On Monday, the Middle East crisis intensified following US-Israeli strikes on Iran and retaliatory attacks, marking the third day of high-intensity military operations.
Iran Red Crescent said that 555 people killed in Iran since the start of the war three days ago.
US President Donald Trump said Monday that military operations against Iran are likely to last four to five weeks but warned that he was prepared “to go far longer than that,” as the conflict in the Middle East intensified with widening attacks and mounting casualties across the region.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, in a press conference, said Washington did not start the conflict with Iran but will “finish it” under President Donald Trump.
The wife of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was injured in US-Israeli attack, has succumbed to her injuries, according to Iran's Rasnim news agency.
In a major development today, QatarEnergy halts LNG production after Iranian drones targeted Saudi Arabia's massive Ras Tanura refinery on the Gulf coast.
A Saudi defence ministry spokesman said two drones had targeted the refinery and been intercepted, according to a statement posted by the Saudi Press Agency on X.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said their missile attacks have targeted the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the headquarters of the Israeli air force commander.
Iran’s ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Reza Najafi, has claimed that US-Israeli airstrikes targeted Iran’s Natanz nuclear enrichment site.
Meanwhile, the UN nuclear watchdog IAEA urged "utmost retraint" saying that the situation the the Middle East was "very concerning".
Earlier in the day, multiple American warplanes crashed in Kuwait but their crew survived, Kuwait's defence ministry said.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has tried to justify the coordinated attacks with Israel on Iran since Saturday as driven by self-defence.
The US Embassy in Riyadh has urged American citizens to “shelter in place immediately,” according to its post on X. The US Mission to Saudi Arabia said the advisory applies to Riyadh, Jeddah and Dhahran, and that non-essential travel to military sites is restricted. A Saudi defense spokesperson confirmed two drones caused a fire at the compound. Fox News reported the embassy was empty at the time, with no injuries.
Two drones attacked the US Embassy in Riyadh early Tuesday, causing a small fire and minor damage, according to Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Defense. The incident comes as regional tensions intensify, with Iran continuing retaliatory strikes across the Gulf following recent US and Israeli military actions. No major structural damage or casualties were immediately reported.
A classified briefing at the Capitol left lawmakers with little clarity about the purpose, cost and next steps in the U.S. operation against Iran.
Republican Speaker Mike Johnson described the U.S. attack as a “defensive operation” because he said Israel was determined to act on their own against Iran, “with or without American support.”
Johnson said Trump had a “very difficult decision” to make, and determined that Iran would immediately retaliate against U.S. personnel and assets.
But Sen. Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, said “there was no imminent threat to the United States of America by the Iranians. There was a threat to Israel.”
Rubio, Hegseth and others briefed the lawmakers, but Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said he found their answers “completely and totally insufficient.”
The Trump administration will likely seek supplemental funds from Congress to pay for the operation, they said.
The United Arab Emirates says its working to intercept a major missile attack launched by Iran.
“Emirati air defences are currently dealing with a barrage of ballistic missiles coming from Iran,” the Defence Ministry said in a statement.
The ministry “affirms its full readiness to deal with all threats to ensure the protection of the country’s territory and the safety of citizens and residents”, it added.
The US Department of State has called on nationals to immediately leave more than a dozen countries in the Middle East during ongoing US-Israeli strikes against Iran.
US citizens were urged to depart using commercial means from Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, the occupied West Bank and Gaza, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates and Yemen, according to Mora Namdar, the department’s assistant secretary for consular affairs.
The intensity of the attacks, the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, and the lack of any apparent exit plan has set the stage for a prolonged conflict with far-reaching consequences.
Israel's military said it "struck and dismantled" the headquarters of Iran's state radio and television broadcaster, as it pressed on with its campaign against the Islamic republic.
"A short while ago, the Israeli Air Force struck and dismantled the Iranian terrorist regime's communications centre" in Tehran, the military said, referring to IRIB.
"The activities taking place at the centre were carried out and directed by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps. Over the years, the Iranian Broadcasting Authority called for the destruction of the State of Israel and for the use of nuclear weapons," the military added.
The US president claimed — without any evidence to back his assertion — that had he not scrapped the Iran nuclear deal signed by his predecessor Barack Obama, Tehran would have had a nuclear bomb by now.
“If I didn’t terminate Obama’s horrendous Iran Nuclear Deal (JCPOA), Iran would have had a Nuclear Weapon three years ago. That was the most dangerous transaction we have ever entered into, and had it been allowed to stand, the World would be an entirely different place right now. You can blame Barack Hussein Obama, and Sleepy Joe Biden,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Most independent analysts and inspectors had concluded, at the time, that Iran had complied with the JCPOA and kept its uranium enrichment under limit — far from levels needed to build nuclear weapons.
The Israeli military has issued an urgent evacuation warning to residents in Beirut’s southern suburbs, specifically from a building identified on a map shared by its Arabic-language spokesperson.
Avichay Adraee said the building and adjacent structures in the Haret Hreik neighbourhood are located near what he claimed were Hezbollah facilities the military intends to target.
He urged residents to evacuate immediately and move at least 300 metres away.
The Israeli military said on Monday it planned to strike the Evin area in Tehran, warning residents to leave the designated zone.
"The military will soon strike the Evin area of Tehran, in the Broadcasting Authority compound, as marked on the map," the military said in a Farsi-language post on X.
"In the coming hours, the (Israeli military) will operate in the area, as it has in recent days throughout Tehran, to strike military infrastructure belonging to the Iranian regime," it added, showing an attached map of the targeted area.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has tried to justify the coordinated attacks with Israel on Iran since Saturday as driven by self-defence.
Faced with questions from reporters on whether the Trump administration needed Congressional approval to wage war on Iran, Rubio attempted to frame the US actions as aimed at preempting Iranian strikes against American bases in the region.
“If we stood and waited for that attack [from Iran] to come first, before we hit them, we would suffer much higher casualties,” Rubio said. “And so the president made a very wise decision: We knew that there was going to be an Israeli action. We knew that would precipitate an attack against American forces. And we knew that if we didn’t preemptively go after them, before they launched those attacks, we would suffer higher casualties”.
In remarks to state media, the Iranian top diplomat has said the Kuwaiti government announced that its base would not be used against Iran.
“So what were these three fighter jets that were targeted today doing in Kuwaiti territory?” he said, referring to the US jets accidentally shot down by Kuwaiti air defences earlier.
“Kuwait’s defence system is supplied by the US, and if their claim that Kuwait’s defence system mistakenly shot down three fighter jets is true, they are questioning the prestige of their own army,” Araghci also said.
“The Kuwaiti government must explain what American fighter jets were doing there.”
A commander in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard says the Strait of Hormuz is now closed and warned any vessel attempting to pass through will be attacked, according to Iranian state media.
“The strait is closed. If anyone tries to pass the heroes of the Revolutionary Guard and the regular navy will set those ships ablaze,” said Ebrahim Jabari, a senior adviser to the paramilitary force’s commander-in-chief.
The Strait of Hormuz, which lies between Iran and Oman, is one of the world’s most critical oil transit routes, with roughly a 20 percent of global oil supplies passing through it.
Any disruptions there will likely send crude prices sharply higher and raise fears of a regional escalation.
Pressed on how long the U.S. military would remain focused on Iran, Rubio said as long as it takes.
“The hardest hits are yet to come from the U.S. military. The next phase will be even more punishing on Iran than it is right now,” he told reporters at the U.S. Capitol.
“How long will it take? I don’t know how long it will take,” he said. “We have objectives. We will do this as long as it takes to achieve those objectives.”
We would love for there to be an Iran that’s not governed by radical Shia clerics,” he said heading into a classified briefing on Capitol Hill. “That’s not the objective.”
The initial joint U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran killed the country’s Supreme Leader Ali Ayatollah Khamenei, along with many other top leaders.
“The objectives of this operation are to destroy their ballistic missile capability and make sure they can’t rebuild it, and make sure that they can’t hide behind that to have a nuclear program,” he said. “That’s the objective of the mission.”
Rubio, Hegseth and others are briefing the congressional leaders and the top lawmakers on the national security committees in Congress about the Iran operation.
At least six US service members have been killed in action after the United States and Israel started bombing Iran on Saturday, the military says.
“US forces recently recovered the remains of two previously unaccounted for service members from a facility that was struck during Iran’s initial attacks in the region,” said US Central Command in a statement.
“Major combat operations continue. The identities of the fallen are being withheld until 24 hours after next of kin notification.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Monday that the United States would not "deliberately" target a school, after Iran said 168 people died in an alleged US-Israeli strike.
"The United States would not deliberately target a school. Our objectives are missiles, both the ability to manufacture them and the ability to launch them," Rubio told reporters, while adding that the Pentagon was investigating the alleged incident.
A missile detonated near a hospital earlier today, an official at Iran’s Health Ministry says. It’s unclear if there were any casualties or how severe the damage was.
In a post on X, Hossein Kermanpour said smoke was seen rising nearby from a missile that landed beside the hospital where he works as a member of the medical staff.
“Patients poured out in fear,” he wrote, calling on “all free people of the world to bear witness”.
Iranian authorities say several hospitals have been damaged in recent air attacks by Israel and the US, and some facilities have been evacuated.
Iranian officials also reported damage to the Aboozar Children’s Hospital in Ahvaz, in western Iran, as well as to three emergency medical centres in East Azerbaijan, Sistan-Baluchistan, and Hamedan provinces.
The Israeli military said on Monday that it struck multiple Iranian intelligence offices and other command centres as it pressed ahead with attacks on the Islamic republic.
"The (Israeli military) struck over 10 headquarters belonging to the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence -- the regime's main intelligence body -- as well as numerous Quds Force headquarters," the military said in a statement, referring to the branch of Iran's Revolutionary Guards which oversees its foreign operations
The US embassy in the Jordanian capital Amman said it had temporarily evacuated its staff due to an unspecified threat on Monday.
"Out of an abundance of caution, all personnel at the US Embassy have temporarily departed the embassy compound due to a threat," it said in a security alert posted on social media.
Jordan is among countries across the Middle East that have been responding to Iranian counterattacks against a joint US-Israeli campaign that killed its supreme leader.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says Iran is “not at war with regional countries” but it is with the United States after the country was attacked on Saturday.
Middle East nations must “pressure the US” over its actions against Iran, Araghchi added.
He accused the US of “betraying diplomacy” when it carried out air strikes alongside Israel despite ongoing negotiations to avoid a military confrontation.
Araghchi suggested US military bases – even if based in Gulf countries – are still legitimate targets.
“We’re not attacking our neighbours, we’re attacking US military bases,” he told state media. “US soldiers fleeing to hotels will not prevent them from being targeted.”
Moments before U.S. First Lady Melania Trump led a U.N. Security Council session Monday on protecting children in armed conflict, Amir Saeid Iravani, Iranian ambassador to the U.N., blasted the subject of the meeting, saying that it was in contrast to the reported deadly strikes on a girl’s school in Iran on Saturday.
“It is deeply shameful and hypocritical,” Iravani told reporters, “that on the very first day of its presidency of the Security Council, the United States convenes a high-level meeting on protecting children, technology, and education in armed conflict under the agenda item ‘Maintenance of international peace and security,’ while at the same time launching missile strikes against Iranian cities and bombing schools and killing children.”
He added, “For the United States, ‘protecting children’ and ‘maintaining international peace and security’ clearly mean something very different from what the UN Charter provides.”
Hamas has criticised what it described as “aggression” by Israel against Lebanese territory calling it a “dangerous escalation”.
In a statement the Palestinian group said the air strikes are part of “ongoing violations against Lebanon and its sovereignty” and an extension of what it described as Israeli assaults across the Middle East.
Hamas said it holds Israel “fully responsible for the repercussions” and expressed solidarity with Lebanon.
A Cypriot government source told AFP on Monday that Iranian-made drones that targeted a British military base in Cyprus had been launched from nearby Lebanon, probably by Hezbollah.
The source said "it has been confirmed" the drones -- one of which struck a runway -- had set off from Lebanon. When asked if the Iran-backed militant group had launched them, they replied "most likely".
A statement by the US Central Command on X says: “Two days ago, the Iranian regime had 11 ships in the Gulf of Oman, today they have ZERO.”
“The Iranian regime has harassed and attacked international shipping in the Gulf of Oman for decades,” it also said.
“Those days are over.”
Danny Danon, the Israeli ambassador to the U.N., told reporters Monday that despite the ongoing impact on civilians, including several Israelis who have been killed, it is part of the “sacrifice” for future generations and it will continue “as long as it takes.”
“We all know those we have lost, despite the sacrifice, we are determined,” he said. “We will not stop until we achieve our objectives.”
Israel and the U.S. have given conflicting answers about what exactly the objectives of this war are and what the endgame is for what is slowly becoming a wider regional conflict, with escalations touching nearly every country in the Middle East.
The Turkish president has promised to help reach a ceasefire between the United States and Israel and Iran.
“We are on the side of peace. We want an end to the bloodbath, for the tears to stop flowing, and that our region finally reach the lasting peace it has cried out for for years,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan told members of his party in Ankara.
Erdogan, who maintains good relations with President Donald Trump despite frequently criticising American ally Israel, insisted the US-Israeli strikes on Saturday, which sparked the war and triggered retaliation from Tehran, were “illegal”.
“We will intensify our contacts at all levels until a ceasefire is concluded and tranquility is restored to our region,” he said, adding he’s “grieving at the sight of the suffering of the civilians and innocent children” in Iran hit by the conflict.
Muslim-majority Turkiye, which is a member of NATO, shares a 500km (315-mile) border with Iran.
Iran accused Israel and the United States on Monday of having attacked its nuclear facility at Natanz, one of the main targets of the previous conflict between the three countries last June.
"The criminal regimes of the United States and Israel, pursuing their aggression, again targeted the Natanz nuclear site on Sunday afternoon in two brutal attacks," Iran's atomic energy chief Mohammad Eslami said in a letter to the UN's nuclear watchdog quoted by the IRNA news agency.
The UN agency's head had said on Monday that there was "no indication" any nuclear installations had been hit.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called Monday for restraint as clashes between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon intensified amid the Israeli and US war on the armed group's main backer Iran, his spokesman said.
"We're seriously concerned about the exchange of fire across the Blue Line. The situation on the ground is evolving rapidly, and we're monitoring developments closely," spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
"We're also aware that of the strikes aimed at Israel claimed by Hezbollah and the Israeli strikes that have reportedly resulted in 31 fatalities and many more injured north of the Blue Line in Lebanon.
"We urge utmost restraint and call on the parties to uphold the cessation of hostilities agreement."
Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned on Monday that the United States "will no longer be safe", on the third day of joint US-Israeli attacks against the Islamic republic.
"The enemy should know that their happy days are over and they will no longer be safe anywhere in the world, not even in their own homes," the Guards' Quds force, which oversees its foreign operations, said in a statement carried by state TV.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Monday said his country "will not remain silent" after what he described as US-Israeli strikes on a school and a Tehran hospital.
"Attacks on hospitals strike at life itself. Attacks on schools target a nation's future... The world must condemn it," he wrote on X.
"Iran will not remain silent or yield to these crimes," he added. Iran has claimed 168 were killed at the school in the south on Saturday but neither the United States nor Israel have confirmed the strike, while the incident at Tehran's Gandhi hospital took place on Sunday.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard says it attacked an alleged US-linked oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz as part of a wave of strikes retaliating against the US-Israel assault.
“The ATHE NOVA tanker, one of the American allies in the Strait of Hormuz, is still on fire after being hit by two drones,” the Guard said in a statement.
On Saturday, the elite paramilitary force said it closed the waterway, which is vital for global oil-and-gas shipments after the start of US and Israeli attacks.
The Strait of Hormuz handles roughly one-fifth of the world’s traded oil and significant volumes of liquefied natural gas exports from Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. About 20 percent of global daily oil consumption, roughly 20 million barrels passes through the narrow corridor.
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte has praised US and Israeli military action against Iran, but has ruled out the alliance joining the regional conflict.
Speaking to Germany’s ARD television in Brussels, Rutte said it was “really important” what the US was doing “together with Israel” to take out and degrade Iran’s capacity to develop nuclear and ballistic missile capability.
He went on to stress that NATO as an alliance would not be involved. “There are absolutely no plans whatsoever for NATO to get dragged into this or to be part of it,” he said, adding that individual allies may support US efforts.
A drone struck a fuel tank terminal in the Emirati capital Abu Dhabi Monday, causing a fire though operations were not impacted, authorities said, as Iran struck more oil facilities on its third day of Gulf attacks.
"Abu Dhabi authorities have responded today to a fire resulting from the targeting of a Musaffah fuel tank terminal by a drone. The situation was promptly contained. No injuries were reported and there was no impact on operations," the Abu Dhabi Media Office said in a statement.
The unfolding war in the Middle East is putting civilians in grave danger, Mirjana Spoljaric, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), has warned.
“Widening hostilities across the Middle East are putting civilian lives in grave danger,” said Spoljaric in a statement published on social media.
“The scale of major military operations flaring across the Middle East risks embroiling the region – and beyond – into another large-scale armed conflict that will overwhelm any humanitarian response.”
The president said U.S. forces are out to destroy Iran’s missile capabilities, wipe out its naval capacity, stop the country from obtaining a nuclear weapon and “ensuring that the Iranian regime cannot continue to arm fund and directors armies outside of their borders.”
He said U.S. attacks have already “knocked out” 10 ships, and that attacks on Iran’s missile capacity is ensuring they is destroyed while stopping “their capacity to produce brand ones.”
“This was our last, best chance to strike — what we’re doing right now — and eliminate the intolerable threats posed by this sick and sinister regime,” Trump said.
Hezbollah condemned on Monday the Lebanese government's decision to ban its military activities, while Israel carried out retaliatory strikes in response to rockets fired by the Iran-backed group.
In a statement, Mohammed Raad, the head of the group's parliamentary bloc, condemned Beirut's "swaggering decisions", saying that "the Lebanese were expecting a decision rejecting the (Israeli) aggression".
US President Donald Trump has honoured the troops killed in Iranian attacks in the Middle East.
“Today we grieve for the four heroic service members killed in action and send our love and support to their families,” said Trump.
“In their memory we continue this mission with ferocious, unyielding resolve to crush the threat this terrorist regime poses to the American people.”
The US president has blamed the administration of Barrack Obama for allowing Iran develop its nuclear programme – a main justification he used for launching the war.
“They were on the road to getting one [a nuclear weapon] legitimately through deal signed foolishly by our country,” said Trump.
“Finally we’re ensuring the regime cannot fund or direct armies outside of their borders. We thought we had a deal and then they backed out. Then they came back, we thought we had a deal and they backed out. I said, ‘you can’t deal with these people’.”
President Donald Trump said Monday that the US attack on Iran is meeting its goals ahead of schedule but also warned the war could go "far longer" than his initial estimates of about a month.
"We're already substantially ahead of our time projections," Trump said at the White House, adding: "From the beginning we projected four to five weeks, but we have capability to go far longer than that. We'll do it."
The US leader has justified the joint American-Israeli strikes on Iran saying it nuclear programme was a growing threat to the United States.
“This was our last best chance to strike and eliminate the intolerable threats posed by this sick and sinister regime,” Trump told the media in White House.
Four Greek F-16 fighter jets landed in Cyprus on Monday to bolster the country’s security, after a drone struck a U.K. military base.
The drone strike caused minor damage, according to Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides. Another two drones flying in the direction of RAF Akrotiri shortly after midday Monday where intercepted after two British Typhoon fighter jets and another pair of F-35 warplanes were scrambled from the base.
Cyprus government spokesman Constantinos Letymbiotis posted on X that the arrival of the F-16s was done in close cooperation with Greece, which was also sending two navy frigates equipped with an anti-drone system.
Arab countries on Monday slammed Iran's wave of retaliatory strikes across the Middle East, decrying at the United Nations that Tehran had upended their attempts to avoid a regional escalation.
After the United States and Israel began striking Iran on Saturday, Tehran launched a wave of reprisal attacks at targets across the Middle East.
The Group of Arab States told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva that Iran's attacks were an "extremely grave" violation of international law that threatened regional stability.
The Israeli military said it has completed “a broad wave of strikes” on dozens of targets in southern Lebanon, including weapons storage facilities and missile launchers that it said belonged to the militant group Hezbollah.
At least 31 people were killed in overnight Israeli strikes in Lebanon after Hezbollah launched rockets into Israel for the first time in more than a year, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry.
Iranian media said Mansoureh Khojasteh, wife of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, died on Monday. She had been in a coma since Saturday’s strikes on her husband’s office.
Khojasteh, 78, was the only wife of Ali Khamenei. They married in 1964.
Separately, an Iranian human rights activists’ group cited an education ministry spokesperson as saying that 171 students were killed across Iran in the past 48 hours.
The Israeli military’s Home Front Command said all schools across the country will remain closed and the ban on attending workplaces will continue at least until Saturday evening. Gatherings are prohibited and all beaches will remain closed to the public.
The nationwide restrictions were first imposed after Israel and the US launched a war against Iran on Saturday.
The top commander in Lebanon of the Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, was killed at dawn Monday in an Israeli airstrike on a southern suburb of Beirut.
The group gave no further details about Adham Adnan al-Othman but said he had a long history of fighting Israeli forces.
Like the larger and stronger Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad was formed in the 1980s as a radical Islamist movement fighting Israel.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has led Iran to strike military and economic targets in a more “reckless” manner in the region.
The death of Khamenei “will not stop Iran from launching these strikes,” Starmer told parliament. “In fact, their approach is becoming even more reckless and more dangerous to civilians.”
The Israeli military said on Monday it hit more than 70 Hezbollah targets including missile launchers in a wave of strikes against the Iran-backed armed group in southern Lebanon.
"A short while ago, the (Israeli military) completed a broad wave of strikes on Hezbollah terrorist organisation targets in southern Lebanon. As part of the strikes, more than 70 weapons storage facilities, launch sites, and missile launchers belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organisation were struck in a number of locations," a military statement said.
The Iranian government has urged people to gather on Monday evening across Tehran in support of the Islamic republic and to pay tribute to supreme Ali Khamenei, who was killed at the weekend.
The appeal was broadcast on state television on the third day of strikes by the United States and Israel, which on Monday vowed to intensify its campaign against "key elements of the regime".
The United Arab Emirates said it intercepted nine ballistic and six cruise missiles and 148 drones on Monday.
The Defense Ministry said it has repelled hundreds of Iranian drones and missiles since the attacks began on Saturday, in response to U.S.-Israeli bombardment.
No death casualties were reported Monday. Three people were killed in Iranian attacks on Sunday.
The US president has said a “big wave” of US military action against Iran is still to come, describing the current campaign as only the beginning of a broader assault.
“We haven’t even started hitting them hard. The big wave hasn’t even happened. The big one is coming soon,” Trump said in an interview with CNN.
Qatar's air force shot down two aircraft inbound from Iran on Monday, Doha's defence ministry said in a statement after the Islamic republic earlier targeted gas facilities in the Gulf state.
"Qatar Emiri Air Force successfully shot down two (SU24) aircraft coming from the Islamic Republic of Iran. They also successfully intercepted seven ballistic missiles through air defenses, and intercepted five drones by Qatar Emiri Air Force and Qatar Emiri Navy Forces, which targeted several areas in the state today," the defence ministry said.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer defended Monday his decision to keep Britain out of the US and Israel's initial strikes against Iran following criticism from President Donald Trump.
"President Trump has expressed his disagreement with our decision not to get involved in the initial strikes, but it is my duty to judge what is in Britain's national interest. That is what I have done, and I stand by it," Starmer told parliament.
The premier also said that British military bases in Cyprus "are not being used by US bombers", after he agreed to a US request to use UK bases for "specific and limited defensive purposes" in the war.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday said the joint US-Israeli campaign against Iran aimed in part to create the conditions for Iranians to oust their leadership, adding that the time was approaching for them to do so.
"That day is drawing near. And when it comes, Israel and the United States will be there, together with the Iranian people. And it is important that the Iranian people be there with us. That depends on them, we will be there," Netanyahu told journalists in televised remarks when he visited a site hit by an Iranian missile.
Since Israel and the United States first launched strikes on Iran on Saturday, Netanyahu has said it is time for Iranians to "cast off the yoke of tyranny" and US President Donald Trump has told them to "take back your country."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has visited the site of a deadly Iranian missile attack in central Israel.
Nine people were killed Sunday when a missile slammed into a shelter located in a synagogue in Beit Shemesh.
Netanyahu accused Iran of intentionally targeting civilians and said the country poses a threat to the entire world. He said the world would benefit from the joint Israel-U.S. war against Iran.
“We set out to protect ourselves, but in doing so we protect many others,” Netanyahu said.
The French president has announced that his country will increase the number of nuclear warheads in its arsenal for the first time in decades.
Speaking on Monday at the L’Ile Longue military base in northwestern France, home to the country’s ballistic missile submarines, Emmanuel Macron said he had decided to raise the number of warheads from the current level of fewer than 30.
He did not specify how many would be added. It would mark the first increase in France’s nuclear stockpile since at least 1992.
Macron said the move was aimed at clarifying the role of France’s nuclear deterrent in Europe’s security architecture amid what he described as growing global threats and uncertainty surrounding US security guarantees to European allies.
Macron also said France would allow the temporary deployment of its nuclear-armed aircraft to allied countries and announced that France, Germany and the United Kingdom would work together on “very long-range missile projects” as part of deeper cooperation on strike capabilities.
Lebanon's government has decided on an "immediate ban" of Iran-backed Hezbollah's military and security activity, Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said Monday, in an unprecedented move as Israel retaliated to rocket fire.
French President Emmanuel Macron warned Monday that a widening war between the United States, Israel, and Iran risks spilling over to Europe's borders.
The conflict, which began on Saturday, "brings and will continue to bring instability and a possible conflagration to our borders, with Iran's nuclear and ballistic capabilities still intact", he said.
Bahrain’s National Communication Center said, a new wave of Iranian ballistic missiles and drones was intercepted by the Kingdom’s missile air defense system.
Bahrain’s state-run news agency reported that the center said Monday the kingdom successfully repelled 70 missiles and 59 drones, as the war continued to rattle the region.
Five civilians, including a child, have been killed in an Israeli airstrike on the village of Sarabeleh in western Iran’s Kermanshah province, according to Iran’s Tasnim news agency.
The report said the bombing struck the rural settlement in the border province, which has witnessed repeated attacks amid the escalating Iran-Israel conflict.
Russian President Vladimir Putin urged a ceasefire in the Middle East during phone calls with Emirati and Qatari leaders on Monday amid the escalating war in the Middle East.
In a call with UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, both leaders "emphasised the need for an immediate ceasefire and a return to the political and diplomatic process," the Kremlin said in a readout.
The Russian leader also said he was ready to convey to Tehran the UAE's concerns about Iranian retaliation strikes and to provide assistance in stabilising the situation in the region.
Israel's military chief Eyal Zamir on Monday warned that his country would strike "all terrorist leaders and factions" across the Middle East, vowing to deal a severe blow to Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.
"We will end this campaign with not just Iran being struck but with Hezbollah suffering a devastating blow," Zamir was quoted as saying in a military statement.
"Our message is clear and resonates throughout the Middle East: We will strike all terrorist leaders and factions who rise to harm us. We have proven this and will continue to prove it," he added.
Dubai Airports said "limited" flights would resume on Monday evening, three days after they were cancelled.
"Dubai Airports announces a limited resumption of flights from Dubai International Airport (DXB) and Dubai World Central - Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC) starting this evening, Monday, March 2, 2026," it said in a statement.
Emirates and low-cost carrier flydubai both said they would resume some flights Monday evening.
Eihad Airways, which operates flights from Abu Dhabi, said it would resume flights on Tuesday.
The US Embassy in Lebanon renewed its call for citizens to leave Lebanon immediately as the Middle East war expanded to Lebanon.
"We urge US citizens not to travel to Lebanon. If you are in the country, depart Lebanon NOW," the US embassy said on Monday, as Israeli strikes pounded Beirut's southern suburbs, and dozens of villages mainly in south Lebanon.
"The US Embassy strongly encourages US citizens in Southern Lebanon, near the borders with Syria, in refugee settlements, and in the Dahiyeh neighborhood of Beirut to depart those areas immediately," the embassy said.
US forces have achieved air superiority over Iran, top US military officer General Dan Caine said on Monday.
Strikes by American forces "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," Caine told a news conference.
Israel’s army says its forces have begun striking “Hezbollah terror targets throughout Lebanon”.
“Further details to follow,” it said in a statement published on Telegram.
China's foreign minister told his Omani counterpart that Beijing was "willing to play a constructive role" towards stopping fighting in the Middle East, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Monday.
Beijing "supports Oman in... continuing to carry out peace promotion work," Wang Yi told Oman's Badr Albusaidi, who mediated recent talks between Iran and the United States.
"China is also willing to play a constructive role, including upholding justice, striving for peace, and stopping the war through the platform of the UN Security Council," Wang said.
The wife of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was injured in US-Israeli attack, has succumbed to her injuries, according to Iran's Rasnim news agency.
US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has said Washington did not start the conflict with Iran but will “finish it” under President Donald Trump.
Speaking at a Pentagon press briefing, he said the campaign, Operation Epic Fury, is focused on destroying Iran’s missiles, naval assets, and preventing Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons, stressing that the war is not aimed at regime change.
India’s Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas is closely monitoring the impact of the ongoing West Asia crisis on domestic fuel supplies. The ministry reviewed the availability of crude oil, LPG, and other petroleum products with senior officials and public sector units.
In a post on X, the ministry said all necessary steps will be taken to ensure continued availability and affordability of major petroleum products across the country as geopolitical tensions in the region evolve.
Strong explosions shook the west of the Iranian capital on Monday around 4:15 local time (1245 GMT), according to AFP journalists, on the third day of war with Israel and the United States.
At least two explosions, each accompanied by two to three detonations, were heard by AFP journalists in Tehran, though the target of the blasts was unclear. Iranian media outlets Shargh, Ham Mihan and Etemad confirmed the explosions.
The Israeli military said it killed the head of Hezbollah's intelligence services, Hussein Moukalled, in a strike in Beirut on Sunday as Israel traded fire with the Lebanese armed group.
"The IDF now confirms that in a precise strike in Beirut last night (Sunday), the terrorist Hussein Moukalled, who served as the head of Hezbollah's intelligence headquarters, has been eliminated," the army said in a statement.
The US military on Monday announced four American service members had been killed in the war on Iran.
"As of 7:30 am ET (1130 GMT), 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," US Central Command (CENTCOM) wrote on X.
Qatar's state-run energy firm said on Monday it had halted liquefied natural gas production following Iranian attacks on facilities at two of its main gas processing bases.
"Due to military attacks on QatarEnergy's operating facilities in Ras Laffan Industrial City and Mesaieed Industrial City in the State of Qatar, QatarEnergy has ceased production of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and associated products," the company said in a statement.
In an interview with a UK newspaper, US President Donald Trump has said that he was "very disappointed" with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer's initial refusal to let Washington use British military bases in the ongoing conflict against Iran, reported AFP.
Starmer subsequently made a U-turn by agreeing to the use of the bases in the Indian Ocean's Chagos Islands for "specific and limited defensive purpose".
Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, Trump said Starmer’s initial refusal was unlike anything that had "happened between our countries before." He added, "It took far too much time. Far too much time."
In a joint statement, the US and six allied Gulf states – Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates – condemned Iran’s "indiscriminate and reckless attacks" across the region.
"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," said the statement.
The statement added that attacks had occurred in Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
"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," said the seven countries in the statement.
The Israeli military said it began a new "broad strike" on Tehran on Monday, as AFP journalists reported hearing loud explosions in central and eastern parts of the Iranian capital.
"The Israeli Air Force, with the guidance of Israeli Intelligence has begun an additional broad strike on Iranian terror regime targets in the heart of Tehran," the military said in a statement, on the third day of the joint US-Israeli operation against Iran.
Three US fighter jets were downed in a “friendly fire incident” by Kuwaiti air defenses, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said.
The F-15 Strike Eagles were operating in support of Operation Epic Fury against Iran when they were mistakenly shot, amid ongoing attacks from Iranian aircraft, drones, and ballistic missiles.
All six crew members ejected safely and have been recovered in stable condition. Kuwait has acknowledged the incident, and CENTCOM said the cause is under investigation, while praising the efforts of Kuwaiti defense forces during the operation.
Two Iranian drones targeted a power plant in Qatar and a separate energy facility on Monday, the Qatari defence ministry said.
One drone targeted a water tank belonging to a power plant in Mesaieed south of Doha and another targeted an energy facility in Ras Laffan on the north coast, Qatar's main site for production of liquefied natural gas, the ministry said.
There were no reports of casualties, it added.
Loud explosions were heard on Monday in several parts of the Iranian capital, AFP journalists said.
The ongoing blasts shook apartment buildings in central Tehran and were also felt in the city's east, the journalists reported. It was not immediately clear what was the target.
A bomb-carrying drone boat struck a Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman on Monday, killing one Indian mariner on board, Oman said.
It identified the vessel as the MKD VYOM. It said the dead crew member was from India.
British Foreign Minister Yvette Cooper on Monday said an unmanned drone that struck a UK military base on Cyprus hit the runaway.
"This is an unmanned drone strike specifically on the airport runway... we're not able to provide further information and detail at this point, but obviously all of the precautionary measures are being taken around the base," Cooper told Sky News.
A ship was hit at a Bahrain port Monday, causing a fire that was extinguished and no casualties, a British maritime security agency reported, as Iran presses its retaliation campaign in the Gulf.
"UKMTO 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. All members of the ships crew are safe and have evacuated the vessel," the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said their missile attacks have targeted the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the headquarters of the Israeli air force commander.
A series of new explosions were heard above Jerusalem on Monday, AFP journalists reported, after the Israeli military said it had detected fresh missiles launched from Iran.
"A short while ago, the IDF identified missiles launched from Iran toward the territory of the State of Israel. Defensive systems are operating to intercept the threat," the military said in a statement.
Jordan has announced a partial closure of its airspace, effective from today until further notice. The Civil Aviation Regulatory Commission said all aircraft will be barred from flying between 6 pm local time (15:00 GMT) and 9 am (06:00 GMT) daily.
The move, announced on the commission’s website, is “in light of current regional developments and a risk assessment in accordance with international standards,” according to state news reports.
US and Israeli strikes on Iran have killed three Revolutionary Guard members and five army personnel, according to separate official statements on Monday.
"Three members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were killed" in an attack on a detachment in the western Lorestan province, an official IRGC statement said, according to the ISNA news agency.
In a separate attack on the western city of Khorramabad, "five members of the Iranian army were killed", Tasnim news agency said, quoting an army statement.
Iranian missiles targeting an air base near the Saudi capital of Riyadh were intercepted on Monday, a Gulf source briefed on the matter told AFP, as Iran fired wide-ranging barrages across the region.
"Iranian missiles targeting Prince Sultan Air Base were intercepted again on Monday morning," said the source.
Iran’s ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Reza Najafi, has alleged that US-Israeli airstrikes targeted Iran’s Natanz nuclear enrichment site.
Speaking to journalists on Monday, Najafi condemned the attacks as “unlawful, criminal and brutal,” saying the strikes hit Iran’s “peaceful safeguarded nuclear facilities.” He dismissed claims that Iran is seeking nuclear weapons as “simply a big lie.”
Israel's military said Monday it struck a senior Hezbollah operative in Beirut, with the defence minister saying the Lebanese group's chief Naim Qassem is "a marked target".
"A short while ago, the (Israeli military) precisely struck a senior Hezbollah terrorist in Beirut," the military said. AFPTV showed smoke rising from the southern Beirut district of Dahiyeh, a stronghold of Hezbollah.
France is "ready" to defend Gulf countries and Jordan against Iran if necessary, Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said Monday.
"To allied countries that have been deliberately targeted by the missiles and drones of the (Iranian) Revolutionary Guards and dragged into a war they did not choose -- Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Iraq, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, and Jordan -- France expresses its full support and complete solidarity," he said.
"It stands ready, in accordance with the agreements that bind it to its partners and with the principle of collective self-defence provided under international law, to take part in their defence," he said.
Iran's army it targeted US Ali Al Salem air base in Kuwait as well as vessels in the Indian ocean after the killing of the Islamic republic's supreme leader in US and Israeli strikes.
"Missile units of the army's ground and naval forces operating from various locations targeted the US Ali Al Salem air base in Kuwait as well as enemy vessels in the northern Indian Ocean over the past hours," the army said in a statement.
It added that "15 cruise missiles" were used in the attacks.
UN nuclear watchdog head Rafael Grossi said the situation in the Middle East was "very concerning", urging "utmost restraint".
"I reiterate my call on all parties to exercise maximum restraint to avoid further escalation," Grossi said as he opened a special session on Iran of the board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz, has declared that Hezbollah Secretary-General Naim Qassem is now a “target for elimination.”
The statement follows Israeli strikes on Lebanon, including the capital Beirut, that killed atleast 31 people, after Tehran-backed militant group Hezbollah fired rockets at Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran's supreme leader.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says there is no indication that Israeli or U.S. strikes on Iran have hit any nuclear facilities.
IAEA chief Rafael Grossi, told the agency’s 35-nation Board of Governors on Monday that efforts to contact Iran’s nuclear authorities are ongoing, but so far there has been no response.
“We have no indication that any of the nuclear installations … have been damaged or hit,” Grossi said.
Saudi Arabia’s Defence Ministry confirmed that two drones targeting the Aramco's Ras Tanura refinery were intercepted.
A source said the attack caused a fire at the refinery but the blaze had already been extinguished.
The attack prompted a temporary shutdown of the facility, Saudi state television authorities said.
A total of 555 people have been killed across Iran in US and Israeli strikes that began two days ago, the Iranian Red Crescent said Monday.
"Following the Zionist-American terrorist attacks carried out in various regions of our country, 131 cities have been affected to date and, regrettably, 555 of our compatriots have been killed," the humanitarian group said in a post on Telegram.
Delegates at the United Nations' nuclear agency began meeting on Monday for an extraordinary session on Iran in the wake of the US-Israeli strikes on the Islamic Republic.
Russia, a key ally of Tehran, requested the meeting on Saturday at the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), following the same request by Iran.
The extraordinary meeting precedes an already scheduled regular session of the IAEA's board of governors, which represents 35 countries.
Following the strikes, the IAEA, which monitors Iran's nuclear programme, said on Saturday that it was "closely monitoring developments in the Middle East, and urges restraint to avoid any nuclear safety risks to people in the region".
Iran’s nationwide internet blackout has now stretched beyond 48 hours, according to NetBlocks, as connectivity remains at a fraction of normal levels amid continuing US–Israeli strikes on the country. Internet access has plunged to around 1–4% of ordinary traffic, leaving most Iranians cut off from the global web as the conflict unfolds.
NetBlocks noted that shutdowns are a familiar tactic for the Iranian regime in times of crisis, the government previously imposed lengthy blackouts earlier this year during domestic unrest, including a shutdown in January that lasted several week often cited as a means to curb information flow and suppress dissent.
Union Minister Pralhad Joshi on Monday assured that the government is fully prepared to ensure the safety of Indians affected by the escalating war situation in the Gulf. The Centre is in constant touch with Indian missions abroad and has held urgent consultations with senior officials and ministers to facilitate their safe return.
Highlighting past evacuations, including from Ukraine, Joshi said Kannadigas and other Indians facing hardship are being prioritised. While acknowledging the risks of air travel in conflict zones, he urged families not to panic, confirming that expert advice is being sought and arrangements are underway to assist those stranded in Dubai, where flight operations have been disrupted.
“No one should be anxious. Serious efforts are being made to bring them back safely,” he said.
Several American warplanes crashed in Kuwait on Monday morning but their crew survived, Kuwait's defence ministry said.
"Several US warplanes crashed this morning. Confirming that all crew members survived," a defence ministry spokesman said in a statement, adding that the cause was under investigation.
"Authorities immediately initiated search and rescue operations, evacuating the crews and transporting them to a hospital for medical evaluation and treatment. He noted that their condition is stable," the statement added.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Monday they had launched missile strikes on Israel's government in Tel Aviv as well as security and military centres in Haifa and an attack on east Jerusalem.
"Among the targets of this tenth wave were a targeted strike on the Zionist regime's government complex in Tel Aviv, attacks on military and security centres in Haifa, and a strike on east Jersualem," said a Guards statement carried by state TV.
China called on Monday for a ceasefire and diplomatic talks to end the conflict in the Middle East as it stretched into a third day, reported AFP.
"The most urgent task is a cessation of military operations and preventing a spillover of conflict," foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning told a news conference, urging "a resolution through dialogue and negotiation".
One Chinese citizen was killed in Tehran, she said, where Israel and the United States have been carrying out strikes in an operation that killed the Islamic republic's supreme leader.
The US embassy in Kuwait said Monday that people should not come to the facility, after AFP reported that smoke was rising from the diplomatic mission on Iran's third day of retaliatory Gulf attacks.
"There is a continuing threat of missile and UAV attacks over Kuwait. Do not come to the Embassy. Take cover in your residence on the lowest available floor and away from windows. Do not go outside," the embassy said in a statement.
"U.S. Embassy personnel are sheltering in place," it added.
Black smoke was seen rising from the US embassy in Kuwait City on Monday after the latest volley of Iranian strikes, AFP reported.
Sirens earlier sounded over the city following the latest Iranian attacks, which started across the oil-rich Gulf region on Saturday.
Loud explosions shook Gulf cities on Monday as Tehran carried out strikes for a third consecutive day on countries hosting US bases, in retaliation for US-Israeli air raids. AFP reports said blasts were heard across Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Doha, Manama, and Kuwait City.
The unprecedented bombardment has rattled a region long considered a relative haven of peace in the turbulent Middle East. Bahrain’s interior ministry said one person was killed in the strikes, marking the kingdom’s first fatality since the attacks began, and bringing the Gulf-wide death toll to five since Saturday. Falling debris from an intercepted missile also sparked a fire on a foreign ship in the port city of Salman, killing one worker and seriously injuring two others.
Israeli strikes on Lebanon have killed 31 people and wounded 149, AFP is citing a Lebanese ministry as saying.
Kuwait's forces intercepted an unspecified number of drones targeting the country on Monday but no injuries were reported, according to the oil-rich Gulf emirate's state news agency.
Civil defense chief at Kuwait's interior ministry Mohammed Al-Mansouri "stressed that Kuwaiti Air Defense personnel efficiently and effectively intercepted a number of hostile aerial targets at dawn today," official news agency KUNA reported.
"He also affirmed that the situation in the country is stable and there is no cause for concern," it added.
At least one person has been killed and 32 others injured in Kuwait, all of them foreign nationals, the health ministry said Sunday.
As the US-Israel campaign against Iran entered its third day, the conflicts pread beyond Iran and Israel, with drone strikes targeting Western forces in Iraq and Cyprus, while the US escalated operations inside Iran.
In Iraq, a pro-Iranian militia claimed a drone strike on US troops at Baghdad airport on Monday, a day after it targeted a US base in Erbil. No casualties were immediately reported.
Cyprus reported a drone strike on RAF Akrotiri, a British military base in the Mediterranean. Officials said there were no casualties and the situation is being handled. The attack followed Britain’s approval for US forces to use its bases for defensive strikes against Iranian missile sites.
US military operations inside Iran intensified: B-2 stealth bombers struck Iranian ballistic missile facilities with 2,000-pound bombs. President Donald Trump said that nine Iranian warships were sunk and the Iranian navy’s headquarters was “largely destroyed.”
Gulf Arab states warned they reserve the right to respond to Iranian strikes targeting their territories. Analysts say the attacks in Iraq and Cyprus show the conflict could increasingly involve other countries hosting Western forces.
Iranian authorities the strike at the Shajare Tayyebeh girls’ elementary school in Minab, southern Hormozgan province, on Saturday, killed at least 108 students. The provincial governor later put the toll at 165.
Verified footage shows a damaged building with murals of crayons, apples, and children, with distressed civilians nearby. According to news agency AFP Geolocation confirms the site is in Minab.
Israel says it is not aware of any US or Israeli strike on the school. “We’re operating in an extremely accurate manner,” said military spokesman Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani.
US Central Command and the Pentagon are aware of the reports and are investigating. A CENTCOM spokesperson said, “The protection of civilians is of utmost importance… we will continue to take all precautions to minimise the risk of unintended harm.”
Norway-based rights group Hengaw is investigating the identities of students reportedly present, with around 170 children said to be in class at the time.
US leader Donald Trump's "delusional fantasies" have plunged the Middle East into chaos, the powerful head of Tehran's Supreme National Security Council said on Monday.
"Trump plunged the region into chaos with his 'delusional fantasies' and now fears more American troop casualties," Ali Larijani wrote on X.
New strikes hit an Iraqi military base housing Kataeb Hezbollah, a source from the pro-Iran armed group said on Monday.
"Three strikes hit Jurf al-Nasr," a Kataeb Hezbollah source told AFP, referring to a military base that serves as one of the main bastions of the powerful armed group that has been repeatedly targeted since the start of the Israel-US campaign on Iran.
Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty crashed in early trade on Monday tracking a sharp spike in crude oil prices amid escalating tensions in the Middle East.
The 30-share BSE Sensex tanked 2,743.46 points or 3.37 per cent to 78,543.73 in early trade. The 50-share NSE Nifty tumbled 533.55 points or 2.11 per cent to 24,645.10.
From the Sensex pack, InterGlobe Aviation, Larsen & Toubro, Eternal, Adani Ports, Asian Paints, UltraTech Cement and Reliance Industries were among the biggest laggards.
Bharat Electronics emerged as the only gainer.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, tumbled 5.38 per cent to USD 76.79 per barrel.
Iran "will not negotiate with the United States", Ali Larijani, the powerful head of Tehran's Supreme National Security Council said on Monday.
In a post on X, Larijani denied media reports that Iranian officials had sought to initiate talks with the Trump administration following US-Israeli strikes on Iran over the weekend, which came after Tehran and Washington held nuclear negotiations.
Iran’s foreign minister suggested on Sunday that parts of the country’s military are operating independently of central government control, following attacks on Gulf Arab nations.
In an interview with Al Jazeera, Abbas Araghchi said, “What happened in Oman was not our choice. We have already told our… armed forces to be careful about the targets that they choose.” He added that some military units are “in fact independent and somehow isolated and they are acting based on instructions… given to them in advance.”
The comments come after strikes on Oman and Qatar, both of which have historically acted as intermediaries with Tehran, Oman in recent US-Iran nuclear talks, and Qatar over a shared offshore natural gas field.
While militaries worldwide plan for contingencies in wartime, Iran’s case is unusual, given that its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, answering only to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, controls much of the country’s ballistic missile and drone arsenal.
Araghchi’s remarks may serve both to explain the attacks and to ease tensions with Gulf Arab neighbors, who have expressed growing frustration at repeated strikes despite years of diplomatic engagement.
ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl has posted on X that the US had identified possible candidates to assume leadership in Iran, but they were killed in the initial US-Israeli attack.
“The attack was so successful it knocked out most of the candidates,” the post said quoting Trump.
“It’s not going to be anybody that we were thinking of because they are all dead. Second or third place is dead,” he added.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, are planning to hold a press conference Monday morning about the military operation against Iran.
The Pentagon announced the 8 a.m. EST media briefing on social media Sunday night.
On Tuesday, Hegseth and Caine will join U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA Director John Ratcliffe in briefing the full membership of Congress on the strikes, the White House said.
Rubio also was slated to brief Hill leadership Monday.
Israeli forces hit targets across Lebanon, including Beirut, after Hezbollah launched rockets in retaliation for Iran’s supreme leader’s killing. Residents in southern Lebanon fled, with schools set up as shelters. Air raid sirens sounded in northern Israel, but no immediate casualties reported. Lebanese leaders called Hezbollah’s attack “irresponsible” as tensions escalate across the region.