On one of the holiest days on the Islamic calendar, Iran fired on Israel and energy sites in neighboring Gulf Arab states, insisting that it can still build missiles and issuing a new threat: to deny safety to its enemies in “parks, recreational areas and tourist destinations” worldwide. Israel meanwhile pounded Tehran with airstrikes as Iranians marked Nowruz, the Persian New Year.

The U.S. military is deploying three more warships and roughly 2,500 more marines to the Middle East, where there's no end to the war in sight despite three weeks of U.S. and Israeli air strikes that have decimated Iran's military and leadership. The Pentagon’s request for another $200 billion to fund the war would need congressional approval as the U.S. national debt hits a record $39 trillion.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel will stop attacking the gas field that Iranians depend on for most of their electricity at the request of U.S. President Donald Trump. Iran responded to Israel’s attack on the field by intensifying targeting of energy infrastructure in other Middle East countries, sending oil and gas prices soaring.

The death toll has risen to more than 1,300 people in Iran, more than 1,000 people in Lebanon, 15 in Israel and 13 U.S. military members in the region. Millions of people in Lebanon and Iran have been displaced.

Here is the latest:

Trump adds new objective for the Iran war

Though his administration for weeks has maintained that its four objectives remained “unchanged, unambiguous, and consistent” since the operation began, Trump in his social media post added a fifth one.

The four objectives had been to block Iran’s path to a nuclear weapon, stop it from arming proxy militant groups, destroy its navy and destroy its ballistic missile capacity.

In his post Friday, Trump enumerated those and added a fifth: “Protecting, at the highest level, our Middle Eastern Allies” and listed America’s Gulf partners.

Trump say US is considering ‘winding down’ its Middle East military operation

The president made the comment in a post on social media Friday evening after another climb in oil prices sent the U.S. stock market sharply lower.

Trump’s statement seemed at odds with his administration’s move to send more troops and warships to the region and request another $200 billion from Congress to fund the war.

In his post, the president also left a muddled picture of whether the U.S. would police the vital Strait of Hormuz shipping lane. Trump had said this week that the U.S. didn’t need help, while also complaining that other countries did not help.

Pete Hegseth’s Christian rhetoric draws renewed scrutiny during Iran war

Since becoming defense secretary, Pete Hegseth has found no shortage of ways to bring his strand of conservative evangelicalism into the Pentagon. From employee worship services to speeches and interviews, he often argues the U.S. is a Christian nation, and troops should embrace God.

Now Hegseth’s Christian rhetoric has taken on new meaning after the U.S. and Israel went to war with Iran, an Islamic theocracy.

“The mullahs are desperate and scrambling,” he said at a recent Pentagon press briefing, referring to Iran’s Shiite Muslim clerics. He later recited Psalm 144, a passage of Scripture that Jews and Christians share: “Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle.”

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Normally festive Nowruz celebrations are quiet in Tehran, a resident says

In one upscale northern Tehran neighborhood there are none of the usual decorations celebrating the Persian New Year.

“In the city, people are mostly staying at home. You hardly see anyone out on the street. Basically, there is no mood (for new year) in the city at all,” said the woman, who spoke in a series of voice messages. She spoke on condition of anonymity because she fears reprisals.

She almost forgot about the holiday amid the fighting, until she saw someone carrying a hyacinth, a traditional flower of the celebration.

The holiday last year had been muted by a commemoration of her father’s death. “This year, it feels much heavier ... everyone around is feeling bad,” she said.

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By Sahar Ameri

As Washington shifts missiles toward Iran, US officials raise concerns of gaps in European air defenses

U.S. defense officials have told The Associated Press that a sizable number of Patriot air defense interceptor missiles have moved from Europe to the Middle East as Washington diverts resources toward its war in Iran.

Two officials say this leaves concerning gaps in Europe’s air defenses against Russia. A third said there is still “plenty” of capacity in NATO to defend Europe. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military matters.

Asked to comment on the missiles being moved, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement to AP: “The US military has more than enough munitions, ammo, and weapons stockpiles to achieve the goals of Operation Epic Fury laid out by President Trump — and beyond.”

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By Emma Burrows, Michelle L. Price, Konstantin Toropin and Suzan Fraser

Iran war is unleashing a 'triple emergency,’ international humanitarian organization says

International Rescue Committee President David Miliband said the Iran war “has explosive consequences globally, and it is the world’s most vulnerable who risk paying the highest price.”

The former UK foreign minister warned that the war is creating a surge in humanitarian needs, pointing to over one million people displaced in Lebanon in weeks.

The war has also created economic shock waves with food, fuel and fertilizer markets disrupted, Miliband said. He said up to 30% of fertilizer trade is at risk which could threaten more than 300 million people now facing acute food insecurity.

Miliband said the war is adding to more than 60 other conflicts, taking attention and funding away from crises in Gaza, Sudan and elsewhere.

High oil prices knock down stocks and erase Wall Street’s hopes for a cut to interest rates

The S&P 500 fell 1.5% to close its fourth straight losing week, its longest such streak in a year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 443 points, or 1%, and the Nasdaq composite tumbled 2%. Friday’s losses deepened after oil prices accelerated to settle at $112.19 per barrel of Brent crude.

Stocks also bent under the weight of leaping yields in the bond market. Higher yields make mortgage rates and other borrowing more expensive for U.S. households and companies, slowing the economy, and they grind down on prices for all kinds of investments.

Treasury yields have been jumping on worries the war with Iran will cause a long-term spike in oil and natural gas prices that drives up inflation. Investors now see little room for central banks worldwide to cut interest rates to help their economies.

The Iran war poses risks and benefits for Argentina, now an energy exporter

The Iran war has Argentines worrying inflation will spike, threatening the fiscal surplus President Javier Milei won at the cost of widespread anger over his economic austerity policies.

“Every week there’s an increase” in gasoline prices, complained German Toledo, 38, a highway safety officer. “You can’t make it to the end of the month.”

“Argentina has weathered this shock relatively well so far” by becoming a net energy exporter, of $8 billion in oil and gas last year, International Monetary Fund spokesperson Julie Kozack said Thursday.

But higher export revenues will lag behind the bills Argentines must pay for importing costlier liquefied natural gas, said Mariano Machado, a principal analyst for the Americas at the global risk intelligence firm Verisk Maplecroft.

“The Iran shock has arrived at the worst possible moment for Milei’s counter-inflation program,” Machado said. The higher gas prices have pushed Milei’s target of 1% monthly inflation “mathematically out of reach” until mid-year.

Trump says of the Strait that ‘at a certain point, it will open itself’

The president said as he prepared to leave the White House that Iran “from a military standpoint, they’re finished” but they’re “clogging up” the Strait of Hormuz.

Trump said it would be a “simple military maneuver” to keep the vital shipping lane open but it requires help, which he described as “ships” and “volume.”

He said “it would be nice” if the countries that rely on the strait would get involved in helping to keep it open.

Trump condemns Iran’s execution of three protesters

Asked by a reporter about the execution of three men accused of violence during Iran’s anti-government protests last year, Trump said it was “terrible.”

“These are thugs and animals and horrible people,” Trump said as he departed the White House. “Can’t hit anybody harder than we’ve hit them. But I’m not surprised, they executed three young people for protesting.”

Trump says ‘I may have a plan, I may not’ to attack Kharg Island

Trump was asked while leaving the White House on Friday afternoon about plans to have U.S. forces further target Kharg Island in Persian Gulf, which is vital to Iran’s oil network.

He responded, “I may have a plan I may not” but said he wouldn’t tell reporters one way or the other.

“It’s certainly a place that people are talking about. But I can’t tell you that,” Trump added.

US imposes new Sanctions on Hezbollah

The Department of the Treasury sanctioned Friday a network of 16 individuals and entities led by what it called is Hezbollah financier and former public investment official Alaa Hassan Hamieh for diverting funds to benefit Lebanon’s Hezbollah group.

The treasury said these individuals and companies — located in Lebanon, Syria, Poland, Slovenia, Qatar, and Canada — have been involved in numerous economic projects and are estimated to have enabled the diversion of over $100 million since 2020.

This network represents a critical source of funding for Hezbollah, it said.

The U.S. Department of State designated Hezbollah as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist in 2001, and three years earlier as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.

Schumer says $200 billion funding request for Iran war ‘will never happen’

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer says that a potential $200 billion price tag for the Iran war “will never happen” if it is sent to Congress and it is a “preposterous and dangerous risk.”

Schumer said in a Senate floor speech Friday that “even a fraction of $200 billion is unacceptable for a war without a plan, without an endgame, and without the support of the American people.” He called on President Donald Trump to end the war.

The Pentagon has sent a $200 billion request to the White House, but the White House has not yet sent an official request to Congress. Once there is an official request, Republicans would need some Democratic support to pass it in the Senate.

“So much could be done with that money instead of a war that Donald Trump has chosen to wage without even a vote in Congress,” Schumer said.

UK to allow US to use bases against Iran attacks in Strait of Hormuz

British ministers have agreed to allow the U.S. military to use the U.K.’s bases in operations to prevent Iran attacking ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

In a statement, No. 10 Downing Street said ministers met Friday afternoon and “confirmed that the agreement for the U.S. to use U.K. bases in the collective self-defence of the region includes U.S. defensive operations to degrade the missile sites and capabilities being used to attack ships in the Strait of Hormuz.”

The statement follows President Donald Trump’s labelling of NATO partners as “cowards” for not directly joining operations to secure the Strait of Hormuz.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer allowed the U.S. to use U.K. bases in the region for defensive operations a few days after the start of the war on Feb. 28, when Iran started launching missiles and drones around the Middle East, notably those on the other side of the Persian Gulf.

Under that agreement, U.S. armed forces could use the bases to target Iran’s missiles and missile facilities.

232 service members injured in Iran war so far, U.S. military says

Capt. Tim Hawkins, the spokesman for U.S. Central Command, told The Associated Press that 232 service members have been injured in the Middle East.

That’s 30 more than a previous military tally of roughly 200 from Monday.

Hawkins said 207 of the 232 injured have already returned to duty. The number of service members that are considered seriously wounded has remained at 10.

Since the war in Iran began, 13 U.S. service members have been killed.

Lebanon death toll reaches 1,021 and millions in Iran seek refuge

Lebanon’s Health Ministry said Friday that 20 deaths were reported over the past 24 hours, and that 57 more people were wounded raising the total injured to 2,641.

Israel renewed its offensive in Lebanon after Iran-backed Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel, two days after the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran triggered the widening war. Israel has since ordered evacuations from large parts of Lebanon, displacing more than 1 million people.

The U.N. refugee agency said last week that more than 3.2 million people inside Iran have been displaced as U.S. and Israeli airstrikes target Tehran and other major cities. And on Thursday, the U.N. migration agency said more than 80,000 people had fled to neighboring countries, mostly Afghanistan.

Israel strikes Iran’s feared Basij from commanders down to street level, but its grip remains strong

Iran threatened recreational and tourist sites worldwide, insisted it was still building missiles and its supreme leader issued another defiant statement on Friday. The United States was deploying more warships and another 2,500 Marines three weeks into the war it launched alongside Israel.

Iran fired on Israel and energy sites in neighboring Gulf Arab states as many in the region marked one of the holiest days on the Muslim calendar. Iranians were also celebrating the Persian New Year, known as Nowruz, a normally festive holiday that is more subdued this year.

With little information coming out of Iran, it was not clear how much damage its arms, nuclear or energy facilities have sustained in the punishing U.S. and Israeli strikes that began Feb. 28 — or even who was truly in charge of the country. But Iran’s attacks are still choking off oil supplies and denting the global economy, raising food and fuel prices far beyond the Middle East.

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A look at celebrations for Eid al-Fitr around the world, in photos

From prayers amid the rubble of Gaza to the great mosques of Istanbul, Muslims around the world are celebrating the holiday of Eid al-Fitr as they bid farewell to the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

Eid is typically greeted with joy and excitement and is marked with prayers and festivities that include family visits, gatherings, outings and new clothes. Prayers and celebrations are being held across Muslim countries like Egypt, and by Muslims in Greece, Russia and further afield.

This year Eid is also being marked with war raging in Iran and many parts of the Middle East.

This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.

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Iranian diaspora marks Nowruz with heavy hearts as war cuts contact with loved ones

When Iran erupted in nationwide protests at the end of 2025, Shayan Ghadimi’s mother returned to the country from Paris to see the uprising for herself.

Her absence — and the struggle to stay in touch through the bloody crackdown that followed and now the Iran war — hang over the family. Like many Iranians outside the country, they will mark the normally festive Persian new year, known as Nowruz, with heavy hearts — or not at all.

Ghadimi’s 70-year-old mother had watched the early protests on TV. “We could see the market closed, the people in the street. She said, ‘I want to be there,’” Ghadimi, 41, said as she prepared to serve lunches in the spice-scented restaurant she runs in Paris.

“Now, she is all alone at home, with no way to stay in contact, watching the sky. I cannot imagine the state she is in,” Ghadimi said.

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UK denies Iran’s claim of aggression

Britain’s top diplomat says the U.K. is involved only in defensive action, after Iran’s foreign minister said the U.S. use of British bases to attack Iran amounted to “participation in aggression.”

The British government says Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper told Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi that “the defensive U.K. operations in the region were a response to the Iranian aggression against Gulf partners.”

In a call on Thursday she warned Iran against targeting British bases, territory or interests directly, and made clear that the U.K. wants to see a swift resolution.

Energy fallout from Iran war signals a global wake-up call for renewable energy

The war in Iran is exposing the world’s reliance on fragile fossil fuel routes, lending urgency to calls for hastening the shift to renewable energy.

Fighting has all but halted oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that carries about a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas, or LNG. The disruption has jolted energy markets, pushing up prices and straining import-dependent economies.

Asia, where most of the oil was headed, has been hit hardest, but the disruptions also are a strain for Europe, where policymakers are looking for ways to cut energy demand, and for Africa, which is bracing for rising fuel costs and inflation.

Unlike during previous oil shocks, renewable power is now competitive with fossil fuels in many places. More than 90% of new renewable power projects worldwide in 2024 were cheaper than fossil-fuel alternatives, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency.

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A look at who holds the reins of power in Iran since the country’s top leaders were killed

One after another, Israel has taken out Iran’s top leaders.

First it was Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, killed in the opening shots of the war. Now Ali Larijani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council who was considered one of the most powerful figures in the country, has also been killed. As have a raft of other top-ranking military and political leaders.

With so many top leadership figures taken out, who is now running Iran? Here is a look at the country’s power structure, what is known — and what is not.

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Satellite images begin to show damage wrought by Iran war

The images are providing a glimpse of the toll of the Iran war, with ships ablaze in an Iranian port and destroyed buildings at an American base.

Information about the damage being done across the Middle East, particularly when it’s inside military bases, has been scarce. These images come from Planet Labs PBC. The San Francisco-based firm is releasing them with two-week delays.

Some show ships ablaze on March 2 in a major Iranian military port in Bandar Abbas, along the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. Central Command says it has sunk or damaged more than 100 Iranian vessels so far.

More images, from March 6, show damage to buildings at the Parchin military base outside Iran’s capital. Israel’s military said its Parchin strikes hit “infrastructure used for the production of essential components for the development of various weapons.” The site has been linked to Iran’s ballistic missile program as well.

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Report: Israeli troops infiltrating into Lebanon close to the Mediterranean coast

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said Friday that an Israeli force is trying to push into the Lebanese border area of Labbouneh near the coastal town of Naqoura.

The agency said the advancing Israeli force is being confronted by Hezbollah fighters.

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