Iran to hold funeral for killed warship sailors, Aluminium Bahrain cuts output
The Strait of Hormuz, the narrow chokepoint through which nearly a third of the world’s seaborne oil passes, sat at the heart of the crisis on Sunday, March 15, as Iran kept it shut to American and allied vessels, the US energy secretary admitted the waterway was not safe and Bahrain’s aluminium giant began winding down production with no clear end in sight.
The day brought fresh attacks across the region, with rockets near Baghdad airport, an Iranian drone that destroyed an Italian military asset in Kuwait and yet another wave of Iranian drones intercepted over Qatar. In Tel Aviv, police and city workers were still cleaning up after cluster munition impacts left four people injured. And in Washington, UN Ambassador Mike Waltz confirmed that President Trump had not ruled out targeting Kharg Island, the terminal that handles 90 per cent of Iran’s crude oil exports.
Qatar says it intercepted Iranian drones targeting country
Qatar’s Ministry of Defence on Sunday said its armed forces intercepted and destroyed all Iranian drones launched against the country, the latest in a series of attacks that have targeted the Gulf nation since late February.
The ministry said the drones were launched from Iran, and that all incoming threats were engaged immediately upon detection and neutralised before reaching their targets.
Tehran to hold funeral for sailors killed on warship IRIS Dena
Iran will hold a funeral procession in central Tehran on Wednesday for the sailors killed when the Iranian warship IRIS Dena was sunk by a US Navy submarine in international waters off Sri Lanka on March 4, one of the most dramatic naval strikes since the Second World War.
A farewell ceremony is also scheduled for Tuesday evening in several main squares across the capital. Sri Lanka, whose navy led the rescue and recovery operations, is in the process of repatriating the bodies of the sailors to Iran.
Time for a ‘serious review’ of regional ties, Iran tells Gulf neighbours
Iran has signalled that its relations with Arab Gulf states need a fundamental rethink, with Tehran’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia saying the ongoing US-Israeli operations against Iran have made a “serious review” of those ties unavoidable.
In a written response to Reuters, envoy Alireza Enayati was direct: “We cannot do without each other; we will need a serious review.” He argued that five decades of what he called an “exclusionary approach” within the region and an over-dependence on external powers had brought the Middle East to its current crisis point.
Enayati flatly denied that Iran was behind recent attacks on Saudi Arabia’s oil infrastructure, including strikes on the Ras Tanura refinery on the kingdom’s east coast and attempted drone attacks on the Shaybah oil field near the UAE border. “Iran is not the party responsible for these attacks, and if Iran had carried them out, it would have announced it,” he said, without pointing to who was responsible.
Rockets strike near Baghdad airport, 4 wounded
Five rockets targeted Baghdad International Airport and its surrounding areas on Sunday, wounding four people, Iraqi authorities said. The Security Media Cell confirmed the attack, adding that the injured had been taken for medical treatment. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the strike.
Italy’s defence chief says drone hit base in Kuwait housing Italian, US forces
Italy’s chief of defence staff Gen Luciano Portolano said the attack on the Ali Al Salem base occurred on Sunday morning and destroyed an Italian drone inside a shelter on the base.
No Italian personnel were injured, he said, in comments posted on X.
Italian troops are stationed at the base as part of a coalition task force combating the Islamic State militant group.
The Chief of Defence Staff’s post said the Italian task force’s assets “had been pre-emptively reduced” in recent days due to the ongoing war. It said some personnel remain at the base to carry out essential activities. It did not say how many Italians remain.
Israel says it has enough interceptors to sustain air defence against Iran
An Israeli military source told Associated Press on Sunday that the country has enough interceptors to continue defending its skies against missiles from Iran. The source spoke on condition of anonymity in line with military protocol.
The comment appeared to be an effort to tamp down growing speculation that Israel’s vaunted air defense system is running low. Interceptors are the missiles that Israel’s air defense system uses to destroy incoming rockets before they hit populated areas.
Egypt calls Gulf leaders to discuss how to end conflict
President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi made a series of phone calls Sunday, speaking with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani; Jordanian King Abdullah II; and UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
El-Sissi said in a statement that Egypt is intensifying efforts seeking a de-escalation of tensions in the region.
Iranian foreign minister says there’s no reason’ to talk with Trump’s envoys
Abbas Araghchi told CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday that Iranian negotiators were in talks with US envoys when the decision to attack his country was made. Araghchi said “we don’t see any reason why we should talk with Americans” about how to end the war and that Iran has had no “good experience talking with Americans.”
Araghchi says Iran is “open to countries who want to talk to us about the safe passage of their vessels” through the Strait of Hormuz and has been approach by “a number” of nations about that. He didn’t name them.
Asked about the fate of his country’s nuclear material, the minister said it was under rubble from attacks on Iran’s nuclear facilities and “we have no plan to recover” it from there.
US expects other nations to back efforts on Hormuz: Wright
US Energy Secretary Chris Wright says he’s been “in dialogue” with some of the countries that Trump hopes will send warships to counter Iran’s efforts to restrict shipping in the Strait of Hormuz. He’s not saying which ones.
Asked on NBC’s “Meet the Press” whether shipping through the critical waterway is safe at the moment, Wright responded: “No, it is not.” He noted that many other countries, especially in Asia, are more dependent than the United States on energy supplies that are shipped through the strait.
“So of course the whole world will be united on the need to open Hormuz and clearly we will have the support of other nations to achieve that objective,” he said. Wright said he expected China to “be a constructive partner” in efforts to reopen the strait.
Asked whether the war will be over in a matter of weeks, Wright said: “I think that’s the likely time frame, yes.” He said gas prices will start to come back down after the war is over.
Tel Aviv cleans up after multiple impacts
Police and city workers scoured the area of what appeared to be a cluster munition impact in Tel Aviv on Sunday, attempting to locate and clear any unexploded ordnance. City workers used street sweepers and power washers to hose down an area where a small munition damaged two cars and spread shrapnel across a small park. Cluster bombs can be exceptionally dangerous for the public, as small munitions that are released may not explode on impact and pose a serious danger to passersby.
The impact also left a hole in the pavement, next to a bomb shelter that serves as a youth centre at the local swimming pool. Within 90 minutes, bulldozers and other heavy equipment arrived to clear debris and patch the hole.
Israel police said there were a number of impact sites in the greater Tel Aviv area after Sunday’s attacks that left four people injured, one moderately.
UN envoy Waltz says Trump weighing options to hit Iran’s oil hub
UN Ambassador Mike Waltz was asked on CNN Sunday whether the US president was prepared to target oil facilities on Kharg island, which handles 90 per cent of Iran’s crude oil exports, and if so, if he was worried that that could risk even more of an escalation in the war.
“President Trump’s not going to take any options off the table,” Waltz said. “I would certainly think he would maintain that optionality if he wants to take down their their energy infrastructure.” US Central Command posted on X Saturday that it had struck military targets on the island, but preserved the oil infrastructure.
Iran says strategic strait open to all vessels except US, its allies
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi’s comments about the reopening of the crucial Strait of Hormuz came in an interview with the London-based Al-Araby al-Jadeed published Sunday. “The Strait of Hormuz is not generally closed, but only to the US and its allies, and we will continue this policy as long as the attacks continue,” he was quoted as saying.
Aluminium Bahrain to gradually stop some production
The world’s largest aluminum smelter outside China said Sunday it would gradually shut down nearly one-fifth of its production capacity as exports remain blocked through the Strait of Hormuz. Aluminium Bahrain, or Alba, promised a “controlled and safe shutdown strategy.”
The company told buyers last week it couldn’t meet its obligations. The timeline of a phased partial shutdown means global aluminum supplies could remain tight even if transit through the Strait of Hormuz quickly returns to normal, keeping upward pressure on prices for products such as construction materials and cars.Aluminum and oil make up a big part of Bahrain’s economy and limits on production and export threaten to deepen woes in the Persian Gulf Island nation being hit with Iranian airstrikes.
(With inputs from Associated Press)
