Iran war LIVE: Huge fire from drone strike shuts down Dubai airport

Dozens of Iranians crossed into northern Iraq on Sunday — the first day the border had opened since war struck their country — to buy cheaper groceries, access the internet, contact relatives and find work.

Travellers said constant airstrikes and soaring food prices have made life in Iran increasingly desperate.

Trucks laden with goods snaked through the Haji Omeran crossing from Iraq's Kurdish region, offering a hoped for respite from high costs on the Iranian side.

Even before the US and Israel launched their war against Iran, Iranian Kurds routinely crossed into Iraqi Kurdistan, sharing deep familial, cultural and economic ties and porous borders that enable steady trade and regular visits. Now Iraq's Kurdish region has become a crucial lifeline for Iranians in the war-torn region to reach the outside world.

The border was closed in response to heightened regional military tensions. Iraqi Kurdish authorities have been waiting for their Iranian counterparts to reopen the crossing.

Air India and Air India Express will operate 48 scheduled and non-scheduled flights to and from the Middle East on Monday.

The two airlines will have their scheduled operations to Jeddah and Muscat, including a total of 10 flights between Indian cities and Jeddah, a release said.

Air India will operate one return service each from Delhi and Mumbai, while Air India Express will operate one flight each from Bengaluru, Kozhikode and Mangalore.

Also, Air India Express will operate 12 scheduled flights to and from Muscat, with one service each from Delhi, Kannur, Mumbai and Thiruvananthapuram and two services from Kochi, Air India said in the release.

Earlier in the day, IndiGo said flight operations in Dubai have been further restricted, due to which some of its scheduled services between March 15 and 17 have been affected.

The US has spent about USD 12 billion on the ongoing war with Iran so far, Director of the National Economic Council Kevin Hassett said on Sunday.

He was speaking on CBS News' Face the Nation.

“The latest number I was briefed on was 12,” Hassett said.

Pentagon estimates provided to Congress said the war would cost $11.3 billion in its first week. Hassett did not specify the time frame for the $12 billion in spending.

Abbas Araghchi told CBS's Face the Nation on Sunday that Iranian negotiators were in talks with US envoys when the decision to attack his country was made.

Araghchi said “we don't see any reason why we should talk with Americans” about how to end the war and that Iran has had no “good experience talking with Americans.” Araghchi says Iran is “open to countries who want to talk to us about the safe passage of their vessels” through the Strait of Hormuz and has been approach by “a number" of nations about that. He didn't name them.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi made a series of phone calls Sunday, speaking with Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani; Jordanian King Abdullah II; and UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Egypt's foreign minister is touring the Gulf region.

An Israeli military source told news agency AP on Sunday that the country has enough interceptors to continue defending its skies against missiles from Iran.

The source spoke on condition of anonymity in line with military protocol.

The comment appeared to be an effort to tamp down growing speculation that Israel's vaunted air defense system is running low.

At least 23 sites, including in Tel Aviv, were damaged in one of several barrages from Iran on Sunday, the Israeli rescue service United Hatzalah said.

Italy's chief of defence staff Gen Luciano Portolano said the attack on the Ali Al Salem base occurred on Sunday morning and destroyed an Italian drone inside a shelter on the base.

No Italian personnel were injured, he said, in comments posted on X.

Italian troops are stationed at the base as part of a coalition task force combating the Islamic State militant group.