Iran announced on Monday that Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei was named supreme leader, succeeding his assassinated father, as the US‑Israeli war on Iran escalates.
Major powers are drawn in: the UK shot down drones to support the UAE, France is deploying warships to force open the Strait of Hormuz and escort vessels, and Russia is offering Europe a way to resume oil imports while backing Iran.
Tehran continued retaliatory strikes across the Gulf, while Lebanon and Israel trade attacks.
After just 10 days, oil has surged toward $120 per barrel, European markets have tumbled, and Trump suggested the war could end swiftly.
23:21 Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi responded sharply after sharing a post by CENTCOM boasting that US Army High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) "provide unrivalled deep-strike capability in combat against the Iranian regime."
"Thank you CENTCOM for admitting that you are using our neighbours’ territory to deploy HIMARS systems against our people, apparently including a desalination plant," Araghchi wrote on X.
Taking a jab at critics, Araghchi added, "Nobody should complain if our powerful missiles destroy these systems wherever they are in retribution."
23:20 Speaking for the third time today, Trump said that the war against Iran would be a "short-term excursion," yet he said that the United States and Israel "haven't won enough" against Tehran.
Trump's comments at a gathering of congressional Republicans at his golf club in Doral, Florida, cast further uncertainty over his timeline, following his statement in a CBS News interview that the conflict was "very complete, pretty much."
"We took a little excursion because we felt we had to do that to get rid of some people. And I think you'll see it's going to be a short-term excursion," Trump said in a speech.
He repeated his boasts about the destruction of the Iranian navy, air force, and missile programme, but added that the United States and Israel had more to do.
"We've already won in many ways, but we haven't won enough," Trump said, calling for "ultimate victory" against Iran.
23:17 Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian spoke by phone with his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, after an incoming Iranian missile was intercepted in Turkey's airspace.
"The Islamic Republic of Iran has always declared its readiness to reduce tension in the region, provided that the airspace, soil and waters of our neighbours are not used to attack the Iranian people," Pezeshkian said in a statement about the call.
The missile was the second fired from Iran to be shot down in Turkish airspace in five days.
23:16 The Israeli army said it had launched a wave of "broad strikes" on Tehran, the second of the day.
22:52 British warplanes have begun "air sorties" in support of the United Arab Emirates and taken out drones elsewhere in the Middle East amid the ongoing war, the UK defence ministry said.
More US B-52 bombers landed at the UK air force base in Fairford, in southwestern England, on Monday, AFP witnessed, after a first one landed on Friday.
Fairford is one of two bases, along with the Diego Garcia facility in the Indian Ocean, that the UK has given the US permission to use for "specific defensive operations into Iran" to destroy Iranian missiles at source, Defence Minister John Healey said.
"The UK is now conducting defensive air sorties in support of the UAE," Healey told MPs in a statement.
"Typhoons successfully took out two drones, one over Jordan, the second heading to Bahrain."
Wildcat and Merlin helicopters have arrived in Cyprus, and HMS Dragon, a warship with air-defence capabilities, will set sail for the eastern Mediterranean "in the next couple of days," Healey said, following criticism from the Cypriot government over the speed of Britain's action to defend the island.
HMS Dragon, a Type 45 Daring-class air-defence destroyer warship, is pictured moored at the HMNB Portsmouth Upper Harbour Ammunition Facility (UHFC), outside HM Naval Base Portsmouth, on the south coast of England. AFP
In this photo provided by the U.K. Ministry of Defence, RAF Typhoon aircraft are prepared to depart RAF Coningsby, England, bound for Qatar.
However, Downing Street earlier dismissed suggestions that Britain is preparing to send its aircraft carrier, HMS Prince of Wales, to the region.
"HMS Prince of Wales has always been on very high readiness," a spokesman for Prime Minister Keir Starmer said.
"The MoD (Ministry of Defence) is increasing the preparedness of the carrier, reducing the time it would take to set sail for any deployment, but there is no decision taken to deploy her," he said.
Starmer and Donald Trump held a call Sunday about the war, officials said, after fierce criticism of the British premier by the US leader.
Trump had lobbed insults at Starmer over the latter's initial refusal to have any role in the US-Israeli war on Iran.
22:13 The US stock market careened through a manic, going from a steep early loss to a solid gain as worries turned into hope that the war with Iran may not last that long.
Oil prices, which had risen to nearly $120 per barrel, their highest since 2022, fell back toward $90.
The S&P 500 fell as much as 1.5 percent before flipping to a gain of 0.8 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 239 points, and the Nasdaq composite climbed 1.4 percent.
They are the latest hour-to-hour swings to pummel markets because of uncertainty about how high oil prices will go and how long they will stay there.
22:07 US President had a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the war in Iran and other issues, the Kremlin said.
Putin’s foreign affairs adviser, Yuri Ushakov, described the conversation as “frank and businesslike” and said it lasted about one hour.
He said the Russian president “voiced a few ideas aimed at a quick political and diplomatic settlement” of the conflict following his conversations with Gulf leaders and Iran’s president.
Trump offered his assessment of the developing situation, Ushakov said, “in the context of the ongoing US-Israeli operation.”
The two leaders had a “specific and useful” exchange of views, and they touched on Venezuela “in the context of the situation in the global oil market,” he said.
Putin has said earlier that Moscow was ready to work even with European customers again if they wanted to return to long‑term, non‑politicized cooperation.
21:18 Donald Trump told a CBS News reporter that the war against Iran could be over soon.
“I think the war is very complete, pretty much,” Trump told CBS’s senior White House correspondent in a phone interview.
He claimed that the US is “very far” ahead of his initial 4-5 week estimated time frame.
Asked about Iran’s new Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, whom Trump has openly criticized, he said, “I have no message for him. None, whatsoever.”
However, he said he has someone in mind to replace Khamenei, but he did not elaborate.
As for the Straight of Hormuz, Trump noted that ships are moving through now, but he is “thinking about taking it over.”
He warned Iran, “They’ve shot everything they have to shoot, and they better not try anything cute, or it’s going to be the end of that country.”
21:17 Oman’s Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said sent a message to congratulate Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei.
Sultan Haitham offered his “best wishes for his success and good fortune in assuming his leadership responsibilities in his friendly country” to Khamenei.
He became the first Arab leader to congratulate the new Iranian supreme leader, who was chosen as successor of his father, who was killed in a US-Israeli air strike last week.
21:11 Massive demonstrations have taken place in various Iranian cities, with people gathering to pledge allegiance to the new Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Mojtaba Khamenei, after his selection by the Assembly of Experts to succeed his father, who was assassinated by United States‑Israeli strikes.
Waving national flags and holding portraits of the new leader, they chanted in support of the Iranian armed forces, demanding revenge against the United States and Israel’s ongoing attacks.
"No compromise, no surrender, victory against America."
Here is a series of footage from the day:
21:10 Ahead of major religious processions expected across Pakistan on 10 March, the US embassy in the country has issued a security alert, restricting the movement of personnel at the embassy and US consulates.
The consulate in Karachi was attacked by protesters soon after the US-Israel war on Iran broke out, leading to a deadly pushback from security forces.
The US has since stopped all consular operations at the embassy in Islamabad and the consulates in Lahore, Karachi, and Peshawar.
21:00 Iran announces that it dropped an Israeli Hermes‑900 drone in Tehran.
21:53 The Iranian newspaper Tehran Times published a front page featuring dozens of photographs of children killed in a US-Israeli attack on the “Shajareh Tayyebeh” (The Good Tree) school in the southern Iranian city of Minab.
Under the headline “Trump, Look Them in the Eyes,” the page displays rows of portraits and names of children who were killed when an elementary school in Minab was struck on 28 February, the first day of the US-Israeli war on Iran.
The missiles struck the school, destroying the building and causing the roof to collapse on top of the children and their teachers.
“With hundreds of Iranian children dead, the US president still denies the bombing of Minab’s elementary school."
A newly released video adds to the evidence that an American missile likely hit an Iranian elementary school where 175 people, 168 of them girls, aged between 7 and 12, were killed.
The video, uploaded on Sunday by Iran’s semiofficial Mehr News Agency and verified by The New York Times, shows a Tomahawk cruise missile striking a naval base beside the school in the town of Minab on 28 February. The US Army is the only force involved in the war that uses Tomahawk missiles, a weapon that neither the Israeli military nor the Iranian military has.
A body of evidence assembled by The Times, including satellite imagery, social media posts, and other verified videos, indicates that the elementary school building was severely damaged by a precision strike that occurred at the same time as attacks on a naval base.
The evidence contradicts President Trump’s claim that Iran was responsible for a strike.
Some US and Israeli media outlets have also claimed the site was “part of an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps base.”
However, an analysis by Al Jazeera’s digital investigations unit of satellite imagery compiled over more than a decade, as well as recent video clips, published news reports, and statements from official Iranian sources, tells a very different story.
The findings reveal that the school had been clearly separate from an adjacent military site for at least 10 years.
20:50 A south Lebanon parish lost its priest when Father Pierre al-Rai of Al-Qlayaa died of wounds sustained from Israeli tank fire, according to state media and a medical source.
The border village had not previously been caught up in the Israeli war.
The National News Agency reported that a house in the Christian town was "hit twice in succession by artillery shelling from a hostile Merkava tank."
The first strike wounded the homeowner and his wife, according to NNA. After several neighbours, including Rai, and Red Cross paramedics rushed to the scene, the house was hit a second time, wounding Rai and three others.
The priest later died of his wounds, a medical source told AFP.
20:48 The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency has said the ongoing US-Israeli war on Iran has so far caused only limited damage to key Iranian nuclear facilities.
Speaking to France 24, the agency’s director general, Rafael Grossi, said monitoring indicated that only limited damage had been observed at major nuclear sites following the strikes.
Grossi added that inspectors had detected no increase in radiation levels at the affected facilities.
However, he said that despite the war, Iran’s enriched uranium stockpile and nuclear know-how remain intact.
“We will have to go back to the negotiating table,” Grossi said.
20:41 The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) has denied reports that a US Patriot interceptor missile struck a residential neighbourhood in Bahrain after missing its target during an attempted interception of an Iranian projectile.
In a statement, CENTCOM said claims that a US MIM-104 Patriot interceptor had fallen into a civilian area were incorrect.
According to the US military command, “an Iranian drone struck a residential neighbourhood, injuring 32 civilians in Bahrain, including children who required medical treatment,” citing information from the Bahraini government.
However, video footage from Bahrain reported by Drop Site News appears to contradict CENTCOM’s account. The footage appears to show an air-defence interceptor descending rapidly and striking an area off camera after what looks like a failed interception attempt.
Local reports said the interceptor fell into a residential neighbourhood, injuring 32 civilians, including four people in critical condition.
20:09 The US president says Iran has “made a big mistake” by choosing Mojtaba Khamenei as the new supreme leader after his father was killed in the US-Israel attack.
“I think they made a big mistake” in selecting Mojtaba Khameini, Trump told NBC News.
He earlier described Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s son as a “lightweight.”
Trump also said it is “too soon to talk about” seizing Iran’s oil, but he “doesn’t rule it out.”
19:47 Since the start of the US-Israeli war against Iran, air raid sirens in Israel have sounded 3,195 times, according to data from the Israeli Tzeva Adom early-warning system, reported by Al Jazeera.
Most alerts were triggered by missiles (2,344), followed by drones (849), and two alerts over suspected border infiltrations. The first two days of the conflict saw nearly half of all missile-related sirens, while the fourth day registered the highest number of drone alerts at 218.
The northern front, coinciding with a Hezbollah attack, was the hardest hit, with 859 alerts, followed by Samaria in the northern occupied West Bank and the Upper Galilee. Villages such as Kfar Masar recorded the highest alerts, while cities including Givat Shmuel, Petah Tikva, and Nehalim also experienced frequent sirens.
Earlier reports by Israeli media noted that several drones had evaded interception and entered Israeli airspace, although the army has not disclosed exact figures for either intercepted or penetrated drones.
Israel has imposed strict restrictions on reporting casualties from Iranian rocket attacks, warning against publishing videos of the strikes.
19:40 France's Emmanuel Macron said that "profound" changes to Iranian leadership could not occur "through American-Israeli bombings alone."
Speaking aboard France's Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean, Macron did not clarify what he meant by “alone,” leaving open the possibility that he is referring to ground troops or other measures to enforce regime change.
Earlier, Macron condemned the war as being conducted "outside of international law" and said that Paris "cannot approve of them." Despite this, he later committed to sending two French warships as part of the European Union’s naval mission Aspides in the Red Sea to support the opening of the Strait of Hormuz.
He also announced plans to mobilize eight frigates and two amphibious helicopter carriers across a vast operational area, including the eastern Mediterranean, Red Sea, and the Strait of Hormuz.
The war triggered by US-Israeli strikes on Iran, "in this intense phase," could last "several days, perhaps several weeks," he said.
19:30 The toll from Israeli strikes on Lebanon rose to 486 people killed and 1,313 wounded since the start of fighting last week, the Lebanese health ministry said.
Meanwhile, a senior Hezbollah official says fighting Israel is the only option.
“Lebanon today is not choosing between war and peace, as some claim,” Mohammad Raad, the leader of Hezbollah’s bloc in the Lebanese parliament, said, “but between war and submission to the humiliating conditions that the enemy wants to impose on our government.”
“We will fight the enemy with our teeth and nails until we expel them from our land, in fulfilment of our religious duty,” he said.
He also slammed the government for criticizing the resistance group’s rocket attacks on Israel.
19:23 Donald Trump has left open the possibility of the United States acquiring Iranian oil as the US, alongside Israel, continues its war against Iran.
In an interview with NBC News, Trump declined to discuss explicitly whether the US should seize Iranian oil, but said, “Certainly people have talked about it.”
Trump cited Venezuela as a precedent, where a January operation kidnapped the country’s leader, Nicolás Maduro, and the US subsequently moved to confiscate Venezuelan oil resources. Last month, Trump said that Washington had already gotten more than 80 million barrels of oil from Venezuela.
“People have thought about it, but it’s too soon to talk about that,” Trump said.
Taking control of some portion of Iranian oil could also strain relations with China, the world’s second-largest economy, which imports roughly 80 percent of Iran’s crude.
18:51 The EU's top diplomat called for a 2024 ceasefire to be upheld to prevent Lebanon from "sliding into chaos," saying Israel's "heavy-handed" attacks were further destabilizing the region.
"Israel should cease its operations in Lebanon," EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said in a statement after crisis talks with a dozen Middle East leaders, including Lebanese President Joseph Aoun.
18:33 Kuwait's emir condemned Iran's attacks on his country, where 12 people have been killed so far, as Tehran strikes out at US assets in the Gulf in response to the American-Israeli war.
"Our country has been subjected to a brutal attack by a neighbouring Muslim country, which we consider a friend, even though we have not permitted the use of our land, airspace, or coasts for any military action against it, and we have repeatedly informed them of this through our diplomatic channels," said Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah in a televized speech.
He also insisted on Kuwait's "full and inherent right to self-defence," speaking for the first time since the war began.
18:10 Talks to advance President Donald Trump's plan to end the Israeli war on Gaza have been on hold since last week, when the US and Israel launched a joint attack on Iran, sparking a broader Middle East war, three sources with direct knowledge of the negotiations told Reuters.
One of the sources, who has direct knowledge of work by Trump's Board of Peace mission, described the pause as a brief, minor delay caused by flight disruptions preventing mediators and representatives from travelling around the region.
18:00 Russian President Vladimir Putin said the war on Iran had triggered a global energy crisis and cautioned that oil production dependent on transport through the Strait of Hormuz could soon come to a complete halt.
In a televised meeting, he said that Moscow was ready to work even with European customers again if they wanted to return to long‑term, non‑politicized cooperation.
"We're ready to work with Europeans, but we need some signals from them that they're ready and willing to work with us and will ensure this sustainability and stability," he added.
Russia is the world's second-largest oil exporter and holds the world's biggest reserves of natural gas.
The European Union banned maritime imports of Russian crude in 2022, while Russia's pipeline exports to Hungary and Slovakia have been effectively halted since January due to damage to the Druzhba oil pipeline via Ukraine.
Putin's comments came hours after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban urged the European Union to suspend sanctions on Russian oil and gas to counter prices sent soaring by the war in the Middle East.
This photograph shows the daily price panel for E10, SP98, Super Ethanol, diesel, and AdBlue at a Leclerc petrol station in Thionville, northeastern France. AFP
17:52 Lufthansa and Air France extended the suspension of flights to key destinations in the Middle East as the US-Israeli war on Iran continued into a second week, according to AFP.
The German aviation giant said it was cancelling flights to and from Dubai and Abu Dhabi, as well as Dammam in Saudi Arabia, until 15 March.
The group, which also operates Eurowings, Austrian, Swiss, and Brussels airlines, said services to Tel Aviv were now suspended until at least 2 April.
Last week, Lufthansa had already decided to extend the suspension of services to Amman in Jordan and Erbil in Iraq until 15 March, to Beirut until 28 March, and to Tehran until April 30. Air France said it had extended the suspension of flights to and from Tel Aviv and Beirut until 13 March inclusive.
Flights to Dubai and to and from Riyadh are suspended until 12 March inclusive, the French airline said. Flights departing from Dubai are suspended until 13 March.
17:39 "We have a statement from the White House as surging oil prices triggered by the war continue to ripple across markets," Al Jazeera reported.
“The White House is in constant coordination with the relevant agencies on this important issue, as it is a top priority to the President,” spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said.
She added that Trump and his energy team have had a “strong game plan to keep the energy markets stable” well before the attacks on Iran began, adding that “they will continue to review all credible options.”
Rogers reiterated Trump’s claim that “this is a short-term change in oil prices, which will drop dramatically” once the objectives of the operations are achieved.
17:26 Egypt condemned an Iranian strike on a residential complex in the Saudi city of Al-Kharj, warning that escalating military confrontations across the Middle East risk pushing the region toward broader instability.
In a statement, Egypt’s foreign ministry also criticized the systemic and ongoing Israeli attacks across the region, including in Lebanon, where Tel Aviv's attacks have killed more than 400 Lebanese, wounded at least 1,160 others, and forcibly displaced over 600,000 people.
Egypt also condemned Israeli actions in the occupied West Bank, including land confiscation and settlement expansion, describing them as violations of international law.
17:03 Emirati businessman Khalaf Ahmad Al Habtoor rejected calls for Gulf countries to support the Israel-American war against Iran, saying the region should not be drawn into a conflict that does not serve its interests.
In a statement posted on social media, Al Habtoor said he had listened to remarks by US Senator Lindsey Graham, who suggested that Gulf Cooperation Council states should benefit from US protection and support Washington in its war against Iran.
Al Habtoor responded that Gulf countries do not need such protection. “We do not need your protection. All we want from you is to stay away from us,” he wrote.
He said Gulf states should not be expected to join a war that could devastate the region.
“We will not enter this war to serve the interests of others, and we will not sacrifice our sons in a war that serves the interests of others,” he wrote, adding that the lives of Gulf citizens are “more precious than anything in this world.”
"If President Donald Trump and Senator Graham are ready to risk the lives of their own people and sons for the sake of Israel’s interests, then that is their decision. As for us, we will not do the same," he added.
Al Habtoor also criticized the United States's rapid decisions, which have pushed the Middle East toward conflict.
"The reckless American decisions that have pushed the region into war were taken by parties who did not bear the consequences of their decisions, nor did their analysts spread among us before launching them."
While acknowledging concerns about Iran’s role in the region, he argued that the current confrontation is being managed in the interests of major powers rather than those of Arab nations.
“The most important lesson we must learn from this stage is that we cannot place our destiny in the hands of anyone outside our Arab world,” he said.
Habtoor has already sharply criticized Trump's decision to “push our region into a war with Iran.”
“Mr President Donald Trump, a direct question: Who authorized you to drag our region into a war with Iran? And on what basis did you make this dangerous decision?” he had written on Facebook.
16:36 President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi warned that the international community's failure to resolve the current US-Israeli war on Iran swiftly through peaceful means would pose a grave threat to the global institutional order and erode the confidence of developing nations in the rules-based international system.
He was speaking via video conference at an emergency meeting of European Union (EU) leaders and Middle East heads of state, amid growing fears of a wider regional confrontation.
El-Sisi called for an immediate halt to attacks on Arab states and urged all sides to pursue dialogue.
He warned that the escalation is already disrupting energy markets, trade, and global supply chains, with developing nations bearing the greatest impact.
“We emphasize the need for an immediate end to all attacks on our brotherly Arab states,” he said, reiterating that crises must be resolved through peaceful means and calling on all parties to exercise restraint.
Diplomacy, he said, is “the right option” for achieving regional stability.
El-Sisi warned that continued inaction could weaken international institutions’ ability to manage future crises, with potentially lasting consequences for global stability.
"The international community has a shared responsibility to work together to defuse this crisis," the Egyptian president added.
15:44 Two UAE servicemen were killed after their helicopter crashed because of a "technical malfunction," the defence ministry said, as Iran keeps up its retaliatory campaign against American assets in the Gulf.
"The Ministry of Defence announces the martyrdom of two members of the armed forces following the crash of a helicopter due to a technical malfunction while performing their national duty in the country on Monday," it stated on X.
15:30 US Secretary of State Marco Rubio accused Iran of taking the world "hostage" through its retaliatory strikes and insisted that the United States was on track with its war objectives.
"I think we are all seeing right now the threat this clerical regime poses to the region and to the world. They are trying to hold the world hostage," Rubio said at an event at the State Department.
15:20 The United States said it will label the Muslim Brotherhood in Sudan as a terrorist organization and accused the Islamist group of receiving support from Iran.
"The Sudanese Muslim Brotherhood uses unrestrained violence against civilians to undermine efforts to resolve the conflict in Sudan and advance its violent Islamist ideology," the State Department said in a statement.
The designation, which will be effective in a week, comes after the United States in January declared several other Muslim Brotherhood branches to be terrorist organizations, including in its historic base of Egypt.
15:15 During a visit to Cyprus, Emmanuel Macron said that France and its allies were working to put together a "purely defensive" mission to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
He claimed the mission would be aimed at escorting vessels "after the end of the hottest phase of the conflict" in the Middle East to ensure the flow of oil and gas.
Iranian Security Chief Ali Larijani immediately responded to the French president, saying, "It is unlikely that any security can be achieved in the Strait of Hormuz amid the flames of war ignited by the United States and Israel in the region, particularly if this is pursued by parties that were not far from supporting that war and contributing to its escalation."
French President Emmanuel Macron (C) visits the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, deployed to the Mediterranean following Iranian drone strikes on Cyprus on the Mediterranean Sea. AFP
15:10 The Israeli occupation army launched several strikes on several branches of Al-Qard al-Hassan, a Lebanese financial firm, in Beirut, according to the state-run National News Agency and AFP correspondents.
An AFP photographer in the suburbs witnessed a massive explosion, while an armed Hezbollah member fired warning shots into the air to evacuate residents from their homes.
The strikes killed one person, the Lebanese health ministry said in a preliminary toll.
US-sanctioned Al-Qard Al-Hassan is a lifeline for mainly Muslim Shiite communities who have been battling a years-long financial crisis in Lebanon that has locked people out of their bank deposits.
Smoke billows from the site of an Israeli air strike that targeted the Bir al-Abed neighbourhood in the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital, Beirut. AFP
It says it has more than 30 branches nationwide, in Beirut and other major cities.
14:35 Turkey's defence ministry said a ballistic missile fired from Iran was intercepted in Turkish airspace by NATO defence systems, in the second such incident in five days.
"A ballistic munition launched from Iran and entering Turkish airspace was neutralised by NATO air and missile defence assets in the eastern Mediterranean," it stated.
Some fragments from the weaponry fell in open territory in the southern Gaziantep area, causing no injuries, the ministry added.
14:25 Several more explosions were heard across Doha, and warning sirens sounded in Manama, according to AFP journalists, as Iran pressed its aerial campaign against Gulf neighbours.
Waves of drones and missiles have targeted the oil-rich Gulf states since Tehran launched its retaliation against the US and Israeli attacks against it.
14:20 An air strike hit a base of Iraq's Hashed Al-Shaabi near the northern city of Mosul, according to two officials from the former paramilitary organisation now integrated into the country's regular forces.
One of the officials blamed the strike on the United States, saying it hit a base in the Bartella area of Iraq's Nineveh province.
Since the start of the Middle East war, there have been multiple strikes on bases of the Hashed, an umbrella organization of armed groups.
14:15 The Israeli army said it had launched new "wide-scale" strikes on Tehran, Isfahan, and southern Iran on Monday, shortly after one man was killed in Israel following missile launches from Iran.
14:00 At least 83 children have been killed and 254 wounded in Lebanon since the Israeli occupation army began bombing the country, according to UNICEF, a UN agency.
“On average, more than 10 children have been killed every day across Lebanon over the past week, with approximately 36 children injured each day,” Edouard Beigbeder, the UNICEF regional director for the Middle East and North Africa, said in a statement.
Beigbeder estimated that since 2 March, 700,000 people, including around 200,000 children, have been displaced from their homes, “adding to the tens of thousands already uprooted from previous escalations.”
13:50 As thousands gather in Tehran Square to pledge allegiance to the new Iranian leader, Iran's security chief Ali Larijani said that the election of Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei to succeed his father had left Israel and the United States in "despair."
"Your selection by the Assembly of Experts as the leader of the Islamic Republic system has caused the hostile and warmongering enemies to despair," Larijani wrote on X.
Thousands of people flocked to Tehran's Enghelab Square carrying the Iranian flags and portraits of Mojtaba Khamenei to pledge loyalty to the Islamic Republic's new leader.
13:40 The ripples from war in the Middle East are already being felt in Europe, with rising energy prices, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said.
Oil prices soared, peaking just short of $120 a barrel as the US-Israeli war against Iran continued into a second week.
"We are now seeing a regional conflict with unintended consequences. And the spillover is already a reality today," the European Commission president told EU ambassadors, ahead of a midday call with Middle Eastern leaders.
"Our citizens are caught in the crossfire. Our partners are being attacked," she said, citing an Iranian-made drone hitting a British base on EU-member Cyprus, trade disruptions, and the "displacement of people."
13:30 Washington has advised non-essential staff to leave its consulate near the southern Turkish city of Adana, near a key NATO base, and ordered US citizens to leave "southeast Turkey," the US embassy in Ankara stated.
"On March 9, 2026, the Department of State ordered non-emergency US government employees and US government employee family members to leave Consulate General Adana due to the safety risks," the embassy said on X, referencing a travel advisory that said, "Americans in southeast Turkey are strongly encouraged to depart now."
13:20 Iran's security chief Ali Larijani said that the election of Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei to succeed his father had left Israel and the United States in "despair."
"Your selection by the Assembly of Experts as the leader of the Islamic Republic system has caused the hostile and warmongering enemies to despair," Larijani wrote on X.
13:10 The ripples from war in the Middle East are already being felt in Europe, with rising energy prices and NATO allies targeted, EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said.
Oil prices soared Monday, peaking just short of $120 a barrel as the US-Israeli war against Iran continued into a second week, with Tehran launching fresh retaliatory strikes in the Gulf.
"We are now seeing a regional conflict with unintended consequences. And the spillover is already a reality today," the European Commission president told EU ambassadors, ahead of a midday call with Middle Eastern leaders.
"Our citizens are caught in the crossfire. Our partners are being attacked," she said, citing an Iranian-made drone hitting a British base on EU-member Cyprus, trade disruptions, and the "displacement of people."
While Iran has not officially shut off the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's crude supplies and a substantial amount of gas run, shipping through the critical waterway has all but dried up.
European gas prices also jumped as much as 30 percent on Monday, but remained well below the peaks reached in the aftermath of Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Von der Leyen stressed that "there should be no tears shed for the Iranian regime."
"The people of Iran deserve freedom, dignity, and the right to decide their own future — even if we know this will be fraught with danger and instability during and after the war."
The "longer-term impact" of the war posed "existential questions" on the future of an international rules-based system and the 27-nation bloc's place in the world, she told the annual gathering of European Union diplomats in Brussels.
"The idea that we can simply retrench and withdraw from this chaotic world is simply a fallacy," she said.
12:55 Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged "unwavering support" to Iran's new supreme leader, Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, appointed after his father and predecessor was assassinated in US-Israeli strikes.
"I would like to reaffirm our unwavering support for Tehran and solidarity with our Iranian friends," Putin said in a message to Khamenei, adding that "Russia has been and will remain a reliable partner" to Iran.
"At a time when Iran is confronting armed aggression, your tenure in this high position will undoubtedly require great courage and dedication," the Russian leader said.
12:45 Lebanon's parliament postponed legislative elections, initially due to be held in May, by two years, according to a statement from the parliament speaker, due to the Israeli war on Lebanon.
MPs convened on Monday, including Mohammed Raad, head of Hezbollah's parliamentary bloc, even as Israeli warplanes flew above the nearby southern suburbs of Beirut.
12:40 Iran accused European countries, including France, of creating the conditions that led to the United States and Israel attacking the Islamic Republic and triggering a war.
"European countries have unfortunately helped create these conditions," said foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei during a weekly press briefing.
"Instead of insisting on the rule of law, instead of standing up to the bullying and excesses of the United States, they spoke and agreed with them at the UN Security Council regarding the discussion on restoring sanctions, and all these things together emboldened the American and Zionist parties to continue committing their crimes."
12:15 Israel's first responders said shrapnel killed a man in central Israel as several blasts rocked the area, shortly after the military detected new missile launches from Iran.
He said that the death occurred at a construction site in central Israel.
Another man was seriously injured and evacuated for treatment, the rescuers added, after both people had sustained "several shrapnel injuries to their bodies."
First responders say at least 11 people have been killed and dozens injured in Israel since Iran began firing missiles at the country in retaliation for joint US-Israeli strikes.
11:45 Heavy explosions rocked the Iranian capital, AFP journalists said, as the war with Israel and the United States raged.
It was not immediately clear what was targeted in Tehran, but the blasts were heard across several parts of the city, the reporters said.
11:40 AFP journalists heard over 10 explosions in Tel Aviv, after the Israeli army said it had detected new missiles launched from Iran.
11:30 China said that Iran's decision to name Mojtaba Khamenei as its new supreme leader following the killing of his father was a domestic matter, and it opposed any attempt to target him.
Israel has threatened to target any successor to former supreme leader Ali Khamenei, who was assassinated in the first wave of US and Israeli strikes on Iran.
US President Donald Trump had previously dismissed Mojtaba Khamenei as a "lightweight" and insisted he should have a say in appointing a new Iranian leader.
China's foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told reporters that Iran's decision to appoint the younger Khamenei was "based on its constitution."
"China opposes interference in other countries' internal affairs under any pretext, and Iran's sovereignty, security, and territorial integrity should be respected," he said when asked about the threats against the new leader.
Beijing is a close partner of Tehran and condemned the killing of the former supreme leader, but it has also criticized the Iranian strikes against Gulf states.
China's envoy to the Middle East urged de-escalation when he met Saudi Arabia's foreign minister for talks on Sunday.
"China urges all parties to immediately cease military operations, prevent further escalation of tensions, and avoid causing greater harm to the people of regional countries," Zhai Jun told his counterpart, Faisal bin Farhan.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Sunday that the war "should never have happened" and called for an end to fighting.
People gather in a rally to support Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei, the successor to his late father Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as supreme leader, in Tehran. AP
11:20 Qatari authorities have arrested more than 300 people for sharing images, and what they described as "misleading information" during days of attacks by Iran, the interior ministry said.
The arrests echo measures across the Gulf as Iran targets airports and US military bases with daily drones and missiles.
Those arrested "filmed and circulated video clips and published misleading information and rumours that could stir public opinion," a statement said. The people of "various nationalities" were held by the Department for Combating Economic and Cyber Crimes at the ministry's General Directorate of Criminal Investigations.
The announcement follows a spate of arrests elsewhere in the region.
In Bahrain, four people were arrested for "filming and broadcasting clips about the effects of Iranian attacks and spreading false news," the interior ministry said on Friday.
And in Kuwait, authorities on Saturday said three people had been arrested over a video showing them mocking the situation in the country.
Residents in the United Arab Emirates have received text messages warning of possible legal action for sharing sensitive images or "reposting unreliable information."
The UAE attorney general's office also warned against "filming, publishing, or circulating images and videos documenting incident sites or damage caused by falling projectiles or shrapnel," the Emirates News Agency said.
Saudi Arabia has issued similar warnings.
Despite the warnings, images of missiles, drones, and the fallout of the war continue to circulate on social media and in group chats.
11:00 European stock markets slid as the latest surge in energy prices added to fears that supply disruptions caused by the Middle East war will spur inflation.
The Frankfurt and Paris stock markets shed more than 2.5 percent in morning deals, while London lost 1.8 percent.
World oil prices soared around 15 percent, and European natural gas prices rocketed as much as 30 percent.
10:55 An air strike hit Beirut's southern suburbs, Lebanese state media reported.
Footage on AFPTV's live broadcast showed large plumes of smoke rising from the area, a stronghold of the Iran-backed armed group.
Earlier, the Israeli army threatened it would strike branches of Al-Qard Al-Hassan, a Hezbollah-linked financial firm mainly operating in the group's strongholds.
10:50 Releasing strategic oil reserves in a bid to stabilise energy markets rocked by the Middle East crisis will be one option discussed at Monday's G7 finance ministers' meeting, a French government source said.
The French finance ministry said the meeting at 1:30 pm Paris time (1230 GMT) would "review the situation in the Gulf from an economic point of view" and the "events of recent days."
"The use of strategic reserves is an option being considered," the government source said.
Asian stock markets plunged as oil prices soared 30 percent on fears about supplies from the Middle East.
10:45 Iran launched fresh strikes on energy installations in the Gulf, including a petroleum complex in Bahrain.
Bahrain's sprawling Al Ma'ameer oil facility was hit, causing a fire and damage, with the country's state-owned energy firm Bapco declaring force majeure, the latest Gulf producer to activate the legal clause.
Energy producers in Qatar and Kuwait made similar declarations earlier.
The US State Department said in a travel advisory that it had "ordered non-emergency US government employees and US government employee family members to leave Saudi Arabia due to safety risks."
Drones hit the US embassy in the Saudi capital Riyadh last week, and drones have also caused damage at the US diplomatic missions in Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
Bahrain said another Iranian drone attack on the island of Sitra had injured 32 people overnight.
All of the wounded were Bahraini citizens, and there were four "serious cases," including children, the health ministry said in a statement carried by the state news agency.
They included a 17-year-old girl who suffered severe head and eye injuries, and a two-month-old baby, according to the ministry.
Bahrain said the attack on its Al Ma'ameer oil facility had caused a fire, but the blaze had been brought under control.
Several explosions were also heard Monday in the Qatari capital Doha, AFP journalists said, as Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Kuwait all reported new attacks.
A total of 21 people have been killed in the Gulf since Iran began its attacks, including 10 civilians and seven US service members.
10:40 Iranian authorities will confiscate the properties and impose penalties on members of the Iranian diaspora who "cooperate" with Israel and the United States, the judiciary said.
"Iranians abroad who align, accompany and cooperate with the American-Zionist aggressor enemy will face confiscation of all their property and other legal penalties in accordance with the law," the judiciary's Mizan Online website said, quoting the prosecutor general's office.
Mizan cited a law adopted after the 12-day war in June with Israel, which saw the United States briefly join the attack on Tehran.
10:35 Israel's army said it struck targets in central Iran, including internal security command centres and missile launch sites.
The attacks included "a rocket engine production facility and several long-range ballistic missiles launch sites," it said.
10:30 Saudi Arabia lambasted Iran, calling Tehran's attacks targeting the kingdom and their Gulf neighbours "reprehensible," according to a statement from the foreign ministry.
Saudi Arabia "renews the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's categorical condemnation of the reprehensible Iranian aggressions against the Kingdom, the Gulf Cooperation Council states, many Arab and Islamic countries, and friendly nations, which cannot be accepted or justified under any circumstances," the statement, posted on the ministry's official X account, read.
10:20 Hezbollah said it was fighting Israeli occupation forces who landed in eastern Lebanon by helicopter across the Syrian border, the second such operation since the outbreak of the latest conflict.
In a statement, Hezbollah said it detected "the infiltration of approximately 15 Israeli enemy helicopters" from the Syrian side of the border in eastern Lebanon, an area where Hezbollah holds sway.
Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) earlier reported "fierce clashes... towards the outskirts of the town of Nabi Sheet to repel Israeli forces that carried out a landing by helicopters" in the area.
10:10 Iran fired missiles at Israel and Gulf nations after the Islamic Republic named Mojtaba Khamenei its new leader to succeed his late father.
State media then showed a projectile said to be launched at Israel bearing the slogan, "At Your Command, Sayyid Mojtaba," using an Islamic honourific.
10:00 Human Rights Watch (HRW) accused Israel of "unlawfully" using white phosphorus over residential parts of a southern Lebanese town last week.
"The Israeli military unlawfully used artillery-fired white phosphorus munitions over homes on 3 March, in the southern Lebanese town of Yohmor," the New York-based rights group said in a report.
HRW added that it "verified and geolocated seven images showing airburst white phosphorus munitions being deployed over a residential part of the town and civil defence workers responding to fires in at least two homes and one car in that area."
White phosphorus, a substance that ignites on contact with oxygen, can be used to create smokescreens and to illuminate battlefields.
However, the munition can also be used as an incendiary weapon and can cause fires, horrific burns, respiratory damage, organ failure, and death.
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