CAIRO, March 27 (Xinhua) -- The 28th day of the U.S.-Israel-Iran conflict saw Iran's nuclear facilities and key infrastructure emerge as direct targets, as U.S.-Israeli strikes hit a yellowcake production plant in Yazd province, a heavy water research reactor in Khondab, and two major steel plants in Isfahan and Khuzestan.
While Israel vowed to intensify and expand strikes on Iran, Washington struck a more restrained note, saying the operation would conclude in "weeks, not months."
The following is an overview of the latest developments in the escalating crisis affecting much of the region and beyond.
The United States
-- The White House is expecting to receive Iran's response via intermediaries later on Friday over the U.S. 15-point plan for a potential ceasefire to end the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, according to a report from CBS News.
-- U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who is currently in France attending the G7 Foreign Ministers' Meeting, said that the operation against Iran is expected to "conclude at the appropriate time, we are talking weeks, not months."
-- The Pentagon is considering deploying up to 10,000 additional ground troops to the Middle East to give U.S. President Donald Trump more military options beyond diplomacy, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.
The force, likely to include infantry and armored vehicles, would be added to the roughly 5,000 Marines and thousands of paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division already ordered to the region, said the report, citing Department of Defense officials.
It is unclear exactly where the forces will be deployed in the Middle East, but they are expected to be within striking distance of Iran and its Kharg Island, a crucial oil export hub, the report added.
Israel
-- Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said that Israeli strikes on Iran "will intensify and expand to additional targets and domains that assist the regime in building and operating weapons against Israeli civilians," warning that Iran "will pay heavy and increasing prices for this war crime."
-- The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said that it struck Iran's primary military naval missile and sea mine production site in the central city of Yazd.
The site, targeted by the Israeli Air Force, was used for the planning, development, assembly, and storage of advanced missiles intended for launch from surface vessels, submarines, and helicopters against both mobile and stationary maritime targets, according to an IDF statement.
-- In a separate wave of strikes overnight, the IDF said it hit ballistic missile and air defense production sites across Iran, as well as targets linked to Iran's firepower arrays in the western part of the country.
-- A 60-year-old man was killed in the Tel Aviv metropolitan area by a missile fired from Iran, Israel's national emergency service Magen David Adom reported.
Iran
-- A yellowcake production plant in central Iran's Yazd province was hit by U.S.-Israeli strikes on Friday, with no radioactive leaks reported so far, several media reports showed, citing Iran's atomic energy organization.
The plant, inaugurated in May 2023, produces yellowcake, a uranium concentrate powder obtained from leach solutions and serving as an intermediate step in the processing of uranium ores.
-- The heavy water research reactor facility in central Iran's Khondab was attacked by U.S.-Israeli airstrikes on Friday, Iran's semi-official Fars news agency reported.
No casualties or danger to residents in the area have been reported so far, Fars added, citing local authorities.
-- Two steel plants in Iran's Isfahan and Khuzestan provinces came under separate U.S. and Israeli attacks on Friday, the semi-official Fars news agency reported. The attack on Isfahan's plant killed at least one person and injured two others, the IRNA reported.
-- Iran's official news agency IRNA reported that two people were killed and two others injured in U.S.-Israeli strikes on a cement plant in the southwestern Fars province.
-- Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) announced on Friday that passage is prohibited for any vessel through any corridor in the Strait of Hormuz to and from the ports of countries allied with and supporting the United States and Israel.
Earlier in the day, the IRGC Navy turned back three container ships with different nationalities that were approaching the corridor only for authorized vessels, according to a statement published on the IRGC's official news outlet Sepah News.
-- The IRGC urged civilians in regional states to immediately evacuate areas near places where U.S. forces are staying to avoid harm.
In a separate statement on Sepah, the IRGC said the Iranian armed forces have been tasked with killing the "terrorist" forces of the United States and Israel wherever they found them.
-- Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi said that more than 600 schools across Iran have been demolished or damaged since the United States and Israel launched military actions against the country on Feb. 28, with over 1,000 students and teachers killed or injured.
-- The official IRNA news agency reported that 71,356 residential units and 20,399 commercial ones have been damaged across Iran since the beginning of the nearly month-long conflict, which has also resulted in the deaths of 212 children and 240 women.
-- Araghchi and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov exchanged views on the consequences of the ongoing U.S. and Israeli military "aggression" against Iran. In a phone call, the two sides also discussed the latest regional developments, according to a statement released by the Iranian Foreign Ministry.
Lebanon
-- At least 11 people were killed in Israeli airstrikes on southern and eastern Lebanon and Beirut's southern suburbs on Friday, according to Lebanon's official National News Agency.
Hezbollah said it carried out multiple attacks on Israeli military positions and settlements along the border and in the occupied Golan Heights.
-- Lebanon's Information Ministry reported that Israeli attacks have caused significant damage to healthcare infrastructure, including 70 assaults on ambulance and emergency teams. The attacks resulted in 42 paramedics and health workers killed and 119 injured.
Kuwait
-- Kuwait reported a coordinated drone and cruise missile attack on Mubarak Al-Kabeer Port on Friday, the second port strike in the country that day. The Ministry of Public Works reported material damage to port facilities and no casualties, without elaborating on the source of the attack or the specific facilities affected.
Earlier in the day, Shuwaikh Port was struck by hostile drones, also causing material damage with no casualties, according to the Kuwait Ports Authority.
Mubarak Al-Kabeer Port is a key strategic project on Bubiyan Island, while Shuwaikh Port is a major commercial hub vital to Kuwait's supply chain.
European Union
-- European Commissioner for Economy Valdis Dombrovskis said that the European Union is facing the risk of a stagflationary shock as the ongoing conflict in the Middle East drives up energy prices and clouds the economic outlook.
Germany
-- The US-Israeli war against Iran is unlikely to lead to "regime change," German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said at a forum in Frankfurt organised by the FAZ newspaper. Merz also voiced doubt over whether the United States and Israel had a clear strategy to end the war in Iran. He added that Germany would be open to assisting with military protection in the Strait of Hormuz following a possible ceasefire, though "we are far from that."
Russia
-- Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Thursday that Russia seeks to safeguard the interests of all Middle Eastern states, criticizing U.S. interference in the region.
When asked about why Russia has "firmly stood by" Iran since the U.S.-Israel joint strikes began on Feb. 28, Lavrov said Russia's primary focus is on upholding international law.
Egypt
-- Foreign Ministers of Egypt, Türkiye, and Pakistan held separate phone calls to discuss their efforts to facilitate direct negotiations between the United States and Iran, according to statements by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry on Friday.
Bahrain
-- Bahrain's Interior Ministry announced an investigation into the death of an individual arrested for charges of espionage for Iran's Islamic Revolution Guard Corps.
The ministry, in a statement, stated that in response to social media posts circulating regarding the death of Mohammed Abdulmohsen Mohammed, 32, relevant authorities have launched an investigation into this matter.
Yemen
-- Yemen's Houthi group warned of possible military intervention amid rising regional tensions, calling for an immediate halt to what it described as aggression against several countries in the Middle East. Enditem
