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WorldMiddle EastMiddle East at war

US-Iran war as it happened: Iran warns US ground troops will be ‘set on fire’; Pakistan meets with regional powers for talks to end war

Daniel Lo Surdo, Ellen Connolly and Angus Delaney
Updated ,first published

Key Posts

War weighs on Australian sharemarket
UN peacekeeper killed in Israel-Hezbollah fighting
State leaders considering GST relief
‘Big day in Iran’: Trump says major targets destroyed
Albanese calls for ‘certainty’ from Trump
Australian fuel excise halved for three months
Trump says ceasefire could be achieved ‘quickly’
More suspects detained after foiled Bank of America Paris bombing
Pinned post from 10.54am on Mar 30, 2026
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What happened today

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Thank you for reading our rolling coverage of the war in the Middle East. Our live blog has closed for the day, but will return tomorrow morning.

Here’s what we covered today:

  • Iran has warned the US against a ground invasion, saying it will set American troops “on fire”. It comes as thousands of service members arrive in the Middle East, and a Beirut-based American university moves to online classes after Iran threatened US and Israeli campuses in the region.
  • The Israeli military said on Monday that Iran launched multiple waves of missiles at Israel, and an attack had also been launched from Yemen for only the second time since the US-Israeli war began.
  • Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he has ordered the military to further expand its operations in southern Lebanon.
  • Iranian lawmaker Alaeddin Boroujerdi has suggested Tehran leave the nuclear nonproliferation treaty, something long floated by hardliners in the regime. The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty is a landmark international accord meant to stop the spread of nuclear arms.
  • The Australian sharemarket has closed in the red, weighed down by a slump in major bank shares, as the Middle East conflict continues to cast a heavy shadow over markets. The S&P/ASX 200 closed 55.30 points or 0.7 per cent lower on Monday, at 8461.00, as the oil price continued to weigh on investor confidence. Brent Crude Oil was trading at $US115 per barrel.
  • An Indonesian peacekeeper has been killed and three more injured in southern Lebanon, the UN has said, after a projectile exploded at one of its positions. The UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon has launched an investigation to determine the origin of the projectile and the circumstances leading to the death. Indonesia again condemned Israel’s attacks on Lebanon.
  • Iran has repeatedly used indiscriminate cluster munitions in missile attacks on Israel, killing at least four people in strikes which may constitute as war crimes, non-profit Human Rights Watch found in an investigation.

    Latest Posts

    Israel reports second attack from Yemen

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    The Israeli military said on Monday that Iran launched multiple waves of missiles at Israel, and an attack had also been launched from Yemen for only the second time since the US-Israeli war began.

    It said two drones from Yemen were intercepted early Monday, but gave no further details. Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi militia entered the war on Saturday, firing missiles at Israel, escalating a conflict that has engulfed the Middle East.

    Thousands of demonstrators holding Iranian flags and portraits of Khamenei gather at Sebeen Square, under the control of Iran-backed Houthis, to protest the killing of Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US and Israeli airstrikes. Anadolu via Getty Images

    Israel’s military also said the Air Force was carrying out strikes on Tehran on Monday, targeting what it described as military infrastructure.

    The Associated Press said a petrochemical plant was hit in a strike in Iran, citing state media. It also reported an Israeli strike his Lebanon’s capital of Beirut.

    Iranian lawmaker suggests Tehran leave nuclear nonproliferation treaty

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    Iranian lawmaker Alaeddin Boroujerdi has suggested Tehran leave the nuclear nonproliferation treaty, something long floated by hardliners in the regime.

    “Why should we accept the restrictions?” Boroujerdi said on Iranian state TV. “We are not seeking a nuclear weapon anyway. But it’s not like … we are supposed to observe the rules of the game and they bomb us.”

    Iran’s Natanz nuclear site, where it produced a vast majority of its nuclear fuel, has been targeted repeatedly by the US and Israel. Planet Labs PBC

    The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty is a landmark international accord meant to stop the spread of nuclear arms. Countries that signed it agreed not to build or obtain nuclear weapons and allow the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to conduct inspections to verify they correctly declared their programs.

    Iran has been restricting IAEA inspections for years and hasn’t let them visit the three enrichment sites bombed by the US in June last year.

    AP

    War weighs on Australian sharemarket

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    The Australian sharemarket has closed in the red, weighed down by a slump in major bank shares, as the Middle East conflict continues to cast a heavy shadow over markets.

    The S&P/ASX 200 closed 55.30 points or 0.7 per cent lower on Monday, at 8461.00 as the oil price continued to weigh on investor confidence. Brent crude oil, the international standard, surged as high as $US116.75 a barrel, a price it last traded at in mid-2022 amid the COVID reopening.

    The increase in the price of oil came as Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen entered the Middle East war and more US troops arrived in the region, raising fears the widening conflict will cause further chaos for energy markets.

    Financial stocks retreated, with Commonwealth Bank losing 2.8 per cent, Westpac dropping 4.1 per cent, National Australia Bank losing 1.8 per cent and ANZ Bank shedding 1.6 per cent.

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    Indonesia confirms peacekeeper was killed in Lebanon

    By Zach Hope

    Indonesia has confirmed one of its United Nations peacekeepers was killed on Sunday in southern Lebanon.

    Indonesia’s foreign ministry said three more of its citizens with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) were injured in same incident, which happened on Sunday near Adchit Al Qusayr.

    The ministry did not say who fired the artillery but that it landed amid fighting between Israel and armed groups in southern Lebanon.

    “Indonesia strongly condemns the incident and calls for a thorough and transparent investigation,” the government said.

    “Indonesia reiterates its condemnation of Israel’s attacks in southern Lebanon and calls on all parties to respect Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, cease attacks against civilian populations and infrastructure, and return to dialogue and diplomacy to prevent further escalation and advance peace.”

    UNIFIL was established in 1978 to confirm Israel’s withdraw from Lebanon and ensure security. As of January, it consisted of more than 8000 personnel.

    Indonesia is the second-largest contributor to this number, behind Italy.

    Who are the Houthis?

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    On the weekend, the Iran-backed Houthi militants inserted themselves into the Middle East war and launched attacks on Israel. 

    The Yemen-based group raised concerns of further disruption to global trade and oil supply, due to their ability to strike shipping lanes around the Arabian Peninsula and Red Sea.

    Read about the Houthis, and the other Iran-backed militant groups, in this explainer from 2024, when Israel bombed Lebanon.

    Analysis: Bowser populism to bring long-term financial pain

    By Shane Wright

    Anthony Albanese has set himself and the nation’s mortgage holders on a collision course with the Reserve Bank.

    Monday’s decision to halve fuel excise for three months gives 26¢ a litre relief to motorists, but those with a home loan will probably pay for it with higher repayments.

    Adding more than $2.5 billion into the economy, which is already feeling inflationary strains, will only end in pain.

    It was a bad policy when Angus Taylor announced a similar plan last week.

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    Israel approves revised war budget, extending reliance on debt

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    Israel’s parliament approved a 2026 state budget with a large defence supplement to cover the war with Iran, to be funded by additional borrowing and cuts in civilian spending.

    The spending plan, approved by Knesset lawmakers early on Monday, totals 699 billion shekels ($323 billion) and sets a deficit target of 4.9 per cent of gross domestic product.

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.AP

    Defence is the largest item at 143 billion shekels ($66 billion) — about 120 per cent higher than in 2023, before the war in Gaza. An additional 6 billion shekels ($2.7 billion) was placed in reserves for Iran war-related costs or other military needs, bringing the supplementary defence budget to at least 38 billion shekels ($17.5 billion) or almost 2 per cent of GDP.

    The extra money is mostly for replenishing Israel’s military inventory and to pay reserve soldiers.

    The swollen defence budget will be funded by a larger deficit, which was lowered from an anticipated 5.1 per cent of GDP after Israeli banks agreed to pay a one-time levy of some 3 billion shekels ($1.78 billion) into state coffers.

    Bloomberg

    Opinion: Trump is floundering as he looks to chicken out

    By Stephen Bartholomeusz

    With the war in Iran about to enter its fifth week, global investors are dashing for cash, selling shares, bonds, gold and just about anything else they could get their hands on in a scramble to lower risk.

    In a two-day selloff at the end of last week, the US sharemarket lost 3.6 per cent of its value – the worst two-day performance since Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs were unveiled on April 2 last year.

    That market is now down about 7.7 per cent since the start of the war. Global stocks, measured by the MSCI All Country World Index, are down 9 per cent and the Australian market about 7.4 per cent.

    The tech-oriented Nasdaq index, which tumbled 4.3 per cent on Thursday and Friday, has fallen more than 10 per cent since the onset of the war, so technically is in “correction” territory.

    Oil trading at $US115 on fears of Houthi intervention

    By Angus Delaney

    Brent Crude Oil is trading at $US115 per barrel as the Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen entered the war, raising fears of further chaos for energy markets.

    The Australian and Asian sharemarkets are lower this afternoon, as the conflict continues to cast a shadow over shares.

    The move by the Houthis adds “upside risk mainly via shipping and Red Sea routing”, said Haris Khurshid, chief investment officer at Karobaar Capital LP in Chicago. “But unless it spills into broader Gulf infrastructure or Hormuz flows, it’s more volatility than a true supply shock,” he added.

    The S&P/ASX 200 is down 0.79 per cent, and down more than 8 per cent in the past month.

    Japan’s sharemarket, the Nikkei 225, is down 3.3 per cent due to the worries on steeper oil prices. The South Korean Kospi is down more than 3 per cent.

    With AP, Reuters

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    States will discuss GST fuel discount this afternoon

    By Chip Le Grand

    State governments will have a second national phone hook-up this afternoon to finalise how a proposed GST discount on fuel will work.

    The Victorian government, which is currently holding a state cabinet meeting, is modelling different scenarios to reduce the amount of sales tax paid by motorists at the pump. NSW Premier Chris Minns earlier confirmed the states were considering GST relief.

    State governments are discussing further tax cuts to decrease the price motorists pay for petrol. Max Mason-Hubers

    Today’s national cabinet proposal is for states to forgo the windfall gain they have enjoyed from additional GST revenue on fuel and further reduce the bowser price of petrol.

    The states have agreed in principle, but are working through the details of how the GST discount will work.

    At the start of the crisis, the national average cost of unleaded petrol was $1.69 a litre, which included 15¢ a litre on GST.

    If the states agree to charge motorists 15¢ a litre GST from April 1, it would represent a saving at the bowser of about 6¢ a litre.

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