The US State Department has given its non-emergency personnel and their families in Saudi Arabia and Oman permission to leave, the US embassies in both Gulf states said Tuesday, as Iran launches retaliatory strikes in response to US-Israeli air raids.

The department "authorized non-emergency US government employees and US government employee family members to leave" Saudi Arabia and Oman "due to safety risks," the US embassies in Riyadh and Muscat said in advisories on their websites.

The United States made a "totally stupid decision" to attack Iran while in negotiations, and betrayed Gulf nations by trashing their diplomatic efforts, Tehran's UN ambassador said Tuesday.

Ali Bahreini, Iran's ambassador in Geneva, insisted Tehran had no problem with its neighbours, but could not let US bases in the Gulf be used as launchpads for attacks on Iran.

"War was not our option. War was imposed on Iran," Bahreini told UN correspondents.

"Nobody should expect Iran to show restraint in front of aggression.

"We will continue our defence until the point that this aggression is stopped," he said.

(AFP)

Trump said that two waves of US-Israeli attacks on Iran had killed figures he had eyed as potential new leaders, adding that there had been a "substantial" new attack on a meeting to choose the new leadership.

"Most of the people we had in mind are dead," he said. "Now we have another group. They may be dead also, based on reports."

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Iran's indiscriminate retaliatory attacks on targets across the Gulf states are the "wrong strategy," Turkey's top diplomat said in a televised interview on Tuesday.

"Iran's bombing of Arab countries without making any distinction -- Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan - all of them - is, in my opinion, an incredibly wrong strategy," Hakan Fidan told state-run TRT HABER television.

"It significantly increases the risk in the region. But from Iran's own perspective as well, it is an extremely mistaken strategy," he added. 

Indian equities opened deep in the red on Wednesday as global risk sentiment soured amid the ongoing Iran war. The benchmark Sensex dropped over 1,600 points at the open, while the NSE Nifty 50 slipped 450 points, reflecting broad-based selling pressure.

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei will be buried in the holy city of Mashhad, the Fars news agency said Tuesday. 

Before the burial, a "large farewell ceremony" will be held in Tehran, the Revolutionary Guards said on their Telegram account. 

No date for the burial was disclosed. 

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney called on Wednesday for the "rapid de-escalation" of the Middle East war unleashed by US-Israeli strikes on Iran.

"Resolution of this crisis will require commitment to a broader political solution, and diplomatic engagement is essential to avoid a wider and deeper conflict," Carney told reporters in Sydney.

"Innocent civilians must be protected, and all parties must commit to finding enduring agreements to end both nuclear proliferation and terrorist extremism," he said.

An Israeli strike hit a hotel in the Beirut suburb of Hazmieh on Wednesday, Lebanese state media reported, the first recent such attack on the predominantly Christian area.

The state-run National News Agency said that "an Israeli airstrike targeted a hotel in Hazmieh" adding that "ambulances were dispatched to the scene".

(AFP)

Gold prices rose over 1% on Wednesday, rebounding from a more than one-week low hit in the previous session, as escalating U.S.-Israeli air strikes against Iran and heightened geopolitical uncertainty supported safe-haven demand.

Spot gold gained 1.6% to $5,168.69 per ounce as of 0249 GMT. U.S. gold futures for April delivery added 1.1% to $5,178.40.

On Tuesday, bullion fell more than 4% to its lowest since February 20, weighed by a firmer dollar and dimming rate-cut prospects as inflation concerns were intensified by fears of a potentially prolonged Middle East conflict.

(Reuters)

US-made Patriot air-defense missiles have been largely successful in stopping the Iranian Shaheds and other ballistic missiles, with interception rates over 90%, according to the UAE. But using $4 million missiles to destroy $20,000 drones illustrates a problem that has haunted Western military planners since early in the Ukraine war: The cheap weapons can chew up resources meant for much more complex threats.

Born in Mashhad in 1969, Mojtaba is the second-eldest son of Ali Khamenei. He has five siblings. He grew up as his father emerged as a prominent cleric opposing Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the former Shah of Iran. The 1979 Islamic Revolution transformed the family's fortunes and embedded them at the heart of the new state.

After moving to Tehran, he attended the Alavi High School, known for producing regime insiders, before pursuing religious studies in Qom under conservative clerics. However, despite decades in seminary circles, he has not attained the rank of ayatollah.

Oil prices rose more than $1 on Wednesday as the US-Israeli war on Iran disrupted Middle East output and halted exports from the region.

Brent rose $1.11, or 1.4%, to $82.53 a barrel, after closing at its highest since January 2025 on Tuesday. US West Texas Intermediate crude rose 79 cents, or 1.1%, to $75.37, after settling at its highest since June.

(Reuters)

US President Donald Trump threatened Tuesday to sever all trade with Spain after it refused to let US planes use its bases to attack Iran, while also lashing out at Britain for not cooperating more.

Spain's left-wing government led by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, one of Europe's most defiant leaders against Trump, has said that bases long used by US forces could only be allowed for activities consistent with the United Nations Charter.

"So we're going to cut off all trade with Spain. We don't want anything to do with Spain," Trump said, adding that he had asked Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to "cut off all dealings with Spain."

(AFP)

Israel early Wednesday launched new attacks on Iran as the US military said it has hit nearly 2,000 targets inside the Islamic republic, which tried to impose a cost by expanding a missile and drone barrage across the region.

With global energy prices on the rise, President Donald Trump said the US Navy was ready to escort oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, the vital chokepoint into the Gulf that Iran has threatened to seal off.

Israel's military said it launched a "broad wave of strikes" after midnight across Iran, which in the hours before had launched three separate missile barrages at Israel, causing mild injuries to a woman in Tel Aviv.

The US military has hit nearly 2,000 targets since attacking Iran alongside Israel on Saturday, targeting ballistic missiles and "all the things that can shoot at us", said Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of US Central Command.

(AFP)

An Iranian ballistic missile hit the United States' military base at Al-Udeid on Tuesday, Qatar's defence ministry said, as Tehran struck targets across the Gulf in retaliation for US-Israeli attacks.

The ministry said Qatar was targeted by two missiles, adding: "Air defence systems successfully intercepted one of the missiles, while the second missile struck Al-Udeid Qatari Base without causing any casualties."

(AFP)

A drone attack near the US Consulate in Dubai caused a fire late Tuesday as Iran continued its drone and missile attacks targeting American diplomatic missions in the Middle East.

Residents told the news agency AFP that they heard a bang and one said she then saw the blaze. Police cordoned off roads nearby and shooed away passersby trying to see the damage.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed the drone strike in Dubai and said all staff were safe.

"A drone unfortunately struck a parking lot adjacent to the chancellery building and then set off a fire in that place. All personnel are accounted for," he told reporters in Washington.

Mojtaba Hosseini Khamenei, son of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, elected Iran's new Supreme Leader, reports Iran International, quoting sources.

He was chosen as Khamenei's successor by Iran's Assembly of Experts, reports added.