Trump pressures allies, Iran arrests, fuel shock and F1 cancellations

I'm your weekend host, Sharon Reichgarson, it's Sunday, March 15th, today.

Iran arrests dozens of people it accuses of helping Israel target the military.

The U.S. pressures allies to send warships to secure the Strait of Hormuz.

Economic officials from the U.S. and China meet in Paris ahead of Trump's trip to Beijing.

And F1 calls off races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the frontlines in 10 minutes,

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Iran has arrested dozens of people it accuses of helping Israel target military sites.

That's according to local media.

State-linked outlets report that security forces have detained suspects across several provinces,

accusing them of gathering intelligence on sensitive locations and economic infrastructure.

Officials say the roundup is part of a broader push to stop what they describe

as ground-level tip-offs to Israel.

This comes as the U.S. president has threatened more strikes on Iran's cargo island

and is pushing for allies to send warships to the strait of Hormuz.

On Saturday, Trump telling NBC News, quote,

we may hit it a few more times, just for fun.

The remarks signal a sharp escalation from Trump

and come as the U.S. rejects new efforts by Middle Eastern allies to start cease-fire talks.

Three sources tell Reuters that Oman and Egypt have been trying to open diplomatic channels,

but Washington is brushing them off.

And Iran is refusing to come to the table until U.S. and Israeli strikes stop.

Two senior officials have told Reuters they've rejected the possibility of any cease-fire for now.

They also say several countries have been trying to mediate an end to the conflict.

And with no diplomatic movement, the fallout continues to spill into the strait of Hormuz,

the narrow, crucial oil route seeing drone attacks and shipping disruptions.

That's raised fuel prices across Asia and is pushing Japan,

which relies on the Middle East for 90 percent of its oil supply,

to release a record 80 million barrels of oil on Monday.

Tokyo says that's a roughly 45-day supply,

and will cut national reserves by 17 percent.

Energy analysts say the move mainly buys time,

but can't fully offset a prolonged Hormuz disruption.

Meanwhile, U.S. officials are urging allies to buy more American energy.

Iran has allowed some Indian vessels to sail through the strait of Hormuz,

a rare exception to the blockade.

Here's a representative for Iran's Supreme Leader in India, Abdul Majid Hakim Allahi.

Yes, the oil and the ships which support our enemies, that they are not allowed to go,

but the other countries should not be suffered.

But many Indian sailors have been stuck for two weeks,

and they say they're growing increasingly desperate as drone and missiles hit chips nearby.

Reporter Saurab Sharma has more.

The situation as of now is that there are about 20 tankers and vessels

which are stuck, and they have a lot of Indian fuel on them.

I was able to speak with at least three sailors who are stranded on different vessels,

and these sailors have been telling me that initially they were not able to access the internet,

then they started seeing drones.

They even saw fighter jets passing,

and according to the sailors that I spoke to,

the only option that they have now is to sail to the nearest port of a different country

where the air space is still open,

or the alternate route for them would be to stay with the ship

till they get a clearance to come out or pass through that strait of Hormuz.

The authorities in Iran and the authorities from India is communicating with them very regularly,

and they are assuring that nothing will happen.

Iran's ambassador has repeated that India and Iran have been friends.

Even the Indian Prime Minister had a telephonic conversation with the Iranian Prime Minister,

so given the cultural relations that India shares with Iran,

India is a major exporter of rise to Iran.

So I think these are the leverages that India has.

As New Delhi works diplomatic channels, protests have erupted across India

over a cooking gas shortage.

Demonstrators were seeing carrying gas cylinders and chanting while moving through the streets.

Residents report being stuck waiting in hours long lines due to disruptions in liquefied petroleum gas.

The cooking gas millions rely on.

Like Shiv Kumar, who took time off of work to line up at 5 a.m.,

but left empty-handed with it all sold out.

Without gas, some like teacher Mohamed Parvez are turning to fire.

Burning wood from school benches or whatever scraps they can find to cook their meals.

India's government's asking people not to panic to avoid stockpiling.

Top US and Chinese economic officials are meeting in Paris today,

to smooth out the path for President Trump's trip to Beijing later this month.

The talks are being led by Treasury Secretary Scott Besent and Chinese Vice Premier Hotly Fung.

And they're focusing on some of the toughest issues, tariffs, rare earths,

US high-tech export controls, and China's purchase of American farm goods.

But US China analysts tell Reuters they're not expecting a major trade breakthrough

with Washington's attention being pulled toward the war in Iran.

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Formula One is canceling its April races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia as the conflict in Iran

intensifies. F1 says security risks including Iranian drone and missile strikes hitting

Minama and airport closures across the Gulf make holding the races unsafe. Reuters'

Motorsports correspondent Alan Baldwin says it's unlikely those events will be rescheduled.

A month without racing in Formula One.

Three Iranian women soccer players who'd sought asylum in Australia are now choosing to return

to Iran. It's a sharp turnaround after refusing to sing the national anthem at an Asia Cup match.

Australia says the women were granted humanitarian visas and offered support to stay.

Another member changed her mind last week.

Over to Cuba now, where anti-government protesters attacked a communist party office in

Iran after a rally over blackouts and shortages turned violent overnight.

Videos verified by Reuters show a large fire and crowds shouting liberty.

State media say police detained five people.

President Miguel Villescanel says anger over power cuts is understandable,

but he warns there'll be no impunity for vandalism or violence.

We spoke to Dan Trata who's in our Havana bureau about how these shortages are shaping daily life.

I've been traveling to Cuba on and off for the past 10 years and this is by far the worst

I've ever seen in terms of the conditions, the hardships for the people. There's always been

shortages but the shortages of food, water, medicine are more acute than ever and on top of that now

you have the fuel shortage caused by what's essentially a U.S. oil blockade preventing oil

shipments from coming into the country. Fuel is being rationed. The country's ground to a halt.

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