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UK PM Johnson Tells Iran's Rouhani to Let British-Iranian Aid Worker Return Home

Richard Ratcliffe, husband of British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, and their daughter Gabriella protest outside the Iranian Embassy in London, Britain March 8, 2021. (Reuters)
Richard Ratcliffe, husband of British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, and their daughter Gabriella protest outside the Iranian Embassy in London, Britain March 8, 2021. (Reuters)
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UK PM Johnson Tells Iran's Rouhani to Let British-Iranian Aid Worker Return Home

Richard Ratcliffe, husband of British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, and their daughter Gabriella protest outside the Iranian Embassy in London, Britain March 8, 2021. (Reuters)
Richard Ratcliffe, husband of British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, and their daughter Gabriella protest outside the Iranian Embassy in London, Britain March 8, 2021. (Reuters)

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told Iranian President Hassan Rouhani that British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe must be allowed to return home to be with her family.

“The prime minister raised the case of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and other British-Iranian dual nationals detained in Iran and demanded their immediate release,” a statement from Johnson’s office said after a call with Rouhani on Wednesday.

“He (Johnson) said that while the removal of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s ankle monitor was welcome, her continued confinement remains completely unacceptable and she must be allowed to return to her family in the UK.”

Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a project manager with the Thomson Reuters Foundation charity, was arrested at a Tehran airport in April 2016 and convicted of plotting to overthrow the clerical establishment. She denied the charges.

Zaghari-Ratcliffe served a five-year sentence which ended on Sunday. An ankle bracelet was removed, allowing her freedom to travel in Iran, but she still cannot leave the country, as she has been ordered to appear for a new court case on March 14 on charges of propaganda against the Iranian state.

Johnson also restated Britain’s commitment to making a success of a multilateral 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, and urged Rouhani to end Iranian breaches of the terms of that deal that began after the United States withdrew from it in 2018.

“He stressed the importance of Iran seizing the opportunity presented by the United States’ willingness to return to the deal if Iran comes back into compliance,” the statement said.

Iran has so far refused to take part in a meeting brokered by the European Union between world powers and the United States on reviving the deal.

Rouhani reportedly raised the issue of a 400-million-pound historical debt which Tehran says Britain owes the country in capital and interest for a 1970s arms deal with the then-Shah of Iran.

“While we see that most of the countries are repaying their debts to Iran or unblocking Iran’s frozen assets, it is very strange that no practical progress has been made by Britain to pay back its ‘defense debt’,” Iranian media quoted Rouhani as saying during the call.

Asked about the debt this week, Johnson’s spokesman said the government continued to explore options to resolve that case, but rejected any linkage between paying the debt and Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s release.

“The UK does not and never will accept dual nationals being used as diplomatic leverage. The money ... is a long-standing case relating to a historic debt owed to pre-revolution Iran,” the spokesman said on Monday.

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Bangladesh Cuts Working Hours to Save Energy Amid Middle East Crisis

Motorcyclists queue to refuel at a fuel station, as concerns grow over fuel supply amid fhe US-Israel conflict with Iran, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, March 15, 2026. (Reuters)
Motorcyclists queue to refuel at a fuel station, as concerns grow over fuel supply amid fhe US-Israel conflict with Iran, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, March 15, 2026. (Reuters)
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Bangladesh Cuts Working Hours to Save Energy Amid Middle East Crisis

Motorcyclists queue to refuel at a fuel station, as concerns grow over fuel supply amid fhe US-Israel conflict with Iran, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, March 15, 2026. (Reuters)
Motorcyclists queue to refuel at a fuel station, as concerns grow over fuel supply amid fhe US-Israel conflict with Iran, in Dhaka, Bangladesh, March 15, 2026. (Reuters)

Bangladesh has ‌launched fresh measures to curb energy consumption, cutting office hours and trimming public spending as conflict in the Middle East disrupts global fuel markets and strains power supply in the South Asian nation.

Officials said the steps approved by cabinet on Thursday aim to stabilize the energy situation in Bangladesh, heavily dependent on fuel imports and battered by price volatility and supply uncertainty ‌from the ‌US-Israeli war with Iran.

Under the ‌new ⁠rules, government offices ⁠will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., while markets and shopping centers must shut by 6 p.m. to reduce electricity use.

The government has also ordered cuts in non-essential public expenditure and urged lower power consumption ⁠in industry, with curbs on excessive lighting, ‌for example.

The education ‌ministry will issue guidelines for schools from Sunday, with ‌options such as adjusting timetables and shifting to ‌online classes being considered.

Authorities will also allow duty-free imports of electric buses for schools, with incentives for those that participate.

Bangladesh has rationed fuel ‌to mitigate shortages, besides limiting vehicle sales and shortening fuel station hours ⁠amid panic buying, ⁠hoarding and long queues.

Authorities have warned that supplies remain tight, despite some easing during major holidays.

Bangladesh' state-run agencies are scrambling to secure energy supplies for a population of about 175 million, while exploring alternative sources in the face of volatile global markets.

The government is also seeking external financing of more than $2.5 billion to help pay for imports of fuel and liquefied natural gas, as rising energy costs further squeeze foreign exchange reserves.

World

Trump Threatens to Strike Iran’s Bridges and Electric Power Plants

US President Donald Trump delivers an address to the nation about the Iran war at the White House in Washington, DC, US, April 1, 2026. (Reuters)
US President Donald Trump delivers an address to the nation about the Iran war at the White House in Washington, DC, US, April 1, 2026. (Reuters)
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Trump Threatens to Strike Iran’s Bridges and Electric Power Plants

US President Donald Trump delivers an address to the nation about the Iran war at the White House in Washington, DC, US, April 1, 2026. (Reuters)
US President Donald Trump delivers an address to the nation about the Iran war at the White House in Washington, DC, US, April 1, 2026. (Reuters)

US President Donald Trump warned late on Thursday about striking and destroying bridges and electric power plants in Iran in his latest threat to hit the country's infrastructure.

The US military "hasn't even started destroying what's left in Iran. Bridges next, then Electric Power Plants," Trump wrote on social media.

His post said that Iran's leadership "knows what has to be done, ‌and has ‌to be done, FAST!"

Trump, who has previously ‌offered ⁠shifting timelines and objectives ⁠for the war, said in a televised speech on Wednesday that the war could escalate if Iran did not give in to Washington's terms, with strikes on its energy and oil infrastructure possible.

Dozens of international law experts in the US signed an open letter released earlier on Thursday saying that US strikes on ⁠Iran may amount to war crimes.

The 1949 ‌Geneva Conventions on humanitarian conduct ‌in war prohibit attacks on sites considered essential for civilians.

The Geneva Conventions ‌and additional protocols say that parties involved in military conflict ‌must distinguish between "civilian objects and military objectives", and that attacks on civilian objects are forbidden.

"We are going to hit them extremely hard over the next two to three weeks. We are going to ‌bring them back to the Stone Ages, where they belong," Trump said in his Wednesday address.

While ⁠he said ⁠Washington was nearing the completion of its goals in Iran, Trump did not lay out a timeline to end the war.

The war began on February 28 when the US and Israel attacked Iran. Tehran responded by launching its own attacks on Israel and Gulf states with US bases. Joint US-Israeli strikes in Iran and Israeli attacks in Lebanon have killed thousands and displaced millions.

The war has also raised oil prices and shaken global markets. Trump's mixed messages thus far have done little to ease the concerns over his country's biggest military attacks since the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

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Israel Wary of Sudden Trump Shift Despite War Pledge

Israeli security forces and first responders inspect the site of an Iranian strike that hit a residential neighborhood in Petah Tikva on April 2, 2026. (AFP)
Israeli security forces and first responders inspect the site of an Iranian strike that hit a residential neighborhood in Petah Tikva on April 2, 2026. (AFP)
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Israel Wary of Sudden Trump Shift Despite War Pledge

Israeli security forces and first responders inspect the site of an Iranian strike that hit a residential neighborhood in Petah Tikva on April 2, 2026. (AFP)
Israeli security forces and first responders inspect the site of an Iranian strike that hit a residential neighborhood in Petah Tikva on April 2, 2026. (AFP)

Despite reassurances in Israel after US President Donald Trump said the war on Iran would continue for another two to three weeks, Israeli assessments still warn of a possible abrupt policy shift that could halt the conflict “before its objectives are complete.”

Security sources say Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) remains intent on prolonging the war despite heavy losses, seeking to turn it into a drawn-out war of attrition. Trump, however, is viewed as aiming to deny Tehran that leverage.

Sources quoted by Israeli outlet Walla said ending the war sooner could allow Israel and the United States to better assess the impact of their strikes, amid growing opposition to the conflict in the United States and Western countries, as well as waning support within Israel.

According to Channel 12, Iran has sustained extensive damage. The United States and Israel have struck 19,650 targets — including 11,000 by US forces — killing 55 senior figures, among them 22 top-level leaders. Around 4,700 sites linked to ballistic missile production and storage were destroyed, eliminating about 90 percent of that capability, along with 150 naval vessels.

Still, Iran has continued to launch missiles. Only 14 percent of its strikes targeted Israel — 411 barrages involving 585 missiles and 765 drones — while the rest were directed at roughly 14 countries, most of them Arab or Muslim states, the report underlined.

Better prepared than expected

Danny Citrinowicz, a researcher at Tel Aviv University’s Institute for National Security Studies and former head of the Iran desk in Israeli military intelligence, told Ynet that Iran retains significant capabilities and appears better prepared than Israel and the United States had expected.

He said statements by Iranian parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf about an “eye-for-an-eye” policy indicate that Iran’s command structure remains intact and that its missile launches follow a coordinated strategy.

“This is not random fire,” Citrinowicz said. “There is a strategic and operational plan.”

He cited a pattern of reciprocal strikes, including attacks in southern Iran followed by the first strike on the Haifa oil refinery, then an attack on the Natanz nuclear facility and a retaliatory strike on Israel’s Dimona reactor.

Further exchanges included strikes on Iranian steel plants and on an Israeli facility in Neot Hovav in the Negev desert. Iran later targeted the Haifa refinery again after Israeli attacks on its electricity infrastructure.

Citrinowicz said Tehran is seeking to establish a deterrence equation that goes beyond Israel alone. He pointed to an attack on Ras Laffan that disrupted 17 percent of Qatar’s gas production following strikes on the South Pars field in southern Iran.

He also highlighted a new risk: threats by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis to close the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in response to any major escalation or ground incursion.

Such a move would mark a significant escalation, he warned. Iran’s strategy is not parity, but escalation to impose new rules of engagement and deter future attacks.

Citrinowicz said the next phase could include strikes on academic institutions, noting recent threats by the Revolutionary Guard against Israeli universities.

These assessments reflect a broader shift in Israel, where officials increasingly believe the war will not destroy Iran, but could delay its strategic programs for several years, requiring future confrontation.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Israel had removed an existential threat, but cautioned the conflict would not be its last.

He stated: “Our enemies still exist. They have suffered a severe blow, but we must remain prepared.”

Israeli and US forces, meanwhile, are continuing their intensive strikes, aiming to further weaken Iran. According to Maariv, both sides agree Iran will not return to its pre-war status after the conflict.