Smoke rises from Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon’s capital Beirut, March 3, 2026 (Sky)

EA-Times Radio VideoCast: Trump Camp “Has No Plan B” For Its War v. Iran

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

EA on International Media: What Next After Israel-US Killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader?

Israel Expands War on Iran to Lebanon Amid Tehran’s Retaliation

UPDATE 1908 GMT:

The UN says an estimated 100,000 people fled Tehran in the first two days of the US-Israel war.

UPDATE 1725 GMT:

Despite its retaliatory airstrikes, Iran is reaching out to Gulf States in an effort to curb the US-Israel war.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi spoke with Qatari counterpart and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian addressed regional leaders: “We sought to avoid war through diplomacy & your cooperation, but US-Israeli aggression left us with no choice but self-defense. We respect your sovereignty and maintain that regional peace must be secured by the countries of the region.”

And Parliament Speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf insisted, “Our missiles and drones are strictly for legitimate defense against US and Israeli aggressors. We assure our friendly and brotherly neighbors of our peaceful intentions and hope that once this sedition is resolved, we can return to days of cooperation.”

UPDATE 1721 GMT:

Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the Supreme Leader and a candidate to succeed his late father, has survived US-Israel airstrikes, two Iranian sources tell Reuters.

UPDATE 1659 GMT:

Oil tanker traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has dropped by 90% during the US-Israel war on Iran (see 1251 GMT), reported the energy market intelligence firm Kpler.

“Unlike several other vessel segments where movements have largely ceased, some tankers are still traveling east and west through the strait, with a number of voyages occurring under AIS [marine traffic tracking system] blackouts,” said Kpler Principal Freight Analyst Matt Wright.

UPDATE 1606 GMT:

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has confirmed that a US submarine sunk an Iranian frigate in the Indian Ocean, south of Galle in southern Sri Lanka.

More than 80 crew were killed on the Irins Dena. Sri Lankan authorities have launched a search and rescue mission to find survivors.

The ship had taken part in a naval exercise held in the Bay of Bengal from February 18 to February 25 and was returning to Iran from a port in eastern India.

Hegseth boasted that the Iranian navy “rests at the bottom of the Persian Gulf” and that it is “ineffective, decimated, destroyed…pick your adjective, it is no more”.

The Pentagon released footage of the sinking:

UPDATE 1307 GMT:

“Three sources with knowledge of the matter” say Iranian Kurdish militias have consulted with the US in recent days about whether and how to attack Iran’s security forces in the west of the country.

The Iranian Kurdish coalition in Iraqi Kurdistan on the Iran-Iraq border has been training to mount an attack, stirring up an uprising.

A final decision has not yet been made on the operation and its possible timing, said the sources.

The groups have requested US military support and there are discussions of CIA assistance. Iraqi leaders in Erbil and Baghdad have been in touch with the Trump Administration in recent days, including a call between Donald Trump and two leaders of Iraqi Kurdistan.

UPDATE 1251 GMT:

An oil tanker was struck last night east of Fujairah in the UAE, the UK Maritime Trade Operations center has confirmed in an alert to shippers.

“The tanker experienced a loud blast and debris from an unknown projectile was found on deck,” UKMTO said. There was “no major damage” and no environmental implications.

The Strait of Hormuz remains open, despite Iranian threats, but trade has dropped 80%.

UPDATE 1242 GMT:

Iranian officials say the death toll has risen to 1,045 from the Israel-US war.

Almost 150 people may be missing after an Iranian warship sank near Sri Lankan waters.

The Sri Lankan Navy rescued 32 people from the the 180-crew frigate Iris Dena after it issued a distress call on Wednsday morning. The vessel was 25 miles south of the port of Galle in southern Sri Lanka.

UPDATE 1237 GMT:

NATO air defenses have downed an Iranian missile heading towards Turkish airspace.

The Turkish Defense Ministry said debris from the missile fell on Hatay Province in the southeast of the country. There were no casualties.

The Ministry said:

We urge all parties to refrain from actions that would further spread the conflict in the region. In this context, we will continue to consult with Nato and our other allies.

NATO spokesperson Allison Hart said:

We condemn Iran’s targeting of Turkey. NATO stands firmly with all allies, including Turkey, as Iran continues its indiscriminate attacks across the region. Our deterrence and defence posture remains strong across all domains, including when it comes to air and missile defense.

UPDATE 0726 GMT:

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has declared that any successor to Iran’s Supreme Leader will be targeted for assassination.

Any leader appointed by the Iranian terror regime to continue leading the plan to destroy Israel, threaten the US and the free world and the countries of the region, and oppress the Iranian people, will be an unequivocal target for elimination.

It does not matter what his name is or where he hides.

Katz restated the Netanyahu Government’s rhetoric seeking regime change by creating “the conditions for the Iranian people to overthrow and replace it”.

However, both Donald Trump and US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth indicated on Tuesday that the Administration is not aiming to remove all of the regime.

Trump told journalists that “someone from within” Iran’s government might be best suited to take power. He said while the late Shah’s son, Reza Pahlavi was a “nice guy”, the US would not back his rise to power in Iran.

UPDATE, MARCH 4:

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claim they control the Strait of Hormuz into the Persian Gulf.

Around 25% of the world’s maritime trade in oil and 20% in gas passes through the Strait.

“Currently, the Strait of Hormuz is under the complete control of the Islamic Republic’s Navy,” said Guards Navy official Mohammad Akbarzadeh.

He said any vessels seeking to pass through the waterway risk damage from missiles or stray drones.

The head of US Central Command, Adm. Brad Cooper, said hours earlier that the US was sinking “all of the Iranian navy”, destroying 17 ships.

“For decades the Iranian regime has harassed international shipping. Today there is not a single Iranian ship underway in the Arabian gulf, Strait of Hormuz or Gulf of Oman,” he proclaimed.

Donald Trump said the US Navy could begin escorting oil tankers through the Strait if necessary.

In the late 1980s, US efforts to maintain shipping through the Strait led to a series of deadly incidents during the Iran-Iraq War. Iraq strucky the USS Stark in 1987, killing 37 American personnel. In July 1988, the USS Vincennes downed an Iranian civilian jet, slaying 274 passengers and 16 crew.

UPDATE 1728 GMT:

China is urging Iran not to target major energy exporters such as Qatar, say “senior executives at Chinese state-owned energy companies”.

China takes 30% of its liquefied natural gas imports from QatarEnergy, which has suspended operations in two of its plants because of Iranian attacks.

Beijing is also asking that oil and LNG tankers transiting the Strait of Hormuz are not attacked or blocked.

At least five commercial vessels have been damaged by Iranian fire. Shipping in the Strait has virtually ceased.

Ibrahim Jabari, advisor to the commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, said Iran will “burn” all foreign vessels attempting to pass through the Strait. He said Tehran is prepared to “strike all oil pipelines in the region”.

UPDATE 1445 GMT:

At least 40 people were killed and 246 wounded in Israeli attacks on Lebanon on Monday and Tuesday, says a spokesperson for the Lebanese Health Ministry.

The spokesperson said a death toll of 52 given by the Ministry on Monday was a technical error.

UPDATE 1439 GMT:

Israel and US strikes hit the building of the Assembly of Experts, which is responsible for the selection of Iran’s Supreme Leader.

Local media showed the severely-damaged building in the holy city of Qom in central Iran.

UPDATE 1312 GMT:

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian says the government remains operational despite the Israel-US war.

We are in direct contact with the governors. The situation is exceptional, but the country has not come to a halt.

Ongoing activities are continuing across the country.

UPDATE 1258 GMT:

The UN says at least 30,000 people in Lebanon have been displaced by Israel’s airstrikes and ground operations.

Babar Baloch, spokesman for the UN refugee agency, said “conservative estimates” are that nearly 30,000 people are hosted and registered at shelters, with many more forced to sleep in their cars on the side of roads.

UPDATE 1057 GMT:

As Israel’s military expands its presence in southern Lebanon, it has issued forced evacuation threats covering dozens of towns and villages.

The Israel Defense Forces told residents of 59 villages and more than two dozen towns to leave their homes, saying it will soon act against Hezbollah’s activities in the area.

UPDATE 1044 GMT:

The Iranian Red Crescent has updated the death toll from the US-Israeli War to 787.

THhe Norway-based human rights group Hengaw said the toll had reached at least 1,500, including 200 civilians and 1,300 members of the Iranian forces.

The Red Crescent said it recorded 1,039 attacks on 504 locations.

UPDATE 1038 GMT:

The International Atomic Energy Agency reports:

ORIGINAL ENTRY: After only three days, the Israel-US war on Iran has spread across the Middle East.

As Israel and the US continued their airstrikes, the Islamic Republic responded on Monday with attacks. By the end of the day, casualties and damage were reported in at least nine countries.

The Israelis continue to pound Lebanon, following Hezbollah rocket fire across the border, killing more than 50 people.

Iran fired throughout the Gulf. Strikes on the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar and off their coasts damaged industrial facilities, ports, and tankers. One drone attacked the UK airbase RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus, and two others were later intercepted.

The US Embassy in Riyadh was struck by drones, setting a fire. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi denied that Tehran launched the drones that suspended operations at Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura, one of the largest in the world with a capacity of 550,000 barrels per day.

US Central Command added that Kuwait’s air defenses mistakenly shot down three US F-15E fighters during an Iranian attack. All six crew members were safely recovered.

The Iranian Red Crescent put the death toll in Iran at 555, including 165 in a girls’ school in the south of the country, and said more than 130 cities across the country had been attacked. In Israel, 11 people have been killed, and there are several fatalities across the Gulf.

US Central Command confirmed that six American personnel have been killed in action.

An “Endless” War?

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the US outlet Fox TV that airstrikes will continue for some time although the war will not be “endless”.

But Donald Trump posted on Truth Social, “We have a virtually unlimited supply of these weapons. Wars can be fought ‘forever’, and very successfully, using just these supplies.”

Trump was responding to a report in the US media that the US military is hastening to destroy Iran’s missile and drone force before the Americans run out of interceptors. “People familiar with the situation” said that with limited US air defense stockpiles, “there is concern about this lasting more than a few days”.

The reality TV star asserted that the US is “substantially ahead” of its time projections in the destruction of Iran. He said the Administration projected a war of four to five weeks at the beginning, but its forces have the “capability to go far longer”.

Trump’s officials scrambled throughout the day to define the war and their aims. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth — perhaps conscious of Trump’s campaign promise not to get involved in “foreign interventions” and of the disastrous US war on Iraq in 2003 — said the aim was not “regime change”.

Trying to justify the flagrant breaking of international law, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Americans had to respond to an imminent threat of attack.

That threat did not come from an Iranian first strike, however. Instead, it was from Tehran’s retaliation against Israel’s airstrikes and targeted assassinations.

A US official said, “President Trump said new potential leadership in Iran has indicated they want to talk and eventually he will talk. For now, Operation Epic Fury continues unabated.”

But Ali Larijani, the Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Council, rejected any contact with Trump, whom he said had “delusional ambitions” and was now worried about US casualties.