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00:54

Israeli Media Report IDF Attacks Iranian Navy In Caspian Sea

Israeli media are reporting that the country's air force has targeted Iranian naval vessels in the Caspian Sea for the first time.

The TV channel N12 on March 19describedan "unusual attack" in the northern Iranian port city of Bandar, citing Israeli security sources.

Israeli media report Israel's military is attacking Iranian ships on the Caspian coast (illustrative photo of Iranian ship).

The news website ynet and broadcaster Kan 11 also are reporting an attack by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on Iranian naval targets.

Israel's military did not immediately comment on the reports, although the IDF said it had struck sites in northern Iran for the first time.

US President Donald Trump recently said the US military had destroyed Iran's entire navy.

Iran's Northern Fleet is based in Bandar Anzali.

N12 quoted a security source as saying, "We attacked an Iranian naval vessel, this is a dramatic event."

This is the first time the Israeli military has attacked the Iranian navy on such a distant site -- some 1,300 kilometers from Israel -- the report cited officials as saying.

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22:45

18.3.2026

Iran Condemned By EU After Executing Swedish Citizen Charged With Spying For Israel

Iran has executed a Swedish citizen, the Foreign Ministry in Stockholm said on March 18, prompting condemnation from Sweden and EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas.

Swedish officials did not name the person, who had been arrested in June of 2025.

But earlier, the Mizan Online news agency, which is run by Iran's judiciary, said a man named Kouroush Keyvani was executed for spying for Israel. It said he was arrested during Iran's 12-day war with Israel in June 2025.

Keyvani, an Iranian national, had also obtained Swedish citizenship in 2019.

Sweden had repeatedly raised his case with Tehran, Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said.

Since his arrest, "we have done everything in our power to try to change this situation. We have been in contact at various levels, both in Stockholm and in Tehran," Stenergard said.

"The death penalty is an inhumane, cruel, and irreversible punishment. Sweden, together with the rest of the EU, condemns its application in all circumstances," she said.

She added that legal proceedings leading up to the execution did not meet the standards of due process.

Kallas said: "The appalling human rights situation in Iran and the alarming increase in executions are intolerable and show the regime's true colors."

Keyvani was the third person executed by Iran on espionage charges this year. The Norway-based Iran Human Rights monitoring group said at least 13 people were executed last year on spying-related charges.

Western governments and rights groups of soundly condemned Tehran for executions carried out after questionable legal proceedings.

Iran executed more than 2,500 people in 2025 for various crimes in what the UN human rights watchdog called a "dramatic escalation" and Amnesty International called a"horrifying assault"on the right to life.

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22:18

18.3.2026

Save The Children Says War Delaying Deliveries Of Life-Saving Medicines

The Save the Children aid organization said the war in Iran has disrupted transport of crucial medical supplies for more than 400,000 children.

"The conflict in the Middle East and wider region is obstructing key delivery routes for humanitarian supplies, delaying life-saving medical shipments for at least 410,000 children in three countries" and "the global impact will only grow,"it said in a statement.

Save The Children aid organization says the war is delaying the delivery of life-saving medicines (file photo).

"The escalating conflict is having dire ripple effects on global aid supplies due to disruptions to key air, sea, and land routes, with shipping costs estimated by Save the Children to skyrocket about 10-50 percent to reroute aid in some cases," it added.

Aid deliveries hit by the delays were set for delivery to families in Sudan, Yemen, and Afghanistan, the organization added.

It said that a consignment for Sudan is currently stuck in the United Arab Emirates because the crucial Strait of Hormuz is almost completely blocked to shipping.

A separate shipment destined for Yemen is stuck in Dubai and now will have to be transported by land.

"Lifesaving aid is being delayed around the world, costs are soaring as a result of the fuel price increases at a time when governments are cutting vital foreign aid budgets, and families in some of the worlds most fragile places risk losing the support they depend on," said Willem Zuidema, the organization's global supply chain director.

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21:48

18.3.2026

Message Attributed To Khamenei Says Killing of Senior Officials Will Have 'A Price'

Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei (file photo)

Messages attributed to Mojtaba Khamenei have responded to the recentkillings of senior Iranian figures.

RFE/RL's Radio Fardareportsthat Iranian media have published two written messages they said were from Mojtaba Khamenei, the countrys newly appointed supreme leader, expressing condolences over the deaths of leading officials, including Ali Larijani, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, and Gholamreza Soleimani, head of the Basij pro-government militia.

One message published on his Telegram account, according to Reuters, warned that Iran was likely to retaliate, saying "every drop of spilled blood comes at a price, and the criminal murderers of these martyrs will soon have to pay it,"

Sincebeing namedas the Islamic republic's third supreme leader on March 8, no images or recordings of Khamenei have been released, with only written statements circulated by state media.

US President Donald Trumpsaidthis week that it was unclear whether Khamenei was alive, while Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth suggested he may have been badly disfigured.

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20:53

18.3.2026

South Pars Strikes May Signal Shift To Energy Targets, Says Analyst

Gregory Brew, a historian of Iranian oil and a senior analyst at Eurasia Group, has been speaking to RFE/RL's Radio Farda about the air strikes on the South Pars field. According to him the development could signal a potential shift in targeting.

Gregory Brew

The attack...indicates Israels willingness to hit aspects of Irans energy infrastructure, and then, of course, Irans willingness to retaliate against other energy targets," he said.

It's unclear if "Israel is going to start targeting energy infrastructure more broadly -- this could be a warning shot, a prelude to a more significant campaign," he added.

He noted that it is also uncertain whether Irans retaliation against Persian Gulf energy targets would be sufficient to deter further attacks, given that its capabilities have been degraded.

"We will have to wait and see but this does suggest that without de-escalation , likely led by President Trump, this war is going to continue and could very well escalate to a point where energy becomes a more prominent target," he said.

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20:25

18.3.2026

Gulf Energy Infrastructure Hit After South Pars Attack

Ras Laffan is Qatar's main gas hub. (file photo)

Following an attack on the South Pars gas field on March 18, subsequent incidents have disrupted energy infrastructure across the Middle East.

The strike on South Pars -- which is shared by Iran and Qatar -- caused fires and reduced output at the worlds largest gas reserve, prompting Irans Revolutionary Guards Corps to warn Persian Gulf states to evacuate key oil and gas facilities, including Qatars main gas hub Ras Laffan.

Qatar later reported a fire at Ras Laffan after an alleged Iranian attack, with emergency crews deployed to contain the blaze.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia said it intercepted ballistic missiles targeting Riyadh and destroyed a drone heading toward a gas facility, with no reported casualties.

The fallout has also affected Iraq, where authorities confirmed on March 18 that gas imports from Iran have been completely halted, creating a 3,100-megawatt shortfall in Iraq's electricity grid.

The crisis has been compounded by disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which have hindered regional oil and gas exports.

Iraqi and Kurdistan regional authorities, however, have since partially resumed exports of crude oil from Kirkuk fields in the north of the country via Turkeys Ceyhan port.

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19:09

18.3.2026

Spanish PM Says Middle East War Wont Distract From Support For Ukraine

Spansh Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez (right) and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky shake hands during a joint press conference in Madrid on March 18.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez says that the war in the Middle East would not distract his country from supporting Ukraine in its defense against Russias invasion.

"We cannot deny that the crisis in the Middle East is monopolizing conversation and precisely for that reason, I want to say to the government of Ukraine that nothing and no one will make us forget what is happening in Ukraine," Sanchez said at a joint press conference with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Madrid on March 18.

We will keep our support for the Ukrainian people with the same intensity, he added.

A day earlier, Zelenskyy told the BBC he had a very bad feeling about the impact of the Middle East conflict on the war in Ukraine, saying peace negotiations were being constantly postponed due to one reason -- war in Iran.

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18:49

18.3.2026

In The US War On Iran, Russia Is A Winner (Mostly)

• By

  Mike Eckel

Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) and Iran's late supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, meet in Moscow in July 2022.

High oil prices? Check. Fewer US weapons for Kyiv? Check. Washington distracted from the ongoing war on Ukraine? Check. Europe nervous about energy costs? Check. Tensions in the West? Check.

Nearly three weeks into the furious campaign of US and Israeli air strikes, the Tehran government -- Russias closest partner in the Middle East is being shoved toward collapse, regional politics have been scrambled and Moscow has been left watching, largely helplessly, from the sidelines.

The Kremlin isnt entirely unhappy, though.

I do think that it complicates the security and the economic picture for Europe. And it distracts [US President Donald] Trump from Ukraine, and all of that will feel like it gives a lot of extra room to Moscow, said Sam Greene, a longtime Russia expert and professor of Russian politics at King's College London.

European policymakers might begin to shift their willingness to support Ukraine and to maintain their stance on Russia, he told RFE/RL. Its that sort of thing that blows wind into [Russian President Vladimir] Putins sails.

Read morehere.

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18:16

18.3.2026

Iranian Government Weakened But Still A Threat, Says Gabbard

The diector of US National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, testifies before a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing in Washington on March 18.

With the US-Israeli conflict with Iran now in its third week, US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said Irans government has been weakened but remains functional and capable of attacking US and allied interests.

The regime in Iran appears to be intact but largely degraded by Operation Epic Fury, she told a Senate hearing on March 18, warning that Iran and its proxies remain capable of and continue to attack US and allied interests in the Middle East. If a hostile regime survives, it will seek to begin a years-long effort to rebuild its missiles and UAV (drone) forces.

Gabbards assessment comes amid uncertainty over Irans nuclear program.

Her prepared remarks said enrichment capabilities had been destroyed and not rebuilt, while her oral testimony suggested Iran was attempting to recover from damage.

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17:50

18.3.2026

UN Agency Says Status Of New Iran Nuclear Site Unknown

A satellite picture from June 2025, shows damage after US strikes on the Isfahan nuclear enrichment facility in central Iran.

The United nation's nuclear watchdog says it does not know the status of a new Iranian uranium enrichment facility in Isfahan, as inspectors have yet to access the underground site.

Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said a planned visit was canceled after the complex was struck at the start of the 12-day war with Israel in June, leaving uncertainty over whether the facility is operational or still under construction.

Iran notified the UN agency of the site the same month, but Grossi said key questions remain about whether centrifuges have been installed there.

Separately, Iran told the IAEA that a projectile struck near the Bushehr nuclear power plant on March 17 without causing damage. The agency also confirmed strikes earlier this month on Irans Natanz enrichment facility.

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