West Asia War Day 22: 'Getting Very Close to Meeting Objectives', Says Trump

March 21, 2026 - Three weeks into the West Asia war involving the US, Israel and Iran, the conflict continues to escalate into a regional conflict. What began with a US-Israel strike on Iran on February 28, it quickly grew into a raging war with most Gulf nations pulled into it. The latest worrying updates have been Iran’s threat of attack of recreational and tourist sites worldwide and US announcement of deployment of more warships and marines to the region.

US President Donald Trump has said he does not “want to do a ceasefire” with Iran while also saying he is considering “winding down” military operations against the country. In a post on his social media platform Truth Social on Friday (March 20), Trump said the US was “getting very close to meeting our objectives as we consider winding down our great military efforts in the Middle East”.

The CBS News has reported that US is considering options to “secure or extract” Iran’s nuclear materials. However, no final decision has been taken on this move and the timing of any such operation remains unclear, said the report.

Iran has launched fresh drone and missile attacks on Saudi Arabia and Israel. Two long-range ballistic missiles were also fired towards the US–UK base at Diego Garcia although both missiles missed the target. Iran continues to pound Israel launching missiles with two missile salvos against the country in two hours. Kuwait, too, is dealing with missile and drone attacks on the country.

The country’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has said that Iran had dealt “a dizzying blow” to its enemies who made a “gross miscalculation” on attacking Iran.

In another development, Sri Lanka denied a request from the US to allow two of its fighter jets to land in the country while Switzerland has stopped weapons exports to the US owing to the war with Iran.

A Greek-owned bulk vessel has become the first carrier of its kind to pass through the Strait of Hormuz since March 2 with its Automatic Identification System (AIS) turned on.

Several blasts were heard in Tehran early on Saturday (March 21), according to the country's semi-official news agency.

With the aim to stabilise crude global supply, the US has eased sanctions for 30 days on Iranian oil shipments already at sea. Iran says it has no surplus crude.

Iran has warned the UAE that it could strike Ras al-Khaimah if Iranian-held Gulf islands are attacked again from UAE territory. 

#USIranWar #IsraelIranConflict #MiddleEastWar #GulfCrisis #IranMissiles #GlobalTensions #WarUpdate2026 #OilCrisis #StraitOfHormuz #Geopolitics #BreakingNews #RajasthanNews