• Power cuts, diesel shortages hitting garment factories.
• Bangladesh receives diesel cargoes amid fuel crunch.
• Country relies on imports for 95% of energy needs.
  

Bangladesh has begun receiving diesel from suppliers including China and India, with officials saying the country now has enough fuel to cover about one month of demand, with arrangements under way for another month, after the US-Israeli war on Iran disrupted shipments, including to the massive garments industry.

The South Asian nation of 175 million people, which relies on imports for roughly 95% of its energy needs, has imposed fuel rationing for vehicles, restrictions on diesel sales and closed universities as the war on Iran causes severe disruption to Middle East oil exports.

Some garment makers in Bangladesh, the world’s second‑largest clothing exporter after China, have already complained they do not have enough diesel to run their back-up generators when public utilities cut power supplies.

Mahmud Hasan Khan, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, said power cuts had doubled to up to five hours a day since the war began on February 28.

“When power goes out, we have to run our standby generators on diesel, but we can’t buy enough diesel anymore, and it’s causing problems for us,” he said.

State-run Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) is receiving around 60,000 metric tons of diesel from three traders, with a further 90,000 metric tons scheduled to arrive later this month, two energy officials said, requesting anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to the media.

A 27,000-metric-ton diesel cargo from PetroChina arrived at Chittagong port on Monday, while a cargo of 28,000 metric tons from Vitol is waiting at the port’s outer anchorage, a BPC official said.

In addition, around 5,000 metric tons of diesel is being supplied through a cross-border pipeline from India’s Numaligarh Refinery. Officials said talks are ongoing to secure some 30,000 metric tons from Indian Oil.

“We have supplies for one month, and another month is being arranged,” a BPC official said.

The BPC did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Bangladesh normally needs about 380,000 metric tons of diesel each month, but officials said that since rationing began, one estimate put current monthly requirements at roughly 270,000 metric tons.

Officials said securing refined fuel cargoes had been relatively easy because most of the traders did not rely on the disrupted Gulf shipping routes used for crude oil shipments.

However, prices have increased as a result of the intense market volatility triggered by the Middle East crisis, they added.

Bangladesh also imports around 1.4 million metric tons of crude oil a year for its refineries under long-term contracts with Saudi Aramco and Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC).

However, supplies from Saudi Aramco and ADNOC could be affected because their crude shipments to Bangladesh must pass through the Strait of Hormuz. One Aramco cargo of about 100,000 tons has already been delayed in the Gulf due to the ongoing crisis, officials said.

Severe gas shortages have already forced Bangladesh to halt operations at four of its five state‑run fertiliser factories, redirecting available gas to power plants.

• War sends stock markets slumping and oil prices soaring.
• If war starts up again, Iran will be hit even harder, says Trump.
• Trump tells lawmakers campaign would be “short-term excursion.”
  

President Donald Trump on Monday said that US military operations in Iran would be ending soon, reassuring markets that have been thrust into chaos by a war still reverberating across the Middle East.

The war had sent stock markets slumping and oil prices soaring on Monday as Tehran, under new leader Mojtaba Khamenei, fired a fresh barrage of missiles at its Gulf neighbours and signalled that the strategic Strait of Hormuz would likely remain closed.

But Wall Street climbed into positive territory on Trump’s signals of a short war, with Tokyo and Seoul also opening Tuesday strongly, despite the president’s continued threats to expand the campaign if Iran did not fall in line.

Oil prices also reversed course, falling as much as 5% a day after benchmark crude rocketed past $100 a barrel — its highest level since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

“It’s going to be ended soon, and if it starts up again they’ll be hit even harder,” Trump told a news conference in Florida, after telling lawmakers that the campaign would be a “short-term excursion.”

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards replied Tuesday that they, not the Americans, would “determine the end of the war”.

Trump’s remarks came on the first day in power for the 56-year-old son of late leader Ali Khamenei, with Iranian forces launching a fresh wave of missile and drone attacks on Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE and Israel.

Another missile was also fired at Nato member Turkiye, the second such incident in five days, with the alliance’s air defences intercepting it before it could reach its target.

Diplomatic efforts focused Monday on the highly strategic Strait of Hormuz, which has been blocked to nearly all oil tankers — sending shockwaves across the global economy.

French President Emmanuel Macron said his country and its allies were working on a “purely defensive” mission to reopen the strait, through which nearly 20% of the world’s crude oil usually transits.

The mission would aim to escort ships “after the end of the hottest phase of the conflict,” but experts say it would mean putting naval vessels at risk of fire from the nearby Iranian coast.

Kamal Kharazi, a foreign policy adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, told CNN that Tehran was calculating that economic pressure would eventually prompt other countries to intervene and end the war.

Rallies

Iran faced a fresh blitz of US and Israeli strikes after its Assembly of Experts, the top clerical body, appointed its first new supreme leader in 37 years.

Iranian state media carried images of tens of thousands of people celebrating Mojtaba Khamenei’s selection in central Tehran, many carrying his picture.

Iran’s Houthi allies in Yemen and Hezbollah in Lebanon pledged allegiance, while Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday promised “unwavering support”.

Trump told reporters he was “disappointed” about Khamenei’s appointment, but remained open to a replacement from inside the Islamic republic, citing the recent transition of power in Venezuela as “a formula that has been very good so far.”

Oil risks

Oil traders, policymakers and central bankers are all watching the Middle East for news about Gulf energy infrastructure, which is crucial for the world economy.

About 10 vessels in or near the Strait of Hormuz have come under attack since Iran blocked the waterway in retaliation for the US-Israeli strikes, shipping experts say.

Global shipping giant MSC announced it was formally halting some export shipments from the Gulf, meaning goods sitting on ships would be unloaded.

Following strikes on Bahrain’s Al Ma’ameer oil facility that ignited a fire, the country’s state-owned energy company Bapco joined its counterparts in Qatar and Kuwait in declaring “force majeure” — a warning that events beyond its control may lead it to miss export targets.

The Saudi defence ministry said Monday it had thwarted a drone attack targeting an oil field in the kingdom’s east, near the Emirati border.

‘Resistance’

In Bahrain, the interior ministry said early Tuesday an Iranian attack on a residential area in the capital Manama killed one person and injured others.

In Israel earlier, around 10 explosions were audible in Tel Aviv after the military announced it had detected missiles inbound from Iran.

At least one Israeli was killed when he was hit by shrapnel, emergency services said.

Israel said on Tuesday that it had struck an Iranian missile launcher shortly after a barrage fired from the Islamic republic triggered air raid warnings in several Israeli areas.

The multi-front war also intensified in Lebanon, where Israeli and Hezbollah exchanges of fire since March 2 have killed at least 486 people and wounded more than 1,300.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun accused Hezbollah of working to “collapse” the state, while the head of the group’s parliamentary bloc said it had “no other option…than the option of resistance.”

• CAIR says Islamophobia in 2025 in US reached record high.
• Most complaints were about employment discrimination (12.7%).
• Trump’s crackdown has raised free speech, due process concerns.

Record high Islamophobia in the US in 2025 was driven in part by President Donald Trump’s crackdown against pro-Palestinian protests and immigration, a Muslim advocacy group said on Tuesday.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said it recorded 8,683 anti-Muslim and anti-Arab complaints in 2025, the highest since it began publishing data in 1996, compared to 8,658 in 2024.

Most complaints were about employment discrimination (12.7%), immigration and asylum (6.5%), hate incidents (6.4%), and travel discrimination like government watchlists and screenings (5.6%), CAIR’s report noted.

Over the years, advocates have attributed Islamophobia to the September 11, 2001 attacks; and more recently to anti-immigration sentiment, white supremacy and the fallout of Israel’s war in Gaza.

Immigration crackdown

Trump denies being discriminatory and says his administration aims to curb illegal immigration and improve domestic security. Advocates say the immigration crackdown is unsafe and violates due process.

CAIR noted Trump’s targeting of Somali Americans in Minnesota, a majority-Muslim community, who he accused of fraud and called “garbage.”

CAIR said the government used isolated cases for collective targeting and dismissed Trump’s ability to tackle fraud, citing pardonsto those with past fraud convictions.

CAIR’s Minnesota chapter reported 693 complaints, up from 353 in 2024.

CAIR also noted targeting of Afghan immigrants after two National Guard soldiers were shot in Washington in November, for which an Afghan was indicted.

Protest crackdown

Trump alleges pro-Palestinian protesters are antisemitic and sympathise with extremists.

His administration has attempted to deport foreign protesters, threatened to freeze funds for universities where protests were held, and ordered aggressive screening of immigrants’ online comments.

Protesters, including some Jewish groups, say he wrongly conflates criticising Israel’s assault on Gaza and occupation of Palestinian territories with antisemitism, and advocating for Palestinian rights with supporting extremism.

“The Trump administration framed anyone who holds pro-Palestinian views as inherently threatening,” CAIR said.

Notable deportation attempts were against Mahmoud Khalil, who was detained for months while his wife was pregnant, and Leqaa Kordia, who lost over 170 family members in Gaza and was briefly hospitalised following a seizure in detention.

CAIR raised free speech, due process and academic freedom concerns. Trump’s crackdown has faced judicial roadblocks.

Republican governors in Florida and Texas have signed orders designating CAIR as a “terrorist” group. CAIR sued over the designations. A judge has blocked Florida’s order.