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THE United States has begun taking steps to control the Strait of Hormuz, President Donald Trump has said, signalling a potentially significant escalation in Washington’s role amid the expanding conflict with Iran.
In an interview with Israel’s Channel 14, Trump was asked whether the US was capable of taking control of the strategic waterway. He replied: "Yes, sure, it's already happening."
He also pointed to close coordination with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in managing the conflict.
"The coordination is very close. We have a good relationship. It couldn't be better," Bernama reported Trump saying.
Trump further suggested that Tehran is seeking negotiations under mounting pressure. "I think they want to do (it) very badly. Anybody would want a deal if you are getting decimated, right?" he said.
The remarks come as hostilities between the United States, Israel and Iran continue to escalate following the launch of joint US-Israeli airstrikes on 28 February.
The strikes have killed more than 1,340 people, including Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Iran has responded with a wave of drone and missile attacks targeting Israel as well as neighbouring countries including Jordan, Iraq and Gulf states hosting US military assets, triggering casualties, infrastructure damage and disruption to global markets and aviation.
As the conflict spreads across the Middle East, casualty figures compiled from governments, military sources, health authorities and rescue organisations indicate a widening humanitarian toll, although independent verification remains difficult in several areas.
In Iran, the government has not released updated nationwide figures in recent days.
However, the US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency reported on 28 March that at least 3,461 people have been killed, including 1,551 civilians.
AFP reported on Monday that among the victims were at least 236 children and 1,208 military personnel, with hundreds of cases yet to be classified. Reporting restrictions have limited independent verification of these figures.
In Lebanon, the health ministry reported on 29 March that 1,238 people have been killed since the conflict began, including 124 children.
The toll also includes 52 healthcare and rescue workers, with 3,543 others injured.
Three journalists were among the dead, including a senior correspondent from Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Manar television who was killed in the south on 28 March.
The Lebanese military confirmed the deaths of seven soldiers, while Hezbollah has not disclosed its losses.
In Israel, authorities said 19 civilians have been killed since the start of the war. Iranian missile strikes accounted for 14 deaths, including four children, as well as a Filipino caregiver and a Thai national.
Additional fatalities included two civilians killed by rocket fire from Lebanon and one man near the Lebanese border in what was described as an operational error involving Israeli artillery.
Emergency service Magen David Adom reported more than 450 injuries since Iran’s retaliatory strikes began, while the Israeli military confirmed five soldiers killed in southern Lebanon.
In the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Health Ministry in Ramallah reported that four women were killed in an Iranian missile strike on a residential area.
In Iraq, at least 101 people have been killed since the conflict began, according to figures compiled from official and armed group statements.
These include casualties among security forces, police and Iran-backed fighters. A French soldier was killed by an Iranian drone in the Kurdistan region, while a US military refuelling aircraft crash in western Iraq killed all six crew members in an incident not linked to an attack.
Further deaths were reported in Mosul and western Iraq, with authorities attributing some strikes to the United States and Israel.
Kurdish regional officials said missile attacks in the autonomous region killed six fighters, blaming Iran for the strikes. An Iraqi intelligence officer was also killed in a drone strike in Baghdad on 21 March.
Across Gulf states, authorities and US Central Command reported 38 deaths, including 19 civilians, since Iranian attacks began. The remainder were military and security personnel, including seven US troops.
Kuwait recorded six deaths, including two soldiers, two border guards and two civilians, among them an 11-year-old girl.
In the United Arab Emirates, 10 people were killed in a helicopter crash attributed to technical failure, including eight civilians and two military personnel.
Saudi Arabia and Bahrain each reported two civilian deaths, while a Moroccan military contractor was killed in an Iranian strike in Bahrain, according to Emirati defence officials.
Oman’s maritime security centre reported one sailor killed at sea and two others in a drone attack on an industrial site.
The US military has reported a growing number of casualties across the region, with seven personnel killed in the Gulf and six in Iraq.
Around 300 troops have been injured, most with minor wounds, although a US official said 10 remain in critical condition across multiple countries.
On Friday, an Iranian strike on a base in Saudi Arabia injured at least 12 American personnel, including two seriously, according to US media reports.
The widening conflict, combined with strategic tensions around key oil transit routes such as the Strait of Hormuz, has heightened fears of further escalation with global economic implications. - March 30, 2026
