Iran hits tanker off coast of Qatar, Kuwait airport and Israel kills 5
in Beirut attack
[April 01, 2026]
By JON GAMBRELL, and DAVID RISING
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran hit a tanker off the coast of
Qatar and Kuwait International Airport early Wednesday as Tehran
remained unrelenting in its attacks on its Gulf Arab neighbors, while
acknowledging for the first time that Washington had been in direct
contact about a possible ceasefire.
Israel sounded warnings of incoming fire from both Yemen and Iran, while
launching its own attacks in Lebanon that killed at least five people.
An airstrike on Tehran appeared to have hit the former U.S. Embassy
compound, which has been controlled by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard since
the 1979 hostage crisis. Witnesses said buildings outside the massive
compound had their windows blown out and that it appears the strike
happened inside the walled facility.
With no sign of the war abating and more than 3,000 lives already lost,
U.S. President Donald Trump suggested it could be over within two weeks
even as he moved to bring thousands more troops to the region.
No signs of Iran relinquishing grip on Strait of Hormuz shipping
Trump has been under growing pressure to end the war as Iran’s grip on
shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and its attacks on regional energy
infrastructure have sent gas prices skyrocketing to their highest level
since 2022 and caused broad stock market fluctuations.
Iran throttled ship traffic through the strait, which leads from the
Persian Gulf to the open ocean, after it was attacked by the U.S. and
Israel on Feb. 28. In peacetime, a fifth of the world’s oil transits the
strait and the spot price of Brent crude, the international standard, is
up more than 40% since the start of the war, trading at more than $104 a
barrel.
The U.S. has presented Iran with a 15-point plan aimed at bringing about
a ceasefire, which includes a demand for the strait to be reopened.
Iran’s own five-point response includes it retaining sovereignty over
the waterway, and Trump on Tuesday suggested that the war could be
brought to an end even with Iran still controlling the strait.
The U.S. “will not have anything to do with” what happens in the Strait
of Hormuz, instead telling reporters that the responsibility for keeping
the vital waterway open would belong with countries that rely on it.
“That’s not for us. That’ll be for France. That’ll be for whoever’s
using the strait,” Trump said.
It was not clear why Trump brought up France, since Europe receives very
little oil shipped through the strait, with most going to Asian
countries. The president plans a prime-time address on Wednesday.
Push for diplomatic solution showing little signs of progress
Trump, who has vacillated between insisting there is progress in
diplomatic talks with Iran and threatening to widen the war, added that
the U.S. is “finishing the job” in Iran and predicted it will be “maybe
two weeks, maybe a couple of days longer to do the job.”
Trump has warned that if a ceasefire is not reached “shortly,” and if
the strait is not reopened, the U.S. would broaden its offensive,
including by attacking the Kharg Island oil export hub and possibly
desalination plants.
Thousands of Marines and paratroopers have been ordered to the region in
possible preparation for an assault in Kharg, though to reach the island
by ship would mean transiting the Strait of Hormuz and the Persian Gulf,
which Iran has threatened to mine.
In an interview with pan-Arab broadcaster Al Jazeera, Iranian Foreign
Minister Abbas Araghchi acknowledged receiving direct messages from U.S.
Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff. He insisted, however, that there were no
direct negotiations and said Iran has no faith that talks with the U.S.
could yield any results, saying “the trust level is at zero.”
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Israel's rescue teams and residents take shelter as sirens sounds
next to a site struck by an Iranian missile in Bnei Brak, Wednesday,
April 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
He warned against any attempt to launch a ground offensive, saying
“we are waiting for them.”
“We know very well how to defend ourselves,” Araghchi said.
Iran hits tanker off Qatar's coast and attacks other Gulf states
Qatar was attacked with three cruise missiles early in the day, the
Defense Ministry said. The country's defenses intercepted two but
the third slammed into an oil tanker off the coast, the Defense
Ministry said. The 21-member crew of the tanker, contracted by
state-owned QatarEnergy, were evacuated and no casualties were
reported.
A fully-loaded Kuwaiti oil tanker came under attack off Dubai the
day before, one of more than 20 ships attacked by Iran during the
war.
In the United Arab Emirates, a person was killed when a drone was
intercepted and debris hit him while he was working on a farm in
Fujairah, one of the country's seven emirates.
Bahrain sounded two alerts for incoming missiles, and said an
Iranian attack had caused a fire at a business facility.
In Kuwait, the state-run KUNA news agency said a drone had hit a
fuel tank at Kuwait International Airport, sparking a “large fire”
that crews were working to control.
Two drones were also intercepted in Saudi Arabia, which has come
under repeated Iranian attack, and air raid sirens sounded in Israel
though there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.
Israel hits Iranian fentanyl plant and kills 5 in strikes on
Beirut
In Iran, Israel said it had hit a plant producing fentanyl, a
powerful synthetic opioid, to allegedly be used in a chemical
weapons program. Iran acknowledged the strike on Tofigh Daru
factory, but insisted it only supplied “hospital drugs” used for
medical purposes.
The strike happened Tuesday, both the Israelis and the Iranians
said.
Hospitals extensively use fentanyl to treat severe pain. But a small
amount of the drug can be fatal.
Both Israel and the United States have alleged in recent years that
Iran was experimenting with fentanyl in munitions.
In Beirut, at least five people were killed in an Israeli strike on
a Beirut neighborhood. Lebanon’s Health Ministry said another 21
people were wounded.
Israel invaded southern Lebanon after the Iran-linked Hezbollah
militant group began launching missiles into northern Israel days
after the outbreak of the wider war. Many Lebanese fear another
prolonged military occupation.
More than 1,200 people have been killed in Lebanon and more than 1
million displaced, according to authorities. Ten Israeli soldiers
have also died there.
In Iran, authorities say more than 1,900 people have been killed,
while 19 have been reported dead in Israel.
Since the Iran war began, 13 U.S. service members have been killed
and 348 wounded, six seriously, according to U.S. Central Command.
More than two dozen people have died in Gulf states and the occupied
West Bank.
___
Rising reported from Bangkok. AP writer Giovanna Dell’Orto in Miami,
Florida contributed to this report.
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