https://www.scmp.com/rss/325305/feed en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Letters Letters Feel strongly about these letters, or any other aspects of the news? Share your views by emailing us your Letter to the Editor at letters@scmp.com or filling in this Google form. Submissions should not exceed 400 words. In 2009, six years after the US invaded Iraq and rewrote its economy, China and Russia (not American companies like ExxonMobil) won Iraq’s most lucrative oil contracts. The United States paid for the invasion; rivals collected the prize. That outcome is likely to have shaped... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/letters/article/3350146/iran-war-not-just-short-term-energy-disruption?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/letters/article/3350146/iran-war-not-just-short-term-energy-disruption?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 Apr 2026 03:30:10 +0000 Reuters Reuters The Iran-aligned Iraqi armed ⁠group Kataib Hezbollah ⁠has released abducted US journalist ⁠Shelly Kittleson, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday. Officials from the Pentagon, the FBI and the Iraqi Supreme Judicial Council were among the people who assisted in ‌securing Kittleson’s release, Rubio said in a statement. She was abducted in late March in Baghdad. “We are relieved that this American is now free and are working to support her safe departure from Iraq,” he added. Kataib... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3349310/pro-iran-group-says-will-release-us-journalist-kidnapped-iraq?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3349310/pro-iran-group-says-will-release-us-journalist-kidnapped-iraq?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 Apr 2026 19:54:50 +0000 Fan Chen Fan Chen In a rare condemnation of its strategic partner, China has come out in opposition to Iran’s attacks on Gulf nations, calling for a ceasefire and a guarantee of the safety of shipping lanes. Addressing a UN Security Council meeting on Thursday, Fu Cong, China’s permanent representative to the United Nations, said: “China does not support Iran’s attacks on Gulf Cooperation Council nations and condemns all indiscriminate attacks on innocent civilians and non-military targets. The security of... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3348986/china-europe-and-why-beijing-took-swing-iran-over-strait-hormuz?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3348986/china-europe-and-why-beijing-took-swing-iran-over-strait-hormuz?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 03 Apr 2026 12:00:16 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has asked the Army’s top uniformed officer to step down, the Pentagon said on Thursday without giving a reason for the departure as the United States wages a war against Iran. General Randy George “will be retiring from his position as the 41st Chief of Staff of the Army effective immediately”, said Sean Parnell, the Pentagon’s top spokesman. George has held the post of Army chief of staff, which typically runs for four years, since August 2023 under the Biden... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3348861/hegseth-ousts-armys-top-uniformed-officer-even-us-wages-war-iran?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3348861/hegseth-ousts-armys-top-uniformed-officer-even-us-wages-war-iran?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 02 Apr 2026 21:23:47 +0000 Kyodo Kyodo Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on Monday she will consider holding talks with the Iranian leadership at an “appropriate” time based on the national interest as tensions remain high in the Middle East. Takaichi’s remarks come as prospects for a US-Iran meeting mediated by Pakistan remain uncertain, with US President Donald Trump later renewing threats to hit Iranian energy infrastructure if a deal is not reached. “I will judge the appropriate timing for holding talks based on the... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3348442/japans-pm-will-mull-top-level-talks-iran-appropriate-time?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3348442/japans-pm-will-mull-top-level-talks-iran-appropriate-time?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 30 Mar 2026 13:54:55 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Sunday that Israel will widen its invasion of southern Lebanon. Netanyahu said Israel would expand what he called the “existing security strip” in Lebanon as Israeli forces continue to target the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group. “We are determined to fundamentally change the situation in the north,” he said on a visit to northern Israel, adding that “Hezbollah still has residual capability to fire rockets at us”. There were no immediate... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3348324/netanyahu-says-israel-will-widen-its-invasion-southern-lebanon?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3348324/netanyahu-says-israel-will-widen-its-invasion-southern-lebanon?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 29 Mar 2026 17:59:50 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Top diplomats from key regional powers were gathering in Pakistan on Sunday to discuss how to end the fighting in the Middle East, but there were few signs of progress as Israel and the US kept up strikes on Iran, and Tehran responded by firing missiles and drones across the region. Pakistan said foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt were taking part in the talks in Islamabad. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said he and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian held “extensive... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3348296/regional-diplomats-gather-pakistan-talks-end-iran-war?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3348296/regional-diplomats-gather-pakistan-talks-end-iran-war?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 29 Mar 2026 09:59:55 +0000 Tom Hussain Tom Hussain A month after the US and Israel launched the war with Iran, nothing seems to be going according to President Donald Trump’s plan for a conflict lasting four to six weeks. Despite the assassinations of most of the Islamic Republic’s political and military leaders, the regime shows no signs of collapse. Similarly, wave after wave of US and Israeli air strikes may have degraded Iran’s ballistic missile and drone capabilities, but they still look set to remain a potent threat to the region for the... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3348239/trumps-iran-gamble-falters-war-drags-amid-concerns-long-term-chaos?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3348239/trumps-iran-gamble-falters-war-drags-amid-concerns-long-term-chaos?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 28 Mar 2026 07:05:28 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Israel launched a new wave of strikes on Iran on Friday after US President Donald Trump claimed talks on ending the war were going well and gave Tehran more time to open the Strait of Hormuz, though there have been no signs of Iran backing down. With stock markets reeling and economic fallout from the war extending far beyond the Middle East, Trump is under growing pressure to end Iran’s chokehold on the strait, a strategic waterway through which a fifth of the world’s oil is usually... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3348142/israel-launches-strikes-iran-no-sign-diplomatic-breakthrough?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3348142/israel-launches-strikes-iran-no-sign-diplomatic-breakthrough?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 27 Mar 2026 08:45:08 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Iran on Wednesday dismissed an American plan to pause the war in the Middle East and launched more attacks on Israel and Gulf Arab countries, including strikes that hit a fuel tank at Kuwait International Airport, sparking a fire. Iran’s defiance came as Israel launched air strikes on Tehran and as the United States deployed paratroopers and more Marines to the region. Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in an interview on state TV that his government has not engaged in talks to end the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3347913/iran-rejects-us-ceasefire-plan-issues-own-demands-strikes-land-across-middle-east?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3347913/iran-rejects-us-ceasefire-plan-issues-own-demands-strikes-land-across-middle-east?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 25 Mar 2026 18:50:01 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Iran targeted countries across the Middle East with a fresh volley of missiles on Wednesday, hours after US President Donald Trump signalled tentative progress in diplomatic efforts to end the war. Tehran said on Wednesday it fired a volley of cruise missiles at a US aircraft carrier. Iran’s military said its cruise missiles at the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier group had “forced it to change its position”, warning of “powerful strikes” when the “hostile fleet” comes into range. The conflict that... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3347776/israeli-military-warns-inbound-missiles-iran-says-anti-missile-defences-active?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3347776/israeli-military-warns-inbound-missiles-iran-says-anti-missile-defences-active?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 24 Mar 2026 23:42:50 +0000 Chenjie Song Chenjie Song Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s press conference at the annual “two sessions” on March 8 was the Chinese government’s most authoritative statement on the war on Iran since strikes began on February 28. Wang called the war one that “should not have happened” and offered five principles for resolution: respect for sovereignty, rejection of force, non-interference in internal affairs, political settlement and goodwill among major powers. Diplomatic language aside, Wang named no concrete enforcement... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3347043/when-it-comes-persian-gulf-chinas-top-priority-economics?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/china-opinion/article/3347043/when-it-comes-persian-gulf-chinas-top-priority-economics?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 24 Mar 2026 01:30:10 +0000 Fan Chen Fan Chen Iran’s leadership is likely to prove resilient despite US-Israeli decapitation tactics, analysts say. Dozens of senior Iranian officials, including the former supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and national security chief Ali Larijani, have been killed since the start of the bombing raids on February 28. Tehran has argued these changes do not matter. “Of course, individuals are influential, and each person plays their role – some better, some worse, some less – but what matters is that the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3347624/not-venezuela-why-iran-likely-survive-us-israeli-strikes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3347624/not-venezuela-why-iran-likely-survive-us-israeli-strikes?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 23 Mar 2026 13:15:30 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Eight overnight attacks targeted a US diplomatic and logistics centre at Baghdad’s International Airport, an Iraqi security official said on Sunday. Several waves of departures from the US facility occurred on Saturday from the airport, according to another Iraqi security source, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter. “Eight separate attacks, carried out until dawn with rockets and drones, targeted the US centre,” the senior security official said, adding that... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3347492/us-hub-iraq-targeted-overnight-iranian-drones-rockets?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3347492/us-hub-iraq-targeted-overnight-iranian-drones-rockets?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 22 Mar 2026 12:25:24 +0000 Tom Hussain Tom Hussain Three weeks into the Iran war, tit-for-tat escalations on multiple fronts have dragged the Middle East to the brink of the region-wide conflict that its governments have repeatedly warned about – and tried to avert – since Hamas attacked Israel in October 2023. Israel has launched a ground invasion of southern Lebanon in recent days, after Hezbollah entered the conflict in response to the assassination of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. Iraq has been turned into a shooting range, as... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3347363/iran-war-nears-3-front-tipping-point-gulf-energy-hubs-burn?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3347363/iran-war-nears-3-front-tipping-point-gulf-energy-hubs-burn?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 21 Mar 2026 04:30:08 +0000 Carol Yang Carol Yang Global concerns are rising over the fate of ships and crews trapped in the Strait of Hormuz amid the intensifying Middle East conflict, as reports spread that Iran is rolling out screening processes and steep transit fees for vessels using the waterway. The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) called for the establishment of a “safe maritime framework” to ensure the swift evacuation of merchant ships confined within the Persian Gulf, after holding a special session on the Middle East... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3347337/strait-hormuz-tensions-flare-iran-tightens-grip-over-shipping-traffic?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3347337/strait-hormuz-tensions-flare-iran-tightens-grip-over-shipping-traffic?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 Mar 2026 11:00:24 +0000 Park Chan-kyong Park Chan-kyong South Korea finds itself boxed in as Tehran moves to turn the Strait of Hormuz into a bargaining chip amid the US-Israeli war on Iran, leaving Seoul caught between its dependence on Middle East oil and its unwillingness to antagonise Washington. Economists note that South Korea relies on Washington’s security umbrella to deter threats from nuclear-armed North Korea and that its oil trade is settled in US dollars – two realities that sit awkwardly alongside Iran’s push for yuan-based energy... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3347201/south-korea-risks-us-rift-over-irans-hormuz-strait-squeeze?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3347201/south-korea-risks-us-rift-over-irans-hormuz-strait-squeeze?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 Mar 2026 00:00:19 +0000 Agencies Agencies US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said Thursday there was no “time frame” for ending the US-Israeli war against Iran, which was launched three weeks ago. “We wouldn’t want to set a definitive time frame,” Hegseth told a news conference, adding that “we’re very much on track” and that President Donald Trump would be the one to decide when to stop. “It will be at the president’s choosing, ultimately, where we say, ‘Hey, we’ve achieved what we need to.’” American objectives in the war had not... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3347215/us-has-no-end-date-iran-war-strikes-very-much-track-hegseth?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3347215/us-has-no-end-date-iran-war-strikes-very-much-track-hegseth?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 19 Mar 2026 15:52:48 +0000 Jess Ma Jess Ma Hong Kong’s labour chief has said geopolitical tensions in the Middle East have made the city, with its relative security and stability, “a more attractive place” for global talent, including those from Gulf countries. Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han also highlighted the government’s efforts in recent years to attract talent, dismissing concerns that most successful applicants under its schemes were from mainland China. He said that about a fourth of imported workers from... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3347047/hong-kong-more-attractive-talent-amid-middle-east-tensions-labour-chief-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/hong-kong-economy/article/3347047/hong-kong-more-attractive-talent-amid-middle-east-tensions-labour-chief-says?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Mar 2026 12:24:53 +0000 Agencies Agencies Sweden’s foreign minister on Wednesday said that Iran had executed a Swedish citizen, after Iranian authorities announced the first execution of a man convicted of spying since the start of its war against Israel and the United States. “It is with dismay that I have received information that a Swedish citizen was executed in Iran earlier today,” Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said in a statement. Since the man’s arrest during in June 2025, Sweden had “repeatedly raised the case at... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3347042/iran-announces-first-spy-execution-war-israel-us-began?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3347042/iran-announces-first-spy-execution-war-israel-us-began?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Mar 2026 10:16:52 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Iran vowed on Wednesday a “decisive” retaliation for the death of its security chief Ali Larijani, firing off a wave of missiles at Israel which said it killed him in an air strike. A barrage of Iranian missiles killed two people near Israel’s commercial hub Tel Aviv, while Gulf nations intercepted rockets and drones headed for targets including US bases in the region. Iran will hold funerals Wednesday for Larijani and another powerful figure killed Tuesday by Israel, Gholamreza Soleimani, the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346949/iran-confirms-security-chief-larijani-dead-israel-vows-neutralise-supreme-leader?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346949/iran-confirms-security-chief-larijani-dead-israel-vows-neutralise-supreme-leader?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Mar 2026 01:20:17 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse An explosion was heard in Baghdad early Wednesday, an Agence France-Presse journalist said, as Iraqi officials reported a drone and rocket attack targeting the US embassy. The latest explosion came hours after multiple blasts were heard across the Iraqi capital, where a witness said he saw detonations likely caused by air defences intercepting projectiles over the embassy. Diners at a restaurant in the city seemed undisturbed by the initial sounds of the blasts. Another witness saw a fire on the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346936/fire-us-embassy-baghdad-security-official-reports-drone-and-rocket-strikes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346936/fire-us-embassy-baghdad-security-official-reports-drone-and-rocket-strikes?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 17 Mar 2026 18:59:00 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse A senior US counterterrorism official resigned on Tuesday to protest the US-Israeli war against Iran and said the Islamic Republic posed no imminent threat to the United States. “I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran,” Joseph Kent, the director of the National Counterterrorism Centre (NCTC), said in his resignation letter to President Donald Trump. Kent - a former member of the Green Beret special forces who served multiple combat tours - said “Iran posed no imminent threat... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3346928/us-counterterrorism-chief-quits-says-israel-trapped-trump-joining-iran-war?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3346928/us-counterterrorism-chief-quits-says-israel-trapped-trump-joining-iran-war?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 17 Mar 2026 15:10:07 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse A drone and rocket attack targeted the US embassy in Baghdad early Tuesday, while a strike killed four people at a house reportedly hosting Iranian advisers, security officials said, pulling Iraq deeper into the Middle East war. Black smoke was seen rising after an explosion in the embassy complex, as well as air defences intercepting another drone. The strikes came hours after air defences thwarted a rocket attack at the embassy and a drone sparked a fire at a luxury hotel frequented by foreign... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346809/drone-strikes-luxury-hotel-baghdads-green-zone-home-us-embassy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346809/drone-strikes-luxury-hotel-baghdads-green-zone-home-us-embassy?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Mar 2026 23:36:48 +0000 Mia Nurmamat,Carol Yang Mia Nurmamat,Carol Yang Maritime tracking data showed that no ships passed through the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, marking the first full day without any confirmed commercial traffic in either direction since February 28, when the US and Israel began military strikes on Iran. Crossings dropped to zero, below the previous seven-day average of 2.57 daily transits, according to maritime analytics firm Windward. Although no vessels entered the waterway that day, about 400 ships sailed in the Gulf of Oman on Friday, it... https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3346755/no-ships-cross-strait-hormuz-first-time-conflict-began-data-shows?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3346755/no-ships-cross-strait-hormuz-first-time-conflict-began-data-shows?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Mar 2026 09:30:14 +0000 Reuters,Agence France-Presse Reuters,Agence France-Presse US President Donald Trump on Sunday sought to pressure Nato allies and China to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, the critical oil transport conduit that Iran has effectively closed in retaliation for the US and Israeli war against Tehran. With the conflict creating turmoil across the Middle East and shaking up global energy markets in its third week, Trump insisted that nations relying heavily on oil from the Gulf have a responsibility to help protect the strait. “I’m demanding that these... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3346692/starmer-holds-calls-trump-and-carney-irans-hormuz-blockage?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3346692/starmer-holds-calls-trump-and-carney-irans-hormuz-blockage?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Mar 2026 22:59:39 +0000 Bloomberg Bloomberg Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has threatened Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with death, in a statement published on Sunday by Iran’s Fars and IRNA news agencies. Netanyahu would be pursued and killed, the IRGC statement said. The announcement followed mutual overnight attacks in the war between Iran, Israel and the United States. The current round of hostilities began when Israel and the US launched a large-scale offensive against Iran on February 28. Tehran... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346667/irans-revolutionary-guards-issue-death-threat-israels-netanyahu?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346667/irans-revolutionary-guards-issue-death-threat-israels-netanyahu?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Mar 2026 11:36:25 +0000 Alice Yan Alice Yan An Iraqi journalist, who is also an online celebrity in China and was once praised by China’s foreign minister Wang Yi, has become engaged to a woman from the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. Ameen Muneer Mohammed Al-Obaidi, who is better known by his Chinese name, Fang Haoming, boasts about 5 million followers on social media. He works as a China correspondent for the Dubai-based China-Arab TV. Fang, 26, joined other foreign journalists to perform the popular Subject Three street dance at a... https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/china-personalities/article/3346237/iraqi-reporter-raised-china-famous-viral-dance-gets-engaged-xinjiang-woman?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/china-personalities/article/3346237/iraqi-reporter-raised-china-famous-viral-dance-gets-engaged-xinjiang-woman?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Mar 2026 10:00:09 +0000 Tom Hussain Tom Hussain Since the Iran war began late last month, it has threatened shipping across the Middle East’s two most important maritime chokepoints – the Strait of Hormuz and the Bab el-Mandeb – through which much of Asia’s energy imports and manufactured exports flow. For Gulf states and their major trading partners in Asia, the conflict is forcing a hard question: what, if anything, can protect supply chains if US security guarantees can no longer be taken for granted? Analysts say the usual answers –... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3346627/iran-war-exposes-fragility-gulf-asia-supply-chains?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3346627/iran-war-exposes-fragility-gulf-asia-supply-chains?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 15 Mar 2026 06:00:16 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Israel said the war against Iran was entering its “decisive phase” on Saturday, as explosions rocked cities across the Middle East, with strikes on the US embassy in Baghdad and a major Emirati energy facility. Washington’s embassy in Iraq was hit by a drone, security sources said, the second time it had been targeted since February 28, when the United States and Israel attacked Iran and plunged the Gulf into a conflict that has sent shock waves through the global economy. Millions have been... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346626/iran-war-entering-decisive-phase-israel-says-attacks-continue?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346626/iran-war-entering-decisive-phase-israel-says-attacks-continue?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Mar 2026 15:51:05 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas on Saturday called on Iran to refrain from targeting neighbouring countries, while affirming Tehran’s right to defend itself against Israel and the United States. In a rare appeal, Hamas also urged the international community to take steps to end the war that has gripped the Middle East since it began on February 28. “While affirming the right of the Islamic Republic of Iran to respond to this aggression by all available means in accordance with international... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346608/hamas-calls-iran-avoid-targeting-neighbouring-countries?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346608/hamas-calls-iran-avoid-targeting-neighbouring-countries?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Mar 2026 11:30:07 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Explosions rocked Iraq’s capital Baghdad on Saturday after two strikes targeted the powerful Iran-backed group Kataeb Hezbollah, killing two members including a “key figure”, security sources said. The strikes are the first in the heart of Baghdad to kill Iran-backed fighters since the start of the Middle East war on February 28, which has not spared Iraq, long a proxy battleground between the US and Iran. “At 2.15am, a missile struck a house that was being used by Kataeb Hezbollah,” said a... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346576/strikes-iraqi-capital-kill-2-iran-linked-kataeb-hezbollah-members?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346576/strikes-iraqi-capital-kill-2-iran-linked-kataeb-hezbollah-members?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Mar 2026 03:35:28 +0000 Andrew Sheng Andrew Sheng The US-Israeli attacks on Iran have profound implications for the global governance order. For America, the world’s mightiest power, to attack another nation without congressional or UN approval condemns the rules-based order to the dustbin of history. Governance is about checks and balance by rules, self-restraint or simply a humble appreciation that waging “forever wars” often ends up in self-destruction. War is such an extreme and costly measure it should only be undertaken after careful... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3346410/us-israeli-war-iran-makes-mockery-global-governance-rules?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3346410/us-israeli-war-iran-makes-mockery-global-governance-rules?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 13 Mar 2026 12:30:08 +0000 Reuters Reuters All six crew ⁠members aboard a US military refuelling ⁠aircraft that crashed in western Iraq are confirmed to have been killed, the US military said on Friday. A US military refuelling aircraft crashed in western Iraq on Thursday, in an incident the military said involved another aircraft but ‌was not the result of hostile or friendly fire. The deaths add to the seven US service members who have already been killed as part of US operations against Iran which began on February 28. “The... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346421/us-military-refuelling-plane-crashes-iraq-rescue-efforts-are-under-way?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346421/us-military-refuelling-plane-crashes-iraq-rescue-efforts-are-under-way?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 12 Mar 2026 23:02:39 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Norwegian police said on Wednesday that three brothers had been arrested on suspicion of a “terrorist bombing” over a weekend explosion at the US embassy in Oslo that caused minor damage but no injuries. Police prosecutor Christian Hatlo told a press conference the brothers, who were Norwegian citizens of Iraqi origin, had been arrested in Oslo around 3.30pm and that police were investigating the motive. “We are still working from several hypotheses. One of them is whether this is an order from... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3346274/3-brothers-iraq-links-arrested-terrorist-bombing-us-embassy-norway?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3346274/3-brothers-iraq-links-arrested-terrorist-bombing-us-embassy-norway?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 11 Mar 2026 18:16:23 +0000 Lucy Quaggin,Xinmei Shen Lucy Quaggin,Xinmei Shen US President Donald Trump warned Iran against laying mines in the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday as the US unleashed some of the heaviest strikes of the war so far. Tensions over the critical shipping lane continued to escalate amid soaring global oil prices, with the US claiming it had destroyed 16 Iranian mine-laying vessels. Trump said that the US was using the same technology and missile capabilities deployed against drug traffickers in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean to “permanently... https://www.scmp.com/news/us/diplomacy/article/3346147/hegseth-says-tuesday-will-be-most-intense-us-war-iran-trump-considers-endgame?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/us/diplomacy/article/3346147/hegseth-says-tuesday-will-be-most-intense-us-war-iran-trump-considers-endgame?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 Mar 2026 17:51:47 +0000 Xinyi Wu Xinyi Wu China’s surge in crude imports early this year has strengthened its stockpiles against a backdrop of rising Middle East tensions and global supply risks. China imported 96.93 million tonnes of crude in January and February, up 15.8 per cent from the same period in 2025, according to customs data released on Tuesday. The value of those imports, meanwhile, fell 5.2 per cent from last year in US dollar terms. “China was accumulating oil and gas stockpiles [earlier this year], with the market... https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3346121/bolstering-oil-stockpile-chinas-import-surge-seen-creating-120-day-shock-shield?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/global-economy/article/3346121/bolstering-oil-stockpile-chinas-import-surge-seen-creating-120-day-shock-shield?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 Mar 2026 11:00:14 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Since the US and Israel unleashed strikes on Iran on February 28, war has spread across the region and casualties have been reported in countries across the Middle East. Due to reporting restrictions, Agence France-Presse has not been able to independently verify all of the following tolls. The figures are based on numbers released by governments, militaries, health authorities and rescue organisations in the affected countries. Iran Iran’s health ministry said on Monday that more than 1,200... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346059/casualty-figures-across-middle-east-iran-war-enters-second-week?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3346059/casualty-figures-across-middle-east-iran-war-enters-second-week?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 10 Mar 2026 05:09:08 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Iran has named a son of its late supreme leader as his successor. US President Donald Trump already had expressed disdain for Mojtaba Khamenei, calling him “unacceptable”. The Islamic Republic’s war strategy now has a new commander, and the powerful paramilitary Revolutionary Guard has pledged allegiance. Oil prices shot above US$100 a barrel. Both sides in the war struck new targets over the weekend, including civilian ones. Bahrain accused Iran of hitting one of the desalination plants that... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3345933/where-things-stand-after-another-weekend-war-middle-east?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3345933/where-things-stand-after-another-weekend-war-middle-east?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 09 Mar 2026 05:39:05 +0000 Reuters Reuters Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s son Mojtaba was chosen ⁠by Iran’s Assembly of Experts to succeed his late father as supreme leader on Monday, in a sign that hardliners were still firmly in charge. The clerical body named the 56-year-old mid-ranking cleric, who has survived the US-Israeli air war on Iran, as successor more than a week after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in an air strike, Iranian media reported. A member of the council, Ayatollah Mohsen Heidari Alekasir, said in a video on Sunday... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3345910/who-mojtaba-khamenei-son-and-successor-irans-supreme-leader?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3345910/who-mojtaba-khamenei-son-and-successor-irans-supreme-leader?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 Mar 2026 22:19:10 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press As missiles and drones curtail energy production across the Persian Gulf, analysts warn that water, not oil, may be the resource most at risk in the energy-rich but arid region. On Sunday, Bahrain accused Iran of damaging one of its desalination plants. Earlier, Iran said a US air strike had damaged an Iranian plant. Hundreds of desalination plants sit along the Persian Gulf coast, putting individual systems that supply water to millions within range of Iranian missile or drone strikes. Without... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3345897/iran-strikes-desalination-plants-threaten-arab-states-water-supplies?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3345897/iran-strikes-desalination-plants-threaten-arab-states-water-supplies?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 Mar 2026 13:22:05 +0000 Alex Lo Alex Lo Is the US in decline? Many Chinese public intellectuals and journalists have long been told, or else they have talked themselves into believing, its inevitability. Now, some are not so sure after the Venezuela and Iran strikes. But of course the United States is in decline. That is so regardless of China’s rise or fall. It’s a domestic thing. Unfortunately, the rest of the world may long suffer the consequences. A declining superpower is a very dangerous beast. Exhibit No 1: Donald Trump and his... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/article/3345885/america-decline-will-keep-losing-wars-weaker-foes-including-iran?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/article/3345885/america-decline-will-keep-losing-wars-weaker-foes-including-iran?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 Mar 2026 13:15:06 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse President Donald Trump has plunged the United States into its most significant conflict in decades over a “feeling”. It is not his political opponents saying this, but the White House itself. Throughout the first week of the war with Iran, the US president has prioritised impulse and emotion over explanations and reasoning. “I hope you’re impressed,” Trump, a former reality TV host, told an ABC News reporter on Thursday. “How do you like the performance?” Official government accounts are posting... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3345801/trumps-feeling-driven-iran-war-cops-criticism-arrogant-messaging?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3345801/trumps-feeling-driven-iran-war-cops-criticism-arrogant-messaging?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 07 Mar 2026 07:42:16 +0000 The Korea Times The Korea Times The United Arab Emirates has asked South Korea to accelerate deliveries of Cheongung-II surface-to-air missile batteries to help intercept incoming attacks, officials familiar with the matter said. The request comes as Iranian forces have launched retaliatory strikes across the Middle East following continued attacks on Iran by the United States and Israel. The system, sold to the UAE in recent years as part of Seoul’s expanding defence exports, has been integrated into the country’s broader air... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3345797/south-korean-missile-shield-vs-iranian-barrage-fight-protect-uaes-skies?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3345797/south-korean-missile-shield-vs-iranian-barrage-fight-protect-uaes-skies?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 07 Mar 2026 07:15:51 +0000 Donald Rothwell Donald Rothwell The Iranian diaspora has been celebrating and governments around the world have generally not mourned the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in last weekend’s US and Israeli air strikes on Iran. While there has been much political justification for these attacks from Washington and Israel, neither has sought to legally justify their conduct. No real effort has been made to reference the acknowledged right of self-defence, most likely because the evidence did not exist. In other words, there was no... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3345741/australia-needs-make-its-stance-iran-attacks-known?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3345741/australia-needs-make-its-stance-iran-attacks-known?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 07 Mar 2026 04:00:08 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Alyssa Ramos’ evacuation from Kuwait took 48 hours and carried her across four continents. The US government did not help with any part of it, the travel blogger said. “They keep going on the news and saying they’re doing everything they can to get Americans out,” Ramos said after landing in Miami on Thursday. “I know for a fact they’re not.” She said she repeatedly messaged the US embassy in Kuwait before being directed to the consular section, which told her it could not help her leave the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3345789/americans-recall-desperate-self-organised-escapes-middle-east-youre-your-own?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3345789/americans-recall-desperate-self-organised-escapes-middle-east-youre-your-own?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 07 Mar 2026 03:35:12 +0000 Tom Hussain Tom Hussain What began as a US-Israeli assault on Iran is rapidly evolving into a conflict with the potential to spread far beyond the Middle East. Iranian missiles and drones have already struck or reached Turkey and Azerbaijan, while European powers are rushing additional warships, fighter jets and air defences to the eastern Mediterranean and Gulf to contain the fallout. Analysts warn the longer the war continues, the greater the risk that long-simmering regional fault lines – from Kurdish militancy to... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3345689/how-far-could-war-iran-spread-beyond-middle-east?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3345689/how-far-could-war-iran-spread-beyond-middle-east?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 06 Mar 2026 07:00:09 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press The unfolding Iran war has ricocheted across the region and beyond, with nearly every country in the Middle East sustaining damage from missile hits, drone strikes or shrapnel, many reporting casualties, and key embassies, economic engines and passageways closing down. Off the coast of Sri Lanka, a US submarine sank an Iranian warship as the war intensified and its footprint grew. Foreign governments have for days urged their citizens to leave Middle East countries on any available commercial... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3345492/guide-how-iran-war-has-ricocheted-across-middle-east-and-beyond?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3345492/guide-how-iran-war-has-ricocheted-across-middle-east-and-beyond?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 05 Mar 2026 02:01:04 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse A ballistic missile launched from Iran and heading towards Turkish airspace via Iraq and Syria was destroyed by Nato air defence systems, Turkish officials said on Wednesday. The defence ministry said it had been “engaged and neutralised by Nato air-and-missile defence assets deployed in the eastern Mediterranean”. It did not specify the missile’s intended target. A Turkish official, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, said the missile had been “aimed at a base in Greek Cyprus but veered... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3345473/turkey-says-missile-launched-iran-destroyed-nato?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3345473/turkey-says-missile-launched-iran-destroyed-nato?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Mar 2026 14:52:34 +0000 Reuters Reuters Iranian ⁠Kurdish militias have consulted with the United States in recent days ⁠about whether, and how, to attack Iran’s security forces in the western part of the country, according to three sources with knowledge of the matter. The Iranian Kurdish coalition of groups based on the Iran-Iraq border in the semi-autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan has been training to mount such an attack in hopes of weakening the country’s military, as the United States and Israel pound Iranian targets with... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3345359/us-and-kurds-discuss-potential-iran-military-operation-sources?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3345359/us-and-kurds-discuss-potential-iran-military-operation-sources?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Mar 2026 04:33:42 +0000