Middle East crisis live: Israel launches new attacks on Tehran and Beirut as Iran closes critical Strait of Hormuz | US-Israel war on Iran
Strait of Hormuz closed, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards says
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards commander has stated that the Strait of Hormuz – the world’s most critical oil route – is closed and Iran will set any ship attempting to cross on fireplaceIranian state media is reporting.
It is Tehran’s most specific warning since saying it was closing the route on Saturday in a transfer that would choke a fifth of world oil flows and ship costs rocketing.
“The strait (of Hormuz) is closed. If anyone tries to pass, the heroes of the Revolutionary Guards and the regular navy will set those ships ablaze,” Ebrahim Jabari, a senior adviser to the Guards commander-in-chief, stated in remarks carried by state media.
The strait is the world’s most significant oil export route, which connects the largest Gulf oil producers, such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates, with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea.
We have an explainer on the strait of Hormuz and why it’s so important for world oil provides right here:
Key occasions
Marco Rubio says US would not ‘deliberately’ target a school after strike that killed 168 people
US attacked Iran ‘pre-emptively’ after learning Israel was going to launch strikes – Rubio
Six US service members killed in Iran, military says
Strait of Hormuz closed, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards says
‘Killing terrorists is good for America’: White House says 49 senior Iranian leaders killed in strikes
US military claims it has destroyed all Iranian ships in Gulf of Oman
Israel’s UN envoy says Iran operation will last ‘as long as it takes’
UK ‘doesn’t believe in regime change from the skies’, says Starmer
The day is so far
Israeli strikes kill over 50 in Lebanon
Trump says US’s mission in Iran ‘substantially ahead’ and could last 4-5 weeks
US continues to carry out ‘large-scale operations’ in Iran, Trump says
Trump doesn’t rule out possibility of US boots on ground in Iran
Trump on Iran strikes: ‘The big wave hasn’t even happened’
Iran Revolutionary Guards say targeted 500 US, Israeli sites
IDF says it launched a ‘broad wave’ of attacks ‘in the heart of Tehran’
Pentagon to brief media this morning on Trump’s Iran strikes
Fourth US service member ‘killed in action’ – Centcom
QatarEnergy halts liquefied natural gas production after attacks
What we know so far…
Two drones heading towards RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus intercepted, spokesperson says
US says three jets ‘went down’ over Kuwait ‘due to an apparent friendly fire incident’
Iran’s ‘reckless’ attacks threaten regional stability, US and allied Gulf states say
Saudi Arabia halts some operations at Ras Tanura refinery after reported attack
Mass evacuation of cities across Middle East may be necessary if nuclear power stations attacked, UN nuclear chief says
IDF says ‘all options on table’ in response to question about possible ground invasion of Lebanon
At least 555 people have been killed in Iran by US-Israeli attacks, Iranian Red Crescent Society says
Saudi oil refinery reportedly halts operations after drone attack
Kuwait says ‘several’ US warplanes have crashed in the country, with all the crew surviving
Summary
Israeli military says fighting Hezbollah could take ‘many’ more days
US embassy in Kuwait warns of attack threat and urges people to take cover
Israeli strikes in Lebanon kill 31 – report
Iran launches another attack wave on Israel and Gulf cities
Israeli general says strikes on Lebanon will intensify
Iran’s security chief says it ‘won’t negotiate’ with US
At least 10 killed in Israeli strikes on Beirut – report
Streams of people flee Beirut amid airstrikes and evacuation orders
UK responding to suspected drone strike at Cyprus base, says MoD
Opening summary
Marco Rubio says US wouldn’t ‘intentionally’ goal a college after strike that killed 168 folks
US secretary of state Marco Rubio insisted the US wouldn’t “deliberately” goal a college, after Iran stated 168 folks died in an alleged US-Israeli strike.
“The United States would not deliberately target a school. Our objectives are missiles, both the ability to manufacture them and the ability to launch them,” Rubio informed reporters, whereas including that the Pentagon was investigating the alleged incident.
The strike on college seems to be the worst mass casualty occasion of the US-Israeli-led bombing marketing campaign on Iran up to now.
Marco Rubio reiterated what Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth stated earlier on Monday that regime change in Iran was not the target of the US-Israeli fight operation.
But Rubio added that the US hoped Iranians would topple the regime.
“We hope that the Iranian people can overthrow this government and establish a new future for that country. We would love for that to be possible,” Rubio informed reporters.
“But the objective of this mission is the destruction of their ballistic missile capabilities and of their naval capabilities,” he added.
US attacked Iran ‘pre-emptively’ after studying Israel was going to launch strikes – Rubio
The US attacked Iran “pre-emptively” on Saturday to guard US forces from retaliation after studying that Israel was going to strike, Marco Rubio informed reporters on Monday.
The US secretary of state stated: “There absolutely was an imminent threat. And the imminent threat was, that we knew that if Iran was attacked, and we believed that they would be attacked, that they would immediately come after us. And we were not going to sit there and absorb a blow before we responded.”
He added: “We knew that if we didn’t preemptively go after them before they launched those attacks, we would suffer higher casualties.”
Six US service members have been killed since Saturday.
The news of two more service members’ deaths was announced by US central command. Centcom said it would not release the names of the fallen until 24 hours after their next of kin were notified.
In a statement posted on X, officials wrote:
As of 4 pm ET, March 2, six US service members have been killed in motion. US forces lately recovered the stays of two beforehand unaccounted for service members from a facility that was struck throughout Iran’s preliminary attacks within the area. Major fight operations proceed. The identities of the fallen are being held till 24 hours after subsequent notification.
Six US service members killed in Iran, army says
The quantity of US service members killed in Iran has risen to 6, the US army stated on Monday.
Fran Lawther
The US embassy in Amman, Jordan was quickly evacuated on Monday as a consequence of a menace, it stated in an announcement. The embassy didn’t elaborate on the character of the menace.
In a safety alert posted on X, embassy employees wrote:
Out of an abundance of warning, all personnel on the US Embassy have quickly departed the Embassy compound as a consequence of a menace.
Fran Lawther
We reported earlier that Kuwait’s military stated a sailor with its naval forces was killed throughout an “operation” by its armed forces. That quantity has now risen to 2, based on Agence France-Presse. The military didn’t elaborate on the circumstances of their deaths.
The normal employees of the military recognized the boys as Sergeant Walid Majid Sulaiman and Sergeant Abdulaziz Abdulmohsen Dakhel Nasser, including in two separate statements that they had been killed throughout “duty as part of the national missions entrusted to the armed forces.”
And right here we now have a visible information on how the escalation US-Israeli war on Iran is threatening oil provides, driving up oil and fuel costs, and stoking inflation across the globe.
Strait of Hormuz closed, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards says
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards commander has stated that the Strait of Hormuz – the world’s most critical oil route – is closed and Iran will set any ship attempting to cross on fireplaceIranian state media is reporting.
It is Tehran’s most specific warning since saying it was closing the route on Saturday in a transfer that would choke a fifth of world oil flows and ship costs rocketing.
“The strait (of Hormuz) is closed. If anyone tries to pass, the heroes of the Revolutionary Guards and the regular navy will set those ships ablaze,” Ebrahim Jabari, a senior adviser to the Guards commander-in-chief, stated in remarks carried by state media.
The strait is the world’s most significant oil export route, which connects the largest Gulf oil producers, such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates, with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea.
We have an explainer on the strait of Hormuz and why it’s so important for world oil provides right here:
‘Killing terrorists is sweet for America’: White House says 49 senior Iranian leaders killed in strikes
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt have you ever stated that “49 of the most senior Iranian regime leaders” have been killed within the US-Israeli strikes on Iran, declaring that “killing terrorists is good for America.” That quantity contains supreme chief Ali Khamenei.
“Preventing this radical regime and its terrorist leaders from threatening America and our core national security interests is a clear-eyed and necessary objective,” she stated in a post on X.
US army claims it has destroyed all Iranian ships in Gulf of Oman
The U.S. army stated that it has struck over 1,250 targets in Iran since operations began on Saturday.
In a separate assertion, US Central Command stated it had struck and destroyed 11 Iranian ships (Trump earlier stated 10). In a put up on X it stated:
Two days in the past, the Iranian regime had 11 ships within the Gulf of Oman, at the moment they’ve ZERO.
The Iranian regime has harassed and attacked worldwide delivery within the Gulf of Oman for many years. Those days are over. Freedom of maritime navigation has underpinned American and world financial prosperity for greater than 80 years. US forces will proceed to defend it.
Multiple shops are carrying satellite tv for pc pictures exhibiting darkish plumes of smoke rising from a quantity of burning vessels – one of which is 750 ft lengthy – at a army harbor in Bandar AbbasIran.
The Kuwaiti military stated a sailor with its naval forces was killed throughout an “operation” by its armed forces. The military didn’t elaborate on the circumstances of his dying.
