Politics Iran talks this week? - US forces injured
The US government's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, expects talks with Iran this week on ending the war. A response to a 15-point plan presented to the Iranians by the USA is also expected, he said in the US state of Florida.
28.03.2026, 05:58
SDA
Meanwhile, the mutual attacks continued: according to the army, Israel attacked "terrorist targets" throughout Tehran during the night. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) also reported another attack near the Iranian nuclear power plant in Bushehr. At the same time, Iran fired missiles and drones at the Gulf states and Israel.
The USA's 15-point plan for an end to the war reportedly stipulates, among other things, that Iran must surrender its stocks of enriched uranium. According to the Tasnim news agency, Tehran had already submitted its response to the proposal a few days ago. According to an "informed source", Iran is demanding an end to all hostilities on all fronts - including in Lebanon and Iraq.
The framework in which the talks mentioned by Witkoff are to take place initially remained unclear. He merely said: "We think there will be meetings this week."
Report: Twelve US forces injured in Saudi Arabia
Meanwhile, the mutual attacks continued. According to a report in the "Wall Street Journal", twelve US forces were injured in an Iranian attack on an airbase in Saudi Arabia. They were in a building at the Prince Sultan Airbase, which was hit in the bombing, the US newspaper reported, citing US and Arab representatives.
The airbase in Saudi Arabia is also used by the US military. According to the newspaper report, American tanker planes were also damaged in the attack. The base has been the target of repeated attacks since the beginning of the Iran war.
Bahrain's Ministry of Interior announced on Platform X that a fire in a factory caused by an Iranian attack had been extinguished. The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia also reported that drones and missiles had been intercepted.
Following an Iranian missile attack, an elderly man was found unconscious and in a critical condition at the site of an impact in central Israel, according to the Israeli rescue service. He died shortly afterwards due to his serious injuries. There were also several others with minor injuries.
Another attack near Iranian nuclear power plant
For the third time in the past ten days, an attack was reported near the Iranian nuclear power plant in Bushehr. According to Iranian information, neither damage to the operating reactor nor a release of radiation was reported, the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna announced late in the evening on Platform X. IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi called for maximum restraint in the conflict in order to avoid a nuclear accident.
Iran had already reported projectile impacts on the site of the Bushehr nuclear power plant this week and last week. There was no damage to the plant or casualties on either occasion. The Bushehr nuclear facility, Iran's only nuclear power plant, is located around 760 kilometers south of Tehran on the Persian Gulf.
The USA and Israel state that one of their war aims is to prevent Iran from ever acquiring nuclear weapons. Tehran denies developing nuclear weapons.
Trump criticizes Merz - Merz criticizes Trump
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump criticized German Chancellor Friedrich Merz for failing to help secure the Strait of Hormuz. At a congress in Miami in the US state of Florida, the Republican again attacked NATO allies France and the UK - and then turned his attention to Germany: The German Chancellor had said, "'This is not our war'." Trump added that the war in Ukraine was not the USA's war either.
Trump had already criticized Germany the day before. He had found it "inappropriate" that the German side had said: "This is not our war." The sentence originally came from Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD). Merz had recently said during a visit to Norway: "Germany is not part of this war, and we don't want to be."
The US President had asked NATO allies for help in militarily securing shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, which was virtually blocked by the Iran war. The strait is important for the global oil trade. Because the NATO partners did not comply with the request, he repeatedly criticized them in harsh terms.
On Friday, he questioned the USA's support for other NATO partners. "We would have always been there for them, but now, given their behavior, I guess we don't have to, do we?" said Trump, sharply criticizing the alliance for not standing by the US in the war with Iran. "I think it was a huge mistake that Nato just wasn't there."
Merz, on the other hand, attacked Trump for his actions in the Iran war. "What Trump is doing at the moment is not de-escalation and an attempt to find a peaceful solution, but a massive escalation with an open outcome," said Merz at the F.A.Z. Congress 2026. "These are escalations that are already threatening. Not just for those affected, but for all of us."
Rubio: Targets achievable without the use of ground troops
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio assumes that the US will achieve its goals in the Iran war without the use of ground troops. The military is ahead of schedule to achieve its goals - "and we can achieve them without ground troops", he said after talks on Ukraine between the foreign ministers of the Group of Economic Democracies (G7) near Paris. Rubio expressed his conviction that the mission in Iran could be completed "in a few weeks, not months".
At the same time, Rubio said that he was not categorically ruling out the deployment of ground troops. The USA would reserve this flexibility in order to give President Trump "maximum freedom of action and maximum opportunity to prepare for contingencies".
