In this photo released by Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan walks towards his car upon arrival to attend a meeting in Islamabad, Pakistan, Saturday, March 28, 2026.
Pakistan Foreign Ministry/AP
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Pakistan Foreign Ministry/AP
The foreign ministers of Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt will meet in Islamabad today in an effort to plan de-escalation of the Iran war.
The meeting comes as several thousand more U.S. troops have arrived in the region and after another group joined the growing conflict: Yemen’s Houthis.
The Iran-backed Houthis launched missiles toward Israel, and there are concerns that their involvement could threaten another vital global shipping lane in the Red Sea.
Here are more updates from Day 30 of the Iran war.
Emphasis on diplomacy in Pakistan
Foreign ministers of four regional powers will meet in Islamabad today and Monday to push for diplomacy to end the war.
In a statement Ahead of the meeting, the Egyptian government said: “Discussions are expected to focus on recent developments related to regional military escalation and ongoing diplomatic efforts to contain tensions and promote de-escalation.”
“The talks are taking place amid growing concerns about regional stability, with participating countries seeking to coordinate their stances and support political solutions to emerging crises,” it said.
Whether whatever consensus the countries known as the “Quad” reach will be accepted by the US, Israel and Iran is another question.
Pakistan has emerged as a potential peace-mediator in the conflict by sending messages between the US and Tehran. Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar Said on Saturday that “dialogue, diplomacy and such confidence-building measures are the only way forward.”
Dar also welcomed the fact that Iran has agreed to allow 20 Pakistan-flagged ships – or two per day – through the Strait of Hormuz.
Houthis enter war
Iran-backed Houthi militants in Yemen on Saturday fired the first missile towards Israel since the war started. Israel’s military successfully stopped it but the Houthis’ attack has opened another front in the war which is now in its second month.
The Houthis had stayed out of the war until Saturday’s missile launch. But a Houthi spokesman said attacks would continue until “aggression on all resistance fronts stops.”
In this photo released by Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, left, meets his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar in Islamabad, Pakistan, Sunday, March 29, 2026.
Pakistan Foreign Ministry/AP
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Pakistan Foreign Ministry/AP
Yemen-based rebels were active during Israel’s war in Gaza, firing on cargo ships in the Red Sea and disrupting global commercial traffic.
Iran’s essentially blockade of the Strait of Hormuz is sending global oil prices soaring, amid concerns that global shipping would be further disrupted if the Houthis begin attacking ships in the Red Sea again.
Iran also attacked several sites around Tel Aviv and Jerusalem on Saturday, and Israel’s military says Iran is increasingly using cluster bombs.
The munition, designed to detonate at high altitudes, fires dozens of smaller bombs, which are more challenging for Israel’s multilayered air defense system to intercept and can cause damage over a wider area.
Excluding Iran, Israel and the US, dozens of countries have signed the Cluster Munitions Treaty banning the weapons.
Iran has threatened American universities in the region
Iranian officials and residents say they were hit by additional airstrikes during the night. Social media videos from across Iran showed strikes taking place across the country.
Israel’s military said it had completed wide-scale attacks targeting weapons production and storage sites.
Iran claims US-Israeli strikes over the weekend targeted Tehran University and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps American university campuses threatened In retaliation in the Middle East.
“We advise all staff, professors and students of American universities in the region, and residents of their surrounding areas, to stay one kilometer away from the campuses,” the statement carried by Iranian media said.
Several American universities have campuses in the Gulf, including New York University in the United Arab Emirates and Texas A&M University in Qatar.
Meanwhile, as Iran continues to fire drones and missiles at Gulf countries, Kuwait said it was stopping the missile and drone attacks early Sunday. Saudi Arabia said it intercepted and destroyed ten drones.
Iran also claimed that it had attacked two major aluminum sites in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Emirates Global Aluminum It was confirmed that the Iranian attack injured several people and caused significant damage to its plant.
American soldiers injured, more arrived
At least 15 US service members were wounded on Friday in an Iranian attack on a Saudi airbase hosting US troops, at least five of them seriously, according to the Associated Press. Saudi Arabia’s Prince Sultan Airport, located outside the capital Riyadh, was targeted in missile and drone attacks.
A first responder assists an injured boy after an attack on a residential building amid a US-Israeli military operation in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, March 28, 2026.
Sajad Safari/AP
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Sajad Safari/AP
Since the war began a month ago, Iran has targeted US service members across the region in retaliation for US attacks and in an attempt to expel troops from the region. Overall, the Pentagon put the number of US casualties at 13 and more than 300 injured.
On Saturday, troops from the Japan-based 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit, made up of about 3,500 sailors and Marines, arrived in the Middle East, according to U.S. Central Command.
The US military would not say where or how they might be deployed. Thousands more soldiers from the US Army’s 82nd Airborne Division are also expected to be deployed.
Journalists killed in Lebanon
Three Lebanese journalists covering the Israeli offensive in the south of the country were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Jezzine.
Women hold posters, including al-Mayadeen TV reporter Fatima Fatouni, left, and in another poster, Hezbollah’s al-Manar TV correspondent Ali Shoaib, center, and cameraman Ali Fatouni, left, are seen during their funerals at a makeshift cemetery in Dahiyah, a southern suburb of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon, Sunday, March 29, 2026.
Hassan Ammar/AP
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Hassan Ammar/AP
One of them worked for a Hezbollah-affiliated TV channel and Israel accused him of being a terrorist rather than a journalist – but has not provided evidence. Journalist Israel says his target was Ali Shaib, an experienced TV correspondent and well-known name in Lebanon. After his assassination, the Israeli Army issued a statement accusing him of exposing the locations of Israeli soldiers.
The other two journalists killed were brother-sister, TV correspondent Fatima Fatouni and her cameraman brother, Mohammed Fatouni. Later their father came on TV and said that he was proud of his children.
All three were covering Israel’s invasion of southern Lebanon.
Lebanese officials called the attack a gross violation of international law and said they were complaining to the UN Security Council. Hundreds of fellow journalists protested in the Lebanese capital.
The three journalists were among at least 47 people killed in Israeli strikes on Saturday, according to Lebanese health officials.
Nine of those killed were paramedics, which the head of the World Health Organization called “a tragedy”, noting that health workers are protected under international law.
Residents inspect their home after it was struck by an Iranian missile in Eshtaol, central Israel, Saturday, March 28, 2026.
Maya Levin/AP
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Maya Levin/AP
Israel has stepped up attacks across Lebanon, mostly in the south, where Israeli ground troops are moving north to try to drive out Hezbollah militants.
one more israeli soldier Also killed in Lebanon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed his condolences over the weekend.
Developments in Syria, Iraq
The war is spreading to other parts of the Middle East. on sunday, Syria said It had stopped a drone attack targeting a US military base from Iraq. Pro-Iranian Iraqi groups have claimed responsibility for some attacks on US interests.
Separately, the Syrian and UAE governments condemned the attack targeting the residence of the Kurdish region’s President Nechirvan Barzani.
French President Emmanuel Macron also condemned the attack Saying: “The sovereignty of Iraq, and of Kurdistan within it, is essential to regional stability. Everything must be done to prevent Iraq from becoming involved in the ongoing tensions.”
on sunday israeli army It said it had launched its “first” attack on Lebanon from Syria.
Jan Arraf in Amman, Emily Feng in Van, Turkey, Lauren Fryer in Jezzine, Lebanon, Carrie Khan in Tel Aviv and Kate Bartlett in Johannesburg contributed to this report.
