Live updates: Iran attacks Israel and Gulf states, plays down Trump peace talks claim

China has raised fuel prices but later reduced the increase to lessen the burden on consumers as global energy costs surge.

Gasoline and diesel prices that had been set to rise by $1 or more per gallon will instead increase by only about 50 cents “to mitigate the impact of the recent abnormal rise in international oil prices on the domestic market,” according to China’s National Development and Reform Commission, the authority regulating energy prices. That brings the average price of gas in China to about $4.70 a gallon.

The price change is still significant for the people who drive China’s 300 million gas-powered cars, prompting long lines to form at gas stations across the country as drivers rushed to fill up before the new prices took effect. Gas prices in China, which relies on Gulf states for much of its oil imports, are up about 20% since the Iran war began on Feb. 28.

China is taking precautionary measures despite its estimated 1.4 billion barrels in oil reserves, which are helping it weather the price shocks better than other Asian countries that have announced energy-conserving measures from switching off building lights to urging people to wear short-sleeved shirts to work.

Iran's military will continue to wage war against the U.S. and Israel until the regime has achieved what it characterized as "complete victory," the commander of the country's armed forces said today, according to the semiofficial Fars news agency.

Maj. Gen. Ali Abdollahi Aliabadi of the Khatam-al Anbiya Central Headquarters mocked the U.S., describing it as a "hollow" nation that has been "brought down in front of the world" and left "trying to escape from the war" it started.

"The American president, Trump, after realizing the situation and becoming stuck in the war, has lost hope in his goals and is now seeking help from other countries to get out, which is a historic moment and a great honor for the Iranian people," Aliabadi said, according to the Fars report.

"At this sensitive time, Iran’s armed forces remain loyal to their promise, fully follow the Supreme Leader and commander in chief Mojtaba Khamenei and will continue this proud path with the support of the people until complete victory," Aliabadi said in closing, referring to the regime's new supreme leader.

Aliabadi's statement did not define what the regime considers complete victory over the U.S. and Israel.

The Israeli military is modeling its approach to creating a "security buffer" in southern Lebanon after its operations in some of the hardest-hit areas of Gaza, including the southern city of Rafah, the country's defense minister has said.

Announcing plans for Israel to assume control of the remaining bridges that it has not yet destroyed over Lebanon's Litani River, as well as of a "security zone" in the area south of the waterway, Katz said the IDF was "following the model applied in Rafah and Beit Hanoun in Gaza, in order to create a security buffer and remove threats to Israeli communities."

Katz's comments came as Israeli forces destroyed bridges across the Litani it said were used by Hezbollah operatives to move from north to south and transfer weapons and as homes were razed to the ground across southern Lebanon. Katz said hundreds of thousands of people displaced from southern Lebanon would not be able to return to their homes until the safety of residents of Israel's north was guaranteed.

"The principle is clear: where there is terror and missiles — there will be no homes and no residents, and the IDF will remain in control," he said.

First responders arrive today at the site of an Israeli airstrike in Tyre, southern Lebanon. Kawnat Haju / AFP - Getty Images

The streets of Tehran were sparsely populated today, though some could be seen eating out at coffee shops, trying their best to make the most of the spring weather even amid the backdrop of bomb-blasted buildings as Israeli strikes continue to rain down on Iran.

Cars could be seen lined up, heading north, with many still looking to get out of the city to mark Nowruz New Year's celebrations, which last 13 days, despite the conflict consuming the region.

While many have sought to mark the Persian New Year, the most important holiday in the Iranian calendar, many shops remained closed across the capital, while armed forces maintained checkpoints on nearby highways with machine guns mounted onto pickup trucks.

Only a few places could be seen still open around Tajrish Square in northern Tehran, with some street vendors trying to sell what they could amid what would have been in better times their busiest time of year.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio will attend a Group of Seven foreign ministers meeting near Versailles outside of Paris on Friday “to advance key U.S. interests” and “discuss shared security concerns and opportunities for cooperation,” the State Department said.

“Areas of focus will include the Russia-Ukraine war, the situation in the Middle East, and threats across the world to peace and stability,” it said.

Nearly all of the other G7 nations — Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan — have reacted coolly at best to the U.S.-Israeli military operation against Iran and have declined to participate.

Qatar is not involved in mediating any negotiations between the U.S. and Iran, a spokesman for the country's Foreign Ministry said this morning.

The small but wealthy Gulf state has often acted as mediator in the Middle East, most recently helping to broker a 2024 ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

But in response to a question from NBC News at a news conference in Doha, Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said his country was not playing a role in negotiations.

"Qatar is not involved in these talks. Our views about any talks, if they exist, are consistent with our very principled position that all conflicts will end on the negotiation table, and we support all of these efforts,” he said.

"I am not privy to the details of the current negotiations, but we stand ready to help, of course, if there is any role for Qatar. But right now, our concern is in supporting these efforts and stopping the attacks on our country."

Lebanon has declared Iran's ambassador to the country persona non grata, revoking his accreditation and ordering him to leave the republic before the end of the month, Lebanese Foreign Affairs Minister Youssef Raggi said today.

Raggi said in a post on X that Mohammad Reza Sheibani had been ordered to leave Lebanese territory by Sunday.

He said Sheibani had been summoned today to be informed of the decision to withdraw approval of his accreditation.

It comes as the Israeli military continues to attack Lebanon with airstrikes in its campaign against Iran-backed Hezbollah. Israel's defense minister announced that Israeli forces would be taking control of remaining bridges over the Litani River, as well as of a "security zone" south of the waterway.

Smoke rises today from the site of an Israeli airstrike on the outskirts of the southern city of Tyre, Lebanon. Dimitar Dilkoff / AFP - Getty Images

While President Trump talks of finding negotiated peace in the Middle East, Iran launched more missile attacks at Tel Aviv that damaged a residential neighborhood.

The Iranian group firing those missiles, the Revolutionary Guard, dismissed Trump’s claim of diplomatic progress, saying, “contradictory behavior of the deceptive U.S. president does not distract us from the battlefield.” 

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Drone footage shows the extent of damage to residential buildings after an Iranian missile attack on Tel Aviv this morning.

There were no reports of casualties in the attack but Israel said search and rescue teams were deployed to several areas in the central part of the country.

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It’s hard to know the real state of affairs when it comes to negotiations to end the Iran war, the Kremlin said.

“We, like you, are indeed seeing a whole host of conflicting statements from all sides. One contradicts another,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in a daily briefing earlier today, when asked if Tehran has signaled to Moscow that it was ready for talks with the U.S.

It comes after Iran disputed U.S. claims of diplomatic advances. It also comes after months of conflicting signals from Moscow, Kyiv and Washington over talks to end the Kremlin's own war.

Israel said last week it struck Iranian naval targets in the Caspian Sea, and Peskov said Russia would take any spillover of the conflict into the sea, which both Russia and Iran border, “extremely negatively.”

Images from the Israeli settlement of Peduel and the Palestinian village of Kifl Haris near Nablus in the occupied West Bank show missile fragments after Iranian attacks.

Maya Levin / AFP via Getty Images

Maya Levin / AFP via Getty Images

Erik Marmor / Getty Images

One missile remnant landed in an elementary school courtyard in the settlement, prompting children to play with it.

Mohamad Torokman / Reuters

Iran has named a former Revolutionary Guard commander as ​the ​secretary of its ⁠Supreme National ​Security ​Council after the killing of his powerful predecessor, state television reported.

Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr will replace Ali Larijani, whose death in Israeli strikes last week was a major blow to the ruling clerical regime.

Larijani, 67, was the most senior leader to be killed in the Islamic Republic since Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He was largely considered by many to be the country’s de facto leader after Khamenei’s death.

Zolghadr is likely to rise toward the top of Israel's list of assassination targets, with the country seeking to decapitate Iran's leadership.

The Popular Mobilization Forces, a Shia paramilitary group in Iraq, said airstrikes had killed at least 10 people, including its operations commander in the western province of Anbar.

The group said the commander, Saad Dawai al-Baiji, had been killed by a U.S. airstrike targeting its command headquarters.

Since the start of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, some Tehran-backed groups within the PMF coalition have launched drone attacks on U.S. bases in Iraq.

Several hundred Australian fuel stations are out of either gasoline or diesel despite Australian ministers assuring the public the market is well supplied.

New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state, has 165 stations without diesel and 298 without at least one type of gasoline, The Sydney Morning Herald said today, as consumers stock up amid the ongoing U.S.-Israeli war on Iran.

Energy minister Chris Bowen confirmed to Parliament that petrol stations in multiple states were facing shortages.

Cars line up to purchase fuel at a service station in Ballina, Australia, yesterday. James D. Morgan / Getty Images

A gas station sign advertises diesel for over three Australian dollars a liter, in Melbourne yesterday. William West / AFP via Getty Images

Bowen also rolled out another relaxation of fuel standards that would allow more diesel into the market after earlier lowering sulphur standards. Bowen has appointed a fuel supply task force that met for the first time today, with the mandate to ensure supply gets to rural areas where it is needed.

The government also released fuel from its reserve and has 30 days of diesel stored.

During an address to the National Press Club in Canberra yesterday, International Energy Agency chief Fatih Birol called the storage a “solid number” and outlined fuel conservation measures such as working from home, lowering speed limits and limiting business travel.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned today that it would widen strikes on Israeli troops if the death toll of civilians in Lebanon and in the war-battered Palestinian enclave of Gaza continued to rise.

The IRGC accused Israel of "taking advantage" of the war in the region and the media's focus on Iran to carry out "widespread war crimes against civilians in Lebanon and Palestine."

"The continuation of this process is not tolerable," it said in a statement run by Iranian official state news agency IRNA.

It warned that if the civilian death tolls in Lebanon and Gaza continued to rise, Israeli forces will "come under heavy missile and drone attacks by the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps."

Israel will assume control of the remaining bridges over the Litani River and a "security zone" in areas to its south, Defense Minister Israel Katz announced today.

Katz did not identify exactly which parts of southern Lebanon would make up the "security zone."

He warned, however, that hundreds of thousands of residents who have been displaced from their homes will not be able to return "until security for northern Israeli communities is ensured."

The development comes after Israel expanded its assault on southern Lebanon, destroying bridges over the Litani and homes in the area amid what it has said is a "limited" ground operation.

"All five bridges over the Litani that were used by Hezbollah for transferring operatives and weapons have been destroyed, and the IDF will control the remaining crossings and the security zone up to the Litani," Katz said during a situation assessment this morning

The designation of southern Lebanon as a "security zone" will deepen fears of a long-term occupation of the area, with experts warning in recent days that such a takeover could be "imminent." Yesterday, far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the Litani should be Israel's permanent new border.

Images out of Tel Aviv reveal the scope of damage to the city following an Iranian missile strike this morning. Emergency services were seen responding to the attack, whilst civilians evacuated destroyed buildings.

 Erik Marmor / Getty Images

 Ohad Zwigenberg / AP

 Jack Guez / AFP via Getty Images

 Oded Balilty / AP

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UNESCO has expressed concern about the impact of war on important historical sites in Iran and across the Middle East, saying they have become “collateral damage.”

U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran have damaged at least four cultural and historical sites, including palaces and an ancient mosque, raising concerns about the impact of the widening war on protected landmarks that are important to Iranian identity and world history.

The price of oil jumped back above $100 a barrel as optimism over a possible end to the war consuming the Middle East began to fade a little.

The international standard Brent crude added $1.00 to just over $102 a barrel, though global market benchmarks rebounded a little overall.

The price of Brent had sunk by more than 10% yesterday after Trump said he would delay strikes he threatened to launch on Iran's energy infrastructure unless it reopened the Strait of Hormuz. The president attributed the reversal to productive talks with Iran.

Iranian officials disputed his claims of diplomatic progress and accused the president of trying to buy time and manipulate the financial and oil markets to quell mounting outrage over market instability. One senior official acknowledged the country had exchanged messages with intermediaries, however.

At least four people were injured after at least one Iranian missile evaded air defenses and made an impact in Tel Aviv, the Israeli military and first responders said this morning.

The Israeli military said search and rescue forces had been dispatched to several sites in central Israel after receiving reports of impacts in the area.

MDA

Photos shared by Magen David Adom, Israel’s primary emergency service, with NBC News showed a cloud of smoke rising from the ground as first responders arrived at the scene of a strike in Tel Aviv.

"We saw destruction, smoke, and chaos," emergency medical technician Yoel Moshe said this morning. Moshe said at least four people, all in "mild condition," were treated at the scene.

Damage in Tel Aviv today, following an Iranian missile strike.  Obtained by NBC News

Pakistan is joining a growing list of countries acting as go-betweens for the United States and Iran, four sources told NBC News, with two of those sources saying an in-person meeting could be held in the coming days in Islamabad.

A diplomatic source said Pakistan is in conversations with both the U.S. and Iran and is “well poised to play an active role” in discussions to end the war. A Gulf official said Pakistan had been passing messages between the two countries for the past two days.

Read the full story here.