Trump says he needs to be involved in selecting Iran's next leader, Axios reports

BREAKING: Fars News Agency reports that a US-Israeli missile attack targeted two schools in Parand, southwest of Tehran, today. pic.twitter.com/Rnh6HVHs4K

برخی از مقامات آمریکایی‌ گفته‌اند که با چند هزار نیرو قصد ورود زمینی به ایران را دارند.
فرزندان سلحشور امام خمینی و امام خامنه‌ای منتظرتان هستند تا آن مسئولان نابکار آمریکایی را با چند هزار کشته و اسیر رسوا کنند.
سرزمین ایران جای رقص دوزخیان نیست.

Iran's military says launched drone attack on US military sites in Kuwait, Iraq

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.

The Iranian army also said it 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.

Meanwhile, Iran's state-run Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs has said that the death toll from US and Israeli strikes on the Islamic republic has risen to 1,230.
AFP was not in a position to verify the toll.

"The number of martyrs from the aggressive military attack carried out by criminal America and the usurping Israeli regime against the Islamic homeland had reached 1,230 as of March 5," the foundation said, according to Iran's official IRNA news agency.

Azerbaijan vows to respond after four injured by Iranian drones

Azerbaijan warned on Thursday that it was ‌preparing unspecified response measures after two Iranian drones flew across its border and injured four people in the Nakhchivan exclave, raising concern about further spillover of the conflict in the Middle ​East.

"These attacks will not remain unanswered," the Azerbaijani defence ministry said in ​a statement.

It added that it was investigating the types of drones ⁠used in the attack, and "preparing the necessary response measures to protect the ​territorial integrity and sovereignty of the country and to ensure the safety of civilians ​and civilian infrastructure".

Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi denied Tehran had targeted Nakhchivan. "We do not attack our neighbouring countries," he told Azerbaijani outlet AnewZ.

The foreign ministry earlier demanded that Iran "clarify the ​matter in the shortest possible time, provide an explanation and take the necessary ​urgent measures to prevent such incidents from recurring in the future", adding that the incident "contributes ‌to ⁠increased tensions in the region".

It handed a note of protest to the Iranian ambassador to Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan and Iran already have tense relations over Baku's growing economic, energy and military ties to NATO member Turkey and Israel, and the escalating US–Iran war risks ​touching off violence ​between the neighbours.

Azerbaijan ⁠said one drone fell on the terminal building of the Nakhchivan International Airport, which is approximately 10 kilometres across ​the border from Iran, and another drone landed close to ​a school ⁠building in a nearby village.

The four injured were taken to hospital, where they are in stable condition, the health ministry in the landlocked exclave of Azerbaijan bordering Armenia, ⁠Iran ​and Turkey told Reuters.

Video footage verified by Reuters ​showed black smoke rising near the airport and damage to the skylight inside the terminal building.

Separately, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) said one missile and six drones fell inside the country. The defence minister also said it had intercepted six ballistic missiles and 125 drones.

Russia accuses US, Israel of trying to drag Arab countries into conflict

Russia on Thursday accused the United States ​and Israel of trying to drag Arab ‌countries into a wider Middle East conflict by provoking Iran into striking targets across the region and said there ​was no sign Washington and Tel Aviv ​would let up.

Arab states in the Gulf, all ⁠close US allies - some of which also ​have close ties with Russia - have come under ​Iranian drone and missile attacks since the United States and Israel launched their air strikes on Iran on Saturday.

Russian President ​Vladimir Putin spoke by phone to leaders of ​four Arab Gulf states on Monday, offering to use Moscow's ‌ties ⁠to Iran to relay concerns about Tehran's strikes on oil infrastructure across the region.

Russia's Foreign Ministry in a statement on Thursday accused the US and Israel of ​deliberately trying ​to draw ⁠Arab Gulf states into a wider conflagration.

"They deliberately provoked Iran into retaliatory ​strikes against targets in some Arab countries, ​which ⁠led to human and material losses, which the Russian side deeply regrets," the ministry said. "In doing so, they (Washington ⁠and ​Tel Aviv) are trying to ​drag the Arabs into a war for someone else's interests".

UK sending four extra Typhoon jets to Qatar, PM Starmer says

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Thursday that four additional ​Typhoon fighter jets would be sent to ‌Qatar as the conflict in the Middle East escalates, insisting that the UK has the right plan for defence.

Britain's ​cautious response to the Iran crisis and ​a drone attack on its key military base ⁠in Cyprus have led to doubts among ​partners about its military effectiveness.

Starmer told a press conference Britain ​had the right plan and had already ​been pre-deploying military equipment across the region before the start ‌of ⁠the war.

"My focus is providing calm, level headed leadership in the national interest," Starmer said.

"That means deploying our military and diplomatic strength to protect our ​people, and ​it means ⁠having the strength to stand firm by our values and our principles, ​no matter the pressure to do otherwise."

He ​said ⁠Britain was sending four additional typhoon jets to join the squadron in Qatar to strengthen our defensive operations there and ⁠in ​the region. "We have the right ​plan for defence," he said.

US President Donald Trump ​has also criticised Starmer for failing to provide sufficient support for his strikes on Iran.

Some Western diplomats in Riyadh told to take shelter

Some Western diplomats in the Saudi capital Riyadh were told to shelter in place, diplomats told AFP on Thursday, as Iran pressed on with a retaliation campaign that has hit US embassies in the Gulf.

A witness said the diplomatic quarter in Riyadh had also been closed off. The witness and diplomats spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter.

Iran claims Israel carried out strikes on Gulf energy sites to drag other states into war

Iran has accused Israel of carrying out drone strikes on energy and civilian sites in the Gulf, calling the attacks a deliberate effort to provoke regional tension and draw Arab states into a US-Israeli war on Tehran, according to Turkish public broadcaster TRT World.

A Foreign Ministry official told Middle East Eye: "I can categorically say that some of the attacks were not carried out by us [Iran]." The official said Israel was behind strikes on Saudi Arabia and at least one attack on Oman, but did not specify which incidents.

The statements follow multiple drone and missile strikes on Saudi facilities, including the Ras Tanura oil refinery and the US embassy in Riyadh, and two attacks on Oman's Duqm Port, a major logistics hub that has hosted US naval access since 2019.

On Thursday, a drone crashed near the airport in Nakhchivan.

Two Iranian sources told MEE that Israel's Mossad executed the strikes using an established network of agents inside Iran. "This is an Israeli effort to sabotage regional peace and alliances between neighbours," one source said.

Another Iranian source said Tehran had privately informed Saudi Arabia it was not responsible for the Ras Tanura strike. "This is an Israeli effort to sabotage regional peace and alliances between neighbours," the source added.

Additionally, according to UK news outlet Sky News, a "Shahed-like drone" which targeted a Royal Air Force base in Cyprus was not launched from Iran, according to a Ministry of Defence spokesperson.

BREAKING: A "Shahed-like drone" which targeted an RAF base in Cyprus was not launched from Iran, says a Ministry of Defence spokesperson.

Iran latest 🔗 https://t.co/MSOfDN6aRq

📺 Sky 501 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/HaFKmugFU6

Explosions in Qatar

Multiple rounds of explosions echoed over the Qatari capital Doha on Thursday, just hours after officials said they were evacuating residents living near the US embassy.

Gulf countries have been targeted by repeated waves of Iranian drone and missile attacks in retaliation for the massive US-Israeli air campaign.

AFP journalists on the ground in Doha described Thursday's blasts as some of the most intense since Iran began targeting the Gulf state on Saturday. A column of black smoke was seen on the Doha horizon.

The targeting of Qatar on Thursday came hours after the country's prime minister lambasted Iran's foreign minister during a call, in the first high-level contact between the two countries since the Islamic Republic launched its missile and drone campaign.

Qatari Premier Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani accused Iran of seeking to "harm its neighbours and drag them into a war that is not theirs", on the call with Iran's Abbas Araghchi, according to a statement by Qatar's foreign ministry.

Explosions were also heard in Bahrain's capital, Manama, on Thursday.

In neighbouring Saudi Arabia, officials said they had intercepted three cruise missiles and several drones.

"Three cruise missiles were intercepted and destroyed outside the city of Al-Kharj," the Saudi defence ministry posted on X.

Elsewhere, a tanker was hit by a "large explosion" in waters off Kuwait, causing an oil spill, the British maritime security agency UKMTO reported.

Exchanging fire

The Israeli military said it identified a fresh round of missiles launched from Iran on Thursday, the sixth day of a war engulfing the Middle East.

"A short while ago, the IDF (military) identified missiles launched from Iran toward the territory of the State of Israel. Defensive systems are operating to intercept the threat," the military said in a statement.

Iran has sent out a second warship towards Sri Lanka's territorial waters, a day after a US submarine destroyed an Iranian frigate, killing at least 87 sailors, a minister told parliament.

Media minister Nalinda Jayatissa said the second Iranian warship was just outside Sri Lankan waters, but gave no further details.

Official sources said the vessel was carrying more than 100 crew and feared they too could be targeted the same way a sister vessel was sunk by a US submarine just off Sri Lanka's southern coast on Wednesday.

A series of blasts hit Tehran and its western outskirts, local media reported, after Israel said it had launched another wave of strikes on the Iranian capital.

The Fars news agency reported an explosion in western Tehran, while the Shargh and Iran papers reported at least one explosion in Karaj, a neighbouring city to the west.

New strikes on different parts of Tehran

Follow: https://t.co/mLGcUTS2ei pic.twitter.com/lAhRm9fUQQ

Iranian news agency Tasnim said the country had activated its defences in response.

Meanwhile, Iran says it had targeted the headquarters of Kurdish forces in Iraqi Kurdistan with three missiles, following strikes on Kurdish regions in both Iran and Iraq.

The strikes, which killed a member from an exiled Iranian Kurdish group, according to a representative, followed a warning from Iranian officials.

Israel said it carried out strikes on Beirut targeting Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah early Thursday, while Lebanese state media reported an Israeli drone strike killed a Hamas official.

Read: Pakistan confident of weathering Middle East storm

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported several strikes, including two in the Hezbollah stronghold of south Beirut, where AFPTV footage showed smoke rising.

Israel's military, which earlier told residents to leave the suburbs where the strikes were reported, said its forces hit "several command centres belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organisation" in the city.

There were no immediate reports of casualties.

The NNA said that a pre-dawn Israeli drone strike hit an apartment in Beddawi, a Palestinian refugee camp near Tripoli, killing senior Hamas official Wassim Atallah al-Ali and his wife.

- An apartment in the Beddawi Refugee Camp near Tripoli, Lebanon has been struck in what appears to be a targeted assassination of a senior Hamas figure based in the country. pic.twitter.com/N8W1bP0r3f

This is the first reported targeted killing of a Hamas official since the regional war began on Saturday.

The report noted that Ali's brother, also a Hamas official from Beddawi, was killed in an Israeli air strike during the war triggered by Hamas's 2023 attack on Israel.

Separately, the NNA reported that a drone hit a vehicle in south Lebanon, killing three people. It did not speculate who was behind the strike.

Another "enemy" air strike hit a house in Tyre district, the NNA said.

Israel has not claimed the latest attacks reported by the Lebanese news agency.

“We are facing aggression… our choice is to confront it until the ultimate sacrifice, and we will not surrender,” Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem declared in his first speech since the latest round of fighting broke out.

“For us, this is an existential defence,” he added.

Lebanese authorities announced at least 72 people killed, 437 wounded and 83,000 displaced from their homes since Monday.

Iran launched a wave of missiles at Israel early on Thursday as well, sending millions of residents into bomb shelters as the US-Israel war with Iran entered its sixth day and just hours after moves to halt the US air assault were blocked in Washington.

Explosions were heard in Jerusalem after warnings of incoming Iranian missile fire, according to AFP journalists, but Israel's emergency services said there were no known casualties.

🚨 BREAKING — #Israel:

New wave of Iranian ballistic missiles reportedly striking Tel Aviv.#TelAvivBlast https://t.co/Y86fBXA0cD

Tasnim reported that several explosions were heard in Tehran on Thursday morning. It said the country had activated its defences in response.

Füzeler İsrail semalarında #TelAviv #TelAvivBlast

pic.twitter.com/mhtlF6IWxB

Republican senators in Washington voted against a motion aimed at stopping the air campaign and requiring that military action be authorised by Congress, leaving President Donald Trump's power to direct the war largely unbound, as the conflict continues to widen across the Middle East and beyond.

The US Senate voted 53 to 47 not to advance the resolution, largely along party ‌lines, with all but one Republican voting against the procedural motion and all but one Democrat supporting it.

Qatar has begun evacuating residents of its capital living near the US embassy as a precautionary measure, the interior ministry said, after Iranian strikes.

Read More: Iran crisis could disrupt supply of key chipmaking materials, South Korea warns

Repatriation flights departed the Middle East on Wednesday as governments rushed to bring home tens of thousands of citizens stranded by the war. A British flight to repatriate UK nationals did not take off as scheduled from Oman and was rescheduled for later on Thursday, Sky News reported.

Commercial air traffic remained largely absent across much of the region, with major Gulf hubs, including Dubai, the world's busiest airport for international passengers, affected.

President Donald Trump hailed the US performance in the war, saying Iran's leaders were rapidly being killed, and vowing to push on.

"We're doing well on the war front, to put it mildly. Somebody said on a scale of 10, where would you rate it? I said about a 15," Trump told a gathering of tech bosses.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said that Israel and Washington had made "historic gains" in the war.

The US, Israel-Iran war has widened sharply, with a US submarine sinking an Iranian warship off Sri Lanka on Wednesday, killing at least 80 people, and NATO air defences destroying an Iranian ballistic missile fired towards Turkey.

The missile incident is the first time that Turkey, which borders Iran and has NATO's second-largest military, has been drawn into the conflict, but US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said there was no sense that it would trigger the Atlantic alliance's collective-defence clause.

The escalation came as the powerful son of Iran's slain supreme leader emerged as a frontrunner to succeed him, suggesting Tehran was not about to buckle to pressure from the United States and Israel's military campaign that has killed hundreds and convulsed global markets.

The war continued to paralyse shipping through the Strait of Hormuz on Thursday, choking off vital Middle East oil and gas flows. Trump has pledged to provide insurance and naval escorts for ships to contain soaring costs, with oil prices rising on Thursday. At least 200 vessels remain anchored off the coast, according to Reuters estimates.

Also Read: US launches charter flights to evacuate citizens from the Middle East amid rising tensions

The US Navy will escort oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz "as soon as it can" but is focused on the conflict for now, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said on Fox News on Wednesday.

"No, not yet ... We'll do that as soon as we can. Right now, our Navy, and of course, our military, is focused on other things, which is disarming this Iranian regime," Wright said, when asked if any commercial vessels had requested US Navy assistance in the Gulf.

Asian shares rallied on Thursday after days of sharp losses, while US stocks closed up on Wednesday on hopes that the war might end soon. Some traders said the improved sentiment followed a New York Times report that Iranian intelligence had reached out to the CIA early in the war about a path towards ending it.

A source from the Iranian intelligence ministry rejected the article as "absolute lies and psychological warfare in the midst of war", Iran's semi-official news agency Tasnim reported.

Repatriation flights departed the Middle East on Wednesday as governments rushed to bring home tens of thousands of citizens stranded by the war.

Commercial air traffic remained largely absent across much of the region, with major Gulf hubs, including Dubai, the world's busiest airport for international passengers, affected.