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.

Source: Irish Examiner March 18, 2026 17:06 UTC