Iran war updates: Netanyahu threatens more attacks after strike on Arad

22 Mar 2026 - 00:00 ( 00:00 GMT ) ## Our live coverage continues 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]( 21 Mar 2026 - 23:55 ( 23:55 GMT ) ## Here’s what happened today This live page will be closing soon, but our coverage will continue on a new page. Here are some of today’s top events: * The UK said Iran launched ballistic missiles at the joint US-UK Diego Garcia base in the Indian Ocean, but that the attack was unsuccessful. A senior Iranian official told Al Jazeera that Iran was not responsible for the attack. * Several Iranian missile attacks broke through Israeli defences in the south of the country, making direct impacts in the cities of Dimona and Arad, wounding some 100 people. * US and Israeli attacks continued across Iran, including in Tehran, Karaj, Isfahan, Natanz and the northern city of Ramsar, according to Iranian media reports and our correspondents on the ground. * Iran’s Atomic Energy Organisation said Israel and the US targeted the country’s Natanz nuclear site on Saturday in “criminal attacks”. * UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the world body is prepared to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has said it would keep closed to “enemy ships”. * A group of European and Gulf nations, including the UAE, Bahrain, the UK, France and Germany, issued a statement condemning Iran’s attacks on vessels and infrastructure in the Gulf. * Saudi Arabia declared several Iranian embassy staff, including its military attache, as persona non grata, ordering them to leave the country within 24 hours. 21 Mar 2026 - 23:50 ( 23:50 GMT ) ## Trump threatens attack on Iran power plants if Hormuz Strait not open within 48 hours In a post on Truth Social, the US president has issued a new threat to Iran. “If Iran doesn’t FULLY OPEN, WITHOUT THREAT, the Strait of Hormuz, within 48 HOURS from this exact point in time, the United States of America will hit and obliterate their various POWER PLANTS, STARTING WITH THE BIGGEST ONE FIRST!” Trump wrote. 21 Mar 2026 - 23:35 ( 23:35 GMT ) ## Israeli ambulance service says at least 10 in serious condition after Iranian attack on Arad Israel’s national ambulance service, Magen David Adom, says at least 88 people have been wounded in the Iranian attack on Arad, including: * 10 – in serious condition * 19 – in moderate condition. 21 Mar 2026 - 23:25 ( 23:25 GMT ) ## Iran death toll from US-Israeli attacks exceeds 1,500, state broadcaster says Iran’s state broadcaster says the death toll from the US-Israeli attacks on the country has now topped 1,500, according to the Health Ministry. 21 Mar 2026 - 23:15 ( 23:15 GMT ) ## WATCH: Joe Kent speaks out against Iran war at prayer event after resigning Joe Kent says he resigned as director of the US National Counterterrorism Center over opposition to the war in Iran, telling an audience at a Washington prayer event that he could not “send young men and women off to die on foreign battlefields” in “good conscience”. You can watch the video below: 21 Mar 2026 - 23:00 ( 23:00 GMT ) ## Trump repeats claim Iran wants to make deal, without offering details The US president has again taken to his social media platform to repeat his claim that the US is “weeks ahead of schedule” in its war on Iran. He also reiterated that he is not looking to make a deal with Iran. “Their leadership is gone, their navy and air force are dead, they have absolutely no defense, and they want to make a deal. I don’t!” he wrote on Truth Social, reiterating an assertion he has also made in the past, without providing any details. Iranian officials have repeatedly rejected holding talks with the US following the US-Israeli attacks on February 28, despite engaging in negotiations. 21 Mar 2026 - 22:50 ( 22:50 GMT ) 21 Mar 2026 - 22:40 ( 22:40 GMT ) ## Israeli strikes hit Kfar Tebnit in southern Lebanon Israeli air strikes have hit the town of Kfar Tebnit in the Nabatieh district of southern Lebanon, our colleagues on the ground are reporting. Since March 2, Israeli attacks across Lebanon have killed more than 1,000 people. 21 Mar 2026 - 22:30 ( 22:30 GMT ) ## What we know about Iran’s attacks on Israel today Iran has carried out at least eight waves of missile attacks on Israel today. Here’s what we know: * Iranian missiles made several direct impacts on Dimona, which is home to a major nuclear research centre, and the city of Arad, both in southern Israel. * The attacks have injured nearly 100 people, including at least eight who are in serious condition. There is also extensive damage in Arad’s city centre, according to Israel’s firefighting service. * An Israeli military spokesman said Israel’s air defence systems were activated during the attacks, but failed to intercept some of the missiles, even though they were not “special or unfamiliar”. * The spokesman said the military would investigate and “learn from” the incidents. * Netanyahu, addressing the attacks, said it was a “difficult evening” and that Israel would “continue striking our enemies on all fronts”. 21 Mar 2026 - 22:20 ( 22:20 GMT ) ## Arad mayor says 150 families evacuated after missile attack The mayor of Arad in southern Israel says that about 150 families were evacuated from the neighbourhood hit by the Iranian missile attack. Israel’s emergency services is saying that at least 64 people were injured in the attack. 21 Mar 2026 - 22:10 ( 22:10 GMT ) 21 Mar 2026 - 22:05 ( 22:05 GMT ) ## Iran did not issue evacuation warning for Doha: State media Iran’s Tasnim news agency has now quoted an IRGC source as saying that Iran, contrary to “false rumours” circulating online, did not issue any evacuation warning for Qatar’s capital, Doha, and Qatari media. As we reported earlier, Iran’s IRIB news agency published a clarification on its Telegram page, apologising for sharing an alleged evacuation threat for Qatar’s capital, and saying this was “denied”. 21 Mar 2026 - 22:00 ( 22:00 GMT ) ## In-person classes cancelled across Israel Israel’s Education Ministry has cancelled all in-person classes across the country for Sunday and Monday. This comes after two missile attacks – on Arad and Dimona in southern Israel – injured almost 100 people. 21 Mar 2026 - 21:55 ( 21:55 GMT ) ## Netanyahu vows to bolster emergency forces after Arad attack Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu says he is “strengthening the emergency and rescue forces currently operating in the field” following an attack on the southern Israeli city of Arad, which injured more than 50 people. “This is a very difficult evening in the battle for our future,” he said. “We are determined to continue striking our enemies on all fronts”. 21 Mar 2026 - 21:50 ( 21:50 GMT ) ## Israeli air force probing interception failure in Arad: Report Israeli media is reporting that the Israeli air force will investigate how air defences failed to intercept a ballistic missile that made a direct impact in the southern city of Arad. Israel’s Arutz Sheva media, citing the Israeli military, says there were two failed interception attempts. The Times of Israel says 59 people have now been classified as injured in Arad, six of whom are in “serious condition”. 21 Mar 2026 - 21:43 ( 21:43 GMT ) ## Iran’s IRIB apologises for sharing false evacuation order for Doha Iran’s IRIB news agency has published a clarification on its Telegram page, apologising for sharing an alleged evacuation order for Qatar’s capital, Doha. “This news is denied,” it said, adding that it had removed the initial post. 21 Mar 2026 - 21:40 ( 21:40 GMT ) ## Saudi Arabia says another drone shot down Saudi Arabia’s Defence Ministry says it has downed another drone in the Eastern Province, the latest in a series of interceptions reported roughly hourly over the past four hours. The latest interception comes after Saudi Arabia ordered several Iranian Embassy personnel, including the military attache, to leave the country within 24 hours. 21 Mar 2026 - 21:35 ( 21:35 GMT ) ## Iran denies it targeted UK’s military base on Diego Garcia A senior Iranian official has told Al Jazeera that Iran is not responsible for the missile attacks on Diego Garcia. Diego Garcia, which is about 4,000km (2,500 miles) from Iranian territory, is one of two bases the UK has allowed the US to use for “defensive operations” in the war against Iran. 21 Mar 2026 - 21:30 ( 21:30 GMT ) ## After Qatar, Saudi Arabia also expels Iranian Embassy personnel As we’ve reported in the last hour, Saudi Arabia has declared several Iranian Embassy staff, including the military attache, as persona non grata and ordered them to leave the country within 24 hours. This comes after Qatar on Wednesday had also declared the Iranian Embassy’s military and security attaches in Doha as persona non grata, along with their staff. That decision came after Tehran struck the Gulf country’s main gas facility following an Israeli attack on the South Pars gasfield in Iran.