Qatar says there has been a garage fire in an industrial area and that civil defence has it has brought it under control. No injuries were reported, the interior ministry said on X on Monday, without giving more details. On Sunday Qatar and Bahrain said they had intercepted missiles and drones fired towards them.
This live blog has now closed. Our coverage of the US-Israel war on Iran and the wider crisis in the Middle East continues here.
Iran has warned the US that it is prepared to confront any ground assault, accusing Washington of secretly planning a land attack while publicly seeking talks, as the war that has killed thousands of people and caused the biggest ever disruption to global energy supplies entered its second month. In a message published to mark 30 days since the start of the war, the Iranian parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said: “The enemy signals negotiation in public, while in secret it plots a ground attack.” “Our firing continues,” Ghalibaf said. “Our missiles are in place. Our determination and faith have increased.” He said Iranian forces were “waiting for the arrival of American troops on the ground to set them on fire and punish their regional partners for ever”. In an interview published on Sunday night, Donald Trump did little to assuage those concerns, telling the Financial Times that his “preference would be to take the oil” in Iran, and saying of Iran’s crucial export hub on Kharg island: “We could take it very easily.” The newspaper also quoted Trump as stressing that, despite his threats to seize Iranian oil production, indirect US-Iran talks via Pakistani “emissaries” were progressing well. Asked whether a ceasefire deal could be reached in the coming days that would reopen the vital strait of Hormuz, Trump declined to offer specific details, saying: “We’ve got about 3,000 targets left – we’ve bombed 13,000 targets – and another couple of thousand targets to go. A deal could be made fairly quickly.” As efforts to find a negotiated conclusion to hostilities inched forward with a meeting of regional powers in Pakistan, there were signs of further escalation over the weekend as Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis entered the conflict for the first time and the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said his country was widening its invasion of southern Lebanon. The Israeli air force later said it had intercepted two unmanned aerial vehicles launched from Yemen, and the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon (Unifil) said a peacekeeper was killed when a projectile exploded at one of its positions near the southern Lebanese village of Adchit al-Qusayr on Sunday. Another peacekeeper was critically injured, Unifil said early on Monday. “We do not know the origin of the projectile. We have launched an investigation to determine all of the circumstances,” it added in the statement. The Pentagon is preparing for weeks of ground operations in Iran, US officials have told the Washington Post, as thousands of American soldiers and marines arrive in the Middle East. Any US ground operation would probably stop short of a full-scale invasion, instead relying on raids by special operations forces and conventional infantry, according to reports on contingency planning. But even a limited mission could expose American troops to Iranian drones, missiles, ground fire and improvised explosives. Among the options reportedly being discussed are the seizure of Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil export hub, and raids on coastal sites near the strait of Hormuz to destroy weapons threatening commercial and military shipping. Axios and the Wall Street Journal have reported that the Pentagon is also considering sending another 10,000 troops to the region, alongside a broader bombing campaign. The White House has sent mixed signals, alternating between talk of de-escalation and threats of a wider war. Karoline Leavitt, the press secretary, said Pentagon planning was intended to give Trump “maximum optionality”, not to signal a final decision. The Post said whether Trump would approve plans for deploying ground troops remained uncertain. Trump said on Sunday that the US-Israel war had achieved regime change in Iran, even as he assured that he would “make a deal” with the Iranians. “I think we’ll make a deal with them, pretty sure … but we’ve had regime change,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One, citing the number of Iranian leaders killed in the month-long war. He said: “We’re dealing with different people than anybody’s dealt with before. It’s a whole different group of people. So I would consider that regime change.” In an apparent rebuke of the Trump administration on Sunday, Pope Leo said God ignored the prayers of leaders who waged war and had “hands full of blood”. The pontiff made the comments days after the US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, prayed for violence against enemies who deserved “no mercy”. The war that began on 28 February shows no sign of de-escalation despite renewed diplomatic efforts. Pakistan, seen as a potential mediator between Washington and Tehran, hosted a four-way meeting with Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt on Sunday, a day after the Pakistani prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif, spoke with the Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian. Pakistan’s foreign minister, Ishaq Dar, said on Sunday evening that Pakistan would soon host talks between the US and Iran. “Pakistan is very happy that both Iran and the US have expressed their confidence in Pakistan’s facilitation,” Dar said in a televised speech, adding that the talks would take place in the “coming days”. There was no immediate confirmation from the US or Iran. Last week the US presented Iran with a 15-point ceasefire proposal, including reopening the strait of Hormuz and curbs on Iran’s nuclear programme, but Tehran has rejected the plan and offered alternatives. Tehran has refused to admit to holding official talks with Washington but has passed a response to the 15-point plan via Islamabad, according to an anonymous source cited by the Iranian Tasnim news agency. The Houthis claimed two missile launches at Israel on Saturday, their first attacks on Israel since the start of the conflict. The group poses a potential new threat to global shipping if it again targets vessels in the Bab el-Mandeb strait off the Red Sea, through which about 12% of the world’s oil trade typically passes. A shutdown of the strait would amplify the already grave impact of the war on the global economy, and could also reignite a Saudi-Yemen conflict that caused huge humanitarian suffering for seven years before a 2022 truce. Since the US-Israeli attack on Iran on 28 February, Saudi Arabia has been able to divert some of its oil exports by pipeline to the Red Sea. Saudi commentators have said that if this route is also threatened, Riyadh could enter the war directly. Farea Al-Muslimi, a research fellow in the Middle East and north Africa programme at Chatham House, said: “The decision by the Houthis to join the broader Middle East conflict marks a serious and deeply concerning escalation. The potential impact on key commercial maritime routes, especially in the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab strait, cannot be overstated. At the same time, vital economic and military infrastructure across the Gulf region may become increasingly exposed.” Israel’s military has continued its relentless air assault on Iran, saying on Sunday its forces targeted Tehran’s weapons manufacturing infrastructure, including dozens of storage and production sites, the day before. Five people were killed in a strike on a pier in the southern Iranian port of Bandar-e-Khamir, which also destroyed two vessels, state media reported. In Tehran, a building housing Qatar’s Al Araby TV was hit and there were power outages in the east of the city. Netanyahu announced that Israel would widen its invasion of southern Lebanon, as Israeli forces continue to target the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group. “In Lebanon, I have just ordered the military to further expand the existing security zone,” Netanyahu said in a video statement. “This is intended to definitively neutralise the threat of invasion [by Hezbollah militants] and to keep anti-tank missile fire away from the border.” On the ground in Lebanon, a funeral was held on Sunday for three journalists killed in an Israeli strike the day before. Officials say more than 1,100 people have been killed in the fighting in Lebanon since the Iran war began. The UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon (Unifil) said a peacekeeper was killed when a projectile exploded at one of its positions near the southern Lebanese village of Adchit al-Qusayr on Sunday. Another peacekeeper was critically injured, it said in a statement. “We do not know the origin of the projectile. We have launched an investigation to determine all of the circumstances,” Unifil added. An Iranian missile sparked a fire in the Neot Hovav industrial zone near Beersheba in Israel, and officials were assessing the risk of a hazardous materials leak and urging the public to stay away. Adama, a maker of active ingredients and crop protection materials, said its Makhteshim plant was hit. The IDF said on Sunday evening that the impact may have been caused by missile shrapnel. Soroka hospital in Beersheba said it had treated six people who were lightly injured in the attack. Reuters contributed to this report
German defence giant Rheinmetall has sought to ease a row caused by its CEO when he likened Ukrainian factories producing drones to “housewives” making weapons in their kitchens. In an interview with the Atlantic, CEO Armin Papperger was asked whether Ukraine’s drone technology could disrupt his industry, which focused more on areas such as artillery and tanks. “This is how to play with Legos,” Papperger said of the drones and went on to compare major drone Ukrainian manufacturers to “housewives”, adding “this is not the technology of Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics, or Rheinmetall”. “They have 3D printers in the kitchen, and they produce parts for drones,” he said, adding: “This is not innovation.” Alexander Kamyshin, an adviser to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, swiftly point out the successes that Ukraine’s drones have had against Russian tanks. Kamyshin said that in his visits to arms factories he had seen “Ukrainian women working equally with men often enough”, adding: “They deserve respect.” The row also spawned the hashtag #MadeByHousewives on Ukrainian social media. On Sunday, Rheinmetall tagged Kamyshin in a post on its X account in which it said. “We have the utmost respect for the Ukrainian people’s immense efforts in defending themselves. Every single woman and man in Ukraine is making an immeasurable contribution.” Ukraine’s prime minister, Yulia Svyrydenko, later on Sunday said “the people of Ukraine deserve not only utmost respect but to be heard – and learned from. Yes, Europe’s defence is powered by Ukrainian ‘housewives’,” she said, also adding the #MadeByHousewives hashtag. Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he discussed a possible security partnership on Sunday with Jordan’s King Abdullah to defend against drone attacks arising from the Iran war. “We discussed a possible partnership in the security sphere and the overall situation in the Middle East and the Gulf region,” Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram. Zelenskiy is seeking support from Gulf states as western military aid faces fresh uncertainty. “From our own experience, we know that without a unified system, it is simply impossible to set up full-fledged protection of people and critical infrastructure,” Zelenskyy wrote. Ukraine, he said, had just such a system as in four years of war “we have had to fight against constant Russian strikes, including the use of Iranian drones”. He said Ukraine was offering expertise in the expectation that “those to whom we are making this proposal can help us strengthen ourselves”. A Russian strike on the eastern Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk killed three people and injured 13 on Sunday, police said, one of several attacks in frontline areas. Ukraine’s national police said a boy of 13 was among the dead. A statement said Russian forces used glide bombs in the strike on Kramatorsk, which has been a frequent target. Kramatorsk came under a new attack two hours after the initial strike. Other cities hit in Russian attacks included the nearby town of Oleksiievo-Druzhkivka and the city of Sloviansk, farther north. Reuters could not independently verify battlefield accounts. Russia’s Baltic Ust-Luga port, one of its largest petroleum export hubs, was damaged again on Sunday by a Ukrainian drone attack which sparked a blaze later brought under control, Russian and Ukrainian officials said. Ukraine’s SBU security agency said long-range drones struck an oil terminal at Ust-Luga. It added in a statement that the strike caused “serious damage” and a fire at the port. It follows several Ukrainian drone strikes last week on Russia’s western energy corridor when facilities at the ports of Ust-Luga and Primorsk came under fire, igniting storage tanks and suspending transportation. The recent attacks have caused severe oil supply disruption for Russia, the world’s second-largest oil exporter, and have come just as oil prices exceeded $100 a barrel due to the Iran war. “Additional firefighting resources from the Leningrad region and St Petersburg, including two fire trains, have been involved in extinguishing the fire at the port,” regional governor Alexander Drozdenko wrote on Telegram on Sunday. A Ukrainian drone attack has killed one person, injured eight, and damaged homes and businesses in the southern Russian city of Taganrog, local officials said. The regional governor said on Sunday that falling drone debris prompted the evacuation of an area hit by falling debris. “Emergency crews are working at the site of the incident, where the debris fell,” Yuri Slyusar, governor of Rostov region on Ukraine’s eastern border, said on Telegram. “Fires and damage have occurred. People have been evacuated.” Taganrog Mayor Svetlana Kambulova, in a subsequent post on Telegram, spoke of widespread damage in the city. Taganrog is a port city at the eastern end of the Sea of Azov east of the border with Ukraine.
The towns that are the bulwark of China’s energy security can, at a moment of global crisis, appear deceptively quiet. Trucks carrying oil trundle along wide-open highways that have little traffic, while a few boarded-up shops in crumbling low-rise buildings hint at a long-forgotten local buzz. A ramshackle noodle shop serving hand-pulled ribbons of dough was empty at lunchtime, save for a few construction workers and a teacher watching videos on Douyin, the social media platform, with his meal. But its boss wasn’t worried about low footfall. Peak time was midnight, he said, when nearby oil refinery workers finish their shifts and rush out of the gated factory complexes nearby, which employ thousands of people. The oil-refining industry in Shandong, a province in north-east China, is immense. But unlike other parts of the country, where the sector is dominated by large, state-owned companies, Shandong’s industry is fuelled by independent “teapot” refineries, so called because of their diminutive appearance. Operating on razor-thin margins, they survive by buying cheap crude wherever they can and turn it into petrol and diesel for neighbouring provinces. Shandong’s teapots account for about a quarter of China’s total refining capacity. Oil refining has become vital to China’s economy as the rest of the world, and Asia in particular, reels from an energy crisis in which schools have closed in Pakistan, a national emergency has been declared in the Philippines and oil prices have soared to record highs. Oil represents less than a fifth of China’s energy mix. But it is nevertheless vital to the economy, particularly the transportation sector. The Shandong teapots, in towns such as Weifang, are now essential to keeping China’s economy stable. The crisis was caused by the US-Israel strikes on Iran on 28 February, which unleashed chaos in the Middle East and prompted Tehran to in effect close the strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway through which about a fifth of the world’s oil and gas flows. But one type of oil has continued to sail across the seas: Iranian. It is overwhelmingly going to China, which buys more than 80% of Iranian crude. Figures from Kpler, a data intelligence company, show that China’s imports of Iranian crude are running at about 1.6m barrels a day, compared with 1.4m barrels a day in 2025. Muyu Xu, a senior crude oil analyst at Kpler, said: “We are not seeing any disruption to Iranian oil flows.” China’s state-owned refiners are cautious about buying Iranian oil because they do not want to be cut off from the US dollar-based international financial system. But the teapots, which cater to a domestic market, have no such qualms. Erica Downs, a senior research scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University, said: “The Trump administration has sanctioned a handful of teapots … but that was not changing the flow of Iranian barrels to China. Western sanctions have paved the way for Iran and Venezuela and Russia to become the biggest suppliers to China.” The boss of a small petrol station in Weifang, a thickset man in his 70s who asked to be referred to as Uncle Wang, said local supplies of diesel and petrol had been stable since the start of the war, although rising prices had reduced his profits to “almost zero”. “It’s not that [other countries] can’t get oil, it’s that they are too scared to buy it because [Donald] Trump won’t let them. But China isn’t afraid of him,” said Uncle Wang, holding court in his office behind his dusty petrol station. In the corner, there is a larger than life jade-coloured figurine of a frog biting down on a gold coin, a symbol of prosperity. But now that the whole world is desperate for oil – and the US has eased sanctions on Iranian and Russian crude – the Shandong teapots are paying significantly more for their raw material. According to data from Kpler, Iranian light crude was about $11 cheaper a barrel than Brent crude before the US-Israeli strikes. Now the discount has reduced to as little as $2 a barrel, at a time when Brent prices have soared. A worker at one of Shandong’s most prominent teapots said he was starting to feel nervous about the war’s impact. “Before the war, profits were OK. After the war started, because the crude oil prices went up so much … clients started buying less,” said the 22-year-old, whose name the Guardian is withholding to protect his identity. He works on the production line at Luqing Petrochemical, turning crude oil into light plastics that are used in everyday goods such as shopping bags. “These big trucks come here to pick up the goods,” he said, gesturing at haulage vehicles rumbling in the distance, “but now they come less often, so earnings are down.” He expects his monthly salary of 5,000 yuan (£545) to drop to about 4,000 yuan next month. Luqing, which employs more than 2,700 people, is one of several Shandong teapots that was sanctioned by the US last year for allegedly buying millions of barrels of Iranian oil. The worker said in recent months the company had started pressuring people to quit by cutting their salaries and relocating them to difficult work sites. He fears more cuts could come if the war continues. “I’m quite worried about that because the benefits and treatment here are very good,” he said. Luqing did not respond to a request for comment. Workers in Shandong are on the frontline of an economic shock that most ordinary people in China have so far been insulated from. On Monday, the government made a rare intervention into the retail fuel market to reduce a planned increase in the pump prices of petrol and diesel by about 50%. Drivers flocked to fill their tanks before the cost went up. But the teapot refineries and the thousands of people they employ may not be able to withstand the pressure. If prices keep increasing, some may go bust. And there are plenty of other economic problems to worry about. “War is short-term,” said Uncle Wang. The bigger threat to his petrol station business came from a domestic trend, he said, not an international one: electric vehicles. Additional research by Lillian Yang
The true significance of the long-awaited entry of Yemen’s Houthis into the Iran war depends on whether the Tehran-backed proxy group is intending to send a few missiles and drones from a distance towards Israel or will instead capitalise on its proximity to the narrow Bab al-Mandab strait to effectively close off the Red Sea to shipping, just as Iran has in effect shut the strait of Hormuz. The combined effect of both waterways being shut to commercial traffic from countries that neither the Iranians nor Houthis favour would be devastating. Napoleon Bonaparte’s remark that “the policy of a state lies in its geography” has never seemed more apt. The Houthis, a Shia sect with a deep hatred of Israel that has run large tracts of Yemen including the capital since 2014, is a complex, resilient movement able to take reverses in its stride. In August 2025 Israel killed the Houthi prime minister, the chief of staff and a group of their cabinet ministers in a single intelligence-led strike. But Israel has never been able to locate Abdul Malik Al-Houthi, the movement’s leader. It has not yet fought directly on behalf of Iran even though – according to UN reports – many of its arms have been shipped from Tehran. A ceasefire with the US that emerged from mediation by Oman has been in force since May 2025, bringing to an end attacks on US shipping through Bab al-Mandab that had been taking place since October 2023. That ceasefire reflected the damage the Houthis had sustained from successive waves of increasingly effective attacks on Houthi missile launchers by the US, sometimes with UK support. The Houthis stressed the ceasefire did not in any way shape or form apply to Israel and some attacks continued thereafter. One motive for the ceasefire was an Iranian desire to build political momentum before US-Iran nuclear talks in spring 2025. The Houthis extended the ceasefire to Israel in October 2025 when Israel agreed a form of ceasefire with Hamas in Gaza. Even after the joint Israeli-US assault on Iran in the 12-day war last year, the Houthis largely held back. But major carriers such as Maersk only slowly started to resume traffic through the Red Sea, avoiding the more expensive, significantly longer alternative route around the Cape of Good Hope. The Bab al-Mandab, between Yemen and the Horn of Africa, has always been vulnerable to Houthis attacks by drones missiles and small boats. Farea Al-Muslimi, Middle East specialist at the London thinktank Chatham House, warned any sustained disruption will drive up shipping costs, increase oil prices and place additional strain on an already fragile global economy reeling from the situation in the strait of Hormuz. Iran’s broader strategy of activating allied groups across the region appears to be unfolding and he predicted that over time the perception inside Yemen that the Houthis are too attentive to Iran will grow. The Houthis may act with caution, partly because they are looking for rewards in the form of cash from Saudi Arabia. In the south of Yemen, the Saudis have for the moment trounced the southern separatist cause, advanced by the Southern Transitional Council. The United Arab Emirates, which backed the STC at the turn of the year under pressure from Riyadh, has also left Yemen, meaning Saudi Arabia is now in sole charge of Yemen’s future – an onerous task that requires Riyadh to reach deals not just with the former STC supporters but also the Houthis. The STC formally disbanded, but is still in existence and is waiting for Riyadh and the UN-recognised government in the south to fail, insisting the southern cause is as strong as ever. Riyadh cannot afford to fight on too many fronts, so if necessary it will try to find backdoor methods to strike a deal with the Houthis and minimise the threat of attacks in the Red Sea. Saudi Arabia is pouring money into the new government in the south and the Houthis in the north may want a slice of the financial action in return for not resuming fighting against the south or disrupting the Red Sea. However, in the end the Houthis’ power comes from interdicting ships as opposed to sending missiles towards Israel. In the process Yemen could be left even further from peace after more than a decade of civil war. The UN special envoy for Yemen, Hans Grundberg, said: “This escalation threatens to drag Yemen into the regional war, which will make resolving the conflict in Yemen more difficult, deepen its economic repercussions and prolong the suffering of civilians.” It is not his first warning against escalation, and it is unlikely to be his last.
US lawmakers responded to reports that the Pentagon is preparing for weeks of ground operations in Iran, as thousands of US troops assemble in the Middle East and the conflict showed signs of entering a new, more dangerous phase. Officials told the Washington Post that a ground operation in Iran could be limited to raids by special operations forces and infantry troops, but it was unclear whether Donald Trump would approve any of the Pentagon’s plans. James Lankford, a Republican senator, told NBC’s Meet the Press that he had not ruled out supporting troops on the ground but that “we’ve got to be able to know what the objectives are and what they’re actually carrying out.” Lankford, who serves on the Senate’s intelligence committee, said it was important to “finish” the job but know “what boots we’re putting on the ground”. “If this is special forces to be able to carry out a specific operation – get in, get out – that’s very different than longstanding occupation,” he said. “The worst thing that can happen is to be able to have this kind of conflict start and to not end it, to leave it undone”. “We’ve got to be able to finish this,” he added. Responding to the Washington Post report, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said: “It’s the job of the Pentagon to make preparations in order to give the commander-in-chief maximum optionality. It does not mean the President has made a decision.” A further 3,500 US soldiers and marines arrived in the Middle East on Sunday as part of a unit led by the warship USS Tripoli, which also includes assault and transport assets. The US typically stations about 50,000 troops in the region. Options for use of the military build up include plans aimed at securing the strait of Hormuz, operations to seize Iran’s highly enriched uranium or seizing Iranian oil facilities. Trump has previously said he was “not putting troops anywhere” amid apparent splits in his Maga base over foreign military engagements and the need for congressional approval. On Sunday, Lankford was asked if the president needed congressional approval to deploy US troops in Iran. Lankford demurred, saying it was “contingent” on how they are used. “If we had a longstanding war that’s happening, go back again to what happened in Iraq or in Afghanistan, yes,” Lankford said. “If this is to protect Americans and to be able to make sure that we’re in there for a season and we’re stopping and getting out, that’s very, very different. So again, this is all contingent.” Senate Republicans have previously rejected multiple war powers resolutions aimed at limiting Trump’s ability to launch further military action against Iran without congressional approval. The Pentagon has reportedly requested an additional $200bn for the war, in addition to its annual $1tn budget. Trump has said the additional funds were being requested “for a lot of reasons, beyond even what we’re talking about in Iran”. That comes as an Iranian missile strike destroyed a US E-3 Sentry early warning and control aircraft on the ground at Prince Sultan air base in Saudi Arabia. The loss of the $300m plane is the first known combat incident for the type. The US is believed to have about eight in service. Lankford indicated that if the request comes, Congress “will have to speak at that moment to be able to talk about how far, what the plans are, what we’re going to do”. The House majority leader, Steve Scalise, said on Sunday that the Trump administration had been meeting its objectives in the conflict. “The whole world knows that a nuclear armed Iran would have been a danger to the world,” he told ABC News. “Just look at what Iran is doing right now. They’ve actually united, not only Israel, but all the other Arab nations around them against Iran, because of the danger that they pose.” Scalise rejected any characterization that the administration has not laid out its objectives. He said Trump “understands what needs to be done” and has “a great team around him”. Democrats reacted on Sunday to signs that the conflict could be entering a more dangerous phase. Cory Booker said that the Trump administration had “gotten us into what will be looked at as one of the greatest blunders, presidential blunders of our time”. The New Jersey senator said that by not seeking congressional approval, Trump was “pushing us further and further into a conflict with no foreseeable off-ramp and thousands of more troops moving into that region”. He said that the US military engagement with Iran “is clearly not just a war, but the biggest military engagement we’ve had since the war in Afghanistan” and questioned its planning. “This has been the problem from the start,” Booker said, adding that Trump did not “make his case to us or the American people or strategic allies in the region”. Maryland senator Chris Van Hollen told ABC’s This Week he hoped an additional Pentagon budget request would not pass in Congress. “I don’t think we should be providing more money for an illegal war of choice to a president who promised during the campaign that he would not drag America into new wars, especially in the Middle East and a war that is now making us less, not more safe and has already cost American lives, is costing billions of dollars every day, oil and gas prices are going up.” Van Hollen added that a president who campaigned on lowering prices and ending foreign wars “has started foreign wars along with Prime Minister Netanyahu and prices are going through the roof. So no, we should not keep funding an illegal war of choice that’s making us less safe.” Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf on Sunday warned the US against a ground invasion, threatening to set the American troops “on fire” and step up attacks on US allies. According to Iranian official media, Ghalibaf said Iranian forces “are waiting for the arrival of American troops on the ground to set them on fire and punish their regional partners forever”. Iran policy analyst Karim Sadjadpour told CBS’s Face the Nation that he doesn’t “see any possibility of a resolution to this conflict” outside of a negotiated settlement. “I think the US and Iran are miles apart when it comes to their goals here,” he warned, adding: “I think we could see potential ceasefire that opens the strait of Hormuz, which would shift us back from a hot war, back to a cold war.” Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said it was prepared to target US universities in the Middle East in retaliation for what it claimed were US-Israeli strikes had destroyed two Iranian universities. “If the US government wants its universities in the region to be free from retaliation… it must condemn the bombing of the universities in an official statement by 12 noon on Monday, March 30, Tehran time,” said the statement published by Iranian media.