Live updates: U.S. gasoline prices pass $4; Iran attacks tanker full of oil off Dubai

Three explosions were heard in Tehran just now. It is unclear what caused them.

Eight people were “lightly wounded” by a suspected Iranian missile struck the outskirts of Tel Aviv this morning, Israel's prime emergency service said this morning.

Magen David Adom said in an update that it was providing medical treatment to the casualties in Bnei Brak.

Israel will demolish “all homes” near its borders in southern Lebanon as it attempts to create a buffer zone and prevent future missile attacks, the country's defense minister said today.

A man checks his damaged apartment in Lebanon's southern port city of Tyre, following an Israeli airstrike on Thursday. Hussein Malla / AP

The Israeli military “will position itself in a security zone inside Lebanon along the defensive line” and “will maintain security control over the entire area up to the Litani River, including the remaining Litani bridges,” Israel Katz told a news briefing.

The Litani River sits around 20 miles north of the Israeli border with Lebanon.

Katz said that the 600,000 Lebanese people who live in the area would be “completely prohibited” from returning “until the safety and security of northern Israeli residents is ensured.”

As many as 4 million people could be pushed into poverty in Arab nations as a result of the war in Iran, the United Nations Development Programme said in a report today.

A resident weeps near a residential building that was hit in an airstrike yesterday morning, in the west of Tehran.  Majid Saeedi / Getty Images

Middle Eastern nations could lose between 3.7% and 6% of their entire gross domestic product, the equivalent of $120 billion to $194 billion, with unemployment in the region set to rise by 4%, the report said.

The UNDP said its assessment “exposes the concerning reality of structural vulnerabilities characteristic to the region, which enable a short‑lived military escalation to generate profound and widespread socio‑economic impacts that may persist over a long-term.”

Four people suffered minor injuries after they were hit with debris from "successful interception" over southern Dubai, the city's media office said on X.

The debris hit residential houses, the post said. It did not say what had been intercepted over the city.

Three children and two mothers were among 11 people killed in a strike on the Iranian city of Mahallat, the country’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported this morning.

Four residential buildings were destroyed in the attack and another six were either heavily or partially damaged the report said.

New York University has temporarily closed its Abu Dhabi campus following threats from Iran targeting U.S.-affiliated universities in the Middle East. 

In an email to NBC News, the university said it was relocating students, staff and faculty who reside on campus. Classes, which were moved online earlier this month, will continue virtually, it added.

“We’ve continued to act out of an abundance of caution, and our priority in every decision is the safety of our students, faculty and staff,” said Wiley Norvell, senior vice president for university relations and public affairs.

The threat from Tehran came after Israeli airstrikes hit Iranian universities over the weekend.

U.S. gas prices have risen by more than $1 a gallon since the war in Iran started, with the average price reaching $4 for the first time since 2022 today.

Prices were $2.98 on average on Feb. 27, the day before the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on the Islamic Republic.

A gas station in Los Angeles yesterday. Mario Tama / Getty Images

Fears are rising that an extended conflict the Middle East could push prices beyond their all-time high of $5.016, as tracked by the American Automobile Association.

That price was reached months after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which greatly destabilized energy markets and infrastructure.

China has said that it “commends” Pakistan’s mediation efforts to de-escalate tensions in the Middle East, as the country's top diplomats are set to meet in Beijing later. 

“We commend Pakistan’s mediation effort for deescalation and support Pakistan in continuing to play its role as mediator,” said China'sForeign Affairs spokesperson Mao Ning yesterday. 

The comments came a day before Pakistani Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar’s visit to China. 

“The upcoming visit will provide an opportunity for both sides to hold in-depth discussions on regional developments, as well as bilateral and global issues of mutual interest,” Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement today. 

Videos geolocated by NBC News show intense overnight explosions sending a fireball into the sky above Iran’s strategic central city of Isfahan.

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Fighter jets hit military targets in the city overnight, according to Isfahan's deputy governor.

“There is still no information available regarding the extent of the damage or the number of casualties and injured from these attacks,” the official was quoted as saying by the government-supported Iranian Student News Agency.

Oman’s largest port will “gradually resume operations” after it was hit by a drone attack, Maersk has confirmed. 

The Port of Salalah was hit in the early hours of Mar. 28 (local time), according to an earlier statement by the Danish shipping company, adding that no Maersk crew or vessels were affected.

“Additional precautionary security measures have been implemented at the port,” the company said in a statement. It added that the port will “undergo steps” to return to full capacity.

Dubai authorities have extinguished a fire involving a Kuwaiti tanker laden with oil after it was hit by a drone, the emirate’s media office said in a statement.

No oil leakage or injuries were reported among the 24 crew members onboard. 

“Dubai authorities confirm that response teams have successfully contained the incident involving the Kuwaiti oil tanker in Dubai waters,” the statement said.

The average price of a gallon of gas in the United States smashed through the $4 barrier early today, the highest since 2022, as the war in Iran continues to hit the energy industry in the Middle East and push crude oil prices higher.

The American Automobile Association's tracker put regular gas at $4.018, up from $3.990 yesterday, and diesel at $5.454, compared to $5.416 yesterday.

West Texas Intermediate crude, the U.S benchmark, is trading at about $102, compared to $59 at the start of the year as oil prices spike across the world. The international benchmark Brent Crude is at about $112.

Iran has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, through which 20% of the world's oil normally flows.

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