The United States and Israel on Saturday launched what they described as a “pre-emptive” joint strike against Iranian targets, with President Trump announcing the start of “major combat operations”.
Iranian state media has confirmed that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been assassinated in US-Israeli strikes.
Iran’s security chief Ali Larijani said that Tehran will not negotiate with the US in response to a report that Iran is trying to revive negotiations with Washington.
US-Israeli strikes kill at least 555 people across 131 cities in Iran since Feb 28.
Iranian missiles target US bases across Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Kuwait.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif says he had a telephone conversation with Kuwait Crown Prince Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled Al-Sabah and “conveyed my heartfelt condolences over the loss of precious lives as a result of the attacks on Kuwait during the ongoing crisis in the Middle East”.
The premier said in a post on X that he also “reaffirmed Pakistan’s full solidarity with the brotherly people of Kuwait during this difficult time”.
“We agreed on the urgent need for restraint, de-escalation and a return to diplomacy amid heightened tensions aggravated by Israel’s attack on Iran and Iran’s retaliatory strikes against various brotherly Gulf nations, including Kuwait,” he added.
The war in the Middle East is putting civilians in grave danger, the head of the International Committee of the Red Cross warns, saying a broad conflict would outstrip any ability to help, AFP reports.
“Widening hostilities across the Middle East are putting civilian lives in grave danger,” ICRC president Mirjana Spoljaric says.
“The scale of major military operations flaring across the Middle East risks embroiling the region — and beyond — into another large-scale armed conflict that will overwhelm any humanitarian response.”
In an interview to New York Post, US President Donald Trump has said he is not ruling out sending ground troops to Iran “if they were necessary”.
“I don’t have the yips with respect to boots on the ground — like every president says, ‘There will be no boots on the ground.’ I don’t say it. I say ‘probably don’t need them,’ [or] ‘if they were necessary,’“ New York Post quotes him as saying.
The US president has said he decided to launch a war against Iran because it was the “last, best chance” to stop the country’s alleged nuclear bomb programme, reports AFP.
“This was our last, best chance to strike, what we’re doing right now, and eliminate the intolerable threats posed by this sick and sinister regime,” he said.
President Donald Trump has said that the US attack on Iran is meeting its goals ahead of schedule, but he also warns the war could go “far longer” than his initial estimates of about a month, reports AFP.
“We’re already substantially ahead of our time projections,” Trump said at the White House, adding: “From the beginning, we projected four to five weeks, but we have the capability to go far longer than that. We’ll do it. “
The Israeli Air Force says it has recently “completed a wave of extensive strikes targeting infrastructure” of Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
“As part of the strike, more than 70 targets of the organisation were attacked, including weapons storage facilities, launch positions, and launchers in several areas,” it said in a post on X.
The opposition leader in the Senate, Allama Raja Nasir Abbas, has condemned the IS-Israeli strikes on Iran and the assassination of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Speaking in the upper house of Parliament, he regretted that the joint US-Iran airstrikes occurre agead of another round of US-Iran nuclear talks.
He assailed US President Donald Trump for violating international law and taking actions that were causing instability in the world. He also strongly condemned Khamenei’s assassination.
“Killing Khamene is the same as killing the Pope. No man in the world can have the courage to do this. We strongly condemn this attack … America should understand that it has done us a great harm,” he asserted.
Loud explosions were heard in Beirut, as Lebanese state media reported strikes on the capital’s southern suburbs after the Israeli military said it struck 70 Hezbollah targets, AFP reports.
AFP journalists heard loud blasts in the city. The state-run National News Agency said “enemy warplanes launched new raids on the southern suburbs”.
The US Embassy in Islamabad has announced that visa appointments scheduled for March 3 (tomorrow) at consulates in Karachi and Lahore have been cancelled.
In a statement, the embassy adds that the US consulate in Peshawar has “temporarily suspended operations”.
“Due to continued disruptions and traffic diversions around the US Consulates General in Karachi and Lahore, both have cancelled all appointments for US visas and American Citizen Services on Tuesday, March 3,” the statement reads.
It adds, however, that the embassy in Islamabad will resume consular operations on March 3 and that the movement of US government personnel stationed in Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore has been limited.
“We advise US citizens in Pakistan to monitor local news, observe good personal security practices, including being aware of your surroundings, avoiding large crowds, and ensuring your STEP (Smart Traveller Enrollment Programme) registration is up to date,” the statement concludes.
Nato chief Mark Rutte has said he discussed Iran and regional security with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, adding that both leaders agreed on the importance of the alliance’s 360-degree security approach and its readiness to deter and defend against threats from any direction, Reuters reports.
“We are always ready to deter and defend against any threat, from any direction,” Rutte said on social media platform X.
Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed risks of escalation around Iran in a phone call with Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the Kremlin said in a statement, Reuters reports.
“Both sides expressed serious concern about the real risks of the conflict spreading, which has already affected the territories of a number of Arab countries and could have catastrophic consequences,” the Kremlin said.
Putin told Mohammed bin Salman that there is an urgent need to resolve this “extremely dangerous situation” through political and diplomatic means.
US President Donald Trump has said a “big wave” of American military action against Iran is still to come, describing the current campaign as only the beginning of a broader assault, Al Jazeera reports.
“We haven’t even started hitting them hard. The big wave hasn’t even happened. The big one is coming soon,” Trump said in an interview with CNN.
On the duration of the conflict, Trump said, “I don’t want to see it go on too long. I always thought it would be four weeks. And we’re a little ahead of schedule.”
The US president added that the “biggest surprise” had been Iran’s attacks on Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar and the UAE.
Qatar’s air force shot down two aircraft inbound from Iran, Doha’s defence ministry has said in a statement after Tehran earlier targeted gas facilities in the Gulf state, AFP reports.
“[The] Qatar Emiri Air Force successfully shot down two (SU-24) aircraft coming from the Islamic Republic of Iran. They also successfully intercepted seven ballistic missiles through air defences, and intercepted five drones by Qatar Emiri Air Force and Qatar Emiri Navy Forces, which targeted several areas in the state today,” the defence ministry said.
A Pakistani citizen killed in an attack by Iran in Abu Dhabi has been identified as Mureed Zaman, a resident of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Bannu district.
Zaman had been working in Abu Dhabi for nearly eight years, earning a livelihood through labour work and driving. He had been supporting his family back home.
On Sunday, the UAE had confirmed the death of a Pakistani national in Iranian missile strikes.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said he spoke to Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa over the phone, where both leaders discussed the “dangerous regional escalation” in the Middle East.
“We emphasised the urgent need for restraint, de-escalation and dialogue to preserve peace and stability,” the premier said on X. “Pakistan remains committed to working with brotherly countries to promote peace and strengthen our longstanding ties.”
Iran’s retaliatory strikes have so far targeted 500 sites linked to the United States and Israel in the Middle East, the Revolutionary Guards say on the third day of fighting, AFP reports.
“Since the start of the conflict, the brave soldiers of the Iranian armed forces have attacked 60 strategic targets and 500 American military targets and targets of the Zionist regime (Israel),” a statement from the Guards reads, adding that they had launched more than 700 drones and hundreds of missiles.
Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has offered his condolences to the people of Iran at the assassination of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei.
In a post on X, he said, “This is a significant moment in the history of Iran as such a loss carries deep emotional, political, and national implications. During the period of mourning, I stand in solidarity with the Iranian nation and extend my sympathies to all those who are grieving.”
At the same time, he also reaffirmed the “importance of stability, peace, and mutual respect among nations, particularly in our region”.
French President Emmanuel Macron has warned that a widening war between the United States, Israel, and Iran risks spilling over to Europe’s borders, as he unveiled a new strategy for France’s nuclear deterrence, AFP reports.
The conflict, which began on Saturday, “brings and will continue to bring instability and a possible conflagration to our borders, with Iran’s nuclear and ballistic capabilities still intact”, he said.
French President Emmanuel Macron speaks as he visits Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, China, April 7, 2023. — Reuters/File
A delegation of the main opposition alliance, Tehreek Tahafuz Ayeen-i-Pakistan, visited the Iranian embassy in Islamabad to show solidarity with the neighbouring country.
The delegation, led by National Assembly Opposition Leader Mahmood Khan Achakzai, offered condolences over the assassination of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei and other prominent figures.
During the meeting with the Iranian Ambassador, the delegation expressed deep grief over Khamenei’s assassination.
Italy has received requests for logistics aid and supplies from Gulf countries caught up in the conflict between Iran, Israel and the United States, says Rome’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, Reuters reports.
Addressing a parliamentary committee in Rome, Tajani also said Italian troops deployed in Lebanon, Jordan and other parts of the region were safe.
Dubai Airports said “limited” flights would resume in the evening, AFP reports.
“Dubai Airports announces a limited resumption of flights from Dubai International Airport and Dubai World Central Al Maktoum International Airport starting this evening, Monday, March 2, 2026,” it said in a statement.
