US-Israel War with Iran Enters Third Week as Strikes Intensify, Trump Rejects Deal Terms

Three weeks into the war between the United States, Israel, and Iran, the conflict has metastasized across the Persian Gulf and beyond. On Saturday morning, a missile struck the helipad inside the US Embassy compound in Baghdad, and debris from an intercepted Iranian drone ignited a fire at an oil facility in the UAE. These were not isolated incidents but part of a cascade of attacks that has begun to reshape the global energy market and strain the diplomatic fabric of the entire region.

The escalation centers on Iran's Kharg Island, a sliver of land in the Persian Gulf that handles roughly 90 percent of Iran's oil exports. On Friday, US forces, according to President Trump, "obliterated" military targets there. Trump then went further, threatening to strike the island's oil infrastructure itself if Iran did not cease attacks on shipping in the Strait of Hormuz—a waterway through which about one-fifth of the world's seaborne oil and liquefied natural gas passes. "We may hit it a few more times just for fun," Trump said in an NBC interview, adding that while Tehran seemed ready to negotiate, "the terms aren't good enough yet." The casual tone masked a stark reality: the US was now explicitly threatening to destroy the infrastructure that keeps Iran's economy functioning.

Iran has responded with a campaign of its own. The Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed it had targeted Israeli positions, three US military bases in Iraq and Kuwait, and US interests across the Gulf. In Isfahan, early morning raids sent thick smoke rising over the city. At least 15 people were killed in strikes on an industrial zone there. The Iranian parliament's speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, mocked US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on social media, listing destroyed radars, batteries, and bases, then taunting him to send infantry "to die for Israel." Yet beneath the rhetoric lay a more complicated picture: Iranian media later reported that no oil infrastructure had actually been damaged on Kharg Island, suggesting either that US strikes had missed their targets or that damage assessments were being manipulated for domestic consumption.

The human toll has been staggering. In Lebanon, where Hezbollah has been trading fire with Israeli forces, at least 826 people have been killed since February 28, with over 831,000 displaced. On Friday, an Israeli strike on a health center in southern Lebanon killed 12 medical workers—doctors and nurses. The World Health Organization's director condemned the attack, calling it part of an "ongoing assault on Lebanon's healthcare system." Israeli strikes on residential areas in Sidon killed at least one person, with emergency workers retrieving bodies from the rubble. Hezbollah, for its part, claimed multiple attacks on Israeli troops and positions, firing rockets and artillery across the border.

The war is now rippling outward in ways that touch civilians far from the fighting. The US Embassy in Baghdad issued an urgent warning for American citizens to leave Iraq immediately. The State Department ordered non-emergency government employees and their families to depart Oman. Japan, which imports 95 percent of its crude oil from the Middle East, announced it would release stockpiled oil and cap prices. Airlines are suspending flights: IndiGo suspended service to seven Middle Eastern destinations through March 28. Formula One cancelled the Bahrain and Saudi Arabia Grand Prix races scheduled for April. Indian vessels carrying liquefied petroleum gas were stranded west of the Strait of Hormuz; India's government sought safe passage for 22 ships and confirmed that five Indian nationals had been killed in the conflict, with one missing.

Trump has called on allied nations to send warships to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, naming China, France, Japan, South Korea, and Britain. Japan's defense ministry responded cautiously, saying it could be "forced to make difficult decisions" if it deployed forces. Switzerland rejected two US military overflight requests while approving three others, reaffirming its neutrality. The British government, according to reports, is examining whether to send thousands of interceptor drones to the Middle East to defend against Iranian Shahed drones.

Lebanon, meanwhile, has signaled a shift. The prime minister and president expressed openness to direct talks with Israel—a significant move after decades of formal hostility. France has proposed hosting ceasefire negotiations in Paris. The proposed framework includes Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon, Hezbollah disarming south of the Litani River, and Lebanon recognizing Israel, though France denies the plan's existence, saying it is only facilitating talks. Yet even as diplomatic channels opened, the fighting continued. Israeli strikes killed at least four people in southern Lebanon on Saturday alone.

Back in Washington, cracks appeared in Trump's war cabinet. David Sacks, the White House's AI and crypto czar, said on a podcast that the US should "declare victory and get out" of the Iran conflict, calling it "a good time" to seek an off-ramp. It was a rare moment of dissent from within the administration. Trump, by contrast, showed no sign of backing down. He said the war would last "as long as it's necessary" and that Iran's military had been "decimated." He also questioned whether Iran's new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, was even alive, saying "I don't know if he's even alive. So far, nobody's been able to show him." Iran's Foreign Minister denied the claim, but the accusation underscored the fog of war and the difficulty of assessing what was actually happening on the ground.

Meanwhile, the US is preparing for a longer conflict. The Pentagon announced it is deploying 2,500 Marines from Okinawa, along with an amphibious assault ship, to the Middle East. These are described as the first ground troops being sent to prosecute the war, though Marines operate both on land and at sea. The deployment signals that the US does not intend to wrap things up soon. Twenty people were arrested in northwestern Iran for allegedly sending military location details to Israel, a sign that the conflict is also being fought through espionage and informant networks on the ground. Israel has reportedly launched a new phase of its assault, targeting security checkpoints based on tips from informants.