Middle East crisis live: US eases sanctions on Iranian oil as Trump claims he is considering ‘winding down’ the war | US-Israel war on Iran

March 21, 2026

Trump considering ‘winding down’ Iran war and leaving other countries to ‘police’ strait of Hormuz

Donald Trump has said the US is “getting very close to meeting our objectives” and is considering “winding down” its war on Iran .

He repeated his claim that the US doesn’t use the strait of Hormuz, and so other nations who do will have to “guard and police” it. This is after US-Israeli attacks on Iran prompted Tehran to target vessels in one the world’s most vital shipping lanes.

The US will help “if asked” but that “shouldn’t be necessary”, he said in a post on Truth Social, saying it would be “an easy Military Operation” for those countries.

We are getting very close to meeting our objectives as we consider winding down our great Military efforts in the Middle East with respect to the Terrorist Regime of Iran.

The Hormuz Strait will have to be guarded and policed, as necessary, by other Nations who use it — The United States does not! If asked, we will help these Countries in their Hormuz efforts, but it shouldn’t be necessary once Iran’s threat is eradicated. Importantly, it will be an easy Military Operation for them.

Key events

Iran fired missiles at US-UK military base Diego Garcia but neither hit – report

Iran fired two intermediate-range ballistic missiles at Diego Garcia but neither of them hit the joint US-UK military base in the Indian Ocean, the Wall Street Journal is reporting, citing multiple US officials.

However, the move marked a significant attempt by Iran to reach far beyond the Middle East and threaten US interests, the report said.

One of the missiles failed in flight, and a US warship fired an SM-3 interceptor at the other, according to two of the people. It couldn’t be determined if an interception was made, according to one of the officials, the report said.

Iran’s targeting of Diego Garcia, about 4,000km from Iran, implies its missiles have a greater range than Tehran has previously acknowledged, it continued. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said last month that Iran had deliberately limited the range of its missiles to 2,000km.

Reuters reports the White House, the British embassy in Washington and the UK Ministry of Defence did not immediately respond to its requests for comment.

Several Nato members and other US-allied nations have pledged to join “appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage” through the strait of Hormuz.

But the joint statement from the leaders of more than a dozen nations – including the UK, France, Germany, Japan, Canada, South Korea, Sweden and Bahrain – did not provide details on how they would do this.

That followed a recent bashing by Donald Trump, who called alliance members “cowards” for not wanting “to help open” the strait of Hormuz, as you can read in our latest summary of Trump administration news amid the Iran war.

The Nato allies’ pledges comes as the US is reportedly preparing to send three more warships and thousands more troops to the Middle East.

File shot of the US amphibious assault ship USS Boxer. Photograph: Craig Z Rodarte/AFP/Getty Images

But at the same time, as mentioned, Trump said was considering “winding down” the US war on Iran. As for a ceasefire? The president said no thanks, telling reporters on Friday:

Look, we can have dialogue but I don’t want to do a ceasefire. You don’t do a ceasefire when you’re literally obliterating the other side.

The full Trump news summary is here:

Israel attacking Hezbollah targets in Beirut, says military

The Israeli military says it is now attacking Hezbollah targets in Beirut.

It made the announcement in a short post on social media, after warning residents in the Lebanese capital’s southern suburbs hours earlier to evacuate immediately.

In that warning, the Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesperson listed seven neighbourhoods in the southern area, which is a stronghold of the Iran-backed Lebanese militant group.

Avichay Adraee said in the post:

The Defense Army continues its operations and strikes against military infrastructure belonging to the terrorist Hezbollah in various parts of the suburbs with increasing force.

One killed and two wounded in Israeli strike on south Lebanon house – state media

Lebanese state media is saying the death of one person and the wounding of two others came after an Israeli airstrike hit a house in a southern town early on Saturday.

“Israeli fighter jets launched a heavy strike at dawn on a house in the town of Ghandouriyeh … resulting in one martyr and two wounded people who were pulled from under the rubble,” said Lebanon’s official National News Agency, cited by Agence France-Presse.

Israeli strikes have killed one person and wounded two in south Lebanon, state media is being quoted as saying.

We’ll have more on this soon.

Saudi Arabia has intercepted and destroyed 10 drones in its eastern region, the defence ministry is saying on social media.

The ministry said a while earlier that it had intercepted six drones in the east.

In the previous couple of hours the United Arab Emirates’ defence ministry said it was responding to missile and drone attacks from Iran.

Kuwait’s army also said it was also “confronting hostile missile and drone attacks”.

US lifts sanctions on Iranian oil at sea

The US treasury has authorised the purchase of some Iranian oil that is already at sea, exempting buyers from its own sanctions.

The sanctions licence permits the purchase of oil from Iran if it was loaded on to a vessel by 12.01am ET (5.01am GMT) on Friday. The exemption runs until 19 April.

The licence aims to stem the surge in oil prices caused by the US-Israeli war on Iran.

The move had been telegraphed earlier this week by US treasury secretary Scott Bessent, who told Fox Business Network’s Mornings With Maria: “In the coming days, we may un-sanction the Iranian oil that’s on the water. It’s about 140m barrels.”

“That’s about 10 days to two weeks of supply that the Iranians had been pushing out that would have all gone to China,” he added.

In essence, we will be using the Iranian barrels against the Iranians to keep the price down for the next 10 to 14 days as we continue this campaign.

United Airlines chief executive, Scott Kirby, has said the airline will cancel about 5% of this year’s planned flights in the short term, as the escalating war in the Middle East causes jet fuel prices to soar.

“If prices stayed at this level, it would mean an extra $11bn in annual expense just for jet fuel,” Kirby said in a message to employees, according to Reuters.

The airline’s current plan is to restore its full flight schedule this fall, Kirby added.

Missiles have been launched from Iran towards Israel, the IDF has said in the past few minutes.

“Defensive systems are operating to intercept the threat,” it said in a statement on Telegram.

It urged residents to follow instructions issued by Israel’s Home Front Command, which “has sent a precautionary directive directly to mobile phones in the relevant area”.

More countries sign joint statement on strait of Hormuz by European nations and other

Several more countries on Friday joined leading European nations, Japan and Canada in signing a joint statement saying they were ready to join appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the strait of Hormuz and would take steps to stabilise energy markets (though they do not specify what this means in practice).

This is the full text of the statement from Britain, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Japan, Canada, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Denmark, Latvia, Slovenia, Estonia, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Czech Republic, Romania, Bahrain and Lithuania:

We condemn in the strongest terms recent attacks by Iran on unarmed commercial vessels in the Gulf, attacks on civilian infrastructure including oil and gas installations, and the de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iranian forces.

We express our deep concern about the escalating conflict. We call on Iran to cease immediately its threats, laying of mines, drone and missile attacks and other attempts to block the Strait to commercial shipping, and to comply with UN Security Council Resolution 2817.
Freedom of navigation is a fundamental principle of international law, including under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The effects of Iran’s actions will be felt by people in all parts of the world, especially the most vulnerable.

Consistent with UNSC Resolution 2817, we emphasise that such interference with international shipping and the disruption of global energy supply chains constitute a threat to international peace and security.

In this regard, we call for an immediate comprehensive moratorium on attacks on civilian infrastructure, including oil and gas installations.

We express our readiness to contribute to appropriate efforts to ensure safe passage through the Strait. We welcome the commitment of nations who are engaging in preparatory planning.

We welcome the International Energy Agency decision to authorise a coordinated release of strategic petroleum reserves.

We will take other steps to stabilise energy markets, including working with certain producing nations to increase output.

We will also work to provide support for the most affected nations, including through the United Nations and the IFIs (International Financial Institutions).
Maritime security and freedom of navigation benefit all countries.

We call on all states to respect international law and uphold the fundamental principles of international prosperity and security.

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