Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran is prepared to allow the passage of Japanese-linked vessels through the Strait of Hormuz.

Mr Araghchi told Kyodo News that discussions with the Japanese side had already begun, which could result in temporary lifting of the blockade.

A Japanese government official told Kyodo News that “direct negotiations with the Iranian side are the most effective way to lift the blockade.”

A fire broke out at a US diplomatic facility near Baghdad airport in Iraq following an attack, Shadaq news reported.

Pro-Iranian militant group Ashab al-Kahf claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement.

The group said it struck the “Victoria base” in Baghdad using a drone and warned civilians to stay away from areas hosting US forces.

An Israeli strike on a health center in southern Lebanon instantly killed 12 medical workers, seriously wounded one and left four missing under the rubble for hours.

The March 13 strike in the village of Burj Qalaouiyah, one of the single deadliest strikes in Lebanon since the latest Israel-Hezbollah war began on March 2, targeted a center run by Hezbollah’s health arm, the Islamic Health Society, which has so far lost 24 members over the past two weeks.

Since the latest war began, Israel’s military has not only been targeting the group’s military assets but also its civilian institutions in an apparent attempt to weaken the Iran-backed group further and try to push its supporters away from it.

The Israel Defence Forces said they are striking “Iranian terror regime targets” in Tehran.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which is separate from the army, said the 70th wave of retaliatory strikes against US and Israeli interests in the Gulf region was underway.

The IRGC described the latest wave of attacks as resulting in “loud explosions, bursts of fire, and columns of smoke” throughout the targeted areas.

Sri Lanka declined permission for two US combat aircraft to land at a civilian airport earlier this month, president Anura ​Kumara Dissanayake told parliament.

The US had requested permission ‌for the two aircraft to land at the Mattala Rajapaksa International Airport in the southern part of the country from March 4-8, Mr Dissanayake told lawmakers.

“They wanted to bring two ​warplanes armed with eight anti-ship missiles from a base in Djibouti,” ​he said during a statement.

“We turned down the request to ⁠maintain Sri Lanka’s neutrality,” he added to applause from parliamentarians.

The US had ​made the request on 26 February. The same day Iran requested three ​of its ships to make a goodwill visit to Sri Lanka from March 9-13 after participating in an Indian naval exercise. That request was also denied.

United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres welcomed Donald Trump’s Board of Peace’s aim of funding and delivering the basics of a Gaza reconstruction plan to rebuild Palestinian homes and infrastructure, he said in an interview with Politico this week.

Iran threatened to expand its retaliatory attacks to include recreational and tourist sites worldwide, as the US announced it was sending more warships and Marines to the region.

Following news of the deployments, US president Donald Trump said on social media that his administration in fact was considering “winding down” military operations in the region.

The mixed messages came after another climb in oil prices plunged the US stock market, and was followed by a Trump administration announcement that it will lift sanctions on Iranian oil loaded on ships, a move aimed at wrangling soaring fuel prices.

Israel said Iran continued to fire missiles at it early this morning, while Saudi Arabia said it downed 20 drones in just a couple of hours in the country’s eastern region, which is home to major oil installations.

Iran’s top military spokesperson, General Abolfazl Shekarchi, warned that “parks, recreational areas and tourist destinations” worldwide will not be safe for the country’s enemies. The threat renewed concerns that Tehran may revert to using militant attacks beyond the Middle East as a pressure tactic.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has reacted to the Trump administration temporarily lifting sanctions on Iranian oil at sea.

“This is blood oil. Trump and [US Treasury Secretary Scott] Bessent have betrayed the American people and our soldiers”, Newsom’s press office wrote on X Friday night local time.

Mike Waltz, the US ambassador to the United Nations, has defended the Trump administration’s decision to lift sanctions on Iranian oil at sea.

Waltz called the measure “very temporary” and said it will “basically defeat the Iranian strategy of driving energy prices so high, causing pain on consumers all over the world”, during a CNN town hall Friday night local time.

Oil prices have been rising as Iran has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, which carries about a fifth of the world’s oil.

Mike Waltz, US ambassador to the United Nations, has said the Iran war is “completely within America First principles.”

US President Donald Trump has received pushback from his base for the military strikes against Iran since he ran in the 2024 election on an “America First” platform.

“America First” has widely been understood to mean putting the interests of the American people ahead of foreign issues and typically has been associated with opposition to new wars.

Asked during a CNN town hall Friday night local time how US involvement in Iran is “America First”, Waltz said, “It’s completely within America First principles to give diplomacy a chance, to try to resolve things peacefully, but also to back up that diplomacy with real strength”.