Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said the United States and Israel failed to understand that the Islamic Republic was a robust political system that did not depend on any single individual. Diesel prices in the United States rose above $5 a gallon on Wednesday for the first time since the 2022 inflation surge that eroded support for his predecessor Joe Biden. Worst strikes on centra Beirut for decadesIn central Beirut's Bachoura district, Israel warned residents to leave a building, which it then completely flattened. Firefighters spray water on a burning residential building following an Israeli airstrike in central Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, March 18, 2026. A rescue worker stands on the balcony of a damaged apartment as smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in central Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, March 18, 2026.
