Morning Briefing: March 16, 2026

ISTANBUL

Here’s a rundown of all the news you need to start your Monday, including Iran saying it is ready for a joint probe with regional states to determine the nature of the targets that have come under attack, Israel allocating $825 million to buy “urgent security supplies” amid a reported deficit of interceptor missiles, and the US energy secretary saying the war with Iran will “certainly come to an end in the next few weeks.”

TOP STORIES

• Iran says it’s ready for joint probe with regional states over attacked targets

Iran’s foreign minister said Tehran is ready to sit with regional countries to form a joint investigation committee to determine the nature of the targets that have come under attack and whether they were American-linked as hostilities between Tehran and Washington continue to rage across the region.

In an interview with the London-based The New Arab (Al-Araby Al-Jadeed) newspaper, Araghchi said strikes carried out by Iran targeted “US bases and interests in the region” as part of Tehran’s response to attacks launched against Iran from those bases.

The minister said Tehran had also obtained information indicating that the US and Israel were launching attacks from specific locations toward Arab countries.

• Israel allocates $825M to buy ‘urgent security supplies’ amid reported deficit of interceptor missiles

The Israeli government has allocated $825 million to purchase “urgent security supplies” amid reports of a growing deficit in interceptor missiles as a joint war with the US against Iran entered its third week, local media reported.

"The government approved a special budget of 2.6 billion shekels ($825 million) for the purchase of urgent security supplies," Channel 12 said.

The outlet said the move comes “amid the immediate need to provide an operational response in a war with Iran."

• US energy secretary says war with Iran to 'certainly come to an end in next few weeks'

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the war with Iran would end within weeks, offering one of the most definitive timelines from a Cabinet member since joint US-Israeli attacks on Iran began on Feb. 28.

"This conflict will certainly come to an end in the next few weeks," Wright told ABC News, adding it "could be sooner than that."

Americans would continue to feel the effects of elevated gas prices for a few more weeks, said Wright, but should expect relief once the conflict ended, though he cautioned that there were "no guarantees in wars at all."

NEWS IN BRIEF

• Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it struck three US air bases in the region with missiles and drones, according to the semi-official Fars News Agency.
• Voting began in Kazakhstan in a referendum on a new Constitution, with more than 12.4 million voters able to participate, according to media reports.
• Four Palestinians were killed, including two children, in an Israeli drone strike in the central Gaza Strip, marking a new violation of a ceasefire deal in place since Oct. 10, medical sources said.
• At least 223 women and 202 children have been killed in US-Israeli attacks on Iran since Feb. 28, the Iranian Health Ministry said.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed that the US had suggested holding a trilateral meeting with Russia on American soil to end the conflict in Ukraine but Moscow refused.
• At least 3,195 people have been injured in Iranian attacks since the start of the Israeli-US war against Iran late last month, the Health Ministry said.
• Bahrain said its air defenses intercepted and destroyed 125 missiles and 211 drones from Iran since Feb. 28.
• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy imposed sanctions on 130 individuals, 48 entities and 10 Paralympic athletes.
• At least 850 people have been killed, including 107 children, in relentless Israeli attacks across Lebanon since March 2, the Lebanese Health Ministry said.
• Four members of a family in Pakistan were killed in cross-border firing from Afghanistan, a police official told Anadolu.
• Three “hostile drones” targeted Kuwait International Airport, causing damage to the airport’s radar system but no casualties, according to Kuwaiti authorities.
• The US has spent around $12 billion since the start of joint strikes along with Israel on Iran, White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said, as the Trump administration sought to reassure the public about the economic impact of the conflict.
• Taiwan detected 26 Chinese military aircraft and seven naval vessels around the island, the defense ministry said.
• The Arab League condemned Israel's closure of Al-Aqsa Mosque to worshippers, notably during the month of Ramadan, saying it has no right to take any measures preventing Muslims from worshipping there.
• Iranian authorities have arrested 500 people on espionage charges since the start of attacks by the US and Israel, the country’s police chief said.

ECONOMY & BUSINESS

• Germany 'secretly financed' much of Israel’s Dimona nuclear project, report claims

Since the Dimona nuclear reactor in Israel’s Negev Desert was first exposed in December 1960, the country’s nuclear project has remained the subject of extensive research, books and investigative reporting, with a recent report claiming that Germany "secretly financed" the project.

The report by the Israeli daily Haaretz noted that seminal works including Avner Cohen’s Israel and the Bomb along with studies by Seymour Hersh, Zaki Shalom and Adam Raz have examined the origins, development and secrecy surrounding the program.

In 2024, journalist Shany Haziza’s documentary series The Atom and Me added a personal and social dimension to the story.

Yet despite decades of research, two major questions have remained unresolved: how much the project cost, and who paid for it, according to Haaretz.

The report claimed that between 1961 and 1973, the government in Bonn transferred 140 million to 160 million German marks annually to Israel through a secret loan mechanism. In total, the funding is estimated at nearly 2 billion marks, equivalent to roughly €5 billion (over $5.7 billion) today. A later repayment agreement signed in 1989 reportedly turned the loan, in practice, into a grant.

• Oil, gas production halted across Iraq’s Kurdish region, regional government says

Oil and gas production across northern Iraq’s Kurdish region has been completely halted following attacks on energy infrastructure, the regional government said.

In a statement, the Kurdish Regional Government’s Ministry of Natural Resources said all oil and gas fields, refineries and energy facilities in the region had been targeted by “outlaw militias.”

These “terrorist attacks” resulted in the full suspension of production, preventing any quantities of oil from being available for export, the ministry added.