Middle East

Iran says its Natanz nuclear facility has been hit in an airstrike

Iran's Natanz nuclear facility was hit Saturday in an airstrike, the official Iranian news agency Mizan reported. There was no radiation leakage, it said. Natanz, Iran's main enrichment site, was hit in the first week of the war and several buildings appeared damaged, according to satellite images. The United Nations' nuclear watchdog said that "no radiological consequence" was expected from that earlier strike. The nuclear facility, located nearly 220 kilometers (135 miles) southeast of Tehran, had been targeted by Israeli airstrikes in the 12-day war between Iran and Israel in June 2025, and by the United States.

Iranian Navy guided Indian LPG tanker through Strait of Hormuz: Report

During the crossing, the officer's ship was in contact with the Iranian navy by radio, he said

Safety of Indians in UAE is 'priority' amid West Asia crisis: Envoy

The UAE has assured India that the safety of Indians living in the Gulf country is its "priority", stressing that they are protected and treated like family, especially amid the ongoing conflict in West Asia which has seen the emirate facing attacks from Iran. UAE Ambassador to India Abdulnasser Alshaali also hailed India's move to co-sponsor a UN resolution that condemned Iran's attacks against Gulf countries, saying it was a statement of principle from a country that the UAE considers a strategic partner and friend, at a moment when it mattered most. The UAE will remember that India was among those "who stood with us first", he said. "The safety of Indian nationals in the UAE is a priority. They are protected and are treated as family, including the 200 nationalities living in the country in peace and harmony," Alshaali told PTI Videos. He said that UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan visited five injured civilians in the hospital: two Emiratis, one Indian, one Sudane

What Iran's failed-to-hit strike on Diego Garcia base in Indian Ocean means

While there were no reports of damage or casualties, the significance of the episode lay less in the outcome and more in what it demonstrated

Twenty-two countries urge Iran to halt attacks, reopen Strait of Hormuz

Twenty-two countries on Saturday urged Iran to cease attacks and reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Countries including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, the UK, Germany, France, Japan, South Korea and Australia have condemned Iran's attacks on commercial vessels as well as oil and gas facilities in the region. "The effects of Iran's actions will be felt by people in all parts of the world, especially the most vulnerable," they said in a joint statement Saturday.

India confident of meeting power demand despite West Asia crisis

India has produced 1 billion metric tons of coal for a second successive year, ‌the ​coal ministry said on ​Saturday, which could be enough to meet summer power demand

Modi speaks to Macron, leaders of Qatar, Oman, Jordan on West Asia conflict

The thrust of the conversations, per his social media posts, was to find a way to restore stability to the region and to continue coordination in the pursuit of de-escalation and peace

Trump says US will not deploy troops to West Asia amid Iran conflict

Trump spoke at the White House during an Oval Office meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi

Iranian missile hits Israeli oil refinery in Haifa, minor damages reported

Energy Minister Eli Cohen said power was briefly disrupted, with electricity restored to most of those who were affected

Urea plants gets additional gas in spot auction; to operate at 80% capacity

Fertiliser companies have purchased additional natural gas from the spot market to ramp up urea production at their plants, which are operating well below capacity due to a fuel shortage amid the West Asia crisis, a senior government official said on Thursday. After the procurement of additional natural gas, urea plants are expected to operate at 78-80 per cent capacity compared to 62 per cent currently. India produced 306.67 lakh tonnes of urea in 2024-25 and imported 56.47 lakh tonnes of the nutrient to meet the domestic demand. The country has imported 98 lakh tonnes of urea in the first eleven months of this fiscal. Fertiliser plants in the country require about 52 million metric standard cubic metres per day (MMSCMD) of natural gas to operate at full capacity, but were receiving only around 32 MMSCMD, meeting barely 62 per cent of their requirement, resulting in a significant shortfall in urea output, the official told PTI. To address this, a spot auction was conducted by the

Strike on Iran South Pars gas field coordinated with US: Israeli officials

Trump said in a social media post that Washington "knew nothing about this particular attack" and that Israel would not attack the gas field further unless Iran again attacked Qatar

US will launch 'largest strike package yet' against Iran today: Hegseth

The US defence secretary reiterated that only President Donald Trump would decide when the war would end, adding that Iran's naval and missile manufacturing capabilities had been severely eroded

Iran war lifts bottled water prices in India, wipes out tax cut gains

Bisleri, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance and Tata all compete for a share of the $5 billion market

India VIX surges 17% as escalating West Asia tensions spook investors

Market volatility rose after Iran attacked several energy facilities across West Asia following a strike on ​its South Pars gas field, a major escalation in Tehran's war with the US and Israel

US stocks fall as Brent crude at $109 fuels inflation fears amid Iran war

US stocks are sinking Wednesday after another climb for oil prices raised worries about inflation, which may have been primed to worsen even before the war with Iran began. The S&P 500 fell 0.5 per cent and was on track for its first loss this week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 377 points, or 0.8 per cent, as of 11 am. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.5 per cent lower. Stocks fell under the pressure of a 6.2 per cent climb for the price of a barrel of Brent crude, the international standard, to USD 109.84. Benchmark US oil rose 2.3 per cent to USD 97.70 per barrel. Oil and natural gas prices have been spiking since the war began because of disruptions to the Persian Gulf's energy industry. Iran's state television said Wednesday that the Islamic Republic would be attacking oil and gas infrastructure in Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates after an attack on facilities associated with its offshore South Pars natural gas field. If the disruptions .

Japan PM Takaichi heads to US for 'tough' talks with Trump amid Iran war

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is travelling Wednesday to the United States for what she expects to be a "very difficult" meeting with US President Donald Trump after he called on Japan and other allies to send warships to secure the Strait of Hormuz. The three-day visit to Washington was originally expected to focus on trade and strengthening the US-Japanese alliance as China's influence grows in Asia. It is now expected to be overshadowed by the war the United States and Israel launched against Iran on February 28. "I think the US visit will be a very difficult one, but I will do everything to maximise our national interest and to protect the daily lives of the people when the situation changes daily," Takaichi told parliament on Wednesday, hours before her departure. Takaichi held her first meeting with Trump in October in Tokyo, days after becoming Japan's first female prime minister. A hard-line conservative, Takaichi is a protege of former leader Shinzo Abe, who ...

About 260,000 passengers returned to India from West Asia since Feb 28: MEA

Amid the escalating West Asia conflict, the government on Wednesday said around 2.6 lakh people have returned from the region to India since February 28. At an inter-ministerial briefing here on the West Asia situation, Additional Secretary (Gulf), Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Aseem R Mahajan, said that on Wednesday, around 70 flights were expected to operate from various airports in the UAE to different destinations in India. The flight situation is "reassuring," he said. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal spoke about a telephonic conversation between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Tuesday. "The two leaders discussed the current situation in West Asia. The prime minister reiterated India's strong condemnation of all attacks on the UAE that have resulted in loss of innocent lives and damage to civilian infrastructure," he said. The two leaders agreed on the importance of "ensuring safe and free navigation through the Strai

Israel claims Iran's Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib has been killed

Israel said Wednesday it killed another top Iranian official, the third in two days, while Iran lashed out with attacks on its Persian Gulf neighbours and Israel, using some of its latest missiles to evade air defences and killing two people near Tel Aviv as the war in the Middle East showed no signs of slowing. Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Iranian Intelligence Minister Esmail Khatib had been killed in an overnight strike and promised that "significant surprises are expected throughout this day on all fronts," without elaborating. Iran did not immediately confirm Khatib's death. Israel killed top Iranian security official Ali Larijani and the head of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard's Basij force on Tuesday. In Lebanon, Israel kept up its intense pressure with strikes it said targeted Iran-backed Hezbollah militants, hitting multiple apartment buildings in Beirut and killing at least a dozen people. In Iran, the Bushehr nuclear power plant complex was hit by a ...

Why India built crude reserves but not LPG buffers despite demand surge

India built crude reserves for energy security but LPG was never treated the same way even as demand surged. Experts explain what held back storage planning

Fourth Indian tanker reaches India after crossing Strait of Hormuz

Indian-flagged oil tanker Jag Laadki has reached Mundra port in Gujarat after sailing safely from Fujairah in the UAE, despite an attack on the terminal, taking the total number of vessels transiting the conflict-hit zone to four. The tanker, with 80,886 tonne of crude oil sourced from the UAE, departed from Fujairah Port following the incident and completed its voyage to Mundra Port on Wednesday, according to shipping sources. Jag Laadki is the second vessel from the war zone to have reached Adani group's Mundra port. Previously, LPG tanker Shivalik reached the port on Monday. Adani's Mundra port provided the safe berthing of the vessel and maritime coordination in safeguarding vital energy lifelines of India, they said. All 22 Indian seafarers onboard are reported safe. Originally, there were 28 Indian-flagged vessels in the Strait of Hormuz when the war in West Asia broke out following US-Israel attacks on Iran. Of these, 24 were on the west side of the strait and 4 on the east