The war in the Middle East has entered its seventh day today, with the Israeli military announcing a "next phase" in the conflict and bombing Beirut's southern suburbs.

Bahrain said early Friday that Iran had targeted two hotels and a residential building in the capital Manama.

"Iranian aggression targets two hotels and a residential building in Manama, causing material damage but no loss of life," the interior ministry posted on X.

(AFP)

President Donald Trump suggested Thursday that he would turn to an unspecified project for Cuba, the Caribbean island already facing a US energy blockade, after the war against Iran.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Thursday the United States was not expanding its military objectives in Iran, after President Donald Trump told Reuters that the United States must be involved in choosing the next leader of Iran.

The United States has sunk more than 30 Iranian ships during the ongoing war, while ballistic missile and drone attacks by Tehran's forces are down substantially, a top US military officer said Thursday.
"We're now up over 30 ships (sunk), and in just the last few hours, we hit an Iranian drone carrier ship, roughly the size of a World War II aircraft carrier. And as we speak, it's on fire," Admiral Brad Cooper told a news conference.

President Donald Trump on Thursday said Tehran was reaching out to the United States about making a deal amid US and Israeli strikes on Iran, adding that further action to reduce pressure on oil was imminent.

The US House of Representatives on Thursday rejected an effort to curb Donald Trump's authority to wage war against Iran, as the president faces fierce criticism over launching the conflict without seeking approval from Congress.

The latest round of Iranian missile fire caused explosions across Tel Aviv and damage in central Israel on Thursday, but there were no reported casualties and residents have been cleared to leave shelters. 
Iran's state broadcaster reported that Tehran had fired missiles "against targets in the heart of Tel Aviv," after Israel's military said it was working to intercept incoming Iranian fire.
AFP journalists in Tel Aviv reported two near simultaneous waves of explosions reverberate across the city.

Rome is temporarily closing its embassy in Tehran and moving staff to Azerbaijan, Italy's foreign minister said Thursday.
"We have decided for security reasons to temporarily close our embassy in Tehran, and move the personnel to Baku," Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani told journalists at the Senate.
His spokesman confirmed the closure to AFP but stressed Italy "has not broken off diplomatic relations".
The United States and Israel launched a war against Iran on Saturday, prompting it to retaliate across the region.
Iranian news agency Tasnim reported that several explosions were heard in Tehran on Thursday morning.

The Israeli military said late Thursday it had detected new missiles launched from Iran towards Israel and the country's defence systems were operating to intercept them.
"A short while ago, the IDF identified missiles launched from Iran toward the territory of the State of Israel. Defensive systems are operating to intercept the threat," the military said

 Iran is seeking to escalate the conflict in the Middle East by attacking other countries in the region indiscriminately, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Thursday.
"Iran is an exporter of war," Kallas told reporters at a press conference with Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis during a visit to Zurich. "Right now, the regime tries to drag as many countries into this war as possible."
When asked whether she thought Iran was trying to suck NATO into the conflict and whether the EU had a strategy to avoid getting involved, Kallas accused Tehran of trying to "sow chaos" in the region and attacking other countries "indiscriminately".
Both NATO and the EU had mechanisms enabling members to decide on whether they needed to call for help, she said. This had not been the case so far, she added.

Germany said on Thursday it had no plans to send additional military support to the Middle East, after European allies announced plans to move forces to the eastern Mediterranean following a drone strike at a British air base in Cyprus.
Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto told parliament on Thursday that Italy, Spain, France and the Netherlands would send naval assets to protect Cyprus in the coming days.
Britain is also deploying a destroyer and additional helicopters with anti-drone capabilities to the region and is joining France and Greece in boosting air defences in Cyprus.

Israel's military chief said Thursday that more than 60 percent of Iran's ballistic missile launchers and 80 percent of its air-defence systems have been destroyed in the ongoing US-Israeli campaign against the Islamic republic.
"We have neutralised and destroyed more than 60 percent of the ballistic missile launchers," Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir said in a televised statement.
He added that Israel had also destroyed 80 percent of Iran's air defence systems and had "achieved almost complete air superiority in the skies of Iran".

US President Donald Trump said he must personally approve Iran's next supreme leader, just as he was involved in installing Delcy Rodriguez as Venezuela's interim president following the US-backed ouster of Nicolas Maduro.

Sri Lanka evacuates 208 crew members of Iranian vessel, day after US submarine sank warship

EU and Gulf ministers called following crisis talks Thursday for Iran to immediately end "indiscriminate" attacks across the region in retaliation for US-Israeli attacks, warning global security was at stake.

The foreign ministers met by video link as Iran stepped up attacks on countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council -- with Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Oman all now targeted.

"The ministers strongly condemned the unjustifiable Iranian attacks against the GCC countries which threaten regional and global security and called on Iran to cease immediately its attacks," said a joint statement issued afterwards.

Addressing the fallout of "indiscriminate" Iranian attacks, they also "affirmed that the GCC states have the right to take all necessary measures" to defend themselves.

(AFP)

Iranian authorities were issuing warnings to people connecting to the internet in defiance of a communications blackout that had left the Islamic republic largely cut off from the outside world, witnesses told AFP on Thursday.

Iran's internet connectivity was currently running at "around 1 percent of ordinary levels", monitor group Netblocks said on Thursday, leaving most Iranians struggling to access basic information, navigation tools or communication apps.

Those who had successfully connected using VPNs (virtual private networks) to circumvent the controls had received warnings over their phones.

(AFP)

Benchmark US oil contract, West Texas Intermediate, soared more than five percent to $78.88 per barrel in trading Thursday, the highest level since January last year, as the Iran war threatens supplies.

International benchmark, Brent North Sea crude, jumped 3.6 percent to $84.34 per barrel.

(AFP)

Pakistan is planning to consider Covid-era measures to reduce fuel consumption such as mandatory work-from-home and online classes as it faces a severe energy crisis because of the Strait of Hormuz closure.

Iran's army said on Thursday it had launched a drone attack on a US site in the Iraqi Kurdistan city of Erbil. 

"The headquarters of the American aggressor forces in Erbil, Iraq, was attacked by the army's ground forces' attack drones," the army said in a statement broadcast by state TV. 

(AFP)

Turkey's foreign ministry on Thursday roundly condemned a series of drone attacks on Azerbaijan which Baku blamed on Iran, calling for such attacks to end "immediately". 

"We strongly condemn the drone attacks carried out today on Azerbaijan," a ministry statement said, adding that such attacks "increase the risk of the war spreading" and insisting that they "must end immediately".

(AFP)

A top Swedish intelligence official on Thursday warned of increased threats against American and Israeli interests, as well as Iranian dissidents, in Sweden because of the war in the Middle East.

The Scandinavian country's security, which had already deteriorated after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, has worsened since the US-Israeli strikes on Iran on Saturday unleashed a new war, according to Fredrik Hallstrom, head of operations for the Swedish Security Service (Sapo).

"The threat has increased primarily against American, Jewish, Israeli interests or opposition figures, rather than towards Sweden as a nation or country," Hallstrom told AFP.

"I'm talking about opposition figures with such influence that they could actually either be perceived as a serious threat to the Iranian regime, or in fact be one," he explained.

Hallstrom also said the war in the Middle East could have "considerable impact" on European security.

(AFP)

The United States military has used Lockheed Martin-made long-range Precision Strike Missiles (PrSMs) in combat for the first time as part of Operation Epic Fury against Iran.

Fuel-efficient engine + modest radar evasion capacities + a 40-50kg warhead make Iran's Shahed-series 'kamikaze' drones a low-cost terror that can be mass produced for US$20,000 - US$50,000 each, and used to overwhelm air defences.

Azerbaijan said it was preparing to retaliate after two people were wounded on Thursday in Iranian drone hits on an airport and near a school.

During the Syrian crisis, similar routes brought more than one million migrants into Europe in 2015, triggering political upheaval across several EU countries.

The US-Israeli attacks on Iran which sparked the latest Middle East crisis were clearly in breach of international law, Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said on Thursday.

It was the strongest criticism to date from Italy's right-wing administration, which has sought to establish close ties with US President Donald Trump since he took office last year.

The decision to launch the strikes last weekend "of course fell outside, needless to say, the rules of international law", Crosetto told the lower house of parliament.

(Reuters)

Israel army issues evacuation warning to residents of Beirut's southern suburbs

(AFP)

Azerbaijan president vows retaliation after Iran 'terrorist' drone strike

(AFP)

Russia has evacuated women and children from its embassy in Tehran amid the war in the Middle East, officials said Thursday.

"On March 3-4 we evacuated our women and children to Russia," -- more than 100 people in total, the embassy said in a statement on social media.

The state-run TASS news agency cited Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko as confirming that the "core staff remains at the embassy".

(AFP)

Iran's military said on Thursday that it had launched a drone attack against a US military site in Kuwait. 

"Drone units of the armed force's navy targeted a site of the US forces Camp Udairi in Kuwait using combat drones," the army said in a statement broadcast by state TV.  

Camp Buehring, formerly known as Udairi, is a major US military facility in northwestern Kuwait.

(AFP)

Russia on Thursday accused the United States and Israel of trying to drag Arab countries into a wider Middle East conflict by provoking Iran into striking targets across the region and said there was no sign Washington and Tel Aviv would let up.

Arab states in the Gulf, all close US allies - some of which also have close ties with Russia - have come under Iranian drone and missile attacks since the United States and Israel launched their air strikes on Iran on Saturday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone to leaders of four Arab Gulf states on Monday, offering to use Moscow's ties to Iran to relay concerns about Tehran's strikes on oil infrastructure across the region.

Russia's Foreign Ministry in a statement on Thursday accused the US and Israel of deliberately trying to draw Arab Gulf states into a wider conflagration.

(Reuters)

Iran has not approached Moscow with a request for arms supplies, the Kremlin said on Thursday.

Russia has condemned US-Israeli strikes and called for an immediate ceasefire against a country it has drawn closer to in recent years.

Iran last year sealed a 20-year strategic partnership agreement with Moscow, Russia is building two new nuclear units at Bushehr, the site of Iran's only nuclear power plant, and Iran supplied Russia with shahed drones for use against Ukraine.

(Reuters)

Countries in the Middle East have told European officials they are concerned about the risk of civil war in Iran as a result of the conflict between Tehran and the United States and Israel, EU foreign chief Kaja Kallas said on Thursday.

"When we talk to the countries in the region, they are also worried about civil wars inside Iran because of the regime's leadership and what is going on there," she said ahead of a video conference with EU foreign ministers and representatives of the Gulf Cooperation Council on the situation in Iran and the broader Middle East.

The EU wants to push forward a diplomatic solution. "Wars really end in diplomacy and there has to be room for diplomacy here to really get out of this cycle of escalation," she told reporters.

(Reuters)

Iran military says naval combat drone attacked US site in Kuwait

(AFP)

Iran army denies launching drone attack on Azerbaijan

(AFP)

A fresh round of explosions were heard in Qatar's capital, Doha on Thursday, with a column of black smoke rising over the horizon. news agency AFP reported.

For years, Iran's theocratic government warned it would blanket the Middle East with missile and drone fire if it felt its existence was threatened.

Now, the Islamic Republic is doing just that.

Since the U.S. and Israel launched the war Saturday and killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran has unleashed thousands of drones and ballistic missiles targeting Israel, American military bases and embassies in the region, and energy facilities across the Persian Gulf. Meanwhile, there's been Iranian missile fire on Turkey and drones targeting territory of Azerbaijan.

Iran's basic strategy is to instill fear about the dangers of a widening war in hopes that allies of the U.S. will apply enough pressure to halt their campaign. A protracted conflict, along with American and Israeli casualties, could also work in Iran's favor.

Trouble is, the barrage-thy-neighbors strategy also could backfire.

(AP)

A Pakistani man accused of plotting to kill US politicians including President Donald Trump said Wednesday he was pressured by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to devise the murder-for-hire scheme, according to US media.

Asif Raza Merchant, 47, was charged in September 2024 with seeking to hire a hitman to assassinate unidentified US politicians. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The Revolutionary Guards have previously sought to kill top US officials, such as Trump following the 2020 killing of one of their commanders, Qasem Soleimani, by the United States.

During his trial Wednesday, Merchant testified that he was forced into the plot to protect his family in the Iranian capital Tehran from the Guards, adding that he thought he would get caught before anyone was killed, multiple media outlets reported.

(AFP)

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Thursday they had targeted Israel's Ben Gurion airport and an air force base in the area. 

"The heavy Khorramshahr-4 missiles carrying one-tonne warheads were launched at dawn today ...  toward the heart of Tel Aviv, Ben Gurion airport and the base of the Israeli air force's 27th squadron located at the airport," the Guards said in a statement carried by Tasnim news agency. 

(AFP)

Six injured in Abu Dhabi by debris from intercepted drone: media office

(AFP)

Iran's army said it had carried out drone strikes in Israel on Thursday including a radar site. 

The strikes hit "targets in Tel Aviv as well as Meron radar base" in Israel's north, the army said as quoted by state TV. 

(AFP)

Iran launched a new wave of attacks Thursday morning at Israel, American bases and countries around the region, threatening that the United States would "bitterly regret" torpedoing an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean and calling for "Trump's blood," while Israel said it hit multiple targets in Iran.

Israel announced multiple incoming missile attacks and air sirens sounded in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Iranian state television said additional strikes also targeted U.S. bases.

The Israeli military said it had hit 80 targets in Lebanon linked to the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group over the past 24 hours and that a wave of strikes on Iran had hit long range ballistic missile launch sites and other targets.

(AP)

Azerbaijan on Thursday summoned the Iranian envoy after two people were wounded in drone hits on an airport and near a school.

"We strongly condemn these drone attacks launched from the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which resulted in damage to the airport building and injuries of two civilians," Azerbaijan's foreign ministry said in a statement.

(AFP)

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Thursday that they had hit a US tanker in the northern part of the Gulf and the vessel was on fire. There was no immediate confirmation of the incident or of a similar attack that Iran claimed earlier this week.

The Guards said in their Thursday statement carried by state media that, in time of war, passage through the Strait of Hormuz will be under the control of the Islamic Republic.

(Reuters)

Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry on Thursday accused Iran of carrying out a drone attack against its exclave of Nakhchivan.

One drone crashed near the airport in Nakhchivan and another one near a school, the ministry said in a statement.

Two civilians were injured, the ministry said.

Iran has not acknowledged targeting Azerbaijan, but its attacks have spread erratically as the war has gone on involving regional countries and beyond.

(AP)

The Israeli military said on Thursday that its campaign of strikes on Iran had already "shaken" the country's clerical leadership, adding that it was continuing to "deepen the damage".

"The goal of the operation is to inflict severe damage on the Iranian terror regime until it removes the existential threat... And we continue to deepen the damage to the regime," military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin said in a televised briefing.

"It is important for me to say that it is already shaken. It was shaken by the first strike on Saturday morning, when the leadership was thwarted. And every day we continue to destabilise it more and more, to deepen the damage to it until the existential threat is removed," he added.

(AFP)

Britain's Defence Minister John Healey is headed to Cyprus, media reports said, following the outbreak of war in the Middle East and a drone strike on a UK air base on the Mediterranean island.

Healey would arrive later Thursday, the BBC and the PA news agency reported.

The visit comes after the runway of the Royal Air Force (RAF) base at Akrotiri came under attack by an unmanned drone on Monday.

(AFP)

Missiles and drones flying from the direction of Iran fell on the territory of the airport in the Azerbaijani exclave of Nakhchivan on Thursday, a source close to the Azerbaijani government told Reuters.

Nakhchivan International Airport is located roughly 10 km (6 miles) from the border with Iran.

(Reuters)

The Israeli military has released the video of its F-35 stealth fighter jet shooting down a piloted Iranian Air Force YAK-130 fighter over Tehran on Wednesday.

The 16-second clip, posted on the Israeli Air Force's X account, showed the 'Adir' jet making its first air-to-air combat kill of a piloted aircraft, a YAK-130, by the fighter jet.

"ביצעתי, המטרה נפלה, נמשיך לתקיפה": תיעוד ראשון ממטוס ה״אדיר״ (F-35I) מפיל מטוס קרב איראני (YAK-130) מעל שמי טהרן.
חיל-האוויר ממשיך לתקוף עשרות תשתיות של משטר הטרור האיראני וסולל את הדרך ליצירת עליונות אווירית בשמי טהרן. pic.twitter.com/RGUX4x1bFK

— Israeli Air Force (@IAFsite) March 5, 2026

The Israeli military said it identified a fresh round of missiles launched from Iran on Thursday, the sixth day of a war engulfing the Middle East.

"A short while ago, the IDF (military) identified missiles launched from Iran toward the territory of the State of Israel. Defensive systems are operating to intercept the threat," the military said in a statement.

(AFP)

Italy will send air-defence assistance to Gulf countries hit by Iranian strikes launched in retaliation for US-Israeli attacks, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Thursday.

"Italy, like the UK, France and Germany, intends to send aid to the Gulf countries," she told RTL 102.5 radio.

"We are clearly talking about defence, air defence, not just because they are friendly nations but because there are tens of thousands of Italians in that area and around 2,000 Italian soldiers that we must protect," she added.

"And the Gulf is vital for energy supplies for Italy and Europe."

Meloni was also asked about the potential involvement in the war of the three US military bases in Italy.

She said they already had authorisation for "non-bombing operations", and any change in this would have to be considered by her government, and likely the Italian parliament.

But "to date, we have no requests in this regard", she added.

(AFP)

Iran's internet is "around 1 percent of ordinary levels" with a communication blackout sparked by the war with Israel and the United States entering a fifth day, monitor Netblocks said on Thursday.

"Iran's internet blackout has now exceeded 120 hours with connectivity still flatlining around 1 percent of ordinary levels," Netblocks said in a message posted on social media platform X.

"Meanwhile, an increasingly Orwellian environment is emerging as telcos threaten users who try to connect to the global internet with legal action."

(AFP)

"Only Military Conflict No Solution To Any Issue": PM Modi On Iran, Ukraine Warshttps://t.co/wjyuFy41lS pic.twitter.com/P5WorstJvS

— NDTV (@ndtv) March 5, 2026

Iranian state television said Iran had struck a US oil tanker in the Gulf with a missile on Thursday, the latest Iranian attack on the energy industry in the region.

The ship "was hit by a missile in the north of the Persian Gulf" and "is currently on fire", Iran's Revolutionary Guards said in a statement reported by state television.

The incident, which has not been independently confirmed, came as the Guards said they had "full control" of the Strait of Hormuz, which connects the Gulf to the Indian Ocean and is a vital oil and gas transit route.

(AFP)

Israeli strikes killed six people in two southern Lebanese villages on Thursday, state media reported.

The mayor of a village in the Nabatieh region and his wife were killed in one strike, the National News Agency reported, adding that in a nearby village a strike killed two children and their parents.

(AFP)

A second Iranian warship was heading towards Sri Lanka's territorial waters Thursday, a day after a US submarine destroyed an Iranian frigate, a minister told parliament.

Media minister Nalinda Jayatissa said the second Iranian warship was just outside Sri Lankan waters, but gave no further details. Official sources said the vessel was carrying more than 100 crew.

(AFP)

Explosions echoed over the Qatari capital Doha and Bahrain's Manama on Thursday, AFP journalists reported. 

The Gulf countries have been targeted by repeated waves of Iranian drone and missile attacks following in retaliation for the massive US-Israeli air campaign against Iran. 

(AFP)

The Tehran-backed Iraqi group Kataeb Hezbollah said on Thursday that one of its commanders was killed in a strike in southern Iraq the previous day.

Ahmad al-Hamidawi, the secretary-general of the armed faction, mourned in a statement the loss of a "great commander", Ali Hussein al-Freiji, who had joined the group more than two decades ago.

Two sources from the faction told AFP on Wednesday that a strike hit a vehicle near the group's main base in southern Iraq, killing two fighters.

The toll then rose to three, including the commander.

One source described the attack as a "Zionist-US strike".

(AFP)

The Strait of Hormuz is the world's most important oil chokepoint, with one-fifth of global oil supplies moving through the passage.

The first two repatriation flights bringing home Israelis stranded abroad by the Middle East war landed in Tel Aviv on Thursday, the transport ministry said.

The flights landed at Ben Gurion Airport on Thursday morning. Transport Minister Miri Regev said: "We are doing everything possible to bring every Israeli home safely."

(AFP)

Loud explosions and fighter jets could be heard over Tehran on Thursday, AFP journalists in the Iranian capital said, after Israel said it had launched a new wave of strikes.

Local media also reported a series of blasts in Tehran and its western outskirts.

An AFP journalist saw smoke rising from southern Tehran.

The Fars news agency reported an explosion in western Tehran, while the Shargh and Iran papers reported at least one explosion in Karaj a neighbouring city to the west.

(AFP)

Iranian state television aired a message Thursday from an ayatollah in Iran calling for the "shedding" of blood from Israelis and U.S. President Donald Trump.

The message came from Ayatollah Abdollah Javadi Amoli and represented one of the few clerical statements coming from Iran as it faces a combined airstrike campaign from Israel and the United States.

"We are now on the verge of a great test and we must be careful to fully preserve this unity, to fully preserve this alliance," he said in the statement.

He called for "the shedding of Zionist blood, the shedding of Trump's blood."

"The Imam of the time says, 'Fight the oppressive America, his blood is on my shoulders,'" the ayatollah added.

(AP)

The US has tested the unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile, dubbed the "doomsday missile", amid a raging war with Iran. The Air Force Global Strike Command conducted the test launch equipped with two test re-entry vehicles on March 3 from the Vandenberg Space Force Base, California.

#BREAKING | 2 Indians killed in attack on oil tanker in Iranian strike at Oman port
NDTV's @AdityaRajKaul joins @vedikas, with more details pic.twitter.com/hd3CANzlKs

— NDTV (@ndtv) March 5, 2026

Experts spotlighted that Turkey maintains dialogue with Washington, Gulf capitals and Tehran. An Iranian attack would close that avenue and force Ankara to align itself unequivocally with the opposing bloc, compounding Iran's troubles.

Striking the Gulf allows Iran to project power and send deterrent signals to the US without automatically activating a superior military alliance.

Hitting Turkey would mean challenging a state with significant military capability and, potentially, the entire Atlantic structure.

🔴#BREAKING | "The US has perpetrated an atrocity at sea, 2,000 miles away from Iran's shores" : Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi condemns US attack on Iranian warship
NDTV's @AdityaRajKaul joins @VedikaS with more details pic.twitter.com/acqtCumClg

— NDTV (@ndtv) March 5, 2026

Iran's foreign minister said Thursday that America "will come to bitterly regret (the) precedent it has set" after a US submarine sank an Iranian frigate off the coast of Sri Lanka.

The comment by Abbas Araghchi represents the first Iranian government acknowledged of the sinking of the IRIS Dena in the Indian Ocean.

Araghchi made the comment on X, saying "the US has perpetrated an atrocity at sea, 2,000 miles away from Iran's shores."

"Frigate Dena, a guest of India's Navy carrying almost 130 sailors, was struck in international waters without warning," he wrote. "Mark my words: The US will come to bitterly regret (the) precedent it has set."

(AP)

Fresh blasts were reported in Iran's capital on Thursday as Tehran said it had targeted Kurdish groups in Iraq and warned "separatist groups" against action in the widening war.

The conflict that began Saturday with US-Israeli strikes that killed Iran's supreme leader has spread across much of the region, sparking global economic pressure, energy disruptions and travel chaos.

Iran's retaliatory strikes have targeted many of its Gulf neighbours which host US military bases, while Israel has hit Lebanon and moved forces across the border.

On Thursday, Tehran said it had hit Iraq-based Kurdish groups "opposed to the revolution", as reports said the United States was looking to arm Kurdish guerillas to infiltrate Iran.

The strikes which killed a member from an exiled Iranian Kurdish group, according to a representative, followed a warning from Iranian officials.

"Separatist groups should not think that a breeze has blown and try to take action," said Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council.

"We will not tolerate them in any way."

The strikes were further evidence of how the war launched by the United States and Israel is drawing in parties across the region.

(AFP)

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Thursday that "military assets" had been deployed to the Middle East as a contingency plan.

Countries have rushed to evacuate their citizens from the Middle East this week after US-Israeli strikes on Iran that killed its supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and sparked a regional war.

Albanese told the Australian parliament the government had sent six crisis response teams to the region.

"And we've already deployed military assets as part of our contingency planning earlier this week," he said.

"I thank those Australians going into a dangerous situation in order to help their fellow Australians," he added.

The Australian leader did not give further details about the nature of the assets, though local outlet SBS News reported they were planes.

(AFP)

The Israeli military said it launched a wave of strikes on the Iranian capital Tehran on Thursday.

"The IDF (army) has just begun a large-scale wave of strikes against infrastructure of the Iranian terror regime across Tehran," a military statement said.

(AFP)

The United States has released combat footage from the opening "100 hours" of Operation Epic Fury, the joint American-Israeli attack on Iran.

The video, released by the United States Central Command, shows fighter jets flying at high speed, precision missiles launching from warships at sea, and strikes on vehicles and installations on land. The air and naval assault began on February 28 and has since killed more than 700 civilians in Iran.

"100 Hours" of Operation Epic Fury. pic.twitter.com/XW5ZnRAJJL

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) March 4, 2026

Iran said Thursday it had targeted headquarters of Kurdish forces in Iraqi Kurdistan, according to Iranian state media, following strikes on Kurdish regions in both Iran and Iraq.

"We targeted the headquarters of Kurdish groups opposed to the revolution in Iraqi Kurdistan with three missiles," Iran's official IRNA news agency posted on Telegram, quoting a military statement.

(AFP)

South Korea's president ordered the activation of a $68 billion market stabilisation fund Thursday, citing the need to smooth out volatility caused by war in the Middle East.

"The escalating crisis in the Middle East is significantly worsening the global economic and security environment," President Lee Jae Myung said.

"First, we must respond proactively to heightened volatility in financial markets, including equities and foreign exchange."

Lee said the $68 billion programme would "pre-empt instability" in capital markets. 

The fund includes money earmarked for bond and stock markets as well as real estate financing.

South Korea is the fourth-largest importer of crude oil in the world, according to US government figures, and relies heavily on fuel shipped from the Middle East. 

(AFP)

Watch #TheBreakfastShow with @ParmeshwarBawa | As US sinks Iranian warship amid escalating tensions in Middle East, here's a look at Iran's naval strength pic.twitter.com/2NwD20CFCH

— NDTV (@ndtv) March 5, 2026

🔴#BREAKING | US Senate Rejects Bid To Curb Trump's Iran War Powers
NDTV's @VishalV054 joins @ParmeshwarBawa with more details pic.twitter.com/e9Cggbougg

— NDTV (@ndtv) March 5, 2026

The impact of the Iran conflict on energy markets will be temporary and a "small price" to pay for US military goals, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright told Fox News on Wednesday.

US and Israeli strikes on Iran and the subsequent response by Tehran have widened regional tensions and paralyzed shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, disrupting vital Middle East oil and gas flows and sending energy prices higher. Oil prices rose on Thursday in Asia amid growing concern over the prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz. 

"This will definitely be temporary," Wright told the "Ingraham Angle" program on Fox News.

"We have the world just massively well-supplied, abundant oil around the world, and American production at record highs. So we'll get through this, it'll be a bump on the road."

Wright said the closure of the Strait of Hormuz was a temporary event, and that the US Navy would soon be escorting oil tankers through the waterway that typically carries about a fifth of the world's daily oil consumption.

"We'll do that as soon as we can. Right now, our navy, and of course, our military, is focused on other things, which is disarming this Iranian regime," Wright said, when asked if any commercial vessels had requested US Navy assistance.

(Reuters)

The Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group continues around-the-clock operations in support of Operation Epic Fury from the Mediterranean Sea. With another Carrier Strike Group in the Middle East, U.S. forces are squeezing Iran from the sea. pic.twitter.com/MfLNbXA04o

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) March 5, 2026

The IDF confirmed that Iran launched missiles toward Israeli territory, prompting Israel's air-defence systems to intercept incoming threats.

צה״ל זיהה כי לפני זמן קצר שוגרו טילים מאיראן לעבר שטח מדינת ישראל.
מערכות ההגנה פועלות ליירט את האיום. בדקות האחרונות פיקוד העורף הפיץ הנחייה מקדימה ישירות לטלפונים הניידים באזורים הרלוונטיים.
הציבור מתבקש לגלות אחריות ולפעול על פי ההנחיות - הן מצילות חיים.
יש להיכנס למרחבים…

— Israeli Air Force (@IAFsite) March 5, 2026

Qatar has begun evacuating residents of its capital living near the US embassy, the interior ministry said Thursday, after Iranian strikes hit the Gulf country.

"The relevant authorities are evacuating residents living in the vicinity of the US Embassy as a temporary precautionary measure," the ministry posted on X.

(AFP)

As Middle East tensions continue to escalate, India scouts alternative sources as shipping line engulfed@ShivAroor pic.twitter.com/MSb4pjKHFA

— NDTV (@ndtv) March 5, 2026

🔴#BREAKING | Israel intensifies attack on Hezbollah in Beirut
NDTV's @VishalV054 joins @ParmeshwarBawa with more details pic.twitter.com/MlnBiHHeL6

— NDTV (@ndtv) March 5, 2026

Israel's attacks on Lebanon entered a fourth day on Thursday, after Israeli forces pushed into several border towns and conducted air strikes targeting Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.

AFPTV footage showed smoke rising after a strike hit the Hezbollah stronghold of south Beirut early Thursday.

Israel's military earlier told residents to leave the suburb where the strike hit, warning it was about to attack a target it said was linked to Hezbollah.

In Israel's north near the border, repeated air raid alerts sent residents to shelters in several locations, with no immediate reports of impact or casualties.

Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war on Monday, when Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during US-Israeli strikes over the weekend.

(AFP)

Explosions were heard in Jerusalem on Thursday after warnings of incoming Iranian missile fire, AFP journalists said, with Israel's emergency services reporting no casualties.

Israel's military has issued three separate alerts warning of Iranian missile launches in under two hours. There were no reports of significant impact and residents have been cleared to leave their shelters. 

(AFP)

More than 2,000 Canadians have requested assistance from the Canadian government to leave the Middle East amid the intensifying US and Israeli conflict with Iran, a Canadian official said on Wednesday.

(Reuters)

The United Nations on Wednesday said an estimated 100,000 people fled Tehran in the first two days of the US and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28 and March 1.

"In Iran, an estimated 100,000 people left Tehran in the first two days following the attacks," UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, said in a situation report.

"Latest reports indicate no increase in cross-border movements linked to recent events. The situation at the Islam Qala border crossing with Afghanistan remains stable with no significant changes observed," it said.

Sparked by a massive US-Israeli attack that killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the war has seen Iran lash out with missile and drone strikes from Israel across the Gulf.

(AFP)

The Israeli military said its Home Front Command would ease some war-related restrictions effective midday Thursday, allowing limited activity and permitting public gatherings of up to 50 people.

The latest measures would be applicable until 1800 GMT on March 7.

"As part of the changes, all areas of the country will transition from an essential activity level to a limited activity level," the military announced, soon after it had said the number of missiles fired by Iran towards Israel had declined.

The military said schools and other educational institutions would remain closed. 

It said that gatherings of up to 50 people were permitted as long as they were near shelters.

Workplaces were also allowed to reopen as long as they were near shelters.

(AFP)

A ballistic missile launched from Iran and heading towards Turkish airspace via Iraq and Syria was destroyed by NATO air defence systems, Turkish officials said Wednesday.

The defence ministry said it had been "engaged and neutralised by NATO air-and-missile defence assets deployed in the eastern Mediterranean". 

It did not specify the missile's intended target. Iran has been hitting sites across the region in retaliation after the US and Israel launched strikes against it on Saturday.

A Turkish official, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, said the missile had been "aimed at a base in Greek Cyprus but veered off course".

Officials said fragments that fell in the Dortyol district in southern Turkey, near the Syrian border, had been identified as pieces of the interceptor used to neutralise "the threat in the air".

No casualties were reported.

(AFP)

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Thursday that he couldn't rule out his country's military participation in the escalating war in the Middle East.

"One can never categorically rule out participation," he said alongside local counterpart Anthony Albanese in Canberra.

"We will stand by our allies," added Carney, who had said the US-Israeli strikes on Iran were "inconsistent with international law".

(AFP)

Saudi Arabia said Thursday it had intercepted three cruise missiles, as the US-Israel-Iran war continued.
"Three cruise missiles were intercepted and destroyed outside the city of Al-Kharj," the Saudi defence ministry posted on X.

Kurdish Iranian dissident groups based in northern Iraq are preparing for a potential cross-border military operation in Iran, and the US has asked Iraqi Kurds to support them, Kurdish officials told The Associated Press.

The Kurdish groups are widely seen as the most well-organized segment of the fragmented Iranian opposition and are believed to have thousands of trained fighters. Their entry into the war could pose a significant challenge to the embattled authorities in Tehran and could also risk pulling Iraq further into the conflict.

An air strike hit the Hezbollah stronghold of south Beirut early Thursday, AFPTV images showed, shortly after Israel issued a warning ahead of an attack.

Oil prices rose nearly two percent in early Asian trade on Thursday off the back of persistent worries about supplies because of the Middle East conflict.

The US Senate on Wednesday rejected a resolution aimed at curbing President Donald Trump's authority to continue military strikes on Iran, in a narrow congressional show of support for a conflict launched without explicit approval from lawmakers.

Iran will target the Israeli nuclear site of Dimona if Israel and the US seek regime change in the Islamic Republic, semi-official ISNA news agency reported on Wednesday, citing an Iranian military official.

An Iranian official said the country had not sent any messages to the United States, in response to an Axios report, Iran's Tasnim news agency said early on Thursday.

Israel's military issued new evacuation orders for a Beirut suburb on Thursday, warning residents it was about to strike targets it said were linked to Hezbollah. 
The warning posted on social media by the Israeli military's Arabic language spokesperson came as hostilities between Israel and the Iran-backed group intensified -- including direct clashes in the southern Lebanese town of Khiam on Wednesday, according to Hezbollah. 

The Israeli military announced it had launched a new wave of strikes in Tehran on Wednesday, saying they were targeting military infrastructure belonging to the "Iranian regime".
"The IDF has begun an additional wave of strikes targeting military infrastructure belonging to the Iranian regime across Tehran," the military said in a statement.

High-resolution satellite imagery accessed by NDTV shows the scale of destruction inflicted on Tehran after a wave of coordinated American and Israeli strikes. The images -- captured before and after the bombardment -- show damage across sites.

The photographs provide some of the clearest independent visual evidence yet of the intensity of the attacks on the fifth day of a widening regional war that has already killed more than a thousand people and shaken oil markets across the world.

President Donald Trump said Wednesday the United States and Israel were in a strong position in their war with Iran, vowing that they would "continue forward" against the Islamic republic.

Trump said prospective replacements for slain Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei "end up dead" and that Tehran's arsenal of ballistic missiles was being "wiped out rapidly."

"We're doing well on the war front, to put it mildly. Somebody said on a scale of 10, where would you rate it? I said about a 15," Trump told a gathering of tech bosses at the White House.

"We're in a very strong position now, and their leadership is just rapidly going. Everybody that seems to want to be a leader, they end up dead."

A diplomatic tussle between the US and Spain over the war in Iran intensified on Wednesday when the governments exchanged contradictory statements over the possible use of Spanish military bases by US armed forces for operations in the Middle East.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday that attacks on NATO ally Turkey's sovereignty were "unacceptable" after the alliance shot down an Iranian missile, which a Turkish official said had veered off course.
In a call with Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Rubio said "that attacks on Turkey's sovereign territory were unacceptable and pledged full support from the United States," State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said.

A powerful explosion shook Tehran on Wednesday night, AFP journalists said, while state media reported multiple blasts in the west of the capital.

France's President Emmanuel Macron said he urged Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday to "refrain from a ground offensive" in Lebanon.

President Donald Trump is "actively considering" a US role in Iran after the American-Israeli operation against the country concludes, the White House said Wednesday.

The United Nations on Wednesday said an estimated 100,000 people fled Tehran in the first two days of the US and Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28 and March 1.

Spain has agreed to cooperate with the US military, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Wednesday, a day after President Donald Trump suggested imposing a trade embargo on Madrid over its refusal to allow US aircraft to use jointly operated naval and air bases in southern Spain.

Iran's regime is being "absolutely crushed" by the US-Israeli war against the Islamic republic, the White House said Wednesday.
"Under the leadership of President Donald J. Trump, the rogue Iranian terrorist regime is being absolutely crushed," White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told a news conference.

Iraq's electricity ministry said on Wednesday that the entire country had been affected by a total power outage, without identifying the cause.

"The power grid has completely shut down across all Iraqi provinces," the ministry said, according to the Iraqi News Agency (INA).

It added that it was looking to determine the cause of the blackout, and had begun restoring power stations and transmission lines. Parts of the country have come under repeated attack since the war between Israel, the US and Iran broke out.

(AFP)

New drones downed near Baghdad airport: security sources

(AFP)

Iran's armed forces threatened on Wednesday to target Israeli missions worldwide if Israel were to attack Tehran's mission in Lebanon, a military spokesman said.

Abolfazl Shekarchi, the spokesman of the Iranian armed forces, said live on television that "if Israel commits such a crime, it will force us to make all Israeli embassies around the world our legitimate target".

On Tuesday, Avichay Adraee, an Arabic-language spokesman for the Israeli military, said it "warns representatives of the Iranian terror regime who are still in Lebanon to leave immediately before being targeted", giving them 24 hours to leave.

(AFP)

The Israeli military is planning on at least "one or two" more weeks of strikes on Iran, Israeli media reported on Wednesday, the war's fifth day, while launching a fresh wave of attacks in Lebanon against Tehran-backed Hezbollah militants.

(AFP)

The US Senate is set to vote Wednesday on a resolution aimed at curbing President Donald Trump's authority to continue military strikes on Iran, in the first congressional test of support for a conflict launched without explicit approval from lawmakers.

The bipartisan measure, introduced by Democrat Tim Kaine and Republican Rand Paul, would require the withdrawal of US forces from hostilities against Iran unless Congress authorizes the campaign.

But with Republicans holding a 53-47 majority in the upper chamber of Congress and largely backing the president's decision to attack Iran alongside Israel, the resolution is widely expected to fail.

(AFP)

The number of ballistic missiles fired by Iran has decreased 86 percent from the first day of the conflict, while drones launched by Tehran's forces are also down, General Dan Caine, the top US military officer, said Wednesday.

The United States began a massive campaign of strikes on Iran in concert with Israeli forces on Saturday. Tehran has responded with waves of missiles and drones targeting countries in the region that host US military personnel or bases.

"Iran's theater ballistic missile shots fired are down 86 percent from the first day of fighting, with a 23 percent decrease just in the last 24 hours," Caine told a news conference at the Pentagon.

"Their one-way attack drone shots are down 73 percent from the opening days," he said.

(AFP)

Qatar PM tells Araghchi Iran 'seeks to harm its neighbours, drag them into a war'

(AFP)

China to send envoy to mediate in Middle East: FM

(AFP)

Iran's security chief Ali Larijani said Wednesday that US President Donald Trump had dragged the American people into "an unfair war" with Iran.

"Mr. Trump, with Netanyahu's clownish antics, dragged the American people into an unfair war with Iran," Larijani posted on X. 

(AFP)

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth acknowledged Wednesday that some Iranian air attacks may still hit their targets even as he asserted that US military superiority is quickly giving it control of the Islamic Republic's airspace.

The US has spared "no expense or capability" to enhance air defence systems to protect American forces and allies in the Middle East, Hegseth told reporters at the Pentagon days after the US and Israel attacked Iran in a war that has widened throughout the region.

"This does not mean we can stop everything, but we ensured that the maximum possible defence and maximum possible force protection was set up before we went on offence," he said.

(AP)

For President Donald Trump, some of the sharpest criticism he's faced in the early days of the Iran war has come from once-loyal media figures far more accustomed to singing his praises.

Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly and Matt Walsh are among those to express discontent. It's been noticed in the White House, which has been playing defense on social media and in interviews.

Much of the criticism has centered on Israel's influence on Trump's decision to go to war. Carlson, the former Fox News star who has built his own independent operation, told ABC News over the weekend that the attack was "absolutely disgusting and evil."

"It's hard to say this, but the United States didn't make the decision here. Benjamin Netanyahu did," Carlson said on his podcast, referring to the Israeli prime minister.

(AP)

Members of the Iranian intelligence community quietly signalled a willingness to explore talks with the United States during the early days of the ongoing conflict with Washington and Israel, according to a report by The New York Times on Wednesday.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Wednesday that the United States is winning its military operation against Iran “decisively, devastatingly and without mercy.”

Speaking from the Pentagon’s briefing room, Hegseth said more forces, including jet fighters and bombers, will soon arrive in the region. He said that the U.S. “will take all the time we need to make sure that we succeed.”

Hegseth also said that a torpedo from a U.S. submarine sank an Iranian warship on Tuesday night, the first such attack on an enemy since World War II.

(AP)

Passengers who arrived at the IGI Airport in Delhi from Dubai on Wednesday described a city on high alert following a wave of drone and missile strikes. Returnees like Vivek, a passenger, praised the Dubai government's crisis management and safety protocols.

Speaking to ANI, Vivek said, "A bit of bombardment happened. The Dubai government was very good in terms of taking care of everyone. Dubai is the safest country. We were asked to take precautions at all times in the advisory."

Another passenger, who arrived at IGI Airport from Dubai, said, "The government there is very good. I was alone there. I was not very scared there."

(ANI)

At least 80 killed in US submarine attack on Iranian ship near Sri Lanka: news agency Reuters

US submarine sank Iran warship in Indian Ocean: Pentagon chief

(AFP)

One of the officials, who was speaking on condition of anonymity, said it was carried out by a US military submarine.

The United States military carried out a strike that hit an Iranian warship off Sri Lanka's coast, three U.S. officials told Reuters on Wednesday.

One of the officials, who was speaking on condition of anonymity, said it was carried out by a U.S. military submarine.

Earlier, Sri Lankan authorities said they had rescued 32 people who were on board the ship and recovered several bodies from the sea.

(Reuters)

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Wednesday defended his handling of the US-Israeli air campaign against Iran after President Donald Trump launched a scathing attack over his initial refusal to allow allow the Americans to use UK air bases.

"American planes are operating out of British bases. That is the special relationship in action," he told parliament.

"British jets are shooting down drones and missiles to protect American lives in the Middle East on our joint bases. That is the special relationship in action, sharing intelligence every day to keep our people safe," he added.

(AFP)

NATO on Wednesday condemned Iran's "targeting" of member country Turkey after Ankara said a missile heading towards its airspace had been destroyed by alliance defence systems.

"We condemn Iran's targeting of Turkiye. NATO stands firmly with all allies, including Turkiye, as Iran continues its indiscriminate attacks across the region," NATO spokeswoman Allison Hart said, using the country's official name.

"Our deterrence and defence posture remains strong across all domains, including when it comes to air and missile defence," she added.

(AFP)

Bahrain said on Wednesday that residents could register as volunteers to aid war efforts in sectors including health, engineering, logistics and administration, as Iran pressed on with its Gulf retaliation campaign.

Iran has lashed out with missile and drone strikes on countries from the Gulf to Israel since the United States and Israel launched a massive air campaign.

Thirteen people, seven of them civilians, have been killed in countries around the Gulf since the war began. 

The Pentagon has announced the deaths of six US servicemen since Saturday, four of them in Kuwait. 

(AFP)

Turkey warned Tehran against any steps that could spread the war after a missile launched from Iran heading toward Turkish airspace was destroyed by NATO air-defence systems, a foreign ministry source said.

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told his Iranian counterpart in a phone call that "any steps that could lead to the spread of conflict should be avoided", the source added.

(AFP)

Ship transiting Strait of Hormuz struck by 'unknown projectile': UK maritime agency

(AFP)

Iran announced that a state funeral for supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, which had been planned for Wednesday evening in Tehran, was postponed "in anticipation of unprecedented turnout," state television reported.

Chip factories are massive industrial operations that run continuously and use huge amounts of electricity. When energy prices jump, the cost of running those factories rises quickly.

Israeli experts have suggested that external assistance may have played a role, raising speculation about possible transfers of military know-how from Russia or China.

A ballistic missile fired from Iran and heading into Turkish airspace after passing Syria and Iraq was destroyed by NATO air and missile defence systems in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, the Turkish Defence Ministry said on Wednesday.

The ministry said in a statement that there were no casualties or injuries in incident, adding that Turkey reserves the right to respond to any hostile actions against it, while warning parties to refrain from steps that could escalate the conflict.

(Reuters)

Death count in Iran from the US-Israeli attacks has risen to 1,045: Report

Oil giant Saudi Aramco's Ras Tanura, home to its largest domestic refinery, was struck again by a drone today, a Saudi Defence Ministry spokesperson said.

Iran has said it will allow only Chinese vessels to pass through the Strait of Hormuz as an expression of gratitude for Beijing's stand towards Tehran since the war in the Middle East began, sources have said

Look at the skies over Iran right now. Almost every fighter aircraft you're seeing in those skies, at some point in the last 20 years, has been offered to India.

The United Arab Emirates and Qatar separately said Wednesday they had intercepted drone and missile barrages as Iran pressed its campaign targeting its neighbours into a fifth day.

The UAE's ministry of defence said its air defences "successfully engaged today (March 4, 2025) with 3 ballistic missiles and detected 129 drones, of which 121 drones were intercepted while 8 fell on state territory".

Qatar's military said it was targeted "at dawn today, by 10 drones and 2 cruise missiles coming from the Islamic Republic of Iran," with all of the projectiles intercepted by its forces.

(AFP)

Iraq's top Shiite Muslim cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, denounced on Wednesday the "in the strongest terms the unjust war" on Iran.

Sistani, himself born in Iran, called "on all Muslims and free people around the world to denounce" the war and "stand in solidarity with the Iranian people."

He urged "all countries, particularly Islamic nations, to make every possible effort to end it immediately and to reach a just and peaceful solution to the Iranian nuclear issue."

Despite his non-Iraqi roots, Sistani has been a vital figure in Iraq's recent history, guiding his followers through decades of dictatorship, occupation and conflict.

(AFP)

Mojtaba Khamenei, a son of Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has long been considered a contender to the post of the country's next paramount ruler - even before an Israeli strike killed his father at the start of the war last week and despite the fact he's has never been elected or appointed to a government position.

A secretive figure within the Islamic Republic, Mojtaba Khamenei has not been seen publicly since Saturday, when the Israeli airstrike targeting the supreme leader's offices killed his 86-year-old father. Also killed were the younger Khamenei's wife, Zahra Haddad Adel, who came from a family long associated with the country's theocracy.

Khamenei is believed to still be alive and has likely has gone into hiding as American and Israeli airstrikes continue to pound Iran, though state-run Iranian media have not reported on his whereabouts.

(AP)

Iran state funeral for Ayatollah Khamenei planned for Wednesday evening 'postponed': state TV

(AFP)

Weeks before U.S.-Israeli strikes in Iran, wide swathes of state-backed Chinese companies were eyeing projects in areas from energy and heavy industry to trade promotion, data showed, spotlighting the risks the war presents for business in China.

One of Iran's closest allies and the biggest buyer of its oil, China has so far kept silent about the business and trade impact of the attacks, though it condemned the U.S.-led operation as "unacceptable" and called for restraint.

Chinese government procurement and tender records on Iran show contracts issued in recent months, pointing to the vibrant commercial engagement of the two nations, though the total size of China's investment in the projects was not immediately clear.

(Reuters)

Iran said on Wednesday it was trying to swiftly appoint a new supreme leader after Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in US-Israeli strikes on the weekend.

"We are all trying," said Ahmad Khatami, a member of the Assembly of Experts for Leadership which is responsible for selecting a new leader.

"God willing, the leader will be appointed at the earliest opportunity. We are close, but the situation is a war situation," he told state TV.

Earlier on Wednesday, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said that any Iranian leader picked to succeed Khamenei "will be a certain target for assassination".

(AFP)

Chinese shipping giant Cosco, which operates one of the world's biggest oil tanker fleets, announced it was suspending services to and from Gulf countries from Wednesday, including the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Kuwait.

The state-owned, Shanghai-based firm is among several major shipping groups that have halted vessel operations in the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for global energy transit.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards claimed total control of the strait on Wednesday as Israel launched a new wave of strikes on the Iranian capital.

(AFP)

The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child insisted Wednesday that children must be protected during the war in the Middle East, highlighting an alleged air strike on an Iranian school.

Iran has blamed Israel and the United States for the strike on the school in the Iranian city of Minab on the first day of the war on Saturday, giving a toll of more than 150 dead.

(AFP)

Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez once again criticized the U.S. and Israel's military actions in Iran, standing firm Wednesday against fresh trade threats from Washington and warning that the Iran war risked "playing Russian roulette" with millions of lives.

President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to end U.S. trade with Spain because of Spain's refusal to allow the U.S. to use joint military bases in the country in its attacks on Iran.

"We are not going to be complicit in something that is bad for the world and is also contrary to our values and interests, just out of fear of reprisals from someone," Sanchez said in a televised address.

It's not clear how Trump would cut off trade with Spain, a European Union member. The EU negotiates trade on behalf of all its 27 members.

(AP)

Submarine attacks Iranian ship off Sri Lanka, at least 101 people missing: news agency Reuters

The European Commission said it was "ready" to defend EU interests after President Donald Trump threatened to sever trade with Spain for refusing to allow US use of its bases to attack Iran.

"We stand in full solidarity with all member states and all its citizens and, through our common trade policy, stand ready to act if necessary to safeguard EU interests," said commission spokesman Olof Gill in a statement issued in response to Trump's threats.

(AFP)

The Iranian judiciary said Wednesday that those who aid the country's enemies "will be dealt with decisively and severely" during the Middle East war sparked by joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran.

"Given that we are in a state of war, individuals who act in any way, in word or deed, in line with the illegitimate desires and interests of the aggressor enemy, will be dealt with decisively and severely in accordance with existing laws and regulations," judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei was quoted as saying by the judiciary's Mizan online news portal. 

The Israeli military said its air force shot down an Iranian fighter jet over Tehran.

"An Israeli Air Force F-35I fighter jet ('Adir') shot down an Iranian Air Force YAK-130 fighter jet a short while ago over the skies of Tehran," a military statement said.

The joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran were conducted during an "operational opportunity" that arose "only after Prime Minister Narendra Modi left" Tel Aviv, Israeli envoy Reuven Azar told The Indian Express.

According to Azar, the Israeli Ambassador to India, it was not known during PM Modi's visit that the strikes on Tehran would be undertaken.

"It was an operational opportunity that came up only after Prime Minister Narendra Modi left. Of course, during the conversations with PM Modi during the visit, we talked about regional development, but we couldn't have actually shared something that we didn't know," he told The Indian Express.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez hit back at US President Donald Trump's criticisms of Madrid's refusal to let US planes use its bases to attack Iran.

"The position of the government of Spain can be summed up in four words: no to war," he said in a televised address, a day after Trump threatened to sever all trade with Spain.

"We will not be complicit in something that is harmful to the world and contrary to our values and interests, simply out of fear of retaliation."

Iran has no intention of negotiating with the United States and can continue the Middle East war for as long as needed, Mohammad Mokhber, a senior aide to the late supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told state TV.

He told the broadcaster that Iran had "no trust in the Americans and we have no basis for any negotiations with them", adding that: "We can continue the war as long as we want."

An explosion hit northeastern Tehran on Wednesday, an AFP journalist said, on the fifth day of the Middle East war sparked by joint US-Israeli strikes on Iran.

Iranian state television confirmed a powerful explosion, without providing further details. 

An AFP journalist in Tehran saw a cloud of smoke rising in the northeast of the city and heard the roar of military aircraft in the sky at around 11:15 am (0745 GMT).

(AFP)

A Kuwaiti jet fighter was the cause of the accidental shootdown of three American F-15s on Monday, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

At least one Kuwaiti F-18 is believed to be responsible, the report said.

According to a US official, the pilot of the F-18 Hornet mistakenly launched three missiles towards the three US jets, which went down over Kuwait.

Israel claimed Iran to be an 'existential threat' while the US claimed Iran to pose an 'imminent threat' to its mainland through the latter's rapidly growing capability in ballistic missiles. Both launched a pre-emptive air campaign on February 28, targeting key infrastructure in Iran while taking out top leadership in a well-timed and executed intelligence operation. Obviously, the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei was the top prize for US-Israel. The campaign was expected to pulverise Iran in a matter of days, decapitate its entire political and military leadership and orchestrate a change of regime in Iran in no time.

However, what has been witnessed in the four days has shocked the world and has gone well beyond the wildest calculations of American and Israeli generals. The Iranian counterattack has been focused and ferocious, unmindful of the mighty armies that it is opposing. The death of its Supreme Leader and over 40 top generals has not deterred it but has on the contrary strengthened its resolve to fight back. The inadequacy of the American security umbrella in the Gulf region has been exposed as the American defensive systems get overwhelmed and outnumbered. US bases and embassies are being vacated, energy supplies across the Persian Gulf have come to a halt, and there is fear that if the conflict prolongs, the costs that it imposes will soon become untenable for Israel and the US.

Read here

Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz issued an open assassination threat to Iran's new supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's successor Wednesday. The threat came hours after Iran elected Khamenei's son, Mojtaba, as the next Supreme Leader.

In a strongly worded post on social media, Katz wrote: "Any leader appointed by the Iranian terrorist regime to continue leading the plan to destroy Israel, threaten the United States and the free world and the countries of the region, and oppress the Iranian people - will be an unequivocal target for elimination."

כל מנהיג שימונה ע"י משטר הטרור האיראני כדי להמשיך ולהוביל את התוכנית להשמדת ישראל, לאיים על ארה"ב והעולם החופשי ומדינות האזור, ולדכא את העם האירני - יהיה יעד חד משמעי לחיסול.
לא חשוב מה שמו והמקום בו יסתתר.
רה"מ ואני הנחינו את צה"ל להיערך ולפעול בכל האמצעים למימוש המשימה כחלק…

— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) March 4, 2026

Kuwait's health ministry said Wednesday an 11-year-old girl was killed after being hit by falling shrapnel following waves of Iranian attacks across the Gulf.

"Resuscitation was performed in the ambulance while the girl was being transported to the hospital, and attempts continued for nearly half an hour upon arrival at Al-Amiri Hospital. However, she passed away due to her injuries," said the ministry in a statement posted on X. 

Iran will hold a three-day state funeral for supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in US-Israeli strikes, official news agency Irna said.

"Starting at 10:00 pm (1830 GMT), the faithful will be able to pay a final homage to the body of the martyred guide of the nation, by visiting the Imam Khomenei grand mosque" in Tehran, Irna said, citing a statement from the Islamic Development Coordination Council.

Khamenei was 86 years old when he was killed, and will be buried in his home city of Mashhad in northeastern Iran.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Wednesday they had launched around 40 missiles at US and Israeli targets, on the fifth day of war in the Middle East.

"Several hours ago, the 17th wave of operation Honest Promise 4 was conducted with the launch of 40 missiles by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps' aerospace forces, towards American and Zionist targets," a statement read on state TV said, without giving further details.

Democrats have mounted questions over the Trump administration's decision to launch a war with Iran, saying the US didn't have any "imminent threat" from the Middle Eastern country.

President Donald Trump and his top aides have said the US launched a preemptive strike on Iran on Saturday, which left Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei dead, to prevent Tehran's potential retaliation on American military bases.

"I just left a classified briefing on Iran and here's what I can say. It is so much worse than you thought. You are right to be worried," Senator Elizabeth Warren said after the second day of closed-door briefings with Trump officials at the Capitol.

"Trump administration has no plan in Iran. This illegal war is based on lies and it was launched without any imminent threat to our nation. Donald Trump still hasn't given a single clear reason for this war and he seems to have no plan for how to end it either," she said in a video statement on X.

I just left a classified briefing with the Trump Administration about the war in Iran.

I was worried before, but I’m more worried now. pic.twitter.com/HoSWLVWrR8

— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) March 3, 2026