EXPLAINER
The region is on edge as Trump’s 48-hour deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face attacks on power plants nears.
Published On 23 Mar 2026
The war launched by the United States and Israel against Iran entered its 24th day on Monday.
On Sunday, Iran said it would strike the energy and water systems of its Gulf neighbours if US President Donald Trump followed through with a threat to hit Iran’s electricity grid, which would mark a serious escalation in the war. Trump’s 48-hour deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face attacks on its power plants ends at 23:44 GMT on Monday — 3:14am on Tuesday for Iran.
On Monday, stocks in China and Hong Kong were on track for their worst day in nearly a year as the escalating war in the Middle East fanned stagflation fears and roiled global financial markets.
United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer has called for an emergency meeting later in the day as the economic fallout from the war mounts.
Meanwhile, attacks have continued in Iran, Israel and in the Gulf countries. Here is what is happening.
In Iran
- The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) threatened to retaliate if power plants were targeted, hitting power plants in Israel as well as those supplying electricity to the US bases in the region.
- The Israeli military said it launched a wide-scale wave of strikes targeting infrastructure in Tehran. Powerful explosions were reported in the central, southern and eastern parts of the capital. Footage, verified by Al Jazeera, shows columns of fire and smoke rising over the city of Karaj, west of Tehran, following an air attack.
- One person was killed in a US-Israeli attack on a 100-kilowatt AM transmitter of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting radio station in the southern port city of Bandar Abbas, according to the Mehr news agency.
- An air attack flattened residential buildings in Urmia city in northwest Iran, and rescuers are searching for people under the rubble, according to state-affiliated Nour News.
- In an X post, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said it targeted a turbine engine production site in north-central Iran’s Qom province that it said was used for drone and aircraft components linked to the IRGC.
In the Gulf
- Saudi Arabia: The country’s Ministry of Defence said two ballistic missiles were launched towards Riyadh; while one was intercepted, another fell in an uninhabited area. An IRGC spokesperson said its forces attacked Prince Sultan airbase in Saudi Arabia.
- UAE: The Abu Dhabi Media Office said an Indian national suffered minor injuries from falling debris in the al-Shawamekh area after the United Arab Emirates’ air defence systems intercepted a ballistic missile targeting the country’s capital. On Monday, the UAE said it was “responding to incoming missile threat from Iran”.
- Qatar: Seven people were killed on March 22 in a helicopter crash in Qatar’s territorial waters following a technical malfunction during “routine duty”, according to the Defence Ministry. Four of those killed were Qatari armed forces personnel, while three were from Turkiye.
- Bahrain: An IRGC spokesperson said its forces attacked the US Fifth Fleet in Bahrain using missiles and drones.
- Kuwait: Kuwaiti news agency KUNA reported on Sunday that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation had submitted an official protest letter to the International Civil Aviation Organization over “airspace violations and attacks on airport facilities” by Iran, saying the incidents constituted a blatant breach of international civil aviation conventions and exposed passengers, airlines and airport personnel to serious risk.
In the US
- Democrat Chuck Schumer, the US Senate’s minority leader, has called for an end to the US military operation against Iran in a post on X.
- Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia wrote in an X post that Trump is “sending our sons and daughters to war” because he is still unable to accept that he lost the 2020 election.
In Israel
- Alerts went off around Jerusalem and central Israel, and explosions were reported.
- The casualty toll from Iran’s Saturday attack on the towns of Dimona — which hosts Israel’s main nuclear facility on its outskirts — and Arad has risen, with at least 180 people injured.
In Iraq, Lebanon
- Lebanon: At least 1,029 people have been killed in Israeli strikes since March 2, according to Lebanese authorities. The World Health Organization and Lebanese health authorities said more than 100 of those killed were children.
- Iraq: At least 60 people have been killed in the country so far, according to authorities. Most of them were members of the pro-Iran Popular Mobilisation Forces. One foreign crew member was killed in an attack on tankers near an Iraqi port, according to port security officials.