War returns to Iran with Israel, US strikes

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has posted on X that he had a telephone call with his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, to discuss the current regional situation.

“Conveyed India’s concerns over recent developments and emphasised the safety of civilians as a priority. India reiterates the need for an early cessation of hostilities,” Modi said in his X post.

US President Donald Trump has said American soldiers dying during strikes on Iran was to be expected in a war that was nevertheless a “great deal”, AFP reports.

“We have three, but we expect casualties, but in the end it’s going to be a great deal for the world,” Trump told NBC after the Pentagon announced three US service members had been killed during military strikes on Iran.

France, Germany and the UK have said they are ready to defend their interests and those of their allies in the Gulf if necessary by taking “defensive action” against Iran, reports AFP.

The three countries’ leaders were “appalled by the indiscriminate and disproportionate missile attacks launched by Iran against countries in the region, including those who were not involved in initial US and Israeli military operations”, said the joint statement.

“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,” it added.

Seven Iranian military commanders have been killed in strikes across the country, including the head of the office of the armed forces commander-in-chief, Reuters reports, citing the semi-official Tasnim news agency.

The Dubai Media Office has said sounds have been heard across Dubai as a result of interceptions by aerial defence, reports Reuters.

French President Emmanuel Macron has announced that the country would do more to protect its citizens and bases in the Middle East, as well as support countries targeted by Iran, AFP reports.

The US-Israeli strikes have led France to “step up its defensive posture to stand alongside those with whom we have defence treaties”, he said after the second defence council meeting on the conflict in as many days.

It was necessary to “adjust our stance in light of recent developments, which nothing justifies and which we will not let pass”, he said, indicating a possible surge in French military resources in the region.

France is also making arrangements to repatriate its citizens once the airspace is reopened, Macron added.

The US military has announced it destroyed the headquarters of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard force, AFP reports.

“America has the most powerful military on earth, and the IRGC no longer has a headquarters,” US Central Command (Centcom) has said in a statement.

“The Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) killed more than 1,000 Americans over the past 47 years. Yesterday, a large-scale US strike cut off the head of the snake,” the statement adds.

The EU’s top diplomat warned Sunday that the Middle East “stands to lose greatly from any drawn-out war”, urging Iran to refrain from indiscriminate attacks in retaliation to US-Israeli strikes, AFP reports.

“The events unfolding in Iran must not lead to an escalation that could threaten the Middle East, Europe and beyond, with unpredictable consequences, also in the economic sphere,” Kaja Kallas said, speaking on behalf of the EU’s 27 nations after an emergency meeting of foreign ministers.

The US military has carried out strikes against over 1,000 Iranian targets so far since starting its campaign, Reuters reports, citing US Central Command (Centcom).

In a fact sheet, Centcom listed the following under “Types of Targets”:

• Command and Control Centres
• IRGC Joint Headquarters
• IRGC Aerospace Forces Headquarters
• Integrated air defence systems
• Ballistic missile sites
• Iranian Navy ships
• Iranian Navy submarines
• Anti-ship missile sites
• Military communication capabilities

If the war between Iran and the United States escalates, the single biggest economic threat to Pakistan will come from oil.

Brent crude settled around $72.5 a barrel on Friday, already up nearly 19 per cent year-to-date, according to CNBC. Rumours are swirling of oil touching $100.

For Pakistan, even modest increases carry heavy consequences.

Read more here.

Israel has intercepted an Iranian missile over Syria, a Syrian interior ministry official told AFP, causing a loud explosion that was heard in the capital Damascus.

“The loud explosion in Damascus was an Israeli interception of an Iranian missile,” the official said, requesting anonymity.

AFP journalists in Damascus heard a blast.

Debris from missiles fell in southern Syria, which borders Israel, according to state media.

Syria, whose new authorities are hostile to Iran, extended the closure of its airspace on Sunday until Tuesday, the official SANA news agency reported.

Air raid sirens and explosions have been heard over Jerusalem after the Israeli military said it had detected missiles launched from Iran, according to AFP journalists.

“A short while ago, the (Israeli military) identified missiles launched from Iran toward the territory of the State of Israel”, the military says.

“Defensive systems are operating to intercept the threat”, it adds in a statement, urging the public to stay in shelters.

US President Donald Trump has spoken to the leadership of Israel, Bahrain and the UAE, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has said on X.

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei has said that Iran’s government “does not rely on one individual”, reports Al Jazeera.

He claimed that Tehran’s enemies have been promoting this idea following the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

In an interview with Lebanese Al-Mayadeen Network, Baghaei said his country was “defending the entire region … not just Iran”.

He called the killing of Khamenei “an international crime and a war against Iran”.

Iran has mobilised all its capabilities to defend its sovereignty, and it is the armed forces that decide on the type of weapons and targets, Baghaei added.

“Many know how much Iran appreciates and respects the countries of the region,” he said.

The Israeli military said it had dealt a “severe blow” to Iran’s command and control centres after a fresh wave of strikes on military targets in the Islamic republic, AFP reports.

The military “struck dozens of the regime’s military command centres, including headquarters belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), intelligence headquarters, IRGC Air Force command centres, and internal security headquarters”, it said in a statement.

“The completed wave of strikes has dealt a severe blow to the terrorist regime’s command-and-control capabilities, eliminating personnel within its most critical headquarters,” the statement added.

The Embassy of Spain in Islamabad has announced that it will remain closed tomorrow (March 3) due to expected mobility restrictions.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday spoke by phone with Kuwaiti Emir Mishal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah to express his sadness over attacks targeting Kuwait, Türkiye’s Directorate of Communications said.

During the call, expressing his sympathies, Erdogan underlined that diplomacy and negotiations are the most rational way to resolve disputes, reports Anadolu Agency.

He also pledged that Türkiye would continue efforts to help quickly restore a climate of peace.

Gandhi hospital in northern Tehran has been targeted by strikes, AFP reports citing Iranian news agency ISNA.

“Tehran’s Gandhi hospital was attacked by Zionist-American air strikes,” ISNA reported, while the Fars and Mizan agencies published a video, presented as being from inside the facility, showing debris on the floor among wheelchairs.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has said that “bombings in our capital have no impact on our ability to conduct war”.

In a post on X, he said: “We’ve had two decades to study defeats of the US military to our immediate east and west. We’ve incorporated lessons accordingly.

“Bombings in our capital have no impact on our ability to conduct war. Decentralised Mosaic Defence enables us to decide when — and how — war will end.”

The UAE has announced the closure of its embassy in Tehran and the withdrawal of its ambassador from Iran, in the wake of Iranian attacks on the Gulf country, Reuters reports, citing the Emirati foreign ministry.

The United Kingdom’s defence ministry says a Royal Air Force Typhoon fighter jet operating from Qatar took out an Iranian drone heading towards Qatari territory, Reuters reports.