Iran war live: Trump says Tehran ‘begging to make a deal’

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says intermediary countries are “passing messages and progress has been made” in talks with Iran.

“There’s a growing amount of energy that’s been flowing through the straits, not as much as should be flowing, but some of it has picked up,” he told reporters.

“There’s been some progress in regards to the exchange of messages, but that’s an ongoing and fluid process, and not one we’re going to negotiate or talk about in the media.”

Rubio said the Strait of Hormuz “can be open tomorrow if Iran stops threatening global shipping”.

“For all these countries that care about international law, they should be doing something about it,” he added.

The richest one percent are cashing in on war, while you’ll be stuck with higher bills.

As oil and gas profits surge during global conflict, rich Americans are seeing the biggest gains.

At the same time, rising energy costs mean things are about to get more expensive for everyone else.

Watch below for our breakdown of the situation:

The richest 1% are cashing in on the war on Iran, while you’ll be stuck with higher bills.

tabish.talib breaks down the economic impact of the conflict. pic.twitter.com/UIYyPQAgHk

— AJ+ (@ajplus) March 26, 2026

Lebanon’s Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has condemned “the discovery of a terrorist cell in Kuwait” in a call with its leader Sheikh Ahmad Abdullah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah.

Kuwait has announced several arrests allegedly linked to Hezbollah in recent weeks.

Salam “expressed his regret that two of the accused belong to Hezbollah”, according to the Kuwaiti Interior Ministry.

Hezbollah earlier denied it has any presence in Kuwait, a day after the Gulf country announced more arrests of people allegedly linked to the Iran-backed group.

Lebanon’s Foreign Ministry has said Lebanese authorities are ready “to cooperate in the investigations”.

Let’s get you up to speed:

• Israel’s attacks on Lebanon have killed at least 1,116 people, the country’s health ministry said.
• US envoy Steve Witkoff says there are “strong signs” Iran could be convinced to make a peace deal, confirming that Washington had passed a 15-point plan to Tehran through mediator Pakistan.
• Iran has allowed 10 oil tankers to pass through the strategic Strait of Hormuz as a “present”, to show it is serious about negotiations to end the war, the US president says.
• The Israeli army again issued a displacement threat for all residents of Lebanon who live south of the Zahrani River.
• US Central Command said in a post on X that Admiral Alireza Tangsiri, commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) navy, was killed. Iran has not confirmed the news.
• The price of the international benchmark, Brent North Sea crude, jumped by 5.2 percent to $107.54 per barrel.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had a phone call with his Kazakh counterpart, Yermek Kosherbayev, discussing the war, Tasnim news agency has reported.

Kosherbayev expressed concern about the current situation, urging an end to the war, and said his country is ready to play a role in helping to restore stability and security to the region.

Araghchi, for his part, said that “The action of the Zionist [Israeli] regime and the United States in targeting the Anzali port has severely endangered security and stability in the Caspian Sea, and it is necessary for the littoral states to have a unified and decisive reaction against this criminal and destabilising act”.

A plan submitted by Donald Trump’s Board of Peace Director-General Nickolay Mladenov for the disarmament of Hamas and other Palestinian groups in Gaza has been seen by Al Jazeera.

The proposal would see disarmament – one of the components of the October ceasefire to end Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza – implemented gradually over an eight-month, multiphase process.

It would see disarmament in exchange for Israel fulfilling its own obligations, including allowing reconstruction materials into Gaza to begin the work of rebuilding the enclave after Israel’s devastation of the territory since October 2023.

Israel would also allow an increase in humanitarian aid entering Gaza, and the plan envisions the transfer of the administration of the Palestinian territory to a national committee.

Read more here.

Support for Israel in the United States has plummeted since the start of the genocide in Gaza across the political spectrum and all ages.

Even before the war launched on Iran, support for Israel among US citizens dramatically decreased, according to a Gallup poll, marking an unprecedented shift in decades of overwhelming, unconditional backing.

About 36 percent said they remain more favourable to the Israelis, while 41 percent of Americans said said they sympathise more with Palestinians now.

But can it have real consequences? Watch AJ+ below:

Support for Israel has plummeted in the U.S. – but can it have real consequences? @Dena explains. pic.twitter.com/0irpo07mIf

— AJ+ (@ajplus) March 26, 2026

The ⁠World Bank Group says ⁠it will support client ⁠governments as they deal with challenges brought on by the ‌war across the Middle East, including major increases in energy costs, by leveraging fast-disbursing policy financing instruments.

“We are ready to respond at scale – combining immediate financial relief with policy expertise and private sector support for the recovery of jobs and growth”, the ⁠development lender said ⁠in a statement

Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s parliament, has commended Hezbollah for conducting “87 operations in a single night”.

“Before the outbreak of the war, I said in an interview that Hezbollah is more vibrant with life than ever before,” he said on X, adding that the group’s “lightning-quick operations and the continuous precision strikes that have inflicted severe losses” on Israel’s equipment and forces prove “the truth of the promises of the martyred Sayyid”, an apparent reference to assassinated Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Group of Seven (G7) foreign ministers have begun their talks and will be here over the next two days. There is, of course, a lot on the agenda.

They are particularly focused on how to maintain pressure on Russia. We know the German foreign minister is here in France, also focused as you would expect on the war on Iran.

They are calling for de-escalation. We have already heard the Canadian foreign minister saying she wants all her counterparts to commit to a call for de-escalation at the end of this meeting.

They are also looking at rising oil and energy prices, what they can do to curb the impact, and how to get tankers moving through the Strait of Hormuz.

Iraq’s government has denounced attacks targeting Gulf countries and Jordan after Middle Eastern states urged Baghdad to curb strikes by armed groups operating from its territory.

The Foreign Ministry said it “categorically condemns any aggression or targeting of Gulf countries and the Kingdom of Jordan”.

Iraq stands ready to “work together to deal with [the attacks] responsibly and quickly”, it added.

The United Arab Emirates has engaged 15 ballistic missiles and 11 drones today.

“UAE air defences are dealing with Iranian ballistic and cruise missiles and drones,” the Ministry of Defence announced on X.

It added its air defences targeted 372 ballistic missiles, 15 cruise missiles, and 1,826 drones since Iranian attacks began.

Two members of the armed forces have been killed in the attacks, as well as a Moroccan civilian contracted by the military, and eight foreign nationals from Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Palestine and India, the ministry said.

We heard interceptors trying to stop an Iranian missile with a cluster warhead that was aimed at Tel Aviv and parts of western Jerusalem.

We don’t have reports of any impact sites yet, but these missiles, even when intercepted, can still scatter fragments because of the cluster warhead, spreading over areas of up to 10km (4.6 miles).

So it can take time to determine whether there has been any impact and for that information to be cleared by military censors.

In the north of Israel, in Nahariya, the damage was extensive, including to gas infrastructure supplying residents.

This is a city of nearly 70,000 people, and it has been the target of repeated Hezbollah rocket fire. One person has been killed and 12 injured, one of them described as being in critical condition.

Lebanon’s government says it considers Israel’s “actions and statements, under whatever label they may come, … to be extremely dangerous, threatening Lebanon’s sovereignty, the integrity of its territory, and the rights of its people”.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said: “I request that the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Emigrants immediately file a complaint with the Security Council in this regard.”

France’s ⁠armed ⁠forces chief has held a videoconference call with 35 ⁠countries about ways ⁠to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

France’s Defence Ministry did not disclose which countries joined the call.

“This initiative, independent of ⁠the ongoing military operations in ⁠the region, is strictly defensive in nature. ⁠Its purpose is to organize ⁠the resumption of ⁠shipping through the Strait of Hormuz once hostilities have ‌ceased,” it said in a statement.