By Reuters
Updated Apr 1, 2026
Iran launched new strikes across the Gulf early Wednesday, hitting a tanker off Qatar and a fuel storage tank at Kuwait International Airport as the wider regional conflict intensified. Tehran also acknowledged for the first time that it had engaged in direct U.S. contact about a possible ceasefire.
Israel warned of incoming fire from both Yemen and Iran and carried out airstrikes in Lebanon that authorities said killed at least five people. In Tehran, an airstrike appeared to strike the former U.S. embassy compound—controlled by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps since 1979—with witnesses reporting blown-out windows at buildings surrounding the walled site and indications the strike occurred inside the compound.
The U.K. Maritime Trade Operations centre reported a tanker off Qatar had been struck by a projectile; the crew was reported unharmed. The attack follows a fully loaded Kuwaiti oil tanker being hit off Dubai the previous day, one of more than 20 commercial vessels struck by Iranian action since the conflict intensified.
Bahrain issued two incoming-missile alerts and said an Iranian strike sparked a fire at a business facility. Kuwait’s state news agency KUNA reported a drone struck a fuel tank at Kuwait International Airport, causing a large blaze that firefighters worked to contain. Saudi authorities said they intercepted two drones, and air-raid sirens sounded across parts of Israel, with no immediate reports of casualties from those alerts.
Israel said it had struck a plant in Iran that produced fentanyl and accused the site of links to a chemical-weapons program. Iran confirmed the Tofigh Daru factory was hit but said it produced only medicines for hospitals.
The fighting has disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz after Iran slowed traffic following U.S. and Israeli strikes on Feb. 28, contributing to higher gasoline prices and financial market volatility.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Washington could end military attacks on Iran within two to three weeks and suggested Tehran would not necessarily need to reach a deal for the fighting to wind down. The White House announced that Mr. Trump would deliver a national address on the situation in Iran at 9 p.m. EDT on Wednesday (0100 GMT Thursday).
In southern Lebanon, the Israel Defense Forces reported a surface-to-air missile had downed an Israeli military drone. Lebanese health officials said strikes in the Beirut area caused multiple casualties. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards threatened to target 18 major U.S.-linked companies operating in the region—naming firms such as Microsoft, Google, Apple, Intel, IBM, Tesla and Boeing—though President Trump said he was not concerned by those threats.
The situation remained highly volatile, with further strikes and interceptions reported across the Gulf and Levant as diplomatic and military movements continued to unfold.
