A drone was shot down on Wednesday near Baghdad's international airport, a day after a similar attack on the facility, two security sources told AFP.

"A drone was downed near Baghdad airport, with no casualties or material damage reported," an Iraqi security source said.

Another security source in Baghdad confirmed the incident.

The airport includes a military base that hosts a US diplomatic facility and previously housed US-led coalition troops.

Iraq, which recently regained a sense of stability but has long been a proxy battleground between the US and Iran, said it did not want to be dragged into the Middle East war. But it has not been spared. 

(AFP)

As the conflict between the United States, Israel and Iran continues to rage on for the fourth day today, leaks from the Pentagon have suggested that if the US continues to strike the Islamic Republic for 10 more days, the stocks of critical missiles could run low.

According to a report by Al Jazeera, Trump has been informed by the Pentagon that an extended conflict could include several risks such as facing high costs for replenishing munition stocks.

The US State Department said on Wednesday it had ordered non-emergency personnel from US consulates in the cities of Karachi and Lahore and their families to leave Pakistan due to security concerns.

"The Department of State ordered non-emergency US government employees and the family members of US government personnel from US Consulates Lahore and Karachi to leave Pakistan due to safety risks," the US embassy in Pakistan said in a statement.

It said there was no change to the status of its embassy in the capital Islamabad.

The US State Department has given its non-emergency personnel and their families in Cyprus permission to leave, the US embassy said Wednesday.

The department "authorised non-emergency US government employees and US government employee family members to leave Cyprus due to the safety risks."

Myanmar's junta announced the launch of a sweeping fuel rationing system for private vehicles on Wednesday, blaming disruptions to the global energy supply chain caused by escalating hostilities in the Middle East.

The country's National Defence and Security Council (NDSC) said the new regulations, effective March 7, 2026, were a response to "global political situations" and armed conflicts in the Middle East, which have obstructed oil shipments.

Under a new "even-odd" licensing scheme, even-numbered plates will only be allowed to drive on even dates, and odd-numbered plates on odd dates, the announcement said. Electric vehicles and electric motorcycles are exempt.

The NDSC warned businesses and individuals not to hoard fuel for resale at inflated prices, saying that violators would be prosecuted.

(Reuters)

As per the latest report of Petroleum Ministry's Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell (PPAC) on International Prices of Crude Oil (Indian Basket), the price of Crude Oil (Indian Basket) was US$ 80.16 per barrel on March 2.

Sargeant Declan J Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, Iowa killed in Iran strikes.

Sargeant 1st Class Nicole M Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota killed in Iran strikes.

Sargeant 1st Class Noah L Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Nebraska is one of the four US soldiers killed in Iran strikes.

Captain Cody A Khork, 35, of Winter Haven, Florida is one of the four US soldiers killed in Iran strikes.

The US military on Tuesday identified four of the first American soldiers killed in the war against Iran as the Trump administration warned the intensifying conflict would lead to more American casualties.

Among six US military deaths so far, the four soldiers were members of an Iowa unit of the US Army Reserve. They died on Sunday when a drone slammed into a US military facility in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait, the US military said on Tuesday.

An oil tanker sailed through the Strait of Hormuz  on Tuesday, heading to a United Arab Emirates port to load crude in a rare voyage since the Iran war disrupted shipping in the Middle East, according to industry sources and shiptracking data.

Suezmax tanker Pola switched off its AIS tracker late on March 2, when it approached the Strait, and re-appeared on March 3 off Abu Dhabi, LSEG data showed.

The vessel is heading to the port of Jebel Dhanna to load Abu Dhabi Murban crude for Thailand, said two trade sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity as the matter is a sensitive one.

(Reuters)

Saudi Aramco is exploring the option of delivering more cargoes to Yanbu, a port on the Red Sea that's situated outside the Persian Gulf, where dozens of ships are hunkered down as the Strait of Hormuz remains effectively closed.

Aramco typically exports the bulk of its crude from ports within the Gulf, but conflict in the Middle East has led to a logjam of vessels. The world's biggest oil exporter has a 5 million barrel-a-day pipeline that runs across the country which can transport oil from fields in the east to the Red Sea in the west.

Aramco did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

(Bloomberg)

President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he ordered US forces to join Israel's attack on Iran because he believed Iran was about to strike first, contradicting the rationale offered a day earlier by his secretary of state for how the war began.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Monday that the US launched the attack because of fears that Iran would retaliate in response to planned Israeli action against Tehran.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Wednesday they control the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route for oil and gas, and any vessels seeking to pass through the waterway risk damage from missiles or stray drones.

"Currently, the Strait of Hormuz is under the complete control of the Islamic Republic's Navy," said Guards Navy official Mohammad Akbarzadeh in a statement issued on Fars news agency.

Israel's transport minister said the country will gradually reopen its airspace overnight between Wednesday and Thursday, after it was closed to civilian flights as the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran.

The initial approved flights will be to repatriate Israelis, a transport ministry spokesperson told AFP, adding that there will be no departures for now.

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."

Bahrain: +973 39418071

Iran: +98 9128109115 / +98 9128109102 / +98 9128109109 / +98 9932179359

Iraq: +964 771 651 1185 / +964 770444 4899

Israel: +972 54 7520711 / +972 54 2428378

Jordan: +962 770 422 276

Kuwait: +965 65501946

Lebanon: +961 76860128

Oman: +968 98282270 (WhatsApp) / 80071234 (Toll free) Qatar: +974 55647502

Ramallah, Palestine: +970 592916418

Saudi Arabia (Riyadh): +966 11 4884697 / 800 247 1234 (Toll free)

Saudi Arabia (Jeddah): +966 126648660 / +966 12 2614093

United Arab Emirates: +971 543090571 (WhatsApp) / 800 46342 (Toll free)

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.