Trump's comments came after he said that Washington had heavily bombed military targets on Iran's oil hub Kharg Island and the US Navy would soon begin escorting tankers through the Strait of Hormuz

Hegseth spent part of a news conference on US military operations against Tehran criticizing the media and CNN in particular, urging for what he called an "actual patriotic press."

Trump had also threatened to hit the island's oil infrastructure if Tehran did not allow passage for ships via the strategic Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of global crude oil and liquefied natural gas normally pass

Six US service members die in Iraq aircraft crash

President Donald Trump said Friday that the US military had heavily bombed military targets on Iran's Kharg Island, which handles almost all of Iran's crude exports, and threatened to hit the island's oil infrastructure

Nepal has started selling half-filled cooking gas cylinders to curb hoarding and panic buying, officials said yesterday, following import disruptions caused by the Middle East conflict.

The United States will defend its ally Israel against accusations at the top United Nations court that it breached the Genocide Convention during its Gaza campaign, the court said yesterday.

Shia Muslim armed groups in Lebanon and Iraq are stepping up their role in the war with the US and Israel, showing the Iran-backed “Axis of Resistance” can still wage attacks despite damage inflicted on the alliance during the Gaza conflict.

UK Defence Minister John Healey suggested on Thursday that Russia was influencing Iran’s use of drone attacks in its war with the United States and Israel.

It all started off as a joke, a French researcher told AFP. But what the team found was a piece of history -- a long-lost page from a legendary manuscript by ancient Greek mathematician Archimedes which had been languishing, forgotten, in the archives of a French museum.

UN chief urges Israel, Hezbollah as he visits Beirut amid shelling; Trump says US will hit Iran ‘very hard’ after easing sanctions on Russian oil

Deal signing likely to be delayed by months, sources say

Separately, a crude tanker is expected to arrive in India on Saturday carrying Saudi Arabian oil after sailing through the Strait around March 1

President Macron says attack 'unacceptable and unjustified'

Partial 30-day waiver issued for sanctioned Russian oil purchases

Incident wasn't caused by 'hostile fire', statement says

AFP journalists report powerful explosions

Khamenei's first comments were read out by a television ​presenter on Thursday

Washington lifting more sanctions 'increasingly inevitable', says Russian envoy

The Shajareh Tayyebeh School was adjacent to an Iranian military compound and was among at least seven buildings struck February 28