US-Iran War Highlights: US embassy warns of Iran-linked threats to American universities in Iraq

Coverage has shifted to a new blog — follow LIVE updates here.

The International Atomic Energy Agency confirmed that Iran’s heavy water production plant at Khondab has suffered severe damage and is no longer operational following an attack reported on March 27.

The plant’s heavy water facility is now out of service, halting production at the site.

The IAEA said the Khondab installation does not contain any declared nuclear material, and therefore there are no immediate radiological risks from the damage.

The agency provided this update in a social media post on X, outlining the plant’s status after the reported strikes.

Foreign ministers from Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Egypt left Islamabad late Sunday night after attending a meeting convened by Pakistan’s government.

The meeting was held to review progress in efforts to bring the United States and Iran to the negotiating table in a bid to end the ongoing war in the Middle East.

The Pakistani Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued the statement, but offered no additional details about the talks or outcomes.

Iran’s joint military command spokesperson declared that private residences of US and Israeli officials are now considered legitimate targets.

The statement comes as the Middle East war enters its first month and continues to expand across the region.

The warning is aimed at both military and political officials from the US and Israel, including those living in Israel.

Spokesperson Ebrahim Zolfaghari said the move is a response to US and Israeli strikes on Iranian residential areas in multiple cities. (AP)

“Any political solution addressing Iran’s aggression against the Gulf Arab states must include clear guarantees to prevent future attacks, enshrine the principle of non-aggression, and incorporate Iranian compensation for the targeting of civilian populations and vital civilian infrastructure,” Anwar Gargash, adviser to the UAE president, wrote on X.

The US Embassy in Baghdad warned that Iran and allied militias may target American-affiliated universities in Iraq

Potential targets include universities in Baghdad, Sulaymaniyah, and Dohuk

Warning follows Iran’s broader threat against American universities across the Middle East

Statement criticised the Government of Iraq for failing to prevent attacks from its territory

US citizens have been urged to leave Iraq immediately

Several universities in the region have shifted to online classes amid rising security risks

Iran's supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei sent a personal message to Iraq’s Shiite political leadership

Message delivered to Sheikh Hammam Hamoudi, head of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI)

Delivery made by Iran’s ambassador to Iraq during a formal meeting

ISCI is a major Shiite political party founded in Iran in 1982

Contents of the message remain undisclosed

Iran’s Jamaran news agency reported the envoy praised Iraq’s Shiite religious leadership

Appreciation expressed for their stance on the US-Israel war

Pakistan foreign minister Ishaq Dar says they will host talks between the United States and Iran soon

Format of talks unclear; Dar did not confirm if discussions will be direct or indirect

No immediate confirmation from Washington or Tehran

Dar says both the US and Iran have expressed confidence in Pakistan’s role as facilitator

Talks expected to take place in the “coming days”

Announcement followed a meeting of regional foreign ministers in Islamabad

Foreign ministers of Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia backed Pakistan’s peace efforts (AP)

Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, the new Supreme Leader of Iran, has thanked Iraq and the religious authority of the country for their “explicit” stance on the US-Israeli war against his country. According to Press TV, the Supreme Leader’s message was handed over to the Head of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, Shaikh Humam Hamoudi, by Iran’s Ambassador to Baghdad, Mohammad Kazem Ale Sadeq.

Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, who was appointed as the new Supreme Leader of Iran on March 8, has not been seen in public since.

Israel's national emergency medical service, Magen David Adom has said that 11 people were injured in Beersheba after an Iranian ballistic missile attack.

MDA also said it has treated 20 others suffering acute anxiety, and all 31 were taken to Soroka Hospital.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday acknowledged that the Lebanese Shia militant group Hezbollah has the ‘residual capability’ to launch rockets at Israel. Netanyahu, however, insisted that “Iran is not the same Iran, Hezbollah is not the same Hezbollah, and Hamas is not the same Hamas.” According to him, the three are “battered enemies fighting for their very existence.”

The Israeli Air Force has struck over 140 targets of Iran’s ballistic missile array in western and central Iran. According to the IDF, the strikes hit sites where Iran stored and launched ballistic missiles, alongside air defense systems.

The IDF has advanced deeper into the western sector of southern Lebanon, Israeli media reports have said. Israel launched a ground invasion of Lebanon to establish a new buffer zone aimed at pushing away the threat of Hezbollah from the border. Senior Israeli officials told media that the IDF aims to establish a demilitarized zone in southern Lebanon up to the Litani River.

American University of Beirut shifts to remote operations for two days. Move follows threat from Iran’s military targeting American universities in the region. University says no specific or direct threat identified against campus.

Decision is taken “out of an abundance of caution”. All on-campus classes and exams are suspended during the period. Students and faculty to switch to online mode temporarily.

Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Jordan as part of a Gulf Arab tour. The visit comes amid ongoing Middle East conflict and rising security concerns.

Ukraine is offering drone warfare expertise to Gulf nations, aiming to help counter potential Iran-linked attacks.

“Security remains the top priority, and all partners must take the necessary steps to ensure it. Ukraine is playing its part, with key meetings lined up ahead,” Zelenskyy said, sharing a video of his arrival by air on social media.

The Iranian army has claimed that it has targeted US forces based in Jordan. According to the ISNA news agency, the living quarters and military equipment at the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Azraq were attacked by Iranian drones. The airbase is a “key operational platform” for carrying out air strikes on Iran, it quoted the military as saying.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said that the international community, especially regional countries, has a responsibility to confront the collapse of international legal norms as a result of the lawlessness of the United States and Israeli regime and their crimes against humanity.

The funeral has been held in Lebanon for three journalists killed by an Israeli strike on Saturday. Ali Shoeib, a veteran correspondent for Hezbollah’s Al Manar TV, Fatima Ftouni of the pro-Hezbollah Al Mayadeen channel, and her brother, cameraman Mohammad Ftouni, were all killed when their vehicle was hit in Jezzine in southern Lebanon.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni says Israeli police actions preventing Jerusalem’s Latin Patriarch from celebrating Palm Sunday mass was “an offense to the faithful” in a statement.

Italy’s foreign minister, Antonio Tajani, separately says on X he had summoned Israel’s ambassador over the incident.

The Patriarchate of Jerusalem earlier said its head, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, was prevented by Israeli police from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem to conduct the mass.

Amid reports of the US preparing for a ground operation in Iran, the Military has issued a warning to US troops, saying they would become “good food for the sharks of the Persian Gulf.”

Lieutenant Colonel Ebrahim Zolfaghari, the spokesperson for Iran's Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, in a statement that Iran’s military is “counting down the moments” for the annihilation of US forces should any ground attack or occupation attempt be launched.

“Trump… has repeatedly threatened Iran with ground operations and the occupation of some islands in the Persian Gulf,” he said, adding that such ambitions are “nothing but a pipe dream.”

Iranian forces, he said, have long been awaiting such a move to demonstrate that “aggression and occupation will have no result other than disgraceful captivity, dismemberment, and the disappearance of the aggressors.”