TOP DEVELOPMENTS
Ayatollah killed: Iranian state TV confirmed on Sunday that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, along with Iran army’s chief and defence minister, were killed in joint US-Israeli airstrikes.
Iran vows retaliation: President Masoud Pezeshkian called Khamenei’s killing a "declaration of war against Muslims," vowing revenge. Security chief Ali Larijani promised to hit the US and Israel with "a force never seen before."
Israel resumes strikes: The Israeli military said it launched "large-scale" strikes targeting the "heart of Tehran," aiming to establish aerial superiority and "pave the path to Tehran."
Iran carries retaliatory strikes: Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Sunday they had launched a new wave of retaliatory attacks against the “enemy”, targeting Israel and US bases in the Middle East in retaliation for the Ayatollah’s killing.
Gulf, Israel hit: Explosions were reported in Gulf cities including Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha and Manama. In central Israel, a barrage of missiles fired from Iran killed at least eight people and injured 23 others in Bet Shemesh.
Trump says war on Iran could last four weeks: In an interview with the British newspaper Daily Mail, US President Donald Trump said he expects US operations against Iran to last about four weeks, adding that because Iran is a large country the campaign could take “four weeks or less.”
3 US service members killed, 5 seriously wounded in Iran operation: The U.S. military said three service members were killed and five others were seriously wounded, without providing further details. It said several others suffered minor injuries and concussions. These are the first known American casualties from the conflict. The three soldiers killed were stationed in Kuwait.
Oil tanker attacked: Oman and Iran's state TV said an oil tanker, with 15 Indians among the crew, was attacked by Iran while attempting to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump warns Tehran: US President Donald Trump cautioned Iran against escalation, saying US forces would respond with "force that has never been seen before."
Interim leadership named: Iran appointed 66-year-old cleric Ayatollah Alireza Arafi to its leadership council alongside President Pezeshkian and judiciary chief Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejehei until a new supreme leader is chosen.
2,000-pound bombs dropped on Iran missile sites: The U.S. military says B-2 stealth bombers struck Iran’s ballistic missile facilities with 2,000-pound bombs. Ballistic missiles have been one of the concerns Trump had raised in the lead up to the attacks on Iran
School strike toll rises: A prosecutor said the death toll from Saturday’s US-Israeli strike on a girls’ elementary school inside Iran has risen to 165, with 96 wounded.
Flights cancelled in India: India’s Civil Aviation Ministry said 350 flights were cancelled "in view of airspace restrictions arising from geopolitical developments in the Middle East."
Protests across India: From Kashmir to Karnataka, Shia mourners took to the streets to express grief over Khamenei's killing. Tens of thousands in Kashmir staged protests, chanting "Death to America" and "Death to Israel."
Israeli strikes target Beirut suburbs; urges 50 villages in Lebanon to evacuate
Iranian state media on Sunday confirmed the assassination of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in joint strikes by the US and Israel in Tehran on Saturday.
Khamenei's daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter were also killed in the strikes. Iran state television announced a 40-day mourning period and seven public holidays following the death of the 86-year-old leader, who is revered by Shia Muslims accross the globe.
Following the death of Khamenei, Alireza Arafi has been appointed to lead Iran temporarily. Arafi, a cleric member of the Guardian Council, has been appointed as the jurist member of Iran’s Leadership Council.
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) plegded revenge and vowed the "most ferocious" operation in history against Israel and US in retaliation to the killing of Khamenei. Responding to the threat, US President Trump on Sunday said he would hit Iran with "force that has never been seen before."
Explosions were reported in Israel, Doha, Dubai and Manama as the IRGC announced attacks on Israel and 27 military bases of US in the Middle East.
Israel and the US carried out waves of strikes on Saturday, including a daylight attack on Tehran. The first strike was reported near Khamenei’s office. An Israeli strike also hit an elementary girls’ school in Minab in Hormozgan province in southern Iran, killing at least 148 people, including students.
The Iranian Red Crescent said on Saturday evening that at least 201 people had been killed and 747 injured in the attacks.
The US Central Command, in a post on X, shared unclassified footage of the air strikes on Iran.
Describing the operation as a "bold action", CENTCOM said its objective was to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime.
"The President ordered bold action," the post read, adding that CENTCOM forces were delivering an overwhelming and unrelenting blow.
As the President stated, our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime.
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) February 28, 2026
The President ordered bold action. CENTCOM forces are delivering an overwhelming and unrelenting blow. pic.twitter.com/B0k5gV4YnU
A major attack launched by Israel and the United States killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, President Donald Trump said Saturday, announcing an assassination that he said gave Iranians their “greatest chance” to “take back" their country but that also put the future of the Islamic Republic in doubt and raised the risk of regional instability.
“Khamenei, one of the most evil people in History, is dead,” Trump wrote in a social media post. He warned of “heavy and pinpoint bombing” that he said would continue throughout the week and even beyond, part of a lethal assault the U.S. has justified as necessary to disable the country's nuclear capabilities.
Iran did not immediately confirm the death.
The United States and Israel on Saturday defended their attacks on Iran, which called resulting civilian deaths a "war crime" during an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council.
"The international community has long affirmed a simple and necessary principle: Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon," said US ambassador Mike Waltz, pointing to past UN resolutions ignored by Tehran.
"That principle is not a matter of politics, it's a matter of global security, and to that end, the United States is taking lawful actions," he added.
Referencing Iran's recent deadly crackdowns on protesters, Waltz said that Iran's presence at Saturday's emergency meeting in New York "makes a mockery of this body."
"But where the UN lacks moral clarity, the United States of America will maintain it," he added.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is dead, Iranian state media reported early Sunday.
Iranian state television and the state-run IRNA news agency confirmed Khamenei's death early Sunday, hours after Donald Trump announced the killing of the 86-year-old cleric he described as "one of the most evil people in History."
IRNA news agency reported the 86-year-old's death without elaborating on the cause.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Sunday they would launch the "most ferocious" operation in history against Israel and US bases.
"The most ferocious offensive operation in the history of the Islamic Republic of Iran's armed forces will begin any moment now," the Guards posted on Telegram.
Flights across the Middle East were cancelled Saturday as several countries closed their airspace after the United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran.
The head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard and a top security adviser to the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei were killed in American-Israel airstrikes on the country, state media reported Sunday.
The Guards' commander, General Mohammad Pakpour, and Ali Shamkhani, the head of the national defence council, were "martyred" in Saturday's attacks, the Iranian judiciary's Mizan online news portal reported.
As outlined in its constitution, Iran on Sunday formed a council to assume leadership duties and govern the country.
The council is made up of Iran's sitting president, the head of the country's judiciary and a member of the Guardian Council chosen by Iran's Expediency Council, which advises the supreme leader and settles disputes with parliament.
Iran's reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian and hard-line judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei are its members who will step in and "temporarily assume all the duties of leadership."
Loud explosions were heard early Sunday near Erbil airport, which hosts US-led coalition troops in Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region.
According to a report by AFP, thick black smoke was seen rising from the airport area.
On Saturday, US-led coalition forces downed several missiles and explosive-laden drones over Erbil.
Thousands of mourners gathered on Sunday in the centre of Iran's capital after the death of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to AFP journalists.
The mourners, dressed mostly in black and some crying, chanted "death to America" and "death to Israel" in Enghelab (Revolution) Square, with many waving Iran's flags and holding photos of Khamenei.
Israel's military said it was responding to Iranian missile fire on Sunday, with air raid sirens activated across central Israel and parts of the occupied West Bank.
"Sirens were sounded in several areas across the country, following the identification of missiles launched from Iran toward the State of Israel," a military statement said, adding that the air force was "operating to intercept and strike threats where necessary".
Iran launched a new wave of missile and drone strikes on Sunday targeting US military bases in the region and Israel, state media said, in retaliation for a massive attack that killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Twenty-seven US bases in the region, as well as Israel's military headquarters and a defence industries complex in Tel Aviv, were among the targets, Iranian state TV said.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has announced a sixth wave of retaliatory attacks on Israel and US on 27 military bases in the Middle East, reported Al Jazeera, citing Iranian state media.
The IRGC said 27 US bases, as well as the Israeli Tel Nof airbase, the Israeli army’s command headquarters at HaKirya in Tel Aviv, and a large defence industrial complex in the same city, were attacked.
It added that Iranian forces will "implement a different and harsh step of revenge, with successive, regrettable slaps."
Hundreds of Iraqis attempted early Sunday to storm Baghdad's fortified Green Zone, where the US embassy is located, after the death of Iran's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, a security source told AFP.
"Their attempts had been thwarted so far, but they keep trying," the source said.
Videos shared on social media showed protesters throwing stones at security forces, who responded with tear gas. An AFP staffer saw hundreds of people holding flags of a pro-Iran armed group.
اشتباك بالايدي بين قوات حفظ القانون ومتظاهرين قرب المنطقة الخضراء في العاصمة بغداد مع بدأ تحشيد لاقتحام السفارة الامريكية pic.twitter.com/xyRerI6F4D
— حيدر (@Hydikm) March 1, 2026
President Donald Trump made his case for war against Iran early on Saturday as US and Israeli forces bombed the Islamic republic, claiming conflict was required to eliminate "imminent threats" from Tehran.
Iran "rejected every opportunity to renounce their nuclear ambitions," Trump claimed in a roughly eight-minute video message posted on social media more than an hour after US strikes began.
"They attempted to rebuild their nuclear program and to continue developing long-range missiles" that "could soon reach the American homeland," the US president claimed, also calling on Iranians to overthrow their government.
But Iran was said to have signaled in talks that it was willing to cease stockpiling nuclear material, while Tehran may still be years away from developing significant quantities of missiles with intercontinental range -- raising significant questions about Trump's rationale for the conflict.
Israel's defence minister hailed on Sunday the killing of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in joint strikes with the United States, saying "justice has been served."
"Khamenei was eliminated... along with senior members of the Iranian fortress of terror," Minister Israel Katz said in a statement shared on social media.
"Justice has been served, and the Axis of evil has taken a severe beating."
US President Donald Trump on Sunday said he would hit Iran with "force that has never been seen before" if the country retaliated against US and Israeli strikes that killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
"Iran just stated that they are going to hit very hard today, harder than they have ever hit before," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
"THEY BETTER NOT DO THAT, HOWEVER, BECAUSE IF THEY DO, WE WILL HIT THEM WITH A FORCE THAT HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE!"
At least 148 people has been killed and 95 others injured in the US-Israeli attack on an elementary girls’ school in southern Iran’s Minab city, reported Al Jazeera.
Iran's parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf on Sunday described US and Israeli leaders as "filthy criminals" who will face "devastating blows" for their attacks on his country.
"We have prepared ourselves for these moments and have considered all scenarios," Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said in a video carried on state TV, adding US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have "crossed our red lines" and "will suffer the consequences."
"We will deliver such devastating blows that you yourselves will be driven to beg," he said.
Thick black smoke could be seen over Doha on Sunday morning after several loud explosions were heard across the Qatari captial, according to an AFP journalist.
The smoke could be seen on the clear morning horizon in the south of the city after Iran targeted US bases across the Gulf states in retaliation for a massive US and Israeli attack that killed Iranian leader Ali Khamenei.
Iran's top security official has said that that the trasition of leadership following the assassination of the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei will begin on Sunday, reported AFP.
"An interim leadership council will soon be formed. The president, the head of the judiciary and a jurist from the Guardian Council will assume responsibility until the election of the next leader," said Larijani, the head of Iran's top security body, the Supreme National Security Council, who was an adviser to Khamenei.
"This council will be established as soon as possible. We are working to form it as early as today," he said in an interview broadcast by state TV.
Thousands of mourners have gathered in the historic Iranian city of Isfahan to pay tribute to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, reported Al Jazeera.
The 86-year-old leader, along with his daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law and grandchild was killed in a joint airstrike by Israel and US in Tehran on Saturday.
Large crowd of people in Isfahan hit streets to mourn Leader of Islamic Revolution martyrdom pic.twitter.com/wpofOyCJgu
— Press TV 🔻 (@PressTV) March 1, 2026
AFP correspondents in Dubai heard a second wave of explosions on Sunday morning, as Iran carried out retaliatory attacks on US military bases in the Gulf following the US and Israeli strikes that killed its supreme leader.
Earlier blasts were heard in Dubai, Doha and the Bahraini capital Manama.
According to Reuters, Dubai's international airport, which handles more than 1,000 flights a day, sustained damage during an Iranian retaliatory attack. Airports in Abu Dhabi and Kuwait were also hit.
Middle Eastern countries have shut their airspaces amid the attacks and major airlines are cancelling their services to and from the region.
On Sunday, the UAE's Etihad Airways said it has suspended flights to and from Abu Dhabi until 2 am on Monday.
Iran's security chief Ali Larijani warned on Sunday against attempts to divide Iran following the killing of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US and Israeli strikes.
In a statement published by the Fars state news agency, Larijani said the Israeli "regime has no choice but to resort to partitioning large countries in order to ensure its own survival."
Larijani also described US President Donald Trump as "the perfect symbol of plunder" and accused him of seeking to grab resources from Iran.
"America and the Zionist regime burned the hearts of the Iranian nation, and we will burn their hearts too," he added.
Iraq announced on Sunday a three-day mourning period after the death of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Government spokesman Bassem al-Awadi said in a statement that "with deep sorrow, we extend our condolences to the noble people of Iran and the entire Muslim world" after Khamenei was killed in "a blatant act of aggression."
He said the government had announced three days of mourning.
Air raid sirens sounded and explosions were heard over Jerusalem on Sunday after the Israeli military said it had detected missiles launched from Iran towards Israel.
"Sirens were sounded in several areas across the country, following the identification of missiles launched from Iran toward the State of Israel," the military said.
"At this time, the Israeli Air Force is operating to intercept and strike threats where necessary to remove the threat."
The United Nations' nuclear agency will hold an extraordinary meeting on Iran on Monday in the wake of the US-Israeli strikes on the Islamic republic.
In a statement late on Saturday, the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said the meeting was at the request of Russia, a key ally of Tehran.
Iran had made the same request in a letter to IAEA chief Rafael Grossi on Saturday following the strikes, which killed the country's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
As a result, the agency will hold a "special session of the IAEA Board of Governors on matters related to military strikes of the United States and Israel against the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran," the IAEA said in a statement.
That extraordinary meeting will precede an already scheduled session of the board, which represents 35 countries.
Several people attacked an Iranian cultural centre in Ecuador's capital Quito, police said Saturday, leaving one person injured and the facility damaged amid US and Israeli strikes against Iran.
According to authorities, the group arrived in a convoy of vehicles and used sticks, stones and tear gas to break the centre's windows and assault people inside. People at the centre were praying during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
One person was reportedly injured in the attack. It was unclear whether anyone had been arrested.
"It is an act of aggression," police said in a statement to the media.
Videos shared on social media show people with Israeli, US and Iranian opposition flags near the facility.
A woman can be heard shouting, "Get out, murderers, get out, terrorists. You have to leave this country."
Hundreds of pro-Iranian protesters tried to storm the United States consulate in the Pakistan megacity of Karachi on Sunday, an AFP journalist saw.
A crowd of young people climbed over the main gate and gained access to the driveway of the consular building, smashing some windows.
Police fired tear gas at the protesters who dispersed, the AFP journalist saw.
Hundreds of people stormed the US Consulate in Pakistan's port city of Karachi on Sunday, smashing windows after the US and Israeli attacked Iran and killed the country's supreme leader, police said.
Police and paramilitary forces used batons and fired tear gas to disperse the crowd, said Mohammad Jawad, a police official.
At least one protester was killed and several others were wounded in clashes between protesters and security forces, he said.
(Associated Press)
Thousands of flights have been delayed or cancelled in the biggest disruption to global air transport since the Covid pandemic as airlines suspend services to the Middle East following the US and Israeli attacks on Iran.
Iran, Iraq, Israel, Syria, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates all announced at least partial closures of their skies after Saturday's strikes and Iran launching missiles at capital cities around the wealthy Gulf region.
Major carriers from the Middle East, Europe, Asia-Pacific and the United States announced widespread cancellations, leaving thousands of passengers stranded.
Notable airlines that cancelled services included Emirates, Etihad, Air France, British Airways, Air India, Turkish Airlines, and Lufthansa.
Several explosions were heard in the Iranian capital on Sunday, as Israeli army announced it had begun striking targets deep inside Tehran, a day after it killed Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a joint military action with the US.
The blasts were heard in northern Tehran and smoke was seen emanating from a building, reported AFP. It was not immediately clear what the target was.
"The IDF is striking targets that belong to the Iranian terror regime in the heart of Tehran," the military said. "Over the past day, the Israeli Air Force conducted large-scale strikes in order to establish aerial superiority and to pave the path to Tehran."
A top Emirati official said Sunday Iran's Gulf attacks had isolated the country, warning Tehran not to target its neighbours, as its retaliatory campaign in the region entered its second day.
"The Iranian aggression against the Gulf states was a miscalculation and it isolated Iran at a critical juncture. Your war is not with your neighbours," said presidential adviser Anwar Gargash.
"Return to reason, to your surroundings, and deal with your neighbours rationally and responsibly before the circle of isolation and escalation widens."
Oman said an oil tanker was targeted off the coast of an exclave in the UAE on Sunday, with its crew evacuated and four of them injured, as Iran carried out retaliatory strikes on US military bases in the Gulf.
"The Maritime Security Centre announced that the oil tanker (SKYLIGHT), flying the flag of the Republic of Palau, was targeted 5 nautical miles north of the port of Khasab in the governorate of Musandam," the Oman News Agency said on X.
"All crew members of the tanker, consisting of 20 people, including 15 Indians and 5 Iranians, were evacuated. Initial information indicates that four members of the ship's crew sustained varying injuries," it added.
#IranConflict | Emergency helpline numbers for stranded Indian citizens 👇
— The New Indian Express (@NewIndianXpress) March 1, 2026
Track LIVE updates here 👇
🔗https://t.co/LZile9JJsi pic.twitter.com/szVhgtiKZ5
Palestinian group Hamas on Sunday mourned Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and described his assassination by the US and Israel as a "heinous crime."
"We in Hamas mourn the passing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He provided all forms of political, diplomatic and military support to our people, our cause, and our resistance," the Palestinian resistance movement said in a statement.
"The US and the fascist occupation government bear full responsibility for this blatant aggression and heinous crime against the sovereignty of the Islamic Republic of Iran, as well as for its serious repercussions on the security and stability of the region."
Air France cancelled its flights scheduled for Sunday to Beirut, Dubai and Riyadh as a result of Israeli-US strikes on Iran and Tehran's retaliation, the airline said in a statement.
Those suspensions came on top of the previously announced cancellation of its flights to Tel Aviv in Israel.
"Air France will provide further information on its flight schedule to these destinations for the following days at a later date," the French flag carrier said in a statement.
Iran's police intelligence chief Gholamreza Rezaian was killed during US and Israeli strikes on the Islamic republic, local media reported Sunday.
"General Gholamreza Rezaian, head of the national police intelligence, was killed following the yesterday's (Saturday) enemy attacks," Fars news agency reported, alongside other media outlets.
Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian said Sunday that the killing of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US and Israeli strikes was a "declaration of war against Muslims".
"The assassination of the highest political authority of the Islamic Republic of Iran and a prominent leader of Shiism worldwide... is perceived as an open declaration of war against Muslims, and particularly against Shiites, everywhere in the world," Pezeshkian said in a statement carried by state TV.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran considers it its legitimate duty and right to avenge the perpetrators and masterminds of this historic crime," he added.
Iran's security chief Ali Larijani vowed on Sunday to hit the US and Israel with a force never seen before following their strikes on the Islamic republic which killed the country's supreme leader.
"YESTERDAY IRAN FIRED MISSILES AT THE UNITED STATES AND ISRAEL, AND THEY DID HURT. TODAY WE WILL HIT THEM WITH A FORCE THAT THEY HAVE NEVER EXPERIENCED BEFORE," said Larijani in a post on X.
AFP reported its correspondents and residents in Riyadh hearing loud explosions in the east of the Saudi capital on Sunday, as Iran presses on with a second day of retaliatory strikes across the Gulf.
Residents in eastern Riyadh told AFP they heard several loud bangs and saw smoke rising, with correspondents also hearing the explosions.
Iran has selected a 66-year-old cleric to join the three-member leadership council that will govern the country until a new supreme leader is selected.
Alireza Arafi, a cleric member of the Guardian Council, has been appointed as the jurist member of Iran’s Leadership Council, a body tasked with fulfilling the supreme leader’s role until the Assembly of Experts elects a new leader, reported Al Jazeera.
Arafi will be part of the temporary Leadership Council alongside President Masoud Pezeshkian and Chief Justice Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei. He was handpicked by late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as a member of the Guardian Council in 2019.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday slammed the killing of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US and Israeli strikes as a "cynical violation" of morality and law.
In a letter to his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian published by the Kremlin, Putin expressed "deepest condolences for the assassination of" Khamenei, saying the killing was "carried out in a cynical violation of all norms of human morality and international law."
Lebanese militant group Hezbollah vowed Sunday to confront the United States and Israel over their strikes on the group's key backer Iran.
"We will undertake our duty of confronting the aggression" of the US and Israel, Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said in a statement, adding that they would not leave "the field of honour and resistance."
Crucial intelligence from the United States’ Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) — indicating that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would attend a meeting of senior Iranian officials — helped shape the joint US-Israeli strikes that killed Iran’s supreme leader, The New York Times has reported.
British Defense Minister John Healey said Iranian missile and drone strikes came within a few hundred yards of a group of 300 British military personnel in Bahrain and that two missiles were fired in the direction of Cyprus, where the UK has bases.
"We don’t believe they were targeted at Cyprus, but nevertheless, it’s an example of how there is a very real and rising threat from a regime that is lashing out widely across the region, and that requires us to act," Healey told Sky News. He said British planes will intercept any Iranian drones and missiles they see.
Meanwhile, Cyprus government spokesman Constantinos Letymbiotis posted on X that reports suggesting missiles had been fired toward Cyprus are not valid and that "there is no indication whatsoever that any threat to the country has occurred."
The Omani port of Duqm that Iran struck Sunday has been used by the US Navy as a logistical hub and is capable of hosting aircraft carriers.
The US and Oman signed a strategic framework agreement in 2019 that expanded the Navy’s access to Omani ports by allowing ships to dock in Duqm and Salalah. Both ports lie on Oman’s Arabian Sea coast, allowing ships to dock without having to transit the narrow Strait of Hormuz to access other major ports in the Persian Gulf.
Oman and Iran front the Strait of Hormuz.
The US Navy has used access to Duqm for ship maintenance and replenishment, which typically involves activities such as refueling and loading of supplies. The UK also has a logistics base at the port.
The sultanate of Oman has long tried to keep a lower profile in the region. It has frequently acted as a bridge between the US and Iran, most recently mediating talks between the two countries in Geneva.
Israel’s military claimed on Sunday that its strikes had killed 40 top Iranian military officials, including the chief of staff for the Iranian armed forces, Abdolrahim Mousavi. Israel did not provide evidence, and neither Iran nor the United States immediately commented on the claim.
The Israeli military also said it had “dismantled the majority of the aerial defense systems in western and central Iran” and was “paving the way towards establishing aerial superiority over the skies of Tehran.”
Israel’s military said on Sunday it was “not aware” of any US or Israeli strike on a school in Iran, after Iranian authorities said the site had been hit a day earlier, killing more than 100 people.
"At this point not aware of an Israeli or an American strike there... We're operating in an extremely accurate manner," military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani told reporters at a briefing in response to questions about the strike.
Iran’s Red Crescent earlier put the death toll at 108. However, Ebrahim Taheri, a prosecutor in Minab, told the judiciary’s Mizan News Agency that the toll from Saturday’s US and Israeli strike on a girls’ school in southern Iran’s Minab county had risen to 148 killed and 95 wounded.
The Civil Aviation Ministry on Sunday announced that 350 flights operated by domesctic carriers have been cancelled "in view of airspace restrictions arising from geopolitical developments in the Middle East."
"Passengers are advised to check their flight status with the concerned airlines and remain in close coordination with them for any required assistance. The Ministry of Civil Aviation is in close coordination with airlines, airport operators and other stakeholders to proactively monitor the situation and facilitate necessary passenger support," it wrote on X.
In view of airspace restrictions arising from geopolitical developments in the Middle East, a total of 350 flights operated by Indian domestic carriers have been cancelled on 01.03.2026.
— MoCA_GoI (@MoCA_GoI) March 1, 2026
Passengers are advised to check their flight status with the concerned airlines and remain…
Pope Leo XIV said on Sunday he was “profoundly concerned” about the US and Israeli strikes on Iran and urged both sides to “stop the spiral of violence before it becomes an irreparable abyss.”
In the Holy See’s first reaction to the attacks, the American pope called for the resumption of diplomacy and a “reasonable, authentic and responsible” dialogue based on justice. Weapons, he said, only sow “destruction, pain and death," he said from his studio window overlooking St. Peter’s Square at his traditional noontime blessing
China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi sharply criticized the killing of Khamenei in a phone call with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.
“The blatant killing of the leader of a sovereign state and the incitement of regime change are unacceptable,” he was quoted as saying by China’s official Xinhua News Agency. “These actions violate international law and the basic norms governing international relations.”
Wang Yi said attacking a sovereign state without UN Security Council authorization undermines the foundation for peace established after World War II. “The international community should speak in a clear and unequivocal voice, opposing the world regressing to the law of the jungle,” he said.
AFP correspondents and residents heard fresh explosions across the Gulf cities of Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha and Manama on Sunday, as Iran pressed on with its retaliatory campaign for a second day.
Journalists heard several blasts in Dubai, with Abu Dhabi residents reporting loud bangs.
Sirens sounded in Manama, where correspondents also heard an explosion, while in the Qatari capital a journalist heard a blast faintly.
Iran's state TV said Sunday that an oil tanker was sinking after it was struck while attempting to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. The incident took place as Iran exchanged strikes with the United States and Israel.
"The fate of the offending oil tanker that was struck while attempting to illegally pass through the Strait of Hormuz is that it is now sinking," state TV reported, without elaborating. It carried footage showing heavy black smoke emanating from the burning tanker at sea.
On Saturday, Iran's Revolutionary Guards had warned that the strategic waterway was unsafe due to the US and Israeli attacks and was therefore closed to ships. The strait of Hormuz carries a quarter of the world's seaborne oil and a fifth of all liquified natural gas.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Sunday they have launched a new wave of attacks against the "enemy" after Israeli and US strikes which killed the Islamic republic's supreme leader.
"Moments ago, the seventh and eighth waves of Operation Honest Promise 4 against the enemy were launched on a large-scale," the Guards said in a statement carried by local media, without specifying the targets.
An air strike in central Iraq killed four fighters from the former paramilitary coalition Hashed al-Shaabi on Sunday, security officials and a Hashed source told AFP.
The fighters from the Hashed al-Shaabi, or the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), which is now part of Iraq's regular army, "were killed in an air strike on their base" in the central Diyala province.
Another eight fighters were wounded. A PMF source confirmed "the martyrdom of four fighters in an attack on their base" in Diyala.
Iran fired 97 ballistic missiles and 283 drones at Kuwait since the start of the war between the US, Israel and Iran, the Gulf nation’s military said.
The military said in a statement interception operations led to shrapnel falling in parts of the county, causing “limited damage.”
On Saturday, the military said three Kuwaiti troops were wounded when shrapnel landed in the Ali Al Salem airbase.
Israel’s police said at least five people were killed and 23 others wounded in a strike that hit central Israel on Sunday. A spokesperson for the rescue services said searches were ongoing for additional victims.
Iran has so far launched dozens of rockets at Israel.
A barrage of missiles launched from Iran killed at least eight people in the central Israel city of Bet Shemesh on Sunday, Israeli first responders said, updating an earlier toll.
The Magen David Adom (MDA) emergency service said: "In the Beit Shemesh area, MDA EMTs and paramedics have pronounced the deaths of eight casualties", as well as 23 injuries, with police saying it was a direct hit on a building. These fatalities bring the total death toll in Israel from the latest confrontation with arch foe Iran to nine.
Three people have been killed and 58 others injured in the UAE since Iran began its retaliatory campaign in the Gulf in response to US and Israeli attacks, authorities said.
The UAE has detected 165 ballistic missiles, destroying 152, and intercepted two cruise missiles, its defence ministry said.
A total of "541 Iranian drones were detected, 506 of which were intercepted and destroyed", the ministry added in a statement.
The attacks resulted in the deaths of three people of Pakistani, Nepalese and Bangladeshi nationality, it said.
Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry said it summoned the Iranian ambassador on Sunday, a day after the kingdom accused Tehran of targeting its territory with strikes.
"Foreign Ministry summons the Iranian ambassador to the Kingdom in response to Iran's brazen attacks that targeted the Kingdom and a number of brotherly countries," the ministry said in a statement on its X account.
Gulf countries will convene this evening to discuss a unified response to Iran's attacks, two Gulf diplomats said, as Tehran presses on with a second day of strikes after US and Israeli attacks killed its supreme leader.
"It will be an online meeting of GCC foreign ministers due to the airport closures," a Gulf diplomat told AFP, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters. He said the discussions will revolve around "Iranian attacks on Gulf states and coordination on a unified response."
Another Gulf diplomat confirmed the information.
The chairman of the US Senate Intelligence Committee says a priority for its joint military campaign is Iran’s “vast missile arsenal.”
Republican Tom Cotton of Arkansas told CBS’ “Face the Nation” that those missiles threatened American troops “from bases as far flung as the Indian Ocean to Western Europe.”
“We’re stopping a lot of them from being fired before Iran can fire them. It’s much easier to kill the archer on the ground than it is to shoot his arrows out of the sky,” he said in the television interview.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan held a telephone call with his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi, during which the two exchanged views on the latest developments, a Turkish official said.
Turkey has voiced concern over recent US-Israeli attacks on Iran as well as Iranian strikes targeting Gulf countries. Ankara has also called for a ceasefire and a return to negotiations to de-escalate tensions.
Key members of the OPEC+ oil cartel announced a greater-than-expected increase to production quotas on Sunday following US and Israeli strikes on Iran that triggered retaliation by Tehran across the Middle East.
The alliance, which includes top oil producers Saudi Arabia and Russia -- as well as several Gulf states bearing the brunt of Tehran's missile strikes -- said they had agreed a "production adjustment" of 206,000 barrels per day (bpd).
Analysts say that a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz could mean oil prices leaping from around $72 before the war to $120 to $150 a barrel when trading starts on Monday.
The world’s biggest container shipping firm, Maersk, has suspended vessel transit through the Strait of Hormuz amid rising tensions in the region.
Earlier in the day, Iran struck an oil tanker attempting to pass the strategic strait after the IRGC had warned on Saturday that the waterway was unsafe due to the US and Israeli attacks and was therefore closed to ships.
The Strait of Hormuz carries about a quarter of the world’s seaborne oil and roughly a fifth of global liquefied natural gas supplies.
Esfandyar Batmanghelidj, an economic expert and professor at Johns Hopkins SAIS, says vessel traffic in the Persian Gulf has fallen by 70%, citing data from Kpler. While reduced oil exports are significant, he argues the bigger risk is to food security.
Batmanghelidj says Gulf states rely on complex supply chains for staples and fresh produce, and even brief disruptions to shipping and flights could hit availability. He notes that the UAE increased fruit and vegetable imports from Iran after the pandemic — a shift that may now leave it exposed.
According to an analysis by @DimAmpatzidis at @Kpler, vessel traffic in the Persian Gulf is down 70%.
— Esfandyar Batmanghelidj (@yarbatman) March 1, 2026
This is bad for Gulf oil exports, but that’s not the most important economic impact. What matters more is food imports and food security. The Qatar blockade of 2017 and the… pic.twitter.com/qJessRnDW0
Iran's foreign minister says a new supreme leader will be chosen in "one or two days."
Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi was speaking to the Al Jazeera network on Sunday, a day after Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in US and Israeli strikes.
Professor Robert Pape, a prominent security expert at the University of Chicago, says the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader in “Operation Epic Fury” was a “textbook tactical success” but has triggered “textbook retaliation.”
In a post on X, he argues that while the strikes decapitated senior leadership and degraded military infrastructure, they have accelerated escalation rather than restored deterrence.
Iran, he says, is not a system built around one man, and removing top figures is more likely to “activate” the regime than dismantle it.
Iran is not a palace dictatorship resting on one man.
— Robert A. Pape (@ProfessorPape) March 1, 2026
92 million people.
Hundreds of thousands in security forces.
A regime threaded through the state, economy, and society.
Removing dozens of leaders does not dismantle that system. It activates it.
The greater the tactical…
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard says it attacked the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Gulf after the country’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed by US and Israeli air strikes.
“The US aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln was struck by four ballistic missiles,” the Guard said in a statement carried by local media, warning “the land and sea will increasingly become the graveyard of the terrorist aggressors”.
The USS Abraham Lincoln has been operating in the Arabian Sea since the end of January.
There was no immediate confirmation of damage or casualties by the US military.
The US Central Command says its forces have struck an Iranian vessel at the beginning of its military operation against Iran.
The Jamaran-class corvette “is currently sinking to the bottom of the Gulf of Oman at a Chah Bahar pier,” CENTCOM said, referring to a location in southern Iran.
An Iranian Jamaran-class corvette was struck by U.S. forces during the start of Operation Epic Fury. The ship is currently sinking to the bottom of the Gulf of Oman at a Chah Bahar pier. As the President said, members of Iran’s armed forces, IRGC and police “must lay down your… pic.twitter.com/NzsR3dI2Hs
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) March 1, 2026
Three American service members have been killed and five have been seriously wounded in military operations targeting Iran, the U.S. military said.
They are the first reported American casualties since the U.S. and Israel launched a surprise attack on Iran.
U.S. Central Command said Sunday in a post on X that several others “sustained minor shrapnel injuries and concussions — and are in the process of being returned to duty.”
The post stated that major combat operations will continue. It did not provide further information about the casualties and described the situation as “fluid.”
CENTCOM Update
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) March 1, 2026
TAMPA, Fla. – As of 9:30 am ET, March 1, three U.S. service members have been killed in action and five are seriously wounded as part of Operation Epic Fury.
Several others sustained minor shrapnel injuries and concussions — and are in the process of being…
A military update says its forces have begun carrying out new strikes on the Iranian capital.
“The Air Force has now begun a new wave of strikes in the heart of Tehran,” a brief statement on X said.
The Pentagon on Sunday denied Iran's claim to have struck the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln with ballistic missiles in the Gulf.
"The Lincoln was not hit. The missiles launched didn’t even come close," US Central Command said on X.
Iranian media reported that 43 members of the security forces were killed in an attack on the headquarters of a border regiment in the western city of Mehran near Iraq on Sunday.
"This attack, which was accompanied by bombing, unfortunately resulted in the martyrdom of 43 security personnel, most of them border guards, and parts of nearby buildings were also seriously damaged," the Mehr news agency said.
"According to initial reports, this hostile act was carried out by agents of the United States and the Zionist regime."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to intensify air strikes on Tehran in the coming days, declaring that Israel’s military was not at “full strength” in their campaign against Iran.
“I have issued instructions for the continuation of the campaign.Our forces are now striking at the heart of Tehran with intense power, and this will only escalate in the days ahead,” Netanyahu said in a video statement.
He also offered his condolences to the families of those killed in Iranian strikes on Israel, saying his country was living through “painful days.”
סיימתי עכשיו פגישה עם שר הביטחון, הרמטכ"ל וראש המוסד. נתתי הנחיות להמשך המערכה.
— Benjamin Netanyahu - בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) March 1, 2026
אתמול חיסלנו את הרודן חמינאי. יחד איתו חיסלנו עשרות מבכירי משטר הדיכוי.
כוחותינו הולמים עכשיו בלב טהרן בעוצמות הולכות וגוברות, וזה רק ילך ויתגבר עוד יותר במהלך הימים הקרובים.
עם זאת, אלה ימים… pic.twitter.com/cap0Atxlhl
President Donald Trump said Sunday that 48 Iranian leaders have been killed in the US-Israeli bombardments of the country and that the offensive is "very positive."
"Nobody can believe the success we're having, 48 leaders are gone in one shot. And it's moving along rapidly," Trump was quoted as saying in an interview by Fox News.
Trump claimed overall success in the war, which was launched Saturday with the goal of removing the Islamic republic's leadership and destroying its military. "We're doing our job not just for us but for the world. And everything is ahead of schedule," Trump was quoted as saying in a separate interview with CNBC.
"Things are evolving in a very positive way right now, a very positive way," he said.
Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araqchi, told his Omani counterpart, Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi, that Tehran is open to any “serious efforts at de-escalation,” according to a statement from Oman’s foreign ministry.
Oman has been acting as a mediator in the recent nuclear talks between Iran and the United States and Al Busaidi met with US Vice President JD Vance in Washington on Friday.
Araqchi also said that the joint US-Israel attacks were “a cause of escalating tension and panic in the region,” according to Oman foreign ministry statement.
US President Donald Trump said he has agreed to hold talks with Iran’s new leadership, according to an interview with The Atlantic magazine.
“They want to talk, and I have agreed to talk, so I will be talking to them,” Trump was quoted as saying. He added, “They should have done it sooner. They should have given what was very practical and easy to do sooner. They waited too long.”
Trump did not specify when the conversation would take place when asked by the magazine.
U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, says he expects the massive airstrike campaign against Iran will continue for “probably a few weeks.”
The Arkansas Republican told CBS’ “Face the Nation” that President Donald Trump “has no plan for any kind of large-scale ground force in Iran.”
Cotton would not say how the U.S. and Israeli knew the location of slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
“We have exquisite intelligence collection methods,” he said. “Israel and the United States once again proved that our nation have capabilities that no other nation on Earth has.”
Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran’s last shah overthrown during the 1979 Islamic Revolution, claims he is taking charge of the transition to a new government.
Speaking to Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures,” he said: “This is time now for a very strong, stable transition. I am leading this transition. I have the support of millions of Iranian people. I have the people inside the country that are joining … the military will side with us. We have a plan of action and a transition plan.”
He says that process would lead ultimately “to a democratic outcome so the Iranian people get to choose their future government and system.”
Asked how long his transitional leadership would be, he said that “to be realistic from the time that we start until the day we can have the final referendum, I anticipate a period that should be longer than a couple of years at the most. But what’s critical is the first 100 days.”
The Israeli military said it was calling up almost 100,000 reservists as part of its ongoing campaign of strikes against arch-foe Iran.
"The IDF is preparing to call up around 100,000 reservists and is raising its level of readiness on the various fronts as part of Operation 'Roaring Lion'," the military said in a statement, using the name Israel has given to its campaign against Iran which was launched in coordination with the United States on Saturday.
A top Iranian official on Sunday rejected President Donald Trump's warning not to retaliate against massive US-Israel bombardments, saying there would be "no limit" to the country's self-defense.
"Nobody can tell us that you don't have any right to defend yourselves. We are defending ourselves whatever it takes, and we see no limit for ourselves to defend our people, to protect our people," Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told ABC News.
"What the United States is doing is an act of aggression. What we are doing is the act of self-defense. There are huge differences between these two," he said.
A statement by the IRGC says three US and British oil tankers have been hit by missiles in the Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz.
It also claimed that the tankers were on fire after the strikes.
The CIA had been tracking the movements of senior Iranian leaders, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, for months.
That’s according to a person familiar with the operation who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke Sunday on condition of anonymity.
The intelligence was shared with Israeli officials, and the timing of this weekend’s strikes was adjusted in part because of that information, the person said. The New York Times earlier reported about the CIA’s efforts ahead of the Israeli-U.S. strikes.
A series of powerful blasts were heard on Sunday evening in Tehran, though their origin was not immediately known, according to AFP journalists, as Israel and the United States kept up strikes on Iran for a second day.
At least three detonations shook the capital around 8:30 pm local time (1700 GMT), rattling the windows of one AFP journalist's apartment. The ISNA news agency also reported "several" explosions in eastern and northeastern Tehran.
The death toll in strike at an all girls school in southern Iran has risen to 165, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.
The local prosecutor of Minab in Iran’s Hormozgan province was quoted Sunday as saying 96 were also injured in the strike.
A local official said the casualties from the Saturday strike included students, parents and school staff. The Israeli military said it was not aware of strikes in the area. The U.S. military said it was looking into the reports
President Donald Trump said on Sunday that US military strikes had sunk nine Iranian naval vessels and partially destroyed Iran's navy headquarters.
"I have just been informed that we have destroyed and sunk 9 Iranian Naval Ships, some of them relatively large and important," Trump said on his Truth Social network.
"We are going after the rest -- They will soon be floating at the bottom of the sea, also! In a different attack, we largely destroyed their Naval Headquarters. Other than that, their Navy is doing very well!"
The U.S. military says B-2 stealth bombers have struck Iran’s ballistic missile facilities with 2,000-pound bombs.
Ballistic missiles have been one of the concerns President Donald Trump had raised in the lead up to the attacks on Iran. Trump has claimed that Iran has been building ballistic missiles that could reach the U.S. homeland.
Iran hasn’t acknowledged it is building or seeking to build intercontinental ballistic missiles. The U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency said in an unclassified report last year that Iran could develop a militarily viable intercontinental ballistic missile by 2035 “should Tehran decide to pursue the capability.”
Violent clashes between protesters and security forces in Pakistan's port city of Karachi and in the country's north on Sunday left at least 22 people dead and more than 120 others injured as pro-Iran demonstrators attempted to storm the U.S. Consulate, authorities said.
In the north of the country, demonstrators also attacked U.N. and government offices.
A deadly Iranian missile attack has caused a wide swath of damage spreading over several blocks in the central Israeli city of Beit Shemesh.
The missile slammed into a synagogue where residents were taking shelter Sunday, killing at least nine people.
Mayor Shmuel Greenberg says the synagogue was “very old,” dating back to the city’s establishment as a small development town over 70 years ago.
“The synagogue building disappeared and was erased as if it wasn’t there,” he said.
Only one in four Americans approves of the US strikes that killed Iran’s leader, while roughly half, including one in four Republicans believe President Donald Trump is too willing to use military force.
According to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, 27 percent of respondents said they supported the strikes, compared with 43 percent who disapproved and 29 percent who were unsure.
The survey found that 56 percent of Americans believe Trump has been too quick to rely on military action to advance U.S. interests. In recent months, he has ordered strikes targeting Venezuela, Syria, and Nigeria.
This view was shared by an overwhelming majority of Democrats, at 87 percent, along with 60 percent of independents and 23 percent of Republicans.
The poll, conducted online among 1,282 US adults nationwide beginning Saturday after the strikes began, has a margin of error of three percentage points.
Iranian state television said it has been targeted by strikes after a series of powerful blasts rattled Tehran, though it was not knocked off the air.
“The technical team is assessing the damage,” said the broadcaster.
The UK Defence Ministry said a Royal Air Force Typhoon took out an Iranian drone that was heading towards Qatar on Sunday.
The incident marks the first involvement of UK forces since the US-Israel joint strikes on Iran.
New explosions were heard Sunday evening in Erbil, the capital of Iraq's northern Kurdistan region which hosts US bases, an AFP journalist near the US consulate said.
An AFP photographer near Erbil airport, where US-led coalition troops are deployed, said air defences were intercepting attacks, but it is not yet clear whether they involve missiles or drones.
United Arab Emirates will keep its stock markets closed on Monday and Tuesday following Iranian missile strikes, the Capital Markets Authority said.
The Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange and Dubai Financial Market will shut on March 2 and 3, with the regulator saying it will continue monitoring regional developments and take further steps if needed.
The UAE’s two bourses are among the Middle East’s five largest and list several of the region’s most valuable companies.
Elsewhere in the Gulf, markets that opened Sunday fell sharply: Saudi Arabia’s benchmark dropped over 4% at the open, Oman fell 3%, Egypt lost 5.44%, and Kuwait suspended trading.
Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei has said that Iran’s government “does not rely on one individual”, claiming that Tehran’s enemies have been promoting this idea.
In an interview with Lebanon’s Al-Mayadeen Network, Baghaei said Iran was “defending the entire region, not just Iran,” and described Khamenei’s killing as “an international crime and a war against Iran.”
He added that Iran has mobilised all its capabilities to protect its sovereignty, with military leaders determining weapons and targets. Baghaei also stressed that Tehran respects regional countries and has no issues with its neighbours.
The United Arab Emirates has closed its embassy in Iran and announced the withdrawal of its diplomatic mission after strikes from the Islamic Republic hit the country.
The announcement from the Gulf country’s Foreign Ministry comes as Iranian retaliatory attacks targeting U.S. bases in the Mideast have hit Dubai airport and other civilian buildings, forced the closure of its airspace, and disrupted daily life.
“The Foreign Ministry as confirmed that this decision reflects its firm and unwavering position against any aggression that threatens its security and sovereignty,” the statement said.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the Islamic Republic had spent “two decades” studying U.S. military operations in the region and have since “incorporated lessons accordingly.”
“Bombings in our capital have no impact on our ability to conduct war,” Araghchi said on X. “Decentralised Mosaic Defense enables us to decide when — and how— war will end.”
We've had two decades to study defeats of the U.S. military to our immediate east and west. We've incorporated lessons accordingly.
— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) March 1, 2026
Bombings in our capital have no impact on our ability to conduct war. Decentralized Mosaic Defense enables us to decide when—and how—war will end. pic.twitter.com/E4jrdnDapb
The US broadcaster NBC reports that the three US soldiers who have died so far in the Trump administration’s military campaign against Iran were based in Kuwait.
Iranian news agency ISNA reported that Gandhi hospital in northern Tehran was targeted on Sunday by strikes, on the second day of a US-Israeli air campaign against Iran.
"Tehran's Gandhi hospital was attacked by Zionist-American air strikes," ISNA reported, while the Fars and Mizan agencies published a video, presented as being from inside the facility, showing debris on the floor among wheelchairs.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a post on X that Trump had spoken to the leaders of all three countries, but didn’t provide further details.
Trump has spoken to leaders throughout the region since the start of U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi says he spoke to United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan over the phone.
In a post on X, Modi said he expressed his condolences over the loss of lives in the attacks and conveyed India’s solidarity with the UAE during what he described as a difficult time.
“Spoke with President of the UAE, my brother Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Strongly condemned the attacks on the UAE and condoled the loss of lives in these attacks. India stands in solidarity with the UAE in these difficult times,” Modi said.
He also thanked the UAE President for ensuring the well-being of the Indian community residing in the country.
Modi added that India supports efforts toward de-escalation and reiterated its commitment to regional peace, security and stability.
Spoke with President of the UAE, my brother Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan. Strongly condemned the attacks on the UAE and condoled the loss of lives in these attacks. India stands in solidarity with the UAE in these difficult times.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 1, 2026
Thanked him for taking care of the Indian…
Emmanuel Macron said Sunday that France is reinforcing its military posture and defensive support for Middle East allies after the escalating conflict, as he chaired an emergency defence meeting in Paris.
His remarks came after two Iranian drones struck a hangar at Al Salam Naval Base in Abu Dhabi, also known as Camp de la Paix, which hosts French forces. The attack caused a fire and limited damage but no casualties, authorities said.
The strike was part of a second day of Iranian drone and missile attacks on Gulf countries, launched in retaliation for ongoing US and Israeli strikes on Iran that killed its supreme leader.
The United States Central Command said Sunday it destroyed the headquarters of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, calling it a major blow to a group it blames for the deaths of more than 1,000 Americans over the past 47 years.
"America has the most powerful military on earth, and the IRGC no longer has a headquarters," the US Central Command, or CENTCOM, said in a statement.
The Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) killed more than 1,000 Americans over the past 47 years. Yesterday, a large-scale U.S. strike cut off the head of the snake. America has the most powerful military on earth, and the IRGC no longer has a headquarters. pic.twitter.com/WdpN7JBECr
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) March 1, 2026
Eight Iran-backed fighters from the Popular Mobilisation Forces were killed Sunday in separate strikes in Iraq, including four in a raid on their base, as violence escalated after US and Israeli attacks on Iran.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the escalating regional situation. In a post on X, he said India’s concerns were conveyed, stressed that civilian safety must remain a priority, and reiterated the call for an early cessation of hostilities.
Had a telephone call with PM Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the current regional situation. Conveyed India's concerns over recent developments and emphasised the safety of civilians as a priority. India reiterates the need for an early cessation of hostilities.@netanyahu
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 1, 2026
US President Donald Trump said Sunday he envisages a four-week military operation against Iran, where American and Israeli strikes have killed the country's supreme leader and crippled its defense capabilities.
"It's always been a four-week process. We figured it will be four weeks or so," he told British newspaper the Daily Mail, the latest of several interviews with media outlets Sunday.
"As strong as it is, it's a big country, it'll take four weeks -- or less," Trump said.
Trump told the newspaper he remained open to more talks with the Iranians, but did not say if that would happen “soon”.
“I don’t know. They want to talk but I said ‘you should have talked last week, not this week’.”
France, Germany and the UK said Sunday they were ready to defend their interests and those of its allies in the Gulf if necessary by taking "defensive action" against Iran.
The three countries' leaders were "appalled by the indiscriminate and disproportionate missile attacks launched by Iran against countries in the region, including those who were not involved in initial US and Israeli military operations", said the joint statement.
Israel's Magen David Adom emergency services said they were treating several people in the Jerusalem area on Sunday after the latest salvo of missiles fired from Iran.
"MDA teams are treating a number of patients in the Jerusalem region and searching other sites," an MDA statement said.
In a separate statement, Israeli police said searches were being conducted in the Jerusalem area "following reports of interceptor fragments from munitions falling in several locations."
President Donald Trump has warned combat operations against Iran will continue until “all objectives are achieved”.
He also confirmed in a video posted on Truth Social that three US troops were killed and said there would likely be more American casualties.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Sunday he had agreed to let the United States use UK bases to fire "defensive" strikes aimed at destroying Iranian missiles and their launchers.
But in a video address posted to social media, he added: "We were not involved in the initial strikes on Iran and we will not join offensive action now."
In a statement earlier Sunday, France, Germany and the UK said they were ready to defend their interests and those of its allies in the Gulf if necessary by taking "defensive action" against Iran.
The EU is to reinforce its naval mission in the Red Sea with additional vessels as Iran's retaliation to US-Israeli strikes threatens maritime traffic, a European diplomat said Sunday.
Two new French ships will join the EU's Aspides mission, bringing to five the number of warships taking part, the diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity, after foreign ministers from the bloc's 27 nations held talks on Iran.
US President Donald Trump on Sunday warned Iran's security forces to surrender or be killed, after the US military said it destroyed the headquarters of the elite Revolutionary Guards.
"I once again urge the Revolutionary Guard, the Iranian military and police to lay down your arms and receive full immunity or face certain death. It will be certain death. It won't be pretty," Trump said in a video address.
US President Donald Trump vowed Sunday to avenge the deaths of three US troops in a war he launched on Iran as he acknowledged more casualties were likely.
"Sadly, there will likely be more before it ends," Trump said in a video address. "But America will avenge their deaths and deliver the most punishing blow to the terrorists who have waged war against, basically, civilization."
The foreign minister of Oman, who mediated recent talks between Iran and the US, says the “door to diplomacy remains open” even after the second day of a massive US-Israel military campaign against the Islamic Republic.
“I want to be very clear – the door to diplomacy remains open,” Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said on social media.
“Talks in Geneva made genuine progress towards an unprecedented agreement between Iran and the United States and although the hope was to avoid war, war should not mean that the hope of peace is extinguished. I still believe in the power of diplomacy to resolve this conflict.”
Earlier on Sunday, Albusaidi urged a ceasefire on a call with his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi.
I want to be very clear - the door to diplomacy remains open. Talks in Geneva made genuine progress towards an unprecedented agreement between Iran and the United States and although the hope was to avoid war, war should not mean that the hope of peace is extinguished. I still…
— Badr Albusaidi - بدر البوسعيدي (@badralbusaidi) March 1, 2026
An Israeli military official says a variety of factors created near-perfect conditions for Israel and the U.S. to kill much of Iran’s leadership in the opening strike of the war.
The official says that months of planning and close coordination with the U.S., combined with real-time intelligence that the targets were gathered together, allowed the two allies to strike in the joint operation on Saturday morning.
The official says the airstrikes targeted three locations, all within 60 seconds of one another, killing Iran’s supreme leader and some 40 senior officials, including the head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. He said that striking in broad daylight added an additional element of surprise.
The official said Israel and the U.S. agreed that striking the leadership was the best way to open the operation. Otherwise, he said they would quickly disperse and go into hiding once the attacks began. He spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the covert operation.
“We had a great opportunity, great intel, great execution,” he said.
Top diplomats from six Gulf states called on Iran to immediately halt its attacks on their territories, which they said violated their sovereignty and threatened to undermine regional security and stability.
The foreign ministers of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain had a virtual emergency meeting Sunday following the U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran. That triggered an Iranian barrage of missiles on U.S bases and other civilian infrastructure, including airports, hotels and in some cases, residential areas. The foreign ministers condemned the attacks they said targeted their territories and Jordan.
The Gulf top diplomats said their countries retain “their legal right to respond and the right to self-defense” according to international laws.
Top US officials including Secretary of State Marco Rubio will make the case Tuesday to Congress for the attack on Iran, the White House said, as Democrats and some Republicans question its rationale.
Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, CIA Director John Ratcliffe and military chief General Dan Caine "will brief the full membership of both chambers of Congress on Tuesday," White House spokesman Dylan Johnson said.
Abbas Araghchi told the United Nations that the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was a grave breach of fundamental international norms. He urged the UN and its Security Council to hold the US and Israel accountable, warning the act undermines sovereign equality and threatens global stability.
“Such conduct does not merely violate established principles of international law; it recklessly opens a dangerous Pandora’s box, eroding the bedrock of sovereign equality and the stability of the international system,” he added.
Israeli strikes were launched at Beirut's southern suburbs on Monday, Lebanese state media reported, as Hezbollah said it fired rockets and drones at Israel in response to the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Qatar’s Interior Ministry has urged residents to remain indoors as the U.S.’ and Israel’s war on Iran enters its third day on Monday.
In a social media post, the ministry called for residents to go out only in “cases of absolute necessity,” and to stay away from windows and exposed areas.
Qatar, which hosts the largest American military base in the Mideast, is one of the Arab Gulf countries that Iran hit in response to the U.S.-Israeli strikes that triggered the war.
Bahrain’s military has intercepted 61 Iranian missiles and 34 drones since Tehran began targeting the Gulf nation in retaliation for the recent U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran, according to an AP report.
The island kingdom, which hosts the U.S. Fifth Fleet, was struck as part of Iran’s response to the ongoing military action against it. Bahraini authorities said the incoming projectiles were aimed at civilian facilities and private properties.
In a statement, the military described the attacks as a “flagrant violation of the principles of international and humanitarian law,” adding that the “indiscriminate and heinous” strikes pose a direct threat to regional safety and security.
British forces are handling a suspected drone strike at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, the defence ministry said Monday, with no casualties reported.
The strike hit the base at midnight, and the ministry said force protection is at the highest level.
The incident comes after Britain allowed US forces to use its bases for “defensive” strikes against Iranian missiles. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Britain is not involved in offensive action but is supporting allied self-defence.
The base, near Limassol, recently received additional air and drone defence systems, radars, and F-35 jets.
The Israeli military on Monday urged people in nearly 50 villages in Lebanon to evacuate ahead of possible retaliatory strikes after Hezbollah fired into Israel.
The Hezbollah attack came in response to the U.S.-Israeli air campaign that killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The Israeli military urged civilians in eastern and southern Lebanon to evacuate their homes and move at least 1,000 meters (1,100 yards) away from villages to open areas.
The island kingdom of Bahrain said Monday that one person was killed by shrapnel from an intercepted missile.
The death of a foreign worker at Salman Industrial City, working on a boat there, marks the kingdom’s first reported fatality in the war.
Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, said it intercepted 61 missiles and 34 attack drones launched against it.
Some fire has gotten through, striking buildings and the naval base.
Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth will hold a press conference on Monday morning about the joint US-Israeli military campaign against Iran, the first by a senior official since strikes began Saturday.
The press conference will be held at 8:00 am local time Monday (1300 GMT), the Pentagon announced Sunday on X.
Dan Caine, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, will also take part, the Pentagon said.
Pete Hegseth will also visit Congress on Tuesday with Secretary of State Marco Rubio to brief lawmakers on the progress of the military operation, the White House announced Sunday.
Democrats in opposition have complained that they were not consulted before the operation began.
