Putin steps up Middle East diplomacy as US‑Israeli strikes on Iran continue (PHOTOS, VIDEOS)
Welcome to RT’s live coverage of the US‑Israeli war on Iran and the wider chaos across the Middle East and beyond that the unprovoked attack has caused.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has held a phone call with his UAE counterpart Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, with both leaders expressing “serious concern” over the deteriorating situation in the region and emphasizing the need for a rapid end to hostilities and renewed political‑diplomatic efforts that respect the “legitimate interests of all states.”
Strikes on targets in both Tehran and Israel have continued unabated, with Iranian officials accusing US‑Israeli “war criminals” of hitting civilian sites, including pharmaceutical plants.
In the Gulf, loud explosions were reported off the coast of Dubai after an Iranian drone hit a fully loaded Kuwaiti tanker. US gas prices have meanwhile risen to new highs even as global oil benchmarks edged slightly lower. Moscow has reiterated it will not sell oil or gas to “unfriendly” nations as the energy shock deepens.
The Pentagon has held its sixth briefing since the conflict began, with US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth talking up Operation Epic Fury in a highly emotive style that mixed martial rhetoric with sermon‑like language. US President Donald Trump has previously suggested that the “new regime” in Tehran is “very reasonable” and that a deal could be reached “soon,” even as he makes further threats.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has meanwhile warned it will begin targeting US tech companies in the region from April 1.
Here are the latest developments:
• Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has vowed that “all houses in villages near the Lebanese border will be destroyed,” saying West Jerusalem will apply the “model used in Rafah and Beit Hanoun in Gaza” and establish a security zone up to the Litani River, with hundreds of thousands of displaced people barred from returning until “the safety and security of residents of northern Israel is guaranteed.”
• US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has claimed that “regime change in Iran has occurred,” telling reporters that “this new regime should be wiser than the last” and warning that “if Iran is not willing, then the US War Department will continue with even more intensity.”
• US President Donald Trump has once again lashed out at European allies for refusing to join the US‑Israeli war on Iran, calling France’s refusal to allow overflights by Israel‑bound US supply planes “very unhelpful” and saying the US “will remember” it.
• The average US gasoline price rose to $4 per gallon on Tuesday, the highest since 2022. Pump prices are now above levels seen at any point during Trump’s two terms. Oil prices edged higher, while Asian markets traded lower.
• In Lebanon, Israeli attacks have forced more than 200,000 people to flee into Syria in less than a month, according to UNHCR.
Follow our live coverage below for continuous updates. You can also read our previous updates here.
31 March 2026
20:18 GMTIsrael may be able to push a bit deeper into southern Lebanon but is unlikely to hold territory there in the long run, Professor Naim Joseph Salem, an international affairs scholar at the Lebanese Army Military Academy, has told RT. He said “gone are the days when Israel could sweep across its neighboring countries,” noting that despite amassing some 100,000 troops, the IDF has advanced only a few kilometers while facing “very difficult” resistance from a few thousand Hezbollah fighters and will struggle to stay on the ground.
- 20:10 GMT
The UAE’s national carrier Emirates has updated its visa guidance to state that Iranian nationals are currently “not eligible to obtain a visa” for travel to the country. Iranian media and expatriates have also reported that residency and tourist visas held by some Iranians outside the UAE have been cancelled in recent days, preventing their re‑entry as bilateral ties worsen following Iranian strikes on Emirati territory.
- 20:08 GMT
Syrian President Ahmed al‑Sharaa has said his country will stay out of the US‑Israeli war against Iran unless Syria itself comes under attack and has no diplomatic way out. “Syria will remain outside any conflict,” he reportedly said in a speech at Chatham House in London.
- 20:06 GMT
Iraq’s Interior Ministry says a female foreign journalist was kidnapped in central Baghdad on Tuesday evening and that security forces have launched an operation to track down those responsible and secure her release. US‑based outlet Al‑Monitor has identified her as American reporter Shelly Kittleson, saying it is “deeply alarmed” by her abduction and calling for her “safe and immediate release,” while US officials told CNN they are working with Iraqi authorities and “closely tracking” the case.
Video obtained by Al Arabiya appears to show American journalist Shelly Kittleson kidnapped in broad daylight in Iraq earlier today pic.twitter.com/7Icthd6abt
— Joseph Haboush (@jhaboush) March 31, 2026 - 19:41 GMT
The EU is facing a “very serious” and prolonged energy crisis due to the war in the Middle East, EU energy chief Dan Jorgensen has warned, according to Politico, urging less travel and saving fuel. “The more you can do to save oil, especially diesel, especially jet fuel, the better we are off,” he reportedly said after an emergency meeting, referring to IEA advice such as working from home where possible, lowering speed limits and boosting public transport and car‑sharing.
Oil and gas prices have spiked since the escalation of the Middle East conflict, triggered by the US-Israeli strikes on Iran and subsequent Iranian retaliatory attacks across the region, which have effectively closed of the critical Strait of Hormuz to Western shipping. The EU was already grappling with the fallout from its decision to cut energy ties with Russia following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict, as well as the costs of its green transition policies. The European Commission says there will be no return to Russian energy, and it will continue to pursue a full phase-out of Russian fossil fuels by 2027.
- 19:21 GMT
Israeli MP Ofer Cassif has denounced a new death‑penalty bill approved by the Knesset on Monday, as “genocidal,” telling RT it applies “solely to Palestinians” in the West Bank while explicitly excluding Jewish settlers and “Jewish terrorists.” Citing clauses that would allow executions within 90 to 180 days, he said the law’s intent is “not security, not deterrence, but racial hatred, revenge and genocidal means,” describing it as “industrial killing, another aspect of genocide.”
- 19:17 GMT
The IRGC has reportedly claimed it carried out a combined strike on a location housing US pilots and aircrew in Saudi Arabia, hitting a gathering of around 200 people. Several explosions rocked Riyadh on Tuesday, according to AFP, in the latest wave of bombings targeting the Saudi capital amid escalating Middle East tensions.
- 19:04 GMT
Why are US drivers paying more at the pump even though America is the world’s biggest oil producer?
• The US produces about 13 million barrels of crude a day, but exports around 11 million and imports roughly eight million
• Gasoline is priced on a global market, so US motorists pay more whenever world oil prices rise, regardless of where the crude comes from
• Much US output is ‘light’ crude, while many refineries are set up for heavier grades, so a large share of fuel still comes from imported oil, whose price has jumped amid the Iran war
- 18:59 GMT
Iran is “selling more oil now than before the war, at a price almost three times as high,” while many in Washington still misread its willingness to close the Strait of Hormuz, Trita Parsi, co‑founder and executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, has told RT’s ‘Sanchez Effect’. He warned that a US ground invasion would be a “disastrous mistake” for Trump, arguing the president would lose his own base once American soldiers start dying and risk being trapped in an Iraq‑style quagmire with no clear exit.
