Iran US News Highlights: Conflict to ‘last up to six weeks?’ Top Trump aide shares Pentagon’s estimate

Trump and British PM Keir Starmer spoke Sunday about the “importance” of reopening the Strait of Hormuz, currently blocked by Iran, the UK leader's office said.

“The leaders discussed the ongoing situation in the Middle East and the importance of reopening the Strait of Hormuz to end the disruption to global shipping, which is driving up costs worldwide,” AFP reported, citing a statement from Downing Street spokeswoman.

A top aide to US President Donald Trump has said that the Pentagon estimates the ‘war’ against Iran, which is currently in its third week, would take between four and six weeks, reported Bloomberg.

Iran has arrested 500 people suspected of sharing sensitive information with its enemies, the country’s police chief said on Sunday, as Israel and United States fighter jets continued striking targets across the country, reported Reuters.

This week, US President Donald Trump said Iran wanted a deal, but that he was not prepared to make one on current terms, without giving further details. Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi reacted to the President's claim. Read here

Mike Waltz, US ambassador to the UN, on Sunday (local time), said that Washington “has never been in such a position of strength” over Tehran.

Waltz added that the possibility of Iran having a nuclear weapon is “an unacceptable threat to the US and the world. Look at what they're doing to global energy supplies," he added.

Air India and Air India Express will operate 48 scheduled and non-scheduled flights to and from the West Asia region on 16 March, the company said on X.

Due to the evolving situation in the Middle East, flight operations in Dubai have been further restricted, leading to changes in flight schedules. As a result, some flights scheduled to operate between 15 - 17 March have been affected.

Iran's relations with Arab Gulf states will require a "serious review" in light of the US-Israeli war on Iran, limiting the power of external actors so the region can become prosperous, Tehran's ambassador to Saudi Arabia told Reuters.

Italy's military on Sunday (local time) said that a drone attacked the Ali Al Salem airbase in Kuwait hosting Italian and US forces, but stressed that all its personnel were safe.

Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani sought to play down the attack, the second on an Italian base in the Middle East this week, saying he did not believe his country was being targeted.

The US-Iran war is now threatening to deal significant blows to the Gulf’s biggest economies, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar, if it doesn’t end soon.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) defence ministry on Sunday said the country's air defences engaged Tehran's ballistic and cruise missiles and UAVs attacks.

Connectivity on a significant Iranian telecommunications network collapsed on Sunday, according to NetBlocks.

The network, AS12880, had so far remained partially online, it adds.

The government in Iran continues to impose a near-total internet blackout, and there has been virtually no connectivity for 16 days.

As tensions continue to rise across the Middle East, Iran's exiled crown prince Reza Pahlavi on Sunday laid out a five-point economic agenda for a proposed transitional system in Iran, promising to dismantle corruption, reclaim frozen national assets abroad, and redirect the country's wealth toward infrastructure, healthcare, education, and economic recovery for Iranian citizens.

On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu debunked the rumours of his death, after several social media posts suggested that he had been killed in Iranian strikes.

In a post on X, Netanyahu posted a video and was seen drinking coffee and showing his five fingers.

Abbas Araghchi, Iran's foreign minister, on Sunday said that the country's missile and drone operations were responses to US forces using the territory of regional allies.

In an interview with CBS News said, "These are the countries that have given their soil to American forces to attack us. So what can we do? We just sit and watch as American forces are attacking us from their soil? … We are only targeting American assets, American installations, and American military bases. Everything belongs to Americans.”

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Sunday said that Tehran was not interested in talks with the US, pushing back on President Donald Trump's stance that Tehran wants a deal to end the war.

According to a Reuters report, at least 2,000 people have been killed across the Middle East since the US and Israel attacked Iran on 28 February.

Israeli military on Sunday (local time) said that they are expanding the scope of strikes against Iranian infrastructure in additional areas across western and central Iran

On Sunday, Tehran warned countries against getting involved in its war with the US and Israel, hours after US President Donald Trump called world powers to escort oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz.

Iran sent a stern message to its Arab neighbours, telling them that the Islamic republic has what its foreign minister called "ample evidence" that US bases on their territories were being used to launch attacks.

On Sunday, the Sri Lankan government announced a fuel rationing system through QR code in light of a possible crisis due to the ongoing conflict in West Asia. The Ministry of Energy said that cars are allowed 15 liters per week, while buses will be allowed 60 liters per week.

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright, on Sunday (local time) said that he expects the war with Iran to end within “the next few weeks,” adding that the oil supplies will rebound and energy cost declining.

Bahrain’s Interior Ministry, on Sunday, said that it has arrested five people for collecting and passing on sensitive information to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

The men arrested were between the ages of 25 to 39, with one allegedly having “received intensive training in Iranian Revolutionary Guard camps”, the government’s statement read.

Kuwait's Foreign Minister Sheikh Jarrah Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah on Sunday (local time), held a telephonic conversation with Qatar's Primce Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani as tensions escalate in the region.

On Sunday, Pope Leo XIV, called for a ceasefire in the Middle East. In his strongest comments to date, Pope directly addressed the leaders who launched the war in Tehran.

He said, "On behalf of the Christians of the Middle East and all women and men of good will, I appeal to those responsible for this conflict. Cease fire so that avenues for dialogue may be reopened. Violence can never lead to the justice, stability, and peace that the people are waiting for.”

On Sunday, the Gulf states reported new missile and drone attacks after Tehran warned to widen its campaign in the region

On Sunday, dozens of people were arrested in Iran on charges of sharing sensitive information with Israel, local media reported.

The semi-official Tasnim news agency said that at least 20 people were arrested in northwestern Iran, on accusations by the provincial prosecutor's office of sending location details on Iran's military and security assets to Israel.

On Sunday, an Indian-flagged crude oil tanker safely sailed out from the UAE's Fujairah after loading oil, despite an attack on the oil terminal, as the government said that it is closely monitoring the situation in West Asia.

The vessel, Jag Laadki, carrying about 80,800 tonnes of Murban crude oil, departed Fujairah at 1030 hrs IST and is bound for India, with all crew members safe, the government said in an update on preparedness measures.

On Sunday, Norway's Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere, said that the ongoing war in Iran is appearing to be escalating, adding that the plan for the military campaign is unclear.

On Sunday, Aluminium Bahrain BSC, which runs the world's largest single-site smelter of the metal, started a phased production shutdown to conserve its raw material supplies.

The company said it has initiated a shutdown of three production lines, which together represent 19% of its total production capacity of 1.6 million tons a year, amid the ongoing escalation in the region, Bloomberg report.

On Sunday morning, Gulf countries reported new attacks, a day after Tehran called for the evacuation of three ports in the UAE, threatening to attack a neighbouring country's non-US assets for the first time.

As the conflict in the Middle East rages on, Egypt's Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty will travel to Qatar on Sunday to discuss regional developments.

On Sunday (local time), the Israeli military announced that “a short while ago," the forces launched a “wide-sale wave of strikes targeting infrastructure of the Iranian terror regime in western Iran." The move marks another major escalation in the regional conflict.

Donald Trump said Iran is ready to make a deal to end the war but the US wants better terms, signaling no let up in a conflict that’s brought shipping in the strategic Strait of Hormuz to a near standstill and upended energy markets, Bloomberg reported.

Trump also called on other countries to send warships to keep open the waterway through which about a fifth of the world’s oil exports flow. He said he hoped China, France, Japan, South Korea and the UK would take part.

“Iran wants to make a deal, and I don’t want to make it because the terms aren’t good enough yet,” Trump told NBC in an interview Saturday, adding that a “very solid” agreement would have to include a commitment by Tehran to abandon nuclear ambitions.

srael army says begun 'wide-scale' wave of strikes on western Iran, reported AFP.

Iranian security chief Ali Larijani said Thursday that his country would not give up fighting until the United States came to regret the "grave miscalculation" of launching its war against the Islamic republic, as reported by AFP.

Air India Express on Sunday cancelled its planned flights connecting Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Khaimah and Sharjah following directions from the UAE airport authorities, PTI reported.

Iranian authorities have arrested at least 20 people in the country's northwest on suspicion of cooperating with Israel, local media reported on Sunday, more than two weeks into the Middle East, as reported by AFP.

Gulf states reported new missile and drone attacks Sunday after Tehran threatened to widen its campaign and called for the evacuation of three major ports in the United Arab Emirates as Iranian strikes there - part of a broader war with the United States and Israel - progress into their third week, AP reported.

MOD UAE said in a post on X, "The UAE's air defenses are currently dealing with missile attacks and incoming drones originating from Iran, and the Ministry of Defense confirms that the sounds heard in scattered areas of the country are the result of air defense systems intercepting ballistic missiles, as well as fighter jets intercepting drones and loitering munitions.

UAE air defences are currently responding to incoming missile and drone threats from Iran. MOD asserts that the sounds heard are the result of the Air Defence Systems intercepting missiles and drones."

Several Indian Navy warships have been deployed near the Persian Gulf and remain on standby to assist merchant vessels coming towards India, sources told ANI on Sunday.

AI-created videos circulating on Elon Musk's X depict American soldiers captured by Iran, an Israeli city in ruins, and US embassies ablaze -- a surge of lifelike deepfakes despite a policy crackdown to curb wartime disinformation, AFP reported.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards vowed on Sunday to target Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the war with Israel and the United States continues, AFP reported.

"If this child-killing criminal is alive, we will continue to pursue and kill him with full force," said the Guards on their website Sepah News. (AFP)

US President Donald Trump said he hoped allies would send warships to secure the vital Strait of ?Hormuz while Iran urged people to evacuate three ports in the United Arab Emirates as its war with the United States and Israel showed no signs of ending, AP reported.

The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) said a US Air Force B-52 Stratofortress took off for a night mission as part of Operation Epic Fury, aimed at "eliminating threats" posed by the Iranian "regime" and preventing the Persian Gulf country from rebuilding its capabilities in the future.

CENTCOM said strikes from US forces continue to be unpredictable, dynamic, and decisive. (ANI)

Iranian security chief Ali Larijani said Thursday that his country would not give up fighting until the United States came to regret the "grave miscalculation" of launching its war against the Islamic republic, as reported by AFP.

Several Indian Navy warships have been deployed near the Persian Gulf and remain on standby to assist merchant vessels coming towards India, sources told ANI on Sunday.