Live! US, Israel intensify Iran war after Khamenei’s death; Trump vows revenge
Over 200 killed in strikes across Iran; Tehran retaliates with missile attacks, causing first US casualties and raising fears of a prolonged Middle East war
The US and Israel pounded targets across Iran on Sunday (March 1), dropping massive bombs on the country's ballistic missile sites and wiping out warships as part of an intensifying military campaign following the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Blasts rattled windows across the country and sent plumes of smoke high into the sky above Tehran. More than 200 people have been killed since the start of the strikes that killed Khamenei and other senior leaders, Iranian leaders have said.
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Iran vowed revenge, firing missiles at Israel and Gulf Arab states in a counteroffensive that the US military said resulted in the deaths of three service members, the first known American casualties from the conflict.
Israeli rescue services said strikes had hit several locations, including Jerusalem and a synagogue in the central town of Beit Shemesh, where nine people were killed and 28 wounded, bringing the overall death toll in the country to 11. Eleven people were still missing after the strike, police said.
But the attacks on Iran showed no signs of relenting as the US and Israel took aim at key military, political and intelligence targets in what appeared to be a widening war that carried the potential for a prolonged conflict that could envelop the Middle East and destabilise it.
Trump vows vengeance for US deaths
US President Donald Trump said in a video posted to social media that the US would “avenge” the deaths of the service members and that “there will likely be more” killed before the conflict ends.
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Israel, which had pledged “nonstop” strikes, said it was increasing its attacks, with 100 fighter jets simultaneously striking targets in Tehran, Brig Gen Effie Defrin told reporters at a briefing. The US military, meanwhile, said B-2 stealth bombers struck Iran's ballistic missile facilities with 2,000-pound bombs. Trump said on social media that nine Iranian warships had been sunk and that the Iranian navy's headquarters had been “largely destroyed.”
Europe has mostly stayed out of the war and pressed for diplomacy, but in an indication that the conflict could draw in other nations, Britain, France and Germany said they were ready to work with the US to help stop Iran's attacks.
Iranian strikes extend beyond US, Israel
In the Gulf, Iran's retaliatory strikes went beyond US and Israeli targets, pushing the conflict into cities that have long marketed themselves as regional safe havens.
The foreign ministers of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman and Bahrain said Sunday that their countries retain “the legal right to respond and the right to self-defense” after Iranian strikes hit hotels, airports and other sites in multiple cities throughout the Gulf.
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In the United Arab Emirates, authorities said most Iranian missiles and drones were intercepted. But some either got through or fell as debris, killing three people, injuring others and causing significant damage.
Bahrain and Kuwait said Iranian strikes in both countries hit civilian targets.
(With agency inputs)
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Live Updates
- 2 March 2026 7:52 AM IST
Iran says no plan to close Strait of Hormuz amid regional tensions
Iran’s foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has sought to calm fears over the crucial maritime passage, telling Al Jazeera that Tehran has “no intention of closing the Strait of Hormuz” and currently doesn’t plan to disrupt navigation there. He emphasised that Iran has no plan to do “anything that would disrupt maritime activities” in the strategic waterway.
- 2 March 2026 7:32 AM IST
UAE closes embassy in Tehran after Iranian missile strikes
The United Arab Emirates has closed its embassy in Tehran and withdrawn all diplomatic staff, condemning the Iranian missile strikes targeting the Gulf nation.
In a statement on X, the UAE foreign ministry said: “These hostile attacks against civilian sites, including residential areas, airports, ports, and service facilities, endangered innocent civilians in a serious and irresponsible escalation and constitute a flagrant violation of national sovereignty.”
- 2 March 2026 7:08 AM IST
Oil prices rise sharply in market trading after attacks in Middle East disrupt global energy supply
Oil prices rose sharply when market trading began Sunday, as US and Israeli attacks on Iran and retaliatory strikes against Israel and US military installations around the Gulf sent disruptions through the global energy supply chain.
Traders were betting the supply of oil from Iran and elsewhere in the Middle East would slow or grind to a halt. Attacks throughout the region, including on two vessels traveling through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf, could restrict countries' ability to export oil to the rest of the world. That would likely result in higher prices for crude oil and gasoline, according to energy experts.
West Texas Intermediate, the light, sweet crude oil produced in the United States, was selling for about USD 72 a barrel Sunday night, up around 8 per cent from its trading price of about USD 67 on Friday.
Roughly 15 million barrels of crude oil per day — about 20 per cent of the world's oil — are shipped through the Strait of Hormuz, making it the world's most critical oil chokepoint, according to Rystad Energy. Tankers traveling through the strait, which is bordered in the north by Iran, carry oil and gas from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Qatar, Bahrain, the UAE and Iran.
Iran had temporarily shut down parts of the strait in mid-February for what it said was a military drill. Further disruptions to that shipping channel could lead to lower supply and higher prices for oil.
Attacks throughout the region, including on two vessels travelling through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf, could restrict countries' ability to export oil to the rest of the world. That would likely result in higher prices for crude oil and gasoline, according to energy experts.
Against that backdrop, eight countries that are part of the OPEC+ oil cartel announced they would boost production of crude Sunday. The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, in a meeting planned before the war began, said it would increase production by 206,000 barrels per day in April, which was more than analysts had been expecting. The countries boosting output include Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria and Oman.
- 2 March 2026 7:07 AM IST
3 US troops killed and 5 are seriously wounded during Iran attacks, military says
Three American service members have been killed and five others seriously wounded during the US attacks on Iran, the military announced Sunday, marking the first American casualties in a major offensive that President Donald Trump said could likely lead to more losses in the coming weeks.
The three who were killed were US Army soldiers deployed to Kuwait as part of a unit that oversees supplies and logistics, according to a person familiar with the situation who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. The development was reported earlier by NBC News and The Washington Post.
US Central Command, which oversees the Middle East, announced the deaths in a post on X but did not say when and where they occurred as the Islamic Republic retaliates over the joint strikes by the US and Israel. The post said “several others sustained minor shrapnel injuries and concussions” and were going to return to duty.
- 2 March 2026 7:07 AM IST
'Chance to kill senior leaders was a golden opportunity'
An Israeli military official described Saturday's mission against the Iranian leadership as the result of months of “extremely high coordination” with the US The official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a covert operation, said a variety of factors created a “golden opportunity." Those factors included weeks of training and monitoring the movements of senior figures, along with “real time intelligence” that the targets were gathered together.
The results, the official said, were near-simultaneous strikes, within 60 seconds of one another, in three locations 1,000 miles (1,609 kilometres) from Israel that killed Khamenei and some 40 senior figures, including the head of the Revolutionary Guard and the country's defence minister.
- 2 March 2026 7:06 AM IST
Streets of Tehran are largely deserted
In Tehran, there was little sign that Iranians had heeded Trump's call for an uprising against the government.
The streets were largely deserted as people sheltered during airstrikes, witnesses told The Associated Press, speaking anonymously for fear of retribution. The paramilitary Basij, which has played a central role in crushing protests, set up checkpoints across the city, they said.
Two powerful explosions were heard in Tehran's Niavaran neighborhood late Sunday.
An eyewitness in the city told AP that the windows of their apartment shook violently, and residents came out onto the streets fearing it was too dangerous to stay inside. The witness spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. Video footage from Tehran showed plumes of smoke filling the skyline, and the official IRNA news agency reported that parts of the building of the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) were struck Sunday.
In southern Iran, at least 165 people were killed Saturday when a girls' school was struck, and dozens more were wounded, IRNA reported. The Israeli military said it was not aware of strikes in the area. The US military said it was looking into the reports.
- 2 March 2026 7:05 AM IST
Israel fires on Lebanese capital
Israel launched a barrage of strikes on Lebanon's capital, Beirut, after the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah fired missiles across the border early Monday.
It was the first time in more than a year that Hezbollah has claimed a strike against Israel. The Israeli military said it intercepted a projectile that crossed the border and that several others fell in open areas. No injuries or damage were reported.
Hezbollah said in a statement that the strikes were carried out in retaliation for the killing of Khamenei and for “repeated Israeli aggressions.”
