Updated: March 23, 2026 7:45:44 am IST
US-Iran war live updates: People attend an anti-US and anti-Israel rally amid the US-Israel conflict with Iran in Tehran, Iran on March 22, 2026.
Iran US War Live Updates: Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency (IEA), has warned that the situation in West Asia is “very serious” and worse than the two energy crises of the 1970s. In an address to the National Press Club of Australia, Birol said the biggest solution to the current crisis is to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively blocked following the US-Israeli attack on the country.
Donald Trump warned that the US would “destroy” Iran’s power plants if the Strait of Hormuz was not fully opened within 48 hours, following which Tehran said it would respond to any such attack with strikes on US and Israeli energy and infrastructure assets.
Meanwhile, Iranian missiles struck two communities in southern Israel late Saturday, damaging buildings and wounding dozens of people in twin attacks just blocks away from Israel’s main nuclear research center.
Developments indicated that the war was moving in a dangerous new direction at the beginning of its fourth week. Trump – who is facing increasing pressure domestically to secure the strait as oil prices rise – issued the ultimatum in a social media post as he spent the weekend at his Florida home.
The death toll from the war has reached more than 1,500 in Iran, more than 1,000 in Lebanon, 15 in Israel and 1,000 US military members as well as numerous civilians have died on land and sea in the Gulf region. Millions of people have been displaced in Lebanon and Iran.
Gulf air defense intercepts missiles and drones, sirens in Bahrain
Kuwait said early Monday that its air defenses were intercepting hostile missile and drone attacks, while the UAE said its air defenses were dealing with missile and drone attacks coming from Iran.
Air raid sirens have sounded in Bahrain.
Saudi Crown Prince received a call from France’s Macron
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman received a call from French President Emmanuel Macron, during which Macron expressed his country’s solidarity with Saudi Arabia over what he described as repeated Iranian attacks targeting the kingdom, according to a statement issued by the Saudi Foreign Ministry on Monday morning.
Macron reaffirmed Paris’s support for the steps taken by Riyadh to “defend its sovereignty, security and territorial integrity”.
Crude oil price continues to fluctuate as Iran war continues
Crude oil prices remained volatile on Sunday as the Iran war continued to disrupt shipping and production in the Middle East.
West Texas Intermediate, the light, sweet crude oil produced in the United States, rose briefly when trading resumed Sunday evening on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, but then fell to $97.86, just below Friday’s $98.32.
The price of a barrel of international standard Brent crude was trading at just over $111 on Sunday. It was at $112.19 on Friday and reached $119.50 early last week.
The price of both WTI and Brent has increased since the beginning of the war, when Brent was around $70 a barrel.
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Donald Trump warned that the US would “destroy” Iran’s power plants if the Strait of Hormuz was not fully opened within 48 hours, following which Tehran said it would respond to any such attack with strikes on US and Israeli energy and infrastructure assets.
Meanwhile, Iranian missiles struck two communities in southern Israel late Saturday, damaging buildings and wounding dozens of people in twin attacks just blocks away from Israel’s main nuclear research center.
Developments indicated that the war was moving in a dangerous new direction at the beginning of its fourth week. Trump – who is facing increasing pressure domestically to secure the strait as oil prices rise – issued the ultimatum in a social media post as he spent the weekend at his Florida home.
The death toll from the war has reached more than 1,500 in Iran, more than 1,000 in Lebanon, 15 in Israel and 1,000 US military members as well as numerous civilians have died on land and sea in the Gulf region. Millions of people have been displaced in Lebanon and Iran.
Gulf air defense intercepts missiles and drones, sirens in Bahrain
Kuwait said early Monday that its air defenses were intercepting hostile missile and drone attacks, while the UAE said its air defenses were dealing with missile and drone attacks coming from Iran.
Air raid sirens have sounded in Bahrain.
Saudi Crown Prince received a call from France’s Macron
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman received a call from French President Emmanuel Macron, during which Macron expressed his country’s solidarity with Saudi Arabia over what he described as repeated Iranian attacks targeting the kingdom, according to a statement issued by the Saudi Foreign Ministry on Monday morning.
Macron reaffirmed Paris’s support for the steps taken by Riyadh to “defend its sovereignty, security and territorial integrity”.
Crude oil price continues to fluctuate as Iran war continues
Crude oil prices remained volatile on Sunday as the Iran war continued to disrupt shipping and production in the Middle East.
West Texas Intermediate, the light, sweet crude oil produced in the United States, rose briefly when trading resumed Sunday evening on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, but then fell to $97.86, just below Friday’s $98.32.
The price of a barrel of international standard Brent crude was trading at just over $111 on Sunday. It was at $112.19 on Friday and reached $119.50 early last week.
The price of both WTI and Brent has increased since the beginning of the war, when Brent was around $70 a barrel.
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March 23, 2026 7:45:44 am First
Iran US war live updates: Destruction, blackout in Iran’s Khorramabad after air strike. Video
Footage from the city of Khorramabad, west of Tehran, shows residents searching through the debris of a destroyed building following an airstrike on the area. Video shows residents using torches as the raid caused a blackout in the area.
March 23, 2026 7:39:37 am First
Iran US war live updates: IEA chief says ‘no country will be untouched’ by impacts of global energy crisis
The IEA chief also issued a warning that no country in the world will be ‘immune’ from the potentially “worst energy crisis” to come, reports AFP.
March 23, 2026 7:35:11 am First
Iran US war live updates: IEA chief says global economy at ‘great risk’ from Strait of Hormuz crisis
The IEA chief also warned that the global economy is at ‘great risk’ from the Strait of Hormuz crisis, reports AFP.
March 23, 2026 7:29:48 am First
Iran US war live updates: Explosions heard in Tehran
According to Reuters report, several explosions were heard in different parts of Iran’s capital Tehran.
March 23, 2026 7:26:32 am First
Iran US war live updates: World could face worst energy crisis in decades, IEA chief warns
The International Energy Agency (IEA) chief warned on Monday that the world could face its worst energy crisis in decades amid the consequences of conflict in West Asia, AFP reports.
March 23, 2026 7:20:41 am First
Iran US war live updates: Indian citizen injured in UAE missile interception
An Indian national living in the United Arab Emirates was injured by shrapnel following the interception of a ballistic missile at an industrial area near Al Dhafra Air Base in Abu Dhabi, officials said on Monday.
March 23, 2026 7:18:12 am First
Iran US war live updates: Lebanon’s president calls Israeli attacks on his country ‘collective punishment’
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun is calling Israel’s latest attacks on his country a “collective punishment” on Lebanese civilians.
These attacks on critical infrastructure by Israeli forces are making the situation very difficult for both the Lebanese government and the people who are trying to escape the bombed areas.
It is estimated that one million people have already been displaced, and attacks on infrastructure, including highways, will make it extremely difficult for humanitarian aid efforts to continue, especially in the south of the country.
President Aoun also condemned the deliberate attack by Israel in the south in an attempt to create a de facto buffer zone.
March 23, 2026 7:12:44 am First
Iran US war live updates: US Senate minority leader calls for end to Iran war
US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has called for an end to the US military campaign against Iran.
“Enough is enough. End this war,” Schumer wrote in a statement posted on Twitter.
“Even some Republican senators are openly admitting they have no idea what the administration is trying to accomplish in the Middle East,” the New York lawmaker said.
In an earlier post on
March 23, 2026 7:10:37 am First
Iran US War Live Updates: WTI crude oil prices rise after Trump’s ultimatum on Iran
Benchmark US oil contract WTI rose on Monday after US President Donald Trump gave Iran a 48-hour ultimatum to open the Strait of Hormuz or face the destruction of its energy infrastructure and Israel warned that the war would continue for several more weeks.
At 0015 GMT, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was up 0.44 percent at $98.66 a barrel. Earlier on Monday it had become slightly more than $ 100 per barrel.
South Korea’s benchmark Kospi index and Japan’s Nikkei fell sharply in early trading.
The Kospi was down 4.69 percent at 5,509.88 points. The Nikkei 225 was down 3.54 percent at 51,483.91 points.
Global market benchmark North Sea Brent crude was down 0.02 at $112.17 per barrel.
On February 27, a day before the start of the US-Israeli attacks on Iran, WTI was at $67.02 and Brent at $72.48 per barrel.
