Rabia Ali
17 March 2026•Update: 17 March 2026
ISTANBUL
Here’s a rundown of all the news you need to start your Tuesday, including US President Donald Trump saying that the war with Iran would conclude "soon," Israeli attacks displacing more than 1 million people in Lebanon, and Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi denying reports of contacts with the US.
TOP STORIES
- Trump says war with Iran will not end this week but will conclude 'soon'
US President Donald Trump said Monday that the war with Iran would not end this week but would conclude "soon," noting "it won't be long."
"We're going to have a much safer world when it's wrapped up. It'll be wrapped up soon," Trump said, adding he felt he had "an obligation" to act despite his personal reluctance.
He claimed that without the US strikes on Iran, a nuclear war would have broken out and escalated into a third world war, framing the campaign as a necessity rather than a war of choice.
The remarks reflect the administration's shifting and often contradictory messaging on the war's duration.
Trump initially suggested the campaign would last four to five weeks and has repeatedly said it was running "ahead of schedule."
- Over 1M people displaced by Israeli attacks in Lebanon
Israeli attacks have displaced more than 1 million people in Lebanon, Lebanese authorities said Monday, as Tel Aviv began a ground offensive in the Arab country.
A statement by Lebanon's Disaster Risk Management Unit at the Prime Minister's Office said 1,049,328 people have been displaced by the assaults since March 2.
It added that 132,742 people are now registered in shelters across the country, while the death toll from the Israeli attacks has reached 886, with 2,141 others injured.
The Israeli army expanded airstrikes across Lebanon, including the capital Beirut, on March 2, following a cross-border attack by the Lebanese group Hezbollah amid a regional escalation in the wake of a joint offensive by the US and Israel against Iran.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said early Monday that the army had begun a ground offensive in Lebanon.
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- Araghchi says his last contact with US envoy Witkoff was before 'illegal military attack' on Iran
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said on Tuesday that his latest contact with US special envoy Steve Witkoff was before the ongoing "illegal military attack" on Iran that began on Feb. 28.
"Any claim to the contrary appears geared solely to mislead oil traders and the public," Araghchi said through US social media company X.
His remarks were in response to a report by US news website Axios that claimed Witkoff and Araghchi exchanged text messages focused on ending the war, marking the first known direct communication since the fighting broke out more than two weeks ago.
Iran has refused to surrender and retaliated with drone and missile strikes targeting Israel, Jordan, Iraq, and Gulf countries hosting US military assets, disrupting global markets and aviation, and blocking the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for oil shipments.
NEWS IN BRIEF
- The UAE's General Civil Aviation Authority announced a temporary, full closure of the country's airspace as an "exceptional precautionary measure" to ensure the safety of flights, crews, and national territory, state news agency WAM reported.
- A fire broke out in the Fujairah Oil Industries Zone in the United Arab Emirates following a drone attack, local authorities said Tuesday.
- Four drones attempted to target the US Embassy in Baghdad, the local Shafaq news agency reported, citing a security source early Tuesday, as tensions in the region run high.
- Iraqi factions carried out 21 attacks on US bases in Iraq and the region in the last 24 hours, the group known as the Islamic Resistance in Iraq said in a statement early Tuesday.
- US President Trump said Monday that he has asked to postpone a planned trip to China by around a month as his administration deals with the military operation against Iran.
- Two US Navy mine countermeasure ships last known to be forward-deployed in the Middle East are conducting logistical stops in Malaysia, the US Fifth Fleet told Anadolu.
- Trump said Monday that even if Washington had known that Iran would strike Gulf countries in retaliation, it still would have carried out its military campaign against Tehran.
- The EU’s foreign policy chief on Monday said that member states have no desire to "actively" engage in military actions against Iran, stressing that Europe "has no interest in an open-ended war" as tensions escalate in the Middle East.
- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday condemned the recent killing of a Palestinian family in the occupied West Bank by Israeli forces.
- Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on Monday issued a renewed warning to owners of US-linked industries in the region, urging workers and nearby residents to evacuate ahead of possible attacks.
- The UN on Monday addressed media reports suggesting the possibility of a UN-led initiative for the Strait of Hormuz, saying: "We will not be feeding this speculation.”
- German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Monday demanded a quick end to the war against Iran and flatly ruled out sending German naval forces to the Gulf to escort oil tankers.
- Kuwait’s National Guard on Monday said that seven drones were shot down over the past 24 hours after they violated the country’s airspace.
- Saudi Arabia on Monday said that air defense systems destroyed 11 more drones in Al-Kharj governorate, south of the capital Riyadh.
- Israel’s defense minister confirmed on Monday that the Israeli military had begun a ground offensive in Lebanon, as regional escalation continues to expand.
- South Korean President Lee Jae Myung urged the government on Tuesday to prepare for the worst-case economic fallout if the Middle East conflict persists, according to a local media report.
BUSINESS & ECONOMY
- Dubai stocks enter bear market as conflict-driven selloff hits banks, property shares
Dubai’s main stock index slipped into bear-market territory on Monday after falling more than 20% from its February peak as escalating regional tensions triggered broad selling across banking, real estate, and travel-linked shares.
The Dubai Financial Market General Index reached a recent high of 6,785.48 on Feb. 10 and later dropped to 5,391.98 on March 13, according to Dubai Financial Market data.
That represents a decline of about 20.5%, meeting the widely used definition of a bear market.
- IEA launches record oil stock release after historic supply disruption
The war in the Middle East has triggered the largest oil supply disruption in the history of global energy markets, prompting a record emergency release of strategic stocks by member countries of the International Energy Agency (IEA), the agency’s Director Fatih Birol said on Monday.
In a video statement on the latest developments regarding the IEA's emergency oil stock release and the next steps, Birol said that the war in the Middle East is creating "the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market."
"The volume of oil supply now offline is already higher than the supply loss during the oil shock of 1973 and higher than any of the big disruptions we have witnessed since then," Birol stressed.
