TOP DEVELOPMENTS
The war between the United States, Israel and Iran has entered its eighth day, with attacks continuing across Iran and other countries in the Middle East. Israeli warplanes struck Beirut and Tehran as Iran launched another wave of retaliatory attacks on Israel and Gulf states.The United States warned that its air campaign against Iran would “surge dramatically.”
‘Unconditional surrender’: US President Donald Trump on Friday demanded Iran's "unconditional surrender" as the only acceptable outcome to end hostilities, while promising to help rebuild the country's economy if Tehran complied and installed new leadership.
UN chief slams 'unlawful attacks': United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned "unlawful attacks" across the Middle East and warned that the situation could spiral out of control as the regional war raged across multiple countries.
The death toll continues to rise: At least 1,230 people in Iran, more than 200 in Lebanon and around a dozen in Israel have been killed, according to officials in those countries. Six U.S. troops have been killed.
50 Israeli jets strike, destroy Khamenei’s underground military bunker: The IDF claimed that 50 Israeli jets dismantled the underground military bunker in Tehran. "50 Israeli Air Force fighter jets dismantled Ali Khamenei’s underground military bunker beneath the Iranian regime’s leadership compound in Tehran," IDF said sharing the ariel footage
'Nations seeking mediation': Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said that some countries had begun mediation efforts to end the war with the US and Israel, but said any talks should address those who started the conflict.
Gulf allies blame US over war ops: Officials from Gulf countries said their governments were disappointed with the US’ handling of the war, particularly the initial strike on Iran last Saturday. They said they were not given advance notice and that US officials ignored their warnings that the war could devastate the region.
US likely behind Iran school strike: The US was "most likely responsible" for the airstrike on an elementary school in southern Iran that left over 160 dead, according to a NYT investigation. US officials told Reuters that military investigators “believe it is likely” that its forces carried out the strike.
Thousands displaced in Lebanon: Hundreds of thousands of people in Lebanon have been displaced in days of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, the Red Cross said, adding many fled on foot with little more than the clothes on their backs and no clear destination.
Iran rejects US role in leader succession: Iran’s UN envoy Amir Saeid Iravani condemned US interference after Donald Trump suggested involvement in selecting the successor to slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, saying Iran will “never allow any foreign power” to meddle in its internal affairs.
US signals major escalation in Iran strikes: The United States is preparing its “biggest bombing campaign” in Iran on Friday night, the US treasury secretary told FOX Business host Larry Kudlow, as officials warn attacks will intensify. Earlier, Donald Trump said the “big wave is yet to come,” while Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said firepower over Tehran would “surge dramatically” with more frequent bomber strikes.
US President Donald Trump said Friday only Tehran’s unconditional surrender will end the conflict, as crude prices surged and US-Israeli strikes hit over 3,000 targets in Iran. The war has killed hundreds in Iran, Lebanon, Israel, and Gulf countries, displaced thousands, and triggered fears of a global energy crisis. UN chief Antonio Guterres urged urgent diplomacy, while Russia and France called for ceasefires and condemned attacks. Iran has retaliated with missiles and drones across the region, and humanitarian warnings grow as Lebanon faces mass displacement and civilian casualties. (Read full story)
Iran will not participate in the Milan Cortina Paralympics because its only athlete set to compete can't safely travel to Italy amid the intensifying Middle East conflict, the International Paralympic Committee said Friday.
The IPC said cross-country skier Aboulfazl Khatibi Mianaei would not be able to travel to Italy due to the ongoing conflict.
The 23-year-old skier has participated in the last two Winter Olympics and was due to participate in an event on Tuesday.
United States Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has addressed reports that Russia is providing Iran with intelligence on US positions in the Middle East.
Speaking to CBS News, Hegseth said President Trump is “well aware of who is talking to whom” and emphasized that the US is “tracking everything.”
He added, “Anything that shouldn’t be happening, whether in public or through back channels, is being confronted—and confronted strongly.”
"Our commanders are aware of everything," he said. "We have the best intelligence in the world. We're aware of who's talking to who."
"We're not concerned about that," the defense secretary said. "We mitigate it as we need to."
The US economy is on a “roller-coaster” ride as the stock market reacts to the war on Iran, the New York Times reports.
The S&P 500 dropped 1.3 percent Friday, bringing this week’s losses to 2 percent – the index’s worst week of 2026.
At the same time, the international oil benchmark Brent crude sat at $92 a barrel, a rise of almost 30 percent since last Friday. The figure marks the biggest weekly jump since the coronavirus pandemic rocked markets in April 2020.
And finally, the US Labor Department reporting the unexpected loss of more than 90,000 jobs in February has placed the US Federal Reserve “between a rock and a hard place”, one analyst told the Times, as it must consider whether to cut interest rates or hold them steady in light of rising oil prices.
Trump has repeatedly attacked Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell over interest rates, and in January nominated a preferred replacement.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in an interview with CBS’ “60 Minutes” that the U.S. is “tracking everything” and factoring it into battle plans, when asked about reports that U.S. intelligence shows Russia is providing Iran with information that could help it strike American assets in the Middle East.
“The American people can rest assured their commander-in-chief is well aware of who’s talking to who,” Hegseth said. “And anything that shouldn’t be happening, whether it’s in public or back-channeled, is being confronted and confronted strongly.”
Hegseth also downplayed the possibility that Russia’s assistance could be putting Americans in harms way.
“We’re putting the other guys in danger, and that’s our job. So we’re not concerned about that,” he said. “But the only ones that need to be worried right now are Iranians that think they’re gonna live.”
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Defense said four drones were intercepted and destroyed over the Empty Quarter desert while heading toward the Shaybah oil field.
Fire broke out in offices and warehouses belonging to US firms Halliburton and KBR after a drone attack in Iraq’s Basra targeted a compound housing employees of foreign oil companies, security sources told the Reuters news agency.
Iran's ambassador to the United Nations on Friday condemned US interference after President Donald Trump insisted that he should be involved in selecting the successor of slain supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Amir Saeid Iravani said that Trump's reported comments "constitute a clear violation of the principles of non-interference in the internal affairs of states and enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations."
"Iran is a sovereign and independent state. It does not accept and will never allow any foreign power to interfere in its internal affairs," Iravani told reporters in New York.
The U.S. Treasury secretary told FOX Business host Larry Kudlow that Friday night would be the United States’ “biggest bombing campaign” in Iran. U.S. and Israeli officials have said this week that attacks on Iran would increase.
Earlier this week Trump told CNN the “big wave is yet to come.” Additionally, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Thursday that firepower over Tehran would “surge dramatically” through “more bomber pulses more frequently.”
Israel said Friday it had launched "broad-scale" strikes on targets in Tehran, as the Iranian state broadcaster reported an explosion in the western part of the city.
"The IDF has begun a broad-scale wave of strikes" on government targets in the Iranian capital, an Israeli military statement said.
The announcement of the new offensive came just after the army said it had detected another round of Iranian missile fire headed towards Israel.
The system, developed by an American company, will soon will head to the Middle East to help defend against Iranian drones.
It fires drones against drones and has shown success in fighting those used by Russia in its war against Ukraine. The system was deployed to Romania and Poland last year.
While the U.S. has used Patriot and THAAD missile systems to take down Iranian missiles, a U.S. defense official says there are limited effective U.S. anti-drone defenses now in the Middle East.
Another U.S. official called the U.S. response to countering Iran’s Shahed drones “disappointing.”
Both spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military matters.
At least two drones struck energy infrastructure and facilities of U.S. contractors in Iraq’s southern Basra province Friday evening, according to two security officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak with the press.
The officials added that unmanned aerial vehicles targeted a compound housing foreign oil company offices and warehouses, triggering fires at facilities linked to U.S. energy services firms.
The attack comes amid a spate of drone and missile incidents across Iraq and the region, including strikes on oil fields and the cargo section of the Basra International Airport.
It was not immediately clear if there were any casualties.
Qatar Airways has announced it will operate a series of special repatriation flights on 7 March, following temporary authorisation from the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority confirming a safe operating corridor.
The flights will depart from Hamad International Airport in Doha to the following destinations:
London Heathrow (LHR)
Paris Charles de Gaulle (CDG)
Madrid Barajas (MAD)
Rome Fiumicino (FCO)
Frankfurt (FRA)
According to the airline, priority on these services has been given “to stranded passengers with families, elderly passengers, and those with urgent medical and compassionate needs”.
“These flights do not constitute a confirmation of resumption of scheduled commercial operations,” it added.
A drone fell at the military airport in Baghdad, setting fire to one of the storage facilities there, according to an Iraqi security source.
There was no immediate official statement on the incident, which the source said took place minutes earlier.
The reported drone fall came about an hour after Iraqi authorities said rockets had been launched at the logistical support centre of the United States embassy near Baghdad airport.
Officials said the rockets were fired from a vehicle in the Abu Ghraib area, west of Baghdad, and landed in an open area without causing injuries. Iraqi authorities added that they had seized the vehicle, which was carrying additional rockets prepared for launch, and had opened an immediate investigation.
The area around Baghdad airport has been targeted repeatedly in recent days, including several drone attacks over the past three days.
In a separate development, an Iraqi security source told Al Jazeera that a US company operating in the oil and fuel sector in Basra was also targeted, with smoke seen rising from the site.
The State Security Service of Azerbaijan said Iranian agents and their local accomplices were planning to blow up the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline, which carries the country’s crude to global markets, and launch attacks at the Israeli Embassy in Baku, a synagogue and a leader of the country’s Jewish community, according to a report by the state television.
It said the attacks were aimed at sowing panic and denting the Caspian Sea nation’s international image.
The agency said the suspects brought explosives into the country and hid them in secret caches. It said four Azerbaijani citizens were charged with involvement in the plot and given 6 ½-year prison sentences. Three others were arrested.
On Thursday, Iranian drone attacks on Azerbaijan wounded four civilians and damaged an airport building.
French President Emmanuel Macron has held phone conversations with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, amid growing fears that the war sparked by US and Israeli attacks on Iran is fast spreading to other parts of the Middle East and beyond.
“France is working with its partners to prevent the conflict from spreading further in the region,” Macron said, in a post on X. “The sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria and Lebanon must be respected, as must the sovereignty and territorial integrity of every country in the region. The ongoing acts of destabilization must leave no room for terrorism. France will ensure that this is the case.”
Iran’s UN envoy has concluded his remarks by warning the UN Security Council to “act now, without delay”.
“Failure to act will have catastrophic consequences,” Amir-Saeid Iravan said. “Today, it is Iran. Tomorrow it could be any [UN] member state.”
An officer spoke to journalists along the border with Lebanon to the backdrop of consistent booms from missiles being intercepted and alerts warning that drones were incoming. The officer spoke on condition of anonymity as per the army’s regulations.
He said Israel has deployed troops to protect some 200 Israeli families living on the border and the army is placing soldiers between civilians and Hezbollah to protect them.
Northern Israel is receiving missiles from both Iran and Hezbollah. Atop a lookout of Israel’s northern villages that are adjacent to Lebanese ones, the officer briefed journalists as they sought shelter between alerts.
Cloudflare, an internet infrastructure company, said via the social platform X that the Iran-wide internet shutdown entered its 7th day, with its radar monitor showing internet traffic data at less than 1% of its prewar levels. It comes as Israeli-U.S. strikes pummel the country, terrifying civilians.
Human Rights Watch condemned the shutdown, calling it a violation of human rights and urging Iranian authorities to end it. It said the shutdown could “conceal large-scale atrocities, contribute to the spread of mis- and disinformation, and unlawfully restrict access to information.” It could also heighten the risk of civilian harm by hampering access to life-saving information, food distribution, shelter and medical care and services.
“Internet shutdowns can also contribute to severe psychological harm on people during the conflict as they are unable to contact their loved ones,” said Tomiwa Ilori, senior technology and human rights researcher at Human Rights Watch.
The United States struck more than 3,000 targets during the first week of the Iran war, the US military said on Friday.
Targets include command-and-control centers, air defense systems, missile sites, and Iranian navy ships and submarines, US Central Command, which is responsible for American forces in the Middle East, said in a fact sheet.
Major US defense companies have agreed to quadruple production of advanced weapons, President Donald Trump said on Friday, the seventh day of his war against Iran.
"The largest U.S. Defense Manufacturing Companies" have "agreed to quadruple Production of the "Exquisite Class" Weaponry," Trump said in a post on Truth Social, referring to advanced, high-precision military hardware.
The US president also said the country has "a virtually unlimited supply" of lower-grade weapons, which he said are currently being used in the Iran war.
Amir-Saeid Iravani, Iran’s ambassador to the UN, has said that the US and Israel “have demonstrated that they recognise no red line in committing their crimes”.
Speaking to the UN Security Council in New York, Iravani said the duo are attacking “densely populated” civilian areas and infrastructure, including schools, medical, recreational and sports facilities.
“These acts constitute clear war crimes and crimes against humanity,” he said.
In an joint open letter, Iranian ambassadors and heads of diplomatic missions around the world have hit out at United States President Donald Trump, who on Thursday had called on them to defect amid the intensifying US-Israeli war on Iran.
“The disgraceful remarks that have recently been voiced by American officials regarding the diplomatic apparatus and the honorable and patriotic Iranian diplomats constitute yet another clear indication of their failure to understand the fundamental realities of Iran and the Islamic Republic of Iran,” the letter says, “as well as the depth of their hostility and animosity toward the Iranian nation and the national and religious values of the Iranian people — particularly the principle of loyalty to the homeland and steadfastness in defending Iran even at the cost of one’s life.”
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has accused the US of using Arab countries as launchpads for attacks.
“Iran and the Arab brothers have lived side by side for centuries in a spirit of affection, friendship, and mutual respect,” he posted on X.
“The American aggressors launch from the lands of our Arab friends to target children and the innocent.”
He said that any Iranian response would be directed at “the bases of the United States and its institutions”.
Britain is ready to help defend Saudi Arabia, Prime Minister Keir Starmer told the kingdom's de facto leader in a call on Friday as the Middle East war escalates.
Starmer spoke to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and assured him "the UK stood ready to support the defence of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia should it be needed," the PM's spokeswoman said.
Qatar’s Ministry of Defence has said that the country’s air defence systems battled waves of Iranian drones on Friday, starting at dawn and continuing until evening.
Of the 10 drones that were launched towards Qatar, nine were intercepted, while the tenth hit an uninhabited area, causing no injuries.
A spokesperson for the military says that Iran does not plan to close the vital maritime route, but rather the reason for a decrease in traffic through the strait is the danger posed by the ongoing war.
“We will not prevent any ship wishing to cross the Strait of Hormuz, but the responsibility for its security lies with the ship itself”, the spokesperson said.
“We will target any ship belonging to the Zionist entity [Israel] and America if it attempts to cross the Strait of Hormuz.”
French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday condemned an "unacceptable attack" on UN peacekeeping forces in southern Lebanon, after speaking with his Lebanese and Syrian counterparts.
"France is working with its partners to prevent the conflict from spreading further in the region," Macron said on X, highlighting the "key stabilising role" played by the United Nations Interim force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
"The sovereignty and territorial integrity of Syria and Lebanon, as for every country in the region, must be respected," he said.
Two UN peacekeepers from Ghana were critically wounded in the missile attack on their position in the town of Qawzah, according to Lebanese state media and the Ghanaian military.
Staggering amounts of money are funding a war “spent on destruction while politicians continue to boast about cutting aid budgets for those in greatest need,”
Undersecretary-General Tom Fletcher said. This leaves less attention and funding for help in conflicts and crises in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, South Sudan and Congo.
“As conflicts spread, the international system pulls further apart and more resources flow towards weapons rather than the funding, the political will, the diplomatic energy, needed for saving lives,” Fletcher told U.N. reporters Friday. “Humanitarian action is always harder in times of war but this, of course, is when it is needed most.”
“We need calmer heads to prevail,” Fletcher said.
The Russian president had a call Friday with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian. He expressed condolences over the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and “numerous civilian casualties resulting from the U.S. and Israel’s armed aggression.”
In the call, the first reported by the Kremlin since the start of the war, Putin “reaffirmed Russia’s principled stance in favor of an immediate cessation of hostilities, the rejection of force as a method to solve any issues surrounding Iran or arising in the Middle East, and a swift return to the path of diplomatic resolution,” according to the Kremlin’s readout.
It said Pezeshkian “expressed gratitude for Russia’s solidarity with the Iranian people as they defend their sovereignty and the independence of their country” and offered a “detailed update on the developments during the latest active phase of the conflict.”
The Gerald Ford, the US aircraft carrier that is the world’s largest, has now moved from the Eastern Mediterranean, where it was based in recent days, to the Red Sea, crossing the Suez Canal.
The aircraft carrier has been a central part of two of US President Donald Trump’s recent military campaigns: The abduction of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro at the start of the year, and now, the war on Iran.
Qatar’s General Authority of Civil Aviation has announced the partial resumption of air traffic in the country via “dedicated emergency air routes with limited capacity, in full coordination with the Qatari Armed Forces and the relevant authorities in the country”, Qatar News Agency is reporting.
US and Israeli strikes on Iran, and retaliation by Tehran on targets across the region, have forced much of the Middle East’s airspace to shut down.
A loud bang was heard on Friday evening in Erbil, the capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, before smoke rose from a hotel in the city, an AFP journalist said.
The journalist saw smoke billowing from the upper floors of the Erbil Arjaan by Rotana hotel, and said firefighters had arrived at the scene.
Earlier, the United States warned that Iranian-backed fighters may target hotels in Kurdistan that are frequented by foreigners.
An Iranian security official has dismissed accusations that Tehran was behind a reported drone incident involving neighbouring Azerbaijan, saying Iran would not use a “small drone” if it chose to carry out what it called a defensive operation.
“If Iran decides to carry out defensive operations against any country, it will act in the same way it dealt with other countries in southern Iran, not through a small drone,” the official was quoted as saying by the Fars news agency, known to be close to the Revolutionary Guards.
The source added that “self-restraint towards neighbouring countries is a fundamental principle in Iranian national security”, but said the limits of that restraint depend on “the extent of the other party’s cooperation with external enemies”.
The opening phase of US and Israeli strikes on Iran has involved a higher tempo of targeting than any recent American or Israeli air campaign, according to new analysis by monitoring group Airwars.
“By comparing publicly released targeting figures from both the US and Israeli militaries with historic data, the analysis found the initial days of the campaign hit significantly more targets per day than any campaign in recent decades”, it claimed.
Even compared with Israel’s initial bombardment of Gaza, Airwars said only around half as many targets were hit in those first days in Gaza as have been declared in the early phase of the Iran operation.
“While comparisons between conflicts are often imperfect as militaries release varying amounts and types of information, this Iran campaign appears to be vastly outpacing any other recent US air war”, it noted.
US President Donald Trump is to attend the dignified transfer on Saturday of six soldiers killed in an Iranian attack on Kuwait, the White House said Friday, as the escalating war with Tehran brings home its first American dead.
Russia has provided Iran with information that could help Tehran strike American warships, aircraft and other assets in the region, according to two officials familiar with U.S. intelligence on the matter.
The people, who were not authorized to comment publicly on the sensitive matter and spoke on the condition of anonymity, cautioned that the U.S. intelligence has not uncovered that Russia is directing Iran on what to do with the information.
Still, it’s the first indication that Moscow has sought to get involved in the war that the U.S. and Israel launched on Iran a week ago. Russia has tightened its relationship with Iran as it looked for badly needed missiles and drones to utilize in its four-year war Ukraine.
Tehran, meanwhile, has been isolated for years over its nuclear program and its support of proxy groups, including Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis, that have wreaked havoc in the Middle East.
Iranian leader Majid Takht-Ravanchi has said “this war was imposed on us” by the US and Israel.
In a fiery interview with France 24, the diplomat said that “we were negotiating in good faith” before the US changed its tune.
“We do not trust the Americans,” he said. “Not only did they betray us, but they betrayed diplomacy.”
Iran’s deputy foreign minister has unequivocally pushed back on Azerbaijan’s assertion that an Iranian drone targeted the autonomous Nakhchivan exclave yesterday.
“Iran was not responsible for such an attack,” Takht-Ravanchi told France 24, but said Iran was “investigating”.
“That missile did not come from Iran,” he added.
Karoline Leavitt said Friday that she didn’t have anything to share on the Pentagon’s investigation into whether the U.S. military struck an Iranian girls school.
“Again, as I said at the briefing two days ago, I don’t have any updates with respect to the investigation. I would expect those to come from the Pentagon,” she told reporters outside the White House.
The headquarters of Ghana's United Nations peacekeeping battalion in Lebanon was hit by missile attacks, leaving two soldiers critically injured, Ghana's armed forces said in a statement.
Israel's military chief said on Friday that its forces were "crushing the Iranian terrorist regime", a day after announcing that the joint US-Israeli campaign against the Islamic republic had entered a new phase.
"We are crushing the Iranian terrorist regime and will seize every opportunity to deepen our achievements," Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir told soldiers, according to a statement issued by the military.
Azerbaijan said on Friday it had prevented a series of Iranian "terrorist" attacks on its territory, a day after Baku accused Iran of firing drones at an airport and school in an Azerbaijani border region.
Azerbaijan's state security service said it had "prevented terrorist acts and intelligence operations in Azerbaijan organised by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)," adding that seven Azerbaijani nationals were arrested.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stressed that “the stakes could not be higher.”
“All the unlawful attacks in the Middle East and beyond are causing tremendous suffering and harm to civilians throughout the region – and pose a grave a risk to the global economy,” he said.
In a statement, Guterres called for an end to the war that started in Iran and is now affecting more than a dozen other countries, and for serious diplomatic negotiations.
The U.S. Mission in Iraq said "Iran-aligned terrorist militia groups" may seek to target hotels frequented by foreigners in the Iraqi Kurdistan Region, in a post on X.
"U.S. citizens are strongly encouraged to depart as soon as they are safely able to do so," it said.
"Americans choosing not to depart should be prepared to shelter in place in a secure location for extended periods. Have a supply of food, water, medications, and other essential items," it added.
The Israeli military said it has carried out strikes on more than 500 targets this week, including a strike in Beirut's Dahiyeh suburb targeting a command centre used by the Revolutionary Guard's navy unit.
Other strikes focused on command centres that it said were used by Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group.