Middle East war live: Iran threatens retaliation as Trump says US 'obliterated' targets on Kharg island

Explosion shakes Tehran amid state-organised rally after Israeli warning

A blast rocked a major pro-Palestinian rally in Tehran on Friday after Israel warned it could target the area, as the nearly two-week war between Israel and Iran escalated across the Middle East. Washington ordered roughly 2,500 additional Marines to the region, bolstering its military presence....

'Unacceptable': Drone strike kills French soldier in Iraq's Kurdistan region

France’s armed forces ministry on Friday said a drone strike killed a French soldier and wounded six others in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region. President Emmanuel Macron described the attack as "unacceptable" and insisted Paris’s role in the Middle East war remained strictly defensive....

Iran: A 'Nepo-Ayatollah', the 'Hubris trap" & the costs of a "very complete war"

It’s been a week that’s seen a new Ayatollah proclaimed in Iran. Mojtaba Khamenei, son of the assassinated supreme leader Ali Khamenei, has not been seen in public and is believed to be in hiding after reportedly being injured in the same strike that killed his father. State television showed c...

How will Russia benefit from US decision to ease oil sanctions?

The United States has eased some restrictions on Russian oil, letting shipments already at sea continue until early April in the aim of calming global markets amid Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. Ukraine and European leaders criticised the move, saying it undermined peace efforts....

‘We cut down the menu’: Cooking gas crisis hits restaurants in India amid war in Iran

Restaurants in India are suffering the consequences of disruptions to supplies of cooking gas caused by the war in the Middle East. Two restaurant owners describe the mounting challenges of operating under the crisis and the measures they’re taking to adapt....

As 800,000 flee, half of Lebanon lives in war zones without markets, supplies or healthcare

Genie Godula is pleased to welcome Hassan Al-Sayed. Field Coordinator for the NGO Solidarités International, joining us from Saida in southern Lebanon, a city that has rapidly transformed into a refuge for hundreds of thousands displaced. A significant proportion of the population remains trapped...

Thousands displaced by clashes in South Sudan town

Clashes in the town of Akobo in South Sudan displaced hundreds of thousands of people, leaving them without humanitarian aid. Akobo in the eastern state of Jonglei is the latest flashpoint as fighting between the government and opposition has brought South Sudan back to the brink of all-out civil w...

Zelensky in Paris: Macron vows to keep support for Ukraine

French President Emmanuel Macron Friday vowed to keep up pressure on Russia to end its four-year invasion of Ukraine after Washington partially rolled back sanctions against Moscow to cool oil prices sent soaring by the Middle East war. FRANCE 24's Camille Knight reports....

Iran-made drone killed French soldier in Iraqi Kurdistan

An Iranian drone has killed a French soldier in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, his commanding officer said on Friday, after President Emmanuel Macron confirmed the first French military death in the Middle East war. Since US-Israeli strikes on Iran last month engulfed the Middle East in war, m...

Zelensky in Paris: Macron pledges no 'respite' for Russia despite Mideast war

French President Emmanuel Macron Friday vowed to keep up pressure on Russia to end its four-year invasion of Ukraine after Washington partially rolled back sanctions against Moscow to cool oil prices sent soaring by the Middle East war. Kyiv's allies worry that the United States temporarily allowin...

Global energy crisis: Asia feels the squeeze

Asian nations, including India, are feeling the impact of the ongoing war in Iran. We explore how dependent the region is on West Asia for energy and consider whether New Delhi should position itself as a mediator to help bring the conflict to an end....

US media coverage of the war in Iran: Fact, fiction and propaganda

Polls in the United States suggest the war in Iran is unusually unpopular compared with past US military conflicts. There has been propaganda, video-game footage and facts spun into fiction, but also excellent reporting and crucial analysis of the innocent lives lost. This week, FRANCE 24’s media...

Mideast war puts Lebanon's patients and hospitals at risk

As Israel steps up its bombing campaign on Lebanon, many hospitals have had to close, leaving only a handful of healthcare facilities still operating. For patients with chronic illnesses — and the doctors and nurses treating them — every trip to the hospital now carries the risk of death. FRANC...

Made in UK: Ukrainian drone company to open first UK plant to boost production

Thanks to the 2025 UK-Ukraine partnership agreement and the end of Kyiv's arms export embargo, the drone manufacturer Ukrspecsystems is set to start building drones in its first ever UK plant. This scheme is being reproduced in other European countries. The goal: boost and secure Ukraine's drone pr...

Caught in conflict: Women and the US–Israeli war on Iran

As the US–Israeli war with Iran continues, we focus on the heavy toll it is taking on women and children across the Middle East. Scores of civilians have already been killed throughout the region, with Iranians accounting for the majority of the deaths. Many more have been injured, while millions...

Russia summons UK, French envoys over Ukraine Storm Shadow missile strike

Russia on Friday said it summoned the United Kingdom and France ambassadors to protest a Ukrainian strike using Storm Shadow missiles on a factory in Bryansk, calling it a provocation that could undermine peace efforts....

Lebanon’s Mission Impossible: Could US and Israeli pressure to disarm Hezbollah lead to civil war?

Oliver Farry is pleased to welcome Salah Hijazi, who is the Deputy Head of the Politics Desk at the Francophone Lebanese daily, L'Orient-Le Jour. He warns Lebanon is trapped in a dangerous stalemate, where the war is no longer governed by Lebanese calculations alone but by a wider regional confront...

Middle East war having 'huge impact' on EU economy: Commissioner Christophe Hansen

It’s no secret that farmers across the EU have grown increasingly frustrated with the state of their industry. Profitability is falling, competition from abroad is fierce, and worries about paperwork and bureaucracy continue to mount. Fewer young people are taking over the family farm, opting for...

REPLAY: Macron, Zelensky hold press conference in Paris

The war ​in the Middle ​East will not give Russia respite in its own ​conflict ‌with ⁠Ukraine, French President Emmanuel Macron said ‌on Friday during a ⁠visit by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in ​Paris. Macron added that ‌it was strange to see Russia calling ‌for a ce...

Strait of Hormuz: Iran leverages control of a critical chokepoint in the global oil trade

Amid the current crisis surrounding the Strait of Hormuz, Nadia Massih is pleased to welcome Dr. Guy Laron, Author of "Oil Wars", Historian and Senior Lecturer in International Relations at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. According to Dr Laron, what we are witnessing is not merely a regional co...

War in Ukraine: Zelensky meets Macron for talks on Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Friday for talks aimed at ramping up pressure on Russia to end its four-year invasion. The visit comes as Kyiv's allies worry that a temporary lifting of Russian oil sanctions by the United States will aid Rus...

REPLAY: US Defense Secretary holds press conference on Iran war

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says Iran’s new supreme leader “is wounded and likely disfigured.” Hegseth spoke Friday, a day after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei released a written statement vowing to continue the war. It was Khamenei’s first statement since he assumed Iran...

🔴 Watch live as Macron, Zelensky hold joint press conference in Paris

French officer killed in drone attack in Iraq

A French officer was killed in a drone attack in Iraq, President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday, amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.  Earlier the Iran-backed Iraqi group, Ashab Alkahf, warned that French interests in the region were now targets after the arrival of a French aircraft c...

In Ukraine, war forces schools below ground to keep classes going

In Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, located just 30 kilometers from the front line with Russia, war remains part of everyday life. To protect students from missile strikes and drone attacks, schools have had to adapt. Part of the education system has moved underground. Today, 21 schools op...

War in the Middle East: New wave of attacks on Gulf states

Iran launched multiple attacks early Friday on Gulf Arab states, including dozens of drones at Saudi Arabia, following warnings from its new supreme leader about hosting American bases, and US President Donald Trump threatened major new retaliation....

French soldier killed in attack in Iraqi Kurdistan

A French soldier was killed in an attack in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday, confirming the first French military death in the Middle East war. He did not say who was behind the attack. Since US-Israeli strikes on Iran last month engulfed the Middle East...

In first public comments, Iran’s supreme leader pledges to keep fighting

Iran’s secretive new leader issued his first public statements Thursday, resolving to keep fighting, promising more pain for Gulf Arab states and threatening to open “other fronts” in a war that has already disrupted world energy supplies, the global economy and international travel....

NOMA chef steps down after New York Times report of abuse

PRESS REVIEW – Friday, March 13: We examine how the press is responding to Lebanon emerging as a new front in the US and Israel’s war against Iran. One paper describes the conflict in Lebanon as an extension of Israel’s war against Hezbollah. Also in the headlines: the chef and co-founder of...

Middle East: Millions forced from their homes since the start of the war

Up to 3.2 million people in Iran have been displaced since the Middle East war erupted, the United Nations refugee agency said Thursday and authorities in Lebanon say 800,000 have been forced from their homes as Israel’s military destroys buildings linked to Iran-backed Hezbollah militants....