TOP DEVELOPMENTS
The Iran war enters its 14th day with fresh strikes and heightened military activity keeping West Asia on edge. What began as coordinated US-Israel attacks on Iranian targets has expanded into a broader regional confrontation. The escalating conflict is rattling global energy markets and raising fears of wider geopolitical fallout.
Iran's new supreme leader issues warning: Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has issued a series of strong statements, calling for continued pressure on US forces in the region and warning that strategic measures could be taken in the Strait of Hormuz.
US strikes: The United States has struck around 6,000 targets since the start of the war against Iran late last month, the US military said on Thursday.
Iran death toll: Iran's health ministry said on March 8 that more than 1,200 people had been killed, including around 200 women and 200 children under the age of 12, with more than 10,000 civilians injured.
Oil tops $100 (again): Oil prices jumped Thursday with Brent crude settling above $100 per barrel for the first time since August 2022, as Iran vowed to make the United States regret launching its war against the Islamic republic.
Trump claims victory: President Trump has been repeating his claim that the US has won the war, even as the conflict widens. “It’s just a question of when, when do we stop?” he said.
Saudi Arabia intercepted dozens of drones entering its airspace, the defence ministry said on Friday, as Iran carries out attacks on oil-rich Gulf countries in response to US-Israeli strikes.
"Twelve drones were intercepted and destroyed after entering Saudi airspace," a spokesperson for the defence ministry posted on X.
A wave of nine and then seven drones had also been shot down, they said in separate statements.
Israel said on Friday that Iran fired a new wave of missiles toward Israel, instructing those in affected areas to head to shelters.
"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 Israeli military wrote on its official Telegram channel.
Iran vowed Thursday to make the United States regret attacking the Islamic republic and said it would keep up a chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz that has sent oil prices soaring.
The International Energy Agency warned that the Middle East war could lead to "the largest supply disruption" in oil industry history, but US President Donald Trump wrote on social media that defeating Iran's "evil empire" was more important than crude prices.
Trump has faced intense political pressure as the global economic fallout of the crisis has mounted, and he has given mixed messages as to when the US campaign might end.
A drone attack wounded six French soldiers in Erbil in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, the French military said on Thursday.
The troops were "engaged in training activities on counterterrorism with Iraqi partners", a member of the general staff told AFP, adding the troops were taken to the nearest medical facility.
The governor of Erbil said the strike involved two drones and occurred at a base in Mala Qara, located around 40 kilometres from the regional capital.
A strike on a base occupied by a former paramilitary coalition killed at least two fighters from an Iran-backed group in the suburbs of the Iraqi capital, two faction officials told AFP.
Israel's military said it had struck checkpoints set up in Tehran by the Basij paramilitary force of Iran's Revolutionary Guards as part of efforts to undermine control by the authorities.
Australia has ordered all non-essential officials in Israel and the United Arab Emirates to leave due to the "deteriorating security situation", Canberra's top diplomat said.
In a post on X late Thursday, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said that "essential Australian officials will remain in-country to support Australians who need it".
The Australian government continued to advise that its citizens not travel to Israel and the UAE, she added.
US President Donald Trump said Thursday the war against Iran was moving "very rapidly," even as Tehran's new leader vowed defiance in his first public message.
"The situation with Iran is moving along very rapidly. It's doing very well, our military is unsurpassed," Trump said at the White House.
"They really are a nation of terror and hate, and they're paying a big price right now," added the US leader, who was attending a Women's History Month event with First Lady Melania Trump.
Trump has given mixed signals in recent days about the progress of the war, saying in recent days that "we won" against Iran and that it could end "very soon", but also insisting of the need to fight on.
The Israeli military said on Thursday that it hit Hezbollah command posts in "several waves of strikes" on Beirut and southern Lebanon, shortly after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Beirut must restrain the armed group.
"The IDF struck several Hezbollah command centers, from which Hezbollah terrorists operated to advance terror attacks against the State of Israel and its civilians," the Israeli military said on its official Telegram channel.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that he had warned Lebanon's government that Israel would act to disarm Hezbollah "on the ground" if Beirut failed to do so.
"I told the Lebanese government a few days ago: you are playing with fire if you continue allowing Hezbollah to operate, in violation of your commitment to disarm it," Netanyahu told a press conference.
"The time has come for you to do so. Now, if you do not do so, it is clear that we will do so," he continued.
Iran threatened on Thursday to wreak havoc on the region's oil and gas industry if its own energy infrastructure was attacked during its war with the US and Israel.
"We will set the region's oil and gas on fire with the slightest attack on Iran's energy infrastructure and ports," said a spokesman for the Iranian military's central operational command, known as Khatam al-Anbiya.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that the war on Iran was also aimed at enabling Iranians to overthrow the country's clerical rule.
"I have added a third objective, which is to create, for the Iranian people, the conditions to bring down this regime," Netanyahu said in a televised media briefing, adding that the other two goals remained preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons and destroying its ballistic missile capabilities.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Iran's new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei "can't show his face in public" after Tehran issued a first statement in his name that was read out by a TV presenter.
"We eliminated the old tyrant, and the new tyrant, the puppet of the Revolutionary Guards, can't show his face in public," Netanyahu told a televised press conference.
Oil prices jumped Thursday with Brent crude settling above $100 per barrel for the first time since August 2022, as Iran vowed to make the United States regret launching its war against the Islamic republic.
The price of Brent crude surged 9.2 percent to $100.46 per barrel, while its US equivalent, the West Texas Intermediate, climbed 9.7 percent to $95.73 a barrel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that the joint US-Israeli campaign was "crushing" Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah.
"We are crushing Iran and Hezbollah," Netanyahu said in a televised
The Israeli military said it launched a new wave of strikes in Tehran on Thursday evening, pressing ahead with its campaign against Iran for a 13th day.
"The IDF has just begun a wide-scale wave of strikes targeting infrastructure of the Iranian terror regime across Tehran," the military said.