U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran continued for a second day on Sunday after the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei threw the future of the Islamic Republic into uncertainty and raised the risk of regional instability.
There were explosions in Tehran on Sunday night as Israel said it was taking its attacks to the “heart” of Iran’s capital.
Iran retaliated by firing missiles and drones at Israel and at U.S. military installations around the Gulf, and also at the Saudi capital and the global business hub of Dubai. Earlier Sunday, Iran selected a 66-year-old cleric to join the three-member leadership council that will govern the country until a new supreme leader is selected.
A senior White House official says that “new potential leadership” in Iran has suggested they are open for talks with the United States. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal administration deliberations, said President Donald Trump says he is “eventually” willing to talk, but for now the military operation “continues unabated.”
Trump told The Atlantic in an interview on Sunday that he planned to speak with Iran’s new leadership. “They want to talk, and I have agreed to talk, so I will be talking to them,” he said, declining to comment on the timing.
Here is the latest:
Trump returning to Washington
U.S. President Donald Trump is making his way back in the nation’s capital after a weekend at his Mar-a-Lago estate while the U.S. and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran.
Aides said Trump held calls with leaders around the Middle East and was briefed on the mass shooting in Austin over the weekend.
He also attended a closed-door Republican fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday night.
But the president didn’t hold a Mar-a-Lago press conference to talk about Iran, nor did he speak to reporters aboard Air Force One while flying back.
So far, Trump has only talked about Iran in video messages he posted on social media, and in short spurts after taking phone calls from individual reporters. Those calls weren’t recorded for audio or video.
Iranian minister warns Khamenei killing opens Pandora’s box
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi warned the United Nations that the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei “opens a dangerous Pandora’s box."
Araghchi wrote in a letter to the U.N. on Sunday that the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei “constitutes a grave and unprecedented breach of the most fundamental norms governing relations among States.”
He once again called on the world body and the Security Council to take measure to ensure accountability from the U.S. and Israel for their role in the killing.
“Such conduct does not merely violate established principles of international law; it recklessly opens a dangerous Pandora’s box, eroding the bedrock of sovereign equality and the stability of the international system,” he added.
Australia rules out taking part in Iran strikes
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong has ruled out Australia taking part in military strikes against Iran.
“We didn’t participate in these strikes and we wouldn’t anticipate participating in the future,” Wong told Nine Network television on Monday.
Australia is a close ally of the United States and sent troops to join U.S. and British forces in the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Wong said Australia supported U.S. and Israeli military action aimed at preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear capability.
Evacuating hospital in Tehran
Iranian health ministry official said teams are evacuating a general hospital in Tehran.
The evacuation of Ghandi hospital late Sunday came shortly after strikes shook the neighborhood in northern Tehran, striking a transmitter used for Iranian state television signals and parts of a state television building, according to witnesses. The building and transmitters are located near the hospital.
The semiofficial Tasnim news agency posted videos that showed broken glass littering parts of the hospital, as well as debris that covered the street, and damaged buildings.
Health Ministry official Hossein Kermanpour said on X that Ghandi hospital was targeted and evacuated. He didn’t elaborate but posted videos of emergency teams evacuated patients.
Rubio, Hegseth, Ratcliffe will brief Congress on Iran strikes
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, CIA director John Ratcliffe and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Dan Caine will brief Congress on the U.S. military operation against Iran next week, the White House said Sunday.
Spokesman Dylan Johnson said the four would speak to “the full membership of both chambers of Congress on Tuesday, March 3.”
He added that Pentagon officials had briefed congressional staffers on the conflict for more than 90 minutes on Sunday.
Missile debris lightly injures 4 in Syria
Iranian missile debris lightly injured four people, including three children, in the town of Ain Terma in the Damascus countryside on Sunday evening, Syria’s state news agency SANA said.
The injured, a father and his three daughters, were transferred to a hospital, SANA said, citing the director of Ambulance and Emergency at the Health Ministry. It added that their injuries were minor and treated immediately.
6 Gulf states ask Iran to halt attacks on their territories
Top diplomats of six Gulf states called on Iran to immediately halt its attacks on their territories which they said violated their sovereignty and threatened to undermine regional security and stability.
The foreign ministers of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman, Bahrain had a virtual emergency meeting Sunday following the U.S-Israel strikes on Iran that triggered Iranian barrage of missiles on U.S bases and other civilian infrastructure, including airports, hotels and in some cases, residential areas. The foreign ministers condemned the attacks they said targeted their territories and Jordan.
The Gulf top diplomats said their countries retain “their legal right to respond and the right to self-defense,” according to international laws.
Starmer says UK will not join strikes on Iran
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the U.K. will not join in strikes on Iran but has agreed to let the U.S. use British bases for attacks on Iran’s missiles and their launch sites.
Starmer said Sunday that Iran was striking at British and its allies’ interests, and “the only way to stop the threat is to destroy the missiles at source.”
Britain had previously refused to allow the United States to use U.K. bases to attack Iran.
Starmer said Sunday he was authorizing their use because of the threat from Iran’s attacks on countries across the region. He said “we are not joining these strikes but we will continue with our defensive actions in the region.”
Starmer said Royal Air Force jets have intercepted Iranian strikes as part of defensive operations in the region.
Trump says US service members killed will be avenged
U.S. President Donald Trump said of U.S. service members killed that America will ’avenge their deaths.”
The president made the comments in a roughly six minute video he posted on social media Sunday afternoon. He called the three service members “true American patriots who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation, even as we continue the righteous mission for which they gave their lives.”
The president went on and added: “Sadly, there will likely be more, before it ends. That’s the way it is. Likely be more.”
State Department travel advisory for Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait
The State Department is allowing non-essential U.S. diplomats and families of all government personnel to leave Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar as U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran and Iranian retaliation continue.
In updated travel advisories issued on Sunday, the department said it had moved to reduce its diplomatic footprint in Doha, Kuwait City and Manama “due to security concerns.”
It added that private American citizens should reconsider travel to Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar because of the “threat of armed conflict” and significant disruptions to commercial air travel in the region.
Near-perfect conditions for Israel-US strike, official says
An Israeli military official says a variety of factors created near-perfect conditions for Israel and the U.S. to kill much of Iran’s leadership in the opening strike of the war.
The official says that months of planning and close coordination with the U.S., combined with real-time intelligence that the targets were gathered together, allowed the two allies to strike in the joint operation on Saturday morning.
The official says the airstrikes targeted three locations, all within 60 seconds of one another, killing Iran’s supreme leader and some 40 senior officials, including the head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. He said that striking in broad daylight added an additional element of surprise.
The official said Israel and the U.S. agreed that striking the leadership was the best way to open the operation. Otherwise, he said they would quickly disperse and go into hiding once the attacks began. He spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the covert operation.
“We had a great opportunity, great intel, great execution,” he said.
By Josef Federman
Israel’s top general praises military’s early gains
Israel’s top general praised his military’s early gains in fighting with Iran, while warning the public that “many more days of combat lie ahead.”
After a day marked by warning sirens, strikes and at least nine deaths from one Iranian attack, Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir mourned fatalities in the town of Beit Shemesh and hailed “significant achievements” that he said Israel and the U.S. had made thus far. The two countries’ strikes on Iran took out high ranking security officials and Supreme Leader Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
“Patience and resilience are required now. We are operating in close cooperation with our ally. Coordination with the U.S. military is closer than ever,” Zamir, the army’s chief of the general staff, said.
Iran fight could go on for ‘4 weeks or so’
U.S. President Donald Trump has discussed a timeline for the fighting in Iran during a phone interview with a British newspaper.
“We figured it will be four weeks or so,” Trump told the Daily Mail. “It’s always been about a four-week process, so, as strong as it is -- it’s a big country -- it’ll take four weeks, or less.”
The U.S. military said three service members have been killed, the first known American casualties from the conflict. Trump called those killed “great people.”
“You know, we expect that to happen, unfortunately,” Trump told the newspaper. “Could happen continuous — it could happen again.”
Sound of explosions rock Jerusalem
Loud booms and explosions rocked Jerusalem on Sunday night as another batch of Iranian missiles attempted landfall.
Shelters were full and some residents concurred that the booms were the loudest they’d heard since the start of the war.
It was not immediately clear whether the booms were the sounds of missiles landing or of interceptions.
‘Door to diplomacy remains open’ — Omani minister
The diplomat who mediated indirect nuclear talks held last week in Geneva between the U.S. and Iran has called for negotiations to resume, saying that the “door to diplomacy remains open."
Oman's Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi said in a post on X that there had been a “genuine progress toward an unprecedented agreement” during the last round of talks.
“I still believe in the power of diplomacy to resolve this conflict,” he said. “The sooner talks are resumed the better it is for everyone.”
Oman’s Duqm Port earlier Sunday was struck by Iranian exploding drones, wounding one worker.
E3 nations pledge 'proportionate defensive action' against Iran
Britain, France and Germany — known as the E3 — said they are ready to work with the U.S. and partners to help stop Iran’s retaliatory attacks.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said in a joint statement that they are “appalled” by Iran’s “reckless” strikes on their allies which are threatening their service members and citizens in the region.
“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. We have agreed to work together with the U.S. and allies in the region on this matter,” the statement said. It did not provide further details.
Filipino killed in Tel Aviv missile attack
The Philippine Embassy in Israel confirmed the death of a Filipino national in a missile attack in Tel Aviv on Saturday.
Mary Ann V. de Vera, 32, a caregiver from Basista, Pangasinan, had been working in Israel since 2019. Her identity was confirmed through biometric records at the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute, where her husband also positively identified her remains.
Ambassador Aileen Mendiola conveyed condolences to the family and assured them of the Philippine government’s full assistance, the embassy said in a statement.
France will ‘adapt’ its military posture — Macron
President Emmanuel Macron said the conflict has prompted France to reinforce its military posture and its defensive support for allies in the Middle East. He did not elaborate.
Noting that a drone hit a hangar Sunday at a French naval base, he said France needs to "be able to adapt our posture to the evolution of the last few hours." France has military bases in the Gulf.
Chairing an emergency defense meeting in Paris, Macron said top security officials would discuss the risks the conflict creates for France, and its economic consequences. Macron spoke with the leaders of several countries around the Mideast over the weekend.
On Monday, Macron heads to a nuclear submarine base where he is expected to update France’s nuclear weapons doctrine to take into account the evolving global security context.
Trump speaks with leaders of Israel, Bahrain and UAE
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a post on X that U.S. President Donald Trump has spoken to the leaders of Israel, Bahrain and United Arab Emirates, without providing further details.
Trump has spoken to leaders throughout the region since the start of U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran.
Israel activates extra 100,000 reservists
Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin told a briefing that 100 fighter jets simultaneously struck government targets in the Iranian capital on Sunday.
He said the targets included buildings belonging to Iran’s air force, its missile command and its internal security force, which violently quashed anti-government protests in January. “Our message to the Iranian regime is clear,” he said. “No one is immune.”
Defrin also said Israel has activated an additional 100,000 reservists to fortify Israel’s borders. He said there was a special focus on the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, which so far has stayed on the sidelines of the latest war.
“We are keeping a close eye on Hezbollah,” he said.
UAE closes embassy in Iran
The United Arab Emirates has closed its embassy in Iran and announced the withdrawal of its diplomatic mission after strikes from the Islamic Republic hit the country.
The announcement from the Gulf country’s Foreign Ministry comes as Iranian retaliatory attacks targeting U.S. bases in the Mideast have hit Dubai airport and other civilian buildings, forced the closure of its airspace, and disrupted daily life.
“The Foreign Ministry as confirmed that this decision reflects its firm and unwavering position against any aggression that threatens its security and sovereignty,” the statement said.
Turkey's Erdogan offers condolences over the death of Khamenei
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has issued a message of condolence over the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in U.S.–Israeli airstrikes.
In a post on X, Erdogan emphasized Turkey’s commitment to peace and stability in the region, adding that Ankara would continue working toward a “return to diplomacy” to help end the conflict.
Cuba's president sends condolences to Iran
Cuban President Miguel Díaz-Canel said his administration extended its “deepest condolences” to Iran’s people and its government for what he called the assassination of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
“This heinous act constitutes an unscrupulous violation of all norms of international law and human dignity,” he wrote in a post on X. “In Cuba, he will be remembered as an outstanding statesman and leader of his people who contributed to the development of friendly relations between Cuba and Iran.”
Pro-Iran protesters march on location of US Embassy in Iraq
Iraqi security forces have fired tear gas at dozens of pro-Iran protesters trying to enter the heavily-fortified Green Zone in Baghdad where the U.S. Embassy is located.
Protesters in Iraq earlier marched to mourn Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei who was killed Saturday in a series of U.S. and Israeli airstrikes.
Iran-backed Iraqi militias have claimed responsibility for attacks on U.S. bases in the country in solidarity with Tehran. The U.S. Embassy in Iraq is one of the largest globally.
More strikes on Tehran
Blasts rocked northern Tehran and rattled windows on Sunday night, according to a resident of the Tajrish district, who spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation.
The reports of explosions came as the Israeli Defense Forces announced that its Air Force was continuing strikes on targets in Tehran.
Iran's FIFA World Cup games in US in doubt
Mehdi Taj, the president of Iran’s soccer federation, cast doubt on the national team’s ability to play World Cup matches in the U.S. later this year.
Iran is scheduled to play two World Cup games in Inglewood, California, and one in Seattle.
Taj told an Iranian sports television show he wasn’t sure how it would be possible following Saturday’s strikes.
“What is certain is that after this attack, we cannot be expected to look forward to the World Cup with hope,” Taj told sports portal Varzesh3.
Trump signals willingness to talk to Iran’s new leaders
A senior White House official says that “new potential leadership” in Iran has suggested they are open for talks with the United States.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal administration deliberations, said President Donald Trump says he is “eventually” willing to talk, but for now the military operation “continues unabated.”
The official did not say who the potential new Iranian leaders are or how they made their alleged willingness to talk known.
Trump told The Atlantic in an interview on Sunday that he planned to speak with Iran’s new leadership.
“They want to talk, and I have agreed to talk, so I will be talking to them,” he said, declining to comment on the timing.
By Matthew V. Lee
9 Iranian naval vessels sunk — Trump
U.S. President Donald Trump said on social media that nine ships in the Iranian navy had been “destroyed” and sunk, “some of them relatively large and important.”
Trump said the rest of Iran’s fleet of military vessels “will soon be floating at the bottom of the sea, also!"
Death toll from strike on school now 165 — Iranian state media
The death toll in strike at an all girls school in southern Iran has risen to 165, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.
The local prosecutor of Minab in Iran’s Hormozgan province was quoted Sunday as saying 96 other people were injured in the strike.
A local official said the casualties from the Saturday strike included students, parents and school staff.
The Israeli military said it was not aware of strikes in the area. The U.S. military said it was looking into the reports.
Attack on Iran is an ‘illegal disastrous war’ — US senator
Sen. Chris Murphy is predicting that the air campaign against Iran will backfire and result in an even more hardline government in Tehran.
“We’re not going to get a democracy. We’re going to get an even worse leadership,” Murphy told CBS’ “Face the Nation”. “It’s no secret that our allies in the region, with the exception of the right-wing government in Israel, they begged us not to take this action.”
The Connecticut Democrat and member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said regime change in Iran would never succeed without troops on the ground — something that President Donald Trump has ruled out.
Barring that, Murphy said he expects the Iranian regime to hold on to power and reconstitute itself in a more hardline form.
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