Latest Updates on West Asia Conflict

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, told Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations that the US had repeatedly undermined diplomacy through broken promises

US President Donald Trump is "seriously considering" launching fresh strikes against Iran if last-minute negotiations do not result in a peace deal, US media outlet Axios reported on Friday. It said that Trump met with a senior national security team in the morning to discuss the war on Iran even as Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir visited Tehran and was joined by a delegation from Qatar in a last-minute bid to hammer out a deal. President Trump convened a meeting with his senior national security team regarding the war with Iran on Friday morning, two US officials told Axios. Trump is seriously considering launching new strikes against Iran barring a last-minute breakthrough in negotiations, sources who have spoken directly with the president say. Munir is expected to meet on Saturday with Gen. Ahmad Vahidi, the commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and a key player in the Iranian decision-making process. Axios reported that a US official briefed on the diplomatic .

Iran war has dealt a double blow to the economy, with returning migrant workers stuck in India and unable to find similar pay in their hometowns, raising risk of social unrest as unemployment grows

Security officials said Iran could attempt to launch an attack before the US and Israel conclude that diplomatic efforts have failed and decide to take military action

The discussions suggest that the United States and the Iranian government may not be close to reaching a deal to end a war that has badly damaged the global economy

Oil prices have nearly doubled since late February as the war between the US, Israel and Iran upends global markets and triggers concern about a simultaneous spike in inflation and slowdown in growth

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said a toll system would make a deal with the US 'unfeasible'

The US has depleted nearly half of its total inventory of advanced missile-defence interceptors in defending Israel in the now-paused war with Iran, The Washington Post reported. The United States launched more than 200 Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, interceptors in defence of Israel - roughly half of the Pentagon's total inventory - along with more than 100 Standard Missile-3 and Standard Missile-6 interceptors fired from naval vessels in the eastern Mediterranean, the Post quoted US officials as saying. By contrast, Israel fired fewer than 100 of its Arrow interceptors and around 90 David's Sling interceptors, some of which were used against less sophisticated projectiles fired by Iran-backed groups in Yemen and Lebanon, the Post report said on Thursday. The US and Israel started the war with Iran on February 28 with attacks targeted at its military, navy and air force facilities. The attacks have also wiped out top Iranian leadership, including the supreme leader,

The report also said that intensive mediation efforts are underway, with Mohsin Naqvi currently in Iran to discuss the status of the Strait of Hormuz

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday said that despite 'good signs' in Iran talks, 'other options' remain on the table. Being careful not to sound overtly optimistic, Rubio told reporters Thursday that while Pakistan and other regional allies are hard at work to bring a diplomatic resolution on Iran, with some officials travelling to Tehran today, Washington remains ready with alternative plans. "The president's preference is to do a good deal. That's his preference. It's always been his preference. If we can get a good deal done, that would be great," he said. "But if we can't get a good deal, the president's been clear he has other options." Rubio said that Iran's plan to toll Strait of Hormuz would make deal 'unfeasible' Talking to reporters on the tarmac in Florida, Rubio once again blasted Tehran's effort to financially benefit from its chokehold on the critical waterway. "No one in the world is in favour of a tolling system. It can't happen. It would be unacceptable

Iran gave no indication of when it would respond to the US and reiterated it wants a commitment that fighting will end 'on all fronts, including Lebanon'

The upswing in the yield curve largely reflects worsening expectations around fiscal and inflation outcomes, an unfortunate fallout of the West Asia crisis for India's macros.

Brent crude futures rose 81 cents, or 0.77 per cent, to $105.83 a barrel by 0055 GMT, ‌and US West Texas Intermediate futures were up 97 cents, or 0.99 per cent, at $99.23

The US has insisted Iran surrender any plans for nuclear enrichment and reopen the Strait of Hormuz to commercial traffic - demands Tehran is refusing

India is struggling with an energy crisis caused by the nearly three-month-long war against Iran that the US and Israel launched in late February

Trump further noted that the US was involved in various wars earlier, but the war on Iran has been on for only three months

From rising oil pressures and coal gasification to urban housing reform and RBI policy, today's BS Opinion explores the economic and structural challenges shaping India's future