US-Israel-Iran War Highlights: US Fighter Jet Downed Over Iran; Donald Trump Said 'Can Easily Open The Hormuz Strait'

The air defence system is called Rapid Ranger – a short-range system that is designed to counter drones, with a range of about 8km and suitable to be deployed against fast-moving targets.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer discussed the deployment with the crown prince of Kuwait on Friday morning.

It is one of a number of military assets in the Gulf region – another system is heading towards Saudi Arabia, where it will be integrated into the wider Saudi defence systems.

(Source: Al Jazeera)

Seven rockets have been fired from southern Lebanon toward northern Israel, our colleagues on the ground are reporting.

The Israeli Home Front Command said sirens sounded in Nahariya and parts of the Western Galilee following the launches.

There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

(Source: Al Jazeera)

Iran’s Mehr news agency reported that a US helicopter, on a search mission for the jet reportedly shot down in Iran, was also hit by a projectile.

In two posts on its Telegram channel, the Israeli military says it has begun striking infrastructure in Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, and “begun a wide-scale wave of strikes targeting infrastructure” in Iran’s capital, Tehran.

(Source: Al Jazeera)

A US fighter jet was shot down over Iran and a search is underway for the crew, a US official confirmed. Israel’s Army Radio quotes Israeli sources who also confirm the plane was downed and that search efforts are underway. The condition of the crew isn’t immediately clear.

(Source: Reuters)

Russia attacked a diplomatic push to endorse a reopening of the vital Strait of Hormuz — potentially by force — at the United Nations Security Council, signaling that Moscow may be prepared to veto the measure.

The Security Council resolution proposed by Bahrain with support from other Gulf states and Jordan would back a range of “defensive measures” to secure transit passage through the vital waterway, according to the United Arab Emirates. 

Such a decision “is unlikely to improve the chances of a peaceful settlement,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a news conference Friday in Moscow with his Egyptian counterpart Badr Abdelatty. “Either this resolution was planned or will be used — it was certainly planned with the best of intentions — to derail the emerging and still very fragile chances for negotiations. Or it will be used to retroactively legitimize aggression against Iran.”

(Source: Bloomberg)

"Together with our American friends, we are continuing to crush the terrorist regime in Iran. We are eliminating commanders, and bombing bridges and infrastructure.
In recent days, the Air Force has destroyed 70% of Iran's steel production capacity. This is a tremendous achievement that deprives the IRGC of both funding sources and the ability to produce large quantities of weapons.
In full coordination between myself and President 
@realDonaldTrump and between the IDF and the US military, we will continue to crush Iran. This regime is weaker than ever – Israel is stronger than ever.
In Lebanon, we are continuing to forcefully strike at Hezbollah. We are continuing to expand the security zone and firmly establish it in order to protect the communities of the North.
I wish to commend you, citizens of Israel, for standing firm and following the Home Front Command instructions, even on Passover Seder night. Continue to do so. Continue to stand firm.
With G-d’s help, we will continue to fight and will achieve all of our goals. Happy Passover."

The Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran and the area around Mehrabad International Airport attacked by the US and Israel, Al Jazeera reported, citing Iranian state media.

Iranian media claim that an F-35 stealth fighter aircraft was shot down over central Iran by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, NDTV reported.

A US fighter pilot ejected from an aircraft in southwest Iran, NDTV reported, citing news agency AP which quoted Iranian media.

Iran's Tasnim news agency shared images of the wreckage of what they called an American jet, claiming the chances of the pilot's survival were low.

Strikes by Israel hit water facilities in south Lebanon, Al Jazeera reports.

UAE air defences intercepted 18 missiles, four cruise missiles and 47 drones launched from Iran on Friday, the country’s Ministry of Defence has said.

In a statement posted on X, the UAE Ministry of Defence said that since Iranian attacks began, air defences have engaged a total of 475 ballistic missiles, 23 cruise missiles and 2,085 UAVs.

(Source: Al Jazeera)

"With a little more time, we can easily open the Hormuz Strait, take the oil, & make a fortune. It would be a “gusher” for the world???", US President Donald Trump said in a post on Friday.

Israel’s military has said it plans to strike two bridges in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley, ordering residents to evacuate the area.

The Israeli army’s Arabic-language spokesman Colonel Avichay Adraee said on X that the Sohmor and Mashghara bridges were going to be targeted, adding that the strikes were intended to prevent the transfer of reinforcements and military equipment into the region.

Britain is sending an air defence system to Kuwait. The announcement of the deployment of the Rapid Sentry system followed a call between Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Kuwait’s emir Sheikh Mishal al-Ahmad Al Sabah after strikes on the oil refinery port of Mina al-Ahmadi.

“The Prime Minister began by condemning the reckless overnight drone attack on a Kuwaiti oil refinery,” his spokesperson said.

“He reiterated that the UK stands with Kuwait and all our allies in the Gulf.”

(Source: Al Jazeera)

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is condemning what it calls an “unconventional and illegitimate” Israeli strike on power and desalination plants in Kuwait.

The IRGC Public Relations Department accuses Israel of targeting civilian infrastructure.

“The Zionist regime’s unconventional and illegitimate attack on Kuwait’s desalination plants is a sign of the vileness and baseness of the Zionist occupiers and the Revolutionary Guards condemn this inhumane act and declare that American bases and military personnel in the region and the Zionist regime’s military and security centres in the occupied Palestinian territories are our powerful targets.”

Pakistan has announced that all public transport will be free starting Saturday, according to Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi.

“The Ministry of Interior will bear the expenditure of Rs 350 million for this public relief initiative”, Naqvi posted on X.

In a proposal published on Friday in Foreign Affairs, Iran's former top diplomat Mohammad Javad Zarif suggested, however, that Iran should now “use its upper hand” to make a ceasefire deal. Zarif, the former foreign minister who helped reach the 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, wrote that Tehran “should offer to place limits on its nuclear program and to reopen the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for an end to all sanctions — a deal Washington wouldn't take before but might accept now.”

While Zarif has no official position now in Iran's theocracy, he helped get reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian elected. He also would not have been able to publish such a piece without at least running the positions past senior members of the country's theocracy.

(Source: AP)

Abu Dhabi authorities are responding to an incident of falling debris at the Habshan gas facilities, following successful interception by air defence systems. Operations have been suspended while authorities respond to a fire. No injuries have been reported. 
 

Abu Dhabi authorities are responding to an incident of falling debris at the Habshan gas facilities, following successful interception by air defence systems. Operations have been suspended while authorities respond to a fire. No injuries have been reported.

The public is…

— مكتب أبوظبي الإعلامي (@ADMediaOffice) April 3, 2026

Iran's Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi on X says, "Striking civilian structures, including unfinished bridges, will not compel Iranians to surrender. It only conveys the defeat and moral collapse of an enemy in disarray. Every bridge and building will be built back stronger. What will never recover: damage to America's standing."

The Ministry of Defense in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia said that seven drones were intercepted and destructed during the past hours.

المتحدث الرسمي لـ #وزارة_الدفاع: اعتراض وتدمير 7 مسيّرات خلال الساعات الماضية. pic.twitter.com/0Ae1EK4AFS

— وزارة الدفاع (@modgovksa) April 3, 2026

The UAE air defenses dealt with missile and drone attacks coming from Iran, and the Ministry of Defense confirmed that the sounds heard in scattered areas of the country are the result of the UAE air defense systems intercepting ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones.

تتعامل حالياً الدفاعات الجوية الإماراتية مع اعتداءات صاروخية وطائرات مسيرة قادمة من ايران وتؤكد وزارة الدفاع أن الاصوات المسموعة في مناطق متفرقة من الدولة هي نتيجة تعامل منظومات الدفاعات الجوية الإماراتية للصواريخ الباليستية، والجوالة والطائرات المسيرة.

UAE Air Defences system… pic.twitter.com/Q3qDOxUydO

— وزارة الدفاع |MOD UAE (@modgovae) April 3, 2026

Iran fired missiles at Israel and some Gulf nations, setting alight a refinery in Kuwait, while explosions could be heard around Tehran and the central Iranian city of Isfahan on Friday, as the United States prepared to further reinforce its already significant military forces in the Middle East.

The family of seafarer Dixit Solanki who died last month in a suspected attack on a merchant vessel off the coast of Oman has moved the Bombay High Court, seeking the return of his mortal remains.

The petition, filed by Solanki’s father Amratlal Solanki and sister Mitali Solanki through advocates S B Talekar and Madhvi Ayyappan, has sought directions to the Union government to expedite the repatriation of his remains, claiming lack of clarity from the authorities.

The plea will be heard on April 6 by a bench headed by Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar.

Dixit Solanki (25) was killed on March 4 when an explosive-laden drone boat struck an oil tanker -- MT MKD Vyom -- off the coast of Oman amid the West Asia conflict, becoming its first Indian casualty.

Iranian drones struck Kuwait's Mina al-Ahmadi oil refinery on Friday, sparking fires at the facility. The state-run Kuwait Petroleum Corp. issued a statement on the attack and said firefighters were working to control the blazes. There were no injuries reported, the company said.

Kuwait operates three oil refineries. Mina al-Ahmadi has come under attack multiple times in the war. Refineries are key to Kuwait's oil production because, without them, oil wells would have to be shut down for lack of a destination for the oil.

Restarting refineries is extremely time-consuming for safety reasons, and those wells would remain largely inactive until refineries are back online.

(Source: AP)

According to the amended official program of the Security Council, the voting session on the draft resolution regarding Strait Of Hormuz will not be held on Friday. 
 

(Source: United Nations)

US President Donald Trump, in a post on Truth Social said, "Our Military, the greatest and most powerful (by far!) anywhere in the World, hasn’t even started destroying what’s left in Iran. Bridges next, then Electric Power Plants! New Regime leadership knows what has to be done, and has to be done, FAST! President DONALD J.TRUMP." [sic

Iran claimed its drafting a proposal with Oman to 'monitor' Strait of Hormuz. The comments by Kazem Gharibabadi, an Iranian diplomat, quoted by the state-run IRNA news agency, described the proposal as “intended to facilitate and ensure safe passage and provide better services to ships passing through this route.”

It is unclear what the proposal would mean. Oman did not immediately acknowledge it. The strait runs through Iranian and Omani territorial waters but is considered an international waterway that should freely allow ships to pass.

US President Donald Trump has escalated tensions with Iran, announcing on social media that a major bridge in Iran has been destroyed, with more attacks to follow. The bridge, connecting Tehran to Karaj. Trump warned Iran to negotiate or face further destruction, while Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stated that targeting civilian structures won't force Iran to surrender. 

The US and its allies are trying to broker a deal with Iran, including reopening the vital Strait of Hormuz, as the conflict approaches five weeks. 

Iran's attacks on Gulf states along with its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz have disrupted the world's energy supplies with effects far beyond the Middle East. That has proved to be Iran's greatest strategic advantage in the war. Britain held a call with nearly three dozen countries about how to reopen the strait once the fighting is over.

Trump has insisted the strait can be taken by force — but said it is not up to the US to do that. In an address to the American people Wednesday night, he encouraged countries that depend on oil from Hormuz to “build some delayed courage” and go “take it.”