Iran war: Trump says peace deal terms not ‘good enough yet’ – DW.com

March 15, 2026

Japan cautious about sending warships to Hormuz

A senior Japanese policy adviser said the bar for sending warships to help protect the vital Strait of Hormuz was “extremely high.”

“I regard the threshold as extremely high” for sending Japanese navy ships to the region under existing Japanese laws, Takayuki Kobayashi, the policy chief of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), said Sunday on the public broadcaster NHK’s political debate program.

“Legally speaking, we do not rule out the possibility, but given the current situation in which this conflict is ongoing, I believe this is something that must be considered with great caution,” he said.

Japan’s US-imposed 1947 constitution renounces war and preserves the country’s officially pacifist stance. This would serve as a great obstacle to calls by US President Donald Trump on certain countries, including Japan, to help with securing the Strait of Hormuz.

The vital waterway has been almost entirely crippled amid the US-Israeli war on Iran, with Iran effectively blockading it and consequently choking fuel shipping.

Takaichi, who is meeting Trump in Washington this week, has said that “nothing has been decided” over whether to send Japanese warships to the Middle East to escort tankers.

Japan is the fifth-biggest oil importer, with 70% of it passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

March 15, 2026

Switzerland blocks US military aircraft from using its airspace

Switzerland has denied two US military aircraft permission to fly over its territory due to the Iran war.

The Swiss government reiterated the country’s neutrality laws when justifying its decision. The laws prohibit overflights by parties involved in the conflict for military purposes.

The two blocked aircraft were reconnaissance planes.

Switzerland did, however, allow two transport flights and one maintenance flight access to its airspace, though they were also involved in the conflict.

Swiss officials said flights for humanitarian or medical purposes were allowed, as well as flights not related to the conflict.

March 15, 2026

US orders non-emergency staff and government families to leave Oman

The US State Department has ordered non-emergency government employees and US government family members to leave the Arab Gulf state of Oman, citing “safety risks.”

The order was issued on Friday but published in the early hours of Sunday.

Iran has been retaliating following the US-Israeli ongoing strikes by targeting US facilities in the Gulf. 

Oman, a key mediator between Iran and the US in recent nuclear talks, has not been hit quite as frequently as some of its neighbors, though Iranian strikes have also been frequently reported in the Gulf country.

March 15, 2026

Iran continues to strike Gulf states

Several Gulf states have reported continued Iranian missile and drone attacks, as the US-Israeli war with Iran drags on for a third week.

Saudi Arabia’s Defense Ministry said six ballistic missiles were shot down over the Al Kharj governorate, which hosts the Prince Sultan Air Base.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said late on Saturday they had launched missiles at US forces stationed at the base.

In the UAE, where Iranian attacks have been the fiercest, air defenses in the emirate of Fujairah intercepted a drone whose fallen debris sparked a fire. The port of Fujairah is a key storage and transshipment hub, particularly for oil.

Kuwait and Qatar also reported strikes late on Saturday.

March 15, 2026

Trump: Terms for deal with Iran ‘aren’t good enough yet;’ US may bomb Kharg Island ‘for fun’

US President Donald Trump said on Saturday he was unwilling to make a deal with Iran because “the terms aren’t good enough yet.” He would not, however, elaborate on what satisfactory terms for such a deal would be.

“Iran wants to make a deal, and I don’t want to make it because the terms aren’t good enough yet,” he said in a phone interview with NBC News. When asked what terms he sought, he said, “I don’t want to say that to you,” but agreed they would involve Iran committing to abandoning its nuclear ambitions.

The president confirmed US forces carried out strikes on Kharg Island, home to an oil terminal that supplies the majority of Iran’s oil exports.

“We totally demolished Kharg Island, but we may hit it a few more times just for fun,” Trump told the US broadcaster.

The US president also questioned whether Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is alive, though he also described news of his death as a “rumor.”

“I’m hearing he’s not alive, and if he is, he should do something very smart for his country, and that’s surrender,” Trump said.

Trump also downplayed the soaring oil prices since the US-Israeli attacks on Iran triggered the war.

“There’s so much oil, gas — there’s so much out there, but you know, it’s being clogged up a little bit. It’ll be unclogged very soon,” the president added.

Trump and his administration have offered varying — and sometimes contradictory — explanations for why the US started the war with Iran and no coherent plan on how it could end. 

March 15, 2026

Welcome to our coverage

Thank you for joining us as we bring you the latest on the US-Israeli war with Iran and its impact on the wider Middle East region, the rest of the world and the global economy. 

Here’s a recap of what happened on Saturday:

• Trump said the US has destroyed all military targets on Iran’s Kharg Island, home to an oil terminal which supplies the majority of Iran’s oil exports, then added that US forces might strike it again ‘just for fun’
• In response, Iran has reportedly threatened to attack US conmpanies’ facilities in the region 
• A missile hit inside the US Embassy compound in Baghdad
• An Israeli airstrike on a health care center killed 12 staff, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry
• Trump said ‘many countries’ will dispatch warships to keep the strategic Strait of Hormuz open
• Formula 1 has officially canceled the Bahrain and Saudi Arabia Grand Prix races