Live updates: Trump pressures NATO, China to reopen Strait of Hormuz; Israel launches 'limited' Lebanon ground operations

U.S. President Donald Trump in justifying the war with Iran called the regime leadership “violent, vicious people” who kill protesters and have threatened more violence if the Iranian people demonstrate against the government.

“They put out a memo two days ago saying, ‘If you protest, we will shoot you and kill you in the streets,’” Trump said at an event at the White House with Vice President JD Vance.

"Who's going to do that?" Trump said. "They don't have any guns, and the other ones have latest-in-line machine guns, and every form of gun you can have."

Trump told reporters the U.S. has requested that his trip to China be delayed by “a month or so,” citing the war with Iran.

Trump said he didn’t know whether he would still plan to travel to Beijing at the end of the month, saying in response to a question, “We’re working on that right now.”

“I’d love to, but because of the war, I want to be here. I have to be here, I feel. And so we’ve requested that we delay it a month or so, and I’m looking forward to being with them,” Trump said.

“It’s very simple. We’ve got a war going on. I think it’s important that I be here, so it could be that we delay a little bit, not much,” he added.

The Trump administration appeared to cast doubt on the trip earlier today, with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent saying it might not take place as scheduled, but that it wouldn’t be delayed to pressure Beijing to help unblock the Strait of Hormuz.

While responding to questions at the Kennedy Center luncheon, Trump said he suspects that other countries will help the United States with securing the Strait of Hormuz.

"I think we’re going to have the situation straightened out pretty quickly, and I think we’re going to have some good help," he explained. Trump conceded he expects disappointments from "some nations too."

"I’ll let you know who those nations are," he added.

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh was asked about a potential U.S. ground operation in Iran during an interview with Sky News today.

"Even suggesting that a foreign country can put boots on the ground of another country, invade another country, occupy the land of another country, is something very much rogue, very reckless, illegal, and against all international law," Khatibzadeh said during the interview.

"There is no mandate for Americans to do that, and they are doing this because they are so drunk of power," he continued.

President Donald Trump has not said that the U.S. will start any kind of military ground operation in Iran.

Iran did not start the war and “will not submit to bullies,” the Islamic Republic’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, said he told his French counterpart today.

Recalling his conversation with President Emmanuel Macron, Pezeshkian said on X that he had accused the U.S. and Israel of starting the war “based on false information and with the aim of conquest,” something he called “a medieval act in the 21st century.”

“We expect the international community to condemn this aggression and to persuade the aggressors to respect international law,” Pezeshkian said.

“Talking about stopping the aggression is meaningless until there is assurance that our territory will not be attacked again,” he added.

The United States has violated international humanitarian law “by failing to take all feasible precautions to avoid civilian harm” during its war with Iran, Amnesty International said in a report published today.

The organization also accused the U.S. of attacking a primary school in Iran’s southern city of Minab, where over 160 people were killed, including children.

Amnesty said it had come to this conclusion after analyzing images and videos taken before and after the strike on the school, which was located adjacent to a compound belonging to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. It added that it had also recruited the help of an independent forensic pathologist, who conducted an additional analysis.

“This harrowing attack on a school, with classrooms full of children, is a sickening illustration of the catastrophic and entirely predictable price civilians are paying during this armed conflict,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, the organization’s senior director of research, advocacy, policy and campaigns. “Schools must be places of safety and learning for children. Instead, this school in Minab became a site of mass killing.”

Iran will “continue the fight” against the U.S. and Israel “until the enemy truly regrets its attack,” the country's parliament speaker vowed today.

"We will not accept a ceasefire until the enemy shows regret and appropriate political and security conditions are created in the world and the region," Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf was quoted as saying by the state-run Fars news agency.

Ghalibaf also touted the Iranian regime's ability to make drones quickly and cheaply.

"We have sufficient missile and drone reserves, and because this technology is domestic, we also have the capability to produce them, at a much higher rate and at a much lower cost than the enemy’s interceptor missiles," he said.

In a post on X, the Israel Defense Forces said the army attacked another intelligence headquarters “linked to the Iranian regime” in the center of Tehran, the country’s capital.

“The headquarters was located in a building belonging to the Iranian electricity company,” the IDF said in the post, published in the Farsi language. “This reflects a repeated pattern in which the Iranian regime places its military infrastructure within civilian environments.”

The IDF did not provide specifics about the attack, including casualties.

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China and its top officials are working to convey an air of stability as the fighting in the Middle East continues, even as the war disrupts China’s supplies of crude oil.

NBC News reports on how the war is affecting the country and what it might mean for Trump’s planned trip to Beijing. 

The president said he is not concerned about the possibility that Israel could use a nuclear weapon on Iran.

“Israel wouldn’t do that. Israel would never do that,” Trump said.

A strike on a residential building in Tehran today. Majid Asgaripour / via Reuters

He made the remark after being asked about comments his AI czar, David Sacks, made on the podcast "All-In" last week, where he said he was concerned about the conflict escalating.

“Israel could get seriously destroyed,” Sacks said on the podcast. “And then you have to worry about Israel escalating the war by contemplating using a nuclear weapon, which would truly be catastrophic.”

At least six people were being treated for smoke inhalation after reported missile fire in Nahariya, the northernmost coastal city in Israel, according to Magen David Adom, the country's emergency medical service.

The six people — four adults and two teenage girls — were in mild condition, according to MDA.

The intended target of the missile was not immediately clear.

Asked about negotiating with Iran, the president said he speaks to “everybody because sometimes good things come out of it.” But he said he wasn’t sure if Iran was “ready yet.”

Iranians ride through damage in the Beryanak district of Tehran yesterday. Majid Saeedi / Getty Images

“They’re taking a pounding. I don’t know if they’re ready yet, and we don’t even know their leaders,” he said. “Look, all of their leaders are dead, as far as we know, but they’re all dead. We don’t know who we’re dealing with.”

Trump added the U.S. knocked out two groups of leaders. “We met with the next group and but we don’t know who their leader is. We have people wanting to negotiate. We have no idea who they are,” he said.

Daily oil exports from the Middle Eastern Gulf, home to top exporter Saudi Arabia and other major producers, have dropped by at least 60% in the week to March 15 compared to February due to disruptions and output cuts amid the U.S.-Iran war, according to shipping data and Reuters calculations.

The effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, normally used to transport about a fifth of the world’s oil supply, has forced exporters to cancel shipments and shut production at oilfields, creating the world’s biggest ever supply disruption. Crude oil prices have surged to the highest in four years and those of some fuels to record highs.

Crude, condensate and refined fuels exports from eight Middle Eastern countries — Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iran, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates — in the week to March 15 averaged 9.71 million barrels per day, data from Kpler showed, down 61% from 25.13 million bpd in February.

Data from Vortexa shows an even more dramatic drop, with exports from the eight countries last week reaching 7.5 million bpd, down 71% from February’s 26.1 million bpd.

President Donald Trump has repeated his call to nations to help reopen the shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, saying some countries told him they were on the way and others were not that enthusiastic about helping.

After several European allies including Germany, Italy and Spain said they would not participate in the war against Iran, Trump said “numerous countries” had told him they were on the way. 

Speaking at the White House event, he said that he was not happy with the U.K. but he thought they might be involved, adding that he had spoken to French President Emmanuel Macron, who he said was willing to help unblock the crucial waterway.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said today that Germany would not participate in the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran.

“We lack the mandate from the United Nations, the European Union or NATO required under the Basic Law. It was therefore clear from the outset that this war is not a matter for NATO,” Merz said at a news conference in Berlin.

“The United States of America and Israel did not consult us prior to this war either. As for Iran, there has never been a joint decision on the ‘whether’ of the matter. That is why the question of how Germany might become militarily involved here does not arise,” he added.

Trump: We 'strongly encourage' other nations to help secure Strait of Hormuz

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The U.S. has been “hammering” Iran’s capacity to threaten commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, President Donald Trump told a news conference today.

“With more than 30 mine-laying ships destroyed, we hit, to the best of our knowledge, all of their mine-laying ships,” Trump said in his remarks at a Kennedy Center board meeting event at the White House.

“Now they can put them on other types of ships, I guess, and drop them in, but we don’t know that any have even been dropped in. We’re not sure that any have been — that’s a big negative for them,” he added.

“If they do it, it’s a form of suicide. But we don’t know that they have dropped any in but we’ve, we’ve hit all 30 of their ships and destroyed them. They’re all at the bottom of the sea.”

Alireza Zakani, the mayor of Tehran, said today that some 14,000 locations across the city have been “targeted” since the start of the war with the U.S. and Israel, according to the semiofficial state news agency ISNA.

“We have a large number of martyrs and injured people,” Zakani said.

A man cleans debris yesterday from his apartment in Tehran that was damaged when a nearby police station was hit Friday in a U.S.-Israeli strike. Vahid Salemi / AP

Pope Leo XIV has made a direct appeal to journalists covering international conflict, warning of the risks of what he characterized as “propaganda.”

“In the dramatic circumstances of war, information must guard against the risk of turning into propaganda,” the pope wrote on X. “It is every journalist’s duty to verify the news, so as not to become a megaphone for power. They must show the suffering that war always brings to populations, which entails showing the face of war and recounting it through the eyes of victims.”

In recent days, President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth have criticized American news coverage of the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran.

In a Truth Social post last night, Trump said he was "thrilled" that the Federal Communications Commission chairman had threatened to revoke broadcasters' licenses over Iran war coverage.

The death toll in the United Arab Emirates has risen to seven since the start of the war, according to the country's defense ministry.

The victims are five civilians and two members of the armed forces, according to the ministry. They were all killed as a result of Iran's retaliatory strikes on the country, which it says are aimed at U.S. bases.

Over 140 people have also been wounded in the UAE, with their injuries ranging from minor to severe, per the ministry.

U.S. and international oil benchmarks dropped as the opening bell rang in New York.

U.S. crude oil dropped about 5% to around $93 per barrel, while international Brent crude oil fell nearly 3%. While those drops are notable, U.S. oil prices are still up nearly 40% since the war began.

As the rapid rise in oil prices took a break, U.S. stocks also advanced. The S&P 500 rose 1.2%, the Nasdaq composite jumped 1.5% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 550 points.

European stocks also appeared to be taking a breather, with the pan-European Stoxx 600 rising almost 1%.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that the Strait of Hormuz "is open and only closed to enemies," according to semiofficial Iranian news agency ISNA.

"We have sent no message and have not requested a ceasefire," Araghchi said in a statement. "This war must end in such a way that enemies will no longer think of attacking Iran and such attacks will not be repeated." 

European allies reacted warily to Trump's demand that they help secure the Strait of Hormuz or else face a "very bad future," with Germany insisting the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran had "nothing to do" with NATO members.

“This war has nothing to do with NATO. It’s not NATO’s war,” Stefan Kornelius, a spokesperson for German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, told reporters in Berlin today, according to The Associated Press.

President Trump at the NATO summit in Brussels in 2018. Sean Gallup / Getty Images file

Italy struck a cautious note, too. Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told reporters in Brussels that his country supports reinforcing European Union naval missions in the Red Sea.

"However," he added, "I don't think these missions can be expanded to include the Strait of Hormuz, especially since they are anti-piracy and defensive missions."

Others, from London to Madrid, offered similarly lukewarm responses.

It was not immediately clear what "very bad future" Trump envisioned for the countries that do not heed his call for help.

Israel and Iran must realize they were “delusional” to think they could “completely subjugate” Iran in a matter of days or hours, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said earlier today.

Speaking at a news conference with his Kenyan counterpart, Lavrov said Tehran was “defending itself” as he called the U.S.-Israeli operation in Iran “unprovoked” in line with the Kremlin’s previous condemnation of the war. 

Lavrov’s comments come as Russia’s own war in Ukraine drags on into its fifth year, after the dramatic failure of the Kremlin's initial plan for a blitz “special military operation” that it hoped would see Kyiv fall in a matter of days. 

Russia is calling on all sides to agree to an immediate ceasefire and return to the negotiating table in Iran, Lavrov said. Meanwhile, Russia’s own negotiation process with the U.S. and Ukraine to end its war has stalled.

The Trump administration appeared to cast doubt on Trump's visit to China taking place as scheduled at the end of the month, but insisted this was not to pressure Beijing to help unblock the Strait of Hormuz.

"We will see whether the visit takes place as scheduled," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. "But what I do want to parse, and there’s a false narrative out there that if the meetings are delayed, it wouldn’t be delayed because the President’s demanded that China police the Straits of Hormuz."

He appeared to be referencing a story published by the Financial Times, which reported that Trump said in an interview that he wanted China to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz and that he wanted to know before the planned summit. Trump said that "we may delay" the summit, but he did not tell the outlet for how long.

Bessent said on CNBC that if the trip is rescheduled, "it would be rescheduled because of logistics."

Later, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that the trip might be delayed, adding, “As soon as we have an update, we’ll provide the new dates.” She said that Trump’s top priority was “to ensure the continued success” of the Iran operation.

The top U.S. military commander in the Middle East says American forces are zeroing in on Iran’s threats to freighters carrying oil and natural gas through a vital chokepoint in the Persian Gulf.

“We will continue to rapidly deplete Iran’s ability to threaten freedom of navigation in and around the Strait of Hormuz,” Adm. Brad Cooper, the head of U.S. Central Command, said in a video posted to X.

AFP - Getty Images

AFP - Getty Images

An Emirates aircraft prepares for landing as a smoke plume rises from an ongoing fire caused by an Iranian strike near Dubai International Airport today.

The possibility of Israeli forces launching a wider ground assault in southern Lebanon is feeling increasingly "imminent," according to Sanam Vakil, director of the Middle East and North Africa program at the London-based think tank Chatham House.

“It appears to be imminent,” Vakil told NBC News in a phone interview this morning. “Whether it's days or weeks, this is going forward.”

Her comments came after the Israeli military's announcement this morning that it had launched a limited ground operation in recent days, with Defense Minister Israel Katz warning hundreds of thousands of residents evacuated from southern Lebanon would not be able to return to their homes south of the area of the Litani River until the "safety of residents" in northern Israel was "guaranteed."

Israeli army soldiers in northern Israel near the border with Lebanon today. Odd Andersen / AFP - Getty Images

"I think from Israel’s perspective, this is an opportunity to really go after Hezbollah in a serious way and the calculation in Israel is that can only be done through an invasion," Vakil said. Pointing to Israel's operations in Gaza, she said she had "hoped that Gaza would have taught" Israeli leadership that "a full decapitation and destruction is impossible" and that the vast destruction caused as a result of that offensive was not "worth it."

Satellite imagery provider by NASA Worldview shows smoke rising from the UAE's Fujairah Port, following a drone attack that triggered a ​fire in the emirate’s petroleum industrial zone.

Nasa Worldview / via Reuters

The Israeli military "has begun a ground maneuver in Lebanon to remove threats" and protect residents of northern Israel, Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a statement today, giving no indication of when the operation might end.

In comments following a situation assessment this morning, Katz warned that "hundreds of thousands of Shiite residents of southern Lebanon who have evacuated and continue to evacuate their homes in southern Lebanon and Beirut will not return to their homes south of the Litani River area until the safety of residents in the north is guaranteed."

Israel releases video of ‘targeted ground operations’ in Lebanon

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He said the IDF had been instructed to act to destroy what he called "terror infrastructure" in villages near the border in Lebanon to remove threats and prevent the return of Hezbollah to the area, comparing the operation to efforts "done against Hamas" in parts of Gaza.

Destruction at the site of overnight Israeli airstrikes in the southern suburbs of Beirut today.  AFP - Getty Images

Katz asserted that Naim Qassem, Hezbollah’s Secretary-General, was "hiding underground" as he issued a threat against the leader, saying he "may soon meet" his slain predecessor Hassan Nasrallah, as well as slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei "in the depths of hell along with the rest of the eliminated members of the axis of evil."

The Israeli military says its forces have "dismantled" an aircraft used by Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei after launching what it said was a precise strike on the Mehrabad Airport in Tehran.

The IDF said it conducted the strike overnight, saying the plane hit was used by Khamenei, who was killed in Israel's opening strikes against Iran as the country launched its offensive alongside the U.S.

It said senior officials and military personnel also used the aircraft in addition to Khamenei to "advance military procurement and to manage coordination with axis countries through both domestic and international flights."

It said the dismantling of the plane meant another "strategic asset of the regime has been degraded."

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said she's discussed with the United Nations the possibility of securing the transport of oil and gas through the Strait of Hormuz through a deal similar to the one negotiated in 2022 to ensure the export of grain and other products during Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Kallas said today that she had spoken with U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres on the matter, suggesting a deal similar to the Black Sea grain initiative negotiated between Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the U.N.

She made the comments while arriving at a meeting of E.U. foreign ministers in Brussels, where they were expected to discuss the issue amid Trump's demands for allies to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Noting the E.U.’s Aspides naval mission in the region, Kallas said, "we will discuss with member states whether it’s possible to really change the mandate of this mission." She added: "The point is that whether the member states are willing to actually use this mission."

China said it was “maintaining communication” with the U.S. about Trump’s upcoming visit, after Trump threatened to delay the trip unless Beijing helps to unblock the Strait of Hormuz.

President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Busan, South Korea, last year. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds / AFP via Getty Images file

In an interview with The Financial Times published yesterday, Trump said countries that import oil and gas through the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively shut down, should help protect it. He said he would “like to know” whether China was going to help and that if he doesn’t hear back soon, “we may delay” the trip, which the White House has said will start March 31 and includes a highly anticipated summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

“Head‑of‑state diplomacy plays an irreplaceable strategic guiding role in China–U.S. relations,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told reporters in Beijing. “China and the United States are maintaining communication regarding President Trump’s visit to China.”

On the Strait of Hormuz, Lin said China “once again calls on all parties to immediately cease military actions, avoid further escalation of tensions, and prevent regional instability from having a greater impact on global economic development.”

President Trump called on NATO allies to police the Strait of Hormuz amid the U.S. and Israel’s war in Iran, telling reporters on Air Force One that the U.S. “will remember” if countries don’t send warships to the region.

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Dubai’s International Airport has resumed “limited” flights today after a drone attack hit a fuel depot in the area of the airport, causing a fire.

Emirates said it expected to operate a "limited schedule" starting today. However, the airline said in a post on X that some of the flights scheduled for today had been canceled.

  AFP via Getty Images

It comes after the Dubai Media office announced there had been a "drone incident" in the area of Dubai International Airport, which they said had "affected one of the fuel tanks."

  AFP via Getty Images

Imagery of the incident showed a burst of flames and a large plume of smoke rising from the area of the airport. The media office said in a post on X that no injuries had been reported in the incident.

A Palestinian person was killed after a missile fell on a "civilian vehicle" in the outskirts of the Emirati capital Abu Dhabi as Iran continued striking the Gulf amid the war with the U.S. and Israel, officials have said.

The Abu Dhabi media office said in a post on X this morning that the missile fell on a vehicle in the Al Bahyah area.

The person killed has yet to be identified. The Abu Dhabi media office warned the public against "spreading rumours or unverified information."

Israeli troops have begun "limited and targeted" ground operations in southern Lebanon, the Israel Defense Forces announced today.

The IDF said troops from the 91st Division had begun the ground operations in "recent days." It said the military action was targeting key strongholds of the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon's south, with the aim of "enhancing the forward defense area."

Israel releases video of ‘targeted ground operations’ in Lebanon

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The Israeli military said it would seek to dismantle Hezbollah infrastructure and to kill operatives in the area "in order to remove threats and create an additional layer of security for residents of northern Israel."

It noted that prior to the troops' entry, the IDF had carried out strikes in the south.

Israeli forces have hammered Beirut and other areas with deadly strikes, with at least 850 people killed in the country since the wider war in the region began. Thirteen people have been killed in Israel.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Sunday that there’s “a very good chance” gas prices could drop below $3 per gallon by summer, predicting that in “a few more weeks” the U.S. will have “removed the risk” of Iran’s continued threat to global energy supplies.

Energy Sec. Wright says ‘good chance’ but ‘no guarantees’ of cheaper gas soon: Full interview

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Read the full story here.

U.S. crude oil hit $100 per barrel again, continuing its surge as the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran shows no signs of ending soon and despite attempts by the Trump administration and allied countries to slow rising prices.

Read the full story here.

U.S. allies and rivals responded cautiously after President Donald Trump said they should police the Strait of Hormuz, as Iranian threats to strike shipping on the vital trade route continue to cause chaos in global markets.

Trump calls for other nations to help reopen Strait of Hormuz

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While it remains to be seen what action these nations could eventually take in response to any looming economic crises, their lukewarm response appears to pour cold water on any hopes Trump may have had for a quick resolution to the blockade.

Read the full story here.