Iran war updates: Marco Rubio tells Al Jazeera that Trump prefers diplomacy

This live page is closing, but our 24-hour coverage of the war continues.

Join us for all the latest developments, analyses and reactions here.

This live page will be closing soon, but our coverage will continue on a new page.

Here are some of the day’s top developments:

• Kuwait Petroleum Corporation said an Iranian attack on the giant Al-Salmi oil tanker at Dubai Port caused a fire that could lead to an oil spill.
• US Secretary of State Marco Rubio told Al Jazeera that Trump “always prefers diplomacy” and that current US-Iran talks are “primarily through intermediaries”.
• Three Indonesian peacekeepers have been killed in southern Lebanon as Israeli forces continue their invasion, and the death toll across Lebanon has risen to 1,247 people.
• The UN, Palestinian officials and Israeli rights groups have condemned a new Israeli law that makes death by hanging the default for Palestinians convicted by Israel for certain crimes.
• The European Union has said that expanded naval operations in the Red Sea and western Indian Ocean are not linked to Trump’s call for help with the Strait of Hormuz.
• US crude oil closed at more than $100 a barrel for the first time since 2022.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has written letters to officials in the US, Israel and Iran, reminding them of their obligations under international humanitarian law.

The US-based human rights group published copies of the letters, which were sent to Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth, US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz, Israeli Minister of Defence Israel Katz, and Iran’s UN envoy Amir Saeid Iravani, detailing “inflammatory statements” each of the officials had made.

“All three governments should publicly commit to their obligations under the laws of war, especially with regard to the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure,” HRW said.

Saudi Arabia’s Defence Ministry has announced that it intercepted and destroyed four more ballistic missiles heading towards the country.

In a statement posted on X, the ministry said the missiles were launched towards the area of the capital, Riyadh.

There have been several strikes on the city of Tehran; every direction, every corner of the city has seen some of the blasts, including Mehrabad airport.

And there have been strikes in several other parts of the country, including Isfahan.

It was not immediately clear what was hit, but Isfahan has a lot of military facilities, as well as infrastructure capabilities and institutions that have always been at the receiving end of the strikes by the US and Israel.

The Iranians say they have also launched their 87th wave of attacks on Israel and across the region.

This time, it has been launched by the Iranian Navy, and that’s a very strong message to the US that their claims that they have obliterated the Iranian Navy are not true.

There is no letup in this war, and day by day, the scope of the strikes gets only wider and wider.

The leaders of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Jordan have warned during a summit in Jeddah that Iranian attacks on key and civilian facilities constitute a “dangerous escalation” and threaten regional security.

According to the Saudi state news agency SPA, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and Jordan’s King Abdullah II “discussed the latest regional developments and the repercussions of the military escalation in the region, including its risks to freedom of international navigation, the security of energy supplies and its impact on the global economy”.

The three leaders also stressed the need to “coordinate joint efforts in a way that enhances the security and stability of the region”, SPA said.

Bahrain’s Interior Ministry says sirens have been activated and called on people to remain calm and “head to the nearest safe place”.

The UN has condemned the deaths of three Indonesian peacekeepers in southern Lebanon, who were killed in two separate incidents, including a vehicle explosion.

They are the latest UN casualties since Israel expanded its ground invasion.

Watch our video below:

Authorities in Dubai say they have responded to a fire in an abandoned house in al-Badaa that was caused by debris following an air defence interception.

“Four minor injuries were reported among individuals in the vicinity of the house,” the Dubai Media Office said in a statement.

The foreign ministers of eight countries have issued a joint statement condemning Israel’s blocking of Muslims and Christians from worshipping in Jerusalem as a “flagrant violation of international law”.

The statement from Qatar, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkiye, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt comes as Israel continues to prevent Muslim worshippers from accessing Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Israeli authorities also recently blocked Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem and the Custos of the Holy Land, from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to celebrate the Palm Sunday mass, the statement added.

Israel’s “escalatory measures” pose a danger to “regional and international peace and security”, the ministers warned.

In his Palm Sunday speech, Pope Leo said that God rejects prayers for war, just days after Pete Hegseth, the US secretary of defence, prayed for “overwhelming destruction” in Iran.

The Military Religious Freedom Foundation says that more than 200 soldiers complained that their superior officers used religious rhetoric to justify war, including that Trump was anointed by Jesus to cause Armageddon and bring Jesus back to life. Watch the video below:

In his Palm Sunday speech, Pope Leo said God rejects prayers for war just days after the U.S. secretary of defense prayed for “overwhelming destruction” in Iran. pic.twitter.com/uq3dGvAiwO

— AJ+ (@ajplus) March 30, 2026

The people of Iran know from their leaders that the level of messaging is what’s going on through intermediaries, and there is no direct negotiation.

In a very interesting development today, the president was shown on TV leading a cabinet meeting for the first time since the beginning of this war.

The government is sending a message to people and to the world that it is still intact and united, and that there are no cracks in the leadership and the way it rules the country.

The negotiations here are given second importance; the first priority in what the leaders are saying here is fighting. They are all talking about the need to fight on.

The speaker of the parliament, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said Iran will fight on to the end, and until the enemy regrets it launched this aggression on Iran.

Their position is that they don’t trust the other side, and they don’t see a level of readiness for compromise on the part of the US.

Here are some of the latest main developments:

• US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has told Al Jazeera that Trump prefers diplomacy to end the Iran conflict.
• Rubio also said that direct messages and talks are taking place between parties in Iran and the US, primarily through intermediaries.
• Esmaeil Baghaei, the spokesperson for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, says Tehran has not been involved in negotiations with the US since the start of the war.
• NATO defences downed a missile that entered Turkish airspace.
• Lebanon’s Health Ministry says that at least 1,247 people have been killed and 3,680 wounded since the start of Israel’s air attacks and invasion of southern Lebanon on March 2.
• Two more UN peacekeepers have been killed in southern Lebanon after “an explosion of unknown origin destroyed their vehicle near Bani Haiyyan”.