attacks

Tehran has carried out more attacks on Gulf states – despite an apology by the president to Iran’s neighbours.

Civilian targets have been hit, including airports and vital infrastructure.

Who’s in control in Iran – and how will Gulf states react as the attacks continue?

Presenter: James Bays

Guests:

John Brennan – Former director of the Central Intelligence Agency under the administration of US President Barack Obama

Bader Al-Saif – Professor at Kuwait University and fellow at Chatham House, specialising in Middle East history and politics

Trita Parsi – Executive vice president of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft

As expected, Iran has repeatedly targeted prized missile defense radars across the Middle East in retaliation for the joint U.S.-Israeli air campaign that is ongoing. Iran’s attacks on high-value radars that enable the region’s missile defense capabilities appear to have succeeded on multiple occasions. The irony that lower-end long-range kamikaze drones are perhaps the biggest threat to extremely advanced radars capable of providing telemetry for intercepting targets traveling at hypersonic speeds, sometimes in space, is glaring. The losses of the radars and/or damage to their facilities should finally serve as a stark wake-up call regarding the vulnerability of these critical but largely static assets.

Based on the information at hand, it appears that Iran has been able to destroy one U.S. AN/TPY-2 radar in Jordan and damage the massive American-made AN/FPS-132 phased array radar in Qatar, prompting immediate concerns about available radar coverage to help respond to further barrages. There are strong indications that a number of other similar systems have been destroyed or damaged, as well.

For over a decade, TWZ has drawn attention to the threat of drones to America’s critical military capabilities and infrastructure. And more recently, we specifically discussed the glaring vulnerability of strategic radar systems after a Ukrainian drone attack nearly two years ago on a Russian early warning radar site, as well as after being first to report drone incursions over a U.S. missile defense site on Guam back in 2019.

For some general context to start, Iran and/or its regional proxies have hit targets in a total of 12 countries since the start of the current conflict. Iranian retaliatory attacks utilizing ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as long-range kamikaze drones, have significantly declined in recent days, but are still being carried out. Countries in the region are so far claiming very high interception rates of incoming threats, but some missiles and drones are clearly making it to their targets.

Iran has attacked a wide array of different targets, military and non-military, but there has been a clear concerted effort to go after air and missile defense radars in the region as part of the retaliatory campaign. This is to be expected given that the loss of key radars, even temporarily, risks degrading further efforts to intercept Iranian missiles and drones, hence these weapons can succeed at a higher rate. Taking out missile defense radars at very high-value sites can leave those areas far more vulnerable to follow-on attacks, as well. Striking these radars also reduces their user’s general situational awareness in the region, and can even have strategic implications beyond the region, too.

It’s also worth noting that these radars are extremely expensive and take years to replace.

Iran’s attacks on radars so far

This past week, CNN obtained imagery from Planet Labs showing an AN/TPY-2 radar damaged, or even possibly destroyed, following an Iranian attack on Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan. Muwaffaq Salti has long been a major regional hub for U.S. operations, and is being very actively utilized in the current conflict. It has the greatest concentration of U.S. tactical aircraft in the region, and thus is an extremely important target, where even one ballistic missile landing on an apron could destroy multiple prized fighter aircraft and take the lives of U.S. service members.

NEW: The radar for a THAAD system was struck and apparently destroyed in Jordan while two other THAAD radar systems may have been hit in the UAE, satellite images show – w/ @ThomasBordeaux7 https://t.co/qiuWVQgyda

— Gianluca Mezzofiore (@GianlucaMezzo) March 5, 2026

The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday that the U.S. military was rushing to replace the AN/TPY-2 at Muwaffaq Salti, lending credence to the assessment that damage from the Iranian attack was at least substantial. There is a picture, seen below, circulating on social media that is said to show the AN/TPY-2 at Muwaffaq Salti having been clearly knocked out, but it remains unverified and, in an age of increasingly impressive AI fakes, should be treated as such.

Photos have now confirmed the destruction of a AN/TPY-2 Forward Based X-band Transportable Radar operated by the U.S. Army, following an Iranian drone attack earlier this week targeting Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan. The AN/TPY-2 is the primary ground-based air surveillance… pic.twitter.com/54QyQCxNVW

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) March 7, 2026

The active electronically-scanned array AN/TPY-2 is primarily associated with the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-ballistic missile system, but it also has a demonstrated ability to feed data to Patriot surface-to-air missile systems. THAAD is a key upper-tier defensive system deployed to the Middle East that is capable of swatting down Iran’s most capable missiles from the end of their midcourse stage of flight and through their terminal stage. AN/TPY-2 radars can also be deployed as standalone sensors in a larger integrated air defense network. The radar is trailer-mounted and technically road mobile, but is not designed to be used on the move or very rapidly relocated from one place to another.

CNN has reported that additional Planet Labs imagery indicates that AN/TPY-2 and their infrastructure were also at least targeted and possibly damaged in Iranian attacks on THAAD batteries belonging to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), one at Al Ruwais and another at Al Sader, and another one in Saudi Arabia near Prince Sultan Air Base. The New York Times also obtained satellite imagery showing that the site at Al Ruwais had at least come under attack. The full extent of the damage at any of these sites remains unclear.

A compound was damaged on Al Dhafra Air Base, UAE. Sat dishes were visible at the site as recently as mid-June of last year. It is unclear if they were still there when strikes occurred, but Iran struck the same area again on Monday. pic.twitter.com/nRyb7c6Kj5

— Devon Lum (@devonjlum) March 4, 2026

A satellite image taken on March 1 shows smoke rising from a radar site near the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, where dozens of American planes are stationed.

At the site, a tent previously used to shelter a radar system for a nearby THAAD battery was badly charred and… pic.twitter.com/rSbEdtOvwf

— Gianluca Mezzofiore (@GianlucaMezzo) March 6, 2026

Satellite imagery from Planet Labs, obtained by the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, has also confirmed that the very large, fully static AN/FPS-132 radar in Qatar was damaged in an Iranian attack on the first day of the conflict. At least one of the radar’s three arrays was hit, and there are also signs of a possible fire.

Confirmed the AN/FPS-132 phased array radar in Qatar was damaged by Iran, thanks to an incredible image from our friends @planet

Debris from the damaged face has fallen on the roof of the main building and there is water runoff from the firefighting effort pic.twitter.com/AxzteEug7P

— Sam Lair (@sam_lair) March 3, 2026

There are multiple versions of the giant AN/FPS-132, all of which are fixed-site solid-state phased array radar systems primarily to provide early warning of incoming ballistic missile strikes. As noted, the one in Qatar has three faces, offering 360-degree coverage, but there are also variants with only two faces. The AN/FPS-132 is part of a larger group of broadly related strategic early warning types that are also in U.S. military service at multiple sites in the United States, as well as in Greenland. The Royal Air Force (RAF) in the United Kingdom operates another one of these radars at its RAF Fylingdales base.

Since the first day of the current conflict, claims have been circulating that Iran was able to at least damage a U.S. AN/TPS-59 active electronically-scanned array ballistic missile defense radar in Manama, Bahrain. This appears to be based on the video below, showing a kamikaze drone hitting a large spherical radome at Naval Support Activity (NSA) Bahrain, a U.S. Navy facility in the country that is home to the headquarters of the U.S. Fifth Fleet.

Footage of an Iranian attack drone slamming into the headquarters of the US Navy’s 5th Fleet at Naval Support Activity (NSA) Bahrain moments ago. pic.twitter.com/wHbje3eiiy

— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) February 28, 2026

However, Planet Labs imagery that The New York Times subsequently obtained has been assessed to instead show damage to what are understood to be large satellite communications terminals at NSA Bahrain. Like larger radars, these terminals also often sit inside spherical radomes. There are clear signs that communications arrays like this have been a major target of Iranian retaliation strikes on bases across the Middle East, as well.

A tent surrounded by satellite dishes was destroyed at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar. Some of the dishes were most likely damaged as well. Al Udeid is the regional headquarters for the US Central Command, and was similarly struck by Iran last June. pic.twitter.com/TyuqZWHUL3

— Devon Lum (@devonjlum) March 4, 2026

Yesterday, Iran’s PressTV claimed that the Iranian Navy had launched a kamikaze drone attack targeting “strategic carbon-based radar installations at the Sdot Micha facility.” While TWZ cannot independently confirm whether such an attack was launched, let alone was successful, it does highlight continued Iranian targeting of key missile defense radars. Sdot Micha Air Base in Israel hosts Arrow-series anti-ballistic missile defense systems. Elta’s Green Pine, which is analogous in some very broad respects to AN/TPY-2, is the main radar associated with these anti-missile systems.

Costly losses of key capabilities

Concerns have been raised about the immediate impacts from the loss of the AN/TPY-2 and damage to the AN/FPS-132, given that Iranian retaliatory attacks have significantly slowed, but not stopped. There are claims now, said to have originated from a report from Channel 14 in Israel, that malfunctioning and/or damaged U.S. radars have caused delays in early warning alerts about incoming Iranian missiles. TWZ has been unable to find an original source for these assertions, and they remain very much unconfirmed at this time. Regardless, it is hard not to see how losses of these systems could cause at least some degradation in total coverage, even if other land based and sea-based systems (Aegis BMD) can help with filling in some coverage.

The United States, Israel, and Gulf Arab states do have other air and missile defense radars positioned in the Middle East, or that could otherwise help fill any resulting gaps. At the same time, there are only a small number of systems that are at all equivalent to the AN/TPY-2, let alone the AN/FPS-132. Only 16 AN/TPY-2s are understood to have been produced to date, in total, for all customers. The current cost of one of those radars is generally pegged at around $250 to $300 million. When the U.S. government approved the sale of the AN/FPS-132 radar, as well as various ancillary items and services, to Qatar in 2013, that entire package had an estimated value of $1.1 billion, or just over $2.1 billion today when adjusted for inflation. Any of these systems takes years to procure.

🇺🇸 PSA: Fast Facts on AN/TPY-2 (radar system used by THAAD)

16 produced to date, 13 US Army, 2 UAE, 1 KSA, 6 more pending for KSA, none on order for US Army.

8 deployed as part of US THAAD batteries, 5 Forward Based Mode (deployed/operated by US Army in Japan [2], Israel,… pic.twitter.com/bD7gHpA3ib

— Colby Badhwar 🇨🇦🇬🇧 (@ColbyBadhwar) March 7, 2026

Furthermore, the U.S. military and its allies have spent years (and billions of dollars) building a regional missile defense shield, with AN/TPY-2s and the AN/FPS-132 in Qatar being core components thereof. Though Iran and its expanding ballistic missile arsenal have been the driving factors behind those efforts, the U.S. government also sees these assets as being a key element of its global missile defense architecture. As noted, the Qatari AN/FPS-132 provides 360-degree coverage that is not limited to scanning for threats emanating from Iran. Houthi militants in Yemen to the south, long backed by Iran, have amassed a substantial arsenal of ballistic missiles, as well as cruise missiles and long-range kamikaze drones, and have used it to attack Gulf Arab states in the past. As an aside, the UAE was the first to employ THAAD in combat back in 2022, using the system to knock down an incoming Houthi ballistic missile.

More serious ramifications

Strategic air and missile architectures, in general, exist in a world now where the threats they face are not limited to very-long-range standoff capabilities possessed only by peer or near-peer adversaries.

It used to be, generally, that you had to fire a ballistic missile or high-end cruise missile in an attempt to strike one of these systems. Now, long-range one-way-attack drones, as well as increasingly capable cruise and ballistic missiles, continue to proliferate steadily, including to smaller nation-state armed forces and even non-state actors. An attack could even come from a small drone with a C4 charge launched from a fishing trawler 10 miles away from one of these critical radar installations. The threat of these kinds of near-field attacks has largely been overlooked for years, even as the low-end drone threat has exploded and ‘democratized’ precision-guided weaponry, as they did not fit the established aerial threat matrix and the countermeasures used to repel those threats.

Though we have not seen it yet in the course of the current conflict with Iran, the threat of more localized attacks by smaller weaponized drones, in particular, is very real and only set to grow. This was definitely shown by Ukraine’s Operation Spiderweb’s unprecedented covert attacks on multiple airbases across Russia last year. Israel also employed near-field drone and missile attacks to destroy Iranian air defenses in the opening phases of the 12 Day War last June. These operations were massively successful and knocked out Iran’s most critical air defenses, allowing for long-range munitions to strike their targets unimpeded. TWZ had been calling attention to this issue for years beforehand, including back in 2019 after drones were reportedly spotted over the U.S. Army THAAD site, with its AN/TPY-2 radar, on Guam.

СБУ показала унікальні кадри спецоперації «Павутина», у результаті якої уражено 41 військовий літак стратегічної авіації рф

➡️ https://t.co/OSxqEsI9CD pic.twitter.com/aGSZNEsoX3

— СБ України (@ServiceSsu) June 4, 2025

CBS News also reported this past week that quadcopter-type drones may have been surveilling the Shuaiba port in Kuwait before all-out hostilities erupted. Six U.S. service members were killed, and more were wounded, in an Iranian retaliatory attack on a U.S. logistics operations center at Shuaiba on March 1.

Iranian intelligence utilized various means to track service members after they left the base.

➡️ In anticipation of the offensive and expected retaliation to include strikes on Camp Arifjan, the Tactical Ops Center (TOC) was moved to the same facility at the port used during… https://t.co/R8VcPGIESm

— TheIntelFrog (@TheIntelFrog) March 6, 2026

Large, high-value, static and semi-static radars are fragile, to begin with. Domes and other structures can be built around them to help protect them from the elements, but they still need to allow for signals to be sent out and received. This inherently limits options for more physical hardening. Since these radars are typically fixed in place permanently or semi-permanently, their locations are also easier to determine and then target using a set of basic map coordinates. This is highlighted by how quickly news outlets have been able to locate these sites and then assess damage to them from commercially available satellite imagery.

The fragility of large radars also means that what might seem to be minor damage to the casual observer could actually be enough for a mission kill that takes the system offline, or at least degrades its functionality greatly, for a protracted period of time. Depending on the radar, it might not take a very large munition at all to cause a sufficient degree of damage. Just a small drone packing a grenade-sized explosive can punch a hole in one of these fragile arrays, putting it out of action for a very long period of time.

As TWZ wrote back in 2019 in the context of reported drone incursions over Guam:

“With that said, America’s preeminent adversaries in the entire region would make taking out the THAAD battery on Guam a top priority during a conflict or even as part of a limited demonstration of force. Why barrage it with ballistic missiles or attempt a cruise missile launch from a forward-deployed submarine or even a clandestine commando raid when you can just fly a drone loaded with explosives into it? And no, you don’t need some high-end drone system to do this as real-world events have highlighted many times over. Drug cartels are now whacking their enemies with off-the-shelf drone-borne improvised explosive devices and even U.S. allies are actually manufacturing hobby-like drones just for this purpose. Somewhat more sophisticated types can be launched from longer distances and can even home in on radar or other RF emissions sources, like THAAD’s powerful AN/TPY-2 Radar and data-links, autonomously, beyond just striking a certain point on a map.”

“Simply put, ‘shooting the archer,’ in this case an advanced anti-ballistic missile system that protects America’s most strategic base in the entire region, via a relatively cheap drone is both an absurdly obvious and terrifyingly ironic tactic—the U.S. can shoot down ballistic missiles, but the critical systems used to do so remain extremely vulnerable to the lowliest of airborne threats—cheap drones.”

The scale and scope of Iran’s retaliatory attacks so far, while clearly threatening, pale in comparison to what one would expect to see in a major high-end fight between the United States and China in the Pacific. The overall ramifications would also be more severe.

Beyond the more immediate impacts of losing this kind of strategic radar coverage, there are far larger implications. In some cases, these radars are designed to provide critical early warning and verification of incoming nuclear strikes, or other large-scale attacks by a major adversary, targeting a nation’s home soil. They are critical parts of the nuclear deterrent. As such, losing these sensors can have major downstream impacts on strategic decision-making cycles based on concerns about what suddenly is not being seen. Fewer radars also means fewer ways to double-check that a track is not a false positive in a scenario where the total available decision-making time could be seriously truncated, to begin with. These are concerns TWZ explicitly highlighted after Ukraine’s attack on the Armavir Radar Station in Russia in 2024.

A need for deeply layered defenses

It should be clear at this point that threats to strategic radar systems that Iran’s attacks in the past week have thrust into the public eye are not new. Similarly, this highlights how the United States, and others globally, remain behind the curve when it comes to establishing deeper, layered defenses to better protect these prized assets. This was already evidenced by Ukraine’s attack on the Armavir Radar Station in Russia in 2024.

A notable exception is Taiwan’s Leshan radar station, which houses an AN/FPS-115 Pave Paws phased array early warning radar that would be a top target for Chinese forces during any cross-strait conflict. It is protected by an array of defensive capabilities, including a ground-based Phalanx Close-in Weapon System (CIWS), which is more typically found on warships. Even so, Iran’s attacks on radars this past week have still notably resonated in Taiwan.

Even a layered defense posture might not be enough, especially in the face of a large volume and/or complex attack involving multiple types of missiles and/or drones. Those threats could also be coming from very different vectors at once, and fired from very disparate launch points on land, at sea, or in the air. Achieving overmatch against fixed defenses is also a glaring vulnerability. An enemy can calculate how many munitions, and what mix of munitions, are required to overwhelm known defenses at a key location. This is especially true for largely static defensive arrangements. Once critical terrestrial sensors are taken out, attacking other targets that were under the defensive umbrella they helped enable can become far easier.

New eyes in space

Perhaps the biggest takeaway here is that the combat actions by Iran this week provide heft to the arguments for migrating missile tracking capabilities outside of the atmosphere. While advanced and resilient missile tracking layers in space may not replace all their terrestrial counterparts, they would provide much-needed redundancy and augmentation of their capabilities.

The U.S. military does have space-based early warning sensors that are integrated into its existing ballistic missile defense architecture, and have been for decades. But these warn of launches, they don’t track a weapon throughout its flight cycle. For some years now, work has been underway to substantially expand on those capabilities, to include the start of the fielding of a new satellite constellation to help track ballistic missiles, as well as hypersonic boost-glide vehicles and other threats, during the mid-course portion of their flights.

The U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force are also very eager to move most, if not all, of the airborne target warning sensor layer into orbit, and to do the same when it comes to persistent tracking of targets on the ground and at sea. Relevant space-based capabilities are still years away from becoming a reality, at least at the required scale.

Shifting the focus to sensors in orbit is not without its own risks, either. U.S. officials regularly highlight ever-growing threats to assets in space, and are now openly talking about the need for satellites to be able to fight back, as you can read more about here. As part of its work on new space-based sensor infrastructure, the U.S. military has been investing heavily in new distributed constellations with large numbers of smaller satellites to increase resiliency to attacks.

Regardless, the Pentagon is very bullish in moving missile tracking into orbit, and doing so with more resilient constellations than with a handful of traditional satellites. Work is deeply underway in proving out this technology, which would enable the entire missile defense architecture globally. President Trump’s Golden Dome initiative will need this capability in order to accomplish its lofty goals. But accelerating the development and deployment of this kind of capability is very costly and we may see a major boost in funding for it after this war ends.

Overall, more details about the scope and scale of damage to radars and other assets from Iranian retaliatory attacks are likely to continue to emerge. What we’ve already seen points to a need for a further reassessment of the vulnerabilities of critical strategic air and missile defense radars and what is needed to adequately defend them, including moving them outside of the Earth’s atmosphere.

Contact the author: joe@twz.com

The president of the United Arab Emirates spoke for the first time on the widening war in the Middle East as Iran continues to strike Gulf countries hosting US military assets with drones and missiles.

“The UAE has thick skin and bitter flesh – we are no easy prey,” said Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in comments aired by Abu Dhabi TV on Saturday as he visited wounded patients in a hospital.

He added the UAE is in “a period of war” but would “emerge stronger”.

In a social media post, Sheikh Mohamed said the UAE, which has seen attacks affecting hubs such as airports, tourist attractions, and the US consulate in Dubai, is prepared to confront “threats” against the “security and the protection of all citizens”.

One driver was killed when debris from an intercepted projectile slammed into his vehicle, Dubai’s Media Office said, describing the victim as Asian but providing no further details.

Sheikh Mohamed’s comments were aired as the region entered a second week of war sparked by a major US-Israeli attack on Iran.

Earlier, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian offered an apology to neighbouring nations for launching strikes on their countries housing US military bases. His comments were swiftly contradicted by Iranian judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, also a member of the interim leadership council.

“Evidence from Iran’s armed forces shows that the geography of some countries in the region is openly and covertly at the disposal of the enemy,” he said. “The heavy attacks on these targets will continue.”

Pezeshkian himself rolled back on his remarks that Gulf countries would not be targeted unless attacks originated from their territories, caveating that while his country emphasised “the preservation and continuation of friendly relations,” Iran still has an “inherent right” to defend itself against US-Israeli aggression.

Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also clarified the leader’s comments on X, saying, “President Pezeshkian expressed openness to de-escalation within our region – provided that our neighbours’ airspace, territory, and waters are not used to attack the Iranian people.”

Iran retaliates after attack on water supplies

All the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations – Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain and Oman – have been targeted because of the presence of US assets within and around their borders.

In the Gulf, the deadly attacks have caused major disruption to flights, closure of airspace, and heavy knock-on impacts on oil-and-gas production reverberating across the world.

On Saturday, Iranian state media reported the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps targeted US forces at Bahrain’s Jufair airbase in retaliation for an attack on a freshwater desalination plant on Qeshm Island.

Araghchi called the US attack on the plant a “dangerous move with grave consequences”, accusing the US of committing a “blatant and desperate crime”, which affected the water supply to 30 villages.

Iran’s parliament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, later said the attack was carried out with support from one of the airbases in a southern neighbouring country, stressing nations will not enjoy peace as long as the US has bases in the region.

Harlan Ullman, a senior adviser with the Atlantic Council, told Al Jazeera that attacks on water supplies could bring “greater chaos” to the Gulf.

“About 95 percent of all water in the Gulf comes from desalination,” he said. “If Iran wants to target desalination and water installation plants, they can bring the Gulf to a halt.”

Other attacks on Gulf

The UAE, a US ally and home to US military installations, has been the most heavily targeted nation in the Gulf during the war.

The Emirati Ministry of Defence said on Saturday it was targeted with 16 ballistic missiles and more than 120 drones.

Hours after Pezeshkian’s apology, the IRGC said their drones struck a US air combat centre at al-Dhafra airbase near Abu Dhabi, capital of the UAE.

Later, an unidentified object was intercepted near Dubai airport, the world’s busiest for international traffic, forcing it to briefly suspend operations.

Iranian attacks also hit Abu Dhabi airport, the upmarket Palm Jumeirah development, and the Burj Al Arab luxury hotel over the past week, while drone debris caused a fire at the US consulate in Dubai.

Also on Saturday, Qatar’s armed forces intercepted a missile attack, according to the Ministry of Defence. No immediate details were released about possible damage or casualties.

In Saudi Arabia, the defence ministry said a ballistic missile landed in an uninhabited area after being launched towards Prince Sultan Air Base, southeast of Riyadh, which hosts US troops.

Kuwait also reported intercepting a drone while the country’s national oil company announced a “precautionary” cut to its production of crude because of Iranian attacks and threats to the Strait of Hormuz, a key transit point for Gulf hydrocarbons.

Iran to select new supreme leader

Posting on social media on Saturday, US President Donald Trump warned his country would hit Iran “very hard” and threatened to expand strikes to include new targets.

Speaking at an event hosting Latin American leaders in Miami, Florida, Trump said on Saturday his country’s forces sank 42 Iranian navy ships in three days.

Israel launched what its military described as a new wave of strikes on Tehran and Isfahan. The military said on Saturday that more than 80 fighter jets completed a wave of strikes on Iranian army sites, missile launchers and other targets.

In a statement, the army said targets hit in Iran included missile storage sites, ballistic missile launchers and military facilities linked to Iran’s security forces.

Among the attacks, it said it struck 16 aircraft at Tehran’s Mehrabad airport, which belonged to the Quds Force branch of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard overseeing its foreign operations.

The Israeli military reported missiles were fired from ‌Iran at Israel on eight different occasions on Saturday, setting off air raid sirens in parts of the country and actioning air defences.

Iranian state media reported Saturday that the IRGC hit a Marshall Islands-flagged tanker in Hormuz.

Iran’s Assembly of Experts will be meeting in the next 24 hours to choose a new supreme leader, according to assembly member Ayatollah Mozafari.

Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, Amir Saeid Iravani, has rejected Trump’s demands to have a say in selecting Iran’s new supreme leader.

Israeli forces dug up graves during an airborne operation in eastern Lebanon, in search of the remains of a pilot who went missing nearly 40 years ago.

People are tracking a shepherd who has been walking with his herd for days across Lebanon, fleeing Israeli strikes in the south of the country.

Lionel Messi has been criticised for meeting US President Donald Trump and applauding his latest brief on the Iran war at a White House event honouring the Argentinian superstar and his Inter Miami team.

Lebanon’s Hezbollah group urges Israelis to evacuate border areas as Israel continues to bomb the country.

The death toll from Israeli attacks on Lebanon this week has risen to at least 123 people, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health says, as a new wave of strikes pounded the country and Hezbollah warned Israeli residents to evacuate towns within 5km (3 miles) of their northern border, in one of the fiercest fronts in the wider United States-Israel war on Iran.

“The toll from the Israeli aggression on Monday … increased to 123 martyrs and 683 wounded,” a ministry statement said on Thursday.

Lebanese state media said early on Friday that Israel had launched air strikes on several towns in southern Lebanon.

“Enemy warplanes launched nighttime strikes on the towns of Srifa, Aita al-Shaab, Touline, as-Sawana and Majdal Selem,” the official National News Agency (NNA) reported.

Another strike hit the eastern Lebanese town of Douris at dawn, the NNA said.

Hezbollah’s message to evacuate the border areas came less than a day after Israel threatened residents that they should leave Beirut’s southern suburbs, prompting a huge exodus from a swath of the capital’s densely populated area known as Dahiyeh, where some half a million people live.

The Israeli army said it has conducted 26 rounds of attacks in Dahiyeh. It claims to have hit various infrastructure used by Hezbollah, including the headquarters of the group’s Executive Council and a warehouse with drones.

“Your military’s aggression against Lebanese sovereignty and safe citizens, the destruction of civilian infrastructure and the expulsion campaign it is carrying out will not go unchallenged,” Hezbollah said.

Hezbollah claimed responsibility for a wave of attacks early on Friday on Israeli ground forces, including those who have entered Lebanon’s territory in recent days.

In a statement on Telegram, Hezbollah said its fighters had attacked Israeli forces in several areas, including Maroun al-Ras and Kfar Kila, within Lebanese territory.

Hezbollah also attacked Israel’s Yoav military camp in the occupied Golan Heights and a navy base in Israel’s Haifa port, the statement said.

There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Israel has said it will not evacuate its border towns and has sent more soldiers into Lebanon, claiming it was a defensive measure meant to protect its citizens who live nearby.

In contrast, tens of thousands of people in Lebanon have fled their homes after threats from Israel, with a mass exodus from Beirut’s southern suburbs leaving the area “almost empty”, the NNA said.

Hundreds of displaced families were left to seek shelter on a Beirut beach, where they waited despondently – many for the second time, after evacuating during a 2024 war between Israel and Hezbollah.

‘We are not animals’

Zeina Khodr, reporting from Beirut, said the humanitarian crisis is growing rapidly, as people seeking shelter can be seen “on the side of the roads on almost every corner”.

“There aren’t enough schools to shelter the hundreds of thousands of people who were forced to flee their homes after Israel’s forced displacement threat for Beirut’s southern suburbs yesterday,” she said.

“People are telling us: ‘We are not animals; we are human beings, our children are cold.’”

She noted that the Lebanese government has opened a number of shelters and told people to head to the north of the country.

Khodr added: “But many do not have any means of transport. It’s not just Lebanese who live in Beirut’s southern suburbs, but also Syrian refugees and Palestinian refugees.”

Lebanon was pulled into the war in the Middle East on Monday, as Hezbollah opened fire, prompting Israeli air strikes focused on Beirut’s southern suburbs and on southern and eastern Lebanon.

The war has rekindled fighting between Israel and Iran-allied Hezbollah fighters, and Israel launched a series of air raids late on Thursday into Friday in the southern suburbs of Beirut and other areas.

The head of US Central Command says B-2 bombers have dropped dozens of 2,000-pound bombs on buried Iranian ballistic missile launchers, contributing to a 90% drop in missile attacks. The commander added an Iranian “drone carrier ship” is currently on fire after being hit.

Lebanon is once again drawn into a war many of its leaders say is not their fight.

Against the government’s warnings, Hezbollah has joined Iran in its conflict with Israel. The armed group says it has a right to respond as part of what it calls a resistance campaign.

However, this time, the Lebanese government has responded by deciding to ban Hezbollah’s military activities and demanding that it disarm. The group has not heeded that warning.

Now, as the war between the US, Israel and Iran widens to Lebanon, can Hezbollah’s involvement be of any real help to Tehran?

And what price will Lebanon pay as a result?

Presenter: James Bays

Guests:

Heiko Wimmen – Project director for Iraq, Syria and Lebanon at the International Crisis Group

Nimrod Novik – Member of the leadership of Commanders for Israel’s Security

Nabeel Khoury – Non-resident fellow at the Arab Center Washington DC

Israeli strikes have killed more than 100 people in Lebanon as Israel issued more leave-or-die threats to the suburbs of Beirut, and across vast areas of the country’s south.

Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health reported on Thursday that the death toll from the Israel-Hezbollah conflict has reached 102, with 638 wounded since Monday.

New strikes hit Hezbollah’s stronghold in Beirut’s southern suburbs early Thursday, with AFPTV footage showing smoke rising from the area.

Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reported that an Israeli drone strike on an apartment in the Beddawi Palestinian refugee camp near Tripoli killed senior Hamas official Wassim Atallah al-Ali and his wife.

On Thursday, Israel expanded its forced evacuation threats to residents across hundreds of square kilometres of southern Lebanon, citing imminent military action.

The escalating conflict has triggered a humanitarian crisis, displacing more than 83,000 people within Lebanon. According to Syrian authorities and the UN refugee agency, at least 38,000 people, primarily Syrians, have fled Lebanon for Syria.

Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee posted on X: “Urgent warning to residents of southern Lebanon: you must immediately continue evacuating to the north of the Litani river.” The warning specifically mentioned the cities of Tyre and Bint Jbeil.

Israel’s military announced on Tuesday it was establishing a buffer zone inside Lebanon to protect Israeli citizens. By Wednesday, it confirmed that three divisions comprising infantry, armoured and engineering units were operating inside Lebanese territory.

“Across the Middle East and beyond, a troubling displacement picture is emerging in the aftermath of the ongoing conflicts in the region,” UNHCR spokesperson Babar Baloch said Thursday.

On Thursday, the Israeli military extended forced evacuation orders to Beirut’s southern suburbs, instructing residents to “save your lives and evacuate your homes immediately,” indicating potential intensified bombardment amid the widening of the Iranian conflict.

While previous forced evacuation threats focused on southern Lebanon below the Litani River, this marks the first comprehensive evacuation threat for areas near the capital since hostilities resumed.

The Foreign Office has issued fresh security warnings for British tourists after a drone strike on RAF Akrotiri raised fears the Middle East conflict could spill into the Mediterranean

Britons heading to Cyprus have been issued a fresh security warning after the Foreign Office said terror attacks “cannot be ruled out” on the popular holiday island.

The updated travel advice came days after a suspected drone strike hit the RAF’s Akrotiri airbase on March 2 2026, in an incident linked to the escalating war in the Middle East. Officials say the attack caused only minimal damage and no casualties – but it has raised fears the conflict could spill closer to Europe.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) updated its guidance on Thursday, warning travellers about the risk of further incidents and urging British nationals to stay alert.

It said: “Regional escalation poses significant security risks and has led to travel disruption.”

Cypriot authorities have warned that the island could be drawn into the crisis because of the British sovereign bases at Akrotiri and Dhekelia, which are used for operations across the region.

With British and allied aircraft operating from RAF Akrotiri, security analysts suggest the island has gained strategic importance in the current confrontation involving Iran and its proxies. RAF Akrotiri is the UK’s largest overseas airbase and has been deployed for missions against ISIS in Syria and Iraq as well as strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen.

Against that backdrop, the Foreign Office has updated its Cyprus guidance to say terrorist attacks remain a possibility. It also warned that the wider regional situation could affect travel.

The FCDO urged Brits visiting the island to:

• monitor local and international media
• follow instructions from local authorities
• keep travel plans under review
• ensure travel documents are up to date

Officials also said Brits inside the British sovereign base areas should follow instructions issued by the Sovereign Base Areas Administration.

Hundreds of thousands of Brits visit

Cyprus is one of the most popular holiday destinations for UK travellers, with hundreds of thousands of Brits visiting each year. While officials stress that tourist areas remain open and functioning normally, the updated warning reflects growing concern that the regional conflict could bring further security incidents.

The Foreign Office said travellers should remember that “no travel can be guaranteed safe” and urged anyone visiting the island to sign up for government travel alerts.

European stock markets turned early gains into losses by early afternoon, following a rally in Asian markets, as investors searched for direction nearly a week after the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran that sent global markets on a rollercoaster.

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By 2 p.m. CET, Germany’s DAX was down by 0.2%, similar to the CAC 40 in Paris and Britain’s FTSE 100.

Madrid’s IBEX stood out by gaining 0.3% as the European benchmark European Stoxx 600 was down by a few points.

Before noon, European trading followed strong gains in Asia, where South Korea’s Kospi jumped by more than 9%, recovering much of Wednesday’s 12.06% fall.

“A decent showing on Wall Street last night and a solid performance from Asia on Thursday helped to spur part of Europe into a higher gear,” said Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell, commenting on the morning trade.

Uncertainty about the war in the Middle East has continued to rattle financial markets, with investors closely watching movements in the oil price.

Crude prices continued to rise. US benchmark WTI was trading 3% higher at around $76.8 a barrel, while the international benchmark Brent crude was up 2% after 2 pm CET.

“Brent crude continued to move higher, nudging above $83 per barrel and stoking fears that energy bills will go through the roof,” Coatsworth said.

“Oil is so important to the world economy and to see the price rise so quickly in just a week could leave investors feeling dazed and confused.”

He added that the situation in the Middle East was unfolding rapidly, making it difficult for investors to judge whether markets were facing a prolonged energy crisis or “just a short, sharp shock”.

Meanwhile, US futures slipped as Iran launched more missiles at Israel on the sixth day of the conflict.

The latest escalation included Iranian attacks on Israeli and American bases. Iran warned the United States would “bitterly regret” torpedoing an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean, while a religious leader called for “Trump’s blood”.

Israel said it had begun a “large-scale” attack on Tehran.

On Wednesday, US stocks rose as oil prices steadied, albeit temporarily.

Investor sentiment was also supported by a report showing growth in US businesses in the real estate, finance and other services sectors accelerated last month at the fastest pace since the summer of 2022.

The S&P 500 rose 0.8%, erasing much of its losses since the conflict with Iran began.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 0.5%, while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 1.3%.

Another report suggested US private-sector employers increased hiring last month, a potentially positive signal ahead of a broader US government labour market report due on Friday.

Investors remain concerned about how long the conflict could last, how much inflation may rise due to higher oil prices, and what impact that could have on corporate profits.

Gains in major technology companies also lifted Wall Street.

Amazon rose 3.9%, while Nvidia added 1.7%. As two of the largest companies in the US market by value, their movements have a significant impact on the S&P 500.

Wednesday’s strong economic data was also welcome news for the Federal Reserve, which is trying to keep the labour market strong while bringing inflation under control.

However, the jump in oil prices could complicate that task by pushing inflation higher.

In other dealings on Thursday, gold trade was slightly down by early afternoon, losing 0.3% and traded at $5,120 an ounce.

The US dollar traded at 157.64 Japanese yen, while the euro slipped to $1.1623 from $1.1636.

Analysts said the dollar has strengthened partly because the US is seen as facing less direct risk from the conflict than other countries.

A Pilates instructor stranded in Dubai after Iran missile attacks has sparked backlash for saying there’s ‘no drama or fear’ while flights remain cancelled and the FCDO warns against travel

A Pilates instructor travelled to Dubai feeling “no drama or fear” but has now been confronted with a harsh reality check. Restrictions and increased security measures are currently in place throughout the United Arab Emirates following a wave of drone and missile strikes by Iran.

Numerous flights have been grounded after the decision to shut UAE airspace, leaving lots of travellers stranded. One influencer and writer has opted to focus on the positives but has faced criticism for seemingly downplaying the seriousness of the unfolding crisis.

Jade Marrey, 31, turned to Threads to provide an update on her situation. Several days ago, she wrote: “Very grateful to be in a hotel safe however the fact I was meant to fly home on Tuesday but ended up in hospital and missing my flight makes this so sucky.”

However, a more recent update has sparked controversy. The writer posted: “Everyone is panicking about Dubai… I’m currently sitting at Dubai Creek, kids running around with families, people enjoying coffee in the sunshine or strolling along the water. No drama or fear.”

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office “advises against all but essential travel to United Arab Emirates”.

In the comments section, people were quick to voice their opinions, with many highlighting how rapidly her circumstances could deteriorate.

One said: “For now? What about tomorrow or the following day? Don’t feel too comfortable. Be alert. You don’t know what’s coming. Pray.”

Another said: “Day-to-day life often looks normal until it doesn’t. Hopefully it stays peaceful – but contingency planning isn’t the same as hysteria.”

A third commented: “At the same time my friend gets warnings to seek shelter… they are by the airport. Stuck. Just waiting to go home.”

While a fourth said: “War doesn’t knock on your door and give you a pamphlet stating the price of your new iPhone, it happens all of sudden, that’s why it changes your reality, that’s how it shatters your life. Displaces people and till then, everything seems fine.”

Someone else said: “I was just there. What you state is accurate. It is also accurate that missiles and drones are passing you in the air and some [are] being intercepted right above you. You are normalising war.”

Jade replied: “I am not normalising war, I am stating a fact that people are out and about with their kids and living their lives… mentioned nothing about war.”

In a follow-up comment, Jade shared a photograph of the beach and said: “Everyone calling me all sorts of names yet Kite beach is HEAVING with people living their lives.”

However, another Threads user understood Jade’s viewpoint and said: “Life goes on, even in a war zone. Days after the 7/7 [bomb attacks] in London were normal, we got the bus or tube just because we had to.”

US and Israel bombard Iran as Israeli forces hammer Lebanon and the widening conflict causes energy prices to spike.

Iran appears to be increasingly focusing its retaliatory attacks against energy production infrastructure in Gulf Arab States. The U.S.-Israeli operation against Iran is also continuing at a significant tempo, including a major new wave of Israeli strikes going after leadership targets in Tehran.

Readers can catch up on previous developments in the ongoing conflict in our previous rolling coverage here.

Increased targeting of Gulf Arab States’ oil and natural gas production is part of a clear Iranian strategy to put pressure on those countries to, in turn, create complications for the United States. As the economic pressure builds, the idea is that these countries will seek to end the conflict, and/or that relations with the U.S. will sour. The prospect of major, long-term disruptions in energy exports from the region has global ramifications, as well, which could bring immense external pressure to end the conflict. There is also the aspect of drawing Arab countries into the conflict, which would complicate it politically and militarily. In addition, some energy targets are not as well defended as U.S. bases in the region, for instance, and scoring hits with the now finite weapons Iran has on hand becomes easier.

So, it’s not surprising that Iran has morphed its tactics in this manner. How this will all play out is unknown. But if the war continues on for a prolonged period, and interceptors run low while Iran’s stocks of drones and missiles don’t dry up, this entire issue could become greatly magnified.

So far, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, as well as the United States, have pushed back on reports that interceptor stocks are dwindling and the U.S. is resisting replenishing them due to its own stockpile concerns. It isn’t clear if this is a case of strategic counter-messaging or if indeed stockpiles remain in the green, although from everything we understand about the stockpile issue overall, the former seems far more likely.

Gulf states are in a race against time: will their air-defense interceptors, with their impressive success rates so far, have to be rationed before Iranian drones and missiles run out? The calculation also depends on how fast the U.S. and Israel keep destroying Iranian launchers.…

— Yaroslav Trofimov (@yarotrof) March 3, 2026

Impacted energy-related targets are relatively wide-ranging and the scope of attacks appears to be becoming larger with time.

A large fire broke out today in the Oil Industry Zone in Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), reportedly caused by falling debris from the interception of an Iranian drone. The port of Fujairah sits on the Gulf of Oman, on the other side of the highly strategic Strait of Hormuz.

UAE intercepted a drone over Fujairah today, a hub just outside the Strait of Hormuz. The IRGC is trying to cause a real energy crisis by shutting all routes. Debris caused a fire in the Oil Industry Zone, which was ultimately put out.pic.twitter.com/5GlbGuyzOm

— Fatima Alasrar (@YemeniFatima) March 3, 2026

According to state-run Oman News Agency, two Iranian drones were shot down today above the Dhofar governorate in southern Oman, while a third came down close to the port of Salalah. No casualties or damage were reported.

The Port of Duqm in Oman was also targeted by several drones, according to the country’s state news agency. One of these is said to have struck a fuel tank.

Several ships attempting to cross the Strait of Hormuz have also come under attack, as you can read about here. Yesterday, U.S. Central Command denied Iranian claims that the Strait was closed. Online ship tracking data shows a major slowdown in traffic overall, but there is still some movement through this highly strategic waterway. Imagery is also emerging showing a backlog of ships waiting to pass through.

Minimal vessel traffic seen in Strait of Hormuz amid reported closure

The latest #MarineTraffic playback shows visibly reduced transit density, alongside holding patterns, slower speeds, and vessels remaining outside the strait as operators reassess risk. pic.twitter.com/pfqk5rcbg8

— MarineTraffic (@MarineTraffic) March 3, 2026

Hormuz Strait: Oil tankers and cargo ships are backed up in a miles-long queue.

Since the strait handles about 20% of global oil trade, the disruption is driving oil and gas prices higher. pic.twitter.com/z00N3ihN2E

— Clash Report (@clashreport) March 3, 2026

Oil production at Iraq’s largest oil field, in Shafaq, has reportedly been halted, as has the flow of oil through a pipeline that links its northern Kurdish autonomous region with Turkey. There are reports that Iraqi oil exports, overall, have slowed dramatically due to the ongoing conflict.

BREAKING: Production suspended at Iraq’s largest oil field – Shafaq

— Faytuks Network (@FaytuksNetwork) March 3, 2026

Iraq has halted crude oil exports from its Kurdistan region through the key pipeline to the Turkish port of Ceyhan.

Around 200,000 barrels per day of exports were shut in after producers reduced output as a precaution amid escalating Middle East conflict.

Production has… pic.twitter.com/3Sm4zNyXA6

— Clash Report (@clashreport) March 3, 2026

IMPORTANT: Basrah crude exports are running on thin ice.@Kpler data shows ~8.7Mb of effective headroom — just ~3 days of cover if tanker constraints persist. No inbound crude tankers into the Gulf on March 2 raises the risk of ballast shortages and potential Iraqi production…

— Amena Bakr (@Amena__Bakr) March 3, 2026

This all follows Iranian attacks yesterday that caused a halt to some operations at the Ras Tanura refinery in Saudi Arabia and a shutdown in liquid natural gas production by state-owned QatarEnergy in that country.

QatarEnergy to stop downstream production

Further to the decision by QatarEnergy to stop production of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and associated products, QatarEnergy is stopping the production of some downstream products in the State of Qatar, including urea, polymers,…

— QatarEnergy (@qatarenergy) March 3, 2026

Further rolling coverage can be found below, with the newest updates at the top.

We have concluded our rolling coverage in this piece. We will be back soon to continue our reporting.

UPDATE: 7:46 PM EST –

CENTCOM commander Adm. Brad Cooper provided a video update on Epic Fury. Here are some of the highlights:

• 50,000 troops, 200 fighters, two aircraft carriers and bombers from the United States are participating in this operation, and more capabilities on the way.
• 100 hours into this operation, and we’ve already struck nearly 2,000 targets with more than 2,000 munitions.
• ..we’ve destroyed 17 Iranian ships, including the most operational Iranian submarine that now has a hole in that side. Today, there’s not a single Iranian ship underway in the Arabian Gulf, strait of Hormuz or Gulf of Oman.
• In retaliation, the Iranian regime has launched over 500 ballistic missiles and over 2,000 drones. To be clear, Iran is indiscriminately targeting civilians as they launch these missiles and drones. You’ve seen it on TV. The evidence is crystal clear and overwhelming.
• Also for the first time, U.S. Central Command’s drone task force, called Task Force Scorpion Strike, launched countless one-way attack drones achieving massive effects. I’d like to point out these drones were originally an Iranian design. We took them back to America, made them better, and fired them right back at Iran.

UPDATE: 7:03 PM EST –

“The scene here in [Tehran] was dominated by the sound of airplanes and massive explosions across the city, and the smell of smoke drifting in the air,” Al Jazeera reported. “This is very massive, and this is heavier bombardment compared to the first days of the initiation of these strikes.”

You can get a sense of what these attacks have been like in the following video.

A screencap from a video released by CENTCOM shows the loadout on a U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle. TWZ Editor-in-Chief Tyler Rogoway breaks it down.

USAF F-15E in full counter drone loadout for Epic Fury. 4 X AIM-120, 4X AIM-9, 28 FALCO APKWS laser-guided rockets + the 20mm. Jet is clean aside from that, so likely has nearby tanker support and can get to where it needs to go fast.

Image via CENTCOM screencap pic.twitter.com/kTvlQCNYBr

— Tyler Rogoway (@Aviation_Intel) March 4, 2026

As Epic Fury rages on, U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy is calling for Senate debate on an authorization for the use of military force against Iran.

“This is as serious as it gets,” he told reporters after a closed-door briefing. “This is war and peace. They told us in that room that there are gonna be more Americans that are gonna die, that they’re not gonna be able to stop these drones…We have to have a debate in the US Senate on an authorization of military force.”

Chris Murphy: “This is as serious as it gets. This is war and peace. They told us in that room that there are gonna be more Americans that are gonna die, that they’re not gonna be able to stop these drones. We have to have a debate in the US Senate on an authorization of military… pic.twitter.com/VvcQTsBMmV

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) March 3, 2026

UPDATE: 6:10 PM EST –

The Pentagon announced the names of four of the six troops killed in an Iranian drone attack on a U.S. facility in Kuwait. The four were Army Reserve soldiers.

“Capt. Cody A. Khork, 35, of Winter Haven, Fla.; Sgt. 1st Class Noah L. Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Neb.; Sgt. 1st Class Nicole M. Amor, 39, of White Bear Lake, Minn.; and Sgt. DeclanJ. Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, Iowa, died on March 1, 2026, in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait, during an unmanned aircraft system attack. All Soldiers were assigned to the 103rd Sustainment Command, Des Moines, Iowa. The incident is under investigation.”

Video emerged of Israeli AH-64 Apache attack helicopters using their M230 chain guns to shoot down several Iranian Shahed-136 kamikaze drones.

Footage of Israeli AH-64 Apache attack helicopters shooting down Iranian Shahed attack drones using their M230 chain guns. pic.twitter.com/kjH7AZv9Q3

— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) March 3, 2026

B-2 Spirit stealth bombers “have been targeting command and control nodes of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, as well as weapon depots and an assembly facility for Iran’s rocket program,” CBS News reported on X.

Two U.S. officials say B-2 stealth bombers have been targeting command and control nodes of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, as well as weapon depots and an assembly facility for Iran’s rocket program.

— Jim LaPorta (@JimLaPorta) March 3, 2026

Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters that attacks against Iran will intensify.

“We’re going to unleash Chang on these people in the next few hours and days,” Rubio said. “You’re going to really begin to perceive a change in the scope and intensity of these attacks as, frankly, the two most powerful air forces in the world take apart this terroristic regime.”

The term “unleash Chang” reportedly dates back to “Unleash Chiang,” an inscription on a sword former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush gave Rubio two decades ago. 

The term was “the rallying cry of John Birchers in the 1950s, who urged the United States to arm Chiang Kai-shek, the Chinese Nationalist leader of Taiwan, so he could retake Red China from Mao,” Politico reported in 2015.

.@SecRubio: “We’re going to unleash Chang on these people in the next few hours and days. You’re going to really begin to perceive a change in the scope and intensity of these attacks as, frankly, the two most powerful air forces in the world take apart this terroristic regime.” https://t.co/j7DxkxPiFq pic.twitter.com/2AhXGnj1UI

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 3, 2026

UPDATE: 6:04 PM EST –

After a closed-door briefing about Epic Fury, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal told reporters that “I am more fearful than ever after this briefing, that we may be putting boots on the ground, and that troops from the United States might be necessary to accomplish objectives that the administration seems to have.

UPDATE: 5:53 PM EST –

After Spain refused to let the U.S. military use its bases for missions linked to attacks on Iran, Trump threatened to impose a full U.S. trade embargo.

“Spain ‌has been terrible,” Trump told reporters during a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz. He also told Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to “cut off all dealings” with Spain.

“That’s all right,” Trump exclaimed. “We can use their bases. If we want, we can just fly in and use it.”

As we have reported in the past, the U.S. has used the Rota and Moron bases as transit points for fighter aircraft, electronic attack jets and aerial refueling tankers.

.@POTUS: “Some of the European nations have been helpful, and some haven’t—and I’m very surprised. Germany’s been great… Spain has been terrible. In fact, I told Scott to cut off all dealings with Spain.”

“By the way, I’m not happy with the U.K. either.” pic.twitter.com/Q9qtyDVDbx

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 3, 2026

UPDATE: 5:38 PM EST –

The IDF said Tuesday it struck a secret underground nuclear complex in Tehran, describing it as a key site where Iran was developing components for a nuclear weapon. Fighter aircraft targeted the covert “Minzadehei” compound, an underground facility where Iran’s nuclear weapons group operated under the country’s Defense Ministry.

UPDATE: 5:32 PM EST –

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham told reporters today that new attacks against Iran are imminent and that there is a growing coalition of allies willing to take part in the fight against Iran.

🚨 BREAKING: Lindsey Graham confirms MASSIVE new attacks on Iran are IMMINENT

“The amount of firepower coming in the next day or two from us is gonna be OVERWHELMING”

“I’ve never felt better about how this ends. It’s not IF they fall, it’s WHEN they fall.” pic.twitter.com/CAkJWTqv5o

— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) March 3, 2026

UPDATE: 5:12 PM EST –

The IDF released details of its Operation Roaring Lion attack on Iran. It claims that more than 200 fighters flew more than 700 sorties. There were 47 senior leaders killed, while 600 “terror sites” were “dismantled.” The War Zone cannot independently verify these claims.

UPDATE: 5:06 PM EST –

Hundreds of Iranian university professors and tech experts have reportedly signed a statement declaring the Constitution of the Islamic Republic illegitimate. The statement also calls for the immediate transfer of power to the people, while endorsing Prince Reza Pahlavi’s democratic transition plan.

In the past few hours, hundreds of Iranian university professors and tech experts have signed a statement declaring the Constitution of the Islamic Republic illegitimate and calling for the immediate transfer of power to the people, while endorsing Prince Reza Pahlavi’s… pic.twitter.com/oihXPHvBy5

— علی شریفی زارچی (@SharifiZarchi) March 3, 2026

UPDATE: 4:58 PM EST –

French President Emmanuel Macron has ordered the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle to the eastern Mediterranean amid the ongoing war.

Macron is also working to build a coalition that would help secure maritime traffic imperiled by the escalating crisis in the Middle East.

In a televised ​address to the nation, Macron said that action needed ​to be taken with the Straits of Hormuz closed ⁠and the Suez Canal and Red Sea shipping routes threatened ​by the widening conflict.

French President Macron:

We have defense agreements with Qatar, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates. We must stand by their side. I have decided to send a warship to Cyprus for protection. I have given the order to send the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle and its… pic.twitter.com/Tox01M1TFi

— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) March 3, 2026

UPDATE: 4:50 PM EST –

A suspected Iranian drone attack hit the CIA’s station in Saudi Arabia “in what would amount to a significant symbolic victory for the Islamic Republic,” The Washington Post reported.

“An internal State Department alert obtained by The Washington Post said the attack ‘collapsed’ part of the embassy’s roof and ‘contaminated’ the inside with smoke,” the publication stated. “The notice said the embassy sustained ‘structural damage’ and personnel ‘continue to shelter in place.’”

The extent of the damage was not immediately clear, the Post added. There was no indication that any CIA personnel were wounded.

SCOOP: A suspected Iranian drone attack hit the CIA’s station in Saudi Arabia in what would amount to a significant symbolic victory for the Islamic Republic as it lashes out at U.S. targets and personnel across the Middle East, sources tell @nakashimae and me

— John Hudson (@John_Hudson) March 3, 2026

UPDATE: 4:43 PM EST –

Officials in Dubai say the fire near the US Consulate in Dubai has been fully extinguished with no injuries recorded. The area had been hit by an Iranian drone.

بالصور: إخماد الحريق بالكامل في محيط القنصلية الأمريكية بدبي دون تسجيل أي إصابات؛ والجهات المختصة في دبي تؤكد حرصها على ضمان أمن وسلامة الجميع. pic.twitter.com/3fqjHkEHMl

— Dubai Media Office (@DXBMediaOffice) March 3, 2026

UPDATE: 2:46 PM EST-

The IDF says it has now destroyed 300 Iranian missile launchers since the start of the conflict. Israeli authorities also say the country’s fighters have flown more than 1,600 sorties and dropped more than 4,000 munitions.

The IDF says Israeli airstrikes have taken out 300 Iranian missile launchers since the start of the current conflict.

“As part of the offensive effort, the air force continues to launch continuous waves of strikes against the Iranian regime’s ballistic missile arrays and [air]… pic.twitter.com/62xy3luzuE

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 3, 2026

The Israeli Air Force has dropped over 4,000 bombs in strikes on Iran since the start of the campaign which began four days ago, IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin says in a press conference.

“Today we crossed the amount of munitions that the IDF dropped during the entire…

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 3, 2026

The IDF says it has targeted an Iranian facility on the outskirts of Tehran where scientists “worked secretly to develop capabilities required for nuclear weapons.”

The Israeli Air Force struck a secretive Iranian nuclear site on the outskirts of Tehran earlier today, the military says.

In a press conference, IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin says at the partially-underground facility, a group of nuclear scientists “worked secretly to… pic.twitter.com/ollEsROFT9

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 3, 2026

The IDF is also still assessing the results of its strike targeting Iran’s Assembly of Experts in Qom. There are reports that none of the 88 clerics who make up this group were in the building when it was hit. Iranian quasi-state media claims a vote for the next Supreme Leader of the country was held remotely for security reasons.

IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin in a press conference says the results of the Israeli strike on the Iranian Assembly of Experts building in Qom are still under review.

According to reports, none of the 88 clerics were at the building at the time of the strike, rather only… https://t.co/8qweTwYKCj

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 3, 2026

NEW: Iran’s Assembly of Experts is holding final voting to choose a new Supreme Leader.

Although the Assembly’s building in Qom was reportedly hit, no session was held there.

Voting is being conducted remotely for security reasons.

Sources say the final stages are underway…

— Clash Report (@clashreport) March 3, 2026

The satellite imagery below shows damage to Iranian leadership targets in Tehran from Israeli strikes earlier today.

Thread: New high-resolution satellite images released by @vantortech show the aftermath of US/Israeli strikes on several major political and military sites in Tehran.

Iran presidential complex, Assembly of Experts and the Expediency Council

Before: 1 March
After: 3 March pic.twitter.com/zpFNAQnG1W

— Shayan Sardarizadeh (@Shayan86) March 3, 2026

U.S. Central Command has also released new footage showing strikes targeting Iranian kamikaze drone capabilities.

The Iranian regime’s killer drones have been a menace in the Middle East for years. These drones are no longer a tolerable risk. pic.twitter.com/76yhDKI6OW

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) March 3, 2026

Imagery has emerged that is said to show a fire at a U.S. diplomatic facility in Dubai following an Iranian drone attack.

There are reports that President Donald Trump’s administration is considering using military assets to escort oil and natural gas tankers through the Strait of Hormuz. Any warships supporting these operations would also have to operate in the Strait, with all the potential risks entailed. The report says that the U.S. government could also seek to back maritime insurance, where some rates have been hiked and some policies outright cancelled as a result of the current conflict.

(Reuters) – The Trump administration is considering providing military protection to oil and gas tankers traversing the Strait of Hormuz, Politico reported on Tuesday.

— Phil Stewart (@phildstewart) March 3, 2026

BIG: The Trump administration is considering using U.S. military forces to protect oil and gas tankers traveling through the Strait of Hormuz after Iran threatened ships in the area.

Officials are discussing naval escorts for tankers and possibly having the U.S. government back… pic.twitter.com/kthwYVQYiO

— Clash Report (@clashreport) March 3, 2026

Iraqi authorities say that all refineries “are operating continuously and at their full design capacity to produce various petroleum derivatives,” according to the country’s Rudaw news outlet.

President Donald Trump has said that “it would seem to me that somebody from within [Iran] maybe would be more appropriate” when asked if Reza Pahlavi, the eldest son of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the last Shah of Iran, is someone the U.S. might look to as part of a new Iranian government.

Reporter: Reza Pahlavi, is he an option at all in your mind?

Trump: It would seem to me that somebody from within maybe would be more appropriate. I’ve said that he looks like a very nice person, but it would seem to me that somebody that’s there, that’s currently popular if… pic.twitter.com/vRYgQXuDU7

— Acyn (@Acyn) March 3, 2026

“Yes, the State Department is actively securing military aircraft and charter flights for American citizens who wish to leave the Middle East,” Assistant Secretary of State for Global Public Affairs Dylan Johnson has written in a post on X in response to questions about what steps are being taken to help American citizens depart the Middle East. However, at the time of writing, the phone number he has given out starts with a recorded message advising callers not to rely on the U.S. government.

UPDATE: 1:29 PM EST-

The Israel Defense Forces have confirmed strikes in Isfahan and elsewhere in Iran. In Isfahan, the targets are said to have been related to the Iranian ballistic missile arsenal rather than the nuclear facility there.

⭕️ OPERATIONAL UPDATE:
Targets belonging to the Iranian terror regime in Tehran and Isfahan were struck.

📍Throughout Iran, industrial sites used by the Iranian regime to produce weapons, particularly ballistic missiles, were targeted.

📍Isfahan: Dozens of targets related to…

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) March 3, 2026

Israel has now also issued an explicit threat to strike Iranian officials in Lebanon if they do not leave within 24 hours. The IDF said earlier that it killed Daoud Alizadeh, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ (IRGC) Quds Force’s acting commander in charge of operations in Lebanon, in strikes on targets in Tehran. The IDF has also continued to target Iranian-backed Hezbollah militants in Lebanon.

The Israeli military issues an unusual threat against Iranian regime officials in Lebanon, warning that they will be targeted if they do not leave the country within 24 hours.

“The IDF warns representatives of the Iranian terror regime who are still in Lebanon to leave…

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 3, 2026

Alizadeh had taken responsibility for the IRGC Quds Force’s Lebanon Corps from Mohammad Reza Zahedi, who was killed in an Israeli strike on Damascus in April 2024, making him “the highest-ranking Iranian commander responsible for Lebanon,” according to the military.

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 3, 2026

The IDF issues new evacuation warnings ahead of airstrikes on Hezbollah sites in coastal Lebanese city of Tyre. pic.twitter.com/xf03b1qUox

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 3, 2026

The IDF issues an evacuation warning for a building in Sidon, ahead of an airstrike against Hezbollah infrastructure. pic.twitter.com/sFgggvkYGv

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 3, 2026

A British F-35B Joint Strike Fighter has shot down an Iranian drone while flying over Jordan. This is the first time one of the United Kingdom’s F-35Bs has shot down an aerial target in combat, at least that we know of. The U.K. Ministry of Defense now also says it is sending Wildcat helicopters to Cyprus, primarily to support counter-drone operations. The Wildcat has a demonstrated ability to knock down drones using the Martlet missile.

The UK’s F-35 fleet has scored its first kill, shooting down an Iranian attack drone over Jordan.

British fighters are now conducting combat air patrols over Jordan, Qatar, and the Eastern Mediterranean. pic.twitter.com/EDxQbONjTZ

— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) March 3, 2026

As the situation in the Middle East remains volatile, we are deploying our Type-45 Destroyer, HMS Dragon, to the Eastern Mediterranean.

We are also sending two Wildcat helicopters to Cyprus to bolster drone defence for our Cypriot partners.

Working alongside our allies, our… pic.twitter.com/cWerOOVEsu

— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) March 3, 2026

The UAE’s Ministry of Defense has now shown wreckage of Iranian missiles and drones. Included in the display were the remains of Shahed 136 and Shahed 107 kamikaze drones, as well as Qiam short-range ballistic missiles and Paveh ground-launched land-attack cruise missiles.

The UAE Ministry of Defense showcased debris and remnants of Iranian missiles and drones recently intercepted during attacks on the country.

The display included Shahed 136 and Shahed 107 drones, as well as Qaim short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs) and Paveh long-range cruise… pic.twitter.com/5CzZ5Fq13P

— Egypt’s Intel Observer (@EGYOSINT) March 3, 2026

The UAE says now that it has successfully intercepted 172 ballistic missiles, 8 cruise missiles and 812 kamikaze drones launched by Iran, in total. One ballistic missile and 57 drones have “impacted within state territory.” Another 13 ballistic missiles have come down in the sea around the country.

Axios has reported that the UAE is now considering taking “active defense measures against Iran” in the face of continued attacks.

“The UAE is considering taking active defensive measures against Iran,” a source familiar w/Emirati policy discussions said. “The UAE view is that no country in the world would fail to evaluate its defensive posture under such circumstances.” @BarakRavid https://t.co/x91PFdYBqX

— Shalom Lipner (@ShalomLipner) March 3, 2026

“To the very large numbers of people who have been in touch from all 4 corners of the globe: Oman appreciates the support you have shown for our efforts to stop the war,” Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi, who had been helping mediate U.S.-Iran talks before the conflict erupted, has written in a post on X. “Strengthened by your solidarity, Oman reaffirms its call for an immediate ceasefire and a return to responsible regional diplomacy. There are off ramps available. Let’s use them.”

OMAN FOREIGN MINISTER: THERE ARE OFF RAMPS AVAILABLE, LET’S USE THEM

— Phil Stewart (@phildstewart) March 3, 2026

UPDATE: 12:32 PM EST-

U.S. Air Force B-52 bombers have joined the air campaign against Iran, according to a new fact sheet from U.S. Central Command seen below. American forces have now struck more than 1,700 targets in total.

U.S. President Donald Trump has said Iran “is running out of [missile] launchers” and “running out of areas to shoot them, because they’re being decimated,” according to Politico‘s Sophia Cai.

Trump also told Cai that it is “not too late” to work in some fashion with a new Iranian government. He pushed back again on concerns about low stocks of anti-air interceptors, as well.

🚨NEW: Trump tells me in an interview that Iran “is running out of launchers” and that U.S. defense companies are “under emergency orders” to build weapons.

Q: Is it too late for you to want to work with someone in the new government?

“Nope, not too late. 49 were killed, don’t…

— Sophia Cai (@SophiaCai99) March 3, 2026

During a press conference alongside German Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the White House today, Trump pushed back on reports that the Israeli government had pressured him into attacking Iran. He also reiterated previous comments that “most of the people we had in mind” as potential partners in a new Iranian government “are dead.”

“We will see what happens, but first we have to finish off the military,” he added.

Reporter: Did Israel and Netanyahu force your hand to attack Iran?

Trump: No. I might’ve forced their hand. It was my opinion that these lunatics were going to attack first. pic.twitter.com/VMuyPEknlp

— Clash Report (@clashreport) March 3, 2026

President Trump has also said that he has ordered an end to “all dealings” with Spain. Spanish authorities have blocked access to military bases in the country to U.S. forces supporting Operation Epic Fury.

President Donald Trump has also now said that the reason why various U.S. embassies in the region were not evacuated ahead of the start of U.S.-Israeli strikes this past weekend was that the situation moved too fast to allow for it. The U.S. State Department has now issued evacuation orders for embassies in several Middle Eastern countries.

Reporter: Thousands of Americans are stranded. Why wasn’t there an evacuation plan?

Trump: Well, because it happened all very quickly. We thought — and I thought maybe more so than most. I could ask Marco — but I thought we were going to have a situation where we were going to… pic.twitter.com/wlRmjBgWSc

— Clash Report (@clashreport) March 3, 2026

Imagery has emerged showing what looks to show the aftermath of strikes on facilities belonging to the naval army of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in the port of Jask. U.S. authorities have said the destruction of Iran’s naval capabilities is a top objective of Operation Epic Fury.

“We don’t see a structured program to manufacture nuclear weapons,” International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi has reiterated today. “Countries have either other information or political considerations, which are not for me to validate, as I said, or invalidate.”

IAEA Chief Grossi on Iran:

We don’t see a structured program to manufacture nuclear weapons.

Countries have either other information or political considerations, which are not for me to validate or invalidate. pic.twitter.com/zKaRe1zEp1

— Clash Report (@clashreport) March 3, 2026

The IAEA has also now confirmed new damage to Iran’s Natanz Fuel Enrichment Plant (FEP) based on satellite imagery, which has also been circulating online. “No radiological consequence expected and no additional impact detected at FEP itself, which was severely damaged in the June conflict,” the IAEA added in a statement.

Based on the latest available satellite imagery, IAEA can now confirm some recent damage to entrance buildings of Iran’s underground Natanz Fuel Enrichment Plant (FEP). No radiological consequence expected and no additional impact detected at FEP itself, which was severely… pic.twitter.com/7CS7BRZo1s

— IAEA – International Atomic Energy Agency ⚛️ (@iaeaorg) March 3, 2026

We have prepared an overview slide summarizing the visible damage at the Natanz uranium enrichment site from the recent attack, pulling together multiple images showing before and after satellite images of the two personnel entrances and the sole vehicle entrance with comparable… pic.twitter.com/mMGvOyHgkQ

— Inst for Science (@TheGoodISIS) March 3, 2026

Alexey Likhachev, head of Russia’s state-run nuclear company Rosatom, has said he has lost all contact with his counterparts in Iran and that operations at the country’s Bushehr nuclear power plant had been halted. Russian personnel assist with operations at Bushehr.

⚡️Russia lost ‘all contact’ with the leadership of Iran’s nuclear industry, Rosatom chief Likhachev confirms

Operations at Iran’s Bushehr nuclear plant have been halted

639 Russian staff remain on site, with hourly check-ins as the only line still open pic.twitter.com/VKQPackUip

— RT (@RT_com) March 3, 2026

UPDATE: 11:46 AM EST-

U.S. Central Command and the Israel Defense Forces have shared more video clips showing strikes on Iranian missile launchers.

The Iranian regime is using mobile launchers to indiscriminately fire missiles in an attempt to inflict maximum harm across the region. U.S. forces are hunting these threats down and without apology or hesitation, we are taking them out. pic.twitter.com/gv1SfKCrk4

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) March 3, 2026

✈️🎯60+ strike flights: The IAF completed additional waves of strikes in western Iran targeting the Iranian regime’s missile launchers, defense systems, and live-fire arrays. pic.twitter.com/I1rRLBJlUR

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) March 3, 2026

The Ministry of Defense in the United Arab Emirates has released footage, which looks to have been shot via targeting pods on aircraft, of intercepts of incoming Iranian missiles and drones.

The video below is said to show munitions impacting a target in the Iranian city of Urmia as part of ongoing U.S.-Israeli strikes.

Imagery is emerging showing new strikes on Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran.

Reported strikes within the last few minutes against military infrastructure located at Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran. pic.twitter.com/m7QjmIoyBA

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) March 3, 2026

Imagery showing the aftermath of strikes on other targets in Tehran has also emerged.

Massive fire in the capital of Iran, Tehran, following US/Israeli airstrikes on Tuesday.

A huge cloud of thick, black smoke is rising over the city. pic.twitter.com/lMVwTZCU4r

— Status-6 (War & Military News) (@Archer83Able) March 3, 2026

The national flag of Iran flies in the wind as debris lies scattered in the aftermath of an Israeli and U.S. strike on a police station, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Tehran, Iran, March 3, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS pic.twitter.com/sULKiGc6Vg

— Idrees Ali (@idreesali114) March 3, 2026

The video below shows a commercial airliner taking off from Beirut International Airport in Lebanon amid Israeli strikes.

A commercial plane takes off from the Beirut International Airport in Lebanon as smoke from Israeli airstrikes can be seen rising over the city on Tuesday. pic.twitter.com/tgaRHJzxMb

— Status-6 (War & Military News) (@Archer83Able) March 3, 2026

Qatari authorities are pushing back on reports that they have conducted strikes on targets in Iran.

Breaking news:

Western sources — Qatar carried out an attack in Iran in the past 24 hours.

— Amit Segal (@AmitSegal) March 3, 2026

An Iranian drone strike overnight on the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, reportedly caused part of the roof to collapse. Saudi authorities had initially said the resulting damage to the building was minimal. The Saudi government has also condemned that attack.

The damage inflicted in the attack is more significant than initial assessment conveyed by Saudi’s ministry of defense yesterday https://t.co/9blsrO8TF2

— John Hudson (@John_Hudson) March 3, 2026

#Statement | The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia expresses its rejection and condemnation in the strongest terms of the flagrant Iranian attack that targeted the U.S. Embassy building in Riyadh. pic.twitter.com/pzSSEUEiyO

— Foreign Ministry 🇸🇦 (@KSAmofaEN) March 3, 2026

Despite pushback elsewhere, Polish Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz has warned that demand for air defense capabilities in the ongoing conflict in the Middle East could upend deliveries of U.S.-made systems globally, including to Ukraine. The Chosun Ilbo newspaper in South Korea has also published a story raising questions about whether U.S. air defense assets in that country could be redeployed to the Middle East, but it does not say such movements are imminent.

WARSAW, March 3 (Reuters) – A prolonged conflict in the Middle East could disrupt deliveries of U.S.-made air defence systems and other arms supplies to European countries including Ukraine, Polish Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said on Monday.

— Idrees Ali (@idreesali114) March 3, 2026

Iranian authorities say the current death toll from U.S.-Israeli strikes is now 787, but how many of those individuals are members of the country’s military or security forces is unclear. Lebanese authorities also say that 40 people have been killed and 246 more wounded in Israeli strikes on that country over the past two days.

Iran death toll from US-Israel strikes rises to 787, state media reports.

— Idrees Ali (@idreesali114) March 3, 2026

DUBAI, March 3 (Reuters) – At least 40 people have been killed and 246 wounded in Israeli attacks on Lebanon on Monday and Tuesday, a spokesperson for Lebanon’s health ministry said.

— Idrees Ali (@idreesali114) March 3, 2026

UPDATE: 11:23 AM EST-

U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran continue. The Israel Defense Forces say a wave of 100 jets dropped 250 munitions on leadership targets in Tehran earlier this morning. A building in the city of Qom, where Iran’s Assembly of Experts was reportedly meeting as part of the process of choosing a new Supreme Leader, was also struck.

Overnight, the Israeli Air Force struck Iran’s “leadership complex” in Tehran, the military says.

The IDF says around 100 fighter jets dropped over 250 bombs on the complex.

The buildings targeted at the complex included Iran’s presidential bureau, the headquarters of Iran’s… pic.twitter.com/CQYMx0gww0

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 3, 2026

The Israeli Air Force has attacked the “Assembly of Experts” meeting in Qom, Iran as they were gathering to choose the new Supreme Leader. The council is comprised of 88 religious leaders from around Iran who choose the Ayatollah. pic.twitter.com/kZ68nJE9tb

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) March 3, 2026

An airstrike targeting a building housing the Assembly of Experts, who had gathered to appoint the next leader of the Islamic Republic Qom, Iran.

Initial reports claim at least 80-90 senior clerics were at the gathering, however the figure is not currently verified. pic.twitter.com/4Cy8BrLXXj

— Aurora Intel (@AuroraIntel) March 3, 2026

The Israelis just struck the meeting of the Iranian Supreme Council where officials were gathering to choose a new Supreme Leader, a senior Israeli official told Fox News.

“Israel struck while they were counting the votes for the appointment of the supreme leader.”

— Trey Yingst (@TreyYingst) March 3, 2026

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has issued a statement regarding the delegation of authorities to regional officials to enable “quick decision making” amid ongoing strikes targeting the country’s leadership.

Message from the President of Iran delegating powers to the country’s Governors for “quick decision making.” https://t.co/gvyDIhvBdH

— Jennifer Griffin (@JenGriffinFNC) March 3, 2026

The video below is said to show a Centurion Counter-Rocket, Artillery, Mortar (C-RAM) system in Iraq firing on an incoming Iranian drone. The Centurion is a ground-based version of the Phalanx Close-In Weapon System (CIWS) used on various U.S. and foreign warships, and is armed with a six-barrel 20mm Vulcan Gatling-type cannon.

French fighters are now flying over the United Arab Emirates to help bolster that country’s defenses. France is also reportedly sending anti-air and anti-drone capabilities to help protect Cyprus in the Eastern Mediterranean.

France will send anti-missile and anti-drone systems to Cyprus, as the U.S.-Israel-Iran war heightens tensions in the Middle East, two senior Cypriot government officials have told POLITICO.https://t.co/OCVkZDVS02

— POLITICOEurope (@POLITICOEurope) March 3, 2026

U.K. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has also announced the deployment of the Type 45 destroyer HMS Dragon to bolster the defense of Cyprus.

Iranian media reports say the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has targeted dissident groups in northern Iraq. Axios has also reported that President Donald Trump spoke with Iraqi Kurdish leaders this past week about “what might come next.” There have been reports raising the possibility of armed Iranian Kurdish groups in Iraq launching a ground incursion even before the current conflict began.

IRAN’S REVOLUTIONARY GUARDS SAYS IT TARGETED DISSIDENT GROUPS PLANNING TO ATTACK IRAN FROM IRAQI KURDISTAN REGION – IRANIAN MEDIA

— Phil Stewart (@phildstewart) March 3, 2026

Zoom in: Trump spoke to leaders from the two main Kurdish factions in Iraq – Masoud Barzani and Bafel Talabani – a day after the war started, two of the sources said. A source with knowledge of the calls said they were “sensitive” and declined to give details on their content https://t.co/1UN9dPkm5l

— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) March 3, 2026

U.S. President Donald Trump has now said that it is “too late” to negotiate with Iran’s new leadership, according to Fox News. U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, who took part in negotiations in the lead-up to the current conflict, claims that Iranian officials say they “have enough enriched uranium for 11 nuclear bombs.”

Witkoff says the Iranian negotiators walked into the room and said, “We have enough enriched uranium for 11 nuclear bombs.”

That was their starting position. pic.twitter.com/eDOVm1NFtB

— Eylon Levy (@EylonALevy) March 3, 2026

Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com

China’s foreign minister tells Israel to end attacks; Russian FM Lavrov says no sign Tehran seeking nuclear bomb.

Russia and China have criticised the US and Israeli attacks on Iran, with Moscow saying it had seen no evidence that Tehran was developing nuclear weapons, and Beijing demanding an immediate halt to the joint attacks.

Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang ⁠Yi told his Israeli counterpart, Gideon Saar, on Tuesday that the attack on Iran came as negotiations between Washington and Tehran had “made significant progress, including addressing Israel’s security concerns”, China’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

“Regrettably, this process has been interrupted by military action. China opposes any military strikes launched by Israel and the US against Iran,” Wang told the Israeli foreign minister during a phone call, according to the ministry.

“China calls for an immediate cessation of military operations to prevent the further escalation and loss of control of the conflict,” Wang said.

“Force cannot truly solve problems; instead, it will bring new problems and serious long-term consequences,” he added.

According to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Saar agreed to a request from Wang to take “concrete measures to ensure the safety of Chinese personnel and institutions” in Iran.

The call on Tuesday with Israel and Beijing’s apparent efforts to stabilise the spiralling regional situation followed calls Wang made on Monday to discuss the conflict with the foreign ⁠ministers of Iran, Oman and France.

‘US doesn’t attack those who have nuclear bombs’

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also criticised the US and Israel on Tuesday, saying their war on Iran could lead to the very outcome they claimed they wanted to prevent: nuclear proliferation.

Lavrov told a news conference that the logical consequence of the US and Israel’s actions could be that “forces will emerge in Iran… in favour of doing exactly what the Americans want to avoid – acquiring a nuclear bomb”.

“Because the US doesn’t attack those who have nuclear bombs,” Lavrov said.

Lavrov also said that Arab countries could now join the race to acquire nuclear weapons, given the experience of recent days and “the nuclear proliferation problem will begin to spiral ⁠out of control”.

Israel is widely seen as the Middle East region’s only nuclear-armed state, which it neither confirms nor denies.

“The seemingly paradoxical declared noble goal of starting a war to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons could stimulate completely opposite trends,” he said.

Lavrov, who said that Moscow had still seen no evidence that Iran was developing ⁠nuclear weapons, spoke with his Iranian counterpart, ⁠Abbas Araghchi, on Tuesday, and said that Russia stood ready to help find a diplomatic solution to the conflict, while rejecting the US and Israel’s use of “unprovoked military aggression” in the region.

As the US and Israel launched their first strikes on Iran on Saturday, Russia’s Foreign Ministry accused the close allies of carrying out a “premeditated and unprovoked act of armed aggression against a sovereign and independent UN member state”.

The two countries had hidden their true intention of regime change in Tehran “under the cover” of negotiations to normalise relations with Iran, the ministry said.

The US and Israel were “swiftly pushing the region toward a humanitarian, economic, and potentially even radiological disaster”, the ministry warned.

“Responsibility for the negative consequences of this manmade crisis, including an unpredictable chain reaction and spiralling violence, lies entirely with them,” the statement added.

Russia has faced its own accusations of aggression against a sovereign state after it launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a war now in its fifth year.

US officials confirmed the US didn’t attack Iran because of an ‘imminent threat’ but because Israel was planning to strike anyway. Al Jazeera’s Nada Qaddourah breaks down the Trump administration’s justifications for starting the war and examines whether they hold up.

US Navy ‘will begin escorting’ oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway, if necessary, US President Trump says.

President Donald Trump has announced that the United States government will offer insurance to ships in the Gulf after Iran largely succeeded in shutting down the Strait of Hormuz, sending oil prices soaring.

The US president added that the US military will accompany ships through Hormuz if necessary.

“Effective IMMEDIATELY, I have ordered the United States Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to provide, at a very reasonable price, political risk insurance and guarantees for the Financial Security of ALL Maritime Trade, especially Energy, traveling through the Gulf,” Trump wrote in a social media post on Tuesday.

DFC is the US government’s development finance agency. Its mission is to “advance US foreign policy and strengthen national security by mobilising private capital” across the world.

Trump added that the discounted risk insurance will be available for all shipping lanes.

“If necessary, the United States Navy will begin escorting tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, as soon as possible,” he wrote.

“No matter what, the United States will ensure the FREE FLOW of ENERGY to the WORLD.”

The Strait of Hormuz is a vital trade artery that connects the Gulf to the Indian Ocean. Around 20 percent of the world’s oil flows through it.

The price of oil has shot up by more than 15 percent since the US and Israel launched strikes on Tehran that started a war with Iran three days ago.

Costs are expected to rise even higher as oil supplies decrease as a result of Iran’s closure of the strait, as well as attacks on energy instalments in the Gulf.

Some insurance companies were reported to have cut back coverage amid the Iranian attacks.

Although the US is largely self-sufficient with its oil production, an uptick in prices globally could hike the cost for Americans at the gas or petrol pump, and could boost inflation.

The average price of one gallon of gas (3.8 liter) in the US jumped more than 11 cents overnight to $3.11 on Tuesday, according to the AAA Gas Prices website.

Earlier on Tuesday, Trump stressed that the attack on Iran “had to happen” despite its human cost and the strain it is putting on the energy market.

“We have a little high oil prices for a little while, but as soon as this ends, those prices are going to drop – I believe – lower than even before,” he told reporters.

Opinion polls show that the attack on Iran is unpopular among the US public. Increasing economic costs from the war could further diminish support for the war, months ahead of the US midterm elecitons.

US and Israeli strikes against Iran, which have sparked a regional war, likely violate the UN Charter’s prohibition on aggression and lack any valid legal justification, experts say.

“This is not lawful self-defence against an armed attack by Iran, and the UN Security Council has not authorised it,” the United Nations special rapporteur on the promotion of human rights and “counterterrorism”, Ben Saul, told Al Jazeera.

“Preventive disarmament, counterterrorism and regime change constitute the international crime of aggression. All responsible governments should condemn this lawlessness from two countries who excel in shredding the international legal order.”

The administration of United States President Donald Trump did not seek authorisation from the UN Security Council – or even from domestic lawmakers in Congress – for the war.

And Iran did not attack the US or Israel prior to the strikes that killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and several other senior officials, as well as hundreds of civilians.

Yusra Suedi, assistant professor in International law at the University of Manchester, said there are grounds to believe that the attacks against Iran amount to a crime of aggression.

“This was an act of use of force that was unjustified,” Suedi told Al Jazeera.

International law is a set of treaties, conventions and universally accepted rules that govern relations between countries.

Imminent threat?

The Trump administration has argued that Iran posed a threat to the US with its missile programme and nuclear programme, arguing that military action was necessary.

But the UN Charter prohibits unprovoked attacks against other countries.

“All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations,” the founding document of the UN says.

Rebecca Ingber, a professor at Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University who previously served as an adviser to the US Department of State, said that the prohibition of the use of force is a “bedrock” principle of international law that allows for only limited exceptions.

“States may not use force against the territorial integrity of other states except in two narrow circumstances — when authorised by the UN Security Council or in self-defence against an armed attack,” said Ingber.

Suedi said one instance in which the use of force can be legal is when a country seeks to thwart an imminent attack by another state.

Trump has said that the goal of the war is to “defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime”.

But Suedi cast doubt over that assertion.

“Imminence in international law is really understood to be something that is instant, something that is overwhelming, something that leaves really no other choice but to act first, something that is pretty much happening now,” Suedi said.

She noted that Trump himself had said repeatedly that the June 2025 US attacks on Iran “obliterated” the country’s nuclear programme, and that Tehran and Washington were holding talks when the war broke out on Saturday.

“There really was no evidence of an imminent threat, and that the attack was a pre-emptive strike,” Suedi told Al Jazeera.

“If it’s pre-emptive, it means that you are acting to counter something that is in the future, hypothetical, speculative, and that is not imminent, but that’s exactly what happened here. That is illegal under international law.”

US officials, including Trump, have said that Iran was building a ballistic missile arsenal to protect its nuclear programme and later build a nuclear bomb.

‘Scattershot’ arguments

Trump has also said that he is seeking “freedom” for the Iranian people, as the US president’s aides have described the regime in Tehran as brutal.

In January, Iran responded to a wave of anti-government protests with a heavy security crackdown. The violence killed thousands of people.

Trump encouraged the demonstrators to take over government buildings at that time, promising them that “help is on the way”.

Experts say a humanitarian intervention to help protesters in Iran would have required UN Security Council authorisation to cross the legal threshold.

“The rationales have been scattershot,” Brian Finucane, a senior adviser for the US programme at the International Crisis Group, said of the US justifications for the strikes.

“Certainly none of them amount to a serious international legal argument.”

Beyond the possible breaches of the UN Charter, the US-Israeli attacks risk violating provisions of international humanitarian law that are meant to shield civilians from war.

An Israeli or US attack on a girls’ school in the southern Iranian city of Minab on Saturday killed at least 165 people, local officials have said.

“Civilians are already paying the price for this military escalation,” Annie Shiel, US Director at Center for Civilians in Conflict (CIVIC), told Al Jazeera in an email.

“We are seeing deeply alarming reports of attacks on schools and critical civilian infrastructure in Iran and across the region, with devastating casualties, including many children. These strikes risk igniting a wider regional catastrophe.”

Embrace of military power

The strikes on Iran are the latest instance yet of Trump’s reliance on the brute force of the US military power to promote his global agenda.

During Trump’s second term, the US has threatened to use military force to seize the Danish territory of Greenland, killed at least 150 people in a campaign targeting alleged drug trafficking vessels in Latin America, and abducted Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro in a military attack that killed at least 80 people.

The legality of all of these policies has been questioned domestically and internationally, with UN experts saying that the boat strikes amount to extrajudicial killings.

Trump told The New York Times in January that he is driven by his own morality.

“I don’t need international law. I’m not looking to hurt people,” the US president said at that time.

In recent years, both Democratic and Republican US administrations have also continued to send Israel billions of dollars of weapons despite the Israeli military’s genocidal war on Gaza, which has been documented by rights groups and UN experts.

Ingber, the law professor, said that the use of wanton military force has contributed to a sense of impunity for powerful states and has degraded the international law system that has sought to place some constraints on conflict since the end of World War II.

“The prohibition on the use of force is a relatively recent innovation in the span of things. This rule is policed through the actions and reactions of states, and it feels fragile right now,” she said. “Do we want to go back to a world where states could use force as a tool of policy?”

Iran itself has lashed out against countries across the region in response to the US strikes, launching missiles and drones at military bases as well as civilian targets – including airports, hotels and energy installations.

“In the context of war, from the moment that the first strike was launched, the rules of warfare apply, and they’re very clear that civilian objects and spaces cannot be targeted,” Suedi said.

She said Iran also appears to have violated international law with its response.

Suedi told Al Jazeera that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Israel’s brutal assault on Gaza have been showing the “unravelling fragility” of international law.

The war on Iran “is a next episode in that very worrying trend”, she said.

Beirut, Lebanon – Hezbollah raised the stakes for the Lebanese government on Tuesday, when it launched an attack on Israel’s Ramat Airbase and a barrage of rockets another military facility in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, a day after Prime Minister Nawaf Salam’s cabinet announced a ban on Hezbollah’s military and security activities.

Analysts said that the Lebanese government’s decision, while difficult to implement, might have a decisive impact on the future of Lebanon. Some say it was a necessary step to bring decisions related to security and defence under the central government’s control, while others argue it raises the spectre of internal strife.

Imad Salamey, a political scientist at the Lebanese American University, said that implementation of the government’s decision to disarm Hezbollah was “more plausible today than in previous years because the decision reflects unusually broad national backing, including from within the Shia political sphere”.

“Amal’s vote in favour signals that support for consolidating arms under state authority is no longer framed purely as a sectarian or anti-resistance demand, but increasingly as a state-stabilisation necessity – especially amid economic collapse and regional escalation,” he said, referring to the other Lebanese Shia Muslim group headed by Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.

But Michael Young, a Lebanon expert at the Carnegie Middle East Center, said the decision was easier said than done.

“Implementation is going to he much more complicated. The army is not enthusiastic to enter into a fight with Hezbollah,” Young told Al Jazeera.

“It’s good that the state has taken this decision, but it is not good that the army seems very reluctant to implement this decision,” he added.

The Iran-backed Hezbollah effectively joined the war that the United States and Israel started against Iran on Saturday when it launched a barrage of rockets and drones towards northern Israel on Monday, saying it was acting to avenge the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran and Israel’s near-daily attacks on Lebanon.

Israel responded by hitting Beirut’s southern suburbs with loud attacks that woke many of the city’s residents up, and issued evacuation warnings for more than 50 towns, displacing tens of thousands of people from their homes.

Hezbollah’s military actions banned

As this unfolded, Salam’s cabinet met and debated the events before the prime minister called an emergency news conference.

“We announce a ban on Hezbollah’s military activities and restrict its role to the political sphere,” Salam said in a news conference on Monday after the meeting.

“We declare our rejection of any military or security operations launched from Lebanese territory outside the framework of legitimate institutions.”

He added that all of Hezbollah’s military or security activities are “illegal” and said security forces would “prevent any attacks originating from Lebanese territory” against Israel or other states.

“We declare our commitment to the cessation of hostilities and the resumption of negotiations,” he said.

The statement was the strongest stance against Hezbollah to date and even gained the support of Parliament Speaker, and longtime staunch Hezbollah ally, Nabih Berri, who leads the Amal Movement.

Justice Minister Adel Nassar, meanwhile, ordered the arrest of the people who ordered the attack.

A ‘landmark’ decision

Hezbollah has been Lebanon’s strongest political and military force for decades. But the 2023-2024 war with Israel devastated the group. Hezbollah lost the majority of its military leadership, including longtime Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah.

Since the end of that war, a debate over Hezbollah’s weapons and role has ensued. Salam’s government has promised to disarm Hezbollah, while the group itself only accepted giving up its arms south of the Litani River that cuts across southern Lebanon.

Despite a November 2024 ceasefire agreement, Israel continued to attack south and east Lebanon almost daily. But since Hezbollah’s retaliation, Israel has started bombing Beirut’s suburbs again. On Monday alone, Israel killed more than 52 people, wounded more than 150 others, struck targets all over Lebanon, and gave evacuation orders for more than 50 Lebanese towns.

While Hezbollah’s first attack on Israel in over a year took many by surprise, Israel’s violent response did not.

Critics of Hezbollah pointed out that the group had acted recklessly and gave Israel an excuse to unleash its fury on Lebanon. Israel has also spoken about a potential ground invasion.

For analysts, the Lebanese government’s decision was a clear indication of how far the group has fallen since 2024.

“The government’s decision to officially ban all Hezbollah activities represents a landmark shift in the position of the government toward disarming Hezbollah,” Dania Arayssi, a senior analyst at New Lines Institute for Strategy and Policy, told Al Jazeera. “This is a further reaffirmation that Hezbollah has lost a lot, if not all, its political power and influence in the Lebanese government.”

Arayssi said Hezbollah’s diminished status since 2024 also meant that the likelihood of a clash between the group and the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) was minimal.

“I don’t think there is a possibility of this leading to internal strife,” she said.

Hezbollah challenges Salam’s government

Hezbollah did not welcome the announcement.

The head of Hezbollah’s Parliamentary Bloc, Mohammad Raad, dispelled rumours of his assassination on Monday evening when he released a statement dismissing the government’s decision.

“We see no justification for Prime Minister Salam and his government to take bombastic decisions against Lebanese citizens who reject the occupation and accuse them of violating the peace that the enemy itself has denied and refused to uphold for a year and four months,” Raad said in a statement. “[Israel] has imposed a state of daily war on the Lebanese people.”

“The Lebanese were expecting a decision to ban aggression, but instead they are faced with a decision to ban the rejection of aggression,” Raad added.

Jawad Salhab, a political researcher and analyst, called the government’s move “a grave betrayal of the Lebanese people and a grave betrayal of the Lebanese state, whose sovereignty has been violated for 15 months.”

“Fifteen months of strategic patience have cost us more than 500 martyrs, while this Zionist enemy has persisted in its aggression against Lebanon and its sovereignty by air, land, and sea,” he said.

Overnight on Monday, leading into Tuesday, Israel struck targets around Lebanon, including the southern suburbs of the capital Beirut. In one strike, Israel targeted al-Manar, Hezbollah’s television station.

Then, on Tuesday morning, Hezbollah attacked Israel again, in what will be interpreted as a clear challenge to Salam’s announcement.

The Lebanese army had been tasked with an earlier government decision to disarm Hezbollah and said in January that it completed the first phase south of the Litani River. But Hezbollah has refused to move along with phase two, set to take place between the Litani and the Awali River, which is near the city of Sidon.

Nicholas Blanford, a nonresident senior fellow with the US-based Atlantic Council, told Al Jazeera that the government’s move was a “bold step” but one that might be difficult to enforce.

“How can they implement the decision?” Blanford asked, adding that it increased the potential for internal conflict.

Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr reports from the site of an Israeli attack in Beirut’s southern suburbs, which Israel says targeted a ‘Hezbollah area’. Israeli forces have taken more land inside Lebanon, expanding a de facto buffer zone that has already displaced tens of thousands of people.