Trump also questions whether Iran’s new supreme leader ‘is even alive’ while deflating hopes of a deal with Tehran to end conflict – key US politics stories from 14 March 2026 at a glance

Donald Trump says US strikes have “totally demolished” much of Iran’s Kharg Island oil export hub and threatened that “ we may hit it a few more times just for fun ”.

In comments to NBC News, the president also questioned, without attribution, whether Iran’s new supreme leader “is even alive”, while deflating hopes of a deal with Tehran to end the conflict.

Trump also questions whether Iran’s new supreme leader ‘is even alive’ while deflating hopes of a deal with Tehran to end conflict – key US politics stories from 14 March 2026 at a glance

Donald Trump says US strikes have “totally demolished” much of Iran’s Kharg Island oil export hub and threatened that “ we may hit it a few more times just for fun ”.

In comments to NBC News, the president also questioned, without attribution, whether Iran’s new supreme leader “is even alive”, while deflating hopes of a deal with Tehran to end the conflict.

Trump also questions whether Iran’s new supreme leader ‘is even alive’ while deflating hopes of a deal with Tehran to end conflict – key US politics stories from 14 March 2026 at a glance

Donald Trump says US strikes have “totally demolished” much of Iran’s Kharg Island oil export hub and threatened that “ we may hit it a few more times just for fun ”.

In comments to NBC News, the president also questioned, without attribution, whether Iran’s new supreme leader “is even alive”, while deflating hopes of a deal with Tehran to end the conflict.

US president said he did not want to make a deal with Iran yet, while claiming that he might hit Kharg Island again ‘just for fun’

• How have you been affected by the latest Middle East events?

Hello and welcome to our continuing coverage of the US-Israel war on Iran and the widening crisis in the Middle East that it’s causing.

Donald Trump has said that the US may carry out more strikes on Iran’s Kharg Island oil export hub, saying that while Tehran appears ready to make a deal to end the conflict, “the terms aren’t good enough yet”.

Lebanon’s health ministry said Israeli strikes have killed 826 people, including 65 women and 106 children, since the start of the war. In a statement today, the ministry said 31 paramedics were among those killed. Local health authorities reported this morning that an Israeli strike killed 12 medical staff at a clinic in the southern town of Burj Qalaouiya.

At least 15 people were killed when a strike by Israel and the US hit a factory in the central Iranian city of Isfahan , the semi-official Fars news agency said. There were workers inside the factory, which produces heaters and refrigerators, when the strike hit, Fars reported.

Iran issued an evacuation warning for three major ports in the United Arab Emirates on Saturday, including the busiest in the Middle East , the Associated Press reported. Iran claims the US had used “ports, docks and hideouts” in the UAE to launch strikes on Iran’s Kharg Island. It urged people to evacuate areas where it said US forces were sheltering.

Trump renewed his call for other nations to help secure the strait of Hormuz and said the US will coordinate with them amid the US-Israeli war on Iran. “The United States of America has beaten and completely decimated Iran, both Militarily, Economically, and in every other way, but the Countries of the World that receive Oil through the Hormuz Strait must take care of that passage, and we will help – A LOT,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.

The Trump administration rebuffed efforts by Middle Eastern allies to start diplomatic negotiations aimed at ending the Iran war that started two weeks ago with a massive US-Israeli air assault, according to reporting from Reuters.

The Israeli military says it killed two senior officials in Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Emergency Command in an airstrike on Tehran. In a post on X, army spokesperson Avichay Adraee said Abdullah Jalali-Nasab and Amir Shariat, described as senior figures in the command’s intelligence branch, were killed in the attack.

Israel informed the US this week that it is running critically low on ballistic missile interceptors as the conflict with Iran continues, Semafor reported on Saturday, citing US officials familiar with the matter.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chair Brendan Carr accused news broadcasters of “running hoaxes and news distortions” amid the war in Iran in a post on X. “Broadcasters that are running hoaxes and news distortions - also known as the fake news - have a chance now to correct course before their license renewals come up,” Carr wrote.

Formula One has cancelled the Bahrain and Saudi Arabia grands prix because of the war , underlining the disruption across the Middle East. The races were due to take place on 12 April in Bahrain and 19 April in Saudi Arabia but the sport was approaching the point at which a decision on cancellation needed to be made to prevent more freight being sent to Bahrain.

US president said he did not want to make a deal with Iran yet, while claiming that he might hit Kharg Island again ‘just for fun’

• How have you been affected by the latest Middle East events?

Hello and welcome to our continuing coverage of the US-Israel war on Iran and the widening crisis in the Middle East that it’s causing.

Donald Trump has said that the US may carry out more strikes on Iran’s Kharg Island oil export hub, saying that while Tehran appears ready to make a deal to end the conflict, “the terms aren’t good enough yet”.

Lebanon’s health ministry said Israeli strikes have killed 826 people, including 65 women and 106 children, since the start of the war. In a statement today, the ministry said 31 paramedics were among those killed. Local health authorities reported this morning that an Israeli strike killed 12 medical staff at a clinic in the southern town of Burj Qalaouiya.

At least 15 people were killed when a strike by Israel and the US hit a factory in the central Iranian city of Isfahan , the semi-official Fars news agency said. There were workers inside the factory, which produces heaters and refrigerators, when the strike hit, Fars reported.

Iran issued an evacuation warning for three major ports in the United Arab Emirates on Saturday, including the busiest in the Middle East , the Associated Press reported. Iran claims the US had used “ports, docks and hideouts” in the UAE to launch strikes on Iran’s Kharg Island. It urged people to evacuate areas where it said US forces were sheltering.

Trump renewed his call for other nations to help secure the strait of Hormuz and said the US will coordinate with them amid the US-Israeli war on Iran. “The United States of America has beaten and completely decimated Iran, both Militarily, Economically, and in every other way, but the Countries of the World that receive Oil through the Hormuz Strait must take care of that passage, and we will help – A LOT,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.

The Trump administration rebuffed efforts by Middle Eastern allies to start diplomatic negotiations aimed at ending the Iran war that started two weeks ago with a massive US-Israeli air assault, according to reporting from Reuters.

The Israeli military says it killed two senior officials in Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Emergency Command in an airstrike on Tehran. In a post on X, army spokesperson Avichay Adraee said Abdullah Jalali-Nasab and Amir Shariat, described as senior figures in the command’s intelligence branch, were killed in the attack.

Israel informed the US this week that it is running critically low on ballistic missile interceptors as the conflict with Iran continues, Semafor reported on Saturday, citing US officials familiar with the matter.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chair Brendan Carr accused news broadcasters of “running hoaxes and news distortions” amid the war in Iran in a post on X. “Broadcasters that are running hoaxes and news distortions - also known as the fake news - have a chance now to correct course before their license renewals come up,” Carr wrote.

Formula One has cancelled the Bahrain and Saudi Arabia grands prix because of the war , underlining the disruption across the Middle East. The races were due to take place on 12 April in Bahrain and 19 April in Saudi Arabia but the sport was approaching the point at which a decision on cancellation needed to be made to prevent more freight being sent to Bahrain.

US president said he did not want to make a deal with Iran yet, while claiming that he might hit Kharg Island again ‘just for fun’

• How have you been affected by the latest Middle East events?

Hello and welcome to our continuing coverage of the US-Israel war on Iran and the widening crisis in the Middle East that it’s causing.

Donald Trump has said that the US may carry out more strikes on Iran’s Kharg Island oil export hub, saying that while Tehran appears ready to make a deal to end the conflict, “the terms aren’t good enough yet”.

Lebanon’s health ministry said Israeli strikes have killed 826 people, including 65 women and 106 children, since the start of the war. In a statement today, the ministry said 31 paramedics were among those killed. Local health authorities reported this morning that an Israeli strike killed 12 medical staff at a clinic in the southern town of Burj Qalaouiya.

At least 15 people were killed when a strike by Israel and the US hit a factory in the central Iranian city of Isfahan , the semi-official Fars news agency said. There were workers inside the factory, which produces heaters and refrigerators, when the strike hit, Fars reported.

Iran issued an evacuation warning for three major ports in the United Arab Emirates on Saturday, including the busiest in the Middle East , the Associated Press reported. Iran claims the US had used “ports, docks and hideouts” in the UAE to launch strikes on Iran’s Kharg Island. It urged people to evacuate areas where it said US forces were sheltering.

Trump renewed his call for other nations to help secure the strait of Hormuz and said the US will coordinate with them amid the US-Israeli war on Iran. “The United States of America has beaten and completely decimated Iran, both Militarily, Economically, and in every other way, but the Countries of the World that receive Oil through the Hormuz Strait must take care of that passage, and we will help – A LOT,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.

The Trump administration rebuffed efforts by Middle Eastern allies to start diplomatic negotiations aimed at ending the Iran war that started two weeks ago with a massive US-Israeli air assault, according to reporting from Reuters.

The Israeli military says it killed two senior officials in Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Emergency Command in an airstrike on Tehran. In a post on X, army spokesperson Avichay Adraee said Abdullah Jalali-Nasab and Amir Shariat, described as senior figures in the command’s intelligence branch, were killed in the attack.

Israel informed the US this week that it is running critically low on ballistic missile interceptors as the conflict with Iran continues, Semafor reported on Saturday, citing US officials familiar with the matter.

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) chair Brendan Carr accused news broadcasters of “running hoaxes and news distortions” amid the war in Iran in a post on X. “Broadcasters that are running hoaxes and news distortions - also known as the fake news - have a chance now to correct course before their license renewals come up,” Carr wrote.

Formula One has cancelled the Bahrain and Saudi Arabia grands prix because of the war , underlining the disruption across the Middle East. The races were due to take place on 12 April in Bahrain and 19 April in Saudi Arabia but the sport was approaching the point at which a decision on cancellation needed to be made to prevent more freight being sent to Bahrain.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russia targeted energy infrastructure near Kyiv but residential buildings and schools also hit. What we know on day 1,481

Russia hammered Ukraine with missiles and drones on Saturday, killing six people and inflicting damage across several regions of the country , Ukrainian officials said. Five of those killed were in the Kyiv region outside the capital, where Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian forces targeted energy infrastructure but also damaged residential buildings, schools and businesses. Fifteen people were injured.

The Ukrainian president said the Sumy, Kharkiv, Dnipro and Mykolaiv regions were also targeted in an attack that included about 430 drones and 68 missiles, most of which were downed by air defences . “The main target for the Russians was the energy infrastructure of the Kyiv region, but unfortunately, there were also direct hits on and damage to ordinary residential buildings, schools, and civilian businesses,” Zelenskyy said.

A Russian strike later in the afternoon on a residential area in the Zaporizhzhia suburbs killed one and wounded 18, including two children , the local administration said. Reuters footage showed emergency crews at work amid piles of rubble and twisted metal. Windows and frames on balconies were smashed.

Russia’s winter attacks on Ukraine have left swathes of major cities without power or heating, part of a campaign to weaken resolve as Moscow’s troops press a battlefield offensive and demand Kyiv cede more territory in the east . Ukraine’s energy ministry said on Saturday that people in six regions were without electricity after the overnight strikes and Russian shelling of frontline areas.

Saturday’s attack also prompted Nato member Poland to scramble jets to protect its airspace, but no violations were observed , Warsaw’s military said. In Moldova, on Ukraine’s western border, the foreign ministry denounced what it said was an intrusion by a Russian drone into its airspace in a border district, saying Moscow’s actions undermined regional security and posed a danger to its citizens.

Zelenskyy repeated his call for Kyiv’s partners to boost production of air defence weapons, stocks of which have been diminishing as the US and its allies in the Gulf , fending off Iranian strikes. The UK’s prime minister Keir Starmer may send thousands of interceptor drones to the Middle East, the Telegraph reported on Saturday. Military officials are examining whether the “Octopus” interceptor anti-drone drone system, which is manufactured in the UK for Ukraine to use against Russia, can also be used to bolster British defences against Iran’s Shahed drones, the report said.

Russian air defence units downed 65 Ukrainian drones headed for Moscow throughout the day on Saturday , the city’s mayor Sergei Sobyanin said. Sobyanin, writing on Telegram, said the drones were intercepted over an 11-hour period beginning around noon. Crews were examining the fragments at the sites where they fell. The governor of the Bryansk region on the Ukrainian border, Alexander Bogomaz, said on Telegram that units in his region had downed 128 drones. He gave no time frame.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russia targeted energy infrastructure near Kyiv but residential buildings and schools also hit. What we know on day 1,481

Russia hammered Ukraine with missiles and drones on Saturday, killing six people and inflicting damage across several regions of the country , Ukrainian officials said. Five of those killed were in the Kyiv region outside the capital, where Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian forces targeted energy infrastructure but also damaged residential buildings, schools and businesses. Fifteen people were injured.

The Ukrainian president said the Sumy, Kharkiv, Dnipro and Mykolaiv regions were also targeted in an attack that included about 430 drones and 68 missiles, most of which were downed by air defences . “The main target for the Russians was the energy infrastructure of the Kyiv region, but unfortunately, there were also direct hits on and damage to ordinary residential buildings, schools, and civilian businesses,” Zelenskyy said.

A Russian strike later in the afternoon on a residential area in the Zaporizhzhia suburbs killed one and wounded 18, including two children , the local administration said. Reuters footage showed emergency crews at work amid piles of rubble and twisted metal. Windows and frames on balconies were smashed.

Russia’s winter attacks on Ukraine have left swathes of major cities without power or heating, part of a campaign to weaken resolve as Moscow’s troops press a battlefield offensive and demand Kyiv cede more territory in the east . Ukraine’s energy ministry said on Saturday that people in six regions were without electricity after the overnight strikes and Russian shelling of frontline areas.

Saturday’s attack also prompted Nato member Poland to scramble jets to protect its airspace, but no violations were observed , Warsaw’s military said. In Moldova, on Ukraine’s western border, the foreign ministry denounced what it said was an intrusion by a Russian drone into its airspace in a border district, saying Moscow’s actions undermined regional security and posed a danger to its citizens.

Zelenskyy repeated his call for Kyiv’s partners to boost production of air defence weapons, stocks of which have been diminishing as the US and its allies in the Gulf , fending off Iranian strikes. The UK’s prime minister Keir Starmer may send thousands of interceptor drones to the Middle East, the Telegraph reported on Saturday. Military officials are examining whether the “Octopus” interceptor anti-drone drone system, which is manufactured in the UK for Ukraine to use against Russia, can also be used to bolster British defences against Iran’s Shahed drones, the report said.

Russian air defence units downed 65 Ukrainian drones headed for Moscow throughout the day on Saturday , the city’s mayor Sergei Sobyanin said. Sobyanin, writing on Telegram, said the drones were intercepted over an 11-hour period beginning around noon. Crews were examining the fragments at the sites where they fell. The governor of the Bryansk region on the Ukrainian border, Alexander Bogomaz, said on Telegram that units in his region had downed 128 drones. He gave no time frame.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russia targeted energy infrastructure near Kyiv but residential buildings and schools also hit. What we know on day 1,481

Russia hammered Ukraine with missiles and drones on Saturday, killing six people and inflicting damage across several regions of the country , Ukrainian officials said. Five of those killed were in the Kyiv region outside the capital, where Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian forces targeted energy infrastructure but also damaged residential buildings, schools and businesses. Fifteen people were injured.

The Ukrainian president said the Sumy, Kharkiv, Dnipro and Mykolaiv regions were also targeted in an attack that included about 430 drones and 68 missiles, most of which were downed by air defences . “The main target for the Russians was the energy infrastructure of the Kyiv region, but unfortunately, there were also direct hits on and damage to ordinary residential buildings, schools, and civilian businesses,” Zelenskyy said.

A Russian strike later in the afternoon on a residential area in the Zaporizhzhia suburbs killed one and wounded 18, including two children , the local administration said. Reuters footage showed emergency crews at work amid piles of rubble and twisted metal. Windows and frames on balconies were smashed.

Russia’s winter attacks on Ukraine have left swathes of major cities without power or heating, part of a campaign to weaken resolve as Moscow’s troops press a battlefield offensive and demand Kyiv cede more territory in the east . Ukraine’s energy ministry said on Saturday that people in six regions were without electricity after the overnight strikes and Russian shelling of frontline areas.

Saturday’s attack also prompted Nato member Poland to scramble jets to protect its airspace, but no violations were observed , Warsaw’s military said. In Moldova, on Ukraine’s western border, the foreign ministry denounced what it said was an intrusion by a Russian drone into its airspace in a border district, saying Moscow’s actions undermined regional security and posed a danger to its citizens.

Zelenskyy repeated his call for Kyiv’s partners to boost production of air defence weapons, stocks of which have been diminishing as the US and its allies in the Gulf , fending off Iranian strikes. The UK’s prime minister Keir Starmer may send thousands of interceptor drones to the Middle East, the Telegraph reported on Saturday. Military officials are examining whether the “Octopus” interceptor anti-drone drone system, which is manufactured in the UK for Ukraine to use against Russia, can also be used to bolster British defences against Iran’s Shahed drones, the report said.

Russian air defence units downed 65 Ukrainian drones headed for Moscow throughout the day on Saturday , the city’s mayor Sergei Sobyanin said. Sobyanin, writing on Telegram, said the drones were intercepted over an 11-hour period beginning around noon. Crews were examining the fragments at the sites where they fell. The governor of the Bryansk region on the Ukrainian border, Alexander Bogomaz, said on Telegram that units in his region had downed 128 drones. He gave no time frame.