weeks. +
++ “This is our war, and we will not stop defending until we teach ( US President Donald) Trump and (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu a historic lesson,” the official told CNN. +
++ The official also said Iran’s missile and drone arsenal is prepared to support long-term operations, and claimed Iran is tightening its air defenses by updating deployment patterns, monitoring corridors used by fighter jets to enter Iranian airspace, and introducing new equipment — steps the official said would impose “harsher conditions” on Iran’s enemies. +
++ + Rubio + + told reporters in France ahead of the Group of Seven meeting on Friday that “When we are done with (the Iranian regime) here over the next couple of weeks, they will be weaker than they’ve been in recent history.” +
++ US Central Command chief meets with IDF forces in Israel +
+ ++ US Central Command (CENTCOM) chief Adm. Brad Cooper met with Israel Defense Forces (IDF) Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir and other top Israeli generals in Israel today, an Israeli source with knowledge of the meeting told CNN. +
++ According to the sources, the meeting focused on the war against Iran and efforts to halt Iranian weapons production. +
++ This comes a day after IDF spokesman Effie Defrin said Israel is a “few days” away from finishing a campaign targeting all of the “critical” assets of Iran’s military production industries. +
++ CNN has reached out to the CENTCOM for comment. +
++ Pakistan says it is prepared to host US-Iran talks "in coming days" +
+ + + +
+ 
+ + Pakistan said it is prepared to host and facilitate talks between the US and Iran “in coming days,” after a four-nation meeting in the Pakistani capital with the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt focused on de-escalation and ending the war in Middle East. +
++ Trump administration officials are working to arrange a meeting in Pakistan to discuss an off-ramp to the war in Iran, two senior administration officials told CNN last week. +
++ “Pakistan will be honoured to host and facilitate meaningful talks between the two sides in coming days, for a comprehensive and lasting settlement of the ongoing conflict,” Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said in a statement at the conclusion of the second round of consultations among the four countries in Islamabad on Sunday. +
+
+ + Dar also said he briefed the visiting ministers on the prospects of potential US-Iran talks in Islamabad, adding that the Saudi, Turkish and Egyptian foreign ministers expressed “full support” for the initiative. +
++ He said both Iran and the United States “have all extended their full support and confidence in our efforts,” to facilitate the talks. CNN has reached out to the White House in Washington for comment. +
++ Dar also said that he spoke by phone with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and UN Secretary-General António Guterres and they supported Pakistan’s initiative. +
++ + CNN’s Riane Lumer contributed to this report. + +
++ CNN team takes cover near Israel-Lebanon border +
+ ++ A CNN crew was forced into a bunker mid-interview as sirens sounded near the Israel-Lebanon border. The incident underscores the volatility along the border area, where Israeli military operations have shifted the front line and displaced nearby Lebanese communities. +
++ + CNN’s Jim Sciutto explains how Israel’s expansion into Lebanon is playing out: + +
+
+ + While reporting near Israel’s border with Lebanon, CNN’s Jim Sciutto and his crew were forced into a bunker as sirens sounded during an interview with local resident and security force volunteer Nissan Zeevi. No one on the team was hurt. The incident underscores the volatility along the border area, where Israeli military operations have shifted the front line and displaced nearby Lebanese communities. +
++ + Remember: + + Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said today he ordered + + the expansion of Israel’s security buffer zone + + in southern Lebanon with the aim of repelling Lebanese cross-border attacks. +
++ Israel has pushed further into southern Lebanon in recent weeks. Israeli forces are occupying the land south of the Litani River, an area it called on Lebanese civilians to evacuate. The Israeli military has blown up several bridges over the river – which bisects Lebanon – over the past days as part of a broader assault in the south. +
++ + CNN’s Lauren Izso and Sophie Tanno contributed to this report. + +
++ At least 49 killed in Lebanon in past 24 hours, health ministry says +
+ +
+ + At least 49 people have been killed in Lebanon in the past 24 hours, according to a daily death toll report released by the country’s health ministry a short while ago. +
++ Thousands of people have been killed during the conflict in the Middle East since it began on February 28, according to a CNN tally of death tolls released by regional authorities. +
++ Here’s what those authorities have said about the number of people reportedly killed in the region since the war began. CNN is not able to independently verify these numbers. +
+-
+
- + + Lebanon: + + At least 1,238 people have been killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon since March 2, the country’s health ministry said in an update today. Yesterday, that figure was 1,189. At least 124 children are among those killed, the health ministry said. + +
- + + Iran: + + At least 1,900 people have been killed in attacks on Iran since February 28, the Iranian Red Crescent + + reported on Friday + + . On March 16, Iran’s foreign minister said + + “hundreds of Iranian civilians,” + + including more than 200 children, had been killed since the conflict began. + +
- + + Iraq: + + At least 101 people have been killed across Iraq since the war began, authorities have said. In the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region, at least 13 people have been killed, according to the regional government. + +
- + + Israel: + + Some 19 civilians have been killed inside Israel since the conflict began, not including those who died indirectly because of strikes. Four Israeli soldiers have also been killed in southern Lebanon, according to the Israeli military. + +
- + + USA: + + Thirteen US service members have been killed since the US war with Iran began a month ago, + + according to the US Central Command. + + +
+ Dozens of people have also been killed in other countries in the region since the conflict began. Deaths due to the conflict have been reported in the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, the occupied West Bank, Oman, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia since February 28, according to local authorities. +
++ + CNN’s Issy Ronald, Charbel Mallo, Aqeel Najim, Nechirvan Mando, Mohammed Tawfeeq, Dana Karni, Eugenia Yosef, Oren Liebermann, Tal Shalev, Tamar Michaelis, and Zachary Cohen contributed to this reporting. + +
++ Foreign ministers finish talks as war continues to expand. Catch up on the latest +
+ ++ A meeting between foreign ministers of Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan + + ended today + + and a joint statement is expected + + to be released soon + + . We’ll keep you updated on further developments. +
++ The meeting in Islamabad, Pakistan, which did not include the United States and Iran, aimed to find ways to + + avoid further expansion + + of the war across the Middle East. +
++ + Here’s other news from the last couple hours: + +
+-
+
- + Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he ordered + + the expansion + + of Israel’s security buffer zone in southern Lebanon with the aim of repelling Lebanese cross-border attacks. + +
- + Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps + + + said it will + + target US and Israeli-affiliated universities + + in the Middle East + + in retaliation for recent attacks + + on Iranian higher education centers. + +
- + Thirty-four fire crews worked for hours to + + extinguish a huge blaze + + that broke out in an industrial site in central Israel when it was struck by “a weapon fragment or interceptor fragment.” + +
- + A senior United Arab Emirates official called for + + compensation from Iran for damage + + caused to the country from Tehran’s strikes. + +
- + A personal message from Iran’s supreme leader was delivered to the head of a major Iraqi Shiite political party, according to Iran’s Jamaran news agency, although the + + contents of the message + + are unclear. + +
+ + CNN’s Sophia Saifi, Issy Ronald, Ivan Watson, Lauren Izso, Sophie Tanno, Catherine Nicholls and Eugenia Yosef contributed to this report. + +
++ US universities in Middle East move online as Iran threatens retaliation against campuses +
+ ++ Earlier today, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps + + + (IRGC) + + + said it will + + target American and Israeli-affiliated universities + + in the Middle East in retaliation for recent attacks on Iranian higher education centers. +
++ Today, the president of the American University of Beirut + + said in a letter + + that, because of the IRGC threat, the university will be operating fully remotely tomorrow and Tuesday “out of an abundance of caution.” +
++ In an + + update on its website + + , the Lebanese American University in Beirut also said that it will switch to “fully online operations” tomorrow and Tuesday “as a precaution given the broad threats to educational institutions in the region.” +
++ Many universities in the region had already switched to online learning when the Iran war first broke out more than a month ago. +
++ The Qatari education ministry announced on February 28, the day the war began, that all kindergartens, schools, educational centers, and universities across the country would + + shift to distance learning + + until further notice, according to the Qatar News Agency. +
++ + Georgetown University in Qatar + + , + + Texas A&M University at Qatar + + and the + + Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar + + have all announced that their teaching will take place online until further notice. +
++ The American University of Kuwait, the American University in Dubai, and the American University of Ras Al Khaimah also all announced their shift to online learning earlier this month. +
++ + CNN’s Charbel Mallo and Dalia Abdelwahab contributed to this reporting. + +
++ In pictures: Day 30 of the expanding Middle East conflict +
+ +
+ + The Israeli military is days away from striking + + all targets in Iran + + it considers a “top priority,” an Israel Defense Forces spokesperson said today. +
++ Meanwhile, Iran’s internet blackout has entered its 30th day, with civilians cut off for at least 696 hours, according to internet watchdog NetBlocks. +
++ And in Jerusalem, for the first time in centuries, Catholic leaders have been barred from the holy city’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre on Palm Sunday, according to church leaders. +
++ + Here are more photos from across the region as we track the latest developments: + +
+
+ 
+ 
+ 
+ 
+ + Netanyahu orders expansion of Israeli buffer zone in southern Lebanon +
+ +
+
+ 
+ + Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he has ordered the expansion of Israel’s security buffer zone in southern Lebanon with the aim of repelling Lebanese cross-border attacks. +
+ ++ In recent weeks, Israel has pushed further into southern Lebanon. Israeli forces are occupying the land south of the Litani River, an area it has called on Lebanese civilians to evacuate. +
++ The Israeli military has blown up several bridges over the river – which bisects Lebanon – over the past days, as part of a broader assault in the south. +
+
+ + On Friday, human rights workers warned Israeli forces’ demolition of crossings through the river will cut off tens of thousands of residents in southern Lebanon from “essential lifelines,” as the rate of killings, destruction and displacement across the country spiraled. +
++ Also during the video statement, Netanyahu said Israel is striking at Iran and its proxies “with tremendous force.” +
++ “We are bringing about tremendous achievements, achievements that are creating visible cracks in the terrorist regime in Tehran,” he said. +
++ + CNN’s Sana Noor Haq contributed reporting. + +
++ Iran's supreme leader delivers message to Iraqi Shiite party leader +
+ +
+
+ + A personal message from Iran’s supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, was delivered to the head of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI), a major Iraqi Shiite political party established in Iran in 1982, according to Iran’s Jamaran news agency. +
++ The message was handed to the party’s head, Sheikh Hammam Hamoudi, by the Iranian ambassador to Iraq during a meeting. +
++ The contents of the supreme leader’s message are unclear, but Jamaran reported that the ambassador praised Iraq’s Shiite religious authority for its stance on the US-Israeli war as well as Hamoudi’s “sincere positions.” +
++ Khamenei has remained elusive and has not appeared in public since his father and former supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, was assassinated last month in joint US-Israeli strikes. Only written statements have been issued in his name. +
++ Earlier this month, a source familiar with the situation told CNN that he had suffered a fractured foot and other minor injuries on the first day of the US-Israeli bombardment campaign. In addition to his injured foot, Khamenei, 56, received a bruise around his left eye, as well as minor lacerations to his face, the source said. +
++ Meeting of foreign ministers from Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan wraps in Islamabad +
+ +
+
+ 
+ + The quadrilateral meeting attended by the foreign ministers of Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, held in Pakistan’s capital of Islamabad has ended a day earlier and a joint statement is expected. +
++ Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan met Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif of Pakistan after the quad meeting had concluded. In the meeting the Prime Minister “appreciated the remarkable restraint exercised by Saudi Arabia amid the current crisis,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement. Sharif also “assured” the Saudi Foreign Minister that “Pakistan would always stand shoulder to shoulder with Saudi Arabia.” +
++ The nuclear armed south Asian nation signed a defense treaty with Saudi Arabia last year, and while Pakistan has been playing the role of peacemaker between the United States and Iran, there have been concerns that it could be dragged into the conflict in the Middle East if Saudi Arabia decides to enter the war against Iran. +
++ The Saudi foreign minister shared “the latest Saudi perspective on the regional situation” and both countries agreed to “continue to coordinate their positions closely in order to secure peace and stability in the region.” +
++ The meeting was attended by the by Pakistani Foreign Minister Sen. Mohammad Ishaq Dar as well as the national security adviser and Pakistan’s intelligence chief Lt. Gen. Muhammad Asim Malik. CNN + + had reported earlier + + that Malik is one of the Pakistani officials engaging with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner to mediate the situation in Iran. +
++ The foreign minister of Turkey, Hakan Fidan and the foreign minister of Egypt, Dr. Badr Abdelatty also had meetings with the Pakistani prime minister. +
++ Firefighters work to contain blaze at industrial site in Israel struck by attack +
+ +
+ + Thirty-four fire crews worked for hours to extinguish a huge blaze that broke out an industrial site in central Israel today when it was struck by “a weapon fragment or interceptor fragment.” +
++ Footage and images showed fires burning and plumes of thick black smoke rising from the Neot Hovav complex, which houses more than 30 factories belonging to different companies. +
++ Alerts have been issued across Israel today signaling incoming attacks launched from Iran. +
+
+ + Firefighters worked to contain a major blaze at the Neot Hovav industrial complex in central Israel after officials said it was hit by a “weapon fragment or interceptor fragment.” +
++ Israel’s fire and rescue service said it worked to “prevent an explosion or additional leaks” and warned the public not to approach the area due to the “presence of hazardous materials.” +
++ It had earlier urged nearby residents to “lock themselves in their homes, close windows and vents, and obey the instructions of the security and rescue forces.” +
++ The incident was limited to “within the boundaries of the industrial zone,” and poses no danger to the general public if they are situated more than 800 meters away from the site, the fire service added. +
++ No casualties were reported, said Israel’s national emergency service, Magen David Adom. +
+
+ + + This post has been updated with video from the scene. + +
++ UAE official demands compensation from Iran +
+ +
+
+ 
+ + A senior United Arab Emirates (UAE) official has called for Iranian compensation for the damage caused to the country due to Tehran’s strikes. +
++ It comes after Iran has demanded compensation from the US and Israel for war damages from the conflict that is now into its thirtieth day. +
+ ++ Gargesh claimed that Tehran “misled” its neighbors before the outbreak of war and has shown “premeditated aggression.” He described Iran as a regime that has become the “primary threat to Gulf Arab security.” +
++ Ministers in Islamabad discuss conflict de-escalation, as Israel and Iran trade attacks +
+ +
+ + As we’ve + + just been reporting + + , foreign ministers representing Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan met in Islamabad today to discuss de-escalating the US and Israel’s war with Iran, as well as other regional issues. +
++ The talks came as Israel and Iran continue to trade attacks and the possibility of US ground troops entering Iran still appears to be swirling. +
++ + If you’re just joining us, here are the very latest developments: + +
+-
+
- + Iran’s parliament speaker said the country’s forces are + + “waiting” for American troops + + as he accused the US of “secretly planning a ground invasion” while talking of negotiations. + +
- + The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is + + days away from hitting + + all the targets in Iran it classes as “top priority,” a spokesperson said today. + +
- + Iran’s internet blackout has + + entered its 30th day + + , with civilians cut off for at least 696 hours, according to internet watchdog NetBlocks. + +
- + Bahrain has + + announced a maritime curfew + + which it says will be in place “until further notice” to protect the Gulf nation’s coasts amid ongoing attacks from Iran. + +
+ + CNN’s Sophia Saifi, Issy Ronald, Ivan Watson, Sophie Tanno, Eugenia Yosef and Ibrahim Dahman contributed to this reporting. + +
++ Talks between Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan end +
+ + + +
+ 
+ + Talks between Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan have concluded for the day. +
++ The four countries’ foreign ministers were meeting in Islamabad, Pakistan to discuss the de-escalation of the US and Israel’s war with Iran and other regional issues. +
++ Afterward, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met privately with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, his office said. +
++ Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar, along with the country’s National Security Adviser and Director General of the ISI, Lieutenant General Mohammad Asim Malik were also in attendance. +
++ A joint statement is expected to be released soon. We’ll bring you any further developments. +
+