IRGC says American ‘hideouts’ in UAE ‘legitimate targets’ after Kharg Island strikes (PHOTOS, VIDEOS)
US President Donald Trump has threatened to order strikes on Iran’s main oil export hub on Kharg Island unless Tehran halts attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, raising fears of a deeper shock to global energy supplies. His warning came as markets closely monitored whether recent US strikes had damaged the island’s critical infrastructure, which handles most of Iran’s crude exports.
The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said it has “executed a large-scale precision strike” on the island, targeting military facilities “while preserving the oil infrastructure.”
Iran has insisted the installations on the island had not sustained heavy damage, while the country’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it maintains “full and precise control” over the Strait of Hormuz. The IRGC also threatened retaliation against American “hideouts” in the Gulf states.
The escalation follows new reports by Iranian media claiming that a US oil tanker was attacked and set on fire near Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates.
Here are the latest developments as RT continues to bring you up to date:
- Tehran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said it has carried out additional strikes on Israel in coordination with Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement, according to Iranian media. A number of countries across the Gulf reported intercepting aerial strikes from Iran overnight, including Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Israel also reported coming under fire and intercepting rockets and missiles.
- Iraqi officials said a missile hit a helipad at the US Embassy in Baghdad, while pro-Iranian sources claimed a kamikaze drone attack damaged an air-defense radar system.
- The Israeli military said its air force struck more than 200 targets across western and central Iran over the past 24 hours, including missile launchers, air‑defense systems and weapons production sites.
- The US has deployed about 10,000 AI‑enabled Merops interceptor drones to the Middle East to help counter Iranian aerial attacks, US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll told Bloomberg. The systems were developed under a Pentagon program and were previously tested in Ukraine.
- The US military confirmed that all six crew members aboard a refueling aircraft that crashed in western Iraq were killed.
- The Wall Street Journal reported that five US Air Force tanker aircraft at a base in Saudi Arabia were damaged in an Iranian missile strike and were undergoing repairs.
- European powers led by France have been reportedly consulting partners in the Middle East and Asia about a possible naval mission to escort commercial tankers through the Strait of Hormuz. Trump also said on Friday that the US Navy would “soon” begin escorting commercial vessels through the waterway to help ensure safe passage, without giving details on timing or conditions.
Follow our live coverage below for continuous updates. You can also read our previous updates here.
14 March 2026
16:50 GMTThe US-Israeli attack on the industrial city of Isfahan in central Iran has left 15 people dead and several others injured, according to local media.
Further details about the target and casualties were not immediately available.
- 15:51 GMT
Countries around the world are preparing contingency economic plans as oil prices surge amid US-Israeli strikes affecting energy supply routes, Yaroslav Lissovolik, the founder of BRICS-plus Analytics and Russian International Affairs Council member has told RT. The disruption has raised fears of inflation, slower economic growth, and possible recession in several regions.
Europe and parts of Asia are also facing rising energy costs, which could threaten economic recovery after recent downturns.
Crude briefly topped $110 a barrel this month, the highest level since the pandemic.
”It shows that conflicts like this undermine the status quo, also regarding [the] dollar[…]. This is something that could lead to yet another impulse to the process of lower use of the dollar and greater use of national currencies amongst the developing economies,” Lissovolik added.
- 15:48 GMT
Israel's military has warned that it could attack civilian trucks on Lebanon’s coast.
The coastal highway serves as Lebanon’s primary transport artery, which raises concerns that these warnings could impede movement and potentially discourage civilians from traveling or evacuating areas impacted by Israeli bombardment.
Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee claimed Hezbollah is disguising missile launches and transporting weapons using civilian trucks moving through towns along Lebanon’s coast.
- 15:42 GMT
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has visited Lebanon, meeting people displaced amid the hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, as well as inspecting hospitals. Guterres said the situation in the country left him “deeply saddened.”
“The south [of Lebanon] risks becoming a wasteland. Southern Beirut, which is under sweeping evacuation orders by Israel, risks being bombed to oblivion,” Guterres told a news conference in Beirut.
The country’s people “were dragged” into the war rather than choosing it, he added, urging the warring sides to stop the fighting and opt for diplomacy instead. “Civilians must be respected and protected at all times. Lebanon’s sovereignty and territory must be respected,” he stressed.
More than 820 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Lebanon since March 2, according to the country’s health authorities.
- 15:11 GMT
US President Donald Trump has urged other nations to deploy warships to the Strait of Hormuz to protect the shipping from Iranian strikes. Previously, the US leadership had signaled intent to “escort” merchant vessels through the waterway, yet the scheme never materialized. Washington has also encouraged them to brave the waters despite the risk of attack.
“We have already destroyed 100% of Iran’s Military capability, but it’s easy for them to send a drone or two, drop a mine, or deliver a close range missile somewhere along, or in, this Waterway, no matter how badly defeated they are,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
“Hopefully China, France, Japan, South Korea, the UK, and others, that are affected by this artificial constraint, will send Ships to the area so that the Hormuz Strait will no longer be a threat by a Nation that has been totally decapitated,” he added.
- 14:30 GMT
The US-Israeli attack on Iran is bound to have grave environmental consequences for decades to come, Bloomberg has reported, citing multiple experts. Damage to oil infrastructure and assorted contaminants released by munitions used by all the sides of the conflict have already caused heavy toxic pollution that will plague the region for years and spread beyond it, creating health hazards for millions of people, the experts warned.
Some drew parallels between the ongoing hostilities and the Gulf War, when hundreds of oil wells were set ablaze in Kuwait by the Iraqi and US forces. The massive release of soot, hydrocarbons, and sulfur dioxide polluted everything in its path, causing long-term impact on the environment – for instance, some researchers linked the oil well fires to the acceleration of the melting of glaciers in the Himalayas, the experts pointed out.
- 14:30 GMT
US President Donald Trump has denied media reports of damage sustained by five US Air Force tanker aircraft at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. The alleged incident was first reported by the Wall Street Journal citing two unnamed US officials, who claimed the planes were “damaged but not fully destroyed.”
Trump took to his Truth Social platform to launch a rant at “fake news media” while implicitly acknowledging the attack had actually taken place.
“The planes were not ‘struck’ or ‘destroyed.’ Four of the five had virtually no damage, and are already back in service. One had slightly more damage, but will be in the air shortly. None were destroyed, or close to that, as the Fake News said in headlines,” the US president wrote.
- 14:01 GMT
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claims to have destroyed Iran’s “primary space research center” in overnight strikes on the country. The Israeli military said it has also attacked several anti-aircraft defense systems production sites, including a “ key factory” manufacturing such weaponry.
- 13:42 GMT
The Palestinian group Hamas has urged its “brothers in Iran” to end attacks on Gulf states while affirming Tehran’s right to defend itself against Israel and the US in the war they launched.
Hamas controls Gaza, and following its October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, the IDF targeted the enclave in an attempt to eliminate the militant group, resulting in over 72,000 deaths and the reduction of most of it to rubble. The Gulf nations, particularly Qatar, later stepped in to provide mediation, diplomacy and aid.
Since the start of the US-Israeli war against Iran on February 28, several Gulf states in the region have reported Iranian missile and drone attacks. Among them is Qatar, where Hamas' political leadership resides.
According to media reports, Doha is one of the key Hamas sponsors: Qatar has pumped an estimated $1.8 billion into Gaza since Hamas’ takeover of the strip in 2007. Qatar also pledged $360 million of annual support to Gaza in January 2021, in part to subsidize government salaries.
“While affirming the right of the Islamic Republic of Iran to respond to this aggression by all available means in accordance with international norms and laws, the movement calls on the brothers in Iran to avoid targeting neighboring countries,” Hamas said in a statement.
- 13:40 GMT
The US Central Command has released aerial footage of the strikes on Iranian military installations on the Kharg Island. CENTCOM said the attacks destroyed “naval mine storage facilities, missile storage bunkers, and multiple other military sites.” Iran has disputed the claims, insisting the installations had not been critically damaged.
