war

The US-Israeli military campaign that began on Saturday has already killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and senior commanders, triggered retaliatory strikes across the region and raised the spectre of prolonged disruption to global energy flows.

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While diplomats scramble and the UN calls for restraint, certain defence contractors and energy majors have emerged as early market victors.

As the conflict enters its fourth day, demand for advanced weaponry, missile-defence systems and intelligence platforms is projected to surge.

Lockheed Martin’s stock, the world’s largest defence contractor by revenue, hit a new all-time high on Monday, closing at $676.70 after rising over 4%.

Its F-35 fighters, precision munitions and radar systems are central to the air campaign under way over Iran.

The rally extended across the defence sector.

Northrop Grumman shares jumped 6%, lifted by its stealth-bomber and missile-defence technologies.

RTX, formerly Raytheon, gained nearly 5% while L3Harris Technologies and General Dynamics also recorded solid increases.

Palantir Technologies, whose data-analytics tools support intelligence operations, rose almost 6%.

European companies followed the upward trend on a more modest scale. Germany’s Renk and Italy’s Leonardo posted gains as investors eyed possible increases in NATO procurement and export orders.

Analysts note that defence budgets, already earmarked for growth in 2026, now face even fewer hurdles in Washington and European capitals.

With President Trump stating that operations could last “four to five weeks” or “far longer”, and Iran continuing missile and drone barrages, markets are positioning for weeks of high-intensity military activity.

The gains reflect classic geopolitical risk pricing.

Other market outliers

These rises stand in sharp contrast to broader equity weakness, highlighting how narrowly the benefits are concentrated. Beyond the pure-play defence names, energy companies have been the other clear outperformers, riding the oil and gas wave.

Iranian retaliation has already included strikes to energy sites in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, threats to close the Strait of Hormuz, which could choke off roughly 20% of global oil supply and send energy prices soaring.

The international benchmarks for oil, Brent crude (BZ) and West Texas Intermediate (WTI), are trading at over $82.50 and $75.50 respectively, at the time of writing.

Alongside them, integrated oil majors moved swiftly higher.

ExxonMobil shares rose more than 4% recording a new all-time high, while Chevron, Occidental Petroleum and ConocoPhillips posted comparable gains.

In Europe, Shell and TotalEnergies advanced in line with the global pricing surge.

The QatarEnergy LNG production halt announced on Monday, following Iranian drone strikes on Ras Laffan and Mesaieed facilities, sent European benchmark TTF gas prices over 50% higher, reaching €62/MWh by Tuesday.

Markets reacted swiftly as the indefinite shutdown raised immediate fears of rerouted demand and renewed energy inflation risks in Europe.

LNG equities climbed notably since Monday’s open on the news.

Cheniere Energy, the largest LNG exporter in the US, Venture Global and Australia’s Woodside Energy, all saw intraday strength at the start of the week.

However, analysts caution that actual substitution will take time due to shipping and contract constraints, keeping price action geopolitically sensitive.

The European Commission announced it is closely tracking both price and supply developments and will convene an Energy Task Force with Member States, in liaison with the International Energy Agency, for a meeting sometime this week.

The critically acclaimed war drama is currently streaming on Amazon Prime and stars an Oscar-winning Hollywood A-lister in a completely unrecognisable avatar.

A compelling wartime period drama has been branded essential viewing by audiences and critics, featuring an exceptionally gifted actor whose portrayal earned him an Academy Award.

Helmed by Joe Wright from a script by Anthony McCarten, this 2017 historical drama chronicles Winston Churchill’s tenure as Prime Minister during the Second World War, specifically focusing on the critical May 1940 war cabinet crisis.

The film takes its name, Darkest Hour, from the phrase used to describe those perilous early war days, when British forces were stranded at Dunkirk, France teetered on the brink of collapse, and impossible odds faced Britain and the Allied Forces. Churchill himself had used the term ‘Darkest Hour’ in his public addresses during that period.

The official synopsis reads: “The fate of Western Europe hangs on Winston Churchill in the early days of World War II. The newly appointed British prime minister must decide whether to negotiate with Hitler or fight on against incredible odds. During the next four weeks in 1940, Churchill cements his legacy as his courageous decisions and leadership help change the course of world history.”

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Gary Oldman takes on the leading role of Winston Churchill, becoming utterly unrecognisable as the British PM through a transformation requiring over three hours daily to achieve, using intricate makeup and delicate prosthetics.

Speaking to ABC News, Oldman revealed of his dramatically transformed look in the film: “It took three hours, 15 minutes and then getting into the costume and everything, it was just under four hours, 48 days consecutively.”

He added: “And then I would be dressed as Winston by the time the director arrived and the other actors for rehearsal. So it was very odd. They did not see me as Gary for three months for the entire shooting because I was always in my makeup.”

Shedding the character at the end of each gruelling day proved equally challenging. The acclaimed actor explained to the publication it was a “very slow process” whereby a special solution was required to dissolve his appearance, resulting in approximately 18-hour working days.

Oldman confessed he genuinely feared he “would not have the stamina” to endure the entire shoot, yet somehow pushed through and “loved every minute of it”.

Raking in $150 million at the global box office against a production budget of $30 million, Darkest Hour proved an undeniable commercial triumph, reports the Express.

Oldman was joined by Kristin Scott Thomas, Lily James, Stephen Dillane, Ronald Pickup, and Ben Mendelsohn who rounded off a stellar supporting cast.

Beyond its box office success, Darkest Hour earned widespread critical acclaim, securing six Academy Award nominations including Best Picture, Best Cinematography, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, and Best Actor – the latter of which Oldman triumphantly claimed, along with the Oscar for makeup and hairstyling.

Boasting an impressive 84% critics’ approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, Darkest Hour received widespread acclaim from reviewers, with one writing: “As a portrait of leadership at its most brilliant, thoughtful and morally courageous, “Darkest Hour” is the movie we need right now.”

Unsurprisingly, Oldman’s portrayal garnered particular praise, with one critic saying: “Oldman brings a wicked wit and compassionate heart to the role, one for which he seems almost superhumanly suited for – and that’s really saying something, consider how many great actors have played Churchill.”

Another impressed reviewer wrote: “It’s an amazing performance: the only star turn I’ve seen in which a famous actor visible in nearly every scene would be unrecognisable if we didn’t know his name already.”

Whilst a fourth critic succinctly said: “Darkest Hour is a one man show for Oldman. And what a show it is.”

Audience responses echoed similar sentiments, with one admirer writing: “A deeply gripping and entertaining vignette of leadership from one of history’s greatest. Superbly well cast and designed. I wasn’t expecting to enjoy it as much as I did. Highly recommended.”

Another viewer said about the film: “One of those films that gives you goosebumps as Churchill bumbles his way into history (again). Oldman is superb as Churchill and the filing is so atmospheric you almost feel as if you’re in the House of Commons or his house with him. Kirsten Scott-Thomas and Lily James along with Ronald Pickup are perfect in their roles. If you’ve ever been in the War Rooms in London you can sense the claustrophobic hive of activity that unbelievably held the British war effort together. A film that I could watch more than once.”

A third admirer added: “Gary Oldman was indeed phenomenal on this one. And even without Gary’s performance, this would still be a worthy watch.”

Darkest Hour is currently available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.

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A Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker became the first ship to be struck by an Iranian uncrewed surface vessel (USV) during this conflict, the Ambrey maritime security firm told us. As we have frequently reported, USVs have been widely used by Ukraine against Russia and, in the Middle East, by the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels against commercial shipping.

You can catch up with our latest coverage of Operation Epic Fury, the joint U.S.-Israel attack on Iran in our rolling coverage here.

The ship, the MKD VYOM, was initially thought to have been struck by a projectile on March 1, in a deadly attack about 50 nautical miles north of Muscat, Oman. However, the United Kingdom Marine Trade Operations (UKMTO) organization, which is managed by the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom, gave an updated assessment of the incident Monday morning.

“UKMTO has received confirmation that the vessel was attacked by an Uncrewed Surface Vehicle (USV), and that the crew has been evacuated to shore,” the organization stated. “Authorities are investigating. Vessels are advised to transit with caution and report any suspicious activity to UKMTO.”

“The vessel suffered an explosion and subsequent fire after being struck by a suspected projectile while off the coast of Muscat, Oman on 1 March,” MKD VYOM‘s owner, V.Ships Asia said in a statement. “It is with great sadness that we confirm one crew member, who was in the engine room at the time of the incident, has died.”

أعلن المركز العُماني للأمن البحري تعرّض ناقلة النفط MKD VYOM لهجوم بواسطة زورق محمّل بالمتفجرات أثناء إبحارها على بُعد 52 ميلا بحرياً من سواحل محافظة مسقط. pic.twitter.com/XUABktn3kt

— الجريدة (@aljarida) March 2, 2026

While this is the first time Iran has used a USV to strike ships in the region, it should come as no surprise that it would deploy these weapons. Iran has steadily developed USVs and undersea vehicles capable of launching kamikaze attacks and added them to its arsenal. Iran, together with its Houthi allies in Yemen, has long been a pioneer in this space. As we have previously reported, the Houthis frequently used USVs in their campaign against Red Sea shipping.

The ongoing war in Ukraine has now fully demonstrated the very real threats these capabilities present to ships and coastal targets — even aircraft.

The MKD VYOM was one of at least four ships struck by Iran since the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced it was shutting down the Strait of Hormuz some 150 nautical miles to the northwest. That warning came after the U.S. and Israel started bombing Iranian targets on Feb. 28. We have previously examined in great detail what Iran could do to shut the Strait, a major chokepoint through which about 20% of the world’s crude oil passes.

“For your information, from now on…no ship of any type is…allowed to pass from the Strait of Hormuz.. From now on, the Strait of Hormuz is banned for all ships, the Strait of Hormuz is banned for all ships,” the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said, via a radio transmission obtained by The War Zone.

The IRGC updated that warning on Monday, saying it was shutting the Strait and any ships attempting to pass through would be set on fire.

“The strait (of Hormuz) is closed. If anyone tries to ​pass, the heroes of the Revolutionary Guards and the regular navy will set ​those ships ablaze,” Ebrahim Jabari, a senior adviser to the Guards commander-in-chief, ⁠said in remarks carried by state media.

BREAKING: Islamic Revolutionary Guards commander says that the Strait of Hormuz has been closed and that Iran will set fire to any ship trying to pass, according to Iranian media – Reuters pic.twitter.com/ra0B2x5oWq

— Faytuks News (@Faytuks) March 2, 2026

In addition to three other tankers hit in the Gulf of Oman, the U.S.flagged oil tanker STENA IMPERATIVE suffered at least two direct hits from a suspected Iranian projectile while in the Port of Bahrain on Monday, a maritime security official confirmed to The War Zone.

It is unclear at the moment if the ship was struck by a missile or a drone, the official added.

⭕️⚡️IRGC hit the US Navy-operated Oil tanker “Stena Imperative” docked in Bahrain.

💡An IRGC Drone Ababil flew over the vessel a few weeks ago over the Strait of Hormuz, CENTCOM condemned the incident back then. https://t.co/1bGw6IQ4e7 pic.twitter.com/buTP70JVfW

— MenchOsint (@MenchOsint) March 2, 2026

Shortly before 5:30 a.m. Eastern, UKMTO stated that it “received a report of an incident in the Port of Bahrain. The Company Security Officer reported that the vessel had been struck by two unknown projectiles causing a fire. The fire has been extinguished and the vessel remains in port. All members of the ship’s crew are safe and have evacuated the vessel. Authorities are investigating.”

“Vessels are to remain cautious and report any suspicious activity to UKMTO,” the organization added.

It is believed that the STENA IMPERATIVE is the only U.S.-flagged vessel to be struck by Iran so far.

It has been reported that the tanker is part of the U.S. Maritime Administration’s Tanker Security Program, which “exists to enhance U.S. supply chain resiliency for liquid fuel products.” The Tanker Security Program came into effect in 2021 and empowered the Department of Transportation to create an ad-hoc 10-ship expanded U.S.-flagged tanker fleet for use in a crisis.

Weeks before the war broke out, the STENA IMPERATIVE was approached by Iranian gunboats, which threatened to board the vessel, in the Strait of Hormuz, before continuing on its way under military escort, according to CBS News.

U.S. Central Command issued a statement at the time confirming the incident, saying, “Two IRGC boats and an Iranian Mohajer drone approached M/V Stena Imperative at high speeds and threatened to board and seize the tanker.”

CENTCOM spokesman Capt. Tim Hawkins told CBS that the Arleigh Burke class guided-missile destroyer USS McFaul immediately responded to the scene and escorted the ship with defensive air support from the U.S. Air Force. “The situation de-escalated as a result, and the U.S.-flagged tanker is proceeding safely,” he said.

US Oil Tanker Approached By Iranian Gunboats In Strait Of Hormuz As Peace Talks Begins Soon

Since the launch of Epic Fury, shipping traffic through this vital body of water has plummeted by almost 85%, and a large number of ships have turned off their transponders to avoid being tracked.

New: Ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has fallen almost 85%, @Kpler‘s @DimAmpatzidis tells Hunterbrook. 

“Since 00:00 UTC today, only six vessels have crossed the Strait with AIS signals active.” One of those vessels has since been bombed by Iran. pic.twitter.com/offUWTYGic

— Hunterbrook (@hntrbrkmedia) March 2, 2026

While Iran attacks tankers, the U.S. is striking Iranian Navy vessels. U.S. President Donald Trump has said “annihilating” Iran’s naval forces is a core objective of Epic Fury and that 10 Iranian ships have been “knocked out” so far.

Below is a satellite image showing damage to Iran’s main naval base in Bandar Abbas, including what looks to be the IRINS Makran sea base-type ship, following strikes as part of the ongoing U.S.-Israeli campaign. You can read more about that in our story here.

While no one knows how much longer Epic Fury will last, this war will continue presenting major danger to commercial shipping.

Update: 5:51PM EST-

A U.S. official tells The War Zone that while the IRGC claims they’ve closed the Strait, U.S. monitoring of the body of water does not back that up.

Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com

‘What is needed now in the region more than anything, is a way out.’ The UN Secretary-General is urging a cessation of hostilities and de-escalation amidst the ongoing US and Israeli military offensive against Iran.

WASHINGTON — When President Trump announced that he was taking the United States to war against Iran, he offered a long list of ambitious goals.

He said the operation aimed not only to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, but also to destroy Iran’s ballistic missiles and defang its proxy forces in the Middle East.

Then he added the most audacious objective of all: regime change.

“To the great, proud people of Iran … the hour of your freedom is at hand,” he said. “Take over your government. It will be yours to take.”

That was a striking turnabout for Trump, who campaigned for president in 2016 promising: “We’re going to stop the reckless and costly policy of regime change.”

But it’s far from clear that the president has a coherent plan for replacing Iran’s radical Islamist autocracy with a friendlier regime. Nor is it clear that he’s fully committed to the goal.

On Monday, at a White House event, Trump reiterated the military goals of the operation, but did not mention regime change — suggesting he may be having second thoughts. However, he did describe the current Iranian regime as “sick and sinister.”

Military experts and Iran scholars are virtually unanimous that airstrikes alone, no matter how destructive, are unlikely to transform the Islamic republic into a peaceable, democratic country.

“Air power rarely produces friendly regime change,” said Robert A. Pape of the University of Chicago, a prominent scholar of air power. “Bombing can destroy targets. It does not reliably reshape politics.”

A more likely outcome is that Iran’s militant Islamic security force, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, will seize power, experts said. The Washington Post has reported that the CIA also made that assessment before the war began.

A takeover by the Revolutionary Guard would change the names of the people in charge, but it would fall far short of a genuine regime change.

Trump has said he doesn’t believe ground troops will be necessary, although he hasn’t ruled them out. He hasn’t offered a plan for pushing Iran’s theocratic rulers out of power beyond continuing the airstrikes. The outcome on the ground, he said Sunday, is up to ordinary Iranians.

“Be brave, be bold, be heroic and take back your country,” he said in a video message on Sunday. “America is with you. I made a promise to you, and I fulfilled that promise. The rest will be up to you, but we’ll be there to help.”

In an interview with the New York Times, he said he hopes the Revolutionary Guard will simply “surrender” to the opposition forces it was brutalizing only a month ago.

In effect, he is abandoning the so-called Pottery Barn rule — “You break it, you own it” — that was popularized by then-Secretary of State Colin L. Powell before the Iraq war in 2003. Trump’s message to Iranians looks like: “I’ll break it, you own it.”

Iran’s democratic opposition is fragmented

The central problem with Trump’s apparent theory of regime change, scholars say, is that the Revolutionary Guard and other security services are well-organized and well-equipped, but the country’s democratic opposition is fragmented.

“Even if the clerical regime were to fall, the security forces are best positioned to take its place,” warned Richard N. Haass, a former top State Department official in the George W. Bush administration.

Meanwhile, he added, “the political opposition is not united or functioning as a government-in-waiting. It is not in a position to accept defections [from the regime], much less provide security.”

Some experts argue that there is more the administration could be doing to improve the prospects for regime change, without putting troops on the ground.

Haass faulted the Trump administration for failing to work more closely with the Iranian opposition to prepare it for a role in a potential future government.

Others said the United States should now make it clear that it would provide substantial economic aid to a new Iranian regime, but only if its behavior is benign. Iran’s economic crisis, its worst in recent history, helped spark the popular uprising in January that the regime suppressed at the cost of thousands in lives.

“There are more steps the administration could be taking now to help the democratic opposition,” said Kelly Shannon, a visiting scholar at George Washington University. “Close coordination with dissidents on the ground. Protection from the security forces if they open fire. Money, including support for a general strike fund. Assistance with ensuring internet access for all Iranians. And ensure that airstrikes don’t hit Evin Prison or other prisons where dissidents are being held; a lot of potential opposition leaders are in there.”

Scenarios for the future

If the Revolutionary Guard remains intact, Iran experts have described several different scenarios for the regime that may emerge.

One might be called the Venezuela scenario: an Iran ruled by officers from the current regime who have agreed to cooperate to some extent with the United States. This would resemble the situation in Venezuela, where the United States captured President Nicolás Maduro but left the rest of his regime in power.

Trump has already endorsed that quick-fix scenario and said he’s willing to open talks with the newly named successors to Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed by an Israeli airstrike. “What we did in Venezuela, I think, is the perfect, the perfect scenario,” he told the New York Times.

Another option might be called the Hamas scenario: a battered and weakened Islamic Republic could stay in power but remain hostile to the United States, even after losing much of its military infrastructure.

A third possibility would be the Libya scenario: an Iran in which the regime has been toppled, and several factions battle for power. That’s what happened in Libya after the United States and other countries used air power to help overthrow longtime dictator Moammar Kadafi.

But none of those scenarios would be the transition to democracy that many Iranians hope for — the more positive version of regime change.

Trump’s search for offramps

Trump, meanwhile, sounds as if he is already looking for an opportunity to declare victory and withdraw.

In an interview with Axios on Saturday, he said he believes he has several “offramps” from the war.

“I can go long and take over the whole thing — or end it in two or three days and tell the Iranians, ‘See you again in a few years.’”

“He seems to be looking for an offramp,” Haass said. “He may say ‘It’s up to the Iranian people’ and leave the opposition to its fate…. He might claim a victory in terms of obliterating — or, I guess, ‘re-obliterating’ — Iran’s nuclear program and downgrading its ballistic missiles.”

“But he would still face a danger in that scenario. If it comes down to a physical confrontation [between the regime and the opposition], the opposition could be killed in even larger numbers before. … After offering regime change as one of the reasons for the war, we may not only fail to produce regime change; we could see a second massacre.”

The joint U.S.-Israeli operation against Iran has entered day three. The Pentagon has now shared some new details in its first formal press briefing on the conflict since it began over the weekend.

Readers can catch up on the events of the first day of the war with our initial rolling coverage here, and the important events from day two here.

What the United States has dubbed Operation Epic Fury “was highly classified, so that at H-Hour [the start of the operation], the enemy would see one thing, speed, surprise, and violence of action,” Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff U.S. Air Force Gen. Dan “Razin” Caine said at this morning’s press conference at the Pentagon. “The first movers were CYBERCOM [U.S. Cyber Command] and USSPACECOM [U.S. Space Command], layering non-kinetic effects, disrupting and degrading and blinding Iran’s ability to see, communicate, and respond.”

“At H-Hour, the beginning of major combat operations [1:15 AM Eastern Daylight Time on Saturday, February 28], 9:45 AM local Tehran time, as dawn crept up across the Central Command AOR [Area of Responsibility], the sky surged to life. More than 100 aircraft launched from land and sea – fighters, tankers, airborne early warning, electronic attack, bombers from the states, and unmanned platforms forming a single synchronized wave.”

“This was a daylight strike based on a trigger event conducted by the Israeli Defense Forces enabled by the U.S. intelligence community,” Caine added. “The first shooters at sea were Tomahawks [land attack cruise missiles] unleashed by the United States Navy. Closed in on Iranian naval forces and began to conduct strikes across the southern flank in Iran. On the ground, forces fired precision standoff weapons – measured, deliberate, precise, and lethal. This was a massive, overwhelming attack across all domains of warfare, striking more than 1,000 targets in the first 24 hours.”

“We are now roughly 57 hours into the operation,” Caine further explained. “In the initial phase, CENTCOM’s [U.S. Central Command] focus was systematic targeting of Iranians [sic] command and control infrastructure, naval forces, ballistic missile sites, and intelligence infrastructure designed to daze and confuse them. Coordinated space and cyber operations effectively disrupted communications and sensor networks across the area of responsibility, leaving the adversary without the ability to see, coordinate, or respond effectively.”

“The combined impact of these strikes – swift, precise, and overwhelming – has resulted in the establishment of local air superiority. This air superiority will not only enhance the protection of our forces, but also allow them to continue the work over Iran. Over the course of the last two days, the Joint Force has launched hundreds of missions from land and sea and delivered tens of thousands of pieces of ordnance. The effort continues to scale,” the Chairman continued. “This included American B-2 bombers, which, again, similar to [Operation] Midnight Hammer [against Iran in 2025], flew a 37-hour round-trip sortie from the continental United States, dropping precision, penetrating munitions on Iranian underground facilities across the southern flank, slightly deeper. Additionally, Israel has separately executed hundreds of sorties against hundreds of targets.”

The U.S. and Israel launched major joint military operations “Epic Fury” and “Roaring Lion” against Iran and conducted targeted decapitation strikes, reportedly killing the Ayatollah.

Latest snapshot of American air and naval assets in the region (more info and sources below): pic.twitter.com/sub7xpdXXq

— Ian Ellis (@ianellisjones) March 1, 2026

“While we’ve prosecuted a relentless offensive campaign, our defense has been equally important across the theater,” Caine also said. “Operations have remained [inaudible] and disciplined. Once again, our integrated air and missile defense network is performing exactly as it’s intended. U.S. Patriot and THAAD [Terminal High Altitude Area Defense] batteries, along with ballistic missile defense-capable Navy destroyers, continue to coordinate and execute intercepts with vision and consistency.”

“I wish that every American could hear the voice communications like I have as these joint operation centers remain calm, focused, cool, while executing under fire over and over again. Collectively, these systems have intercepted hundreds of ballistic missiles targeting U.S. forces, our partners, and regional stability,” Caine noted. “The threat from one-way attack UAVs [uncrewed aerial vehicles] has remained persistent. Our systems have proven effective in countering these platforms, engaging targets rapidly. Each intercept represents hundreds of hours of training, readiness, and technology, all coming together to work as designed. We will remain vigilant in the counter-UAV fight, and the defense of the region is not ours alone. As the threat grew, our partners surged in beside us. Air defense batteries in Qatar, the UAE [United Arab Emirates], Kuwait, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia joined the fight, proof positive that years of training, trust, and, hard-earned integration pay off.“

Caine also said he was aware of the loss of three U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles, to apparent friendly fire over Kuwait, but declined to provide more details. All six crew members are safe, and you can read more about the incident here.

At 11:03 p.m. ET, March 1, three U.S. F-15E Strike Eagles flying in support of Operation Epic Fury went down over Kuwait due to an apparent friendly fire incident.

Read more:https://t.co/i2y3Q3vo2E

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) March 2, 2026

In addition to the aforementioned friendly fire incident, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) has now confirmed the death of a fourth U.S. service member. The individual in question “was seriously wounded during Iran’s initial attacks, [and] eventually succumbed to their injuries,” according to an official statement. Yesterday, the Pentagon confirmed that the three previously known fatalities of U.S. service members occurred during Iranian strikes on Kuwait.

CENTCOM Update

TAMPA, Fla. – As of 7:30 am ET, March 2, four U.S. service members have been killed in action. The fourth service member, who was seriously wounded during Iran’s initial attacks, eventually succumbed to their injuries.

Major combat operations continue and our…

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) March 2, 2026

The rest of our new ongoing coverage continues below, with the most recent updates at the top.

UPDATE: 9:36 AM EST-

The Israeli military may be mulling a possible ground invasion of Lebanon, after Hezbollah launched missiles and drones toward Israel overnight, which would open up a major new front in the war. Those attacks from the Lebanese militants were in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, over the weekend.

In a briefing to reporters in Israel, a military spokesperson was asked if the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) were preparing for a possible ground invasion of Lebanon. The spokesperson said, “all options are on the table,” and then said Hezbollah “made a very bad mistake” by choosing to strike Israel overnight.

“The IDF will react very swiftly, and they will pay a heavy price,” the spokesperson added. “Hezbollah opened fire at us last night. It knew exactly what it was doing.”

⭕️ In response to the rockets fired from Lebanon to Israel, the IDF precisely struck senior Hezbollah terrorists in Beirut, dozens of Hezbollah & Iranian terrorist regime command centers, and a site that was used by Hezbollah to store weapons in the Tyre.

The IDF is prepared…

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) March 2, 2026

In a brief update on X, the IDF said today it “struck” a “senior terrorist” from Hezbollah in Beirut and will be providing more details in due course.

צה”ל תקף לפני זמן קצר באופן ממוקד, מחבל בכיר מארגון הטרור חיזבאללה בביירות, פרטים נוספים בהמשך

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) March 2, 2026

Subsequently, the Israeli military said it had killed Hezbollah’s intelligence chief, Hussein Makled, overnight. The IDF also claimed it killed Sayed Yahya Hamidi, who it described as Iran’s deputy minister of intelligence for ‘Israel affairs,’ and Jalal Pour Hossein, who it claimed was the head of the espionage division (at the ministry of intelligence).

Hezbollah’s intelligence chief was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut overnight, the IDF announces.

The IDF says it can now confirm that its overnight strike in the Lebanese capital killed Hussein Makled, “who served as the head of Hezbollah’s intelligence headquarters.”

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) March 2, 2026

Israeli airstrikes on Beirut and southern Lebanon today killed at least 31 people and injured 149, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.

A video from the IDF shows Israeli strikes overnight in Dahiyeh in Beirut:

There are rumors of concern within the Pentagon, as well as other parts of the Trump administration, about the United States getting bogged down in a larger conflict. This comes now amid the prospect of Israel expanding operations against Lebanon.

“Inside the Pentagon, and among some members of the Trump administration, there was deepening concern Sunday that the Iran conflict could spiral out of control, said people familiar with the situation.
“The mood here is intense and paranoid,” one person said. https://t.co/fWS7y5rSlY

— Laura Rozen (@lrozen) March 2, 2026

Chief among the reported concerns of U.S. officials is the stockpile of suitable interceptors for air defense systems, especially as Iran continues to launch missiles and especially drones at targets across the region. The inventory of Iranian long-range one-way attack drones is something that the propaganda arm in Tehran is trying to capitalize on. This is something TWZ highlighted in an in-depth piece regarding questions hanging over any major new American air campaign against Iran shortly before the conflict erupted.

Video: New Iranian propaganda video showing an underground drone armory and various drone operations from the past several days. pic.twitter.com/zs6T47dJEJ

— Evan Kohlmann (@IntelTweet) March 2, 2026

Another two Iranian drones heading toward the British airbase of RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus were “successfully intercepted,” according to a spokesperson for the Cypriot government. The incident comes after an Iranian drone reportedly struck the base last night. The incident is not thought to have caused any casualties and only limited damage.

Cypriot authorities have opened emergency shelters following the Iranian drone strike against RAF Akrotiri.

In a joint statement, the United States and six allied Gulf states — Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates — have condemned Iran’s “indiscriminate and reckless attacks” across the region. They blame Tehran for strikes that have “targeted sovereign territories, endangered civilians, and inflicted damage on civilian infrastructure.”

The statement continues: “Iran’s actions represent a dangerous escalation that violates the sovereignty of multiple states and threatens regional stability. Targeting civilians and non-combatant states is reckless behavior that undermines stability. We stand united in defense of our citizens, our sovereignty, and our territories, and we reaffirm our right to self-defense in the face of these attacks, while underscoring our commitment to regional security and commending the effective cooperation in air and missile defense that prevented greater loss of life and destruction.”

Kuwait’s Foreign Ministry on Monday shared a statement released jointly with Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan and the United States.

In the statement, the countries strongly condemn Iran’s indiscriminate and reckless missile and drone attacks… pic.twitter.com/DesM2ZkYea

— KUWAIT TIMES (@kuwaittimesnews) March 2, 2026

The statement confirms that, so far, attacks have occurred in Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Cyprus can also be added to this list.

Of these, there have been notable reports in the last 12 hours of explosions in Dubai and Samha in the UAE, and in Doha, the capital of Qatar.

A cameraman films the moment of an Iranian strike in the city of Ras Al-Khaimah in the United Arab Emiarates. pic.twitter.com/fm1A8oUnQK

— Status-6 (War & Military News) (@Archer83Able) March 2, 2026

Among the high-profile targets to be hit is the Ras Tanura refinery in Saudi Arabia, one of the Middle East’s largest. Saudi Arabia’s energy ministry announced today that some operations at Ras Tanura have been halted, after an attack set fire to part of the complex. The ministry said that the refinery sustained “minor damage from falling debris” due to the interception of “two drones in the refinery’s vicinity.”

“Some operational units at the refinery were shut down as a precautionary measure, without any impact on the supply of petroleum products to local markets,” Saudi Arabia’s energy ministry said.

Iran carried out strikes on the ARAMCO oil refinery located in Ras Tanura, Saudi Arabia.

Huge amount of smoke is seen coming out from the facility following the attack. pic.twitter.com/GZdgKpc0xB

— Status-6 (War & Military News) (@Archer83Able) March 2, 2026

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations nuclear watchdog, says there is no evidence that any of Iran’s nuclear facilities have sustained damage or have been hit in U.S.-Israeli strikes so far.

According to Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations nuclear watchdog, one of the targets of the strikes was the Natanz nuclear facility, the Reuters news agency reported. “Again they attacked Iran’s peaceful, safeguarded nuclear facilities yesterday,” Reza Najafi told reporters at a meeting of the IAEA board of governors.

The Natanz nuclear facility was among the sites struck in the U.S-Israeli airstrikes against Iran in June 2025.

The U.S.-flagged oil tanker Stena Imperative suffered at least two direct hits from a suspected Iranian projectile while in the Port of Bahrain, a maritime security official confirmed to TWZ.

It is unclear at the moment if the ship was struck by a missile or a drone, the official added.

Shortly before 5:30 a.m. Eastern, the United Kingdom Marine Trade Operations (UKMTO) organization, which is managed by the Royal Navy in the United Kingdom, stated that it “received a report of an incident in the Port of Bahrain. The Company Security Officer reported that the vessel had been struck by two unknown projectiles, causing a fire. The fire has been extinguished, and the vessel remains in port. All members of the ship’s crew are safe and have evacuated the vessel. Authorities are investigating.”

“Vessels are to remain cautious and report any suspicious activity to UKMTO,” the organization added.

It has been reported that the tanker is part of the U.S. Maritime Administration’s Tanker Security Program, which “exists to enhance U.S. supply chain resiliency for liquid fuel products.” The Tanker Security Program came into effect in 2021 and empowered the Department of Transportation to create an ad-hoc 10-ship expanded U.S.-flagged tanker fleet for use in a crisis.

The ship being the US-flagged Stena Imperative. The tanker is part of the US Maritime Administration’s Tanker Security Program and is fitted to refuel US warships.

In early February, it was reported that Iranian gunboats had approached in attempts to board Stena Imperative. https://t.co/OGzO1YXerw pic.twitter.com/KD0rwkOaXZ

— Evergreen Intel (@vcdgf555) March 2, 2026

Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, has appointed Revolutionary Guards general Majid Ebnelreza as acting defense minister after his predecessor was killed in an airstrike.

#Iran’s president has appointed Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps general Majid Ebnelreza as acting defense minister after his predecessor was killed in Israeli-US strikes. pic.twitter.com/ClPVr8fCve

— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) March 2, 2026

Contact the editor: thomas@thewarzone.com

Blaming Iran for previous attacks on Americans in the region, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth says Washington didn’t start the war, but under President Donald Trump, “we’re finishing it”.

Deir el-Balah/Gaza City – When Hani Abu Issa headed to the Deir el-Balah market on Saturday morning, he was not carrying a long shopping list. He had only intended to buy ingredients for his family’s Ramadan iftar meal, nothing more.

But the sight of crowds gathered in front of grocery shops caught him by surprise and prompted him to ask what was happening.

A passer-by told him that Israel had struck Iran and war had broken out.

Hani was shocked as he watched people around him leaving one after another, carrying sacks of flour on their shoulders, and buying whatever food supplies and goods they could manage.

That was how the first hours of the military confrontation between Israel, joined by the United States, and Iran unfolded in Gaza.

The scene in the enclave changed completely as people everywhere rushed to the market to buy sugar, flour, cooking oil and yeast.

Shelves began to empty, and the price of essential goods increased.

A father of five children, 51-year-old Hani told Al Jazeera that he believes the Israel-US war with Iran “will not directly affect Gaza”. But he admits that people in Gaza are no longer able to react calmly to any military development in the region.

“People have become afraid of everything. Since the morning, everyone rushed to the markets to stockpile, and that led to shortages of many goods and rising prices,” he said, while standing in front of food stalls in the Deir el-Balah market, in central Gaza.

Anxiety among residents intensified after COGAT, the Israeli body managing the Palestinian territory, released a statement on its Facebook page on Saturday evening announcing the closure of crossings leading to Gaza and the occupied West Bank “until further notice”, in light of security developments related to the war with Iran.

Hani said the possibility of crossings remaining closed deeply worried him.

“Flour, sugar, cooking oil, and yeast… those were the first things to disappear from the market because of the heavy demand,” he said.

“I lived through famine [during Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza] like everyone else. The worst days were when I had to buy a sack of flour for more than 1,000 shekels [$319]. I don’t want to relive that experience.”

He said that stockpiling while the crossings remained closed was not a viable solution.

“Goods run out quickly, and the conditions we live in may spoil whatever we store. All we need is for someone to reassure us that the closure of the crossings will not last.

“For someone to tell us that we will not be affected.”

Local sources reported that the crossing closures were linked to the Jewish holiday of Purim, which created confusion over how long they would last.

“We cannot be certain or confirm anything. Israel’s word cannot be relied upon, and no specific duration was given,” Hani added in frustration.

“Gaza has not recovered from two years of war and famine. All I think about now is traveling and leaving with my two daughters to live in another country. That is enough.”

At around the same time last year, during Ramadan last March, Palestinians in Gaza endured one of the harshest phases of the war after crossings were closed and goods were prevented from entering for extended periods, leading to shortages of food supplies and price hikes that resulted in the spread of famine.

Israel’s policy of starvation at the time faced widespread condemnation. Markets turned into empty spaces, flour prices soared to record highs, and people died due to severe malnutrition.

Justified fear

In the Nuseirat market, where people are still frantically buying groceries, 28-year-old seller Omar Al-Ghazali told Al Jazeera that the famine experience has left a deep psychological impact.

“People’s fear is completely justified. They were shocked and frightened and want to secure themselves. They learned from the previous famine experience and from fears of trader hoarding,” the father of four said.

“Today, although the war is not taking place on Gaza’s land, the fear of repeating the famine scenario appears stronger than any logical analysis of the regional situation,” he added.

“We cannot tell people not to buy. What they went through was extremely difficult. We try to convince ourselves that things are fine and that no one will be affected, but fear is stronger.”

‘Where would we even store it?’

Not everyone can afford to stockpile.

Asmaa Abu Al-Khair, 38, was wandering through the Gaza City market on Sunday,  visibly confused. A mother of eight, she wants to stock up, but lacks both the financial ability and the space.

“Where would we store it? And what would I even store? We need everything, and we can barely provide our daily food during Ramadan,” she told Al Jazeera as she walked empty-handed through the market.

“I feel great anxiety. Everyone is talking about it – about Iran’s strike and the closure of the crossings – and I cannot afford to buy what I need, while at the same time, I am afraid of famine returning. I have young children,” she said sorrowfully.

Asmaa said many displaced families living in nearby tents were facing the same reality as they “do not have the money to buy supplies, nor the space to store them inside the tents”.

“We endured so much hardship during the war, and it barely ended with the announcement of a ceasefire. So why close the crossing now? What do we have to do with what is happening? Is what we witnessed not enough? Why play with people’s nerves?”

Until yesterday evening, Asmaa had hoped the crossings would not be closed and that things would continue as they were. Then, the announcement came.

“It felt like a stab in my heart. I went to sleep with deep frustration,” she said bitterly.

Mohammed Daher, 46, from Jabalia, who is now displaced and living in Deir el-Balah, said he had been living the spirit of Ramadan “calmly and peacefully”, without war or gunfire for the first time in two years, until the news of war with Iran.

“I found myself lost again. But I decided not to stockpile anything,” he told Al Jazeera while looking around the market.

“We are exhausted. I reached a point where I have grown used to all scenarios,” he said despairingly. “Israel is looking for any pretext to starve Gaza’s residents again and deepen their humanitarian crisis.”

Daher said he had spent most of his money during the previous famine buying basic food items at inflated prices.

“Everything was priced like gold… if you could even find it. Today, I have no energy left to endure that torment again. Let whatever happens, happen.”

Deepening Gaza’s humanitarian crisis

There were widespread reactions to the Israeli closure decision on social media, as Palestinians questioned whether they were on the brink of an even harsher phase of Israel’s treatment. Many people accused Israel of closing the crossings to push Palestinians towards further starvation and collective suffering.

Some wondered whether Israel was using the moment to create more suffering for Palestinians in Gaza while the world was distracted by the war with Iran.

Ali al-Hayek, a member of the Palestinian Businessmen Association in Gaza, warned that closing the crossings could halt aid distribution to struggling families and put a pause on charitable kitchens. It would also obstruct urgent medical travel abroad, particularly for those who are wounded, in critical condition or living with chronic diseases, such as cancer.

He pointed out that Gaza’s economy has already contracted by more than 85 percent because of Israel’s genocidal war, with the majority of the population pushed below the poverty line, unemployment reaching nearly 80 percent, and more than 97 percent of industrial facilities ceasing operations.

Al-Hayek called on the international community to intervene immediately and pressure the Israeli side to reopen the crossings and restore their normal operations, while ensuring freedom of movement for individuals and goods.

But he also said it is important that traders not use the shortage to increase prices. It’s Ramadan time, he emphasised, and Palestinians should demonstrate solidarity now more than ever.

Israel has carried out heavy strikes in the southern suburbs of Lebanon’s capital Beirut after Hezbollah launched an attack on northern Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

Just as we expected, B-2 Spirits have entered the air campaign against Iran last night. Flying global airpower missions from their home base in Whiteman, Missouri, America’s stealth bombers arrived over Iranian airspace in the early morning hours and targeted Iran’s missile caves. These facilities are built deep under mountains and are primarily used for storage, but some of them actually have the ability to launch ballistic missiles through fissures in their ceilings.

Yesterday, I wrote on X what was to come for the B-2 and the air war, stating:

B-2s will likely show up tonight, making direct attacks on key targets in a way no other platform can. Yes this could include MOPs, but also lots of JDAMs against less fortified targets. They can achieve massive effects in a single sortie. One B-2 can carry 80 500lb JDAMs. Entire airfield’s infrastructure gone on a single pass. They would not be employed until the night and they now have the benefit of highly degraded air defenses and disrupted command and control. This is when the air campaign will change.

There were some indications that B-2 movements were underway, including tanker sorties from the Azores that didn’t have a visible ‘customer.’

Prioritizing missile cave complexes as a target for America’s ‘silver bullet’ stealth bomber force is an obvious decision. As we have stated for years, destroying these complexes is challenging. They are made up of different chambers that can be sealed off from one another. So very complex weaponeering and a large quantity of specialized munitions would be needed to even attempt destroying them completely.

Iran military shows footage giving tour of underground ‘missile city’

On the other hand, these facilities have a massive vulnerability. You don’t need to destroy them to put the missiles and launchers stored inside totally out of action. You just need to seal them off and keep them sealed off during a conflict. This can be done by striking near the entrances to the fortified caverns. By keeping an eye on these openings using remote sensing after initial strikes, deciding if and when further strikes are needed can be done with high confidence, as efforts to open the entrances back up can be seen and responded to.

So, just by bottling these facilities up, you make the arsenals held within them useless. In addition, some of the entrances have rock formations that climb more gradually above them, meaning penetrators can actually burrow to a depth where the tunnels themselves exist, not just entrance areas. Striking here makes reopening the caverns even more challenging.

There is one complicating factor when trying to put these facilities out of action — some of them have apertures in their ceilings that allows ballistic missiles to be launched without them leaving the facility. Some even have automated rapid-loading systems to fire the missiles off quickly. This means that missiles can still be fired from them even if the entrances are temporarily sealed. The good news is that the overhead doors that protect the launch bays can be penetrated, and the bays themselves destroyed. This would specifically be a good job for the B-2.

By going after these cave complexes, scores of launchers and missiles can be taken off the table. That means fewer missiles to hunt for in the open, which is a very challenging and resource-consuming kind of interdiction mission, to say the least. As such, these installations would be among the highest priority of targets, along with Iranian command and control capabilities. There is currently a race on when it comes to the supply of missiles and counter-missile capabilities. As we have discussed at length, interceptor stocks are not in a good place. For every missile kept out of the fight, that is one (or more) less interceptors that does not need to be expended.

The B-2 has unique conventional weapons capabilities that have become famous. A single Spirit can carry 80 500-pound JDAMs that can all fly miles from their launch point and hit individual targets with exacting precision. A single pass from one B-2 over an airfield can destroy all of the base’s non-hardened infrastructure, for instance. But it’s the B-2’s bunker-busting capabilities that get the most attention.

The Massive Ordnance Penetrators (MOP) used to attack Fordow in June are the ultimate non-nuclear bunker buster. But these 30,000-pound weapons are very few in number, and only two can be carried by each B-2. Because of the compartmentalized nature of some of the missile caves, just how effective they would be at destroying the complexes is questionable. If intelligence existed that would allow for perfect weapons placement, it’s possible they would have been used.

More likely, the B-2s would have used more common bunker busters for this kind of mission. These include 2,000-pound-class BLU-109-warhead equipped GBU-31 Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAM). The BLU-109-equipped JDAMs are common across American combat aircraft, but the B-2 can carry 16 of them, not a couple like a fighter would, on a typical mission. The B-2’s arsenal may also now include new GBU-72 5,000-pound-class bunker busters, a bomb developed to bridge some of the gap between the BLU-109 and the MOP. A mix of these weapons can be carried in order to tailor the damage to different areas of a missile cave complex.

The smaller weapons would likely have been capable of collapsing runner entrances and destroying the missile launch apertures at the limited number of sites equipped with them.

Then there is another question some are bound to ask, why use a B-2? Why not a B-52 or B-1? The answer there is multi-fold, but the biggest driver in this regard is the B-2’s stealth capabilities. The airspace over Iran is not fully secured. There are still threats, some of which are novel to Iran, and others are road mobile and can pop up at any time. Taking every advantage — careful mission planning based on the latest intelligence, electronic warfare, and cyber support, and escorts that can take out counter-air threats in real time — is still a necessity. Also, the B-2 crews train for just this type of mission and likely have familiarity with the target sets in mind. So they will be used for direct bomber attacks for the foreseeable future.

As to why the B-2s flew such a long mission instead of operating from a forward location, the answer there is relatively clear. As we reported last week, the United Kingdom has not allowed the U.S. to launch strikes from its bases against Iran. This includes two locations that are fully equipped to sustain bomber operations and are relevant in proximity to the Iranian mission — RAF Fairford in the United Kingdom and Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. While the B-2 community has been training to launch limited operations from other forward locations in recent years, these locales are not equipped to sustain sorties. So, flying from home, at least at this point, was clearly the best option.

We will likely be seeing more of the B-2s in the coming days, especially as the air war moves from targeting immediate threats and focuses on destroying Iran’s nuclear infrastructure and its military industrial complex — especially the parts of it that develop and construct ballistic missiles and other standoff weaponry that threaten Israel and Iran’s neighbors.

UPDATE: 4:47 Eastern –

The U.K. government has more details about the revised level of support it is willing to provide the United States in its campaign directed against Iran. The United Kingdom is now offering the U.S. military use of its bases for strikes targeting Iranian missile sites. You can read more about why this became an issue in our story about the controversy here.

In a video shared on social media Sunday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: “Our partners in the Gulf have asked us to do more to defend them, and it’s my duty to protect British lives.

“We have British jets in the air as part of coordinated defensive operations which have already successfully intercepted Iranian strikes.

“But the only way to stop the threat is to destroy the missiles at source — in their storage depots or the launchers which used to fire the missiles. The United States has requested permission to use British bases for that specific and limited defensive purpose.

“We have taken the decision to accept this request — to prevent Iran firing missiles across the region, killing innocent civilians, putting British lives at risk and hitting countries that have not been involved.”

Given Starmer’s new stance, it is possible we could see movements of B-2s and other bombers to either or both of the bases at the center of the controversy. As we have already noted, the U.S. has beefed up Diego Garcia with F-16 Fighting Falcons.

However, we don’t know the timeline for Operation Epic Fury. If it only lasts a few days, it is possible that the B-2s and other bombers could continue to fly from bases in the U.S. We just don’t know yet. 

A flight of four B-2 Spirit stealth bombers returning to Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri after bombing Iran had to divert to Dyess Air Force Base in Texas. The aircraft — PETRO41, PETRO42, PETRO43 and PETRO44 — reportedly altered their course due to weather issues at Whiteman.

You can see some of the jets landing in the following video.

According to President Trump, the United States attacked Iran because the Iranian regime posed “imminent threats” to the U.S. and its allies, including through its use of terrorist proxies and continued pursuit of nuclear weapons.

“Its menacing activities directly endanger the United States, our troops, our bases overseas and our allies throughout the world,” he said in a recorded statement Saturday.

According to leading Democrats in Congress, Trump’s justification is questionable, especially given his claims of having “completely obliterated” Iran’s nuclear capabilities in separate U.S. bombings last year.

“Everything I have heard from the administration before and after these strikes on Iran confirms this is a war of choice with no strategic endgame,” said Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee and part of a small group of congressional leaders — the Gang of Eight — who were briefed on the operation by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

That divide is bound to remain an issue politically heading into this year’s midterm elections, and could be a liability for Republicans — especially considering that some in the “America First” wing of the MAGA base were raising their own objections, citing Trump’s 2024 campaign pledges to extricate the U.S. from foreign wars, not start new ones.

The debate echoed a similar if less immediate one around President George W. Bush’s decision to go to war in Iraq following the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, also based on claims that “weapons of mass destruction” posed an immediate threat. Those claims were later disproved by multiple findings that Iraq had no such arsenal, fueling recriminations from both political parties for years.

The latest divide also intensified unease over Congress ceding its wartime powers to the White House, which for years has assumed sweeping authority to attack foreign adversaries without direct congressional input in the name of addressing terrorism or preventing immediate harm to the nation or its troops.

Even prior to the weekend bombings, Democrats including Sen. Adam Schiff of California were pushing Congress to pass a resolution barring the Trump administration from attacking Iran without explicit congressional authorization.

“President Trump must come to Congress before using military force unless absolutely necessary to defend the United States from an imminent attack,” Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), a member of the armed services and foreign relations committees, said in a statement Thursday.

In justifying the daylight strikes that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei just two days later, Trump accused the Iranian government of having “waged an unending campaign of bloodshed and mass murder” for nearly half a century — including through attacks on U.S. military assets and commercial shipping vessels abroad — and of having “armed, trained and funded terrorist militias” in multiple countries, including Hezbollah and Hamas.

Trump said that after the U.S. bombed Iran last summer, it had warned Tehran “never to resume” its pursuit of nuclear weapons. “Instead, they attempted to rebuild their nuclear program and to continue developing long-range missiles that can now threaten our very good friends and allies in Europe, our troops stationed overseas, and could soon reach the American homeland,” he said.

Other Republican leaders largely backed the president.

“The United States did not start this conflict, but we will finish it. If you kill or threaten Americans anywhere in the world — as Iran has — then we will hunt you down, and we will kill you,” said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

“Every president has talked about the threat posed by the Iranian regime. President Trump is the one with the courage to take bold, decisive action,” said Atty. Gen. Pam Bondi.

While Iran’s coordination with and sponsorship of groups such as Hezbollah and Hamas are well known, Trump’s claims about its ongoing development of nuclear weapons systems are less established — and the administration has provided little evidence to back them up.

Democrats seized on that lack of fresh intelligence in their responses to the attacks, contrasting Trump’s latest claims about imminent threats with his assertion after the separate summer bombings that the U.S. had all but eliminated Iran’s nuclear aspirations.

“Let’s be clear: The Iranian regime is horrible. But I have seen no imminent threat to the United States that would justify putting American troops in harm’s way,” said Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee and a member of the Gang of Eight. “What is the motivation here? Is it Iran’s nuclear program? Their missiles? Regime change?”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a statement that the Trump administration “has not provided Congress and the American people with critical details about the scope and immediacy of the threat,” and must do so.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said the Trump administration needs congressional authority to wage such attacks barring “exigent circumstances,” and didn’t have it.

“The Trump administration must explain itself to the American people and Congress immediately, provide an ironclad justification for this act of war, clearly define the national security objective and articulate a plan to avoid another costly, prolonged military quagmire in the Middle East,” he said.

After the U.S. military announced Sunday that three U.S. service personnel were killed and five others seriously wounded in the attacks, the demands for a clearer justification and new constraints on Trump only increased.

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Fremont) said Sunday he is optimistic that Democrats will be unified in trying to pass the war powers resolution, and also that some Republicans will join them, given that the strikes have been unpopular among a portion of the MAGA base.

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who partnered with Khanna to force the release of the Epstein files, has said he will work with him again to push a congressional vote on war with Iran, which he said was “not ‘America First.’”

Benjamin Radd, a political scientist and senior fellow at the UCLA Burkle Center for International Relations, said that whether or not Iran represented an “imminent” threat to the U.S. depends not just on its nuclear capabilities, but on its broader desire and ability to inflict pain on the U.S. and its allies — as was made clear to both the U.S. and Israel after the Hamas attacks on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which Iran praised.

“If you are Israel or the United States, that’s imminent,” he said.

What happens next, Radd said, will largely depend on whether remaining Iranian leaders stick to Khamenei’s hard-line policies, or decide to negotiate anew with the U.S. He expects they might do the latter, because “it’s a fundamentalist regime, it’s not a suicidal regime,” and it’s now clear that the U.S. and Israel have the capabilities to take out Iranian leaders, Iran has little ability to defend itself, and China and Russia are not rushing to its aid.

How the strikes are viewed moving forward may also depend on what those leaders decide to do next, said Kevan Harris, an associate professor of sociology who teaches courses on Iran and Middle East politics at the UCLA International Institute.

If the conflict remains relatively contained, it could become a political win for Trump, with questions about the justification falling away. But if it spirals out of control, such questions are only likely to grow, as occurred in Iraq when things started to deteriorate there, he said.

Israel and the U.S. are currently betting that the conflict will remain manageable, which could turn out to be true, Harris said, but “the problem with war is you never really know what might happen.”

On Sunday, Iran launched retaliatory attacks on Israel and the wider Gulf region. Trump said the campaign against Iran continued “unabated,” though he may be willing to negotiate with the nation’s new leaders. It was unclear when Congress might take up the war powers measure.

The joint U.S.-Israeli operation against Iran has entered its second day. The Iranians, as well as their regional proxies, continue to retaliate in kind against multiple countries in the region.

Readers can catch up first on the events of the first day of the war with our initial rolling coverage here.

The death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, now confirmed by Iranian authorities, has created a new dimension to the conflict. The regime in Tehran has pledged to avenge Khamenei, and has also announced 40 days of public mourning.

As Israel and the United States attacked Iran, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip began to panic. They remembered how crossings were closed in the past, causing famine, and rushed to markets to buy whatever they could. As a result, prices of food and basic necessities skyrocketed. Soon enough, the news came that the border crossings had been closed.

All of this happened just as the grace period set by Israel for 37 NGOs to withdraw from Gaza for not fulfilling registration requirements expired. Organisations like Doctors Without Borders (also known by its French acronym MSF), Medical Aid for Palestinians UK, Handicap International: Humanity & Inclusion, ActionAid, CARE, etc were supposed to stop operating in Gaza.

At the last moment, a ruling by the Israeli Supreme Court allowed them to continue working while it considers their appeal against the ban. But even with this court decision, these organisations cannot continue to function fully. That is because the Israeli occupation continues to prevent their supplies and foreign staff from entering Gaza.

According to these NGOs, together they are responsible for half of the food handouts in the Strip and 60 percent of services provided in field hospitals.

For many families in Gaza, this means hunger – because food parcels will not be distributed and livelihoods will be lost.

We know this is not about NGOs failing to meet new registration rules, just like the closure of the border crossings is not a matter of security. They are about exacting yet another form of collective punishment on the Palestinians.

Even if the Supreme Court miraculously rules against the NGO ban, the Israeli occupation would still find another way to push these foreign organisations out of Gaza. This was made clear this month when it was revealed that World Central Kitchen, which has been running dozens of soup kitchens across the Strip and which is not on the ban list, may be suspending its activities.

According to Gaza’s Government Media Office, this was because Israel blocked most of the organisation’s supply trucks from coming in. As a result, there are not enough supplies to continue cooking. World Central Kitchen previously said it serves 1 million meals daily.

So now, amid the war with Iran, which may last weeks or months, hundreds of thousands of families will not have adequate food once again.

All of this comes on top of Israel’s continuing war on UNRWA. Since its creation in late 1949, the United Nations agency has been the backbone of international support for Palestinian refugees. It has the largest capacity for emergency response and the widest spectrum of services on offer. And yet, Israel has banned its operations and has blocked its supplies from entering the Strip.

Through relentless lobbying, Israel has managed to achieve substantial cuts to UNRWA’s budget. As a result, last month 600 employees were fired. The salaries of the rest were reduced by 20 percent.

The NGO ban will likely result in thousands of people losing their jobs as well. And this is at a time when unemployment in Gaza has gone beyond 80 percent.

My family will also suffer. In the past, we have benefitted from food and basic supplies handouts from NGOs, and my brother has been able to find temporary work as a driver for one of them.

The possible closure of international organisations is a direct threat to the lives of hundreds of thousands of civilians who depend on their services and employment. The closure of the border crossings could mean another hunger crisis.

These are a form of collective punishment that yet again will not make the news. Israel is constantly thinking of new ways to make our lives that much more unbearable, that much more impossible in our devastated homeland.

Two and half years of the Israeli genocide has destroyed hospitals, schools, universities, roads, sewage and potable water systems, water treatment plants, the electricity grid, and countless generators and solar panels.

The vast majority of the population lives primitive lives in tents or makeshift shelters that cannot protect people from extreme heat or cold.

Water is contaminated, food is insufficient, land has been destroyed and poisoned.

Now we will be deprived of the little international support we have been receiving.

And what is the goal of all this? To push us ever closer to despair and the ultimate surrender, to make us desire to leave our homeland on our own. Ethnic cleansing by mutual agreement.

All of the organisations that Israel is seeking to ban are foreign. Most of them are based in Western countries. Yet there has been little to no condemnation from Western governments of Israel’s actions against their own organisations. There has been no outrage that the occupation is trying to destroy international humanitarian provision so it can fully control aid distribution.

Collective punishment is a violation of international law. States are obliged to go beyond verbal condemnations and take action by imposing sanctions. Until that happens, we in Gaza will continue to be subjected to ever more brutal acts of collective punishment by our occupiers.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.

In a rare case of “Saturday Night Live” bringing on a guest host at the exact right moment, Connor Storrie of the hit Canadian hockey romance “Heated Rivalry” brought sexy charisma to the show, even if a lot of the sketch material didn’t rise to occasion.

“SNL” parodied the show last month by mixing it with “Harry Potter,” but with Storrie, and all the attention hockey got with Team USA’s gold medal wins at the Winter Olympics, this hosting appearance felt especially well-planned. And that was even before members of the men’s and women’s teams dropped by, as did Storrie’s co-star on “Heated Rivalry” Hudson Williams, who showed up to a raucous audience reaction for a sketch, showing that a lot of people have caught up with the series since it debuted on HBO Max in November.

As for Storrie’s performance, it was perhaps the best thing on the show, which had a lot of weak sketches, from a fairly obvious cold open to an early piece that seemed like an excuse for Marcello Hernández to play a goofy teacher with an exaggerated accent.

Things got a little better with a pre-taped period piece about gentlemen giving glove slaps and Williams’ appearance in a sketch about a man’s marriage proposal going sideways because he keeps getting distracted by a group of happy men ice skating at Rockefeller Center. Storrie also played a cool teen trying to extend kindness to his extremely dorky tutor (Ben Marshall) and his equally dorky parents (Ashley Padilla and James Austin Johnson), a man who helped his friend out with his absurd leg-lengthening surgery, and an office worker who proposes a romantic office dance. Best of the night for Storrie, perhaps, was one in which he played a very injured stripper at a Las Vegas bachelorette party.

What was clear was that across a pretty broad range of character types, Storrie held his own and brought some smoldering looks and playfulness that the show, for the most part, didn’t know what to do with.

Musical guests Mumford & Sons, along with Aaron Dessner from the National, performed “Rubber Band Man” with Hozier and “Here” with Sierra Ferrell.

This week’s cold open tackled the very recent attack on Iran with President Trump (Johnson) addressing why he acted at 2 a.m. on a Saturday: “It’s after the stock market closes for the weekend and it’s to cause immeasurable fear, rage and chaos in the ‘SNL’ writers’ room,” he explained. Trump sang, “War! What is it good for? Distracting from the Epstein Files!” before introducing Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth (Colin Jost), who chugged a non-alcoholic Four Loco and showed off his knuckle tattoos for “EPIC FURY.” After a brief aside for Trump and Hegseth to complement the underappreciated Nintendo GameCube console (on which Hegseth said he played the game “Prince of Persia: Sands of Time”), Hegseth said, “We took out a horrendous, horrible leader who was opposing his own people.” Trump cut in: “But don’t get any ideas!”

In his monologue, Storrie joked about the cultural appeal of “Heated Rivalry,” which he said, “taught a lot of people about hockey… and taught a lot of straight women that their sexuality is actually gay guy.” Storrie discussed growing up in Texas, working as a waiter before he was cast in the series, and how little time he had to prepare to play a Russian hockey player for the show. He was then joined by Jack and Quinn Hughes of the men’s Olympic hockey team. But the reaction to the Hughes brothers was topped considerably in audience reaction by women’s team players Hilary Knight and Megan Keller, who came on stage. “It was just gonna be us, but we thought we’d invite the guys, too,” Knight said. “We thought we’d give them a little moment to shine,” Keller added.

Best sketch of the night: How dare they save the best jokes for a video sketch!

At a posh London gathering in 1892, things get out of hand (literally) when two men (Mikey Day and Storrie) engage in a war of words that escalates to cries of “How dare you!” followed by slaps with a glove. Others get involved, but it really gets out of hand when one man violates the so-called “gentleman’s code” by using a fist. Soon, a dog and a baby are involved in the increasingly silly slapping. Storrie’s comedic timing is particularly good in this one and the sketch resists the “SNL” trope of going straight to hardcore violence and bloodshed that it’s been doing in a lot of video sketches of late.

Also good: Tipping is appreciated for dancing while hurt

At this point, “SNL” has probably done 100 bachelorette party sketches, but none of them had Storrie showing off his abs or getting his tearaway pants pulled off. Apart from the eye candy for those seeking it, the sketch offered some solid physical comedy with Storrie playing a stripper who shows up at a hotel suite severely injured after getting hit by a car. He pushes on to fulfill his job duties, but can barely stand. Storrie does a nice job flailing and flopping, throwing his bloodied-up body around the stage and around the bachelorettes (Padilla, Sarah Sherman, Veronika Slowikowska and Jane Wickline), who don’t know whether to be repulsed or turned on.

‘Weekend Update’ winner: Advice to future maids of honor — avoid headlines

Unfortunately, both “Weekend Update” character segments felt underbaked this week. Sherman played another oversexualized pop-culture meme in an elaborate costume — the negligent mother of Punch, the baby monkey — hitting on Jost in hopes of getting pregnant. A little better, but still rough, was Slowikowska as Katie, the maid of honor at a wedding who makes jokes about the proceedings that play off of major news headlines, like cartel violence in Mexico, the Epstein files or the ongoing war in Ukraine. This one feels like it probably sounded really funny and smart at the table read, but it landed with a thud for the audience because the premise was so muddled.

President Donald Trump stood in front of regional leaders during a visit to the Middle East in May and declared a new era of US foreign policy in the region, one that is not guided by trying to reshape it or change its governing systems.

“In the end, the so-called nation-builders wrecked far more nations than they built, and the interventionists were intervening in complex societies that they did not even understand themselves,” the US president said in rebuke of his hawkish predecessors.

Less than a year later, Trump ordered an all-out assault on Iran with the stated goal of bringing “freedom” to the country, borrowing language from the playbook of interventionist neoconservatives, like former President George W Bush, whom he spent his political career criticising.

Analysts say the war with Iran does not fit with Trump’s stated political ideology, policy goals or campaign promises.

Instead, several Iran experts told Al Jazeera that Trump is waging a war, together with Israel, that only benefits Israel and its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

“This is, once again, a war of choice launched by the US with [a] push from Israel,” said Negar Mortazavi, a senior fellow at the Center for International Policy in Washington, DC.

“This is another Israeli war that the US is launching. Israel has pushed the US to attack Iran for two decades, and they finally got it.”

Mortazavi highlighted Trump’s criticism of his predecessors, who had waged regime-change wars in the region.

“It is ironic, because this is a president who called himself the ‘president of peace‘,” she told Al Jazeera.

History of warnings of the Iranian ‘threat’

Netanyahu, who promoted the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, has been warning for more than two decades that Iran is on the cusp of acquiring nuclear weapons.

Iran denies seeking a nuclear bomb, and even Trump administration officials have acknowledged that Washington has no evidence that Tehran is weaponising its uranium enrichment programme.

After the US bombed Iran’s main enrichment facilities in the 12-day war in June last year – an attack that Trump says “obliterated” the country’s nuclear programme – Netanyahu pivoted to a new supposed Iranian threat: Tehran’s ballistic missiles.

“Iran can blackmail any American city,” Netanyahu told pro-Israel podcaster Ben Shapiro in October.

“People don’t believe it. Iran is developing intercontinental missiles with a range of 8,000km [5,000 miles], add another 3,000 [1,800 miles], and they can get to the East Coast of the US.”

Trump repeated that claim, which Tehran has vehemently denied and has not been backed by any public evidence or testing, in his State of the Union address earlier this week.

“They’ve already developed missiles that can threaten Europe and our bases overseas, and they’re working to build missiles that will soon reach the United States of America,” he said of the Iranians.

Trump has been building the case for a wider war with Iran since the June conflict, repeatedly threatening to bomb the country again.

But the US president’s own National Security Strategy last year called for de-prioritising the Middle East in Washington’s foreign policy and focusing on the Western Hemisphere.

Meanwhile, the US public, wary of global conflict after the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, has also been largely opposed to new strikes against Iran, public opinion polls show.

Only 21 percent of respondents in a recent University of Maryland survey said they favoured a war with Iran.

The first day of the war saw Iran fire missiles against bases and cities that host US troops and assets across the Middle East in retaliation for the joint US-Israeli strikes, plunging the region into chaos.

Trump acknowledged that US troops may suffer casualties in the conflict. “That often happens in war,” he said on Saturday. “But we’re doing this not for now. We’re doing this for the future. And it is a noble mission.”

‘Ignoring the vast majority of Americans’

The Trump administration had appeared to step back from the brink of conflict earlier this month by engaging in diplomacy with Tehran.

US and Iranian negotiators held three rounds of talks over the past week, with Tehran stressing that it is willing to agree to rigorous inspections of its nuclear programme.

Omani mediators and Iranian officials had described the last round of negotiations, which took place on Thursday, as positive, saying that it yielded significant progress.

The June 2025 war, initiated by Israel without provocation, also came in the middle of US-Iran talks.

“Netanyahu’s agenda has always been to prevent a diplomatic solution, and he feared Trump was actually serious about getting a deal, so the start of this war in the middle of negotiations is a success for him, just like it was last June,” Jamal Abdi, the president of the National Iranian American Council (NIAC), told Al Jazeera.

“Trump’s embrace of regime change rhetoric is a further victory for Netanyahu, and loss for the American people, as it suggests the US may be committed to a long and unpredictable military boondoggle.”

While announcing the strikes on Saturday, Trump said his aim is to prevent Iran from “threatening America and our core national security interests”.

But US critics, including some proponents of Trump’s “America first” movement, have argued that Iran – more than 10,000km (6,000 miles) away – does not pose a threat to the US.

Earlier this month, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee told conservative commentator Tucker Carlson that “if it were not for Iran, there wouldn’t be Hezbollah; we wouldn’t have the problem on the border with Lebanon”.

Carlson said, “What problem on the border with Lebanon? I’m an American. I’m not having any problems on the border with Lebanon right now. I live in Maine.”

On Saturday, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib stressed that the US public does not want war with Iran.

“Trump is acting on the violent fantasies of the American political elite and the Israeli apartheid government, ignoring the vast majority of Americans who say loud and clear: No More Wars,” Tlaib said in a statement.

Iranian Ambassador to the United Nations, Amir-Saeid Iravani denounced US-Israeli military strikes across the country, decrying the deaths and injuries of hundreds of civilians as a war crime.

Democratic lawmakers have largely condemned the strikes on Iran, emphasizing the lack of congressional approval.

Lawmakers from the Democratic Party have condemned the US attacks on Iran as a “dangerous” and “unnecessary” escalation, and called on the Senate to immediately vote on legislation that would block the president’s ability to take further military action without congressional approval.

Senator Tim Kaine, a member of the Senate Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees and the primary author of the war powers resolution, called President Donald Trump’s order to attack Iran a “colossal mistake”.

“The Senate should immediately return to session and vote on my War Powers Resolution to block the use of US forces in hostilities against Iran,” Kaine said in a statement on Saturday. “Every single Senator needs to go on the record about this dangerous, unnecessary, and idiotic action.”

House of Representatives Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries echoed Kaine, saying that House Democrats are committed to forcing a floor vote on a measure to restrict Trump’s war powers regarding Iran.

“Donald Trump failed to seek Congressional authorisation prior to striking Iran. Instead, the President’s decision to abandon diplomacy and launch a massive military attack has left American troops vulnerable to Iran’s retaliatory actions,” he said in a statement. “The Trump administration must explain itself to the American people and Congress immediately.”

The push for a legislative check on Trump’s executive power has gained significant bipartisan momentum in the Senate, of which the Republican Party maintains a slim majority.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer demanded on Saturday that Congress be briefed immediately about the Iran attacks, including an all-senators classified session and public testimony, criticising the administration for not providing details on the threat’s scope and immediacy.

“The administration has not provided Congress and the American people with critical details about the scope and immediacy of the threat,” he said in a statement.

Senator Mark Warner, vice chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, described the strikes in a statement posted on X as “a deeply consequential decision that risks pulling the United States into another broad conflict in the Middle East”.

He questioned the urgency and intelligence behind the attack, warning of repeating “mistakes of the past”, like the Iraq war.

“The American people have seen this playbook before – claims of urgency, misrepresented intelligence, and military action that pulls the United States into regime change and prolonged, costly nation-building,” he said.

Not just Democrats

While the push to curb executive military authority is largely driven by the Democratic caucus, a growing contingent of Republican lawmakers has signalled a rare break from the White House to join the effort.

Republican representative Thomas Massie, one of the most outspoken critics, described the strikes as “acts of war unauthorised by Congress”.

“I am opposed to this War. This is not America First,” he wrote on X.

In the Senate, Republican Senator Rand Paul, who also co-sponsored the war powers resolution, said his opposition to the war is based on constitutional principles.

“My oath of office is to the Constitution, so with studied care, I must oppose another Presidential war,” he said on X.

Feb. 28 (UPI) — BERUIT — Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said on Saturday that he rejects any attempt to drag his country into “adventures” that threaten its security and unity, indirectly calling on Iran-backed Hezbollah to refrain from involving Lebanon in the ongoing U.S.-led war on Iran.

Salam’s warning coincided with a statement from the U.S. Embassy in Lebanon urging U.S. citizens still in the country to leave “now, while commercial options remain available.”

In a post on X, the prime minister appealed to all Lebanese “to act with wisdom and patriotism” in light of the “dangerous developments in the region,” urging them to place Lebanon’s interests “above any other consideration.”

“I reiterate that we will not accept anyone dragging the country into adventures that threaten its security and unity,” he said, referring to Hezbollah, which previously announced that it would not remain neutral if Iran were attacked and its leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, were targeted.

Salam, who also held a meeting with several ministers and relief officials, urged sparing the country the “repercussions” of the war on Iran, which broke out Saturday morning with joint U.S.-Israel attacks and prompted Iranian retaliatory strikes on Israel and U.S. targets across the Gulf Arab states.

When asked whether Hezbollah had reassured the Lebanese state that it would not participate in the war, he reiterated his call to spare Lebanon another war that “would bring even more suffering upon the Lebanese people.”

He was referring to the war with Israel that broke out on October 8, 2023, when Hezbollah opened a front in support of Gaza, during which top Hezbollah leaders, military commanders, and Lebanese civilians were killed, and substantial damage was inflicted, with border villages in southern Lebanon completely destroyed.

Despite a cease-fire agreement reached on Nov. 27, 2024, Israel continued to operate with near-total freedom, striking suspected Hezbollah operatives and positions almost daily, causing further destruction and casualties, including among civilians.

Salam and President Joseph Aoun also conducted diplomatic contacts in an effort to keep Lebanon “neutral and spare it from the repercussions” of the ongoing war in the region.

Aoun, for his part, affirmed that sparing Lebanon from “the disasters and horrors of external conflicts” and preserving its sovereignty, security, and stability are “absolute priorities.” Later, he was informed by U.S. Ambassador to Lebanon Michel Issa that Israel has “no intention of escalating” against Lebanon, as long as there are no hostile actions from the Lebanese side, according to a presidential statement.

Hezbollah, for its part, announced the postponement of a Saturday event during which its Secretary-General, Sheikh Naim Qassem, was scheduled to speak. Instead, it released a statement condemning “the treacherous U.S.-Israeli aggression” that targeted Iran after months of threats aimed at forcing it to “surrender.”

Hezbollah also expressed “full solidarity” with Tehran and urged the countries of the region to “stand against this aggressive scheme and recognize its dangers,” warning that “its dire consequences will affect everyone without exception if left unchallenged.”

It refrained from hinting to the possibility of supporting Iran militarily.

The Prime Minister condemned Iran’s strikes targeting Qatar, Bahrain, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia, during calls with their top officials to reaffirm Lebanon’s solidarity against such “aggressions.”

Asked whether the U.S. Embassy in Lebanon and the Hamat military base, which hosts U.S. training teams, might be targeted by Iran, Salam said he could not rule it out but noted that all necessary security measures had been taken to prevent such attacks.

He also confirmed that his government was prepared for “any emergency,” having adopted “proactive measures” in anticipation of war, and assured that food, medicine, and fuel were available in quantities sufficient to meet citizens’ needs for at least two months.

He noted that Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport remains open, with the country’s national carrier, Middle East Airlines, operating as usual — except for countries in the region that have closed their airspace. He added that some airlines have canceled their flights to Lebanon.

His comments came at a time U.S. citizens were urged by the U.S. State department not to travel to Lebanon and those who are already in the country to leave “now while commercial options remain available.”

Feb. 28 (UPI) — While congressional reaction to the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran overnight was largely split along party lines, Democratic and some Republican lawmakers expressed concern that President Donald Trump ordered the strikes without first seeking congressional approval.

Lawmakers — who had already been pushing to limit Trump’s ability to carry out lethal strikes on suspected drug-smuggling boats in the Caribbean — said they would renew their efforts to pass a war powers resolution.

Reps. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., said he was “opposed to this war” in a post on X Saturday morning.

“When Congress reconvenes, I will work with [Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif.] to force a congressional vote on war with Iran,” he wrote.

“The Constitution requires a vote, and your representative needs to be on record as opposing or supporting this war.”

NBC News reported that Massie and Khanna together wrote a war powers resolution ahead of the Iran attack. Under Article 1 of the Constitution, Congress, not the executive branch, has the power to declare war on another country.

NPR reported that the White House notified the top eight leaders in Congress — known collectively as the Gang of Eight — shortly before the attack.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson showed his support for Trump’s actions to limit Iran’s nuclear program.

“Today, Iran is facing the severe consequences of its evil actions,” Johnson said in a statement posted on X. “President Trump and the administration have made every effort to pursue peaceful and diplomatic solutions in response to the Iranian regime’s sustained nuclear ambitions and development, terrorism and the murder of Americans — and even their own people.”

Johnson said the Gang of Eight received a briefing earlier in the week about the potential military action.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York, meanwhile, called on the Trump administration to brief the Senate on the threat. He said he had asked Secretary of State Mark Rubio to be transparent with Congress and the American people about the objectives of the strikes and the subsequent steps.

“The administration has not provided Congress and the American people with critical details about the scope and immediacy of the treat,” he said on X.

“Confronting Iran’s malign regional activities, nuclear ambitions and harsh oppression of the Iranian people demands American strength, resolve, regional coordination and strategic clarity.

“Unfortunately, President Trump’s fitful cycles of lashing out and risking wider conflict are not a viable strategy.”

Democrats are pushing for a vote next week on a resolution to curtail President Trump’s authority to conduct strikes in Iran, a move that would reassert Congress’ role in approving the use of military might.

The effort was already underway to force a vote on a war powers resolution, but it gained fresh momentum as the U.S. and Israel bombed Iran beginning early Saturday, an action that Trump referred to in a video shortly afterward as “war.” House Democratic leaders announced this week — before the strikes — that they would begin procedures to force a floor vote on a resolution for Iran.

The resolution directs Trump to terminate the use of armed forces against Iran, unless explicitly authorized by Congress. Presidents of both parties have skirted around war powers resolutions in the past.

Passage is uncertain in the Republican-controlled House and Senate, with GOP members of both chambers expressing initial support for the bombing of Iran. Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) praised the attacks Saturday and said to reporters that the administration “better well make it about getting new leadership and regime change.”

But the effort for a war powers vote has gained the support of at least two House Republicans, Thomas Massie of Kentucky and Warren Davidson of Ohio, making it possible for the measure to pass the House if enough Democrats support the measure and enough members show up for the final vote.

On the Senate side, Republican Rand Paul of Kentucky, who voted for an earlier war powers resolution, said he would “oppose another presidential war.”

House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said Iran “is a bad actor and must be aggressively confronted for its human rights violations, nuclear ambitions, support of terrorism and the threat it poses” to allies in the region.

“However, absent exigent circumstances, the Trump administration must seek authorization for the preemptive use of military force that constitutes an act of war,” Jeffries’ statement said.

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Fremont), a California Democrat who is co-sponsoring the resolution with Massie, urged lawmakers to reconvene in Washington on Monday to vote, calling the strikes the launch of “an illegal regime change war in Iran with American lives at risk.”

Massie on social media described the attack as “acts of war unauthorized by Congress.”

The resolution faced initial opposition from staunch pro-Israel House Democrats Jared Moskowitz of Florida and Josh Gottheimer of New Jersey.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said the Senate should pass the resolution but didn’t outright oppose the strikes. He complained that the administration did not lay out its case to Congress or the public.

Trump would surely veto the resolution if passed, but substantial GOP votes for it could persuade him to limit the attacks on Iran. The Senate passed a procedural vote for a resolution against the strikes in January that culminated in the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, after which the White House sent Secretary of State Marco Rubio to Capitol Hill to testify to members.

The U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war, but no president since Franklin D. Roosevelt in World War II has used that formal declaration, instead relying on less expansive authorization to deploy military force. Congress passed the War Powers Resolution in 1973 to slow the Vietnam War.

However, most presidents have sought some level of buy-in and approval from Congress, which approves the budget for the Pentagon.

“The Constitution is clear: The decision to take this nation to war rests with Congress, and launching large-scale military operations — particularly in the absence of an imminent threat to the United States — raises serious legal and constitutional concerns,” Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) said in a statement. “Congress must be fully briefed, and the administration must come forward with a clear legal justification.”

Other Senate Democrats, including Tim Kaine of Virginia and Andy Kim of New Jersey, have also urged their chamber to vote on a similar measure to put checks on Trump’s use of military force in Iran.

Rubio notified the so-called Gang of Eight — the top congressional leaders in the House and Senate and on the intelligence committees — of the strikes, the White House said.

Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), the chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, defended the strikes as “pivotal and necessary.”

“The President has stated the operation’s goals clearly: thwart permanently the ayatollahs’ desire to create a nuclear weapon, degrade their ballistic missile force and their production capacity, and destroy their naval and terrorism capabilities,” Wicker said in a statement.

Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) noted in his statement: “This is not how a democracy goes to war.”

Wasson writes for Bloomberg.

Israel has launched an attack on Iran, striking targets in Tehran.

A U.S. official has confirmed to TWZ that the U.S. is attacking Iran. Including strikes from air and sea, the official said. See updates down below.

Details remain extremely limited at this time, but what we know is that Israel struck targets as part of what it is calling a preemptive strike. Images from the capital show smoke plumes rising in urban areas. In addition, we have seen video from Iraq showing what appear to be low flying cruise missiles or possibly fighter aircraft. Iraq has been the primary access point for the Israeli Air Force in past strikes on Iran.