Today so far
US defence secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed that a US submarine sank an Iranian warship off the coast of Sri Lanka, marking the first US attack on Iranian forces outside of the Middle East. More than 80 people were killed.
In a press briefing at the Pentagon, Hegseth declared that “America is winning” and suggested that in under a week the US and Israel “will have complete control of Iranian skies”. Hegseth said the US is able to continue the military action against Iran “for as long as we need to”, saying Iran “can no longer shoot the volume of missiles they once did”.
Hegseth also said that the leader of the Iranian covert unit that planned to assassinate Trump in 2024 had been killed in the strikes.
Dan Caine, the chair of the joint chiefs of staff, who also spoke at the briefing, said more than 20 Iranian naval vessels have been destroyed, and that the US has “effectively neutralised Iran’s major naval presence”.
Hegseth said that the US is investigating the deadly strike on a girls’ school in Iran that killed a reported 168 people on Saturday, but provided no further detail. “All I can say is that we’re investigating, and that we, of course, never target civilian targets,” Hegseth said.
The US and Israel’s airstrikes against Iran continued, with the Israeli military announcing a “broad wave of strikes” against Tehran’s security forces. In turn, Iran upped its retaliatory strikes against Israel and US targets across the region, with Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar and Kuwait all announcing Iranian attacks today.
Lebanon’s health ministry said on Wednesday that Israeli strikes on two towns south of Beirut killed six people and wounded eight. Aramoun and Saadiyat are both towns outside Hezbollah’s traditional strongholds. Meanwhile, the Israeli military issued an “urgent warning” to residents of a large swathe of southern Lebanon urging them to evacuate to the north of the Litani River. At least 30,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon, according to the UN, after heavy Israeli airstrikes.
Clerics in Iran said they were close to choosing a successor to the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to state media. It has been widely suggested that his second son, Mojtaba Khamenei, could replace him.
The funeral ceremony for Khamenei that was supposed to take place on Wednesday night in Tehran has been postponed. State media, citing officials, reported that the funeral was delayed to allow time for expanded infrastructure because of “overwhelming demand”. No timeframe was given as to when the funeral would take place.
The death toll in Iran has reached 1,045, according to Iranian officials. Iran’s foundation of martyrs and veteran affairs said the death toll represented the number of bodies that had been identified and prepared for burial, state media reported.
Key events
All scheduled Emirates flights to and from Dubai remain suspended until 7 March, says airline
‘We’re doing very well on the war front,’ Donald Trump says
White House spokesperson refuses to rule out US boots on the ground but says ‘they’re not part of the plan’
Spain ‘has agreed to cooperate’ with US after Trump ire, says White House
White House pushes back against questions on US involvement in Iran school bombing
Today so far
Cost of living fears rise in UK as oil and gas prices spike with Iran conflict
Was it legal for the US to sink an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean?
From petrol to groceries: how Middle East crisis is driving up prices
Iranian president tells neighbouring countries that Iran respects their sovereignty
Israeli air force says it has dropped 5,000 bombs on Iran in current military campaign
At least 80 people killed after US submarine torpedoes Iran warship, officials say
Key points from Pentagon briefing
China and Russia are ‘non-factors’ in Iran war, says Hegseth
Hegseth: Iran cannot outlast us
Hegseth says Iran can no longer shoot volume of missiles as before
US is investigating deadly strike on Shajareh Tayyebeh school girls school in southern Iran, Hegseth says
US has ‘effectively neutralised’ Iran’s naval presence, Caine says
Hegseth: We have only just begun to fight
Person charged with attempted assassination of Trump killed, Hegseth said
Hegseth confirms sinking of Iranian warship
Rules of engagement designed to “unleash American power”, Hegseth says.
Hegseth: US and Israel will have ‘complete’ control of Iranian skies in ‘under a week’
Summary of developments so far
‘America is winning’ in Iran conflict, Hegseth says
IDF launch fresh attacks in southern Lebanon as people urged to flee north
Nato condemns Iran’s targeting of Turkey
Iran death toll reaches 1,045, officials say
Nearly 150 missing after Iranian warship sinks near Sri Lanka – report
Who is Mojtaba Khamenei? The son of late supreme leader Khamenei seen as potential successor
Iran state funeral for Khamenei postponed – report
UN ‘deeply disturbed’ by reports of Iran school strike that killed 160 children
Donald Trump ‘really does not care’ if Iran play at World Cup 2026
Tell us: how have you been affected by the latest events in the Middle East?
EU sees no immediate effect of Iran conflict on gas supply security – report
Hezbollah says it targeted Israel’s major aerospace and aviation company
Iran close to choosing new supreme leader – report
Senior Khamenei aide says Iran won’t negotiate with US
Trump ‘betrayed diplomacy and Americans who elected him’, says Iran foreign minister
IDF says Israeli F-35 fighter jet shot down manned Iranian warplane in Tehran
Spain’s position is ‘no to war’, says Sanchez
Israel-US strikes on Iran appear ‘inconsistent with international law’, says Canadian PM
Summary of developments so far
Loud explosion in Tehran – report
Dozens rescued from sinking Iranian warship near Sri Lanka
Israel threatens to assassinate Ali Khamenei’s replacement
Iran Guards say launched more than 40 missiles at US, Israeli targets
Iranians to bid farewell to late Supreme Leader Khamenei in Tehran
UK government charter flight for British nationals in Oman
Conflicting claims over the strait of Hormuz
Global markets roiled by conflict
Six killed in Israeli strikes south of Beirut
Opening summary
Kurdish Iranian dissident groups based in northern Iraq are preparing for a potential cross-border military operation in Iran, and the US has asked Iraqi Kurds to support them, Kurdish officials told the Associated Press.
Kurdish party leaders have also discussed the Iran crisis with Trump, according to Iraqi Kurdish officials. One official says Trump has asked them to open the border and back the groups militarily.
The Kurdish groups are widely seen as the most well-organized segment of the fragmented Iranian opposition and are believed to have thousands of trained fighters. Their entry into the war could pose a significant challenge to the embattled authorities in Tehran and could also risk pulling Iraq further into the conflict.
Asked about reports that the Trump administration was considering arming Iranian Kurdish groups, defense secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters Wednesday: “None of our objectives are premised on the support or the arming of any particular force. So, what other entities may be doing, we’re aware of, but our objectives aren’t centered on that.”
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has offered to help other countries in their fight against Iranian drones and missiles.
“I held a meeting to discuss developments in the situation in the Middle East and the Gulf region, and we discussed the challenges facing Ukraine and our partners, as well as our potential to contribute to protecting lives and preventing the expansion of war and helping to stabilize global markets,” he wrote on X on Wednesday.
Zelensky said that military and intelligence officials would “present options for assisting the relevant countries and to provide aid in a way that does not weaken our own defense here in Ukraine”.
He added: “Our army has the necessary capabilities for that. And Ukrainian experts will work on the ground, and the teams have already begun coordinating in this regard. And we are ready to contribute to protecting lives, protecting civilians, and supporting real efforts to achieve stability and restore security, including resuming safe navigation in the region.”
Ukraine has much experience fending off drones, as Russia has frequently deployed one-way attack drones, which detonate on impact, since the start of its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The state department has said that the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, spoke with Hakan Fidan, the foreign minister of Turkey, on Wednesday about the recent developments in Iran and throughout the Middle East.
“The secretary told the foreign minister that attacks on Turkey’s sovereign territory were unacceptable and pledged full support from the United States,” the press release reads. “Both leaders reiterated the continued strength of the bilateral relationship.”
All scheduled Emirates flights to and from Dubai remain suspended until 7 March, says airline
Emirates airline has said that all scheduled Emirates flights to and from Dubai remain suspended until 11:59pm UAE time on 7 March, due to airspace closures across the region.
“Emirates continues to operate a limited flight schedule” they said. “We are accommodating customers with earlier bookings as a priority on these limited flights. Customers transiting in Dubai will only be accepted for travel if their connecting flight is operating.”
The Dubai international airport has announced that “most flights remain suspended” and advised people not to come to the airport unless their airline has confirmed their departure time.
“Guests without a confirmed flight may not be able to access the terminals” it said in a statement on social media. “Please contact your airline directly for the latest updates on your flight.”
‘We’re doing very well on the war front,’ Donald Trump says
Shrai Popat
As Donald Trump kicked things off for his roundtable event with tech companies today, he noted that those in the room “probably want to speak about war” rather than energy costs linked to the rapid build-out of datacenters across the country.
“We’re doing very well on the war front,” the president added. “If we didn’t do it first, they would have done it to Israel … If we didn’t hit within two weeks, they would have had a nuclear weapon.”
He added that the ongoing military action against Iran is depleting the regime’s leadership. “Everybody that seems to want to be a leader, they end up dead,” the president said.
The Israeli military has said that it has launched a new wave of strikes on Tehran.
The Associated Press is reporting that the Israeli military says the strikes on the Iranian capital are targeting “military infrastructure”.
White House spokesperson refuses to rule out US boots on the ground but says ‘they’re not part of the plan’
Shrai Popat
During today’s White House press briefing, Karoline Leavitt did not rule out the possibility of US troops on the ground in Iran.
“They’re not part of the plan for this operation at this time,” Leavitt said. “But I certainly will never take away military options on behalf of the president of the United States … and he wisely does not do the same for himself.”
She noted that “many leaders in the past” have taken options off the table “without having a full understanding of how things could develop”.
The question mark around American troops on the ground is in stark contrast to Donald Trump’s campaign, which focused on not embroiling the US in foreign conflicts.
More details have emerged about four of the American service members who were killed in an unmanned aircraft system attack in the Shuaiba port in Kuwait on Sunday, the first known US fatalities since the US and Israel launched its military campaign against Iran on Saturday.
The US Department of Defense identified the US soldiers on Tuesday evening as Capt Cody A Khork, 35; Sgt first class Nicole M Amor, 39; Sgt Declan J Coady, 20; and Sgt first class Noah L Tietjens, 42.
Read about the four US service members here:
Donald Trump and the French president, Emmanuel Macron, spoke on Wednesday about US military operations in its conflict with Iran, a source close to Macron told Reuters.
Macron also raised in the call the issue of Lebanon, which has been drawn into the spillover of the crisis, the French source said, according to Reuters.
