Rockets fired from Lebanon as US-Israel war on Iran expands

The live blog has now ended and will be back tomorrow at 9am GMT. You can read more of The New Arab's coverage of the US-Israel war on Iran here.

Loud bangs and sirens were heard in Kuwait for a third consecutive day, a Reuters witness said on Monday, after Iran launched retaliatory strikes on the neighbouring Gulf states in response to US and Israeli attacks on the Islamic Republic.

South Lebanon residents fled by car after Israel struck the area in response to Hezbollah rocket fire on Monday, an AFP journalist witnessed.

Heavy traffic coming from the south filled roads in the Lebanese city of Sidon, with cars packed with families and some with mattresses tied to the roof, according to an AFP journalist.

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.

The US and Israeli militaries struck Iran on Saturday, and Iranian state media confirmed Sunday that a strike on Tehran killed Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Britain's Royal Air Force base Akrotiri has been hit by a suspected drone strike, Sky News reported on Monday citing the UK's Ministry of Defence.

There were no casualties in the incident at the base near Limassol, Cyprus, the report said.

Israeli military ordered on Monday residents of at least 50 Lebanese towns to get 1 km away from the towns, the military spokesperson said.

US President Donald Trump said Sunday that he had a shortlist of three names to lead Iran after he launched a war to topple Tehran's ruling clerics.

Trump told The New York Times that he had "three very good choices" for who could lead Iran, but he did not name them. "I won't be revealing them now. Let's get the job done first," he said.

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam condemned rocket fire launched at Israel on Monday, as the Israeli military launched a series of strikes across Lebanon in response.

"Regardless of who is behind it, the rocket fire from southern Lebanon is an irresponsible and suspicious act that endangers Lebanon's security and safety and gives Israel pretexts to continue its attacks on it," Salam said on X.

Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah claimed responsiblity, saying it had launched rockets and drones overnight at Israel in retaliation for the killing of the Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

British forces are responding to a suspected drone strike at its military base in Cyprus, the defence ministry said Monday, with no casualties reported.

The strike hit the RAF Akrotiri base at midnight, said the ministry, adding that its forces were handling a "live situation".

The Israeli military said it launched a wave of strikes against Hezbollah "across Lebanon" on Monday, after rocket fire claimed by the Iran-backed militant group.

A military statement said that "in response to Hezbollah's projectile fire toward the State of Israel", Israeli forces had "begun striking targets of the Hezbollah terrorist organisation across Lebanon".

The United States on Sunday strongly condemned Iran's missile and drone attacks in a joint statement with Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Iran's actions represented a "dangerous escalation" and endangered civilians, the countries said, and they reaffirmed their right to self-defence

Israel has struck Beirut's southern suburb of Dahiyeh, according to Reuters, citing witnesses and security sources.

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.

The Israeli military said it launched "large-scale strikes" on Tehran on Monday, two days after the start of a US-Israeli campaign against Iran.

"The Israeli Air Force... has begun an additional wave of strikes against the Iranian terror regime at the heart of Tehran," the military said in a statement.

Iranian news outlet Tasnim is reporting that explosions can be heard in the capital city.

Australia said Monday it has 115,000 nationals in the Middle East who are unable to fly out because of airspace closures during the conflict unleashed by US-Israeli strikes on Iran.

The government said it hoped commercial flights would resume to help Australians in the region to flee.

"We have about 115,000 Australians in the region. So that is a lot of people. The best way to get them home would be for commercial flights to return, because that is at scale," Foreign Minister Penny Wong told reporters.

"There's conflict in the region. We've seen loss of life across the region, and airspace is not open. So, whether or not it is an Australian flight or a commercial flight, the flights are not able to occur."

Asked if Australia would repatriate people, she said the government wanted to see if commercial flights would resume and that it was "engaging" with airlines.

The government set up an online crisis portal to register citizens and permanent residents, as well as their immediate families, who were in Israel, Iran, Qatar or the United Arab Emirates, she said.

Israeli officials have told Haaretz that rocket fire from Lebanon was from Hezbollah.

About 500 Russian nationals are readying for evacuation from Iran via Azerbaijan, the Russian embassy in Baku said on Sunday.

"We would like to express our gratitude to the Azerbaijani side for their assistance, including for the prompt consideration of issues related to the issuance of border crossing permits," it said on its Telegram channel.

A source close to the Azerbaijani government said 192 individuals had been evacuated from Iran to Azerbaijan over 38 hours, including 82 Azerbaijani nationals.

The Russian foreign ministry has recommended that Russian nationals move to safe regions in Israel and Iran or leave the countries after military strikes by Israel and the United States.

Israeli military said on Monday that projectiles launched from Lebanon resulted in sirens sounding in several areas in northern Israel.

A security threat was declared at UK bases in Cyprus, according to Cyprus Mail, with sources telling the outlet personnel on base were told to "return to your homes and stay inside until further notice."

They were also told to "move away from windows and take cover behind or beneath substantial, solid furniture."

The alert comes after two Iranian ballistic missiles were fired at UK bases in Cyprus as part of Iran's retaliation for a US-Israeli strikes on the country.

Switzerland urged a return to diplomacy as Tehran launched retaliatory strikes across the Gulf on Sunday -- three days after mediated talks in Geneva between the United States and Iran.

Swiss President Guy Parmelin said on X that "all parties must protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, de-escalate immediately and return to diplomacy".

Switzerland said Saturday that the country's good offices remained at the disposal of the parties in the conflict.

Neutral Switzerland has played a key role in diplomatic relations between Iran and the United States for decades.

It has been representing US interests in Iran since Washington broke off relations with Tehran after the 1980 hostage crisis, a year after the Iranian revolution.

As the so-called protecting power, Switzerland's role has allowed the two feuding nations to maintain a minimum of diplomatic and consular relations.

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.

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 that combat operations in Iran would continue until all objectives are achieved, as he confirmed in a video posted on Truth Social that three US service members had been killed and said there would likely be more American casualties. 

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.

"We will take steps to defend our interests and those of our allies in the region, potentially through enabling necessary and proportionate defensive action to destroy Iran's capability to fire missiles and drones at their source," it added.

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."

Amazon's cloud unit, AWS, said on Sunday that power to its data centre in the United Arab Emirates was shut down temporarily after objects struck the facility, triggering sparks and a fire.

The UAE is reeling from Iran's retaliatory missile and drone strikes following US and Israeli attacks on Iran. The Iranian strikes hit airports, ports, and residential areas across the country and the wider Gulf.

When Reuters asked AWS whether the incident at the data center was connected to the strikes, the company did not confirm or deny.

AWS said: "At around 4:30 AM PST, one of our Availability Zones (mec1-az2) was impacted by objects that struck the data center, creating sparks and fire."

According to the company's website, an "Availability Zone" is made up of one or more connected physical data centres. These zones are separate, isolated locations within each AWS Region.

Fire department cut power to the facility while crews worked to extinguish the fire, AWS said.

It will take several hours to restore connectivity in the affected zone, the data centre operator said, adding that other zones in the UAE are operating normally.

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.

US President Donald Trump said Sunday that American soldiers dying during strikes on Iran was to be expected in a war that was nevertheless a "great deal."

"We have three, but we expect casualties, but in the end it's going to be a great deal for the world," Trump told NBC after the Pentagon announced three US service members had been killed during military strikes on Iran.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a coalition of Iranian-backed militia groups, said in a statement that it has conducted 23 operations using dozens of drones targeting US air bases in Iraq.

 Seven Iranian military commanders were killed in strikes on the country including the head of the office of the armed forces commander-in-chief, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported on Sunday.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday announced that the country would do more to protect its citizens and bases in the Middle East, as well as support countries targeted by Iran.

The US-Israeli strikes have led France to "step up its defensive posture to stand alongside those with whom we have defence treaties", he said after the second defence council meeting on the conflict in as many days.

It was necessary to "adjust our stance in light of recent developments, which nothing justifies and which we will not let pass", he said, indicating a possible surge in French military resources in the region.

Iranian strikes have targeted all Gulf countries, notably the United Arab Emirates, where the hangar of a French base was hit in a drone strike on the port in Abu Dhabi.

France is also making arrangements to repatriate its citizens once the airspace is reopened, he added.

Government spokeswoman Maud Bregeon has previously said that repatriations will be carried out "when the situation allows".

Bregeon also said that France "could only be satisfied" at the death of Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

The EU's top diplomat warned Sunday that the Middle East "stands to lose greatly from any drawn-out war", urging Iran to refrain from indiscriminate attacks in retaliation to US-Israeli strikes.

"The events unfolding in Iran must not lead to an escalation that could threaten the Middle East, Europe and beyond, with unpredictable consequences, also in the economic sphere," Kaja Kallas said, speaking on behalf of the EU's 27 nations after an emergency meeting of foreign ministers.

US President Donald Trump spoke on Sunday with the leaders of Israel, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a post on X.

The US military on Sunday announced it had destroyed the headquarters of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard force on the second day of war to overturn the Iranian government.

"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," CENTCOM said.

Israel intercepted an Iranian missile over Syria on Sunday, a Syrian interior ministry official told AFP, causing a loud explosion that was heard in the capital Damascus.

"The loud explosion in Damascus was an Israeli interception of an Iranian missile," the official said, requesting anonymity.

AFP journalists in Damascus heard a blast.

A US-Israeli attack on Iran on Saturday triggered a retaliation from Tehran, which has been firing missiles at Israel and the Gulf since then.

Debris from missiles fell in southern Syria, which borders Israel, according to state media.

Syria, whose new authorities are hostile to Iran, extended the closure of its airspace on Sunday until Tuesday, the official SANA news agency reported.

Its national carrier suspended on Saturday all flights to and from the Damascus and Aleppo international airports until further notice.

Israel struck and destroyed much of the Syrian army's infrastructure including its air defences after the fall of longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in 2024, fearing it would fall into the hands of the new Islamist authorities.

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.

"A short while ago, the (Israeli military) identified missiles launched from Iran toward the territory of the State of Israel" the military said.

"Defensive systems are operating to intercept the threat", the statement said, urging the public to stay in shelters.

Iranian media reported that a police station in a city on the outskirts of Tehran was hit by strikes on Sunday, killing an unspecified number of people, with others said to be trapped under debris.

"Following the enemy attack on the city of Rey, the Rey Police Headquarters building and nearby residential buildings were hit," the Tasnim news agency reported. "According to initial reports, a number of citizens were martyred and some were trapped under the rubble."

Two fighters from the powerful Iraqi armed group Kataeb Hezbollah were killed on Sunday in an airstrike near the Iraqi-Syrian border, two sources from the pro-Iran faction told AFP.

"Two fighters from Kataeb Hezbollah were martyred in an American-Israeli bombing" near the al-Qaim border crossing in western Iraq.

Another group official confirmed the toll.

Israel's present focus in its military operations in Iran is to undermine the Iranian regime to the point of toppling it, an Israeli official said on Sunday, adding that Israel "is acting in its own ways" to get Iranians to take to the streets.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, did not elaborate on what tactics Israel might be using to encourage Iranians to protest against the regime.

The Israeli military said it had dealt a "severe blow" to Iran's command and control centres on Sunday after a fresh wave of strikes on military targets in the Islamic republic.

The military "struck dozens of the regime's military command centres, including headquarters belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), intelligence headquarters, IRGC Air Force command centres, and internal security headquarters," the military said in a statement.

"The completed wave of strikes has dealt a severe blow to the terrorist regime's command-and-control capabilities, eliminating personnel within its most critical headquarters," the statement added.

Israeli strikes hit a hospital in Tehran’s Gandhi Street area, two witnesses told Reuters on Sunday, saying the hospital was badly damaged and patients were being taken out.

The United Arab Emirates was shuttering its embassy in Iran and recalling its ambassador, a statement from the foreign ministry said on Sunday, following a barrage of Iranian attacks targeting the Emirates.

"The UAE announces closure of its embassy in Tehran and withdrawal of its ambassador and all members of its diplomatic mission, and condemns the Iranian missile attacks," read a statement posted by the foreign ministry's director of strategic communications on X.

The decision was made in response to "the blatant Iranian missile attacks that targeted the country's territories, which constitute aggressive assaults that struck civilian sites, including residential areas, airports, ports, and service facilities, and exposed defenceless civilians to danger".

Dubai's and Abu Dhabi's stock exchanges will be closed until Tuesday due to the ongoing conflict in the region, the UAE's financial regulatory authority announced Sunday.

The Emirates have been hit by Iranian strikes since Saturday in response to the joint Israeli-US attacks.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday said he was "saddened" by the death of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a wave of US and Israeli air strikes on Iran.

"I was saddened to learn of the passing of Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as a result of the attacks that took place yesterday," he said, his words relayed in a post on X, extending Turkey's "sympathies" to the people of Iran.

Britan's Defence Ministry said on Sunday a Royal Air Force Typhoon fighter jet operating from Qatar took out an Iranian drone heading towards Qatari territory.

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.

The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, which is a loose alliance of pro-Iran backed groups including powerful factions, claimed attacks with dozens of drones against US bases in Iraq and the region, without providing any details.

Pro-Iran armed groups, such as Kataeb Hezbollah, said they will not stay "neutral" in the US-Israel war against Iran and that they will defend the Islamic republic.

On Sunday morning, Iran, which has been targeting the Gulf states and Israel with a barrage of missiles, said it also hit US bases in Iraq's Kurdistan.

US defence systems later intercepted drones over Erbil, where a small Iran-backed Iraqi group has also claimed drone attacks.

Two further powerful explosions rocked Tehran on Sunday, rattling the apartment windows of two AFP journalists living several kilometres apart, on the second day of US-Israeli strikes against Iran.

The explosions, which were of considerable force, came around 9:00 pm local time (1730 GMT), the same time that state television said it was being attacked. It was not immediately clear what the target was.

Angry Iraqi protesters clashed Sunday evening with security forces near the US embassy in Baghdad, AFP journalists said.

Protesters tried to storm Baghdad's Green Zone, where the US embassy is located, but security forces used tear gas to disperse them. It was their second attempt Sunday to enter the area.

The US embassy had warned earlier that demonstrations near its compound "may turn violent."

The US State Department has given its non-emergency personnel and their families in Qatar permission to leave the country, the embassy in Doha said on Sunday as Tehran launched a second day of strikes in response to ongoing US-Israeli air raids.

The department "authorised non-emergency US government employees and family members of government personnel to leave Qatar due to safety risks," the US embassy said in an advisory on its website which also warned Americans to "reconsider travel to Qatar due to the threat of armed conflict".

A projectile hit the Marshall Islands–flagged product tanker MKD VYOM killing a crew member on board as the vessel sailed off the coast of Oman, manager V.Ships said on Sunday.

"The vessel suffered an explosion and subsequent fire after being struck by a suspected projectile while off the coast of Muscat, Oman on 1 March," V.Ships Asia said in a statement.

"It is with great sadness that we confirm one crew member, who was in the engine room at the time of the incident, has died."

Iranian state television said on Sunday evening that it had 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, which was also targeted during Iran's 12-war with Israel in June.

A pro-Iranian militia in Iraq that goes by the name Saraya Awliya al-Dam says it has attacked US bases in Iraq's northern Kurdish city of Erbil with drones on Sunday.

Lebanon and France postponed on Sunday an upcoming conference to support the Lebanese army and security forces, a joint statement by both countries' presidencies said, citing unfavourable conditions in the region.

The statement said Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron "decided to postpone until April the conference... which was to be held on March 5 in Paris" after discussing "the latest developments affecting the security of the entire region".

"The conditions were not met to hold the meeting on the scheduled date."

The conference is meant to support the military, whose mission is to disarm Hezbollah after Beirut committed to doing so last year.

Aoun and Macron stressed that "the gravity of the regional situation reinforces the need to preserve the stability of Lebanon, to support its legitimate institutions and to guarantee the full restoration of its sovereignty".

Police said 11 people were still missing on Sunday evening after an Iranian missile strike on the central Israeli city of Beit Shemesh that killed at least nine people.

"So far, more than 45 injured people in varying degrees of severity have been evacuated, and the bodies of nine fatalities have been recovered. At this time, there are 11 missing persons with whom contact has not yet been established," Israeli police said in a statement, adding that search operations were ongoing.

The Israeli army announced on Sunday the deaths of 40 senior Iranian officials, foremost among them the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in a wave of US and Israeli attacks.

Official Iranian media have so far confirmed the names of six high-ranking figures killed during a meeting of the Defense Council, and have also reported the deaths of three members of Khamenei's family.

Here are the six names confirmed by Iran, as well as one other senior official Israel maintains was killed:

Ali Khamenei: The death of Ayatollah Khamenei - who wielded near-absolute power over the country's religious, political and military affairs - was announced on Saturday by US President Donald Trump, who described him as "one of the most evil people in history".

Iran confirmed his death during the night, declaring 40 days of mourning and the start of a transition process. His daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter were also killed in the strikes, according to Iranian media.

Mohammad Pakpour: He took over the leadership of the Revolutionary Guards - the ideological arm of the Iranian military - in June during the 12-day war with Israel, which the US briefly joined.

Ali Shamkhani: A close adviser to the Supreme Leader, was one of Iran's highest-ranking security officials as head of the Defense Council.

Gholamreza Rezaian: Former national intelligence chief of the police.

Abdolrahim Mousavi: The chief of staff of the Iranian armed forces.

Aziz Nasirzadeh: Defence minister. He was formerly commander of the Iranian air force and deputy chief of staff of the armed forces, before becoming minister in 2024.

Mohammad Shirazi: Head of Khamenei's military office. His death has not been confirmed by Iran, but he was among those named by Israel.

Oman's foreign minister, who had been mediating US-Iran talks, on Sunday urged a ceasefire on a call with his Iranian counterpart, as Tehran launched a second day of strikes in response to ongoing US-Israeli air raids.

Badr Albusaidi "affirmed the Sultanate of Oman's continued call for a ceasefire and a return to dialogue... in a manner that achieves the legitimate demands of all parties," Oman's foreign ministry said in a readout of a call with Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi.

On Sunday in Oman, which had been the only Gulf state spared from attack during the first day of the Iranian campaign, the port of Duqm was targeted by two Iranian drones, injuring one foreign worker, official state media reported.

According to the Oman foreign ministry statement, Araghchi said Iran was "calling for peace," and voiced "the openness of the Iranian side to any serious efforts that contribute to stopping the escalation and returning to stability".

KLM, the Dutch arm of airline group Air France KLM, will not fly to Dubai, Riyadh or Dammam until Thursday March 5 due to the current situation in the region, Dutch news agency ANP reported on Sunday, citing a KLM spokesperson.

France slammed Iran's "massive and unjustifiable" attacks on the Gulf states and Jordan Sunday, with Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot saying they were being "drawn into a war they did not choose".

"I have expressed to each of them France's unequivocal condemnation, full solidarity and complete support," he added in a post on X.

Iran's "mullah regime is coming to an end," German Chancellor Friedrich Merz Merz has said after supreme leader Ali Khamenei was killed on Saturday in the US-Israel strikes.

The Israeli military on Sunday 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.

Swiss International Air Lines said Sunday it was extending the suspension of flights to and from Dubai up to and including March 4, "due to the ongoing tense situation in the Middle East".

Flights to and from Tel Aviv will remain suspended until and including March 8, SWISS added.

Until March 4 inclusive, "our aircraft will not use the airspace of the United Arab Emirates", and until March 8 inclusive "we will continue to avoid the airspace of Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Iran, Kuwait and Bahrain", the Swiss flag carrier said.

The airline, part of the Lufthansa group, said it was offering passengers a refund or a free rebooking to a later date.

As the United States and Israel attacked Iran on Saturday, prompting retaliatory strikes by Tehran across the Gulf region, SWISS cancelled its Dubai flights for the weekend and its Tel Aviv flights until March 7.

U.S. President Donald Trump says Iran’s leaders want to resume negotiations and that he has agreed to talk with them, according to a phone interview with The Atlantic.

Iran's foreign minister told his Omani counterpart in a phone call that Tehran is open to any series efforts for de-escalation: Oman's Foreign Ministry

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered his condolences on Sunday to the families of those killed in Iranian strikes, saying his country was living through "painful days."

First responders said an Iranian missile attack on Sunday killed at least nine people in the Israeli city of Beit Shemesh, in the deadliest strike in the country since the war began.

"These are painful days. Yesterday here in Tel Aviv, and now in Beit Shemesh, we lost dear people. My heart goes out to the families, and on behalf of all of you, the citizens of Israel, I send my wishes for a full recovery to the injured," Netanyahu said in a video statement.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Sunday called on Iran to "immediately stop" its "indiscriminate attacks", while predicting that the country's rule by clerics was coming to an end with the death of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Germany shares Iranians' "relief" to see the "mullah regime come to an end", Merz said, though he cautioned that the killing of Khamenei in US and Israeli strikes on Tehran had set Iran on a path to an "uncertain future".

US President Donald Trump told Fox News that 48 Iranian "leaders" have been killed in the US strikes since Saturday.

He added that operations in Iran are "ahead of schedule."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Sunday to intensify air strikes on Tehran in the coming days, declaring that the military had mobilised its "full strength" in the 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.

"We are engaged in a campaign in which the IDF (military) is deploying its full strength as never before, to ensure our existence and our future."

The US military says its aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln was not hit by Iran, adding that the Iranian missiles "launched didn't even come close."

Israeli military announces new series of strikes on central Tehran

Three U.S. service members have been killed in action as part of U.S. military operations against Iran, the U.S. Central Command said in a statement on Sunday.

Five others were seriously wounded as part of Operation Epic Fury, it said.

Two ships were attacked in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, maritime security agencies said, as Iran pressed a second day of attacks in response to US-Israeli air raids.

One ship was struck off the coast of Oman, the British maritime security agency UKMTO said in a statement. Another was struck off the coast of the United Arab Emirates, UKMTO and the private maritime security company Vanguard Tech said.

The US military says it sunk an Iranian ship, which is "currently sinking to the bottom of the Gulf of Oman."

The US embassy in Baghdad warned on Sunday of threats against US interests in Iraq, and said protests near its compound could become violent.

The embassy said on X that it is "tracking active threats to US interests in Iraq including restaurants, businesses and individuals".

US "citizens should remain alert to their surroundings and avoid large crowds, as demonstrations may turn violent", it said.

Israel intercepted an Iranian missile over Syria on Sunday, a Syrian interior ministry source told AFP, causing a loud explosion heard across Damascus.

"The loud explosion in Damascus was an Israeli interception of an Iranian missile," the source said, requesting anonymity.

AFP journalists in Damascus heard a blast.

The death toll from an Iranian missile attack Sunday in the Israeli city of Beit Shemesh rose to at least nine people, first responders said, in the deadliest strike in the country since the war began.

The Magen David Adom emergency service said: "In the Beit Shemesh area, MDA EMTs and paramedics have pronounced the deaths of nine" people, as well as 28 others injured, with police saying it was a direct hit on a building.

Dozens of Israeli rescue personnel were deployed to the site of the impact, and an AFP photographer saw teams removing a body from the rubble of the building that bore the brunt of the missile strike.

Photographs from the scene showed a house destroyed by the blast, its roof reduced to mangled concrete and twisted iron bars. Rescue teams continued searching for survivors beneath the debris.

Saudi Arabia on Sunday intercepted Iranian missiles targeting Riyadh's international airport and the Prince Sultan Airbase, which houses US military personnel, a Gulf source briefed on the matter told AFP.

"Air defences successfully intercepted Iranian missiles near Riyadh airport and Prince Sultan Airbase on Sunday afternoon," the source said, requesting anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, adding that the interception did not disrupt navigation or cause any human or material losses.

An eyewitness near the airport said they "saw and heard the air defence intercept the missile in the sky". Residents and AFP correspondents earlier reported hearing explosions in eastern Riyadh.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said Sunday that they had attacked the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln in the Gulf after US and Israeli strikes killed the country's supreme leader.

"The US aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln was struck by four ballistic missiles," the Guards said in a statement carried by local media, warning that the "the land and sea will increasingly become the graveyard of the terrorist aggressors".

An Iranian drone attack on an Abu Dhabi naval base caused a fire but no casualties, the defence ministry said Sunday, as Iran attacked the Gulf for a second day after a wave of US and Israeli strikes.

"Specialised teams responded today to an incident resulting from an attack by two Iranian drones on a warehouse at Al Salam Naval Base in Abu Dhabi. The attack caused a fire in two containers of general materials, but there were no casualties," the ministry said.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said Sunday that an interim leadership council established after the killing of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has begun its work.

"The interim leadership council started its work... we will continue with all our strength along the path set by Imam Khomeinei", the founder of the Islamic republic, Pezeshkian said in a recorded video statement broadcast on state TV.

He added that the Iran's military "will forcefully crush the enemy's bases".

The death toll from an Iranian missile attack Sunday in the Israeli city of Beit Shemesh rose to at least eight people, first responders said, making it the deadliest single strike in the country since the war began.

The Magen David Adom emergency service said: "In the Beit Shemesh area, MDA EMTs and paramedics have pronounced the deaths of eight", as well as 28 people injured, with police saying it was a direct hit on a building.

One person has been killed and 32 injured in Iranian attacks on Kuwait since Saturday, according to the emirate's health ministry.

The death toll from an Iranian missile attack on Bet Shemesh in central Israel has risen to six, according to first responders.

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.

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.

Three people have been killed and at leas 58 injured in the UAE since Iran started launching strikes on the country on Saturday, the Emirati defence ministry said.

A barrage of missiles launched from Iran killed at least four people in central Israel on Sunday, Israel's emergency service said.

"Four people were killed in a direct hit on Beit Shemesh," Magen David Adom spokesman Zaki Heller said in a televised statement.

The Marshall Islands-flagged crude oil tanker MKD VYOM was hit by a projectile off the coast of Oman while sailing with a cargo, two maritime security sources said on Sunday.

The vessel was hit some 44.4 nautical miles northwest of Muscat, one of the sources said.

One of the vessel's managers, listed in databases as leading commercial ship management group V Ships, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

German airline Lufthansa has suspended flights to Tel Aviv, Beirut, Amman, Erbil, Dammam and Tehran until and including March 8, due to the current situation in the Middle East, it said on Sunday, extending cancellations already in place.

It also said airspace over Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Dammam and Iran was closed until and including March 8.

Flights to and from Dubai and Abu Dhabi were suspended until and including March 4 and United Arab Emirates airspace was not to be used until and including March 4.

The UK Foreign Office on Sunday urged British citizens in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to "shelter in place" amid the escalating conflict in the Middle East.

The Foreign Office "now advises against all but essential travel to Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE", it said on X in its latest update.

"If you are a British national in those countries, you should shelter in place and register your presence," the ministry added.

New explosions heard in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Manama: AFP correspondents

An Iranian missile landed in Bet Shemesh, a town about 30 km west of Jerusalem, media reports said.

A reporter for Al-Araby Al-Jadeed said the strike wounded at least 20 people, with at least one in critical condition.

Video from Bet Shemesh, central Israel pic.twitter.com/86GG9qentz

— Exilenova+ (@Exilenova_plus) March 1, 2026

Air raid sirens sounded and explosions were heard over the coastal Israeli city of Tel Aviv on Sunday as Israel and Iran exchange missile strikes, an AFP journalist reported.

The journalist heard a dozen blasts from air defence systems intercepting missiles echo in the sky of Tel Aviv.

News reports said at least one missile landed in the city.

Israel's military said Sunday that its initial strike on Iran the previous day killed 40 senior commanders along with the country's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

"The first step of this operation was the opening strike in which we eliminated 40 senior commanders, including Khamenei, in one minute in two different locations over a thousand miles from Israel in broad daylight," military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani told journalists.

The Israeli military on Sunday said it had destroyed roughly half of Iran's missile stockpiles in the previous war in June 2025, adding the Islamic republic had been producing dozens of surface-to-surface missiles each month.

"During the operation (in June 2025), we destroyed approximately half of the Iranian regime's missile stockpiles and prevented the production of at least 1,500 additional missiles," military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin said in a televised statement.

"The regime had recently been producing dozens of surface-to-surface missiles per month and intended to increase production to hundreds per month."

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said Sunday that he hopes the ongoing confrontation with Iran will usher in a "new era" for the entire Middle East, including Iran.

"This is a historic effort to change the trajectory in the Middle East to a different future, a future of peace," Herzog said while inspecting a site in Tel Aviv where an Iranian missile had struck the previous day.

"We shall overcome and hopefully bring a new era to the Middle East and Iran," he added.

France "satisfied" with the death of Iran's "bloodthirsty" supreme leader Ali Khamenei: spokeswoman

Dozens of cargo ships are clustered in waters off Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and the UAE past the Strait of Hormuz, with dozens of further ships stationary along the coast outside of Hormuz, Reuters estimates

Attack hits Crown Plaza Hotel in Manama causing material damage, but no casualties: Bahrain's interior ministry

Bahrain 🇧🇭: Iranian missiles have struck the Crown Plaza in the luxury district of the capital Manama pic.twitter.com/Wsj3t77Inj

— Thomas van Linge (@ThomasVLinge) March 1, 2026

US air defences intercept drones over Iraq's Erbil: AFP journalist

US embassy in Bahrain tells citizens to avoid Manama hotels, could be attack "target"

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".

Britain's defence secretary said Sunday "Iranian indiscriminate retaliatory attacks" launched after US-Israeli strikes included "two ballistic missiles fired in the direction of Cyprus" but it was not believed they were "targeted" at the Mediterranean island.

"We had two ballistic missiles fired in the direction of Cyprus," John Healey told the BBC, noting UK warplanes were involved in "defensive" actions in the region, operating from the UK's airbase on the island and from a base in Qatar.

"Now we are pretty sure they weren't targeted at Cyprus, but nevertheless, it demonstrates how our bases, our personnel, military and civilians at the moment are at risk," he said, without providing further details about the missiles and any interception of them.

Iran names Alireza Arafi to leadership council after Khamenei killing: state media

CIA intelligence indicating Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would attend a meeting of top Iranian officials helped guide strikes in a US and Israeli attack that killed Iran's supreme leader, the New York Times reported Sunday.

The American intelligence agency had been tracking Khamenei for months, the Times reported, citing people familiar with the operation, and learned that a meeting of top Iranian officials was set for Saturday morning at a leadership compound in the heart of Tehran.

Washington and Tel Aviv originally planned to launch strikes on Iran at night, but officials adjusted the plan based on the CIA intelligence, according to the Times.

The US gave the information to Israel, who planned to carry out the attack on Iranian leadership, the newspaper reported.

The operation began about 6:00 am in Israel (0400 GMT), and long-range missiles struck the compound about 9:40 am, the Times said.

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.

The Israeli military has released footage of the moment it destroyed an Iranian command headquarters in the heart of Tehran on Saturday, believed to include the compound of slain supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

❌ نخستین تصاویر از موج گسترده پروازی نیروی هوایی در قلب تهران

تصاویری از دقایق اخیر از انهدام یک مقر فرماندهی متعلق به رژیم تروریستی ایران در قلب تهران پیوست شده است pic.twitter.com/3LVVASQxKX

— ارتش دفاعی اسرائیل | IDF Farsi (@IDFFarsi) March 1, 2026

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.

AFP correspondents and residents in Riyadh heard 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'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.

Pro-Iranian protesters angered by the death of Iran supreme leader Ali Khamenei tried to storm the US consulate in Pakistan's Karachi on Sunday, leaving eight dead, and the fortified Green Zone hosting Washington's embassy in the Iraqi capital Baghdad.

In the Pakistani megacity of Karachi, hundreds of pro-Iranian protesters tried to enter the US mission, an AFP journalist saw.

At least eight people were killed in the protests and at least 20 were injured, Muhammad Amin, a spokesman for the Edhi Foundation rescue service said, adding most had bullet wounds.

In Baghdad, hundreds of Iraqis, many dressed in black, attempted to storm the compound housing the American embassy on Sunday despite a heavy security deployment.

Locals protesting stikes on Iran have stormed the entrance area of the US Consulate in Karachi, Pakistan. pic.twitter.com/fiqSoRRpPt

— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) March 1, 2026

Explosions reported near Iran's broadcasting complex in Tehran, according to Iranian media

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."

Woman and child sustain minor injuries from falling debris after drone intercepted at Abu Dhabi's Etihad Towers: Abu Dhabi government media office

A second wave of explosions have hit Dubai on Sunday morning, as Iran carried out retaliatory attacks on the Gulf following US and Israeli strikes that killed the supreme leader.