Iran warns other nations to stay away as US looks to expand war

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PEOPLE clear debris from homes damaged by US-Israel bombing in Tehran.—AFP • Trump asks allies to send ships to protect Hormuz shipping• Tehran turns down any chance of negotiations after US president says he’s not ready for a deal• Araghchi claims ‘ample evidence’ that bases across Gulf being used to target his country• Larijani warns ‘9/11-style’ incident may be staged, blamed on Iran• US base in Baghdad, Italian facility in Kuwait come under attack• Hamas official among 850 killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon

WASHINGTON / DUBAI / TEHRAN: US President Donald Trump has called on other nations to join the war against Iran, asking them to send warships to help protect world energy supplies through the Strait of Hormuz, as strikes hit the US embassy in Baghdad and a major Emirati energy facility on Sunday.

Iran’s threats have nearly halted shipping in the strait, sending petroleum prices soaring 40 per cent and roiling the global economy. At least 10 oil tankers have been hit, targeted or reported attacks since the start of the war.

After earlier vowing that the US Navy would “very soon” begin escorting tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, Trump called for reinforcements over the weekend.

“Many countries, especially those who are affected by Iran’s attempted closure of the Hormuz Strait, will be sending war ships, in conjunction with the United States of America, to keep the Strait open and safe,” Trump posted on social media.

“Hopefully China, France, Japan, South Korea, the UK, and others, that are affected by this artificial constraint, will send ships to the area,” he added.

However, the UK ministry of defence was non-committal, while South Korea said on Sunday it was paying close attention to Trump’s call for Seoul and other countries to send warships to help protect oil supplies. Meanwhile, UK PM Keir Starmer is said to be considering sending thousands of interceptor drones to the Middle East.

According to The Telegraph, military officials are examining whether the ‘Octopus’ interceptor anti-drone drone system, which is manufactured in the UK for Ukraine to use against Russia, can also be used to bolster defenses against Iran’s Shahed drones.

A day earlier, Trump claimed US forces had bombed Kharg Island, Iran’s main oil export hub. On Sunday, he threatened more strikes on the island, adding that he was not ready for a deal with Tehran to end the war.

Trump, who has made a series of varying demands, told NBC News that Tehran appeared ready to make a deal to end the fighting but that “the terms aren’t good enough yet”.

However, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran was not interested in talks with the US, recalling: “we were talking with them when they decided to attack us”.

“We are stable and strong enough. We are only defending our people,” Araghchi told CBS News, adding: “We don’t see any reason why we should talk with Americans… There is no good experience talking with Americans”.

“We never asked for a ceasefire, and we have never asked even for negotiation,” Araghchi said.

In a conversation with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot, Mr Araghchi also urged other countries to refrain from any action that could widen the scope of the war.

In separate remarks, he said: “This war will end when we are certain it will not be repeated and that reparations will be paid. We experienced this last year: Israel attacked, then the United States… they regrouped and attacked us again”.

He also took aim at Gulf states, saying that Iran had “ample evidence” US bases in the Middle East had been used to target the Islamic republic.

“We have ample evidence of this: satellite imagery and electronic surveillance demonstrate that US bases in this region are being used for attacks,” he said, claiming that missiles had been launched on Kharg Island from the UAE.

Meanwhile, Iran’s top national security official Ali Larijani issued a warning on Sunday — apparently addressing American citizens — Iran could be blamed for a 9/11 style incident.

“I’ve heard that the remaining members of Epstein’s network have devised a conspiracy to create an incident similar to 9/11 and blame Iran for it,” he wrote on X.

He stressed that Iran fundamentally opposes such terrorist operations and said that they had no quarrel with the American public.

“We are defending our country against an aggression launched by the US and Israel. Iran stands tall in doing so in order to reach the aggressors a lesson,” he said.

Separately, Iran’s Rev­o­lutionary Guards vowed on Sunday to target Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Net­anyahu. “If this child-killing criminal is alive, we will continue to pursue and kill him with full force,” Sepah News quoted the IRGC as saying.

Some normalcy returns to Tehran

Over the weekend, citizens of Tehran were able to go about their lives in the most normal atmosphere, since the start of the war on February 28.

Traffic was busier than last week and some cafes and restaurants had reopened.

One resident whizzed down the street on an electric hoverboard, and more than a third of stalls in the Tajrish bazaar, a popular shopping hub in the north of the capital, had reopened five days before Nowruz, the Persian New Year.

Some shoppers queued at ATMs to withdraw cash. Online operations at Bank Melli, one of the country’s largest, had been paralysed in recent days.

Meanwhile, Iranian authorities have arrested dozens across the country on suspicion of cooperating with Israel.

“Twenty people were arrested and detained” after they were found to be “sending details of military, law enforcement and security locations to the Zionist enemy,” the Fars news agency said.

Those arrests took place during raids on networks linked to Israel in West Azerbaijan province, it added.

At least 18 people were also arrested over “sending images of locations bombed by Israel and the US” and other sites to the London-based TV channel Iran International, the Tasnim news agency said.

Israel has approved an $827 million emergency budget allocation for military purchases on the same day as it began a broad wave of strikes on western Iran.

“A short while ago, the IDF began a wide-scale wave of strikes targeting infrastructure of the Iranian terror regime in western Iran,” the army said in a statement on Sunday afternoon.

Meanwhile, at least eight people were injured in Israel following repeated missile launches from Iran.

Iran’s army also said it had targeted a police unit called “Lahav 433” and the “Gilat Defence” satellite communications centre in Israel with drone strikes.

Separately, Lebanon’s health ministry said on Sunday that Israeli attacks had killed 850 people in the country during two weeks of war; a toll that includes 66 women, 107 children and 32 health workers, with 2,105 other people wounded.

Also on Sunday, an Israeli strike in south Lebanon’s Sidon area killed Hamas official Wissam Taha.

Several drones and rockets targeted a military base at the Baghdad airport complex, which also houses a US diplomatic facility, security sources told AFP.

Italy’s military said there had been a drone attack on the Ali Al Salem airbase in Kuwait hosting Italian and US forces, but said all its personnel were safe.

Published in Dawn, March 16th, 2026