AP News52%
Live updates: Iran strikes fully loaded oil tanker off Dubai coast as gas reaches $4 per gallon in US 0%
By Bridget Brown0% David Cohen0% Brian P. D. Hannon0%
3/31/2026, 12:37:29 AM
BS Summary: This article contains 33 faulty reasoning types, including Appeal to Authority, Post Hoc (False Cause), and Ambiguity (Equivocation), with Negativity Bias as the most egregious example at 12.2% saturation with 413 hits. Analysis detected 2,997 faulty-reasoning hits from 3,391 analyzed words, generating a BS Score of 0% and a BS Rank of 0% (0 of 16,813 articles). This article is better (less manipulative) than 100.00% of the article peer group.
Major developments we’re following:
* Authorities in Dubai said Tuesday morning they “contained” a Kuwaiti oil tanker after it came under attack from Iran.
Officials said there was “no oil leakage and no injuries reported.”
The Dubai Media office earlier said a drone hit the Kuwaiti tanker in Dubai waters.
* U.S. gas prices jumped past an average of $4 a gallon for the first time since 2022 as fuel prices continue to soar worldwide.
The last time U.S. drivers were collectively paying this much at the pump was nearly four years ago, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Trump on Tuesday said nations upset by high fuel prices should ‘go get your own oil’ as Iran maintains its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz.
* Israel and the U.S. launched a new wave of strikes on Iran, hitting Tehran in the early morning hours.
The video shared by U.S.
President Donald Trump appeared to show a massive attack on Isfahan, where NASA fire-tracking satellites suggest the explosions happened near Mount Soffeh, an area believed to have military positions.
Iran has not yet confirmed the attack.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday the U.S. undertook the war in Iran for the “free world” and questioned the value of the NATO alliance if those countries don’t stand with America.
Hegseth and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen.
Dan Caine have wrapped up a news conference at the Pentagon.
Hegseth pointed to a social media post from President Donald Trump about allies and said Iranian missiles don’t reach the U.S. but could hit allies and others.
“The president’s pointing out you don’t have much of an, an alliance if you have countries that are not willing to stand with you when you need them,” Hegseth said.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declined to tell reporters Tuesday whether or not the U.S. military will deploy ground troops against Iran.
“You can’t fight and win a war if you tell your adversary what you are willing to do or what you are not willing to do to include boots on the ground,” he said.
Hegseth added: “Our adversary right now thinks there are 15 different ways we could come at them with boots on the ground.
And guess what?
There are.
“
Hegseth also said talks with Iran to end the conflict are ongoing.
“We don’t want to have to do more militarily than we have to,” he said.
“But I didn’t mean it flippantly when I said, in the meantime, we’ll negotiate with bombs.”
Speaking at a news conference from the Pentagon on Tuesday, Gen.
Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said U.S. military action in Iran remains focused on “targeting their minelaying capability, their naval assets.”
“We’ve taken out again more than 150 ships,” Caine said, adding that attack helicopters are now joining in the effort targeting Iranian naval targets.
Another key objective of the war is disabling Iran’s defense industrial base, including nuclear research sites, Caine said.
“This includes factories, warehouses, nuclear weapons research and development labs, and the associated infrastructure required for Iran to reconstitute its combat capability,” Caine said.
The agency says the tally follows renewed fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in the war and covers a period from March 2 to March 27.
The vast majority – nearly 180,000 – were Syrians returning to their war-battered country, in addition to more than 28,000 Lebanese.
“Most are people fleeing the intense Israeli bombardments.
They arrive exhausted, traumatized and with very, very few belongings,” UNHCR’s representative in Syria, Aseer Al-Madaien, told a U.N. briefing in Geneva by video from Damascus.
The agency has already helped more than 3 million people displaced both within Syria and abroad who've returned home following the fall of President Bashar Assad in December 2024.
Unlike the 2024 Israel-Hezbollah war, when Lebanese could flee across the border without visas, the current Syrian government has restricted the entry of Lebanese unless they have residency in Syria, a Syrian spouse or parent, or other exceptional circumstances.
Witnesses captured huge blasts and fires early Tuesday over Isfahan, home to a major Iranian air base and other military sites, as well as one of Iran’s nuclear sites.
Speaking at a news conference from the Pentagon on Tuesday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he visited American service members in the Middle East.
He said he wouldn’t disclose the base names or locations for operational security.
Hegseth said he visited areas under the responsibility of U.S.
Central Command on Saturday for about half a day.
“Suffice it to say, the trip was in honor,” Hegseth told reporters.
“I had a chance to bear witness, and I witnessed the best of America.”
The Italian government says its relationship with the U.S. is “solid and based on full and loyal cooperation,” following reports it denied the use of a Sicilian base to U.S. aircraft headed to the Middle East.
The government of Premier Giorgia Meloni said in a statement that Italy is acting “in full compliance with existing international agreements and the government’s guidelines expressed in parliament.”
It said each request for military use of Italian bases is examined on a case-by-case basis, its longstanding procedure.
“No critical issues or frictions with international partners have been registered,” it added.
Israel’s military says it has begun a new wave of airstrikes on Hezbollah infrastructure in Beirut.
Airstrikes hit Iran’s capital, Tehran, on Tuesday afternoon as air defenses could be heard firing.
U.S.
President Donald Trump says nations upset by high fuel prices should ‘go get your own oil’ as Iran maintains its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz.
His comments in a social media post on Tuesday came as average U.S. gas prices shot past $4 a gallon.
He expressed his frustration toward allies that have been unwilling to help the U.S. reopen the critical passageway.
He also said they should buy from the U.S. because “we have plenty.”
JUST IN: Trump says nations upset by high fuel prices should ‘go get your own oil’ as Iran has chokehold on Strait of Hormuz
The United Arab Emirates set sharply highly gasoline and diesel fuel prices on Tuesday for the coming month, with gasoline going up by over 30% and diesel jumping up more than 70%.
The UAE government sets the price monthly in line with international pricing, which has spiked over the Iran war and Tehran maintaining its chokehold over the Strait of Hormuz.
In the UAE, diesel fuel will jump to 4.69 dirhams ($1.28) a liter, up from 2.72 dirhams (74 cents).
The new price is $4.38 a gallon for diesel, lower than the average gallon of diesel in the U.S., which sits at $5.45 a gallon.
Premium gasoline in the UAE will be 3.39 dirhams (92 cents) a liter.
That’s $3.49 a gallon, where premium on average in the U.S. is $4.90 a gallon.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi briefed Russian leader Vladimir Putin about Egypt’s efforts to de-escalate in the region during a phone call Tuesday, according to el-Sissi’s office.
He said Russia is able to help put an end to the war, a statement from the office said.
Italy has refused permission for U.S. military assets to use the Sigonella air base in Sicily for an operation linked to the Middle East offensive, an official said.
The refusal was issued a few days ago and concerned U.S. aircraft including bombers, which were intended to land at the base before continuing toward the Middle East, the official said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
Under agreements governing U.S. military use of bases in Italy, Rome must be formally consulted and grant approval before operations can proceed.
The request was denied because Italian authorities were not alerted in time and the U.S. assets included bombers, the official said.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government has pledged decisions involving military actions would require parliamentary approval.
Italy’s defense ministry did not immediately issue a statement on the decision.
Turkey has denounced attacks targeting personnel with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon as a serious violation of international law.
The statement from the Turkish Foreign Ministry issued Tuesday added that those responsible for attacking UNIFIL peacekeepers must face justice.
The statement criticized Israel’s invasion of Lebanon, saying it was deepening regional instability, and issued a call to the international community to end “Israel’s expansionism, aggression, and occupation.”
Korean Air says it is entering an “emergency management mode” to cope with soaring fuel costs triggered by the war in the Middle East.
South Korea’s biggest airline said Tuesday it is setting internal targets to reduce costs that are not essential to flight operations.
The company said cost-cutting measures would be implemented in phases starting in April, but didn’t specify what they would be or whether they would include major flight reductions.
It added that fuel costs for April are expected to be more than double its previous projections stated in annual business plans.
Satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press show damage after an Iranian attack targeting Qatar’s Al Udeid Air Base.
The March 15 photo from Planet Labs PBC shows damage to one of the massive air base’s buildings.
Qatar and the U.S. have not acknowledged the damage.
Al Udeid serves as the forward headquarters of the U.S. military’s Central Command, which is prosecuting the war.
Information has so far been scarce about the damage being done across the Middle East, particularly inside closed military facilities, since the war started Feb.
28.
The images come from Planet Labs PBC, a San Francisco-based firm used by media outlets, including the AP.
Planet Labs has put a two-week delay on its imagery becoming public, citing concerns its imagery could be used by “adversarial actors.”
Read more here.
Egypt Foreign Minister Badr Abdelattay briefed foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Jordan about the latest round of mediation efforts.
Abdelattay and Pakistani and Turkish counterparts met over the weekend in Islamabad for talks aimed at bringing Iran and the United States back to the negotiating table, according to Egypt’s Foreign Ministry.
Abdelattay discussed the meeting’s outcome and ongoing efforts to stop the war with his counterparts, Egypt’s ministry said without elaborating.
Israel’s military spokesperson says 10 soldiers have died fighting in Lebanon since the start of the Israeli invasion, including four deaths announced Tuesday.
As of Friday, the military said 261 troops had been injured, 22 seriously, in fighting since the start of the latest war.
The United Nations’ special rapporteur on Iran denounced executions being carried out by Tehran.
Mai Sato made the comment on X after two more members of the Iranian exile group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq had been executed Tuesday.
Two others were hanged Monday.
“Given the ongoing internet shutdown, it remains unclear who else has been or is being executed,” she wrote.
“What is clear is that executions are being used as a means of suppressing political dissent amid war.”
An Israeli soldier has been dismissed after making “inappropriate comments” to a CNN crew, Israel’s military spokesperson said Tuesday.
The soldier’s battalion assaulted and detained the crew in the West Bank last week.
CNN said one of the soldiers put producer Cyril Theophilos in a chokehold during the encounter.
It was not clear which soldier was dismissed.
There were multiple soldiers filmed by CNN claiming the Israeli-occupied West Bank belonged to them.
Other soldiers involved in the incident received reprimands, the spokesperson said.
A formal police investigation was opened into allegations of violence against another soldier, the spokesperson said.
The military’s chief of staff has suspended the battalion from its current deployment.
Read more
Three Chinese vessels recently passed through the Strait of Hormuz “through coordination with relevant parties,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said.
“We appreciate the assistance provided by the relevant parties,” she said without naming them.
She repeated China’s call for an immediate ceasefire, saying the strait is a vital corridor for goods and energy trade.
U.S. gas prices jumped past an average of $4 a gallon for the first time since 2022 as fuel prices continue to soar worldwide.
According to motor club AAA, the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline is now $4.02, over a dollar more than before the war began.
The last time U.S. drivers were collectively paying this much at the pump was nearly four years ago, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The price is a national average, meaning drivers in some states have been paying well over $4 a gallon for a while now.
JUST IN: Gas prices soar past $4 on average for a gallon of regular in the US, the highest since 2022
Some of Myanmar’s most visible fuel constraints have appeared in big cities with long lines at gas stations becoming a daily sight, according to a report in the state-run Myanma Alinn newspaper on Tuesday.
Authorities have gradually rolled out measures and controls including an odd-even vehicle numbering system limits which cars can be on the roads each day, a QR code system and daily fuel purchase limits.
The measures have slowed fuel distribution and added to congestion as vehicles often wait for hours or even overnight under rationing rules.
The report says authorities have taken action against 17 gas stations and warned 24 others for violations such as selling without scanning codes, failing to open or overcharging.
Oil steadied and Asian stocks were mostly lower Tuesday as signs of a de-escalation of the Iran war remained mixed.
* Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 was down 1.6% to 51,063.72.
South Korea’s Kospi lost 4.3% to 5,052.46.
* Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 0.3% to 24,678.17, while the Shanghai Composite index fell 0.8% to 3,891.86.
* Brent crude futures were less than 0.1% lower at $107.37 a barrel on Tuesday, while benchmark U.S. crude edged up 0.1% to $102.93 per barrel.
The defense ministers of Italy and France expressed “deep and profound concern” Tuesday over the deteriorating security in Lebanon.
The joint statement by Guido Crosetto and Catherine Vautrin made particular reference to recent attacks targeting personnel from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.
In a phone conversation Monday they stressed the “unacceptability of such incidents and the increasing risks faced by the personnel deployed in the mission,” the statement said.
The ministers agreed on the strategic importance of UNIFIL, saying Lebanon’s stability constitutes “an indispensable pillar for the balance of the entire Mediterranean basin.”
They confirmed Italy and France will continue operating in close coordination to ensure the safety of international personnel, the protection of peace and support for Lebanese authorities.
Suspected militants blew up a local gas pipeline Monday in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province, officials said.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack near Quetta, the capital of the province bordering Iran.
Officials reported the attack Tuesday, saying it disrupted natural gas supplies to regional cities.
The Sui Southern Gas Company said engineers were working to repair the damaged pipeline.
Iran held a funeral Tuesday for Rear.
Adm.
Alireza Tangsiri, the head of Revolutionary Guard’s navy.
An Israeli airstrike killed Tangsiri last week, with Tehran only acknowledging his death Monday.
It showed his casket on a flat bed truck driving through the streets of Bandar Abbas, a crucial port city on the Strait of Hormuz that has seen repeated U.S. airstrikes during the war.
A video of a massive explosion shared by U.S.
President Donald Trump appears to be of a major strike conducted outside the central Iranian city of Isfahan.
The video shared by Trump without comment early Tuesday includes fiery explosions lighting up the night sky.
The Baluch advocacy group HalVash shared the same video and others from the ground outside of Isfahan.
The videos show massive fireballs and secondary explosions common with ammunition igniting in a blaze.
Fire-tracking satellites from NASA suggest the explosions happened near Mount Soffeh, an area believed to have military positions.
Iran has not formally acknowledged the attack.
Isfahan is home to one of three uranium enrichment sites bombed by the U.S. in the 12-day day between Iran and Israel in June.
A portion of Iran’s highly enriched uranium is believed to be entombed there, something the U.S. has suggested it could seize with ground forces.
* The United Arab Emirates said Tuesday it intercepted eight ballistic missile, four cruise missiles and 36 drones launched by Iran over the past day.
* After an attack on Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on Tuesday morning, authorities said debris from an interception fell on homes in the southern reaches of the city-state, wounding four people.
The Emirati Defense Ministry previously said it was actively engaging missiles and drones in the attack.
* Israel’s military warned the public of an incoming missile barrage from Iran on Tuesday, the day’s third.
Authorities in Dubai said Tuesday morning they “contained” a Kuwaiti oil tanker after it came under attack from Iran.
Officials said there was “no oil leakage and no injuries reported.”
The Dubai Media office earlier said a drone hit the Kuwaiti tanker in Dubai waters.
Authorities extinguished a fire and all 24 crew members were reported safe, the media office said.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center, which is run by the British military, reported the strike, saying the vessel was 31 nautical miles (57 kilometers) northwest of Dubai.
An unknown projectile struck the tanker on the starboard side, causing a fire on the vessel.
No environmental impact was reported, the center said.
Pakistan’s foreign minister left for Beijing on Tuesday for a one-day visit as the country steps up efforts to help end the war in the Middle East.
Ishaq Dar is visiting China at the invitation of his counterpart, Wang Yi, the Foreign Ministry in Islamabad said in a statement without providing additional details.
Dar held consultations over the weekend in Islamabad with top diplomats from Turkey, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
Dar later said Pakistan would host talks between the United States and Iran in the coming days, though it remains unclear whether they would be direct or indirect.
Two more members of the Iranian exile group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq were hanged Tuesday in Iran, state media reported.
The two men were identified as Babak Alipour and Pouya Ghobadi.
Amnesty International has said Tehran’s Revolutionary Court convicted the men on charges of armed rebellion against the state “following a grossly unfair trial in October 2024" after they were subjected to torture.
Two other MEK members had been hanged Monday over the same case.
The operator of a Thai cargo ship struck by a projectile near the Strait of Hormuz said a search team was able to board the vessel but did not locate its missing three crew members.
The Mayuree Naree was disabled after being hit just north of Oman earlier this month.
Precious Shipping Co., Ltd said in a statement to the Stock Exchange of Thailand on Monday that all accessible areas on the Mayuree Naree ship were searched “under challenging conditions, including the presence of fire damage, residual smoke, and flooding in the engine room.”
It said the families of the three crew members were notified accordingly.
A satellite image taken just before the 12-day war in June between Iran and Israel suggests Tehran transferred a truckload of highly enriched uranium to its nuclear facility at Isfahan.
The image from an Airbus Defense and Space Pléiades Neo satellite shows a truck loaded with 18 blue containers going into a tunnel at the Isfahan Nuclear Technology Center on June 9, 2025.
The war began June 13, The United States bombed the Isfahan facility along with two other nuclear sites on June 22.
François Diaz-Maurin, an analyst with the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, wrote that the truck likely carried 18 secured containers of as much as 534 kilograms (1,177 pounds) of uranium enriched up to 60% purity.
That’s a short, technical step to weapons-grade levels of 90%.
“This calculation suggests that Iran could have transferred all of its stockpile of highly enriched uranium to Isfahan via the truck seen in the satellite image,” Diaz-Maurin wrote in his analysis.
The Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security also suggested the vehicle was transferring the highly enriched uranium.
The French newspaper Le Monde first reported on the images.
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