Real-time News

On March 21, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) issued a statement saying that it had launched a large-scale airstrike on multiple ballistic missile production facilities in Tehran, the capital of Iran. The statement said that, with intelligence support, the IDF struck dozens of facilities used by the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps for the research and production of ballistic missile components, missile component storage facilities, and missile fuel-related facilities. The statement also said that the IDF would continue to expand its strikes against Iranian weapons production facilities.

Iranian Embassy in India: Iranian President Pezechzian called on BRICS countries to play an independent role in stopping aggression against Iran.

Iranian television: Police in West Azerbaijan province have arrested 25 suspected intelligence agents.

On March 21, Bank of America discussed the outlook for the US dollar and maintained its medium-term bearish view. The bank stated, "Since the outbreak of the Iran war, the US dollar has unsurprisingly appreciated against other G10 currencies, although the overall appreciation has not been significant. Until the situation becomes clearer, oil prices and major risks will continue to dominate the foreign exchange market. Meanwhile, interest rate expectations have been raised in most G10 central banks, which has somewhat restrained the dollar's appreciation," Bank of America noted. Bank of America further pointed out that although relative interest rates have not been the main driver of the foreign exchange market during this period, this situation may change as the impact of the war on the real economy gradually becomes apparent. "While we maintain our long-term bearish view on the US dollar, upside risks to the dollar are likely to dominate as the war continues," Bank of America added.

The Israeli military claims to have attacked a ballistic missile production facility of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in Tehran.

On March 21st, at the recently concluded Huawei China Partner Conference 2026, Huawei unveiled and showcased the Atlas 350 AI training and inference accelerator card, powered by the new Ascend 950PR processor. Compared to its predecessor, the Ascend 950PR offers significant improvements in low-precision data formats, vector computing power, interconnect bandwidth, and Huawei's self-developed HBM (Hardware-Based Memory Management) architecture.

On March 21, according to the official WeChat account of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), on March 20, Liu Jiannan, Vice Chairman of the CCPIT, met with a delegation led by Lin Yiming, Global Executive Vice President of Novo Nordisk, in Beijing. They discussed the CCPIT's 15th Five-Year Plan policies on accelerating the construction of a healthy China and promoting the orderly expansion of opening-up in fields such as healthcare, and exchanged views on supporting Novo Nordisk's investment and development in China and deepening international cooperation in the supply chain.

Iranian President Pezechzian: The actions taken by the United States and Israel against Iran are extremely inhumane and immoral, and we strongly condemn them.

The Ukrainian military says it attacked an oil refinery in Russia’s Saratov region last night.

On March 21, a spokesperson for the Hatem Anbia Central Headquarters of the Iranian Armed Forces stated that the United States and Israel are now targeting private vessels and passenger transport in the Persian Gulf. The Iranian Armed Forces warned the US and Israel that if such actions occur again, Iran will take strong and reciprocal retaliatory action.

On March 21, local time, the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps issued a statement saying that at 3:45 a.m. that day, Iran's new air defense system struck down Israel's third F-16 fighter jet in central Iran. It is claimed that in the first three weeks of the conflict, Iran successfully intercepted and destroyed more than 200 aircraft, including drones, cruise missiles, refueling aircraft, and top-tier fighter jets.

On March 21st, HSBC stated that the Federal Reserve maintained its policy rate at 3.50%-3.75% at its March meeting, hinting at a "wait-and-see" approach. Persistent inflation and rising geopolitical risks have created uncertainty for the Fed. We maintain our previous view that the Fed will keep rates unchanged in 2026 and 2027. Inflation risks have increased, particularly due to soaring energy prices, while labor market risks have slightly decreased. Energy price volatility and geopolitical risks should continue to support safe-haven demand and a stronger dollar.

On March 21, Brazilian President Lula da Silva stated during a visit to an oil refinery in Minas Gerais state on March 20 that the escalating conflict in the Middle East necessitates that Petrobras and the government "establish strategic oil reserves" to cope with any potential consequences of the conflict. He warned that if the war continues, and if the United States were to destroy the Strait of Hormuz, the oil crisis "will only worsen." Previously, on March 12, the Brazilian government announced the exemption of import and sales taxes on diesel fuel, while imposing a 12% export tax on crude oil to mitigate the spillover risks from the Middle East situation.

On March 21, the Ministry of Ecology and Environment held a symposium on supporting the green and low-carbon development of private enterprises. Minister Huang Runqiu emphasized the need to further increase support, optimize institutional supply and policy environment, and continuously improve the green development level of private enterprises. He stressed the importance of deepening market mechanism construction, optimizing the allocation of resource and environmental factors, fully leveraging the carbon pricing function, and continuously deepening the reform of emissions trading to provide a more fair, transparent, and predictable market environment for the green transformation of private enterprises. He also emphasized strengthening fiscal and tax policy guidance, innovating the use of fiscal funds, implementing and improving green tax policies, optimizing green pricing mechanisms, and promoting the reduction of transformation costs for private enterprises. Furthermore, he called for vigorously developing green finance, improving the collaborative promotion mechanism for green and low-carbon projects, innovating investment and financing models, improving green finance standards, and guiding more financial resources to precisely support the green and low-carbon development of private enterprises. He stressed the need to standardize corporate environmental information disclosure and credit evaluation, promote the interconnection of environmental information, and provide more comprehensive credit enhancement services for private enterprises. Finally, he emphasized strengthening the empowerment of technological innovation, encouraging participation in national science and technology programs, promoting the establishment of departmental special funds, actively supporting the application and promotion of new technologies, and continuously stimulating the endogenous driving force for the green transformation of private enterprises.

An Iranian military spokesman said the United States and Israel are targeting civilian and passenger ships in the Gulf region and warned of retaliatory action.

Egypt's Ministry of Petroleum: Egypt will pay $1.3 billion in outstanding payments to international oil companies by the end of June.

On March 21, Apple CEO Tim Cook visited an art space in Chaoyang District, Beijing, to learn about the latest applications of digital technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), in the preservation and inheritance of traditional culture, such as mural restoration. Cook stated, “This is a very exciting time; everything is changing rapidly, especially in China. I believe AI is one of the most profound things that will happen to us all in our lifetime. In our view, AI is an amplification of human capabilities, not a replacement for humans.” He continued, “I think everyone should put aside their fears and start using it in their daily lives, thinking about how it can help you, how it can make you more efficient, and how it can help you share some of your workload. We all need more happiness in our lives, and some of the things we are doing don't bring happiness. Perhaps AI can help us share these burdens.”

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