Iran war: Houthis claim attack on Israel, Zelenskyy in UAE

Houthis claim missile strike on Israel launched from Yemen, the first since the war started

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has visited the UAE to defense cooperation

President Donald Trump says US doesn't 'have to be there' for NATO

Trump envoy says Iran may hold talks with Washington this week to end war

Here are the developments in the US-Israel war with Iran on Saturday, March 28, 2026:

The USS Tripoli, an amphibious assault ship, has arrived in the Middle East carrying some 3,500 sailors and Marines, the US Central Command said on Saturday.

The ship, which is usually based in Japan, arrived in the region on Friday.

The deployment comes amid rising fears that the US preparing to invade Iranian territory .

The warship is also carrying "transport and strike fighter aircraft, as well as amphibious assault and tactical assets," the US Centcom said.

The vessel was ordered to the Middle East some two weeks ago.

While US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday said the US could achieve its objectives in the war without deploying ground forces, US President Donald Trump has remained vague regarding his true intentions.

Apart from the USS Tripoli, the USS Boxer and two other ships have also been ordered to the Middle East from the US port of San Diego as the US amasses troops in the region.

A wave of antisemitic incidents across the EU has pushed countries like Belgium to deploy soldiers to protect Jewish sites. In Antwerp, members of one of Europe's largest Jewish communities say tensions fueled by recent conflicts are affecting their lives.

Demonstrators took to the streets across the US to take part in latest "No Kings" protests against US President Donald Trump .

While Trump has always been a divisive political figure, he is now facing increasing backlash over a range of policies, including immigration, perceived high-level corruption, the cost-of-living crisis, and the Iran war .

Trump's approval ratings have dropped from 47% at the beginning of his second term in January 2025, to 36% as of last week, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll.

Americans are also alarmed by rising fuel prices in recent weeks due to the joint US-Israeli attack on Iran.

The conflict has seen Tehran choking off the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway through which 20% of global oil and nearly a quarter of natural gas supplies pass.

Energy prices worldwide, including in the US, have surged amid supply disruptions and attacks targeting oil and gas infrastructure in the Persian Gulf.

With the US-Israeli war against Iran spreading across the Middle East, Israel says it intercepted a missile over Tel Aviv launched by Iran‑backed Houthi militants in Yemen.

A Tehran compound used by Iran to research and develop naval weapons has been bombed by Israel, according to the Israeli military.

"The IDF struck the headquarters of the Iranian terrorist regime's Marine Industries Organization" as part of a wave of bombings conducted overnight from Friday to Saturday, the Israeli forces said.

"This headquarters is responsible for the research, development, and production of a wide range of naval weaponry, including surface and sub-surface vessels, manned and unmanned equipment, as well as engines and weapons," the IDF added.

Indonesia said it has been in talks with Iran to secure safe passage for its tankers through the Strait of Hormuz.

"The Iran embassy (in Jakarta) has conveyed the Iran government's favorable consideration regarding the safe passage of Pertamina Group's vessels in the Strait of Hormuz," an Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesperson told the AFP news agency, referring to tankers owned by a subsidiary of the Indonesian state energy firm Pertamina.

The company will make preparations to follow up on Tehran's "positive" response, he added.

The vessels have been stranded in the Persian Gulf as Tehran is enforcing a near-total blockade of the strategic waterway.

Meanwhile, Thailand's Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said his country had struck a deal with Iran to allow the safe passage of Thai oil tankers through the strait.

"With this agreement in place, there is greater confidence that disruptions like those seen in early March will not recur," Anutin added.

An Israeli strike killed two reporters and a cameraman in southern Lebanon , said their television stations Al Mayadeen and Al Manar, which are affiliated with Iran-backed Shiite militant group Hezbollah.

Al Manar said that its long-time correspondent Ali Shoeib died in an attack which was targeting a vehicle near the town of Jezzine.

In the same attack, Fatima Ftouni, a correspondent for new channel Al Mayadeen, and her brother Mohamed, a cameraman, were also killed, according to the broadcasters.

The Israeli military acknowledged targeting Shoeib, accusing him of being a "terrorist in the intelligence unit of Hezbollah's Radwan Force."

It said Shoeib operated "under the guise of a journalist" to "expose the locations of IDF [Israel Defense Forces] soldiers operating in southern Lebanon and along the border."

The Syrian military has fended off a drone attack from neighboring Iraq that targeted a base which previously housed US forces, state news agency SANA reported.

The drones reportedly targeted the Al-Tanf military base in the south of the country.

Since the US and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran a month ago, pro-Tehran groups in Iraq have claimed responsibility for attacks on US interests across the region.

Earlier this week, Syria said one of its military bases in the northeast was targeted by a missile attack from Iraq.

An Iraqi official said a local armed group was behind the attack.

Ukraine and Qatar have signed a defense cooperation deal after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made an unannounced visit to Doha on Saturday.

Four years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Kyiv's forces are seen as experts in drone and anti-drone warfare.

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As the US-Israeli war with Iran drags on, ordinary Iranians are bearing the brunt — living with fear, disruption and uncertainty.

DW spoke to some as they crossed the border into neighboring Turkey .

Iran 's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claimed on Saturday to have "destroyed" a "Ukrainian anti-drone system depot" in Dubai.

"As the hideouts of American commanders and soldiers in Dubai were targeted ... a Ukrainian anti-drone system depot that was located in Dubai to assist the US military ... was targeted and destroyed," read an IRGC statement carried by the Fars state news agency.

Ukraine's Foreign Ministry denied an IRGC claim, which came just hours after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had announced a new defense cooperation with the United Arab Emirates , including assistance with anti-drone warfare (see earlier).

The IRGC claim couldn't immediately be independently verified.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Saturday warned neighboring Middle Eastern countries not to allow the United States to use its Gulf military bases to launch attacks on Iran , or continue to face retaliatory strikes.

"To the countries of the region: If you want development and security, don't let our enemies run the war from your lands," Pezeshkian wrote on social media.

"We have said many times that Iran doesn't carry out preemptive attacks, but we will retaliate strongly if our infrastructure or economic centers are targeted," he added.

As president of Iran , Pezeshkian is the country's head of government. However, de facto executive and decision-making power lies with Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei , whose predecessor and father Ali Khamenei was killed in the opening wave of US-Israeli strikes last month.

The US maintains a substantial military presence across the Middle East with attacks on Iran launched from bases in the United Arab Emirates , Qatar , Bahrain , Oman , Iraq , Kuwait and Saudi Arabia , as well as from warships and aircraft carriers at sea.

In the first two weeks of the war alone, analysis by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and British public broadcaster BBC suggested that Iranian strikes had caused around $800 million (€693 million) worth of damage to key US military installations in the region.

Foreign ministers from Pakistan , Saudi Arabia , Turkey and Egypt are set to meet in Islamabad for talks on the war in the Middle East on Sunday and Monday.

"During the visit, the foreign ministers will hold in-depth discussions on a range of issues, including efforts to de-escalate tensions in the region," read a statement from the Pakistani foreign ministry, which said the ministers would also hold a meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif .

According to the AFP news agency, Sharif spoke to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian for an hour on Saturday morning as part of preparations for the meeting.

The pair have spoken previously in recent weeks the conflict and Pakistan's commitment to bringing it to an end. Pezeshkian told Sharif that ‌"trust" ⁠is ⁠needed to facilitate talks on the conflict, ​the ‌prime minister's office said on Saturday.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, who is expected to arrive in Pakistan on Sunday, said the meeting was initially planned to be held in Turkey.

"However, since our Pakistani counterparts are required to remain in their country, we moved the meeting to Pakistan," he told the private A Haber broadcaster late on Friday.

Pakistan has emerged as a key facilitator between Iran and the United States as the conflict drags on, serving as an intermediary for messages between the two sides.

Islamabad has longstanding links with Tehran and close contacts in the Gulf, while Prime Minister Sharif and Field Marshal Asim Munir, the head of the armed forces, reportedly enjoy a good personal rapport with US President Donald Trump .

Meanwhile, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said on Friday that he expected a direct US-Iran meeting in Pakistan "very soon" — but didn't elaborate or reveal the source of his optimism.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Saturday morning that Ukraine and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have agreed to "cooperate in the field of security and defense" as the Gulf region continues to come under attack from Iranian drone strikes.

"Ukraine has relevant expertise in this area," said Zelenskyy in a statement after a meeting with UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and senior Emirati military officers.

"Our cities, unfortunately, have been under daily attack for four years of full-scale war," he continued. "[Ukraine has] developed an appropriate protection system that delivers a significant interception rate against enemy drones and missiles. This systematic approach and integration of experience is exactly what we are offering to our partners."

Ukrainian cities have been coming under almost daily bombardment from Russian drones for over four years now amid Moscow's ongoing full-scale invasion of its neighbor . Many of the drones are Iranian-made "Shahed" drones, which Tehran is now launching against Gulf states in response to attacks by the United States and Israel .

"For Ukraine, this is a matter of principle: terror must not prevail anywhere in the world," he said, adding that the war in Middle East, and in particular the Iranian blockade of the Strait of Hormuz , directly affects global oil markets. "Protection must be sufficient everywhere."