Here's the latest
• Missile launch: Israel’s military said a missile was fired from Yemen, in what appears to be the first launch from the country since the war began.
• Troops injured: At least 10 US service members were injured in an Iranian attack on an air base in Saudi Arabia, a US official said.
• War “not finished yet”: President Donald Trump said the war is “not finished yet” and the US has “another 3,554” targets left to hit. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US can achieve its objectives “without any ground troops” and that the war could end in weeks.
• New deployments: The USS George H.W. Bush aircraft carrier is expected to deploy to an area near the conflict, according to a source. It’s unclear if it will join or replace the US aircraft carriers already in the region. More than 1,000 service members are also being deployed.
About 20,000 stranded at sea as Strait of Hormuz effectively closed
About 20,000 seafarers are stranded at sea since Iran’s effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most vital trade routes.
Here’s what a captain who was stuck in the Middle East for three weeks told CNN:
About 20,000 seafarers are stranded at sea as the US-Israeli conflict with Iran virtually shuts down the Strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most vital trade routes. CNN's Kristie Lu Stout speaks with a captain who was stuck in the Middle East for three weeks and witnessed projectiles flying near his oil tanker.
Gulf states continue to fend off attacks as war drags on
Countries in the Gulf continue to intercept attacks four weeks into the war.
Here’s what we’re seeing in the Middle East on Saturday morning:
United Arab Emirates: Falling debris from an intercepted ballistic missile caused two fires near Khalifa Economic Zones Abu Dhabi, an industrial hub between Abu Dhabi and Dubai, authorities said. Five Indian nationals were injured, though not seriously, the Abu Dhabi Media Office said, adding that emergency services were responding at the scene.
Oman: Drones targeted the port of Salalah, reported Oman News Agency on Saturday, adding that one foreign worker was injured and a crane was damaged in the incident.
Saudi Arabia: The Ministry of Defense said it had intercepted and destroyed a ballistic missile launched towards the capital Riyadh.
Bahrain: The country’s civil defense put out a fire in a facility targeted by Iran, Bahrain’s interior ministry said early Saturday.
Kuwait: The National Guard downed six drones in the past 24 hours, reported Kuwait News Agency on Saturday morning.
Oman's Salalah port targeted by drones, government news agency says
An Oman port was targeted by “two unmanned aerial vehicles,” the government-run Oman News Agency reported Saturday, citing a security source.
The incident at the port of Salalah injured one foreign worker and damaged a crane, the news agency said.
“The Sultanate of Oman reiterates its strong condemnation of these hostile attacks and affirms its commitment to taking all necessary measures to uphold the nation’s security and ensure the safety of all individuals on its soil,” Oman News Agency reported.
Israel says missile launched from Yemen, first since Iran war began
Israel’s military said early on Saturday it had detected a missile launched toward Israel from Yemen and was working to intercept it.
It marks the first time authorities in Israel have identified missiles launched from Yemen since the start of the US-Israeli war with Iran four weeks ago.
An official from Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebel movement previously told CNN it was prepared to join the war in support of Iran, if the US and Israel escalate their attacks.
Closing the Bab al-Mandab Strait off the coast of Yemen – the chokepoint linking the Red Sea to global shipping lanes – is a “viable option,” Mohammed Mansour, undersecretary of the Houthis’ ministry of information, said in a text to CNN.
On the other side of the Arabian peninsula, Iran has already closed the Strait of Hormuz – the main conduit for about 20% of the world’s oil and natural gas – throwing global oil markets into chaos.
The Houthis are a Shiite Islamist movement which in 2014 seized control of Yemen’s capital Sana’a. With sustained Iranian arms supplies and support, they emerged as Yemen’s most cohesive military and political entity, controlling most of the country’s northwestern border with Saudi Arabia, and holding the critical Red Sea coastline.
The rebel group has already caused major disruption in the Red Sea since October 2023, firing on hundreds of Israeli targets in retaliation for Israel’s attacks on Gaza.
It has also targeted ships linked to the US and UK, impeding the flow of global trade. Efforts to degrade the rebels’ capabilities failed to halt the attacks.
Nadeen Ebrahim contributed reporting
Seven islands that hold the keys to the Strait of Hormuz
With thousands of US ground troops reportedly on the way to the Middle East, speculation is mounting that they may be assigned to take Iran’s Kharg Island, a key fuel hub in the northern Persian Gulf which handles 90% of Tehran’s oil exports.
But Kharg is just one of dozens of Iranian islands in the gulf, and others may be more important to securing the safe passage of ships – and naval vessels – through the Strait of Hormuz.
Seven of these islands form what researchers at Sun Yat-sen University in Zhuhai, China, call Iran’s “arch defense.”
“A hypothetical curve connecting these islands would further help to understand Iran’s strategic superiority in controlling the security” of the Hormuz strait, Iranian researcher Enayatollah Yazdani and Chinese researcher Ma Yanzhe wrote in a 2022 paper for the Canadian Center of Science and Education.
Abu Musa, Greater Tunb and Lesser Tunb – the smallest of the seven and at the western end of the arch – are key to strait control, the two researchers wrote.
Because of the limited distance between them and the depth of the water in the largely shallow gulf, “large warships and tankers are forced to walk past” the three islands, the researchers said. That can make them easy targets for Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) fast-attack boats, mine layers, or drones operating from those islands.
Read more about these islands, which analysts say are key to controlling maritime traffic.
Israeli destruction of Litani River bridges severing southern Lebanon from aid lifelines
Israeli forces’ demolition of crossings through the Litani River will cut off tens of thousands of residents in southern Lebanon from “essential lifelines,” human rights workers have warned, as the rate of killings, destruction and displacement across the country spiraled.
CNN’s Nick Paton Walsh reported earlier about an Israeli airstrike on a bridge over the Litani River:
The Israeli military struck a critical bridge in Southern Lebanon over the Litani River on Sunday amid escalating tensions with Hezbollah.
The destruction of critical infrastructure, including bridges and road networks, will inflict “significant humanitarian consequences” on Lebanese communities under Israeli bombing, according to Hovig Atamian, a senior relief worker for the international NGO, CARE International, in the capital Beirut. “Such infrastructure serves as essential lifelines connecting communities,” he said.
The Israeli military has blown up several bridges over the Litani River – which bisects Lebanon – in recent days, as part of a broader assault in the south. Just on Tuesday, the Israeli defense minister claimed those links were used by the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah “for the transfer of terrorists and weapons.” At least three of those bridges were destroyed in the space of 10 days, the UN reported on Monday.
CNN’s Eugenia Yosef contributed reporting.
Pakistan set to host talks with Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia
Islamabad is set to host a quadrilateral meeting of foreign ministers from Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia on March 30 to discuss regional developments, including the US-Iran war, Pakistani state TV reported.
The meeting between the four nations will be the first of its kind since the war started.
Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan said there were plans to initially host the talks in Turkey, in an interview with private broadcaster AHaber.
“But since our Pakistani brother had to stay in his country, we shifted it to Pakistan,” Fidan said during the interview.
Pakistan has emerged as a key intermediary in the current bout of diplomacy between the US and Iran, delivering a 15-point plan peace plan proposed by Washington to Iran.
Israel detects missile from Yemen, Trump says war "not finished yet." Here's the latest
Israel’s military said early on Saturday it had detected a missile launched toward its territory from Yemen, and was working to intercept it.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump warned that the war with Iran is “not finished,” and that the US has thousands of targets left to strike.
Here is what you need to know on Day 29 of the conflict.
- Missile detected: Israel’s military said on Saturday it had detected a missile launched toward Israel from Yemen. It marks the first time authorities in Israel have identified missiles launched from Yemen since the war began.
- War “not finished”: Trump said the war with Iran is “not finished yet” in remarks at the FII Summit in Miami on Friday. Trump also said that the US still has “another 3,554” targets left to hit in Iran. “That’ll be done pretty quickly,” he said. Trump has previously claimed victory numerous times over Iran.
- Saudi Arabia attack: At least 10 US service members were wounded in an Iranian attack on the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, a US official told CNN. No service members were killed. A refueler tanker aircraft was also damaged.
- No ground troops: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Friday that the US can achieve its objectives “without any ground troops,” as more than 1,000 extra service members have been ordered to deploy to the region. As to why more service members are being sent to the Middle East, Rubio said Trump “has to be prepared for multiple contingencies.”
- New deployment: The USS George H.W. Bush aircraft carrier is expected to deploy to an area near the conflict, according to a source. It’s unclear if it will join or replace either of the two US aircraft carriers already in the region.
At least 10 US service members injured in attack on Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia
At least 10 US service members were injured in an Iranian attack on Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, a US official told CNN. No service members were killed.
At least two of the injured had shrapnel wounds considered not life threatening, and several other service members were “impacted,” though the nature of what happened to them was not immediately clear, another US official said.
A refueler tanker aircraft was also damaged, the first source said.
