Plumes of smoke rise from US-Israel strikes on Tehran, Iran, March 6, 2026 (Vahid Salemi/AP)

EA on International Media: US and Israel Expand Their Wars in Iran and Lebanon — But How They Will End Them?

US-Israel War on Iran: Israelis Launch Mass Strikes on Lebanon’s Beirut

UPDATE 2002 GMT:

A US military service member has died from wounds sustained during Iran’s initial counter-attack last Saturday.

The fatality is the seventh during the US-Israel war. The victim was seriously wounded during an assault on US troops in Saudi Arabia.

UPDATE 1958 GMT:

Two people, one Indian and one Bangladeshi, were killed and 12 injured after a projectile fell on a residential location in Saudi Arabia’s Al-Kharj city.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they targeted radar systems in locations including Al-Kharj.

UPDATE 1544 GMT:

Iraq’s oil production from its main southern fields has fallen by around 70 percent to about 1.3 million barrels per day because Baghdad cannot export crude through the Strait of Hormuz.

Before the US-Israel attacks from February 28, production from the oilfields was about 4.3 million barrels per day.

UPDATE 1257 GMT:

The Iranian Red Crescent is warning people in Tehran not to go outside because of toxic pollutants following Israeli airstrikes on oil storage facilities.

The danger has been compounded by rainfall producing “acid rain”. People have been advised to gargle salty water if they inhaled oily soot particles from plumes of black smoke.

UPDATE 1151 GMT:

Lebanon’s Health Ministry says the toll has risen to at least 394 killed — including 83 children, 42 women, and nine rescue workers — by Israeli airstrikes.

At least 1,130 people have been wounded.

UPDATE 1133 GMT:

The spokesperson for Iran’s Health Ministry, says Israeli airstrikes have killed 200 children under the age of 12 and about 200 women since February 28.

He said they were among more than 1,200 people killed in the war. More than 10,000 civilians have been injured, including 1,400 women. Nine hospitals are out of service and 14 ambulances destroyed.

The Iranian Red Crescent says 9,669 civilian structures have been severely damaged by US-Israeli strikes.

The destruction includes 7,943 residential homes, 1,617 commercial sites, hospitals, schools, ambulances, and Red Crescent facilities.

UPDATE 0849 GMT:

Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 19 people, including children, in an attack on a three-story building in Sire al Gharbiya in southern Lebanon.

Civil defense and rescue teams are working to remove the rubble and retrieve bodies.

UPDATE 0842 GMT:

Cyprus Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos says explosive-packed drones directed at UK military bases on the island were launched from Lebanon, 150 miles to the east.

Kombos did not identify the attacker, but Iran and its allies, including Lebanon’s Hezbollah, are the prime suspects.

“Right now it’s a fact that we have to be looking towards the Lebanese front,” said the Foreign Minister. “We cannot exclude anything from the broader direction of the north-east. We have to be very careful….We have to make sure that the systems in place are covering all possibilities of threat.”

Evacuation measures for around 1,000 residents have been extended to next Saturday.

UPDATE 0830 GMT:

Qatar has stepped up its pressure on the Trump Administration to de-escalate the war on Iran.

The Qatari Emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, spoke by phone with Donald Trump on Saturday.

The official Qatari readout said the Emir “stressed during the call that the current escalation seen in the region will have dangerous repercussions on international security and peace”. He emphasized “the importance of containing the crisis and intensifying diplomacy to end it”

The readout declared that the Emir and Trump agreed “to support political avenues that could address current tensions and avoid further escalation in the region”.

Qatar’s Energy Minister warned on Friday that the war could “bring down the economies of the world” with Gulf energy exporters shutting down production and the price of oil rising to $150 a barrel. The Gulf country suspended operations at its largest liquefied natural gas plant, Ras Laffan, after an Iranian drone attack on Monday.

A Qatari effort at mediation earlier this week was rejected by the Trump Administration.

UPDATE 0736 GMT:

The toll in Lebanon has passed 300 killed after Israeli airstrikes overnight.

Israel killed another 12 people in southern Lebanon. Israeli officials asserted that the strikes targeted commanders of the Quds Force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.

UPDATE 0718 GMT:

The US and Israel have targeted Iran’s oil facilities overnight.

An Iranian oil official said, “Last night, four oil depots and a petroleum products transport centre in Tehran and the Alborz were attacked by enemy aircraft.

He said the facilities “were damaged” but the “fire was brought under control”.

Videos showed flames rising above a facility in Tehran.

Streets on fire in the capital:

UPDATE 0708 GMT:

At least four people have been killed and 10 injured by an Israeli strike on a Ramada hotel in central Beirut.

The strike is first to hit the center of the Lebanese capital during the US-Israel war on Iran. Israel has bombarded the southern suburbs, as well as southern Lebanon, forcing more than 450,000 residents to flee their homes.

Israel has killed more than 260 people in Lebanon since Monday.

UPDATE 0655 GMT:

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Sunday that the US-Israel war on Iran “should never have happened”.

At a press conference in Beijing, Wang called for an end to military operations, and urged all parties to return to the negotiating table as soon as possible.

“A strong fist does not mean strong reason,” he said. “The world cannot return to the law of the jungle.”

UPDATE 0651 GMT:

A Pakistani driver was killed in Dubai on Saturday by debris from a downed Iranian missile that fell onto his car.

At least four people have been slain in the UAE by Iranian retaliatory strikes.

UPDATE 0640 GMT:

Turkey has opposed any Trump Administration plan to use Iraq-based Iranian Kurdish peshmerga, trained and armed by the US military and CIA, in a cross-border incursion into western Iran.

US and Iranian Kurdish officials told media outlets last week that the plan is being considered to put pressure on Iran’s regime; however, no timing for the operation has been determined.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan told a news conference on Saturday that he expressed Ankara’s opposition to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Fidan accused Israel of using Kurdish groups as “a proxy” in the region.

Strategies that “aim to create ethnic rivalry or an ethnic conflict in Iran would be something we oppose because it would be the most dangerous scenario,” Fidan said. He said that Turkey had been talking to Kurdish leaders to prevent such a “historic mistake”.

The Foreign Minister said Rubio assured him that the cross-border scheme was “not their intention”.

UPDATE, MARCH 8:

The Iranian Red Crescent said on Saturday that US and Israeli airstrikes have damaged more than 6,600 civilian structures.

Pir Hossein Kolivand, the Red Crescent President, said the destruction includes 5,535 residential units; 1,041 commercial buildings; 65 schools; 14 medical centers; and 13 Red Crescent facilities.

UPDATE 1752 GMT:

The US National Intelligence Council assesses that the US-Israel war is unlikely to topple Iran’s regime.

The findings were confirmed to The Washington Post by “three people familiar with the contents of the report, completed about a week before the US and Israel launched the war on February 28. Analysts concluded that the reigme would respond to the killing of the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei with protocols designed to preserve continuity of power.

The prospect of Iran’s opposition, decapitated by decades of regime repression, taking control of the country is described as “unlikely”.

UPDATE 1736 GMT:

The President of the UAE, Mohamed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, has issued a pointed warning over Iran’s retaliatory strikes:

The UAE has thick skin and bitter flesh – we are no easy prey.

We will carry out our duty towards our country, our people, and our residents who are also part of our family.

UPDATE 1246 GMT:

The Israel Defense Forces have repeated their warning to all civilians in southern Lebanon to evacuate. Spokesman Col. Avichay Adraee said:

Hezbollah’s terror activities are forcing the IDF to act against it with force in the area.

Airstrikes are ongoing as the IDF operates with great force in the area. Therefore, for your safety, we once again urge you to evacuate your homes immediately and head north of the Litani River.

The IDF, which has also demanded the evacuation of southern suburbs of Beirut, estimates that more than 420,000 Lebanese civilians have fled their homes.

UPDATE 1226 GMT:

The Israel Defense Forces say their special forces carried out a raid in Lebanon to locate the remains of Lt. Col. Ron Arad, a navigator on an Israeli jet whose plane went down in southern Lebanon during a bombing mission in 1986.

<>The IDF did give the location. However, witnesses say 41 Lebanese were killed and 40 wounded when the Israelis landed four helicopters in the town of Nabi Chit in the eastern Bekaa valley.

The IDF said the raid found no evidence of Arad. There were no Israeli casualties.

UPDATE 1215 GMT:

The Energy Minister of Qatar, which has been seeking an end to the US-Israel war on Iran, has warned the conflict could “bring down the economies of the world” with Gulf energy exporters shutting down production and the price of oil rising to $150 a barrel.

Saad al-Kaabi said that even if the war ended immediately, it will take Qatar “weeks to months” to return to a normal cycle of deliveries after an Iranian drone strike shut down its largest liquefied natural gas plant, Ras Laffan.

The closure of the plant drove up gas prices in Europe by almost 40% within 24 hours on Monday. Al-Kaabi predicted that gas prices would rise to $40 per million BTUs — almost four times the pre-war level.

The price of Brent crude oil is now above $92 a barrel, a 30% rise since last Saturday.

EA correspondents say Qatar launched an effort at mediation this week, seeking a ceasefire and resumption of US-Iran talks. However, Donald Trump publicly ruled out the possibility on Tuesday and posted last night that there must be “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER” by Tehran.

UPDATE 1024 GMT:

The toll has risen to at least 26 killed in Israel’s airstrikes on Nabi Chit in the Bekaa Valley in eastern Lebanon.

UPDATE 0851 GMT:

The Trump Administration has played down reports that Russia is providing Iran with intelligence to target US military personnel in the Middle East.

Three officials said the information includes the location of military facilities, warships, and warplanes.

But White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox TV, “Whether or not this happened, frankly, it does not really matter, because President Trump and the United States military are absolutely decimating the rogue Iranian terrorist regime.”

Questioned at a press appearance at the White House, Donald Trump snapped, “What a stupid question that is to be asking at this time.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth echoed:

UPDATE 0800 GMT:

The Lebanese Health Ministry says 16 people were killed and 35 wounded by Israeli strikes on the Baalbek district in eastern Lebanon overnight.

Hezbollah claimed four Israeli helicopters arrived from the direction of Syria. It said their fighters engaged the Israelis before withdrawing under heavy airstrikes.

The Lebanese Health Ministry reported on Friday that 217 people had been killed and 798 injured by Israeli attacks since Monday.

UPDATE 0744 GMT:

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has responded to Donald Trump’s demand on social media for “UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER”.

In a prerecorded address on State TV, Pezeshkian said the demand is a “dream that they should to take to their grave”.

He apologized for Iran’s attacks on countries in the region, insisting that Tehran would halt them and suggesting they were caused by miscommunication in Iran’s military.

Despite the statement, Iran repeatedly attacked Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE on Saturday morning.

Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman, after meeting Pakistan’s military chief, posted on social media:

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said it will “respect the interests and national sovereignty of neighbouring countries” and has not carried out attacks against them.

However, it then appeared to contradict itself, saying, “In continuation of previous offensive actions, all military bases and interests belonging to the United States and the ‘Zionist regime’ on land, at sea, and in space across the region will be considered primary targets of powerful strikes by the armed forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Entering the second week of their war on Iran, the US and Israel have stepped up waves of airstrikes on Tehran.

Farzad, 36, who has fled the city, told Deepa Parent of The Guardian:

“If they don’t stop now, Tehran will turn into Gaza.

We can now tell the difference between the sounds of fighter jets, air defense, and missiles. Sometimes we stand together and watch the trails of hypersonic missiles in the sky.

I don’t think I have ever experienced a night like this before or even seen [anything like it] in the movies. I am really scared, especially because I am in total information blackout.

The initial plan of the US and Israel was to collapse the regime, or at least make it surrender, through targeted assassinations. Iran’s Supreme Leader and dozens of senior officials and commanders were killed in the first wave last Saturday morning in a strike on Ayatollah Khamenei’s compound.

However, the remaining leaders in the regime have refused to capitulate. Instead, they have retaliated with missile and drone attacks across the Middle East.

So the Trump Administration and the Netanyahu Government have escalated the strikes on the Iranian capital, including on high-rise civilian blocks.

Zahra, a teacher and mother of one living in central Tehran, said:

This is the first time since the war began that I am genuinely scared for my fellow Iranians. We are trapped between the regime that is killing us with machine guns, and a foreign power has likely decided that we are collateral damage.

Zahra, who participated in nationwide protests in January and celebrated the killing of the Supreme Leader, added, “The initial joy of the regime’s leaders paying the price is soon turning into fear. Who will be left in free Iran if we all get killed?”

She described the bombing on Thursday night, “I don’t think I have ever experienced a night like this before or even seen [anything like it] in the movies. I am really scared, especially because I am in total information blackout.”

A reporter in eastern Tehran said of their experience:

I was asleep, and somehow over the past few days I got sleep because we got used to the sounds of explosions. But early this morning, the situation has turned really scary. The windows were shaking and I could hear people shouting.

“We were not hit, but I thought the ceiling would fall on me and I would die. I am devastated to see my beloved city being destroyed like this.

The reporter later went offline and could not be reached.

Saeed, a Tehran University student, pleaded to The Guardian’s Parent: “Please use your voice to ask Mr Trump if there is a plan to keep us safe while they go after military targets, because we are terrified that this morning’s strikes, which genuinely felt like the heaviest since Saturday, must have killed so many people.”

Video of strikes on Tehran overnight:

“I Felt Really Close to Death”

The Israeli Defense Forces avoided any comment about strikes affecting Iran’s civilians. Instead they boasted on Saturday morning:

A former political prisoner had a different perspective about the US and Israeli attacks, “Last night [Thursday] they hit central Tehran with B-2s. This morning, for the second time, I really felt very close to death.”

People are stuck at a historical crossroads: on one side they are killed by their own government, and on the other side by the state of Israel.

The reality is that the finger of blame should be pointed at the government that caused this destruction and devastation, and that is now burning in the very fire it lit itself.