📰 General · CBS News
Live Updates: Trump extends pause on striking Iranian energy plants; Witkoff floats 15-point peace proposal - CBS News
President Trump on Thursday extended a pause on striking Iranian energy infrastructure until April 6.
Follow updates on the war in the Middle East for Friday, March 27, here. See earlier developments below.
What to know about the Iran war:
- President Trump has extended a pause on striking Iranian energy infrastructure until April 6, saying talks with Iran are "going very well."
- U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff said at a Cabinet meeting that the U.S. had presented Iran with a 15-point peace proposal. Mr. Trump said he's not "desperate" to make a deal.
- Oil prices were back up and stock markets fell as Mr. Trump issued a stern new warning for Iran's leaders to agree to a deal to end the war on his terms "before it is too late." Mr. Trump teased in the Cabinet meeting that taking Iran's oil is "an option," but added, "I mean, I wouldn't talk about it."
- Iran continues to attack Persian Gulf states and Israel and still has the Strait of Hormuz in a chokehold — but Israel's defense chief said the Iranian naval commander responsible for that blockade was killed in a targeted airstrike.
Strikes continuing on multiple fronts
Israel's military said its forces carried out "a wide-scale wave of strikes targeting infrastructure of the Iranian terror regime in the heart of Tehran" early Friday.
This, as Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Friday they had carried out missile and drone strikes the previous day targeting sites in Israel and military facilities in the Gulf used by U.S. forces.
A maintenance facility for a U.S. Patriot air defense system was targeted in Bahrain, the Guards said in a statement carried by Iranian news agencies.
Lebanese media reported an Israeli strike hit Beirut's southern suburbs early Friday. Agence France-Presse correspondents heard several explosions from the Hezbollah stronghold that Israel has repeatedly struck since war erupted.
And the Saudi defense ministry said it had "intercepted and destroyed" four drones over the kingdom's east early Friday.
Israeli opposition leader warns military is "stretched to the limit and beyond"
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid is warning that the war was is taking too high a toll.
"The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) is stretched to the limit and beyond. The government is leaving the army wounded out on the battlefield," Lapid said, echoing a warning delivered a day earlier by military chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir.
"The government is sending the army into a multi-front war without a strategy, without the necessary means, and with far too few soldiers," Lapid said.
In a televised briefing, Israeli military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin said: "On the Lebanese front, the forward defensive zone that we are creating requires additional IDF forces.... For that, more combat soldiers are needed in the IDF."
Australian prime minister responds to Trump's criticism alleging lack of support
Australia's leader said Friday it was not consulted over the war with Iran which was having a "massive global economic impact," responding to President Trump's swipe that the U.S. ally was not doing enough.
Mr. Trump has urged nations to dispatch warships to secure crucial oil supply routes through the Strait of Hormuz.
Although many have baulked at Trump's proposal, Mr. Trump included criticism of Australia as he vented his frustrations over lack of British support.
"Australia was not great. I was a little surprised by Australia," Mr. Trump said Thursday during a cabinet meeting at the White House.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Australia was in close contact with Gulf states under attack from Iran, providing a surveillance aircraft to help defend the United Arab Emirates, where many Australians live.
"There is no request been made to Australia that has not been agreed to," Albanese told reporters in Canberra on Friday local time.
"I make the point as well that Australia wasn't consulted before this action was undertaken. I respect that, that's a matter for the United States," he added.
The U.S. is Australia's main security ally and a partner with Britain in the trilateral AUKUS pact to build more nuclear submarines to counter China.
"We do want to see a de-escalation and we do understand that this war is having a massive global economic impact," Albanese said.
This article is republished through the USVI News affiliate desk. Reporting, analysis, and viewpoints are those of the original publisher and do not necessarily reflect USVI News.