Government says 762 million more litres of fuel could enter the market — as it happened

Data suggests that Russia has made almost $10 billion from selling fossil fuels since the war broke out due to increased demand for its oil and gas.

Experts have told SBS there has been a 17 per cent increase in Russia's oil export earnings in the first week of March compared to the same period in February.

It's sparking fears that Russia will use the conflict in the Middle East to finance its own war in Ukraine, providing more money for them to pay for drones, weapons and recruitment of soldiers in Russia.

As the United States lifts sanctions and Europe considers more flexibility, Russia says the world is coming to understand the importance of its resources.

Hear more on this from SBS News journalist Sydney Lang:

— Cameron Carr

A French soldier has been killed in an attack in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, French President Emmanuel Macron says, confirming the first French military death of the war.

In a post on X, Macron said several soldiers had also been wounded in the "unacceptable" attack in the Erbil region.

France's military earlier said that six French soldiers providing counter-terrorism training in the region were wounded in a drone attack.

"Chief Warrant Officer Arnaud Frion of the 7th Battalion of Chasseurs Alpins from Varces died for France," Macron said. "To his family, to his brothers in arms, I want to express all the affection and solidarity of the nation."

Emmanuel Macron said the attack was "unacceptable". Source: Getty / Sean Gallup

France has hundreds of troops based in the region as part of a broader international coalition to fight militants from the self-proclaimed Islamic State group.

Macron said the soldier's presence in Iraq was "strictly within the framework of the fight against terrorism" and the war "cannot justify such attacks".

It was not immediately clear where the drone had come from.

France is deploying about a dozen naval vessels, including its aircraft carrier strike group, to the Mediterranean, Red Sea and potentially the Strait of Hormuz as part of defensive support to its allies.

— Reuters

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) is calling on fuel wholesalers to explain why prices at the petrol pump have increased by up to 18 cents per litre above wholesale prices in some locations.

Across the five largest cities, daily average retail petrol prices on 11 March were 219.7 cents per litre, an increase of 48.8 cents per litre since 20 February.

"Industry need to explain this wide discrepancy urgently," ACCC commissioner Anna Brakey said.

"Fuel wholesalers and distributors need to be aware that we are ready to hold them to account for breaches of competition and consumer laws and will not hesitate to ask for the highest penalties appropriate under the law."

The ACCC wrote to petrol companies, including 7-Eleven, Ampol, BP, Chevron, Mobil, United Petroleum, Viva Energy and EG Australia last week, "seeking urgent information about recent price increases", according to a release this afternoon.

"After reviewing their responses, the ACCC will require further clarification in a meeting with fuel market participants next week."

— Cameron Carr

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of ⁠Iran-backed armed factions, has claimed responsibility for downing a US military refuelling aircraft earlier today.

The group said in a statement it had shot down the KC-135 aircraft "in defence of our country's sovereignty and airspace".

US Central Command said this morning it is carrying out rescue efforts after it lost the aircraft in "friendly airspace" in Iraq.

"Two aircraft were involved in the incident. One of the aircraft went down in western Iraq, and the second landed safely," it said.

The US military has since confirmed that six personnel were on board the plane that went down.

— Reuters, Cameron Carr

Questions have been raised about the safety of Australians in the UAE, as Iranian missiles continue to target the country, and the government warns the situation is "deteriorating".

Earlier this morning, we reported Australia has ordered all non-essential officials to leave Israel and the United Arab Emirates, which Foreign Minister Penny Wong said was "due to the deteriorating security situation".

Dubai has faced more than 1,400 missiles from Iran since the war in the Middle East began. While most have reportedly been intercepted, the attacks have shaken the image of the country as a safe global hub for influencers, tourists and expats.

BBC reported that a 60-year-old British tourist is among 21 people charged under UAE cybercrime laws for sharing content showing Iranian missile strikes in Dubai. The charges come after criticism online of the UAE government's strict control over information.

Several social media clips showing the impact of the war in Dubai have since been deleted by their original posters.

Australian influencer and radio host Kris Fade, who has been based in the UAE for 19 years, told SBS that claims influencers in Dubai are being paid to promote the city's safety are untrue. He said residents feel secure despite the attacks.

"I'm not getting paid from anyone … when we say we feel safe, we feel safe," Fade told SBS News.

Responding to criticism online, he said "there's nothing more hurtful than watching people slag us off on social media — they've never stepped foot in this place."

Ayesha Jehangir, a lecturer in war and media at UNSW, said the reaction is "less about the absolute level of danger" and more about the collapse of Dubai's long-held image as existing outside of the region's conflicts.

"Dubai has been marketing itself as a post-conflict oasis … being in the centre of a region that has seen a lot of conflict," she told SBS News.

"Dubai was promised as a land of opportunities … it has built its global brand by presenting itself as a safe, stable hub for a luxury lifestyle. And that, despite repeated conflict around it, it has still managed to keep that brand."

She added that the war may also expose deep social and economic inequalities among the city's large migrant population.

— Matt Gazy

If you're just joining us, today has seen fresh comments from several world leaders about the war, while Australia has pulled diplomats out of two Middle East locations and announced new measures to boost domestic fuel supply into the market.

Here's what's happened so far today:

• Energy Minister Chris Bowen has announced a reduction in the minimum stock obligations for diesel and petrol, allowing companies to circulate more fuel and keep less in reserve. The obligations for diesel will reduce from 2.7 billion litres to 2.2 billion litres, and for petrol from 1 billion litres to 700 million litres
• The shift in rules follows sustained attacks on oil infrastructure in the Middle East and Iran's new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, saying he will keep the Strait of Hormuz shut as leverage against the United States and Israel
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has issued a veiled threat to kill the leaders of Iran and Hezbollah, while US President Donald Trump has said the US is "doing what has to be done" in the war
• And the investigation into the targeting of an Iranian girls' school is continuing, with sources telling Reuters the lethal US strike was due to out-of-date US intelligence. In response to a request for comment, the Pentagon said that "the incident is under investigation"
• Meanwhile, Australia has ordered all non-essential officials to leave Israel and the United Arab Emirates "due to the deteriorating security situation". Foreign Minister Penny Wong said staff have been directed to leave

We will continue to bring you the latest from the Middle East as the conflict continues and Australia and the world respond.

— Cameron Carr

Iran's football team has responded to comments made by United States President Donald Trump about its participation in the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2026, stressing that its governing body is FIFA, not "any individual country".

"No one can exclude Iran's national team from the World Cup. The only country that could be excluded is one that merely carries the title of 'host' yet lacks the ability to provide security for the teams participating in this global event," the team said a statement shared on its official Instagram account earlier today.

This morning, Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform that Iran's team was "welcome" at the World Cup but that he didn't believe it would be "appropriate" for them to be there, "for their own life and safety".

READ MORE

Trump says Iran at the World Cup wouldn't be 'appropriate'. What would happen if they pull out?

Earlier this week, FIFA president Gianni Infantino said he had spoken to Trump about Iran's involvement after the US president said he didn't "care" if Iran participated or not.

"President Trump reiterated that the Iranian team is, of course, welcome to compete in the tournament in the United States,” Infantino said in a post on Instagram.

Iranian officials themselves have pushed back on the idea of Iran's team playing. Sports minister Ahmad Donyamali said the "conditions needed" for Iran to participate in the World Cup "do not exist", citing the killing of former supreme leader Ali Khamenei and the US "pushing two wars on us within eight or nine months".

Iranian football federation president Mehdi Taj, similarly, said earlier this week: "Who in their right mind would send their national team to such a place?"

FIFA has not confirmed that Iran has officially withdrawn from the competition, nor has it said which team would take Iran's place.

Iraq is considered the most likely replacement as the next eligible team from the Asian Football Confederation, but the team would not necessarily have to be from Asia.

— Razanne Al-Abdeli

It's been nearly two weeks since the United States and Israel attacked Iran, which in retaliation has since targeted several of its Gulf States neighbours.

To get a sense of where Iran sits geographically in the region, take a look at the map below.

Source: SBS

— Cameron Carr

More than a thousand people have been killed across the Middle East since the United States and Israel attacked Iran a fortnight ago.

Here are the death tolls as reported as of Thursday by Reuters, which has not independently verified the data.

• Iran — The latest death toll reported by state media on Monday was at least 1,270 people. But Iran's ambassador to the United Nations said on 6 March that at least 1,332 people had been killed since the war began. There has been no clarification of the discrepancy. It was not clear if those figures include at least 104 people that the Iranian military said were killed in a US attack on an Iranian warship off Sri Lanka's coast on 4 March
• Lebanon — At least 687 people have been killed in Israeli strikes, according to Lebanese authorities. The World Health Organization said at least 98 of those killed were children
• Iraq — At least 30 people have been killed, according to Iraqi health authorities. Most of those were members of the Shi'ite Popular Mobilisation Forces
• Israel — Twelve people have been killed, including nine people in an Iranian missile strike on Beit Shemesh near Jerusalem on 1 March, according to Israel's ambulance service, Magen David Adom. The military said two soldiers were killed in southern Lebanon, the first fatalities among its troops since hostilities with Hezbollah resumed last week
• US — Seven service members have been killed in action during operations against Iran, the US military said
• Syria — Four people were killed when an Iranian missile struck a building in the southern Syrian city of Sweida on 28 February, state news agency SANA said
• United Arab Emirates — Six people have been killed in Iranian attacks, according to the UAE's defence ministry
• Saudi Arabia — Two people were killed when a projectile fell on a residential location in Al-Kharj city, southeast of the capital Riyadh
• Bahrain — Two people were killed in two separate Iranian attacks, with the most recent hitting a residential building in the capital Manama, according to the interior ministry
• Kuwait — Kuwaiti authorities have reported six deaths, including two people killed in Iranian attacks, two interior ministry officers and two army soldiers
• Oman — One person was killed after a projectile hit the Marshall Islands–flagged product tanker MKD VYOM off the coast of Muscat, its manager said

— Reuters

A United States military strike on an Iranian girls' school that reportedly killed 150 children may be the result of outdated targeting data, according to Reuters.

The strike, during the first day of US and Israeli attacks on Iran, involved a US Tomahawk missile seen in videos reported by the outlet.

But exactly how the tragedy unfolded has remained unclear, and the Pentagon has declined to comment, saying the investigation remains ongoing.

According to archived copies of the school's official website, the school is adjacent to a compound operated by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

One anonymous source told Reuters that officials responsible for creating targeting packages appeared to have used out-of-date intelligence. A second source confirmed that out-of-date intelligence appears to have been used.

In response to a request for comment, the Pentagon said that "the incident is under investigation".

— Reuters

US Central Command is carrying out rescue efforts after it lost a KC-135 refuelling aircraft in "friendly airspace" in Iraq.

"The incident occurred in friendly airspace during Operation Epic Fury, and rescue efforts are ongoing," it said in a statement.

"Two aircraft were involved in the incident. One of the aircraft went down in western Iraq, and the second landed safely."

This was not due to hostile fire or friendly fire, it confirmed.

Seven service members have been killed in action during operations against Iran, according to the US military.

— Cameron Carr

US envoy to the United Nations Mike Waltz has accused Moscow and Beijing of seeking to protect Iran by blocking the work of a UN sanctions committee.

"All member states of the United Nations should be implementing an arms embargo against Iran, banning the transfer and trade of missile technology, and freezing relevant financial assets," Waltz said.

Waltz said both China and Russia did not want a functional sanctions committee "because they want to protect their partner, Iran, and continue to maintain defence cooperation that is now once again prohibited".

Russian ambassador Vasily Nebenzya accused the US and its allies of whipping up "hysteria surrounding supposed plans Iran had to get a nuclear weapon", saying there is no evidence that Iran possesses such a weapon.

"This was done in order to undertake yet another military venture against Tehran and to ensure great escalation of the situation in the Middle East and beyond," he said.

China's representative, Fu Cong, called Washington the "instigator" of the Iranian nuclear crisis and said it had "resorted to blatant use of force against Iran during the negotiation process, which rendered the diplomatic efforts futile."

Iran's UN ambassador, Amir Saeid Iravani, told reporters Iran's nuclear program "has always been exclusively peaceful" and Tehran would not recognise any attempt to enforce sanctions against it.

— Cameron Carr, Reuters

US treasury secretary Scott Bessent has said there is "absolutely not" a price the country won't pay in funding its offensive in the Middle East.

Earlier this week, the Reuters news agency reported that officials from the Trump administration had estimated that the ‌first six days of the war on Iran had cost the US at least US$11.3 billion ($15.98 billion).

In an interview with the UK's Sky News, Bessent also said the US Navy could start escorting ships through the Strait of Hormuz.

"My belief is that as soon as it is militarily possible, the US Navy, perhaps with an international coalition, will be escorting vessels through," he said.

The plan to escort ships would go ahead as soon as the US has "complete control of the skies and ... [Iran’s] rebuilding capabilities for the missiles completely degraded", he added.

— Cameron Carr, Reuters

United States President Donald Trump has spoken overnight, saying the US is "doing what has to be done".

"The situation with Iran is moving along very rapidly. It’s doing very well. Our military is unsurpassed. There’s never been anything like it, nobody’s ever seen anything like it," he said.

Donald Trump has been speaking at a White House event with his wife, Melania, to mark Women’s History Month. Source: Getty / Heather Diehl

He goes on to say "we're doing what has to be done, [it] should have been done during a 47-year period", referring to the years since Iran's Islamic Revolution in 1979.

"They really are a nation of terror and hate. And they’re paying a big price right now."

— Cameron Carr

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has issued a veiled threat to kill the leaders of Iran and Hezbollah in his first press conference since the start of the war.

Asked about what actions Israel might take against Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem, Netanyahu said he will "exact a hefty price".

"I wouldn't issue life insurance policies on any of the leaders of the terrorist organisation ... I don't intend to give an exact message here about what we are planning or what we are going to do," he said.

Netanyahu went on to say that Israel's goal is to stop Iran from moving its nuclear and ballistic projects underground, and that some top Iranian nuclear scientists have been killed by Israeli strikes.

— Cameron Carr

Australia has ordered all non-essential officials to leave Israel and the United Arab Emirates "due to the deteriorating security situation".

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said staff have been directed to leave.

"Essential Australian officials will remain in-country to support Australians who need it," she said in a statement posted on social media yesterday evening.

"We continue to advise Australians not to travel to Israel and the UAE.

"We urge you to leave the Middle East if you can and if it's safe to do so."

— AAP

Iran's new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, says the country will keep the Strait of Hormuz shut as leverage against the United States and Israel, in the first comments attributed to him since he succeeded his slain father.

Khamenei did not appear in person, and the remarks were read out by a state television presenter overnight.

"I assure everyone that we will not neglect avenging the blood of your martyrs," he said.

"The popular demand is to continue our effective defence and make the enemy regret it. The lever of blocking the Strait of Hormuz must continue to be used," Khamenei added, referring to the shipping route through which a fifth of global oil normally passes along Iran’s coast.

State television did not explain why the message was read out rather than delivered in person.

Read more of Khamenei's first official statement:

READ MORE

Iran vows to keep Strait of Hormuz shut in first statement from new Supreme Leader

— Reuters

Good morning, and welcome to our live coverage of the war in the Middle East.

Australia has ordered the withdrawal of all non-essential officials from Israel and the United Arab Emirates.

Meanwhile, Iranian state media has delivered the first official comments attributed to the country's new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, vowing to keep the Strait of Hormuz blocked as leverage against the US and Israel.

And US President Donald Trump has said he thinks it wouldn't be "appropriate" for the Iranian football team to participate in the FIFA World Cup 2026, which will be held in North America later this year.

We'll be bringing you developments as they happen.

— Alex Gallagher