Osmond Chia
Business reporter

Oil prices continued to climb in early trade in Asia on Tuesday.

The price of US-traded oil jumped by 3% to nearly $106 (£80.52) a barrel.

US oil prices closed Monday's trading session above $100 a barrel for the first time since the war on Iran started on 28 February. Its also the highest price of US oil since July 2022.

Brent crude - the global benchmark for oil prices - rose to $115 after gaining by more than 2% on Tuesday.

US President Donald Trump has continued to threaten strikes on Iran's infrastructure if a deal is not reached soon.

Image source, Getty Images

The Israeli military says it is investigating two incidents in which UN soldiers "were harmed".

It comes after the UN said three peacekeepers working with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) were killed in the south of the country.

"The incidents are being thoroughly reviewed in order to clarify the circumstances and determine whether they resulted from Hezbollah activity or from IDF activity," the Israel Defense Forces says in a statement on Telegram.

"It should be noted these incidents occurred in an active combat area. Therefore, it should not be assumed that incidents in which UNIFIL soldiers were harmed were caused by the IDF."

Kuwait says Iran has hit one of its giant crude oil tankers that is docked at a Dubai port.

The Kuwait Petroleum Corporation described the incident as "a brutal Iranian airstrike" and reported there was some damage to the ship but no casualties.

The tanker "Al Salmi" was fully loaded at the time of the strike, which caused a fire onboard.

Dubai authorities said the attack involved a drone and firefighting efforts continued.

All 24 crew members are safe and uninjured, they said.

Initially Kuwait warned of a possible oil spill after the attack, but the UK maritime monitor says: "No environmental impact has been reported".

Separately, Kuwait's military said its air defences are responding to "hostile missile and drone attacks", according to the Kuwait News Agency.

Image source, Getty Images

A parliamentary committee in Iran has approved plans to impose tolls on traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, according to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)-affiliated Fars news agency.

It reports that a member of the national security commission has confirmed the approval of the plan, which would also see US and Israeli ships barred from moving through the strait.

It adds that, under the plans, other countries that have participated in sanctions against Iran would also be barred.

The AFP news agency reported the new toll system was announced on Iranian state television, which said Iran would implement them in co-operation with Oman.

About 20% of the world's crude usually passes through the vital shipping way which lies between Iran and Oman.

However, since the war began, crossings have plummeted by around 95 percent, according to maritime intelligence firm Kpler.

What do we know about the appearances of Iranian officials?published at 00:27 BST 31 March

00:27 BST 31 March

Ghoncheh Habibiazad
Senior reporter, BBC Persian

It has never been more difficult to track down the activities of Iranian officials.

But I have been trying to follow their appearances in state media and their online activities.

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, has not been seen in public or featured on Iranian media since succeeding his father on 8 March.

Israel had vowed both before and after his succession that he would be a target.

President Masoud Pezeshkian appeared on a report by state television on 26 March during a visit to a supermarket in Tehran.

According to the report, he stressed the importance of "proper distribution and fair prices for the people's needs" in the context of the ongoing war.

He appeared most recently in a photo of a government meeting, published yesterday by Iranian outlets.

Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf appeared on state TV on 17 March in what appeared to be a pre-recorded interview.

His account on X remains active these days, despite a government-imposed internet outage on ordinary Iranians.

Ghalibaf’s account has been posting content in both Persian and English recently, including occasional memes.

Talking about X, Iranian media reported yesterday that the X account of Esmail Ghaani, commander of the IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) extraterritorial Quds Force, was suspended shortly after he began posting.

One of Ghaani’s posts praised co-ordination between Iran and its regional allies while claiming that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s strategic ambitions had been "undermined" by attacks from Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen.

Iran state TV said the "leaders" of X were "scared" of Ghaani's presence there.

Israel launched a new wave of attacks on southern Lebanon today, damaging and destroying buildings in the village of Hanouiyeh, as well as in Beirut.

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Reuters

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

A spokesperson for Iran's foreign minister has once again denied there have been negotiations with US officials.

Esmaeil Baqaei says Iran has "had no negotiations with America in these thirty-one days," referring to the duration of the war.

"What has occurred is the submission of a negotiation request, accompanied by a set of proposals from America, which has reached us through certain intermediaries, including Pakistan," he adds in an online statement.

"Our position is very clear. At present, as America's military aggression and invasion continue with full intensity, all our efforts and capabilities are devoted to defending Iran's essence.

"We do not forget the betrayal that was inflicted upon diplomacy in two instances within less than a year."

Image source, Reuters

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told US TV company Newsmax that he doesn't want to "put a schedule" on when the war with Iran is likely to end.

Netanyahu says the war is "definitely beyond the halfway point" and Iran's Islamic republic will eventually "collapse internally", AFP news agency reports.

Image source, Reuters

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has told Saudi Arabia it is "high time to eject US forces".

In a post on X, Araghchi says Iran "respects" Saudi Arabia and considers it a "brotherly nation".

Iran's operations are aimed at "enemy aggressors who have no respect for Arabs or Iranians", he says.

Araghchi posted his comments alongside a picture that appears to show a destroyed plane with US Air Force markings. "Just look at what we did to their aerial command," he writes.

US Central Command has not yet publicly commented on the incident. The BBC has asked for comment.

Image source, Facebook

The United Arab Emirates' Ministry of Defence says its air forces are actively engaging with missiles and UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) threats.

Sounds being heard across the country are the result of "ongoing engaging operations", the country's defence ministry says.

It urges the public to "remain calm" and follow "safety and security instructions".

The New York Stock Exchange is closed for trading today.

Here are how things stood for the three main US stock market indexes at closing bell on Wall Street:

• S&P 500 is down by 0.39%
• Nasdaq is also down by 0.73%
• Dow Jones is up, however, by 0.11%

Oil prices continue to be high as the war enters its fifth week. The price of Brent crude oil is at about $114 (£86) a barrel. The price of Brent was at about $72 (£55) a barrel on 27 February, the day before the US and Israel struck Iran.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has issued fresh evacuation orders for people in several Lebanese villages in the Bekaa valley region.

They include Zalaya, Lbayya, Yahmour, Sahmer, Qalaya and Dalafi.

In an update, IDF spokesperson Avichay Adraee says residents should move immediately north of the town of Qaraoun.

Any movement south "may put your lives at risk", he adds.

The United Nations Security Council will hold an emergency meeting tomorrow after the deaths of UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot says he called for the meeting and that France condemns the deaths.

In a post on social media, Unifil - the United Nations' peacekeeping force in Lebanon - says the personnel were killed "when an explosion of unknown origin destroyed their vehicle near Bani Hayyan".

"These violations of security and these intimidations by soldiers of the Israeli army against UN personnel are unacceptable and unjustifiable, all the more so since deconfliction procedures had been respected," Barrot says in an X post translated from French.

He adds that those sentiments had been communicated to the Israeli ambassador in Paris as well.

Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert, the United Nations Special Coordinator for Lebanon, also condemned the killings in a statement. She called for "an immediate truce", saying Lebanon has been made into "a shadow of its former self".

"It is time to think in the long-term; it is time to move towards a process which builds, rather than destroys," she said.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says it has completed a wave of strikes in Iran's capital Tehran, targeting regime infrastructure.

It comes after reports from sources who told the BBC strikes this evening in the city were heavy.

What are the challenges of attempting to put US forces on Kharg Island?published at 20:25 BST 30 March

20:25 BST 30 March

By Thomas Spencer

BBC Verify has asked three experts what challenges US ground forces could face if they were to attempt an amphibious assault on Iran’s Kharg Island - a key export terminal for Iranian oil.

Sidharth Kaushal, senior research fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi), said the US would first need to ensure the island's approaches were clear of any Iranian sea mines and neutralise coastal defence missiles before attempting to put troops on the ground.

Alessio Patalano, a naval and war strategy expert from King’s College London, explained that Kharg would "become an ideal fixed target for Iranian missiles and drones" if US forces moved to take and hold positions there.

But Mark Cancian, a retired US Marine Corps colonel and senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the US has “good, though not perfect, air defences” to counter that threat.

Image source, Reuters

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio tells Al Jazeera the Strait of Hormuz will be open "one way or the other".

He says they're still focused on their war objectives, which they aim to achieve in "weeks not months". These include destroying drone capabilities, as well as Iran's navy and air force, he says.

"Now the United States is committed to finishing the job," he tells the news outlet, adding this "needed to be done now" because it could have been more dangerous in the future if Iran built more weapons.

As Iran comes under attack, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) say Iranian missiles are heading for their borders.

In a post on social media, the military says defensive systems are working to intercept the missiles.

Ghoncheh Habibiazad
Senior reporter, BBC Persian

Strikes are happening in Tehran, according to five sources in the city.

Three sources in west Tehran say the strikes are heavy.

"Five, six strikes one after another nearby," one source tells me.

Two other sources are also reporting strikes in the neighbouring city of Karaj.

Iranian outlets have also reported explosions in some parts of Tehran.

White House briefing offers few answerspublished at 19:31 BST 30 March

19:31 BST 30 March

Bernd Debusmann Jr
White House reporter

We've just wrapped up a brief and largely uninformative briefing from White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, leaving many questions about what happens next.

For one, there's still little clarity on how or when this conflict might end. Leavitt insisted that the four to six-week timeline "feels right" and that talks are hapening behind the scenes - and going well.

However, we don't know who those talks are with, and Leavitt admitted Iranian officials are struggling to communicate after strikes on the country's command and control systems.

There was also little detail on the administration's thinking about deploying ground troops to seize Kharg Island and help secure the Strait of Hormuz, or entering Iran to secure highly enriched uranium - the Trump administration's main reason for launching Operation Epic Fury.

Leavitt again mentioned the president having "optionality" on military options, which will do little to assuage the concerns of many Americans uneasy with the prospect of US soldiers fighting another conflict in the Middle East.

Image source, Reuters

We've just heard from White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who gave an update on the war in Iran during a news briefing.

Here's a recap of what she said.

On military action:

• The US has struck more than 11,000 military targets so far and "decimated" the navy, destroying more than 150 vessels
• Trump hasn't ruled out boots on the ground in Iran, she said, adding that diplomacy is still Trump's first choice

On peace talks:

• Leavitt insisted that talks between the US and Iran are going well and remain under way
• She warned that if Iran rejects this "opportunity" to make a deal with the US, the military is ready to provide Trump "every option" to make Iran pay a "grave price"
• The Iranians the US is talking to seem "more reasonable behind the scenes" than the previous leaders, she said
• As Iranian officials continue to say they aren't in negotiations with the US, Leavitt insisted they are and "the American people are smart enough not to take the word of a terrorist regime"