Iran Media Says Energy Infrastructure Attacked

A UGC image posted and shared on social media on March 14, 2026, shows smoke plumes rising over the Iranian city of Isfahan after strikes. (Photo by UGC / AFP)
A UGC image posted and shared on social media on March 14, 2026, shows smoke plumes rising over the Iranian city of Isfahan after strikes. (Photo by UGC / AFP)
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Iran Media Says Energy Infrastructure Attacked

A UGC image posted and shared on social media on March 14, 2026, shows smoke plumes rising over the Iranian city of Isfahan after strikes. (Photo by UGC / AFP)
A UGC image posted and shared on social media on March 14, 2026, shows smoke plumes rising over the Iranian city of Isfahan after strikes. (Photo by UGC / AFP)

Iranian media reported on Tuesday that Israeli-US strikes targeted two gas facilities and a pipeline, hours after US President Donald Trump stepped back from his threat to attack power infrastructure.

"As part of the ongoing attacks carried out by the Zionist and American enemy, the gas administration building and the gas pressure regulation station on Kaveh Street in Isfahan were targeted," said the Fars news agency.

The facilities in central Iran were "partially damaged", added Fars, which was Iran's only news outlet to report the incident.

It said an attack also targeted the gas pipeline of the Khorramshahr power plant, in the country's southwest.

"A projectile hit the area outside the Khorramshahr gas pipeline processing station," Fars reported, quoting the governor of the city bordering Iraq.

It did not specify the extent of the damage.

Trump told AFP on Monday that "things are going very well" with Iran, shortly after announcing talks with Tehran and a five-day pause on targeting the country’s power plants.

Trump's abrupt shift on Iran came hours before the expiration of a two-day ultimatum under which he threatened to attack Iranian power plants if Tehran did not reopen the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian media however said on Monday that there were no negotiations underway towards ending the war.



Iran Arrests 466 People Accused of Online Activity Undermining National Security

A resident looks at the damage to a destroyed apartment block in northern Tehran as he stands next to a dust-covered car with the words "Down with the USA" written on its rear window on March 23, 2026. (AFP)
A resident looks at the damage to a destroyed apartment block in northern Tehran as he stands next to a dust-covered car with the words "Down with the USA" written on its rear window on March 23, 2026. (AFP)
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Iran Arrests 466 People Accused of Online Activity Undermining National Security

A resident looks at the damage to a destroyed apartment block in northern Tehran as he stands next to a dust-covered car with the words "Down with the USA" written on its rear window on March 23, 2026. (AFP)
A resident looks at the damage to a destroyed apartment block in northern Tehran as he stands next to a dust-covered car with the words "Down with the USA" written on its rear window on March 23, 2026. (AFP)

Iranian police arrested 466 people accused of online activities aimed at undermining national security, state media reported on Tuesday, in one ‌of the biggest ‌security sweeps ‌since ⁠the start of ⁠the war with Israel and the United States.

Iranian media have reported more ⁠than 1,000 ‌arrests ‌over the course of ‌the month, pertaining ‌to individuals accused of filming sensitive locations, sharing anti-government content online, ‌or "cooperating with the enemy".

A police statement ⁠said ⁠the arrests followed intelligence and technical monitoring in recent days, alleging the individuals were connected to “enemy” networks seeking to create internal instability.


Tel Aviv Mayor Says Building Damaged in ‘Direct’ Hit After Iran Missile Warning

 A drone view of emergency personnel working at a site following Iranian missile barrages in central Israel, amid the US-Israel conflict with Iran, in Tel Aviv, Israel, March 24, 2026. (Reuters)
A drone view of emergency personnel working at a site following Iranian missile barrages in central Israel, amid the US-Israel conflict with Iran, in Tel Aviv, Israel, March 24, 2026. (Reuters)
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Tel Aviv Mayor Says Building Damaged in ‘Direct’ Hit After Iran Missile Warning

 A drone view of emergency personnel working at a site following Iranian missile barrages in central Israel, amid the US-Israel conflict with Iran, in Tel Aviv, Israel, March 24, 2026. (Reuters)
A drone view of emergency personnel working at a site following Iranian missile barrages in central Israel, amid the US-Israel conflict with Iran, in Tel Aviv, Israel, March 24, 2026. (Reuters)

The mayor of Tel Aviv said a "direct strike" damaged a building on Tuesday after an Iranian missile attack warning, as Israeli first responders said they had treated four people for light injuries.

The strike in an upscale neighborhood in the north of the Israeli coastal city tore open the facade of an old three-storey building and scattered debris across the street, according to an AFP journalist at the scene.

Tel Aviv mayor Ron Huldai told reporters that the building had been hit by a "direct strike".

According to several Israeli media outlets, including military radio, police believe the damage was caused by a cluster munition missile equipped with three to four warheads, each carrying around 100 kilograms of explosives.

Israel's Magen David Adom emergency medical service released a video from one of the affected apartments that showed extensive damage from the explosion.

MDA said it had treated and quickly discharged four people, revising down an earlier toll of six people lightly wounded.

A source at the MDA said the individuals had inhaled smoke following a small fire caused by the explosion.

The Israeli military had so far issued on Tuesday seven warnings of incoming missile fire from Iran in central and southern Israel, as well as at least six warnings of missiles or rockets fired from Lebanon in the north.

Israel's military has said that it intercepts just over 90 percent of incoming fire from Iran and regularly reminds residents to take shelter during alerts, as missile defense is not completely "airtight".

Police said they had deployed bomb disposal teams to "several impact sites of munitions" in the Tel Aviv district, but no injuries were reported beyond the four people treated following the direct strike on the residential building.


China’s Xi Urges Progress in His ‘City of the Future’ Project

 Chinese President Xi Jinping talks with students in a classroom at a high school, during an inspection tour of Xiongan New Area in Hebei province, China March 23, 2026. (cnsphoto via Reuters)
Chinese President Xi Jinping talks with students in a classroom at a high school, during an inspection tour of Xiongan New Area in Hebei province, China March 23, 2026. (cnsphoto via Reuters)
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China’s Xi Urges Progress in His ‘City of the Future’ Project

 Chinese President Xi Jinping talks with students in a classroom at a high school, during an inspection tour of Xiongan New Area in Hebei province, China March 23, 2026. (cnsphoto via Reuters)
Chinese President Xi Jinping talks with students in a classroom at a high school, during an inspection tour of Xiongan New Area in Hebei province, China March 23, 2026. (cnsphoto via Reuters)

Chinese President Xi Jinping made a rare visit to the ambitious Xiongan project still under construction near Beijing, calling on officials to "throw themselves" into completing a task on which he has staked his name and legacy.

Located about 100 km (60 miles) southwest of the capital in the province of Hebei, the Xiongan New Area ranks among three special zones "of national significance", along with the tech and financial hubs of coastal Shenzhen and Shanghai Pudong.

"The Xiongan New Area should take reform ‌and innovation ‌as the driving force to promote the deep integration ‌of technological ⁠innovation and industrial ⁠innovation," Xi said during Monday's visit, according to official news agency Xinhua.

Xi is looking to relocate state-owned enterprises, universities, sci-tech firms and financial institutions to Xiongan, roughly comparable in size to Greater London, to alleviate overcrowding and congestion in Beijing.

Sinochem and China Satellite Network Group are among at least eight state-owned enterprises moving their headquarters to Xiongan, state media said, with some up ⁠and running, but others still being built.

Nearly a decade ‌since ground was broken in 2017, ‌central Xiongan remains sparsely populated, though the city is targeted for basic completion in 2035.

Officials ‌should "be bold in taking responsibility, throw themselves into the work of ‌implementation, and strive to deliver satisfactory results to the Party and the people," Xi urged during his inspection tour, Xinhua said.

China's top leadership tends to keep a distance from specific projects, but Xi has tied his own name to Xiongan ‌as he cemented his position as paramount leader of the ruling Chinese Communist Party and the People's Republic.

Official documents ⁠and state ⁠media hail the decision to build the city as one of lasting importance for the coming millennium, emphasizing Xi's personal role in planning, making decisions and driving forward the project.

Xi first visited the site in 2017, the year he got a second term as general secretary of the Communist Party, followed by a 2019 visit after a historic constitutional amendment the previous year paved the way for a third leadership term.

Monday's tour of the newly built headquarters of state-owned power generator China Huaneng Group and a high school was Xi's fourth since an inspection in May 2023.

Officials should "promote the early implementation of innovative policies in fields including sci-tech and finance" in Xiongan, Xi said, as China pursues breakthroughs in key technologies.