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The United Kingdom has formally agreed to allow the United States to use British military bases for operations targeting Iranian missile capabilities threatening commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz , while maintaining that it will not directly join the strikes, according to a statement issued by 10 Downing Street after a ministerial meeting on Friday. Representational Image Via U.S. Central Command In a detailed readout, the Prime Minister’s Office said ministers “confirmed that the agreement for the U.S. to use U.K. bases in the collective self-defence of the region includes U.S. defensive operations to degrade the missile sites and capabilities being used to attack ships in the Strait of Hormuz ,” explicitly linking the expanded scope of cooperation to Iran’s recent targeting of maritime traffic and energy infrastructure. The decision marks a significant escalation in London’s operational posture, allowing U.S. forces to launch strikes on Iranian missile systems and related...

Indian officials on Friday stated that nearly 300,000 passengers have returned from West Asia since February 28, 913 Indian nationals have crossed from Iran into Armenia and Azerbaijan with embassy assistance, and 22 Indian-flagged vessels carrying 611 Indian seafarers remain safe in the Persian Gulf. These developments have emerged as New Delhi responded to a fresh Indian death in Riyadh, tightened aviation risk advisories, and expanded its multi-ministerial effort to manage the widening fallout of the Iran war across energy, shipping and civilian movement. Petroleum Secretary Sujata Sharma; Screengrab Via: TBS World Now on X At an inter-ministerial briefing in New Delhi , senior officials from the Ministries of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Ports, Shipping and Waterways, and External Affairs laid out India’s latest assessment of the crisis, while the Directorate General of Civil Aviation issued a clarification saying it had now circulated six safety advisories to Indian operators o...

✍️ Written by Saket Suman India’s LNG import architecture has been hit by a major disruption that could last three to five years as 47% of its LNG imports sourced from Qatar are now exposed to prolonged supply shocks after missile strikes have cut Qatar’s export capacity by 17% , caused an estimated $20 billion in annual losses , and forced the declaration of force majeure on long-term contracts . File Photo of the Russian LNG tanker Arctic Metagaz, which suffered a massive explosion in the Mediterranean earlier this month; Via: OpenSourceIntel An IndianRepublic.in analysis of official disclosures issued within hours by New Delhi and Doha on Thursday points to a widening policy gap, with the Government of India yet to articulate a detailed procurement roadmap, volume replacement strategy or cost framework , stating only that it will pursue diversification without specifying how much supply will be sourced, from where, and at what e...

Missile attacks on Qatar’s Ras Laffan Industrial City on March 18 and early March 19 have cut LNG export capacity by 17%, caused an estimated $20 billion in annual revenue losses, and will force long-term force majeure of up to five years, QatarEnergy said , as Doha and a bloc of Arab and Islamic nations condemned Iran’s attacks and warned of escalating threats to global energy security and maritime navigation. File Photo: The War Journal on X QatarEnergy CEO and Energy Minister Saad Sherida Al-Kaabi said the strikes caused “ extensive damage ” that will take “between three to five years to repair,” affecting supplies to China, South Korea, Italy and Belgium , and forcing the company to suspend parts of its long-term LNG commitments. He said the attacks damaged LNG Trains 4 and 6 (12.8 MTPA) —about 17% of exports —while a separate strike hit the Pearl GTL facility operated by Shell , leaving one production train offline for at least one year . Detailing the wider losses, QatarEnerg...

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected speculations and claims that Israel had pushed the United States into war with Iran, saying “does anyone really think that someone can tell President Trump what to do?”, while portraying the U.S.-Israeli campaign as a tightly coordinated effort to dismantle Iran’s nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities, weaken its military-industrial base and create conditions for internal political change in Tehran. Image of Israeli PM Netanyahu; Via: SilencedSirs on X Speaking to the foreign press from a protected underground venue as air raid precautions remained in force, Netanyahu said Israel’s Operation was being carried out “under President Trump’s visionary leadership” and that “America and Israel are acting together in Iran with great determination and unprecedented strength.” He said the operation was designed to remove “ the existential threats posed by the Ayatollah regime ,” which he accused of waging war for 47 years against “Am...

U.S.  President Donald Trump has said that the Iran war was “ almost over ,” ruled out deploying more U.S. troops to the region, and claimed U.S. forces had “obliterated” much of Iran’s military capacity, as Japan publicly aligned itself with Washington’s hardening stance by condemning Iran’s attacks on neighboring states and its “de facto or effective closure” of the Strait of Hormuz. Image Via White House Speaking at the White House during a bilateral meeting with Japan’s prime minister  Sanae Takaichi , Trump said, “The war is almost over,” and argued that Washington had moved faster than expected in degrading Iran’s capabilities. “We’ve obliterated their Navy. We’ve obliterated their just about everything there is to obliterate, including leadership,” he said, adding that “their Navy’s gone, their air force is gone, their anti-aircraft equipment is gone” and that “we’re flying wherever we want.” Trump said he would not send additional U.S. ground forces into the region. As...

The International Maritime Organization Council, meeting in its 36th extraordinary session on March 18–19, 2026 in London under Chair Victor Jiménez of Spain, warned that escalating attacks in the Arabian Sea, Sea of Oman and Gulf region, particularly around the Strait of Hormuz, pose a “grave danger to life,” threaten global shipping, and risk destabilizing energy and humanitarian supply chains, as it condemned “egregious attacks” on vessels and demanded immediate de-escalation and restraint. IMO condemns attacks on shipping, calls for safe-passage framework in Strait of Hormuz; Via: IMO In a detailed declaration , the Council said attacks on merchant and commercial vessels and threats to close Hormuz “ represent a serious threat to international peace and security ,” stressing that “the exercise of navigational rights and freedoms… must be respected,” while recalling United Nations Security Council Resolution 2817 (2026), which condemns actions interfering with maritime navigation an...

Leaders of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Japan issued a joint statement on Thursday strongly condemning Iran’s actions in the Gulf, warning that attacks on commercial shipping and energy infrastructure, along with the “ de facto closure ” of the Strait of Hormuz, pose a direct threat to global energy security and international stability. Representational Image: Six Pockets on X In the statement, the leaders said they “condemn in the strongest terms recent attacks by Iran on unarmed commercial vessels in the Gulf, attacks on civilian infrastructure including oil and gas installations, and the de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz by Iranian forces,” while expressing “deep concern about the escalating conflict.” Calling for immediate de-escalation, the group urged Tehran to “cease immediately its threats, laying of mines, drone and missile attacks and other attempts to block the Strait to commercial shipping,” and to comply with United Nations Security C...

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi  has spoken with at least six global leaders across West Asia, Europe and Southeast Asia over the past 24 hours. This comes at a time when India is intensifying diplomatic push for de-escalation, protection of energy infrastructure, and uninterrupted global trade flows as the Iran war expands into critical economic systems. File Photo of PM NaMo with French Prez Macron; Via: PMO In a series of coordinated calls, Modi engaged with King Abdullah II, Emmanuel Macron, Anwar Ibrahim, and Sultan Haitham bin Tariq, in addition to his earlier outreach to Kuwait’s leadership. This showed India's a multi-vector diplomatic effort aimed at stabilising a conflict now directly threatening energy supply chains and maritime routes. With Jordan’s King Abdullah II , Modi “expressed concern at the evolving situation in West Asia” and “highlighted the need for dialogue and diplomacy for the early restoration of peace, security and stability,” while warning that “at...