Reuters World News - Iran security chief, US Iraq embassy, Gulf attacks and Cuba

Episode Date: March 17, 2026

*This podcast has been corrected to remove an erroneous reference to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as president Israel says Iran's security ​chief Ali Larijani has been killed. Rockets and drones were launched at the U.S. embassy in Baghdad as Iranian-backed militias target U.S. interests in Iraq. Sources say U.S. President Donald Trump was warned that attacking Iran could trigger retaliation against Gulf allies, despite his claims that Tehran's reaction came as a surprise. Afghanistan says 400 people have been killed in a Pakistan air strike on a Kabul hospital. Plus, Cuba’s national electric grid collapses.  Listen to the Morning Bid podcast ⁠⁠here⁠⁠. Sign up for the Reuters Econ World newsletter ⁠⁠here⁠⁠. Listen to the Reuters Econ World podcast ⁠⁠here⁠⁠. Visit the Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement for information on our privacy and data protection practices. You may also visit megaphone.fm/adchoices to opt out of targeted advertising. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hi, I'm Kim Vinal in Wanganui, New Zealand. And I'm Ethan Plakin in London. It's Tuesday, March 17th. Today. Israel says Iran's security chief, Larajani, has been killed. Dron and rocket attacks target the U.S. Embassy in Iraq. Trump says he's surprised at Iran's retaliation against Gulf states, despite sources saying he was warned, as Gulf nations themselves consider other options of getting oil and oil.

gas out with the Strait of Hormuz blocked. And Cuba's National Electric Grid collapses. This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes, seven days a week. First, some breaking news. Israel says Iran's security chief Ali Larajani has been killed. He would be the most senior figure assassinated since Supreme leader Ayatollah Khomeini was killed on the first day of the war. Defense Minister Israel Katz says Golem-Rezza Soleimani, the commander of Iran's besiege forces, has also been killed. The besiege militia are a paramilitary force under the control of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard

Corps that's often used to quell protests inside Iran. There's been no comment from Iran on Katz's remarks. For more on this story, head to roiders.com or the Reuters app. A blast and a ball of fire in Baghdad as rockets and drones are fired at the U.S. embassy. Iraqi security sources have described it as the most intense assault since the war began. US officials say no injuries have been reported so far. It's the latest incident as Iranian-backed militias have been attacking U.S. interests in Iraq in retaliation for the war, which began on February 28th.

Iran itself has also launched fresh attacks on the United Arab Emirates. President Donald Trump has said these kind of retaliatory strikes on the Gulf had not been expected, but sources say he was warned about just that before the conflict. Tehran has already demonstrated its reach, attacking airports, ports, oil facilities, and commercial hubs across the Gulf with missiles and drones, while disrupting shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. Two other sources say Trump was also briefed ahead of the operation that Tehran would likely seek to close the strait.

Gulf states are now urging the U.S. not to stop short by leaving Iran still able to threaten the Gulf's oil lifeline and the economies that depend on it. Meanwhile, President Trump is expressing frustration at the lackluster reception, his call for help to reopen the Strait of Hormuz has received. I've been a big critic of all of the protecting of countries because I know that we'll protect them.

And if ever needed, if we ever needed help, they won't be there for us. Trump says he thinks France's Emmanuel Macron will help. He's been on a scale of zero to ten. I'd say he's been an eight. Not perfect. But it's France. Although the EU, of which France is a member, apparently has no plans to extend their existing deployment in the Middle East to the Strait of Hormuz.

One thing several U.S. allies have done, France as well as Canada, the UK, Germany and Italy, is warned that a, quote, significant Israeli ground offensive in Lebanon must be averted. Footage released by the Israeli military shows soldiers firing into what appears to be home in a night raid in Lebanon south. Reuters could not independently verify the video, but a statement from the military said it had located and dismantled a Hezbollah weapons cache. Israel is also continuing its bombardment of Iran and says it's planning for at least three more weeks of war with thousands of targets left to hit.

But as Jerusalem Bureau Chief Rami Ayub explains, that timeline has multiple factors at play. The Israelis have said, or at least acknowledged privately, that they will continue on bombing targets in Iran until the U.S. pulls the plug on the operation. Very much acknowledging that Trump will be the one who decides when this war ends. The three-week period may have been announced in order to ease domestic pressures. Three weeks from now is when the Jewish Passover holiday, will be ending, and that, of course, would mean that children who have been out of school since the start of war could potentially go back to school once the Passover holiday is complete. At this point, that is just speculation within Israel. It very much could be that if we get past

the next three weeks and there is no declared end to this conflict by Trump, if he really is able to do that by himself, of course Iran also has a say, that Israel would continue on with the U.S. in carrying out bombing campaigns in Iran. In the sprawling Behished Isada Cemetery south of Tehran, families are burying their dead as the U.S.-Israeli air campaign enters its third week. The war has now killed more than 1,300 Iranians, according to country officials. Gravediggers are working to prepare new plots in Section 42. An area now is a lot.

reserved for those killed in the conflict. Marzia Razea lost her 23-year-old son, Erfanshamei, in a strike on his military training camp, just days before he was due home on leave. Razai says her son was due to be married soon. The trip home was part of the wedding preparations. The shutting of the Strait of Hormuz

has left the Gulf region scrambling for other options, given the straight moves 20% of the whole world's oil and gas supply. But as our global energy editor Simon Webb explains, rerouting oil on that scale doesn't happen overnight. There are three main ways that crude can come out from the Gulf without passing through the shipping choke point of the Strait of Hormuz. One, there's a big pipeline in Saudi Arabia, east-west pipeline, which goes from the oil fields in the east of the kingdom

over to the Red Sea coast. That can take about 5 million barrels a day. But there's a question as to how much can actually load every day. There's another pipeline in the United Arab Emirates to the port of Fujara, which is a very large terminal for blending fuel, for ships to refuel on the way in and on the way out of the straight of Hormuz. That pipeline can take about a minute and a half barrels. But there's been attacked quite a few times over the past few days,

and loadings have been sort of on off. And then there's a pipeline from the north of Iraq through to Turkey, which can carry a few hundred thousand barrels a day, but there's a dispute between Baghdad and the Iraqi Kurdish government over revenue sharing for those exports and for that pipeline. So that's not really working. And when half the refineries are shut in the region two because they've been attacked or because they can't get the fuel out through the strait of formulas, the storage is an early fall. And you can't load any more tankers because they're already loaded and anchored waiting to go through the straits. So then there's not much you can do apart from cut production, and that's what we've seen.

Simon says the scale of the disruption is global. You can't underestimate the impact that this is having on markets. You're talking 10 to 15% of global supply, at least, and that is causing shortages all over the place. India cooking gas. Vietnam's talking about cutting flights next month because it won't have enough jet fuel. China has told its refiners to stop exporting fuel. And so that's going to trigger even more shortages in other parts of Asia as China keeps the fuel to ensure that it has enough at home. For more on the market impacts of the war, listen to our sister daily podcast, Morning Bed, available wherever you get your podcasts.

That'd be a big honor. That's a big honor. Taking Cuba. Taking Cuba. In some form, yeah. Taking Cuba. I mean, whether I free it, take it, I think I could do anything I want with it. Donald Trump with reporters in the Oval Office escalating his rhetoric on Cuba. The threats come as talks open aimed at improving relations. In Cuba itself, the national power grid has collapsed, with the country's grid operator saying 10 million people are without electricity.

There have been several blackouts recently as Cuba grapples with the U.S. imposed oil blockade. Havana resident Lazaro Hernandez says it's not just the blackout, There is also no water or gas. Survivors, rescue workers and loved ones gather after what the Taliban says was a Pakistani air strike on a hospital in Kabul. The Afghan government says at least 400 people were killed and another 250 injured when the strike hit a huge drug rehabilitation facility on Monday night. Pakistan rejects the claim as false and misleading, saying it precisely targeted military installations and terrorist support infrastructure. Reuters could not verify the casualty numbers. The strike marks a new escalation in fierce fighting between the South Asian neighbours that erupted last

month. And a federal judge has blocked key parts of Robert F. Kennedy Jr's effort to reshape U.S. vaccine policy. The ruling blocks both the C.S. CDC's decision to reduce recommended childhood vaccinations and Kennedy's replacement of all 17 independent experts who advise on vaccine policy. Judge Brian Murphy sided with medical groups that argued the changes were unlawful and would harm public health. For more on any of the stories from today, check out Reuters.com or the Reuters app. Don't forget to follow us on your favorite podcast player. If you're listening on a smart speaker, just ask for the latest news from Reuters. seven days a week. We'll be back tomorrow with our daily headline show.