A number of U.S. allies rebuffed Donald Trump’s name on Monday (March 16, 2026) to ship warships to escort tankers by means of the Strait of Hormuz, drawing criticism from the U.S. President, who accused Western companions of ingratitude after many years of help.
The U.S.-Israeli warfare on Iran is in its third week without end. The vital Strait of Hormuz, by means of which 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied pure gasoline movement, stays largely closed off, elevating vitality costs and fears of inflation.
The battle has already imposed financial prices on U.S. allies, who weren’t consulted earlier than the airstrikes on Iran and who’ve endured months of harsh criticism and bellicose threats from Mr. Trump since he returned to workplace.
Iran-Israel warfare updates on March 16, 2026
Various U.S. companions, together with Germany, Spain and Italy, mentioned that they had no speedy plans to ship ships to assist reopen the strategic waterway, which Iran has successfully shut with drones and naval mines.
“We lack the mandate from the United Nations, the European Union or NATO required underneath the Primary Regulation,” German Chancellor Friedrich Merz mentioned in Berlin, including that Washington and Israel had not consulted Germany earlier than launching the warfare.
Mr. Trump, talking at a White Home occasion in Washington, mentioned many international locations had advised him they had been ready to assist, however voiced frustration with some long-standing allies.
“Some are very captivated with it, and a few aren’t,” he mentioned, with out providing specifics. “Some are international locations that we’ve helped for a lot of, a few years. We’ve protected them from horrible outdoors sources, and so they weren’t that enthusiastic. And the extent of enthusiasm issues to me.”
Israel nonetheless has hundreds of targets in Iran
Israel mentioned on Monday (March 16, 2026) it had drawn up detailed plans for no less than three extra weeks of warfare because it pounded websites throughout Iran in a single day, whereas Iranian drone assaults briefly shut Dubai airport and hit a key oil facility within the United Arab Emirates.
Israel troops pushed into new components of southern Lebanon, a part of an increasing operation after Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s supreme chief.
In a joint assertion, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Britain warned that any “important Israeli floor offensive would have devastating humanitarian penalties and will result in a protracted battle,” and that such an operation “have to be averted.”
Israel has mentioned it needs to weaken Iran’s capability to threaten it, hanging ballistic missile infrastructure, nuclear amenities and the safety equipment, and that it nonetheless has hundreds of targets to hit.
“We wish to guarantee that they’re as weak as doable, this regime, and that we degrade all their capabilities, all components and all wings of their safety institution,” Israeli navy spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani mentioned.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) mentioned it might goal U.S. industrial amenities within the Center East and urged individuals residing close to U.S.-owned crops to go away.
Iran additionally responded to Trump’s menace that he may assault oil amenities on Kharg Island, the nation’s principal oil hub, if Tehran doesn’t reopen the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. forces destroyed navy targets on Kharg on Friday.
A spokesperson for the armed forces, Abolfazl Shekarchi, mentioned Iran would goal oil and gasoline amenities in any nation from which U.S. assaults had been launched on Kharg Island.
Overseas Minister Abbas Araqchi mentioned Tehran had not requested for a ceasefire or exchanged messages with the U.S., in accordance to Iran’s semi-official Scholar Information Community.
In a publish on X, Araqchi additionally mentioned some “neighbouring states” that host U.S. forces and allow assaults on Iran had been actively encouraging the killing of Iranians.
He mentioned 200 youngsters had been among the many tons of of Iranian civilians killed in U.S. or Israeli bombings.
Rescue staff in Tehran labored to tug individuals from the wreckage of a constructing in what an Iranian Pink Crescent assist employee mentioned was a wholly residential alleyway.
Israel claims strikes on Iran’s Area programme
Israel mentioned its air pressure had struck websites linked to Iran’s house program, together with destroying a analysis facility in Tehran concerned in creating a satellite tv for pc launched in 2024.
One Tehran resident advised Reuters that there had been no web in a single day and Iranians felt remoted from the world.
“Persons are being killed,” Shahnaz, 62, mentioned by way of WhatsApp. “Simply days earlier than Nowruz (Iranian New Yr, on March 20), however individuals are not within the temper to rejoice. When will this finish?”
Requested if she supported the Islamic Republic, Shahnaz mentioned: “No, I don’t. How can I? They killed my granddaughter in [January’s] protests. We wish this regime to go. We need this distress to finish.”
In Tel Aviv, air raid sirens sounded late into the evening, warning of incoming Iranian missiles and underscoring that, after greater than two weeks of warfare, Tehran nonetheless retained the capability to hold out long-range assaults. The IRGC mentioned earlier that Iran had launched strikes on areas in Tel Aviv, the U.S. Al Dhafra Air Base in Abu Dhabi, the U.S. naval base in Bahrain and Bahrain’s Sheikh Isa Air Base.
On the UAE’s coast alongside the Gulf of Oman, oil loading operations on the port of Fujairah partially resumed after an Iranian drone strike. Fujairah is a key exit level for the UAE’s Murban crude – a quantity equal to roughly 1% of worldwide demand.
Flights at Dubai Worldwide Airport, one of many world’s busiest, had been suspended for a number of hours after a drone strike on a close-by gasoline storage facility despatched plumes of black smoke into the sky. Saudi Arabia intercepted 34 drones in its jap area in a single hour, state media mentioned. No accidents had been reported in both incident.
Regardless of the turbulence, oil costs , which had been above $100 a barrel, fell and shares rallied after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent advised CNBC the U.S. was “high-quality” to let some Iranian gasoline vessels by means of the strait, and believed Indian and Chinese language tankers had additionally handed by means of.
Printed – March 17, 2026 04:43 am IST