Hostilities between Iran and US-Israel forces continued on Friday, with fresh casualties reported, as US President Donald Trump said he would delay planned attacks on Iran’s energy infrastructure by 10 days until 6 April, citing ongoing diplomatic talks.
Trump said negotiations with Iran on a potential peace deal were “going very well”, even as fighting persisted across the region, reports Al Jazeera.
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar confirmed that Islamabad is relaying messages between Washington and Tehran as part of mediation efforts to end the conflict, with Türkiye and Egypt also supporting the initiative.
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi has also held discussions with Dar on efforts to facilitate dialogue between the two sides.
According to Reuters, Iran gave no direct indication that it was ready for negotiation or compromise, although senior officials have said diplomacy continues.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps reaffirmed that all shipping “to and from ports of allies and supporters of the Israeli-American enemies” to any destination was prohibited.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Tehran had continued to fire missiles toward civilian areas in Israel, and therefore Israel’s attacks on Iran “will escalate and expand to additional targets”.
The war has spread across the Middle East, killing thousands of people and causing the biggest disruption in history to energy supplies, hitting the global economy with soaring oil, gas and fertiliser prices that have fuelled inflation fears.
Civilian toll rises
At least 18 people were killed in an overnight attack on the Iranian city of Qom, according to local media.
Iranian outlets, including Fars and Tasnim, reported that the strike hit a residential area in Pardisan, with around 10 others injured. Rescue workers from the Iranian Red Crescent were deployed to the scene.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) warned civilians in the region to leave areas where US forces are stationed, accusing the US and Israel of using civilian locations as “human shields”.
The IRGC has issued similar warnings since the conflict began but has not specified locations in its latest statement.
More than 1,900 people have been killed and at least 20,000 injured in Iran, said Maria Martinez of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
Attacks on Israel by Iran’s Lebanese ally Hezbollah have also prompted an Israeli onslaught that has displaced a fifth of Lebanon’s population.
On the other hand, Israel’s health ministry said 261 people were injured in attacks by Iran and Hezbollah over the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of injured since the start of hostilities to 5,492.
Escalation and global concern
Israel said it had targeted a “major” missile and sea-mining production facility in central Iran.
Brent crude prices rose above $110 a barrel again, reflecting market concerns after Trump’s decision to delay strikes.
On Thursday, Trump posted on social media that he would pause his threat to attack Iranian energy plants for 10 days until 6 April.
“Talks are ongoing and, despite erroneous statements to the contrary by the Fake News Media, and others, they are going very well,” he added.
Iran has yet to formally respond to the postponement, though officials previously said Tehran was awaiting Washington’s response to its ceasefire conditions.
At the United Nations, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi described the conflict as an “illegal war imposed by two bullying nuclear-armed regimes” and accused the US of undermining diplomacy by launching strikes while negotiations were ongoing.
The UN human rights chief also condemned an earlier strike on a school in Iran, describing it as causing “visceral horror”.
Wider regional fallout
Israeli warplanes carried out air strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs on Friday, according to Al Jazeera.
The United Nations warned that Lebanon faces a “real risk” of humanitarian catastrophe. The UN refugee agency said more than one million people—around one in five residents—have been displaced since early March.
Since Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah expanded their offensive on 2 March, more than a million people – one in five residents – have been forced to flee their homes, said the UNHCR.
“The situation remains extremely worrying and the risk of a humanitarian catastrophe … is real,” Karolina Lindholm Billing, the agency’s representative in Lebanon, told reporters.
‘Russia of aiding Iran in identifying targets’
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul has accused Russia of helping Iran identify potential strike targets, alleging President Vladimir Putin is hoping to use the US-Israel war as a distraction from his Ukraine invasion.
Speaking to reporters at a G7 meeting in France, Wadephul also said he spoke to US Secretary of State Marcio Rubio to outline Germany’s position, which is that it’s willing to help play a role in the Strait of Hormuz after hostilities end.
“Putin cynically hopes that the escalation in the Middle East will divert our attention from his crimes in Ukraine,” Wadephul said. “This calculation must not succeed. We see very clearly how closely the two conflicts are intertwined. Russia is evidently supporting Iran with information about potential targets.”
