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Caracas, March 5, 2026 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuelan Acting President Delcy Rodríguez met Wednesday with US Interior Secretary Doug Burgum at the Miraflores Presidential Palace in Caracas to discuss a bilateral agenda focused on energy and mining.

Senior officials from both countries also attended a closed-door meeting, including US Chargé d’Affaires Laura Dogu and Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello. Rodríguez and Burgum later gave a joint press conference.

“We welcomed Burgum to address important aspects related to metallic, non-metallic, strategic and non-strategic minerals,” the acting president told reporters. “We want the Venezuelan people to see the advantage of having good relations with the world and with the United States.”

Rodríguez said that her economic team will soon present a proposal to the National Assembly to “expand” Venezuela’s Mining Law, urging lawmakers to reform it “swiftly” in order to showcase “investment and development opportunities in the mining sector” to both domestic and international business groups.

Venezuela’s current mining legislation was approved in 1999. Rodríguez noted that the government intends to replicate the “win-win formula” of the recent hydrocarbon reform approved on January 29, which introduced wide-reaching benefits for foreign capital in the oil sector.

Under the overhauled legislation, private operators get expanded control over operations, with limited parliamentary oversight and a reduced tax burden.

Rodríguez also thanked US President Donald Trump for a social media post praising the Venezuelan acting president for “doing a great job.” The Venezuelan leader highlighted the US government’s “kind disposition” to work on a “mutually beneficial” cooperation agenda.

For his part, Burgum said that Venezuela is “an extraordinarily rich nation” in oil, gas, and critical minerals, adding that the opportunities for collaboration between the two countries “have no limits.” He serves as chair of the US National Energy Dominance Council as well.

According to the senior White House official, who holds the natural resources portfolio, the potential cooperation could deliver something “truly remarkable” for both the Venezuelan and American people. Burgum’s delegation included representatives from over 20 US and Canadian mining companies, some of them with a past presence in Venezuela.

“These companies are ready to begin,” he said. “I know that [Acting President] Rodríguez, like President Trump, wants to cut bureaucratic red tape so this capital investment can start flowing.”

Among the companies represented in the visit were US firms Peabody Energy—the world’s largest private coal company—Hartree Partners, Orion CMC, Paulson & Co., and Caterpillar Inc., along with Canada’s Lundin Mining Corp and Singapore-based commodities trader Trafigura.

Canadian miner Gold Reserve also announced plans to return to the Caribbean nation and disclosed a 30-day US Treasury license to negotiate with Caracas.

According to Axios, US officials additionally negotiated a multimillion-dollar agreement with Venezuela’s state mining company Minerven to sell up to one metric ton of gold to the US market, currently valued at roughly $165 million.

The deal would require Minerven to supply between 650 and 1,000 kilograms of doré gold bars—a crude alloy of gold and silver with 50 to 90 percent purity—to Trafigura, which would transport the metal to US refineries. The transaction details were not disclosed, including whether Trafigura will deposit payment in US-run accounts in an arrangement similar to the one the Trump administration has imposed for Venezuelan oil exports.

Burgum is the fourth senior US official to visit Venezuela since the January 3 US military strikes and kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, National Assembly deputy Cilia Flores.

Earlier visits included US Southern Command chief Francis Donovan, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, and US Energy Secretary Chris Wright.

Venezuela possesses vast unexplored and proven mineral reserves, including significant gold, iron, bauxite, diamonds, nickel, and copper deposits. Coltan reserves have likewise been touted in recent years.

According to the International Center for Productive Investment (CIIP)—an agency attached to the Venezuelan vice presidency—the country holds the eighth-largest iron reserves in the world, estimated at 14.7 billion metric tons, as well as more than 321 million tons of bauxite, the raw material used to produce aluminum.

Regarding gold, the CIIP estimates that Venezuela may hold between 2,200 and 8,000 metric tons, which would place the country among the largest gold reserves globally. 

Analysts have also highlighted the possibility of finding rare earth deposits in the South American country. The 17 elements have diverse applications in cutting-edge technology and advanced weapons systems. Washington is currently highly dependent on rare earth imports from China.

Edited by Ricardo Vaz in Caracas.

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.

Multiple Gulf nations, Arab states, as well as Turkiye and Azerbaijan have been caught in the crosshairs of the war.

Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency has reported that overnight attacks on Bahrain’s capital, Manama, targeted the Financial Harbour Towers commercial complex, the location of the Israeli embassy in the city.

The first week of the United States-Israel war on Iran and Tehran’s retaliatory strikes on nations hosting US forces and assets has engulfed the region and beyond into a broader conflict.

The Reuters news agency reported Friday that an Iranian drone was intercepted and destroyed in the vicinity of the complex.

Multiple Gulf nations, Arab states, as well as Turkiye and Azerbaijan have been caught in the crosshairs of the war.

The Saudi Ministry of Defense on Friday said a cruise missile was intercepted and destroyed to the east of the country’s central al-Kharj governorate. The ministry provided no additional information.

The ministry also said later it had intercepted three drones to the east of the Riyadh region.

Additionally, the Qatari Ministry of Defence announced overnight that its air defence forces successfully intercepted a drone attack targeting the Al Udeid Air Base in Doha that hosts US assets.

Earlier, authorities issued an alert warning that the security threat level had been elevated, requiring people to remain indoors and to stay away from windows and other exposed areas.

Several explosions rang out in Doha on Thursday.

European Union leaders expressed support for Arab countries in the Gulf as Iran continues to launch missile and drone attacks on targets across the region, in response to attacks by the US and Israel.

EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and other European leaders held talks with Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) officials on Thursday in Brussels, denouncing what they described as “Iran’s inexcusable attacks against the GCC countries”.

Elsewhere n Friday, air defences shot down several drones in the Jordanian city of Irb, according to an Al Jazeera correspondent on the ground.

The US House of Representatives has joined the Senate in killing a war powers resolution that would have forced Donald Trump to end his war on Iran. Although the vote was largely symbolic, Al Jazeera’s Patty Culhane says Democrats are using it to get Republicans on the record.

New Delhi, India — Dressed in a blue Navy uniform and sleek sunglasses, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in late October, addressed a gathering of the country’s sea warriors.

He listed out the strategic significance of the Indian Ocean — the massive volumes of trade and oil that pass through it. “The Indian Navy is the guardian of the Indian Ocean,” he then said, to loud, proud chants of “Long Live Mother India” from his audience.

Less than five months later, India has been shown up as a “guardian”, unable to protect its own guest.

On Wednesday, the Iranian warship, IRIS Dena, was torpedoed by a US submarine just 44 nautical miles off (81km) southern Sri Lanka, as it was returning home from naval drills hosted by India. During the “Milan” biennial multilateral naval exercise, Indian President Droupadi Murmu had posed with sailors from the Dena.

Yet it took the Indian Navy more than a day after the Iranian warship was struck to respond formally to the attack, which US officials made clear was a sign of how the Donald Trump administration was willing and ready to expand its war against Iran.

“An American submarine sank an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters,” US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said at the Pentagon on Wednesday. “Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo. Quiet death.”

Tehran is furious over the attack on its warship hundreds of miles away from home. And Iran made sure to note that the IRIS Dena warship was  “a guest of India’s navy”, returning after completing the exercise it joined upon New Delhi’s invitation.

“The US has perpetrated an atrocity at sea, 2,000 miles [3,218km] away from Iran’s shores,” Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said, referring to the sinking of the frigate. “Mark my words: The US will come to bitterly regret [the] precedent it has set.”

Now, the IRIS Dena is at the bottom of the Indian Ocean, and more than 80 Iranian sailors, who marched during joint parades and posed for selfies with Indian naval officers during their two-week visit, are dead.

What has also fallen, said retired Indian naval officers and analysts, is India’s self-image as a net security provider in the Indian Ocean. Instead, they said, the US attack on the Dena has exposed the limits of India’s power and influence in its own maritime back yard.

‘War reaches India’s backyard’

After participating in the naval exercises, IRIS Dena left Visakhapatnam on India’s eastern coast on February 26. It was hit in international waters, just south of Sri Lanka’s territorial waters, in the early hours of March 4, local time.

In response, Sri Lankan Navy rescuers recovered more than 80 bodies and picked up 32 survivors, reportedly including the commander and some senior officers from the warship. More than 100 men are still missing.

In a tweet welcoming the Dena to the naval drills, the Indian Navy’s Eastern Command had posted: “Her arrival … [reflects] long-standing cultural links between the two nations [Iran and India]”.

Vice Admiral Shekhar Sinha, the former vice chief of India’s naval staff, told Al Jazeera that he attended the Iranian parade at the function.

“I met and really liked them, especially their march for sailors travelling thousands of miles,” Sinha said. “It is always sad to see a ship sinking. But in a war, emotions don’t work. There’s nothing ethical in a war.”

Sinha said that the Indian Ocean — central to the strategic and energy security of the nation with the world’s largest population — was thought to be a fairly safe zone earlier. “But that is not the case, as we are learning now,” he told Al Jazeera.

“The unfolding battle [between the US and Israel on the one hand, and Iran on the other] has reached India’s back yard.
New Delhi has to be concerned,” Sinha, who served in the Indian Navy for four decades, added. “The liberty we enjoyed in the Indian Ocean has apparently shrunk.”

India’s Catch-22 situation

Only on Thursday evening did the Indian Navy issue any formal statement on the attack — more than 24 hours after the Dena was hit by a torpedo.

The Navy said that it received distress signals from the Iranian ship and had decided on deploying resources to help with rescuing sailors. But by then, it said, the Sri Lankan Navy had already stepped to lead the rescue effort.

Neither New Delhi nor the Navy has criticised — even mildly — the decision by the US to sink the Iranian warship.

Military analysts and former Indian naval officers say India is caught in a classic catch-22: Was India aware of the incoming US attack in the Indian Ocean on an Iranian warship, or was it blindsided by a nuclear-submarine in its backyard?

Admiral Arun Prakash, the former chief of India’s naval staff, told Al Jazeera that if New Delhi was blindsided, “it reflects on the US-India relationship directly.”

“If it is a surprise, then that’s a great concern since we have a so-called strategic partnership with the USA.”

And if India knew about the attacks, it would be seen by many as strategically siding with the US and Israel over their war on Iran.

C Uday Bhaskar, a retired Indian Navy officer and currently the director of the Society for Policy Studies, an independent think tank based in New Delhi, said that the US sinking an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean muddies the Indian perception of itself as a “net security provider” in the region.

Bhaskar said the incident is a “strategic embarrassment” for India and weakens New Delhi’s credibility in the Indian Ocean, while its moral standing “takes a beating” because of the Indian government’s near-silence.

‘India on aggressor’s side’

In the post-colonial world order, India was a leader of the non-alignment movement, the Cold War-era neutrality posture adopted by several developing nations.

India now no longer calls its approach non-alignment, instead referring to it as “strategic autonomy”. But, in reality, it has inched closer to the United States and its allies, most importantly, Israel.

Merely two days before the US and Israel bombed Iran, Modi was in Israel, addressing the Knesset and warmly hugging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who called his Indian counterpart a brother.

But Iran, under the late Supreme Leader Khamenei, was a friend of India as well, with New Delhi making strategic, business, and humanitarian investments in the country.

However, Modi has not said a word in condolence after Khamenei’s assassination. On Thursday, Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri visited the Iranian embassy in New Delhi to sign a memorial book. Indian governments normally deploy ministers — not bureaucrats or diplomats — for such sombre occasions.

It is against that backdrop that India’s response to the attack on the Dena has come under scrutiny.

Because the frigate was hit when it was in international waters, India had “no formal responsibility”, said Srinath Raghavan, an Indian military historian and strategic analyst.

“But the US Navy’s actions underline both the spreading geography of this war and the sharp limits of India’s ability to manage, let alone control, its fallout,” Raghavan told Al Jazeera.

Diplomatically, India has “objectively positioned itself on the side of the aggressors in this war,” he said, by “acts of commission — visit to Israel on the eve of war — and of omission, with not even [an] official condolence, let alone condemnation, of the assassination of the Iranian head of state.” Modi visited Israel on February 25-26.

Mallikarjun Kharge, the president of India’s opposition Congress party, said the Modi government had recklessly abdicated “India’s strategic and national interests”. And the government’s silence “demeans India’s core national interests and destroys our foreign policy, carefully and painstakingly built and followed by successive governments over the years.”

In addition, Raghavan highlighted that Modi has only criticised Iran’s retaliation, which threatens to drag the Gulf region to the brink of war.

“It is difficult not to conclude that India has drastically downgraded its interests in the relationship with Iran,” he said.

“All of this detracts from India’s credibility as a player in the region and will have short and long-term consequences for the equities in West Asia [as the Middle East is referred to in India],” Raghavan told Al Jazeera.

Videos showed a projectile striking near Kuwait’s Ali al-Salem Air Base, which has hosted a substantial number of US forces. Earlier on Thursday, the United States announced it was closing its embassy in the country and is reportedly evacuating its staff.

There are growing misconceptions that the U.S. and Israel have achieved total control of the airspace in Iran and sanitized the threat of ground-based air defenses to a degree that their forces have relatively free rein — commonly referred to as air supremacy. This is absolutely not true, nor has this been the outright claim of the U.S. military. It also should be of no surprise at this point in the campaign.

A lot of the commentary I try to provide for events like this is on X. It allows me to respond quickly to what is going on, and often that includes trying to swat down false narratives, some of which originate in the social media echo chamber and among general commentators/influencers, but also increasingly among the mainstream media. This is one of those times.

Moving as fast as possible from standoff attacks to stand-in (direct) attacks isn’t just about trying to conserve expensive long-range munitions. In fact, this is far from the primary concern. Doing so is absolutely essential to ramping up the frequency and amplitude of the air campaign. This is something we have been highlighting in our rolling coverage of the conflict for days.

Moving to direct strikes allows for a significant increase in the total volume of targets hit, as well as offering a broader array of effects to be brought to bear on those targets. Very deep-penetrating bunker-buster munitions, for instance, are typically not available in a standoff capability.

This transition to direct attacks has now begun.

Over the past several weeks, CENTCOM “planners identified key centers of gravity that would allow Iran to project power outside of its borders. They thought about how to isolate critical vulnerabilities and determined where, with precision, the greatest strategic effect could be achieved,” Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff U.S. Air Force Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine explained at a press briefing yesterday. “As a result of this, CENTCOM is now shifting, in day four already, from large deliberate strike packages using standoff munitions at range, outside an enemy’s ability to shoot at us, now into stand-in precision strikes overhead [sic] Iran.”

“This is a point of munitions transition, from standoff munitions to stand-in munitions, like Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs), which are GPS-aided free-fall weapons, and other things like [AGM-114] Hellfires, etc,” Caine continued. “This will allow the joint force to deliver significantly increased precision effects on the target. The throttle is coming up, as the Secretary [Pete Hegseth] said, as opposed to ramping down. This will allow us to maintain consistent pressure on the adversary over the coming days, disrupt their [missile and drone] launch timelines, and impose costs every day around the clock.”

At the same time, moving to a direct attack-focused campaign comes with new risks. This is especially true when it comes to facing road-mobile air defenses and more exotic types that can pop up virtually anywhere and give aircrews very little time to react. These systems can be hidden pretty much anywhere and will be present on the battlefield long after fixed air defenses are completely destroyed. Electo-optical and infrared (EO/IR) surface-to-air missile systems are especially vexing, as U.S. fourth-generation fighter aircraft would have no idea they were being attacked until they are struck, unless they visibly see the missile launch and head their way. These aircraft lack missile approach warning systems. The F-22 and F-35 benefit from different versions of this capability. EO/IR SAM systems are also not affected by radiofrequency jamming, unless they use a radar for initial targeting.

Underestimating Iran’s ability to target and destroy coalition aircraft would be a perilous move. Even the improvised systems cobbled together by Iranian-backed Houthi militants in Yemen, as well as their hodgepodge of other air defenses, have taken their toll on advanced fighter aircraft operated by Gulf Arab states and challenged even the most advanced fighters in the U.S. inventory. Iran’s capabilities, even in a deeply degraded state, far exceed those of the Houthis.

The risk to aircraft would be especially high in eastern Iran, which has largely been left untouched compared to the western half of the country. As U.S. and Israeli aircraft push east, non-static air defenses will have to be picked at in order for aircraft to operate with a good margin of safety. Even the B-2s went to Fordow with a massive package of stealth fighter escorts and support aircraft for Operation Midnight Hammer, which came after days of Israel pummeling Iran’s air defenses.

The eastern part of Iran is also farther from allied territory, complicating combat search and rescue operations should they be needed to pluck a downed crew.

As we wrote in a detailed feature just days before the conflict began, there are other factors at play, as well:

“The U.S. has the most advanced air combat capabilities on earth, but ‘shit happens,’ especially during war. Even the Houthis nearly downed U.S. fighter aircraft optimized to destroy enemy air defenses. But regardless of defenses and the state of Iran’s air defense overlay, putting Americans over Iran, and repeatedly over days and weeks, is a risk. Aircraft can malfunction and mistakes can be made. When that happens, it will require even more risk to push combat search and rescue assets into the area to try and recover the crew. In other words, regardless of America’s outstanding air warfare capabilities, there is still a real risk involved in any operation over Iran.”

So, while there are areas of localized air superiority over Iran, achieving total air supremacy has not occurred and will not in the immediate future.

As I wrote in my post from yesterday on this topic:

“Declarations of air [supremacy] are relative. Iran has road mobile air defenses that can hide and pop up out of nowhere. They have exotic stuff like loitering SAMs too. Moving fighters in for direct attacks doesn’t mean they can operate freely without threat, especially in some areas. The east is likely still significantly contested airspace. Still you need SEAD and EW support and the risk is higher to 4th gen fighters etc. So no, the airspace isn’t some sanitized zone, especially out east and risks are higher to aircrews now as we move to make deep penetrating direct attacks and up the sorties and numbers of target sets hit.”

Another piece of evidence that supports this reality is that the B-52s that flew missions against Iran have been carrying AGM-158 JASSM stealthy cruise missiles. These would be launched from outside Iranian airspace, likely over Iraq or another friendly Arab country. It was not previously clear if B-52s and B-1s participated in direct strikes or standoff ones. Now we know the latter was the case, as expected. That could change in the future as the western part of Iran becomes more sanitized of counter-air threats, but the east will likely take more time to get sorted out.

With all that being said, there are well-established tactics that help mitigate these threats, including providing mission packages with suppression of enemy air defenses capabilities, usually in the form of F-16CJ/CMs and/or F-35s working in the Wild Weasel role, in addition to electronic warfare support. Still, there are threats that even these aircraft are not as adept at dealing with, such as systems that use passive sensors to search, track, and engage enemy aircraft, as we described earlier in the piece. Even traditional road-mobile SAMs can be in the right spot at the right time to take a successful shot against a stealthy aircraft.

Finally, reconnaissance plays a role here in spotting potential threats on the ground to be destroyed before they can threaten allied aircraft. This capability can come in many flavors and forms, but there are only so many of these resources to go around. Focusing them on critical areas where strikes are currently centered, and corridors that aircraft can come and go from, would be the priority. Once again, the eastern half of the country would need serious attention from these assets in order to assure a higher degree of safety for allied aircraft and potential combat search and rescue operations.

Anecdotal to, but also representative of the discussion above, here are some images released by CENTCOM showing fighters on their missions loaded up.

The F-15E’s loadout directly reflects Caine’s comments. The Strike Eagle is seen carrying four GBU-31/B 2,000-pound-class JDAMs with BLU-109 bunker-buster ‘warheads,’ which are readily identifiable by longer bodies and pointy noses. These are heavy direct attack weapons that can burrow down into underground sites or penetrate hardened structures above ground. Multiple bombs can be dropped onto the same aim point to try to get at deeper targets.

Iran has an extensive array of underground and otherwise hardened facilities that it uses to support missile and drone operations, for command and control, and a host of other purposes, including its nuclear program. U.S. and Israeli aircraft, including American B-2 bombers, have been focused on neutralizing these sites in the course of the current campaign.

Regardless, this image encapsulates the concept of direct attacks, using the fighter’s high payload and range to deliver these very destructive and uniquely capable weapons directly on targets.

The F-16CM seen below supporting Operation Epic Fury carries two AGM-88-series missiles. The AGM-88 is a family of what are known as anti-radiation missiles, designed primarily to home in on ground-based radars during suppression of enemy air defense (SEAD/DEAD) missions. This is exactly the type of aircraft and armament configuration that will escort strike assets into a target area that remains at least semi-contested.

In addition to its passive radar homing capability, the latest operational version of the AGM-88, the E variant, also known as the Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM), has a GPS-assisted inertial navigation system and an active millimeter-wave radar seeker. With its multi-mode guidance system, AARGM is capable of engaging a variety of other targets on the surface, including vehicles on the move, aircraft sitting on the ground, and ships. This offers valuable flexibility for responding to the same kind of mobile air defense threats that may pop up suddenly, which we have been discussing in this post.

The heavy use of MQ-9 Reaper drones to search for and destroy ground targets and vessels is also telling. These aircraft have been operating inland, at least to a degree, and are far from invulnerable to air defenses, but they are also expendable, not by design, but by the fact that nobody is onboard. This also helps reduce the CSAR demands during the early stages of the conflict.

The MQ-9s appear to have been striking everything from ships to air defenses to fighter aircraft, evidenced by videos provided by CENTCOM and photos showing them overhead in Iran. The MQ-9’s long endurance and mix of deadly punch and capable sensors will prove vital to ‘sanding-down’ what’s left of Iran’s air defenses in the eastern part of the country.

In the coming days, we will see operations continue to shift farther east, and strike packages become more tailored to operating in permissible airspace over certain areas of the country. That being said, we are a ways out from declaring air dominance over Iran.

Contact the author: Tyler@twz.com

U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) has denied claims circulating online of the loss of another F-15E Strike Eagle, this time over enemy territory, as part of ongoing operations against Iran. Earlier this week, three Strike Eagles were downed in an apparent friendly fire incident, reportedly by a Kuwaiti F/A-18 Hornet. All of this comes as the U.S.-Israeli air campaign continued to expand, and as the overall conflict has otherwise spilled further through the region.

You can catch up with our latest coverage of ongoing operations against Iran here.

“Rumors circulating on social media of a U.S. F-15E crash in Iran early Wednesday are baseless and NOT TRUE,” CENTCOM stated on X Thursday morning.

A CENTCOM spokesperson also told TWZ directly that there have been no aircraft downed other than those in Kuwait.

The denial came after a now-deleted post from the popular @sentdefender account on X claiming a F-15E had gone down went viral, with at least nearly 800,000 views. The post said the aircraft had gone down during a strike mission over southwestern Iran, but said the proximate cause was unknown. The Strike Eagles were said to have been able to eject safely and were then recovered in a joint U.S.-Israeli combat search and rescue mission. Claims about the loss had already been swirling amongst the open-source community.

“We have made the decision to delete reports made last night regarding the crash of a USAF F-15E Strike Eagle in Iran and the successful evacuation of the crewmembers by U.S. and Israeli Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR),” the account wrote in a new post today. “Defender Media maintains confidence in its sources, however, the story is as of now being officially and publicly denied by U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM).”

We have made the decision to delete reports made last night regarding the crash of a USAF F-15E Strike Eagle in Iran and the successful evacuation of the crewmembers by U.S. and Israeli Combat Search and Rescue (CSAR). Defender Media maintains confidence in its sources, however,… pic.twitter.com/E1IYxcAwXs

— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) March 5, 2026

TWZ has reached out to @sentdefender for further comment.

This is not the first time CENTCOM has taken part in the online information war that has become standard for conflicts in the social media era. Yesterday, the command took to X to refute several claims made by Iran about killing 100 Marines, sinking a destroyer, taking down other aircraft, and forcing U.S. troops to withdraw from the conflict.

“ALL LIES,” CENTCOM stated in its post.

More fake news from the Iranian regime:
🚫The regime claims U.S. forces are withdrawing.
🚫They say they sank a U.S. destroyer.
🚫IRGC claims to have taken down U.S. fighter aircraft.
🚫The regime says they killed 100 U.S. Marines.
ALL LIES.

Reality:
✅U.S. forces are… pic.twitter.com/X0P0X4VdTa

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

What is true is that the U.S.-Israeli air war over Iran is expanding and includes an increasing number of aircraft employing stand-in munitions closer to their targets. Potential risks can only be magnified, at least to a degree, as operations push deeper into Iran. There is always the potential for aircraft to go down for reasons other than enemy fire, as well.

The rest of our ongoing rolling coverage of the conflict continues below, with the latest updates at the top.

UPDATE: 4:57 PM EST –

U.S. Central Command edited a post on X that originally said “Rumors are circulating on social media of a U.S. fighter jet crash over Basra. These are baseless and NOT TRUE.” to read instead that “Rumors are circulating on social media of a U.S. fighter jet shot down over Basra. These are baseless and NOT TRUE.”

In speaking directly to TWZ, U.S. Central Command had also denied claims that a U.S. military aircraft had been shot down over Iraq, and said the change in the X post’s language was simply a matter of semantics.

Al Jazeera and Rudaw had earlier reported that a search was underway for a U.S. pilot after their plane went down in Iraq’s Basra region, citing local police officials, but did not give a reason for why the aircraft had come down.

#BREAKING: Basra Police Command in Iraq reportedly told Al Jazeera: “Our elements have been dispatched to search for an American pilot who crashed within the province’s borders and has not been found yet” https://t.co/JUDSPSAqGd

— ELINT News (@ELINTNews) March 5, 2026

#BREAKING: Basra Police confirm to Rudaw that a US aircraft has crashed within the borders of the province. Security forces have launched a search operation for the pilot. pic.twitter.com/8SpZJz5YF9

— Rudaw English (@RudawEnglish) March 5, 2026

Regardless, TWZ continues to highlight the potential risks associated with the expanding U.S.-Israeli air campaign against Iran. This all comes amid widespread misconceptions about the degree to which air superiority, let alone air supremacy, has been achieved, as you can read more about in our new piece here.

UPDATE: 3:45 PM EST –

“We are now moving to the next phase of the campaign, in which we will increase the damage to the foundations of the regime and its military capabilities,” IDF Chief-of-Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir has said in a statement. “We have additional surprising moves, which I do not intend to reveal. We will pursue our enemies, all of them, and we will find them.”

“The Israeli Air Force has carried out 2,500 strikes and dropped over 6,000 munitions,” Zamir also said. “We have neutralized and destroyed more than 60 percent of the ballistic missile launchers” and 80 percent of Iran’s air defense systems.

IDF Chief-of-Staff Eyal Zamir:

“We are now moving to the next phase of the campaign, in which we will increase the damage to the foundations of the regime and its military capabilities. We have additional surprising moves, which I do not intend to reveal. We will pursue our… pic.twitter.com/xUc2k4d5Uj

— Ariel Oseran أريئل أوسيران (@ariel_oseran) March 5, 2026

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir in a press statement says Israel has destroyed 80% of Iran’s air defense systems, “and achieved almost complete air superiority in the skies of Iran.”

“The Israeli Air Force has carried out 2,500 strikes and dropped over 6,000 munitions,”…

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 5, 2026

The IDF continues to release footage from strikes in Iran and Lebanon.

The IDF releases footage of airstrikes targeting several Iranian soldiers in Iran earlier today.

The attacks took place amid a wave of strikes against some 200 targets in western and central Iran, according to the military. pic.twitter.com/zoeMaBrkbU

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 5, 2026

A top Hezbollah commander was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut yesterday, the military announces.

According to the IDF, Zaid Ali Jumaa was responsible for Hezbollah’s “firepower management” and served as the head of its artillery forces in southern Lebanon.

“As part of… pic.twitter.com/A2eF7mZECF

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 5, 2026

The IDF says its aircraft collectively flew more than 7,000 flight hours and struck more than 750 targets in the first 100 hours of Operation Roaring Lion.

The videos below are said to show a major strike in Iran’s Bushehr region earlier in the week. There are reports that Bushehr Air Base was the target.

The Ministry of Defense of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has released a new tally of interceptions of Iranian missiles and drones in the course of the conflict so far. The country’s forces have downed 196 ballistic missiles, eight cruise missiles, and 1,072 drones, per the latest data.

There are reports of a drone attack in Iraq’s Duhok province near an oilfield operated by U.S. firm HKN Energy.

Two drones have fallen near the Chamanke town of Duhok province in the northern Kurdistan Region-Iraq.
HKN, an American oil company, is operating an oilfield in the area. pic.twitter.com/Nln1RrIuMN

— Baxtiyar Goran ☀️ (@BaxtiyarGoran) March 5, 2026

The U.S. State Department has suspended operations at the American Embassy in Kuwait City, Kuwait, indefinitely. “While there have been no reported injuries to U.S. personnel, the safety of Americans abroad remains the highest priority of the U.S. Department of State,” the Embassy said in a press release.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has said that his government made the decision to kill Iranian Supreme Leader Ayollah Ali Khamenei back in November and planned to do so within a six-month timeframe, according to Reuters.

JERUSALEM, March 5 (Reuters) – Israel took the decision to kill Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in November and was planning to carry out the operation around six months later, Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Thursday.

— Idrees Ali (@idreesali114) March 5, 2026

The picture below is said to show Iranian sailors from the IRIS Bushehr being brought ashore in Sri Lanka.

The 208 crew members of the Iranian vessel “IRIS Bushehr” anchored near the Port of Colombo are being brought ashore by the Sri Lanka Navy.

They will be taken to the Welisara Naval Base, while the vessel is expected to be moved to the Port of Trincomalee, the President said. pic.twitter.com/5cJAUgYC1P

— Vidharshana Fernando (@MsVidharshana) March 5, 2026

UPDATE: 2:23 PM EST –

The IDF says it has now conducted 12 waves of strikes on Tehran. Israeli forces also continue to hit targets elsewhere in Iran.

⭕️The IDF completed its 12th wave of strikes across Tehran.

📍Alborz province: The headquarters of the special unit responsible for all internal security forces was targeted.

📍Tehran: Targets belonging to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Basij organization, and a…

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) March 5, 2026

The IDF issues an “urgent warning” to Iranians in industrial zones near Tehran of ahead of planned airstrikes.

“Urgent warning to all individuals located in the Abbas Abad industrial area and also the Shenzar industrial area near Sharif Abad in eastern Pakdasht. In the coming… pic.twitter.com/Cgr7LmYI0x

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 5, 2026

In its latest wave of airstrikes in the Tehran area, the IDF says it struck the headquarters of Iran’s special forces, bases of the Basij paramilitary force, and other regime sites.

Some 90 Israeli Air Force fighter jets participated in the strikes, hitting some 40 targets with… pic.twitter.com/To8jbW4APy

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 5, 2026

Iranian authorities say the total death toll from U.S.-Israeli strikes is now 1,230, but again with no breakdown between civilians and members of the country’s military and security forces.

Iran said the death toll in the country from U.S.-Israeli strikes had risen to 1,230 people.

— Idrees Ali (@idreesali114) March 5, 2026

Israeli operations in Lebanon also continue to expand. Alerts were issued earlier in the day advising residents in broad swaths of the Beqaa Valley and the capital Beirut to evacuate ahead of air strikes. Lebanese authorities say that 102 people have died and 638 more have been wounded in Israeli strikes so far.

The IDF issues a wide evacuation warning in Lebanon’s eastern Beqaa Valley ahead of airstrikes on Hezbollah sites.

“Urgent warning to the residents of the Beqaa area, specifically the residents of the villages and towns: Douris, Brital and Majdaloun. Hezbollah’s activities in… pic.twitter.com/2uO7VUbObT

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 5, 2026

Previous evacuation warnings in Beirut have been for specific buildings that the IDF has then struck. The latest order covers four major neighborhoods in the southern suburbs of the city.

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 5, 2026

Lebanon’s health ministry says 102 people dead, 638 wounded in Israeli attacks on Lebanon since monday.

— Idrees Ali (@idreesali114) March 5, 2026

The video and pictures below are said to show a fire at the Bahrain Petroleum Company’s (BAPCO) oil refinery in the Ma’ameer following an Iranian attack.

The earlier Iranian attack on Azerbaijan has caused that country to close a portion of its airspace over the southern end of the country. This adds to already significant airspace closures across the broader region.

Following drone strikes on Nakhchivan International Airport (NAJ) earlier today, Azerbaijan has closed the airspace in its southern sector. Learn more about this, and more, in our updated list of airspace closures and restrictions: https://t.co/AU0KOdzprt pic.twitter.com/X19SnOglD5

— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) March 5, 2026

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has told NBC News that his country is prepared for a ground invasion in a new interview. He also said that Iran is still refusing to engage with the United States and has not asked for a ceasefire.

BREAKING: Iranian Foreign Minister tells NBC News that Iran is ready for a U.S. ground invasion of the country as the war between Iran, the U.S. and Israel has quickly spread across the region.

He also refuses any negotiations with the U.S. and says that Iran had not asked for a…

— NBC News (@NBCNews) March 5, 2026

UPDATE: 1:57 PM EST –

The IDF says it has now conducted 12 waves of strikes on Tehran. Israeli forces also continue to hit targets elsewhere in Iran.

⭕️The IDF completed its 12th wave of strikes across Tehran.

📍Alborz province: The headquarters of the special unit responsible for all internal security forces was targeted.

📍Tehran: Targets belonging to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Basij organization, and a…

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) March 5, 2026

The IDF issues an “urgent warning” to Iranians in industrial zones near Tehran of ahead of planned airstrikes.

“Urgent warning to all individuals located in the Abbas Abad industrial area and also the Shenzar industrial area near Sharif Abad in eastern Pakdasht. In the coming… pic.twitter.com/Cgr7LmYI0x

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 5, 2026

In its latest wave of airstrikes in the Tehran area, the IDF says it struck the headquarters of Iran’s special forces, bases of the Basij paramilitary force, and other regime sites.

Some 90 Israeli Air Force fighter jets participated in the strikes, hitting some 40 targets with… pic.twitter.com/To8jbW4APy

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 5, 2026

Iranian authorities say the total death toll from U.S.-Israeli strikes is now 1,230, but again with no breakdown between civilians and members of the country’s military and security forces.

Iran said the death toll in the country from U.S.-Israeli strikes had risen to 1,230 people.

— Idrees Ali (@idreesali114) March 5, 2026

Israeli operations in Lebanon also continue to expand. Alerts were issued earlier in the day advising residents in broad swaths of the Beqaa Valley and the capital Beirut to evacuate ahead of air strikes. Lebanese authorities say that 102 people have died and 638 more have been wounded in Israeli strikes so far.

The IDF issues a wide evacuation warning in Lebanon’s eastern Beqaa Valley ahead of airstrikes on Hezbollah sites.

“Urgent warning to the residents of the Beqaa area, specifically the residents of the villages and towns: Douris, Brital and Majdaloun. Hezbollah’s activities in… pic.twitter.com/2uO7VUbObT

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 5, 2026

Previous evacuation warnings in Beirut have been for specific buildings that the IDF has then struck. The latest order covers four major neighborhoods in the southern suburbs of the city.

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 5, 2026

Lebanon’s health ministry says 102 people dead, 638 wounded in Israeli attacks on Lebanon since monday.

— Idrees Ali (@idreesali114) March 5, 2026

The video below is said to show strikes on an Iranian missile base in the country’s mountainous Damavand region.

The IRGC’s Damavand missile base, an underground facility east of Tehran used to store ballistic missiles and air defense systems, was heavily struck today. pic.twitter.com/vdf093dYB5

— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) March 5, 2026

U.S. President Donald Trump has insisted that the U.S. government will have a role in choosing Iran’s future leadership, per Reuters. Trump said today that he would be personally involved in such a selection, according to Axios.

Trump spoke with @steveholland1 and reiterated that the U.S. would have a role in choosing Iran’s next leader. “We don’t have to go back every five years and do this again and again … Somebody that’s going to be great for the people, great for the country,” Trump said. https://t.co/UM8E0hStIA

— Idrees Ali (@idreesali114) March 5, 2026

Another @BarakRavid exclusive:

President Trump told Axios in an interview Thursday that he needs to be personally involved in selecting Iran’s next leader.

“Khamenei’s son is a lightweight. I have to be involved in the appointment”https://t.co/ejaFJiGDS1

— Alex Thompson (@AlexThomp) March 5, 2026

UPDATE: 1:20 PM EST –

U.S. Central Command has released a new video showing B-52 bombers flying in support of Operation Epic Fury. Closer inspection of the footage shows the aircraft carrying loads of AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) air-launched cruise missiles.

“This came up in one of my threads yesterday as to B-52s and B-1s likely executing standoff strikes using cruise missiles fired from outside Iran, not direct attacks,” our own Tyler Rogoway has written on X. “This video confirms it, AGM-158 JASSMs on the wings. They were not ready to push anything but B-2s over Iran.”

This came up in one of my threads yesterday as to B-52s and B-1s likely executing standoff strikes using cruise missiles fired from outside Iran, not direct attacks. This video confirms it, AGM-158 JASSMs on the wings. They were not ready to push anything but B-2s over Iran. https://t.co/iYmHgUy2jK

— Tyler Rogoway (@Aviation_Intel) March 5, 2026

The Washington Post has reported on the U.S. military’s use of artificial intelligence (AI) driven tools to help with developing target packages and other tasks in support of Operation Epic Fury. U.S. Air Force Gen. Dan Caine, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, very briefly mentioned the contributions of AI at a press conference at the Pentagon yesterday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has visited Ovda Air Base, which is currently hosting U.S. combat jets. Pictures show U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptors, which were reported to have arrived last week, as well as at least one F/A-18F Super Hornet. The presence of Super Hornets at Ovda does not look to have been previously disclosed.

IDF Logistics Command says it has already provided “hundreds of millions of liters of fuel” to support ongoing operations, according to The Jerusalem Post. Israel’s small fleet of KC-707 tankers has conducted 550 individual aerial refuelings, according to the Israeli Air Force. Before the conflict erupted, TWZ highlighted the immense value that U.S. tanker support would bring to any future operations against Iran.

The IDF Logistics Command said on Thursday that it has provided a staggering number of hundreds of millions of liters of fuel to enable the game-changing air war against Iran.

Reporting by: @Jeremybob1 https://t.co/MXB7NmL11U

— Jerusalem Post (@Jerusalem_Post) March 5, 2026

כ-550 תדלוקים אוויריים בוצעו עד כה במבצע ״שאגת הארי״, על-ידי מטוסי התדלוק של טייסת 120 (״ענקי המדבר״).
מדובר בהיקף המהווה יותר מ-50% מסך התדלוקים שבוצעו בכל מבצע ״עם כלביא״.

התדלוק האווירי של מטוסי הקרב מהווה רכיב הכרחי בפעילות חיל-האוויר באיראן, ומאפשר את שימור העליונות… pic.twitter.com/j1NmEiJ55d

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

The Institute for the Study of War has published additional satellite imagery analysis of damage to Ali al Salem Airbase in Kuwait from Iranian attacks.

2/ Iranian strikes targeting US bases in the region have caused some material damage and casualties. Commercially available satellite imagery captured on March 4 shows that Iranian airstrikes on the Ali al Salem Airbase in Kuwait damaged several buildings, including aircraft… pic.twitter.com/Gm4lS7sfJT

— Institute for the Study of War (@TheStudyofWar) March 5, 2026

Iranian authorities claim to be engaged in “preemptive” operations targeting Iraqi-based “separatist groups.” This follows still conflicting reports that began emerging yesterday regarding the possibility of a ground incursion by armed Iranian Kurdish groups.

BREAKING: IRGC and the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence announce “preemptive joint operations” against “separatist groups” in Iraq who “intend to enter from the western borders of the country and carry out terrorist attacks with separatist goals in urban and border areas”

— Faytuks Network (@FaytuksNetwork) March 5, 2026

Reports that speak about a role of the Kurdistan Region and the allegations claiming that we are part of a plan to arm and send Kurdish opposition parties into Iranian territory are completely unfounded. We categorically deny them and affirm that they are being published…

— Peshawa Hawramani (@PHawraman) March 5, 2026

Iranian state media has also carried threats, attributed to unnamed officials, of attacks targeting the Israeli nuclear site at Dimona in the event of any concerted effort to unseat the current regime in Tehran.

Italian authorities say they are joining the multinational effort to bolster the defense of Cyprus in the face of Iranian attacks.

BREAKING:

Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto:

“We will deploy a multi-domain force in the Middle East, with air-defense systems against drones and missiles.

Together with the Spanish and the French, we will bring assistance to Cyprus” pic.twitter.com/ZzzgXIdS7T

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) March 5, 2026

In a new interview with Bloomberg, Antony Blinken, who was U.S. Secretary of State under President Joe Biden, has suggested the Trump administration could seek to declare victory based on achievements so far as a possible off-ramp to the current conflict. Blinken also highlighted concerns about the impacts on U.S. munitions stocks and global energy markets if the fighting drags on.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Blinken: One possible off-ramp from the war with Iran is simply declaring victory.

Saying the ayatollah is gone and Iran’s nuclear and missile programs have been degraded — and leaving the future of the regime to the Iranian people.

1/ pic.twitter.com/sjmg0rzRht

— Tymofiy Mylovanov (@Mylovanov) March 4, 2026

Blinken: Watch the markets — oil, stocks, and bonds. President Trump is very attentive to them. If stocks and bonds fall, or oil rises sharply and stays there, that could become a limiting factor.

3/ pic.twitter.com/MzaYfjDHce

— Tymofiy Mylovanov (@Mylovanov) March 4, 2026

Blinken: One risk of the war with Iran is depleting U.S. arsenals so much that it takes years to rebuild them, leaving America at a disadvantage against powers like China or Russia.

If you undertake something like this, you must factor that in.

5X pic.twitter.com/tTNUvMQMqd

— Tymofiy Mylovanov (@Mylovanov) March 4, 2026

There are reports that 1,000 commercial vessels, roughly half of which are oil and natural gas tankers, are currently anchored in and around the Persian Gulf as operators weigh the risks of attempting to sail in and out of the region, citing data from Lloyd’s Market Association. As already noted, ships are being attacked while sailing and at anchor in the Persian Gulf, as well as the Gulf of Oman.

Around 1,000 vessels, roughly half oil and gas tankers, are currently in the Gulf and surrounding waters with an aggregate hull value exceeding $25 billion, Lloyd’s Market Association CEO says.

— Faytuks Network (@FaytuksNetwork) March 5, 2026

Ships attacked near the Strait of Hormuz

AFP Infographic with a map of the Strait of Hormuz showing ships that reported attacks or incidents to the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) between March 1 and March 4 at 1700 GMT pic.twitter.com/bECVuFSvvP

— AFP News Agency (@AFP) March 5, 2026

Strait of Hormuz closure puts Dubai’s import lifeline under strain

Access to key Gulf container ports including Jebel Ali, Khalifa Port, Dammam, and ports in Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait is currently blocked, with vessel crossings through the Strait of Hormuz down by an estimated… pic.twitter.com/1ZXcMVg2hV

— MarineTraffic (@MarineTraffic) March 5, 2026

UPDATE: 12:36 PM EST –

As the joint U.S.-Israeli Operation Epic Fury attack on Iran continues into a sixth day, the war is spreading beyond the Middle East. On Thursday, Azerbaijani officials said Iranian drones struck territory and vowed to retaliate. The country shares a border with northwestern Iran.

“At around midday on 5 March, drone attacks were carried out against the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of the Republic of Azerbaijan from the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the Azerbaijan Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “One drone struck the terminal building of the airport in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, while another drone fell near a school building in the village of Shakarabad. We strongly condemn these drone attacks launched from the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which resulted in damage to the airport building and injuries of two civilians.”

AZ

İran İslam Respublikası ərazisindən Azərbaycan Respublikasının Naxçıvan Muxtar Respublikasına dron hücumları barədə bəyanat

⬇️⬇️⬇️https://t.co/9r6dAtC3Ap

ENG

Statement on drone attacks against the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of the Republic of Azerbaijan from the… pic.twitter.com/JJhnm0WYs8

— MFA Azerbaijan 🇦🇿 (@AzerbaijanMFA) March 5, 2026

Four people were injured in the attack, according to Azerbaijani officials, and Azerbaijan’s president Ilham Aliyev told a meeting of his Security Council that his country would respond militarily.

“We will not ​tolerate this unprovoked act of terror and aggression against Azerbaijan,” he proclaimed, according to Reuters. “Our Armed Forces have been ​instructed to prepare and implement appropriate retaliatory measures. We are ready to demonstrate our strength ⁠against any hostile force – and they should not forget this in Iran.”

Aliyev did not offer specifics about what kind of retaliation.

Iranian Deputy Foreign ​Minister Kazem Gharibabadi denied Tehran had targeted Nakhchivan, saying, “We do not attack our neighboring countries.”

Video seen below is said to show the aftermath of these attacks.

BREAKING:

Iranian suicide drones keep striking Nakhchivan Airport in Azerbaijan.

Iran is now attacking almost every country they can. The neighboring countries won’t put up with this craziness for too long. pic.twitter.com/RhUkOAQtee

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) March 5, 2026

Meanwhile, several nations continue to send more military assets to Cyprus. Sky News reported on X that the U.K., Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands are all deploying warships to help bolster the island nation’s defenses. Notably, French President Emmanuel Macron has ordered the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle to head to the eastern Mediterranean. In addition, Greece has already deployed four F-16s to the island.

Italy, Spain and Netherlands will send naval ships to protect Cyprus, it’s been announced. They’ll join a Greek warship (already in place), French warship (also in place) and British warship (once it leaves UK next week)

— Alistair Bunkall (@AliBunkallSKY) March 5, 2026

This comes as RAF Akrotiri, a British air base on Cyprus, continues to come under attack. On Thursday, an image emerged showing what appears to be a hole punctured in a hangar regularly used by U.S. Air Force U-2 Dragon Lady spy planes operating from the base. A one-way attack drone hit the RAF Akrotiri base late on Sunday, March 1. It is unclear if any aircraft were there at the time.

The U.K. Defense Ministry told us that there were no casualties and that damage to the base was “minimal.” There was “no damage to equipment inside the hangar,” the official added.

We’ve reached out to the U.S. Air Force and U.S. European Command for comment and will update this story with any pertinent details provided.

🚨 SCOOP: Photo of damage to secret US spy site on RAF Akrotiri.

The drone hit a hangar for US U-2 spy planes on Operation Olive Harvest

Is this “minimal” as per John Healey?

UK Home Sec Yvette Cooper claimed the drone hit the runway. Not true.https://t.co/RsWYSDy9De

— Jerome Starkey (@jeromestarkey) March 5, 2026

Iran claims it has now begun employing Khorramshahr-4 medium-range ballistic missiles (MRBM) in strikes on Israel, but firm corroborating evidence has yet to emerge. The IRGC said it fired a volley of these missiles at Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport earlier today.

NEW: Iranian state media reported that a Khorramshahr-4 heavy missile was launched early this morning toward Israeli territory.

According to the report, the missile carries a one-ton warhead and has an estimated range of about 2,000 kilometers. pic.twitter.com/3sqMLxRv0a

— Clash Report (@clashreport) March 5, 2026

The Khorramshahr-4 is said to carry a 3,300-pound warhead, the heaviest payload of any of Iran’s ballistic missiles, which would allow for a broader swath of targets to be threatened with greater damage from any successful impacts. Khorramshahr-4s could also be fired from areas further in the eastern interior of the country, reducing vulnerability to U.S. and Israeli strikes that have already significantly degraded Iran’s ability to launch missiles and drones. You can read more about what is known about this missile, which is derived from a North Korean design, here.

So far, Israel has not reported any casualties or major damage resulting from Iranian volleys today, and authorities in the country have highlighted a notable drop in overall attacks.

There are no reports of injuries following the latest Iranian ballistic missile salvo on central Israel, medics say.

A small number of missiles were launched in the attack, according to preliminary military assessments. There are no reports of impacts in residential areas.… https://t.co/PsOdR4AWv4

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 5, 2026

The rate of Iran’s ballistic missile fire on Israel continues to slow, according to the Israeli military, with all projectiles fired overnight being successfully intercepted by air defenses.

Iran fired at central Israel three times overnight, lobbing a handful of ballistic…

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 5, 2026

The IDF has now released a video of yesterday’s shootdown of one of Iran’s Russian-made Yak-130 light jets by an F-35I Adir fighter, which appears to be a view from the latter’s targeting system. You can read more about this engagement, which is the first known instance of an F-35 of any kind destroying a crewed aircraft, here.

The Pentagon and at least one Gulf Arab nation have reportedly reached out to Ukraine for cheap interceptors to help fend off waves of low-cost Iranian drones that have killed American troops and caused widespread damage across the Middle East. The talks, reported by the Financial Times, come amid continuing questions about the sufficiency of stocks of anti-air interceptors as Iran’s retaliatory attacks continue. As we have frequently noted, Ukraine has made significant investments in the development of new, lower-cost interceptors in response to years now of Russian drone attacks.

On Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also acknowledged the interest in his country’s counter-drone systems.

“We received signals from partners in the Middle East,” he explained on X. “There have been strikes by Iranian ‘Shaheds’ on civilians in those countries. They are seeking our expertise. We are open. If their representatives come, we will provide the expertise. Especially since there is also a request from Europeans and from the United States. Requests have come to us to share our experience with partners in the Middle East.”

However, Zelensky also stated his oft-repeated concern about his own country’s stock of interceptors and suggested a swap of those for Patriot missiles.

“Regarding weapons: we ourselves are at war. And I said, completely frankly, that we have a shortage of what they have,” the Ukrainian leader noted. “They have missiles for the Patriots, but hundreds or thousands of ‘Shaheds’ cannot be intercepted with Patriot missiles – it is too costly. Nothing is too much for the people, of course, but they simply do not have that many missiles. That is why they need interceptor drones, which we have. Meanwhile, we have a shortage of PAC-2 and PAC-3 missiles. So, when it comes to technology or weapons exchange, I believe our country will be open to it.”

We received signals from partners in the Middle East. There have been strikes by Iranian “shaheds” on civilians in those countries. They are seeking our expertise. We are open. If their representatives come, we will provide the expertise. Especially since there is also a request…

— Volodymyr Zelenskyy / Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) March 5, 2026

While the Pentagon eyes Ukrainian interceptors, U.S. Central Command is reportedly seeking additional personnel to help handle the flow of intelligence pouring in from the Middle East. CENTCOM “is asking the Pentagon to send more military intelligence officers to its headquarters in Tampa, Florida, to support operations against Iran for at least 100 days but likely through September,” Politico reported, citing a notification it obtained.

“It’s the first known call for additional intelligence personnel for the Iran war by the administration, and a sign the Pentagon is already allocating funding for operations that may stretch long beyond President Donald Trump’s initial four-week timeline for the conflict,” the outlet posited. “The rush to add people and resources to support efforts that are often organized well in advance of U.S. military action highlights how the Trump team had not fully anticipated the wide fallout of the war it launched alongside Israel on Saturday.”

“U.S. Central Command, meanwhile, is asking the Pentagon to send more military intelligence officers to its headquarters in Tampa, Florida, to support operations against Iran for at least 100 days but likely through September, according to a notification obtained by POLITICO.”…

— Ali Vaez (@AliVaez) March 5, 2026

It has been pointed out that the “through September” timeline for these temporary deployments may simply be dictated by standard personnel management procedures.

I’m seeing a lot of commentary about CENTCOM’s request for intelligence officers to support ops in Iran “through September”. Worldwide Individual Augmentee System taskers often reassign personnel on a temporary basis for 179 days (through September). pic.twitter.com/KmyjPrZJjQ

— Crispin Burke (@CrispinBurke) March 5, 2026

CENTCOM has released a new video showing attacks on Iranian hardened shelters and aircraft out in the open.

The Iranian regime’s ability to impact U.S. forces and regional partners is rapidly declining, while American combat power continues to build. pic.twitter.com/21TXHbWwFi

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

CENTCOM has also highlighted new attacks on Iranian mobile missile launchers. As we noted yesterday, these strikes have been a big focus of Epic Fury and have helped drastically reduce the number of missiles Iran has launched.

The effort to eliminate the Iranian regime’s mobile missile launch capabilities continues. We are finding and destroying these threats with lethal precision. pic.twitter.com/AkGRYOjnOz

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

A new uncrewed surface vessel attack on a commercial ship has been reported. The Bahamas-flagged crude oil tanker Sonangol Namibe, which was anchored in Iraqi waters, is said to have been struck. As we previously reported, the first Iranian kamikaze boat attack during Epic Fury took place on March 2 on a ship in the Gulf of Oman.

BASRA, Iraq, March 5 (Reuters) – An Iranian remote controlled boat laden with explosives was used on Thursday to target and damage the Bahamas flagged crude oil tanker Sonangol Namibe anchored in Iraqi waters, according to initial assessments from two Iraqi port security sources.… https://t.co/cvaQ25S1pZ pic.twitter.com/l4pDRmaNHc

— Sal Mercogliano (WGOW Shipping) 🚢⚓🐪🚒🏴‍☠️ (@mercoglianos) March 5, 2026

A video emerged on social media purporting to show the moment that USV hit the Sonangol Namibe.

In the wake of the sinking of an Iranian frigate by a U.S. Navy fast attack submarine, Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi called the incident an “atrocity” and vowed revenge. The unnamed American submarine sank the Moudge class frigate IRIS Dena in the Indian Ocean near the island of Sri Lanka. Our sister site Task & Purpose has reported that a Los Angeles class submarine was responsible. Regardless, it is was the first sinking by a U.S. Navy submarine since World War II.

“Mark my words,” he stated on X. “The U.S. will come to bitterly regret [the] precedent it has set.”

The U.S. has perpetrated an atrocity at sea, 2,000 miles away from Iran’s shores.

Frigate Dena, a guest of India’s Navy carrying almost 130 sailors, was struck in international waters without warning.

Mark my words: The U.S. will come to bitterly regret precedent it has set. pic.twitter.com/cxYiI9BLUk

— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) March 5, 2026

The Indian government has also now released a statement with details about the rescue effort after the IRIS Dena was torpedoed.

Satellite imagery collected today shows what appears to be oil on the surface of the water near Galle, Sri Lanka, which could be tied to the sinking of the IRIS Dena.

Imagery collected earlier today shows oil floating on the water surface 25-nautical miles west of Galle, Sri Lanka in the vicinity of where a Sri Lankan naval vessel was observed patrolling yesterday – possibly linked to the sinking of Iranian Navy Ship Dena https://t.co/9o2AX3qi5d pic.twitter.com/IjSiqnBxgK

— Damien Symon (@detresfa_) March 5, 2026

Meanwhile, another Iranian ship is seeking shelter in Sri Lanka.

“The Sri Lankan minister Nalinda Jayatissa told parliament that another Iranian vessel was sailing close to Sri Lanka’s territorial waters on Thursday morning,” The Guardian reported. “We are making necessary interventions to resolve this issue, restrict the threat to lives and to ensure regional security.”

Unnamed sources told The Guardian that “the ship was a logistical pipe-laying vessel, which is not categorised as a warship. It may be as close as 10 nautical miles from the western coast of Sri Lanka, putting it within the country’s sovereign waters.”

Sri Lanka has granted approval for an Iranian vessel IRINS Bushehr to dock at Trincomalee Harbour, with passengers to be evacuated and transferred to Colombo before the vessel proceeds to Trincomalee. pic.twitter.com/e8ePf31NO5

— Sri Lanka Tweet 🇱🇰 (@SriLankaTweet) March 5, 2026

The sources told the news outlet that the ship, which is reported to have a crew of more than 100 onboard, “had made an urgent request to dock at Colombo port for engine repairs.”

Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com

US president says he’d be ‘all for’ Kurdish ground assault on Iran amid reports that Washington is egging on rebellion.

Donald Trump has expressed public support for a possible Kurdish offensive against Iran as the United States pushes to destabilise the Iranian governing system internally.

“I think it’s wonderful that they want to do that, I’d be all for it,” the US president told the Reuters news agency on Thursday when asked about the prospects of a Kurdish rebellion in Iran.

Several US media outlets have reported that Trump called leaders in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of Iraq to enable Iranian Kurdish groups launch a ground offensive inside Iran.

In his comments on Thursday, Trump declined to say whether the US would provide air support for Kurdish rebels.

The White House had confirmed that the US president contacted Kurdish leaders in Iraq but denied that Trump agreed to a plan to push for an armed uprising by the Kurds in Iran.

“The president has held many calls with partners, allies and leaders in the region, in the Middle East,” Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Wednesday.

“He did speak to Kurdish leaders with respect to our base that we have in northern Iraq.”

US assets in Erbil in the Kurdish region of Iraq have come under repeated Iranian drone and missile attacks since the war started.

Iran is home to millions of Kurds, mostly living in the west of the country.

Kurds represent a sizable ethnic minority in Iraq, Syria and Turkiye, as well.

Earlier this week, Mustafa Hijri, head of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI), a prominent Kurdish opposition group, called for desertion from the Iranian army and Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

“I call upon all aware and freedom-seeking soldiers and personnel across Iran, and especially in Kurdistan, to abandon the barracks and military centres of the IRGC, the army, and other military forces of the regime, to refuse their assigned duties, and to return to the embrace of their families,” Hijri wrote on X.

“This action is important both for preserving their lives in the face of these attacks and as a sign of turning their backs on the regime’s military and repressive forces.”

On several occasions in recent decades, Washington has urged Kurdish groups seeking autonomy to rebel against governments it viewed as hostile in the region, only to cut off support to them or fail to come to their aid when the political situation changes.

Some critics have warned that stoking ethnic tensions in Iran could lead to a civil war that could further destabilise the entire region.

On Wednesday, Iran’s Press TV reported that the IRGC launched missiles and drones at the headquarters of “anti-Iran terrorist groups in the Iraqi Kurdistan region”.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) in Iraq has condemned the Iranian attacks on the region while also “categorically denying reports of playing a role in an offensive against Iran.

“At the same time, the Kurdistan Regional Government and the political parties within it are not part of any campaign to expand the war and tensions in the region,” the KRG said in a statement. “On the contrary, we call for peace and stability in the region.”

But with government troops showing no signs of defection despite thousands of US and Israeli strikes, the Trump administration has struggled to find a prominent friendly force on the ground in Iran.

Despite the US president’s repeated calls for Iranians to rise up against their government, there have been no significant protests since the war began on Saturday.

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

United States President Donald Trump has announced that he will replace Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem with Republican Senator Markwayne Mullin.

In a social media post on Thursday, Trump explained that he had reassigned Noem to be a special envoy for a new security initiative focused on the Western Hemisphere, dubbed the “Shield of the Americas”.

The staffing change, he added, will take effect starting March 31. It marks the first major cabinet-level shake-up of Trump’s second term so far.

Trump praised Noem upon her departure from the cabinet-level post, writing that she “has served us well, and has had numerous and spectacular results (especially on the Border!)”

But Noem has played a prominent role in some of the administration’s most controversial immigration policies, and her tenure at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has spurred questions about government spending and conflicts of interest.

The announcement that she would be leaving her post comes a day after she faced a grilling from Democrats during congressional hearings this week, with several politicians called for her resignation.

“DHS is supposed to be protecting our residents and upholding constitutional protections. But you’ve turned that on the head. You have actually turned the United States government against its own residents,” Representative Pramila Jayapal, a Democrat, said during Wednesday’s hearing.

“Yours is a case of failed leadership. Secretary, you need to resign, be fired or be impeached because you don’t have the right to lead this agency.”

The announcement of Noem’s removal also comes as DHS continues to weather a partial government shutdown.

Democrats have opposed approving new funding for the department in response to deadly shootings involving immigration agents under Noem’s leadership.

Those shootings were brought up again this week during Noem’s appearances before judiciary committees in the Senate and House of Representatives.

Democratic Representative Jamie Raskin, for instance, repeatedly accused Noem of launching a “smear campaign” against two US citizens shot dead during interactions with immigration agents: Renee Good and Alex Pretti.

“There have been three homicides in Minneapolis in 2026, and your agents committed two of them,” Raskin told Noem.

He also highlighted comments Noem made calling Good and Pretti “domestic terrorists“, despite evidence undercutting the administration’s depiction of the events leading to their deaths.

“Rather than work with state and local authorities to solve these homicides, you barred Minnesota’s investigators from the crime scenes,” Raskin said.

“It smells like a coverup, and it makes me wonder who the real domestic terrorists are.”

Noem, formerly the Republican governor of South Dakota, has also been scrutinised for a $220m advertising campaign promoting border security.

The advertising campaign shows Noem riding a horse near Mount Rushmore, a well-known national memorial in her home state.

The news outlet ProPublica previously reported that a government contract for the campaign went to a Republican consulting firm with ties to senior DHS officials.

Noem has denied any wrongdoing, stating that the bidding process was “competitive” and that the contract was “all done correctly, all done legally”.

On Thursday, before announcing the staffing change, Trump denied any connection to the advertising campaign, telling the news service Reuters that he “never knew anything about it”.

Noem played a key role in the administration’s mass deportation push, and she has frequently used rhetoric that vilified immigrants as dangerous and violent.

Though DHS’s mandate focuses on domestic security, Noem has made several international trips over the last year, including visits to Ecuador in July and November.

Trump has called a “Shield of the Americas” summit at his Mar-a-Lago estate this weekend, inviting world leaders from multiple countries to discuss regional security and combatting Chinese influence in Latin America.

Noem’s replacement as DHS head, Mullin, has served as a US senator since 2023. He was a representative in the House for a decade before that, representing Oklahoma.

Trump highlighted his membership in the Cherokee Nation, writing that Mullin would be a “fantastic advocate for our incredible Tribal Communities” as DHS leader.

“Markwayne will work tirelessly to Keep our Border Secure, Stop Migrant Crime, Murderers, and other Criminals from illegally entering our Country, End the Scourge of Illegal Drugs and, MAKE AMERICA SAFE AGAIN,” Trump said on Thursday.

The United States-Israeli war with Iran continues to rage, as Washington pledges to send more troops and military assets to the Middle East and Tehran widens its retaliatory strikes across the region.

But on Thursday, top officials under US President Donald Trump shifted focus to another military front: Latin America.

Since taking office for a second term, Trump has indicated he plans to exert US dominance over the entire Western Hemisphere. His push for control has coincided with military operations against alleged criminal networks across the region.

At Thursday’s inaugural “Americas Counter Cartel Conference”, speakers such as White House security adviser Stephen Miller assured reporters that Latin America would remain a top military priority for the US, regardless of events in the Middle East.

“We are not going to cede an inch of territory in this hemisphere to our enemies or adversaries,” Miller said, adding the US was “using hard power, military power, lethal force, to protect and defend the American homeland”.

Miller further maintained there is no “criminal justice solution” to drug cartels, which he likened to armed groups like al-Qaeda and ISIL (ISIS).

Organised crime, he concluded, “can only be defeated with military power”.

Since Trump took office last year, his administration has applied what experts describe as a “global war on terror” approach to Latin America, including by labelling drug cartels “foreign terrorist organisations”.

Figures like Miller, a key architect behind Trump’s hardline immigration policies, have championed the president’s militaristic approach, even as critics warn it raises human rights and legal concerns.

Last September, for instance, the administration began striking alleged drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific Ocean, in what rights groups have decried as extrajudicial killings.

And in early January, the US launched an extraordinary operation to abduct Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro. It has since pursued a pressure campaign against Cuba designed to weaken its communist government.

Just this week, on Wednesday, the Pentagon announced it had launched joint operations with Ecuador’s military “against Designated Terrorist Organizations” in the South American country.

The announcement indicated a new front for US military actions in the region, which officials have said could include land operations.

But the broadening scope of Trump’s military involvement in Latin America, combined with the nascent war with Iran, has raised questions about the US’s ability to sustain such intense military activity.

Prepared to ‘go on offence alone’

The “Americas Counter Cartel Conference” came as Latin American leaders arrived in South Florida to attend a regional summit hosted by Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate.

Attendees included officials from the Trump-allied conservative governments in Argentina, Honduras and the Dominican Republic.

But despite support from several regional governments, Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth nevertheless told the audience that the US was “prepared to take on” Latin America’s cartels and “go on the offence alone, if necessary”.

“However, it is our preference — and it is the goal of this conference — that, in the interest of this neighbourhood, we all do it together,” Hegseth added.

The secretary also praised Trump’s take on the 1823 Monroe Doctrine, which sought to establish a US sphere of influence, separate from Europe, in the Western Hemisphere. Administration officials have dubbed Trump’s parallel approach the “Donroe doctrine”.

Hegseth framed the administration’s attacks on alleged drug-smuggling boats as a keystone of Trump’s effort to maintain regional influence.

The US military has carried out at least 44 aerial strikes on vessels in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean, resulting in an estimated 150 known deaths.

The identities of the victims have not been released, with several family members saying fishermen and informal workers were among those targeted.

The Pentagon chief said the approach was meant to “establish deterrence”.

“If the consequence was simply to be arrested and then released, well, that’s a consequence they’d already priced in a long time ago,” Hegseth said.

He then pointed to a “few weeks” in February in which there were no strikes on alleged drug boats.

The pause in attacks, he said, was evidence of the strategy’s success. But that break notably came as the US surged assets to the Middle East.

Emphasis on ‘heritage’

Neither Hegseth nor Miller specifically referred to the war with Iran, but the pair touched on themes that have been present in the administration’s messaging on the war.

Trump, for example, said Iran’s government “waged war against civilisation itself”. There have been reports, meanwhile, that US military officials have referenced the biblical “end times” as a religious underpinning for the war.

Those remarks have reflected what critics consider Trump’s embrace of Christian nationalism and his view of the Americas as a European-derived “civilisation” threatened by outside forces.

At Thursday’s conference, Miller himself referenced violence in European history as justification for the modern-day military actions in Latin America.

There were periods in European history throughout the 18th and 19th centuries during which “ruthless means were used to get rid of the people who were raping and murdering and defying established systems of order and justice,” Miller said.

He also echoed Trump’s allegation that Europe was facing “civilisational erasure” as a result of left-wing leadership and immigration.

“The reason why many Western countries are struggling today is they’ve forgotten the eternal truth and wisdoms they once followed,” Miller said.

Hegseth, meanwhile, described all the countries at Thursday’s meeting as “offsprings of Western civilisation”.

Representatives in attendance, he said, faced a test “whether our nations will be and remain Western nations with distinct characteristics, Christian nations under God, proud of our shared heritage with strong borders and prosperous people ruled not by violence and chaos but by law”.

He added that foreign “incursions” represent “existential questions” for the region, seemingly referencing the growing influence of China as an economic and political partner in the Americas.

“I’m enjoying the role across all formats and I’d love to carry that on,” added McCullum.

“It’s been an absolute privilege to be in this position over the past three and a half years. I feel like we’ve made some significant improvements across the various formats.

“Yes, we’ve missed some opportunities, but I think this team has a real opportunity over the coming years to continue to improve and hopefully finish what we started. I’d love to be a part of that.”

Key backed McCullum during the Ashes, but neither ECB chief executive Richard Gould nor chair Richard Thompson have publicly spoken on his future.

At the end of the Ashes, McCullum also received support from Test skipper Ben Stokes, while the relationship between McCullum and Brook has blossomed during the T20 World Cup.

Asked after the semi-final defeat if McCullum should stay in charge, Brook said: “125%. I’ve said plenty of times he’s the best coach I’ve ever had.

“The way he speaks to everybody, he’s got an aura in the dressing room, and everybody looks up to him. The things he’s done over the four years since he took over has changed English cricket for hopefully the best.

“Our partnership has been good throughout the competition and since I’ve taken over. Long may it continue.”

Failures in away Ashes tours have often signalled change in the management of England teams.

Speaking on Sky Sports, former England captain Nasser Hussain said the ECB has to guard against repeating the mistakes of the past, while not ignoring the failures of this latest defeat in Australia.

“What you have to get away from is going to the Ashes, you lose, you get rid of the coach and captain, and you start all over again. I’m never a fan of that,” said Hussain.

“But I’m also not keen on, a couple of months later, forgetting what happened in the Ashes, and how poor England were on and off the field – all the mistakes that were made.

“There is a feeling Brook and McCullum are aligned, but there is a suggestion there was a divergence during the Ashes and that is a concern.

“They’ve made good decisions in the white-ball game that they didn’t in the Ashes. They missed an opportunity there and you can’t just brush over that.”

Sanju Samson hit 89 for India as they posted 253-6 and beat England by 7 runs in second semifinal of cricket’s 2026 T20 World Cup.

Defending champions India edged one of the all-time great T20 World Cup matches to beat England by seven runs in their semifinal in Mumbai.

Sanju Samson appeared to put the tournament co-hosts in a near-unassailable position with a total of 253-6 on Thursday, but a century for Jacob Bethell put England on the verge of a historic run chase.

Having found themselves 64-3 inside the powerplay, England were looking down the barrel of a heavy defeat at Wankhede Stadium.

A cameo of 17 from 5 balls by Tom Banton ignited the chase, however, and Will Jacks’s 35 from 20 aided matter in a partnership of 77 in 6.3 overs with Bethell.

When the latter fell – run out in the final over – with 105 from 48 balls, the game was up and India were on their way to the final as England finished on 246-7

Suryakumar Yadav’s side will now seek a record third T20 World Cup title when they take on New Zealand on Sunday.

Earlier, England decided to field upon winning the toss, but saw Samson’s scintillating 89 off 42 balls lay the platform for India to pile up a massive total.

The in-form opener, who made 97 not out against the West Indies in the previous match, hit seven sixes and eight fours to thrill a raucous home crowd.

The hosts flayed England’s attack to all parts of the ground, hitting 19 sixes and 18 fours, meaning Harry Brook’s side needed a T20 World Cup record chase of 254 to reach the final.

Samson signalled his intent with a four and six off Jofra Archer’s first over after Brook won the toss and decided to bowl.

Jacks took the second over and struck a blow for England when Abhishek Sharma (9) lifted the off-spinner to Phil Salt at deep mid-wicket.

Samson was given a life on 15 when Brook dropped a simple chance at mid-off off Archer.

It proved a costly mistake as, helped by some ill-disciplined bowling, Samson raced to his half-century off 26 balls with another huge six as Liam Dawson’s first over was pummelled for 19 runs.

Ishan Kishan put on 97 from 48 balls with Samson for the second wicket before the left-hander holed out to Jacks off Adil Rashid in the 10th over to make it 117-2.

Samson powered on until Jacks returned to have him caught by Salt in the deep in the 14th over, at which point India were 160-3.

Shivam Dube continued the onslaught with 43 off 25 balls with four sixes before being run out by Brook’s direct hit.

Hardik Pandya hit 27 off 12 balls late on and Tilak Varma 21 off seven balls to take India past the 250 mark.

Jacks was the pick of the England bowlers with 2-40 but the wayward Archer was plundered, taking 1-61 off his four overs.

New Zealand beat South Africa in a comprehensive victory on Wednesday and await in Sunday’s final in Ahmedabad.

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.

New videos show destruction across Iran after US and Israeli air strikes, including damage to government buildings, residential neighbourhoods and Iran’s main sports stadium. Iranian media say dozens of strikes have hit multiple locations as fears grow of a wider regional conflict.

Iran has launched operations targeting Iranian and Iraqi Kurdish groups in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region in neighbouring Iraq as the regional war ignited by the United States and Israel entered its sixth day, with more than 1,000 people killed across the country.

State television, Press TV, reported early on Thursday that Tehran was striking “anti-Iran separatist forces”, referring to Iranian and Iraqi Kurdish groups believed to be based in mountainous, hard-to-reach areas near the Iran-Iraq border.

Iranian missiles hit Sulaimaniyah city in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region, according to local reports.

“We targeted the headquarters of Kurdish groups opposed to the revolution in Iraqi Kurdistan with three missiles,” Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported on Thursday, quoting a military statement. The Iranian military said earlier on Tuesday it used “30 drones” on Kurdish positions.

The attack comes just days after multiple publications reported that US President Donald Trump was in active talks with Iranian and Iraqi Kurdish groups, and that Washington hopes to use them to spur a popular uprising.

Various Iranian Kurdish groups, which share close ties with Iraqi Kurds, have long opposed Tehran from their bases in northern Iraq and along the Iraq-Iran border. These groups reportedly have thousands of fighters between them.

Here’s what we know so far:

Why are Kurdish groups cooperating with the US?

US officials said the aim is to stretch Iranian forces and take out the remains of the military-dominated Iranian government, according to reporting by CNN.

There is also speculation that the groups could be supported to take control of northern Iran to create a ground buffer for Israeli forces, possibly streaming in from Iraq.

US-Israeli bombings have heavily targeted areas along the Iraq-Iran border since the start of the war on Saturday, possibly to degrade Iranian defences and allow Kurdish opposition groups to cross fully into Iran, according to a briefing by US-based think tank, the Soufan Center.

The US has not ruled out sending ground forces, although analysts told Al Jazeera Iran’s rugged territory would make that very difficult.

If the US does support these groups against Tehran, it would mean that Washington is treating them like armed “players on a board,” Winthrop Rodgers, associate fellow at the UK think tank, Chatham House, told Al Jazeera.

Which Kurdish groups are there?

Neither the US nor Kurdish groups had confirmed any agreements by Thursday.

However, it is known that Trump has spoken to the leaders of two Kurdish groups in Iraq: Masoud Barzani, leader of the Kurdistan Democratic Party, and Bafel Talabani, leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), according to US publication, Axios. Talabani confirmed the call on Wednesday.

Trump also spoke to Mustafa Hijri, head of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (KDPI), on Tuesday, CNN reported, quoting a Kurdish official.

Meanwhile, Iranian Kurdish rebel groups, which have thousands of fighters along the Iraq-Iran border, formed the Coalition of Political Forces of Iranian Kurdistan (CPFIK) alliance one week before the war broke out.

The group issued statements at the start of the conflict, signalling imminent intervention and urging Iranian military members to defect. According to Israel’s I24News, thousands of its fighters were in Iran by Wednesday.

Here are the different groups:

Kurdistan Democratic Party: The ruling party in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). The party controls the capital city of Erbil as well as Duhok. It has historical ties with Iranian Kurdish groups.

However, the KRG is not eager to be seen as supporting attacks on Iran, even as Iranian drones have hit US assets in Erbil. On Wednesday, Kurdistan region President Nechirvan Barzani spoke with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and told him his region “will not be part of conflicts” targeting Tehran.

In 2023, the two countries signed a security deal that saw Iraq promise to disarm and relocate Iranian opposition groups on its territory, although it appears many groups are still based there, reflecting the limited influence the government wields over them.

Iraqi Kurds, who have close ties with both the US and Iran, are in a “difficult position”, said Rodgers.

“They are under tremendous pressure from a wide range of forces, including (pro-Iran) Iraqi militias. They will try to stay out of the conflict as much as they can, but that will likely prove impossible,” he said.

Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK): The PUK is the official opposition in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region and also nationally relevant as Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid is a member. In a statement on Sunday, Rashid urged dialogue and an end to the war. Iraq declared three days of mourning following the killing of Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes on Tehran on Saturday.

Coalition of Political Forces of Iranian Kurdistan (CPFIK): Formed on February 22, 2026, the group includes six Iranian Kurdish opposition groups seeking an independent state.

Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran (KDPI) – Based in the Kurdistan region, the group has about 1,200 members and is proscribed as a “terror” group by Iran.

Kurdistan Freedom Party (PAK) – Also based in Kurdistan, it has an estimated 1,000 members.

Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK) – A close ally of the Turkish opposition armed group, Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), PJAK is proscribed as a “terror” group by Ankara. PJAK’s armed wing, the Eastern Kurdistan Units (YRK), is believed to have between 1,000 and 3,000 members, many of them women. It is based in the rugged Qandil Mountains near the Iran-Iraq border and in the semiautonomous Kurdistan region. It has launched numerous attacks on Iranian forces in the past decade. A recent Iranian strike reportedly killed one fighter.

Organisation of Iranian Kurdistan Struggle (Khabat) – It has an unknown number of fighters.

Komala of the Toilers of Kurdistan – Based in Iraq’s KRG, it has an unknown number of fighters.

Komala Party of Iranian Kurdistan (KPIK) – Also headquartered in the Kurdistan region, it has an estimated 1,000 fighters in 2017.

What is the history of US involvement with Kurdish resistance groups in the Middle East?

Kurds are an ethnic minority spread across the Middle East with a shared language and culture. They do not have a state of their own and have historically been marginalised across countries – mainly Iran, Iraq, Syria and Turkiye.

For decades, several armed Kurdish groups have sought self-governance in Turkiye, Syria and Iran.

In Iraq, Kurdish nationalist groups gained some success during the 1991 Gulf War by working with the US, which helped establish the self-governing Kurdistan region of Iraq. The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) also trained and armed its army, known as the Peshmerga, after the US invaded Iraq in 2003. In 2005, the semiautonomous region was officially recognised in Iraq’s constitution.

Since 2017, Washington has also armed and trained the People’s Protection Units (YPG), a Syrian Kurdish militia that Turkiye lists as a “terror” group because of its links with the proscribed PKK. The group, which successfully resisted ISIL (ISIS), now forms the main component of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). It controlled Raqqa and other ISIL strongholds.

However, when it began military clashes with Syrian forces under the President Ahmed al-Sharaa-led government last August, Washington turned away from the group and backed Damascus instead. In January this year, the SDF signed an agreement with the Syrian government to integrate into the government forces. In return, the Syrian government recognised Kurdish rights.

In Turkiye, meanwhile, the PKK, whose presence in northern Iraq has long been a source of tension with Ankara, declared a ceasefire in March 2025, after a call from its imprisoned leader, Abdullah Ocalan, to disarm.

How does Kurdish resistance in Iran compare with others?

Iranian Kurds opposed the Iranian government even before the formation of the Islamic Republic in 1979, Rodgers said, and Tehran’s current weakness provides an opportunity for them to advance their political aims in the country.

However, the new coalition of multiple diverse groups is unprecedented, the analyst added, and their internal dynamics will be a key decisive factor in what role Kurdish groups will play in this war.

“Support from the US is helpful, especially in terms of targeting security forces’ infrastructure with air strikes, but they will likely be cautious about relying too much on Washington, especially from an administration as capricious and disorganised as Trump’s,” Rodgers said, noting how Washington abandoned the Kurds in Syria.

Unlike the split Iranian movements, Iraqi Kurds have long united to form a devolved government enshrined in the Iraqi constitution, built an advanced economy, and secured substantive relations with a wide range of foreign countries. That’s something Kurdish groups will also be hoping to establish in a democratic Iran, he said.

“I think it is unlikely that the Trump administration has made any commitments to the Iranian Kurds about supporting their political goals,” Rodgers said, adding that the US’s plan “does not look fully thought through at all”.

Actor Patrick J. Adams is best known for playing Mike Ross alongside Meghan Markle in the hit series Suits.

This month, actor Patrick J. Adams is set to star in a brand-new Paramount+ drama called The Madison.

Patrick, best known for his role alongside Meghan Markle in Suits, is taking on the role of young investment banker Russell McIntosh.

In the upcoming series, created by Yellowstone’s Taylor Sheridan, viewers will see Russell and his family move from New York to find solace in Montana’s wilderness.

However, the drama will take people on an emotional journey as it’s set to be a heartfelt study of grief and human connection.

Alongside Patrick, people will also see the likes of Michelle Pfeiffer and Kurt Russell front the upcoming show.

On Thursday’s instalment of This Morning, some of the cast spoke to Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley about what people can expect to see in The Madison.

Addressing Patrick, Ben commented, “I felt for your character, because of course, he’s surrounded by women!

“Properly surrounded, and I feel like he’s doing his best to try and navigate what his wife is expecting of him, what his mother-in-law is expecting of him.”

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Patrick replied, “This is true, he’s trying to make everybody happy. Luckily, I have two amazing sisters, strong, willed, intelligent, brilliant sisters.

“A very powerful mother, I have three daughters now. I had my third little girl a month ago! I’ve got an amazing wife, I’ve got a lot of women in my life! So I have been practising for this for a long time.”

The actor is married to Pretty Little Liars star Troian Bellisario, as they tied the knot back in 2016.

Since then, they’ve had three daughters together, and Trion has shared the announcement of their latest addition on social media.

Sharing a compilation of videos of her growing bump over the weeks, the final clip showed her with their newborn, as she wrote: “Tiny dancer has arrived, welcome home my love.”

People were quick to congratulate the couple as actress Sophia Bush said, “Just so happy for yoooooou.”

One fan added: “Awwwh!! bless. I am so, so happy for you, beyond. You are an amazing mama, and I am so happy to see your family thrive, so much love

The Madison premieres with three episodes on Saturday, March 14, 2026, on Paramount+.