Top developments
The Middle East conflict intensified on Thursday with Iran launching a fresh wave of missles at Israel early on Thursday morning as the war entered the sixth day.
Azerbaijan vows retaliation: President Ilham Aliyev accused Iran of "terrorism" and threatened retaliation after drone attacks Thursday into Azerbaijan's exclave of Nakhichevan wounded four people.
Tehran denied the allegation and blamed Israel, Azerbaijan's ally, of trying to stage a provocation.
Trump wants to be involved in picking Iran’s next leader: The U.S. president called Mojtaba Khamenei, a son of the late supreme leader who is a possible candidate for the post, “unacceptable” and “a lightweight.”
Iran launches more attacks: Iran's army said on Thursday it had launched a drone attack on a US site in the Iraqi Kurdistan city of Erbil, after targeting the headquarters of Kurdish forces with three missiles.
US plans on Iran war operations: The US Central Command has asked the Pentagon to deploy additional military intelligence officers to support operations against Iran likely through September.
Thousands stuck at sea: The UN's International Maritime Organization told AFP that some 20,000 seafarers and 15,000 cruise passengers are stuck in the Gulf because of the war.
Iran death toll: The death toll in Iran from the ongoing war with the United States and Israel has reached at least 1,230 people, an Iranian government agency said Thursday.
Leadership developments: Mojtaba Khamenei, son of Iran’s slain supreme leader, emerged as a frontrunner for succession.
Global energy impact: Strait of Hormuz shipping remains paralyzed; oil prices rose; US Navy plans to escort tankers once feasible.
Iran's Internet blackout: Iran's internet is "around 1 percent of ordinary levels" with a communication blackout sparked by the war with Israel and the United States entering a fifth day, monitor Netblocks said Thursday.
The Israeli military on Thursday warned residents of three villages in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa region to evacuate immediately.
"Urgent warning to the residents of the Beqaa region, specifically the residents of the villages and towns of Douris, Brital, and Majdaloun: Hezbollah's activities in the area are forcing the IDF (Israeli military) to operate forcefully against it in order to target its military infrastructure," the military's Arabic-language spokesman Colonel Avichay Adraee said on X.
"To ensure your safety, we urge you to evacuate the area immediately and head west."
French President Emmanuel Macron is urging the Lebanese militant group to stop attacking Israel and warned Israel against a ground operation in Lebanon.
“Hezbollah must immediately cease its fire toward Israel. Israel must refrain from any ground intervention,” Macron wrote on X.
He said he spoke with Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese leaders in an effort to de-escalate the conflict.
For Lebanon we must act.
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) March 5, 2026
Everything must be done to prevent this country, so close to France, from once again being drawn into war.
The Lebanese have a right to peace and security—like everyone in the Middle East.…
The United States asked Ukraine for help to fend off Iranian drone attacks in the Middle East, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Thursday, adding that he had ordered expert support to be given.
A joint statement issued by the European Union and Gulf Cooperation Council after consultations on Thursday has condemned Iran’s attacks on its Arab allies.
The GCC nations underscored their “commitment that their territories would not be used to launch attacks against Iran”.
“They reaffirmed their unwavering commitment to dialogue and diplomacy as means to resolve the crisis, commending the constructive role of Oman in this regard, and highlighted the need to restore regional stability and security.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has highlighted what he described as “historic” military cooperation between Israel and the United States during the ongoing conflict.
In a post on X, Netanyahu said he had visited an air force base in southern Israel where Israeli and US pilots are operating together.
Netanyahu added that Israel would continue striking what he described as targets linked to Iran as well as armed groups in Lebanon.
“I thank my friend President Trump for the cooperation between us and between Israel and the US,” he said.
היום ביקרתי בבסיס חיל האוויר בדרום ונפגשתי עם טייסי חיל האוויר שלנו ועם טייסים מצבא ארה״ב שפועלים יחד במבצע ״שאגת הארי״.
— Benjamin Netanyahu - בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) March 5, 2026
שיתוף הפעולה בין צבא ארה״ב לצה״ל ובין חיל האוויר לחיל האוויר האמריקני הוא היסטורי.
אנחנו ממשיכים להלום במטרות משטר הטרור באיראן וגם מול גורמי הטרור בלבנון.… pic.twitter.com/YXyaPw1vsp
Speaking in a live interview with NBC, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Tehran is “not asking for a ceasefire” and sees no reason to negotiate with the United States, accusing Washington of attacking Iran during previous negotiations.
Araghchi also addressed concerns over the Strait of Hormuz, saying Iran has not closed the strategic waterway. However, he warned that Tehran may consider “every scenario” if the conflict continues.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has issued a sharp warning to US President Donald Trump, saying Washington’s strategy against Iran has already failed and future plans will face the same fate.
In a post on the social media platform X, Araghchi said the U.S. “Plan A for a clean rapid military victory failed,” and warned that “Plan B will be an even bigger failure.” He added that the opportunity for a “unique deal” had been “burned” during the latest round of negotiations.
Plan A for a clean rapid military victory failed, Mr. President. Your Plan B will be even bigger failure.
— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) March 5, 2026
The truth: Chance for unique deal burned after the 'America Last' cabal obscured "significant progress" we made in negotiations.
'Israel First' always means 'America Last'
Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations said Thursday it is too soon for diplomacy, as calls grow to end the widening war with Iran.
Danny Danon told reporters Israel must first eliminate Iran’s nuclear program, ballistic missiles, regional proxies and naval threats.
“I think diplomacy will come into action — not yet, not yet,” Danon said. “We have to finish the job.” He said Israel must continue “to hammer, to dismantle” Iran’s capabilities before turning to diplomacy, adding that he expects the war to last days or weeks, not months.
Danon also said the 2015 Iran nuclear deal failed and that new “effective mechanisms” are needed to prevent Iran from becoming a threat again.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan held a tphone call with France’s Emmanuel Macron during which he warned that prolonged conflict in Iran will destabilize both the Middle East and the wider world.
During their conversation on Thursday, Erdogan also said Turkey is working “intensively” to push for a return to negotiations, according to the Turkish presidential communications office.
Sri Lanka has evacuated 208 crew members of an Iranian navy vessel, President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said, a day after a US submarine struck and sank another Iranian frigate. He said Sri Lanka’s navy will also take over the second vessel and shift it to the northeastern port of Trincomalee for safe keeping amid fears that it could be a target for an attack.
All holy sites in occupied east Jerusalem's Old City will remain closed this weekend for security reasons, Israeli police said on Thursday, the sixth day of the Middle East war.
"In order to safeguard public safety and human life, all holy sites in the Old City -- including the Western Wall, Al-Aqsa Mosque, Temple Mount Complex and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre -- will remain closed, and entry will not be permitted to worshippers or visitors of any faith," a police statement said.
The House is preparing to vote Thursday on a war powers resolution to halt President Donald Trump's attack on Iran, a sign of unease in Congress over the rapidly widening conflict that is reordering U.S. priorities at home and abroad.
Bahrain said the fire Thursday night was extinguished without injuries and the refinery was still working.
But it marked yet another Iranian strike targeting the region’s oil industry, the lifeblood of the Gulf Arab states.
US President Donald Trump has said he believes he should be personally involved in selecting Iran’s next leader following the death of the country’s supreme leader.
In an interview with Axios, Trump said Iran was “wasting its time” if it tried to appoint a successor without US involvement.
He acknowledged that Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the assassinated Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, is widely seen as the most likely successor but said he would not accept that outcome.
“Khamenei’s son is a lightweight,” Trump said. “I have to be involved in the appointment.” Trump added that he would reject any new Iranian leader who continued the policies of the previous leadership, warning that doing so would risk renewed conflict with the United States “in five years”. “Khamenei’s son is unacceptable to me. We want someone that will bring harmony and peace to Iran”, he said.
Iran's ambassador to Saudi Arabia Alireza Enayati categorically denied on Thursday that his country hit the US embassy in Riyadh this week, after Saudi officials said Iran targeted the compound with drones.
President Joseph Aoun has asked French President Emmanuel Macron to intervene and stop Israel’s threatened mass bombing of Dahieyh, in the southern area of the capital.
A statement from the Lebanese presidency says Aoun also asked Macron “to work to stop the fighting as quickly as possible”.
Nearly 25,000 of the roughly 44,000 flights scheduled to fly in and out of the Middle East between Saturday and Thursday have been canceled, according to the latest numbers from aviation analytics firm Cirium.
Flight-tracking service FlightAware reported about 2,050 flight cancellations worldwide as of around 11 a.m. ET Thursday, following more than 2,600 cancellations on Wednesday. Dubai International Airport, a major hub, continued to see the largest number of disruptions.
The US Department of State says roughly 20,000 Americans have returned home since the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February 28.
Other Americans evacuated to third countries or are currently en route home, the department said, without providing numbers.
US officials are coordinating charter flight and ground transportation operations for Americans looking to leave the Middle East that “will continue to ramp up”, the department added.
More than 3,600 civilian sites have been damaged in attacks it attributes to the United States and Israel, according to figures released by the Iranian Red Crescent, cited by the Iranian government on X.
The head of the Iranian Red Crescent reportedly said 3,643 civilian locations had been targeted so far, including 3,090 homes, 528 commercial centres, 13 medical facilities and nine Red Crescent centres.
The official said several major hospitals had been damaged, including Khatam Hospital, Gandhi Hospital and other rehabilitation and welfare centres.
Casualty figures across the Middle East continue to rise as the conflict spreads across several countries. Newly released figures from Iran and Lebanon show the regional toll climbing steadily, with deaths reported among civilians, military personnel and foreign forces.
Iran
At least 1,230 people have been killed in Iran, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency, which cited the Foundation of Martyrs and Veteran Affairs. Among the victims were 175 schoolgirls and staff killed in a strike on a primary school in the southern city of Minab, the Iranian Red Crescent Society said. It remains unclear whether the overall death toll includes casualties from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).
Israel
In Israel, 10 civilians have been killed, including nine people who died in an Iranian missile strike on Beit Shemesh, near Jerusalem, on March 1, according to the national ambulance service. The Israeli military has not reported any combat deaths so far.
Lebanon
Lebanon’s health ministry said 102 people have been killed in Israeli attacks since the escalation began.
Bahrain
Authorities in Bahrain reported one fatality after a fire broke out in Salman Industrial City following a missile interception, according to the interior ministry.
Kuwait
In Kuwait, three people were killed in Iranian attacks, including two Kuwaiti soldiers, according to the country’s health and foreign ministries.
Oman
Officials in Oman said one person died after a projectile struck a Marshall Islands–flagged product tanker off the coast of Muscat.
United Arab Emirates
The UAE defense ministry reported three deaths linked to the conflict.
US Military
The U.S. Central Command confirmed that six American service members were killed in a strike on a facility in Kuwait.
Syria
In Syria, four people were killed when an Iranian missile hit a building in the southern city of Sweida, the state news agency SANA reported.
Iraq
Iraqi health authorities reported at least 13 deaths, including 11 militia fighters, one army soldier and one civilian, based on official health registration figures.
Iran’s Health Ministry Spokesman Hossein Kermanpour said Thursday in a post on X that the strikes have damaged critical parts of the country’s health system.
The dead included a resident orthopedic, a radiology technician, a general practitioner and an emergency medical technician.
He said the damage has also affected emergency services and ambulances.
As of 15:00, March 5, 2026, the latest U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran have damaged critical parts of the country’s health system:
— حسین کرمانپور Hossein.Kermanpour (@HKermanpour) March 5, 2026
• 11 hospitals
• 7 emergency bases
• 9 ambulances
• 1 medical laboratory
• 2 pharmaceutical manufacturing plants
• 1 national emergency…
Lebanon on Thursday raised the death toll from Israel strikes to 102.
The Health Ministry also said 638 people had been wounded since Hezbollah and Israel started attacking each other on Monday.
The previous death toll, released on Wednesday, was 77.
Bahrain's interior ministry said one of its facilities in an industrial zone housing an oil refinery was attacked on Thursday, and one witness told AFP they saw smoke rising from the area.
"One facility in Maameer was targeted, and the relevant authorities are handling the incident," the statement said. Iran has pressed attacks across the Gulf in response to US and Israeli strikes that killed its supreme leader.
Air defence systems in the United Arab Emirates are currently responding to incoming missile and drone threats from Iran, the Ministry of Defence has said.
In a brief statement on X, the ministry instructed the public to adhere to safety and security measures.
تتعامل حالياً الدفاعات الجوية الإماراتية مع تهديدات صاروخية وطائرات مسيرة قادمة من إيران
— وزارة الدفاع |MOD UAE (@modgovae) March 5, 2026
وتؤكد وزارة الدفاع أن الأصوات المسموعة في مناطق متفرقة من الدولة هي نتيجة اعتراض كل من منظومات الدفاع الجوي للصواريخ البالستية، والمقاتلات للطائرات المسيرة والجوالة.
UAE air defences are… pic.twitter.com/4egUVjHXFU
Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich warned Thursday that a southern Beirut suburb, a stronghold of Hezbollah, will face devastation similar to Gaza after the Israeli military told residents to evacuate.
"Very soon Dahiyeh will resemble Khan Yunis," Smotrich said, referring to a southern Gaza city which has been heavily damaged by Israeli bombardments during the two-year war with Hamas.
"Hezbollah made a mistake, and it will pay a heavy price. We are striking at the head of the octopus in Iran, and at the same time we will sever Hezbollah's arm," he said in a video statement as he visited Israel's northern border.
הדאחיה תיראה כמו חאן יונס.
— בצלאל סמוטריץ' (@bezalelsm) March 5, 2026
הגעתי היום לסיור במעלות, שלומי וזרעית שבצפון הארץ.
לפני שנתיים פינינו את תושבי הצפון והיום הוצאנו הודעות פינוי לתושבי דרום לבנון ולרובע הדאחיה.
בזמן שבצד הישראלי היישובים חוזרים לפרוח ולשגשג - בקרוב מאוד הדאחיה תיראה כמו חאן יונס.
חיזבאללה עשה… pic.twitter.com/JmMT2oWoPB
Azerbaijan has closed part of its southern airspace near the Iranian border for 12 hours after reporting that Iranian drones crossed into its territory.
The son of the last shah toppled in Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution said Thursday that whoever the clerical government chooses to succeed the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei will be illegitimate.
Reza Pahlavi, who has positioned himself as an alternative if the Islamic republic falls, said on social media that "victory is near" after Khamenei was killed last weekend as Mideast war began.
"Any attempt to appoint a successor for him is pre-destined to fail. Whomever is introduced... will lack legitimacy and will be considered an accomplice to the bloody record of this regime and its criminal leaders," Pahlavi said.
Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of Khamenei, is among the leading contenders to succeed his father.
Dear compatriots,
— Reza Pahlavi (@PahlaviReza) March 5, 2026
As I emphasized in my message following the demise of Khamenei, any attempt to appoint a successor for him is pre-destined to fail. Whomever is introduced—be it Mojtaba or Hassan—will lack legitimacy and will be considered an accomplice to the bloody record of… https://t.co/mrWAQAHDXw
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Thursday accused Israel of launching a drone attack in Azerbaijan that was blamed on Iran, describing it as an attempt to harm Tehran's relations with its neighbour.
In a phone call with his Azerbaijani counterpart Jeyhun Bayramov, Araghchi "denied that Iran fired any projectiles" at Azerbaijan.
He also condemned "the role of the Israeli regime in such attacks in order to divert public opinion and destroy Iran's good relations with its neighbours", according to a statement from Iran's foreign ministry.
Four people were wounded in the midday drone attack in Azerbaijan's exclave of Nakhichevan near the Iranian border.
The UN's International Maritime Organization told AFP on Thursday that around 20,000 seafarers and 15,000 cruise ship passengers are stuck in the Gulf because of the Middle East war.
The shipping regulator's secretary general Arsenio Dominguez said that the "IMO is ready to work with all stakeholders to help ensure the safety and well-being of the seafarers affected".
Britain is sending four additional Typhoon jets to Qatar amid the widening war in the Middle East, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced on Thursday.
The fighter planes will join an existing UK squadron in the Gulf state, a key energy provider, "to strengthen our defensive operations in Qatar and across the region", Starmer told a news conference.
The UN's International Maritime Organization told AFP on Thursday that around 20,000 seafarers and 15,000 cruise ship passengers are stuck in the Gulf because of the Middle East war.
The shipping regulator's secretary general Arsenio Dominguez said that the "IMO is ready to work with all stakeholders to help ensure the safety and well-being of the seafarers affected."
The United Kingdom said on Thursday it was "temporarily" withdrawing some staff and their dependants from its Bahrain embassy as Iran presses on with its retaliation campaign in the Gulf.
"Due to the ongoing security situation, the UK has taken the precautionary step of temporarily withdrawing some Embassy staff" and their families, it said in a statement on Instagram.
"Our Embassy continues to operate," it said, adding that "the situation is serious and we do not expect it to end in the coming days".
The Middle East war has forced the World Health Organization to suspend operations at its emergency logistics hub in Dubai, the agency's chief said Thursday.
"Operations at WHO's logistics hub for global health emergencies in Dubai are currently on hold due to insecurity," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters.
EU and Gulf ministers called following crisis talks Thursday for Iran to immediately end its "indiscriminate" attacks against Gulf countries, warning the strikes threatened international security.
"The ministers strongly condemned the unjustifiable Iranian attacks against the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) countries which threaten regional and global security and called on Iran to cease immediately its attacks," said a joint statement issued after the talks held by videolink.
Turkey's foreign ministry on Thursday roundly condemned a series of drone attacks on Azerbaijan which Baku blamed on Iran, calling for such attacks to end "immediately".
"We strongly condemn the drone attacks carried out today on Azerbaijan," a ministry statement said, adding that such attacks "increase the risk of the war spreading" and insisting that they "must end immediately".
Iran's army said on Thursday it had launched a drone attack on a US site in the Iraqi Kurdistan city of Erbil.
"The headquarters of the American aggressor forces in Erbil, Iraq, was attacked by the army's ground forces' attack drones," the army said in a statement broadcast by state TV.
External Affairs Minister Jaishankar, in a post on X, said that he held a telephonic conversation with Iranian FM Seyed Abbas Araghchi amid the ongoing crisis in the Middle East.
Had a telecon with Iranian FM Seyed Abbas Araghchi this afternoon. @araghchi
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) March 5, 2026
Azerbaijan's President Ilham Aliyev accused Iran of 'terrorism' and threatened retaliation after four people were wounded on Thursday in drone attacks on an airport and near a school that Aliyev blamed on his country's neighbour.
"Today a terrorist act was carried out from the Iranian side against the territory of Azerbaijan," Aliyev told a security council meeting.
Azerbaijan's military "have been instructed to prepare and carry out retaliatory measures" and "placed on mobilisation level number one, and must be ready to conduct any operation," he added.
Politico is reporting that the US Central Command -- the military command responsible for operations across the Middle East -- has asked the Pentagon to deploy additional military intelligence officers to support operations against Iran for at least 100 days, and likely through September.
The request marks the first known call by the administration for extra intelligence personnel for the Iran war and suggests the Pentagon is preparing funding for operations that could extend well beyond US President Donald Trump’s initial four-week timeline for the conflict.
Iran's military said on Thursday that it had launched a drone attack against a US military site in Kuwait.
"Drone units of the armed force's navy targeted a site of the US forces Camp Udairi in Kuwait using combat drones," the army said in a statement broadcast by state TV.
Camp Buehring, formerly known as Udairi, is a major US military facility in northwestern Kuwait.
A security official with Iraq’s navy said an oil tanker flying the Bahamas flag was hit by an explosion on Thursday while docked near Khor al-Zubair port in southern Iraq. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly.
The official said a small, unidentified boat approached the tanker at 01:20 am local time, shortly before an explosion was heard near the vessel’s left side. The cause of the explosion and the extent of the damage were not immediately clear.
Also Thursday, Iraq’s state-run Iraqi News Agency reported that an attempt to launch missiles from an area in Basra province in southern Iraq “intended to target a neighboring country,” was thwarted and that security forces seized a mobile launch platform carrying two missiles that were ready to be fired.
Iran's armed forces on Thursday denied having launched a drone attack on Azerbaijan after Baku said at least two Iranian drones hit the country, wounding two people.
"The Islamic republic of Iran... denies its armed forces launched a drone toward the Republic of Azerbaijan," the general staff of the armed forces said in a statement, according to state TV, which also blamed Israel.
"Such actions by the Zionist regime, aimed at disrupting relations between Muslim countries in various ways, are not unprecedented."
Iran's Revolutionary Guards said on Thursday they had targeted Israel's Ben Gurion airport and an air force base in the area.
"The heavy Khorramshahr-4 missiles carrying one-tonne warheads were launched at dawn today ... toward the heart of Tel Aviv, Ben Gurion airport and the base of the Israeli air force's 27th squadron located at the airport," the Guards said in a statement carried by Tasnim news agency.
The death toll in Iran from the ongoing war with the United States and Israel has reached at least 1,230 people, an Iranian government agency said Thursday.
The Iran's Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs offered the toll.
Iran accused Israel and the United States on Thursday of deliberately targeting civilian areas during their war on the Islamic republic, which began six days ago.
"Our people are being brutally slaughtered as the aggressors deliberately target civilian areas and any location they believe will inflict the maximum possible suffering and loss of life," said foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei in a post on X.
Falling debris from an intercepted drone injured six people in the Emirati capital Abu Dhabi on Thursday, the UAE's media office said.
"Authorities in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi responded to an incident involving falling debris at two locations in the ICAD 2 area, following the successful interception of a drone by air defences. The incident resulted in six minor to moderate injuries to Pakistani and Nepalese nationals," Abu Dhabi media office said in a statement.
Iran's army said it had carried out drone strikes in Israel on Thursday including a radar site.
The strikes hit "targets in Tel Aviv as well as Meron radar base" in Israel's north, the army said as quoted by state TV.
France has allowed US aircraft on some of its bases in the Middle East during the conflict opposing the United States and Israel with Iran, the French military said Thursday.
"As part of our relations with the United States, the presence of their aircraft has been temporarily authorised on our bases" in the region, a spokeswoman for the military general staff told AFP.
"These aircraft contribute to the protection of our partners in the Gulf."
Iran has not requested military aid from its ally Russia since Israel and the United States began striking the country last week, the Kremlin said Thursday.
"In this case, there have been no requests from the Iranian side," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, including AFP, in a daily briefing call.
Azerbaijan on Thursday summoned the Iranian envoy after two people were wounded in drone hits on an airport and near a school.
The ministry said it had summoned Iranian envoy in Baku to express "strong protest" over the attack, which "contradicts the norms and principles of international law and contributes to rising tensions in the region.
"Azerbaijan reserves the right to take appropriate retaliatory measures," it added.
Qatar's defence ministry said on Thursday its military was working to intercept an incoming missile attack as loud blasts reverberated across Doha and smoke was seen over the city.
"The Ministry of Defence of State of Qatar announces that State of Qatar has been subjected to a missile attack," it said in a statement. "Air Defence systems are intercepting the missile attack," it added.
The attacks around midday involved at least two drones that crossed from Iran into Azerbaijan's exclave of Nakhichevan, which borders Iran and is separated from mainland Azerbaijan by Armenia, said a foreign ministry statement.
"One drone fell on the terminal building of Nakhichevan Airport, while another drone fell near a school building in the village of Shekerabad," the ministry said, damaging the airport and wounding two civilians.
Another round of explosions were heard over the Qatari capital Doha on Thursday, AFP journalists reported.
Doha has been targeted by waves of Iranian drones and missiles since Iran launched a sprawling retaliation campaign across the Gulf in the wake of the US and Israeli attacks against Iran.
A drone launched from Iranian territory struck an airport building in Azerbaijan's exclave of Nakhichevan Thursday and exploded, Azerbaijani media reported.
Two drones crossed from Iran Thursday before one of them crashed into Nakhichevan's airport, the Azerbaijani news outlet Report said, without providing further details.
Video published on social media appeared to show smoke rising from the airport.
Iran's internet is "around 1 percent of ordinary levels" with a communication blackout sparked by the war with Israel and the United States entering a fifth day, monitor Netblocks said on Thursday.
"Iran's internet blackout has now exceeded 120 hours with connectivity still flatlining around 1 percent of ordinary levels," Netblocks said in a message posted on social media platform X.
"Meanwhile, an increasingly Orwellian environment is emerging as telcos threaten users who try to connect to the global internet with legal action."
Italy will send air defence assistance to Gulf countries hit by Iranian strikes in retaliation for US-Israeli attacks, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Thursday, says an AFP report.
"Italy, like the UK, France and Germany, intends to send aid to the Gulf countries. We are clearly talking about defence, air defence, not just because they are friendly nations but because there are tens of thousands of Italians in that area and around 2,000 soldiers that we must protect," she told RTL 102.5 radio..
"And the Gulf is vital for supplies."
Iranian state television said Iran had struck a US oil tanker in the Gulf with a missile on Thursday, the latest Iranian attack on the energy industry in the region, reported AFP.
The ship "was hit by a missile in the north of the Persian Gulf" and "is currently on fire", Iran's Revolutionary Guards said in a statement reported by state television.
The incident, which has not been independently confirmed, came as the Guards said they had "full control" of the Strait of Hormuz, which connects the Gulf to the Indian Ocean and is a vital oil and gas transit route.
Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz said his US counterpart Pete Hegseth assured him of Washington's firm backing for their joint military campaign against Iran and urged him to continue the operation "to the end".
"The Secretary of Defence said: 'Keep going to the end -- we are with you,'" Katz said, referring to an overnight conversation between the two, according to a statement issued by the Israeli minister's office on Thursday.
Iranian state television aired a message Thursday from an ayatollah in Iran calling for the “shedding” of blood from Israelis and US President Donald Trump.
The message came from Ayatollah Abdollah Javadi Amoli and represented one of the few clerical statements coming from Iran as it faces a combined airstrike campaign from Israel and the United States.
“We are now on the verge of a great test and we must be careful to fully preserve this unity, to fully preserve this alliance,” he said in the statement.
He called for “the shedding of Zionist blood, the shedding of Trump's blood.”
“The Imam of the time says, Fight the oppressive America, his blood is on my shoulders,'” the ayatollah added.
Iran’s Energy Minister Abbas Aliabadi said US-Israeli attacks have damaged water and electricity supply infrastructure in several parts of the country, reported Al Jazeera citing state broadcaster IRIB.
He said repair work is underway to restore services and ensure uninterrupted service delivery. Aliabadi also urged citizens to use water and electricity cautiously as restoration efforts continue.
Australia has deployed two military aircraft to the Middle East as part of contigency planning, two officials told AFP on Thursday.
Countries have rushed to evacuate their citizens from the Middle East this week after US-Israeli strikes on Iran that killed its supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and sparked a regional war.
Officials told AFP that Australia had deployed a heavy transport aircraft and a fuel transport aircraft to the Middle East as part of plans to get its citizens out.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also told parliament on Thursday that "military assets" had been deployed to the Middle East, though he did not give further details.
"I thank those Australians going into a dangerous situation in order to help their fellow Australians," he said.
New Zealand also ordered two military aircraft to the Middle East on Thursday in preparation for evacuations of its citizens from the region.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has accused the United States of committing an “atrocity at sea” after the Iranian naval frigate Dena was sunk in international waters. In a post on X, Araghchi said the vessel — which he described as a guest of the Indian Navy and carrying nearly 130 sailors — was struck without warning about 2,000 miles (3,219 km) away from Iran’s shores.
Warning of consequences, the Iranian minister said the US had set a dangerous precedent and would “bitterly regret” the attack. The remarks come amid rapidly escalating tensions in the region as the conflict continues to widen.
The U.S. has perpetrated an atrocity at sea, 2,000 miles away from Iran's shores.
— Seyed Abbas Araghchi (@araghchi) March 5, 2026
Frigate Dena, a guest of India's Navy carrying almost 130 sailors, was struck in international waters without warning.
Mark my words: The U.S. will come to bitterly regret precedent it has set. pic.twitter.com/cxYiI9BLUk
Lebanese state media said an Israeli strike killed a Hamas official on Thursday, the first reported targeted killing of a member of the Palestinian militant group since US-Israeli strikes on Iran triggered regional war.
Wassim Atallah al-Ali and his wife were killed when an "enemy drone targeted their home" in Beddawi, a Palestinian refugee camp near Tripoli, in a pre-dawn strike, the National News Agency (NNA) reported, describing the man as a senior Hamas official.
Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Thursday that "military assets" had been deployed to the Middle East as a contingency plan.
"I thank those Australians going into a dangerous situation in order to help their fellow Australians," Albanese told Australia's parliament.
The Australian leader did not give further details about the nature of the assets. Local outlet SBS News reported they were planes.
Iran said Thursday it had targeted headquarters of Kurdish forces in Iraqi Kurdistan, according to Iranian state media, following strikes on Kurdish regions in both Iran and Iraq.
"We targeted the headquarters of Kurdish groups opposed to the revolution in Iraqi Kurdistan with three missiles," Iran's official IRNA news agency posted on Telegram, quoting a military statement.
China has told its largest oil refiners to suspend exports of diesel and gasoline, Bloomberg News reported Thursday, as the war in the Middle East increasingly risks an energy supply crunch.
China is a net importer of oil and is one of several major Asian economies that depend on the vital Strait of Hormuz, where traffic is currently blocked, for energy.
The Middle East was the source of 57 percent of China's direct seaborne crude imports in 2025, according to analytics firm Kpler.
Officials from China's top economic planner, the National Development and Reform Commission, met with refinery representatives "and verbally called for a temporary suspension of refined product shipments that would begin immediately", Bloomberg said Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.
"The refiners were asked to stop signing new contracts and to negotiate the cancellation of already-agreed shipments," the report said.
PetroChina, Sinopec, CNOOC, Sinochem Group and private refiner Zhejiang Petrochemical regularly obtain fuel export quotas from the government, Bloomberg said.
Iranian state television said there was a new wave of attacks Thursday morning targeting Israel and U.S. military bases in the region, reported AFP.
Mark Carney on Thursday said he could not rule out Canada’s military participation in the escalating Middle East conflict, though he stressed that such a scenario remained “hypothetical.”
Speaking alongside Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Canberra, Carney said Canada would “stand by our allies” and would always defend its citizens if circumstances demanded action. His remarks come amid rising tensions after a massive strike by the United States and Israel on Iran that reportedly killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Carney reiterated that the US-Israeli attack was “inconsistent with international law”, while maintaining that Canada supports efforts to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. He described the situation as a sign of the “failure of the international order” and again called for immediate de-escalation in the region. (Read full story)
Qatar said Thursday it was evacuating residents living near the US embassy in the capital Doha, after Iranian strikes hit the Gulf country in retaliation for US-Israeli attacks.
AFP journalists heard loud explosions reverberating in Doha on Tuesday as Iran struck targets across the region.
The same day, an Iranian ballistic missile hit a US military base at Al-Udeid, 40 kilometres (25 miles) southwest of Doha, Qatar's defence ministry said.
Qatar said earlier it had thwarted attacks on Hamad International Airport.
"The relevant authorities are evacuating residents living in the vicinity of the US Embassy as a temporary precautionary measure," Qatar's interior ministry posted on X.
"Suitable accommodation has been provided for them as part of necessary preventive measures," it added.
The ministry earlier urged citizens to "remain inside homes and buildings" and "avoid going out except when necessary".
A tanker was hit by a "large explosion" in waters off Kuwait, causing an oil spill, British maritime security agency UKMTO said Thursday, as the US-Iran-Israel war paralysed Gulf shipping.
Kuwait's interior ministry said the blast happened "outside Kuwaiti territorial waters", at least 60 kilometres (37 miles) from Mubarak Al-Kabeer Port.
Turkish officials said NATO air defence systems shot down a ballistic missile fired from Iran toward Turkish airspace via Iraq and Syria.
The defence ministry said it had been "engaged and neutralised by NATO air-and-missile defence assets deployed in the eastern Mediterranean".
It did not specify the missile's intended target. Iran has been hitting sites across the region in retaliation after the United States and Israel launched strikes against it on Saturday.
A Turkish official, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, said the missile had been "aimed at a base in Greek Cyprus but veered off course".
No casualties were reported.
The United Arab Emirates "strongly condemned" the missile launch as a "serious escalation", the foreign ministry said in a statement.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey was "taking all the necessary precautions" in consultation with its NATO allies and was issuing "warnings in the clearest terms to prevent similar incidents from happening again".
Iran launched a round of missiles at Israel on Thursday, the Israeli military and Tehran's state media said, triggering alerts in several areas including Tel Aviv, with no immediate reports of casualties.
After a lull of more than seven hours, Israel's military said it had "identified missiles launched from Iran toward the territory of the State of Israel".
"Defensive systems are operating to intercept the threat," it added.
Iran's state broadcaster IRIB also reported the launches.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson has accused the European Union of “hypocrisy and a blatant double standard” after comments by the bloc’s foreign policy chief about Tehran’s actions in the region.
In a post on X, Esmaeil Baqaei criticised EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, saying the bloc had “lost its moral and political compass” by failing to condemn attacks against Iran.
Baqaei said Iran was “under attack by brutal aggressors” and had the right under international law to defend itself.
His comments came after Kallas wrote on X that Iran was “sowing chaos” in the region and “indiscriminately attacking its neighbours”.
She added that while a democratic Iran would pose less of a threat to the region, “no one can predict which direction Iran will take”.
A group of nearly 30 United Nations special rapporteurs and experts have condemned the US and Israel’s “unprovoked attacks” against Iran, emphasising that “we cannot pick and choose when international law applies”.
The targeting of civilians, educational institutions and medical facilities constitutes a “grave violation of international humanitarian law and human rights law”, the experts wrote, adding that the conflict now threatens to destabilise the Middle East as a whole.
They also expressed concern over Israel’s ongoing strikes in Lebanon and rejected the narrative – pushed by the administration of US President Donald Trump – that conflict with Iran could lead to a self-determined shift in Iranian governance.
“Unlawful military intervention must not be seen as the solution to the grievances of the Iranian people, nor would any future nuclear deal that does not address these wider grievances be mistaken for one,” the experts wrote. “Calls by the US and Israel for Iranians to seize control of their own government are reckless and put countless civilian lives at risk.”
The army had earlier issued a threat forcing residents of the neighbourhood to displace, saying they would imminently strike a building there.
This is the third Israeli army strike on the Haret Hreik neighbourhood in the southern suburbs of Beirut in the past 24 hours.
Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency has denied reports from Fox News and other outlets that Kurdish fighters are entering Iran.
Citing three of its own reporters in the border provinces of Ilam, Kermanshah, and West Azerbaijan, Tasnim said that the reports were false and there was “no news” of militants crossing Iran’s borders.
The media officer for the alliance of Iranian Kurdish parties also said that its forces were not launching ground operations.
Earlier, the Associated Press news agency reported that US officials asked Iraqi Kurds to help them in a cross-border military operation in Iran, and that troops were on “standby”.
Esmaeil Baghaei, the spokesperson of Iran’s foreign ministry, has described US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth as a war criminal, quoting some of his public comments.
“‘Flying over Tehran, flying over Iran, flying over their capital…Iranians looking up only seeing U.S.-Israeli air power. Death & destruction from the sky all day long,'” Baghaei wrote, referencing Hegseth’s statements.
“This is a confession of War Crime and Crime against Humanity. Only a NAZI mentality can unleash, in cold blood, death & destruction on another nation just to ‘satisfy the desires’ of his boss.”
The U.S. Secretary of War Crimes:
— Esmaeil Baqaei (@IRIMFA_SPOX) March 4, 2026
“Flying over Tehran, flying over Iran, flying over their capital…Iranians looking up only seeing U.S.-Israeli air power. Death & destruction from the sky all day long.”
This is a confession of War Crime and Crime against Humanity.
Only a NAZI…
Iran would target Israel’s Dimona nuclear facility if the United States and Israel attempt to pursue regime change in the Islamic Republic, an Iranian military official said.
The semi-official ISNA news agency reported that the official warned Iran could strike the nuclear site in southern Israel if such efforts were made.
The US Senate has rejected a resolution that would have required congressional approval for military action against Iran.
Republican senators blocked the measure in a 47–53 vote that largely fell along party lines.
The proposal sought to curb President Donald Trump’s military authority by directing the removal of US forces from Iran unless their deployment was authorised by Congress.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has praised Spain’s refusal to help the United States in its war against Iran.
“Spain’s responsible conduct in opposing the Zionist-American coalition’s flagrant human rights violations and military aggression against countries, including Iran, shows that ethics and awakened consciences still exist in the West,” the Iranian leader said. “I commend Spanish officials for their stances.”
Trump has criticised Spain’s refusal to allow the US to use its bases, while Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez has hit back, saying that Madrid refused to “play Russian roulette with the lives of millions”.
The US president then threatened to break all trade ties with Spain, and earlier on Wednesday, the White House claimed that Spain had buckled and agreed to cooperate with Trump’s demands.
But the Spanish government has since rejected that claim, insisting that its position regarding the war in Iran had not changed.
US officials asked Iraqi Kurds to help them in a cross-border military operation in Iran, Kurdish officials have told The Associated Press news agency.
Khalil Nadiri, an official with the Kurdistan Freedom Party in northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region, told The AP that some Kurdish forces had moved to areas near the Iranian border in Sulaymaniyah province, where they were on “standby”.
Nadiri said Kurdish opposition group leaders were contacted by US officials for a potential operation, but did not provide more details.
A second Kurdish official with Komala, another Kurdish Iranian group, told the outlet on condition of anonymity that its forces were ready to cross the border within a week and were “waiting for the grounds to be suitable”.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry has accused the United States and Israel of striking dozens of civilian sites during attacks across the country.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baqaei said in a post on X that locations hit included hospitals, schools, residential areas and markets in several Iranian cities.
Among the sites listed were residential areas in Tehran’s Niloufar Square, hospitals in Tehran and Ahvaz, the Tehran Grand Bazaar, the historic Golestan Palace complex south of the capital and an elementary school in Minab.
Baqaei also said residential areas in Maragheh in northwestern Iran and a sports hall in Lamerd in Fars province were struck, claiming civilians were killed in both incidents.
In total, the Iranian official listed 33 sites and facilities that he said had been targeted in the attacks.
Araghchi’s phone call with Bafel Talabani, the head of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan of Iraq, on Wednesday came after US President Trump had spoken with Talabani.
In a statement on Tuesday, the PUK said Trump “offered an opportunity to better understand US objectives and to discuss joint support for building a strong partnership between the United States and Iraq”.
According to Axios and CNN, Trump’s call with Talabani is part of a broader effort by the US to mobilise Kurdish groups to lead an uprising against the Iranian government from the country’s west.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has warned of “terrorist movements” at the border with Iraq, in a phone call with Bafel Talabani, the head of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan of Iraq, the Iranian ministry said.
Araghchi emphasised the necessity to boost cooperation.
Senate Democrats are trying to underscore the gravity of the moment as they cast votes on legislation that would halt President Donald Trump from carrying out further attacks on Iran.
They have filled the Senate chamber and are sitting at their desks as the vote gets underway.
During typical votes, senators stop into the chamber to cast their vote, then leave.
Senate Democrats stood when their names were called to say yay or nay, while the Republican side of the chamber was mostly empty.
Republicans have already signaled they will oppose the measure.
More than 6,400 South Africans have registered on a system opened for citizens to advise the government of their location, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement Wednesday.
The ministry said it was urging its citizens to depart on the limited number of commercial flights that have resumed.
The Israeli military said its Home Front Command had eased some war-related restrictions effective midday Thursday, allowing limited activity and permitting public gatherings of up to 50 people.
"As part of the changes, all areas of the country will transition from an essential activity level to a limited activity level," the military announced, soon after it had said the number of missiles fired by Iran towards Israel had declined.
The military said schools and other educational institutions would remain closed.
White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt has spelled out what she says were the offers made by Trump’s negotiators to Iran, before the US decided to attack the country.
She claimed that the US had engaged in “good faith negotiations” with Iran — and that Tehran had not. That assertion is belied by revelations by Oman’s foreign minister, who was mediating the talks, and according to whom the US attacks on Iran came at a time when Tehran had agreed to unprecedented concessions relating to its nuclear programme.
According to Leavitt, Iran rejected all of the US proposals, which she summarised as:
US negotiators offered to lift crippling sanctions on Iran
They offered that the US would provide nuclear fuel to Iran for peaceful purposes
They proposed a joint civil nuclear programme, with American investment
In return, Iran would need to permanently dismantle its enrichment infrastructure.
“They refused to say yes to peace,” Leavitt said. “And now they are reaping the consequences of that.”
President Donald Trump said Wednesday the United States and Israel were in a strong position in their war with Iran, vowing that they would "continue forward" against the Islamic republic.
"We're in a very strong position now, and their leadership is just rapidly going. Everybody that seems to want to be a leader, they end up dead," Trump told a gathering of tech bosses at the White House.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday that attacks on NATO ally Turkey's sovereignty were "unacceptable" after the alliance shot down an Iranian missile, which a Turkish official said had veered off course.
In a call with Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Rubio said "that attacks on Turkey's sovereign territory were unacceptable and pledged full support from the United States," State Department spokesman Tommy Pigott said.
The Israeli military announced it had launched a new wave of strikes in Tehran on Wednesday, saying they were targeting military infrastructure belonging to the "Iranian regime".
"The IDF has begun an additional wave of strikes targeting military infrastructure belonging to the Iranian regime across Tehran," the military said in a statement.
The Senate is headed toward a vote on Wednesday on President Donald Trump’s decision to embark on a war against Iran.
The legislation, known as a war powers resolution, gives lawmakers an opportunity to demand congressional approval before any further attacks are carried out.
The Senate resolution and a similar bill being voted on in the House later this week face unlikely paths through the Republican-controlled Congress, and would almost certainly be vetoed by Trump even if they were to pass.
Nonetheless, the votes marked a weighty moment for lawmakers. Their decisions on the five-day-old war – which Trump entered without congressional approval – could determine the fates of U.S. military members, countless other lives and the future of the region.
“Today every senator – every single one – will pick a side,” said Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer during a floor speech.
“Do you stand with the American people who are exhausted with forever wars in the Middle East, or stand with Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth as they bumble us headfirst into another war?”
The Israeli military said Wednesday that its strikes on Iran's missile launchers had led to a daily decline in the number of missiles the Islamic republic was firing at Israel.
"We've neutralised around 300 ballistic missile launchers. We believe our operations against those missile launchers and against those stockpiles are an integral part of the fact that we're seeing the amounts of missiles fired every day diminish," military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani told journalists.
Hezbollah will confront "Israeli-American aggression" and will not surrender, the head of the Iran-backed Lebanese group Naim Qassem said Wednesday night in remarks broadcast on his party's TV channel.
"We are facing aggression... our choice is to confront it until the ultimate sacrifice, and we will not surrender," the Hezbollah leader declared in his first speech since the beginning of the US-Israeli attack on Iran.
Spain’s government has refuted that it will cooperate with the US military attack on Iran, contradicting the White House.
Earlier today, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Spain agreed to cooperate with US military operations in the region after Trump threatened to cut off trade with Madrid.
That statement came after Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares prohibited the US from using bases in southern Spain in any strikes not covered by the UN charter.
Speaking at Cadena SER radio, Albares denied claims made Leavitt.
“The Spanish government’s position regarding the war in the Middle East and the bombings in Iran, regarding the use of our bases, has not changed by a single comma,” said Albares.
The US Senate is expected to meet and vote on a resolution brought by Democrat Tim Kaine and Republican Rand Paul seeking to curb President Donald Trump’s ability to wage war on Iran.
Republicans have a majority in the Senate, as they do in the House of Representatives.
“Among Republicans, there is pretty much ironclad support for the administration launching these attacks on Iran, save for Rand Paul,” Al Jazeera’s Heidi Zhou-Castro reported from Capitol Hill, adding that given the numbers, the resolution was unlikely to find enough traction in Congress to pass.
“But we did hear some pretty strong words from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer earlier in the day,” Zhou-Castro said. “He fears that eventually, Trump might order boots on the ground in Iran.”
French President Emmanuel Macron has said he had spoken with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam and discussed the situation in Lebanon, urging them to deescalate.
In a post on social media platform X, Macron said Hezbollah’s strategy of escalation constitutes a major error that puts the entire region in danger
Je me suis entretenu ce jour avec le Premier ministre israélien Benjamin Netanyahou, ainsi qu'avec le Président de la République libanaise Joseph Aoun et le Premier ministre Nawaf Salam, pour évoquer la situation au Liban, qui est très préoccupante.
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) March 4, 2026
J'ai réaffirmé la nécessité…
Asked if Trump thinks that Americans support the Israel-U.S. war in Iran – even though Trump hasn’t given a national address to personally make the case -- Leavitt said, “I think he does.”
“This was a rogue terrorist regime that has been threatening the United States, our allies and our people for 47 years,” she said. “And the American people are smart enough to know that, and they’re smart enough to listen to the president himself — not just over the past year, in the second term, but during his first term as president.”
Recent polling shows that, prior to the U.S.-Israel strikes that started last weekend, 61% of Americans said Iran was an “enemy” of the U.S., but only about 3 in 10 Americans said they had “a great deal” or “quite a bit” of trust in Trump.
President Donald Trump is "actively considering" a US role in Iran after the American-Israeli operation against the country concludes, the White House said Wednesday.
"I think it's something the president is actively considering and discussing with his advisors and his national security team," Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said of any post-war US role.
The United Nations says an estimated 100,000 people fled Tehran in the first two days of the US and Israeli strikes on Iran over the weekend.
“In Iran, an estimated 100,000 people left Tehran in the first two days following the attacks,” UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, said in a situation report.
A top cleric on Wednesday said Iran is close to choosing its next supreme leader.
The comments of Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami, a member of the Assembly of Experts -- the body charged with picking a new leader, were aired on state television.
"The options have become clear," he said. Other top officials have also indicated a decision may be close.
The death toll in Iran from the ongoing war with the United States and Israel has reached at least 1,045 people, an Iranian government agency said Wednesday.
The Iran's Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs offered the toll, saying it represented the number of bodies so far identified and prepared for burial.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Spain has agreed to cooperate with the US military a day after Trump suggested imposing a trade embargo on Madrid over its refusal to allow US aircraft to use jointly operated naval and air bases in southern Spain.
"With respect to Spain, I think they heard the president's message yesterday loud and clear. And it's my understanding over the past several hours they've agreed to cooperate with the U.S. military," Leavitt said.
Trump plans to attend the dignified transfer at Dover Air Force Base of U.S. troops killed in the Middle East conflict, the White House said Wednesday, one of the most solemn duties undertaken by the commander in chief.
The Pentagon is working to schedule the transfer. The U.S. has said six soldiers were killed.
“These heroes represent the very best among us,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Wednesday.
