Smoke rises in Lebanon’s capital Beirut after Israeli airstrikes, March 2, 2026 (Hussein Malla/AP)

EA-Byline Times VideoCast: “An Illegal War” — Israel, Trump, and Iran

EA on Irish and Indian Outlets: What Next After Israel-US Killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader?

Netanyahu and Trump’s War for Regime Change in Iran

EA on Times Radio: Israel-US Kill Iran’s Supreme Leader; AI and the Pentagon; Epstein, Clinton, and Trump; An Important UK By-Election

UPDATE 1805 GMT:

In a press appearance, Donald Trump proclaimed that the US is “substantially ahead” of its time projections in the destruction of Iran.

He said the Administration projected 4 to 5 weeks at the beginning, but adds they has the “capability to go far longer”.

He declared that the US has destroyed Iran’s missile capabilities, annihilated the Iranian Navy, and eliminated Tehran’s nuclear program.

We thought we had a deal. But then they backed out and they came back and we thought we had a deal and they backed out. I said, you can’t deal with these people. You got to do it the right way.

UPDATE 1353 GMT:

The Supreme Leader’s wife, Mansoureh Khojasteh Bagherzadeh, has died from injured suffered in Saturday’s US-Israel strike on Ayatollah Khamenei’s compound.

The Supreme Leader’s daughter, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, and grandchild were killed by the attack.

UPDATE 1347 GMT:

European gas prices have risen by almost 40% as Qatar halted liquefied natural gas production because of an Iranian drone attack (see 1113 GMT).

The price initially opened 25% higher, the largest single-day increase since August 2023. The increase remained above 20% until the spike from the Qatari announcement.

UPDATE 1335 GMT:

Reporting on overnight strikes, the Israel Defense Forces say they killed Hezbollah’s intelligence chief Hussein Makled; Iran Deputy Intelligence Minister Sayed Yahya Hamidi; and Jalal Pour Hossein, the head of the espionage division at Iran’s Intelligence Ministry.

UPDATE 1332 GMT:

A fourth American service member has been killed in action.

US Central Command gave no further details.

UPDATE 1113 GMT:

The latest on Iran’s retaliation….

A vessel in the Port of Bahrain has been hit by two “unknown projectiles,” said the UK Maritime Trade Operations Center.

“The fire has been extinguished and the vessel remains in port. All members of the ships crew are safe and have evacuated the vessel,” the agency reported.

Qatar’s Defence Ministry says two drones have struck energy facilities in the industrial city of Ras Laffan with no reported casualties.

Damage is being assessed. State-owned QatarEnergy has halted liquefied natural gas production after attacks on its facilities in Mesaieed as well as Ras Laffan.

A crew member was killed when an MKD VYOM oil tanker was attacked by an explosive-laden boat. The vessel was sailing 52 nautical miles off the coast of Oman’s Muscat Governorate.

Another 21 crew members were evacuated.

Sirens went off at the UK’s RAF Akrotiri base in Cyprus shortly after midday, hours after the complex was hit by a drone. Two more drones were subsequently intercepted.

Israel’s Energy Ministry has instructed the US company to temporarily shut down production at the Leviathan gasfield.

The company is expanding the field’s capacity to round 21 billion cubic metres (742 trillion cubic feet) a year as part of a $35bn export deal to Egypt.

UPDATE 1108 GMT:

The Iranian Red Crescent says 555 people have been killed in Iran by Israel-US strikes across 131 cities.

UPDATE 1103 GMT:

A Chinese national has been killed in Tehran, says China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning.

Beijing urged Chinese citizens in Iran to leave “as soon as possible” via land routes to Azerbaijan, Armenia, Turkey, and Iraq.

UPDATE 1059 GMT:

Video from The Guardian of Israel’s airstrikes on Lebanon’s capital Beirut early this morning:

UPDATE 0811 GMT:

Saudi Arabia’s State oil giant Aramco has shut its Ras Tanura refinery after a drone strike.

An official said the situation is “under control”.

The Ras Tanura complex, on Saudi’s Gulf coast, has a capacity of 550,000 barrels per day and is an important export terminal for Saudi crude.

UPDATE 0755 GMT:

Kuwait’s Defense Ministry confirms “several” US warplanes have crashed in the country.

All pilots bailed out safely and are in stable condition as they are checked at a hospital. Videos showed the ejection of one pilot and his safety on the ground.

Iran claims that it downed an F-15 fighter jet.

The Kuwaiti Defense Ministry said it is investigating the cause of the crashes.

UPDATE 0737 GMT:

A “security source” confirms that an Israel-US missile attack targeted sites of the Iran-backed Iraqi militia Kataib Hezbollah.

The strike was in Jurf al-Sakhr, south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad. Significant material damage was reported, including the burning of vehicles and warehouses. No casualties have been reported so far.

UPDATE 0702 GMT:

Senior Iranian official Ali Larijani has denied reports in the US that Tehran has asked for negotiations.

A Foreign Ministry spokesperson noted that Iran tried diplomacy last year and earlier in 2026. On both occasions, the talks were scuttled by Israel-US attacks.

Larijani, a former Parliament Speaker who was the Supreme Leader’s top political advisor, posted on social media that Trump plunged the Middle East into chaos with his “delusional fantasies and now fears more American casualties”.

“He turned his self-made ‘America First’ slogan into ‘Israel First’ and sacrificed American soldiers for Israel’s power-hungry ambitions,” Larijani asserted.

UPDATE 0655 GMT:

Journalists report “strong explosions” in Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan. Air defenses are intercepting missiles and drones which targeted the Erbil International Airport.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Israel has expanded the war on Iran to Lebanon, as Tehran tries to retaliate for Israeli-US strikes that have killed the Supreme Leader and other senior officials.

The Israel Defense Forces carried out massive airstrikes across its northern neighbor following a rocket volley by Iran’s ally Hezbollah.

At least 32 people have been killed and 149 wounded. In Beirut, 20 fatalities and 91 injured have been reported.

Gen. Rafi Milo, head of Israel’s Northern Command. said the military will further escalate its attacks: “Hezbollah chose the Iranian regime over the State of Lebanon and initiated an attack on our civilians….They will pay a heavy price. The strikes continue, their intensity will increase.”

IDF head Gen. Eyal Zamir reinforced the message in a video on Monday morning: “We have launched an offensive campaign against Hezbollah. We must be prepared for several days of fighting – many.”

Iran’s Retaliation

On Sunday and into Monday, the Iranian regime responded to the strikes on the Supreme Leader’s compound that also killed the Defense Minister, head of the Revolutionary Guards, Army Chief of Staff, and a top advisor of Ayatollah Khamenei. It fired on Israel and on the Gulf States of the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, and Kuwait.

Confirmed damage and casualties are limited so far. In the most serious incident, a ballistic missile strike killed nine civilians in Beit Shemesh, west of Jerusalem. In the UAE, three people — Pakistani, Nepalese, and Bangladeshi nationals — have been slain.

A suspected drone strike hit a UK base in Cyprus, RAF Akrotiri. The midnight attack followed confirmation by UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer that London is allowing the US to use British bases to target Iranian missile sites.

Cyprus closed schools and evacuated people where necessary. President Nikos Christodoulides told the nation:

We are located in a region of particular geopolitical instability, with many challenges and problems, currently undergoing an unprecedented crisis.

We are doing what must be done, with the safety of our country and our citizens as our foremost concern.

The UK Royal Air Force is moving families out of the Akrotiri base.

Tehran acknowledged the Israel-US killing of another seven military commanders. Iranians mourned hundreds of victims, including at least 165 from Saturday’s strike on a girls’ school — reportedly adjacent to a Revolutionary Guards barracks — in the south of the country.