Iran targets Israel and Gulf Arab states even as Trump says US is in talks to end the war

Strikes hit Iran and Tehran targets Israel and Gulf states amid mixed signals over talks to end war 1 of 8 | Tel Aviv residents recounted their experiences of shock and fear as an Iranian missile struck a nearby building. 2 of 8 | Israeli emergency services and security forces responded early on Tuesday after a hit was reported amid warnings of Iranian missiles being launched. 3 of 8 | The Israeli military carried out overnight strikes on multiple neighborhoods in Beirut’s southern suburbs on Tuesday, saying it was targeting Hezbollah infrastructure. 4 of 8 | Rubble covers the furniture of a destroyed living room in a residential building hit in an earlier U.S.-Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, Monday, March 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi) 5 of 8 | A medic measures the blood pressure of a woman at the scene of a U.S.-Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, Monday, March 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi) 6 of 8 | Rescue workers and first responders work at a residential building hit in an earlier U.S.-Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, Monday, March 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi) 7 of 8 | Israeli security and rescue forces respond at the site of an Iranian missile strike in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg) 8 of 8 | A man stands on the rubbles of a destroyed building that was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut’s southern suburbs, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla) 1 of 8 Tel Aviv residents recounted their experiences of shock and fear as an Iranian missile struck a nearby building. Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. 2 of 8 Israeli emergency services and security forces responded early on Tuesday after a hit was reported amid warnings of Iranian missiles being launched. Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. 3 of 8 The Israeli military carried out overnight strikes on multiple neighborhoods in Beirut’s southern suburbs on Tuesday, saying it was targeting Hezbollah infrastructure. Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. 4 of 8 Rubble covers the furniture of a destroyed living room in a residential building hit in an earlier U.S.-Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, Monday, March 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. 5 of 8 A medic measures the blood pressure of a woman at the scene of a U.S.-Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, Monday, March 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. 6 of 8 Rescue workers and first responders work at a residential building hit in an earlier U.S.-Israeli strike in Tehran, Iran, Monday, March 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. 7 of 8 Israeli security and rescue forces respond at the site of an Iranian missile strike in Tel Aviv, Israel, Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. 8 of 8 A man stands on the rubbles of a destroyed building that was hit by an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut’s southern suburbs, Lebanon, Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Updated [hour]:[minute] [AMPM] [timezone], [monthFull] [day], [year] DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Airstrikes battered Iran’s capital and Iranian missiles and drones targeted Israel’s Tel Aviv and sites across the Mideast on Tuesday, even as President Donald Trump said the United States was in talks with the Islamic Republic to end the war.With thousands more U.S. Marines on their way to the Gulf, both sides firing intense barrages and Iran denying any negotiations are taking place, the war’s tempo remained high a day after Trump delayed his self-imposed deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Tehran’s chokehold on that crucial waterway has snarled international shipping, sent fuel prices skyrocketing, and threatened the world economy.Any talks between the U.S. and Iran — which appeared at the most tentative Tuesday — would face monumental challenges. Many of Washington’s shifting list of objectives — particularly over Iran’s ballistic missile and nuclear programs — remain difficult to achieve. Meanwhile, it’s not clear who in Iran’s government would have the authority to negotiate — or be willing to, particularly as Israel has vowed to continue taking out leaders after killing several. Iran also remains highly suspicious of the United States, which twice under the Trump administration has attacked during high-level diplomatic talks, including with the Feb. 28 strikes that started the current war. Iran’s military has conducted strikes on the orders of local commanders, rather than from the political leadership, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said early in the war. It remains unclear whether Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who reportedly was wounded and has yet to be seen publicly, is issuing orders to Iran’s regular military or its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, which answered only to his late father. Mixed signals on negotiations amid deep mistrustWhile Iranian parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf called the idea of negotiations with the U.S. “fakenews,” Araghchi’s office acknowledged the foreign minister has been talking about the war this week with his counterparts in Azerbaijan, Egypt, Oman, Pakistan, Russia, South Korea, Turkey and Turkmenistan.Talk of negotiations briefly drove down oil prices and boosted stocks. But that respite was short-lived, with the price of Brent crude, the international standard, nudging back over $100 a barrel Tuesday, up nearly 40% since the war started. Iran’s leaders are wary of Washington’s motives, in part because Tehran was in negotiations with the U.S. before the surprise attack that started the current war. Iran was also in talks last year when the U.S. and Israel attacked its nuclear facilities. Iran named a former Iranian Revolutionary Guard commander as the new secretary of the country’s Supreme National Security Council on Tuesday, replacing Ali Larijani, who was killed in an airstrike. Iranian state television identified the new secretary as Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, who reached the rank of brigadier general in the Guard. Marines are on the way to the Persian GulfTrump’s announcement also comes as a contingent of thousands of Marines is on the way to the region, raising speculation that the U.S. may try to seize Kharg Island, which is vital to the country’s oil network. The U.S. bombed the island in the Persian Gulf more than a week ago, hitting its defenses but saying it had left oil infrastructure intact. Iran has threatened to mine the Persian Gulf if the U.S. appears to be on the verge of landing troops. That would complicate an amphibious assault and also imperil all shipping in the area. Trump said he would hold off on a threat to bomb Iran’s power stations while talks unfold — a delay that could be timed to coincide with the arrival of U.S. Marines in the region, expected Friday, wrote the New York-based think tank the Soufan Center in an analysis.“As Trump has in the past, he could be moving military assets into place, in this case to prepare for an invasion and seizure of Kharg Island, while using negotiations as a cover until those assets are fully combat-ready.”However, the center also noted that “Trump could be actively seeking an offramp. Whether Iran reciprocates is yet to be seen.”Trump has said he has no plans to send ground forces into Iran but has not ruled it out. Israel has suggested its ground forces could take part in the war. Iran hits Israel and Gulf neighbors while Israel attacks BeirutAs airstrikes hit Tehran, Iran fired multiple waves of missiles at Israel early on Tuesday. In Tel Aviv, a missile with a 100 kilogram (220 pound) warhead evaded Israeli defenses to slam into a street in the center of the city, blowing out windows of a neighboring apartment building and sending smoke billowing. Four people suffered minor wounds, rescue service worker Yoel Moshe said.Emerging from a shelter, Amir Hasid said he expected the scene to be far worse. “It feels like you’re a (sitting) duck, waiting for the missiles to hit you, or someone next to you,” he said. In Kuwait, power lines were hit from air defense shrapnel, causing partial electricity outages for several hours. Missile alert sirens sounded in Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia’s Defense Ministry said it had destroyed 19 Iranian drones targeting its oil-rich Eastern Province. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, said Israel will continue to strike Iran and Lebanon even as the U.S. considers a ceasefire.“There’s more to come,” he said.Israel pounded Beirut’s southern suburbs Tuesday saying that it was targeting infrastructure used by the Iran-linked Hezbollah militant group. A strike on a residential apartment southeast of the Lebanese capital killed at least three people, including a 3-year-old girl, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. Another five people were killed in the south.Meanwhile, Lebanon ordered Iran’s ambassador to leave by Sunday, declaring him persona non grata. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Denise Rahme told The Associated Press that Iran’s embassy will still have a charge d’affaires to head its diplomatic mission.The Lebanese government has been critical of Iran and accuses its elite Revolutionary Guard of operating in Lebanon alongside the Hezbollah militant group, and dragging the country into another war with Israel.Israel has said that some of its strikes have targeted Guard officials operating in the country.Authorities say Israeli strikes have killed more than 1,000 people in Lebanon and displaced more than 1 million. Iran’s death toll has surpassed 1,500, its Health Ministry has said. In Israel, 15 people have been killed by Iranian strikes. At least 13 U.S. military members have been killed, along with more than a dozen civilians in the occupied West Bank and Gulf Arab states. ___Rising reported from Bangkok and Magdy from Cairo. Associated Press writers Sam Mednick in Tel Aviv, Israel, Elena Becatoros in Athens, Greece and Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut contributed to this report. Gambrell is the news director for the Gulf and Iran for The Associated Press. He has reported from each of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, Iran and other locations across the world since joining the AP in 2006. Rising covers regional Asia-Pacific stories for The Associated Press. He has worked around the world, including covering the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan and Ukraine, and was based for nearly 20 years in Berlin before moving to Bangkok. Magdy is a Middle East reporter for The Associated Press, based in Cairo. He focuses on conflict, migration and human rights abuses.