Main pointsIsrael launched new strikes on Tehran and Beirut on Tuesday morning.US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says “the hardest hits” on Iran are “yet to come”. Iran’s Revolutionary Guards commander says the strait of Hormuz – the world’s most critical oil route – is closed.The US embassy in Riyadh has reportedly been hit by drones. Donald Trump says ‘Operation Epic Fury’ could last “four to five weeks”.Air France flights to and from Tel Aviv, Beirut, Dubai, and Riyadh cancelled until ThursdayTrump said the attacks on Iran were because it “refused to cease their pursuit of nuclear weapons”.At least 52 people were killed and more than 150 injured by Israeli strikes in Lebanon after retaliatory Hizbullah attacks. Key reads
Jack White – 10 minutes ago
France plans to send anti-missile and anti-drone systems to Cyprus after a British sovereign base on the island was attacked by drones, the semi-official Cyprus News Agency (CNA) said on Tuesday.
An Iranian-made drone hit a British military airbase in Cyprus on Sunday, causing a small amount of damage, but no injuries. Two further unmanned drones were intercepted heading towards the Mediterranean island on Monday.
Jack White – 16 minutes ago
The Israeli military deployed additional forces to southern Lebanon overnight, to take up what a military spokesperson on Tuesday described as defensive positions to protect Israeli civilians and strategic sites from any potential Hizbullah attack.
“We’re only at the borderline area in a defensive manner to prevent attacks against civilians and very strategic important points,” Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said in an online briefing with reporters.
However, a Lebanese official told Reuters that Israeli troops were carrying out incursions along some parts of the Lebanese border.
Witnesses said the Lebanese army had pulled out of at least seven forward operating positions along the border. – Reuters
Jack White – 23 minutes ago
The US embassy in Jerusalem has said it is not in a position to evacuate or directly assist Americans in departing Israel “at this time”.
“As a result of the current security situation throughout the region,” it has directed all employees and their family members to continue to shelter in place until further notice.
It noted that the Israeli ministry of tourism has begun operating shuttles to the Taba border crossing, though it said it could not make any recommendation for or against the shuttle.
“If you choose to avail yourself of this option to depart, the US government cannot guarantee your safety. The information is provided as a courtesy to those wishing to leave Israel,” it said.
US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, said the embassy is receiving “a lot of requests” from US citizens in Israel regarding evacuation.
Noting the “very limited options” in a post on X, he said the best option is to use the shuttle bus to the Taba crossing.
Jack White – 27 minutes ago
Explainer: Why have the US and Israel attacked Iran?Why have the US and Israel attacked Iran? Our Europe Correspondent, Naomi O’Leary, takes us through the latest. Video: Naomi O’Leary
Jack White – 35 minutes ago
US relationship with UK ‘not what it was’, Trump says
US president Donald Trump said it was “sad to see” the relationship with Britain was “not what it was” after UK prime minister Keir Starmer initially held off giving military support to the strikes against Iran.
Trump said the likes of France had been more supportive and said he had never expected to see the once “most solid of all” relationships change in this way.
“It’s very sad to see that the relationship is obviously not what it was,” Trump told the Sun newspaper on Tuesday, his second interview to a British newspaper in as many days where he criticised the British leader.
Starmer said late on Sunday that he would allow the US to use British military bases for defensive strikes after they were not used in the initial attack on Iran.
Trump said the US did not need Britain to wage war in the Middle East but added: “It’s not going to matter, but (Starmer) should have helped … he should have.
“I mean, France has been great. They’ve all been great. The UK has been much different from others.” – Reuters
Jack White – 41 minutes ago
The US embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capital, was attacked by two drones, according to an initial assessment by the country’s ministry of defence.
The attack resulted in a “limited fire and minor material damage to the building”, it said.
Riyadh, which has an estimated population of about eight million, is about 1,300km from Tehran.
Air France has cancelled its flights to and from Tel Aviv, Beirut, Dubai, and Riyadh until Thursday, the airline said in a statement on Tuesday.
Citing security risks due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, it said the safety of its customers and crew was a top priority and that it will assess the situation before resuming flights. – Reuters
The US Embassy in Kuwait has closed until further notice while the US state department said it has ordered non-emergency US government employees and families members of government personnel to leave the country.
In an updated travel advisory for Kuwait the US state department said the government “cannot offer emergency services to US citizens in Kuwait due to the safety risks”.
The US embassy in Riyadh confirmed it had come under attack and urged Americans to avoid the building, posting on X: “Avoid the Embassy until further notice due to an attack on the facility.”
It advised all US citizens to maintain a “personal safety plan”, saying: “Crises can happen unexpectedly while travelling or living abroad.”
Drones strike US embassy in Riyadh
Early on Tuesday, two drones, apparently from Iran, struck the US embassy in Riyadh, causing minor damage and starting a fire, Saudi Arabia’s defence ministry said.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said this morning its naval forces had destroyed the main command building and headquarters of a US airbase in Bahrain.
The IRGC said in a statement that it had launched a large-scale drone and missile attack on the base in the Sheikh Isa area early in the morning, with 20 drones and three missiles striking their intended targets.
US secretary of state Marco Rubio on Monday warned that “the hardest hits are yet to come from the US military” in the offensive against Iran.
Netanyahu says US-Israel war on Iran ‘not going to take years’
Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu said he expected the war against Iran was “not going to take years”, as the conflict widened with Israel attacking Iran-backed Hizbullah targets in Lebanon and Iran hitting Gulf states that host US bases.
Netanyahu rejected the idea of the conflict lasting years, like previous wars in the region.
As the war entered its fourth day on Tuesday, explosions shook buildings across Tel Aviv as air defences intercepted incoming Iranian missiles.
Israel attacked the complex that houses Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB in Tehran and targeted Hizbullah militants in towns across Lebanon.
US orders ‘non-emergency’ staff to leave Bahrain, Jordan and Iraq
The US state department said this morning it had ordered non-emergency personnel and their families to leave Bahrain and Jordan.
The department said in a post on X that it had updated travel advisories for Bahrain and Jordan “to reflect the ordered departure of non-emergency US government personnel and family members of government personnel”.
In an updated Iraq travel advisory, the department said it had on Monday “ordered non-emergency US government employees to leave Iraq due to security concerns”, Agence France-Presse reports.
🚨 SECRETARY RUBIO: The hardest hits are yet to come. The next phase will be even more punishing on Iran than it is right now. The world will be a safer place when we are done with Operation Epic Fury. pic.twitter.com/AVQYtmUX21
— Department of State (@StateDept) March 2, 2026 Conflicting US messages about how long attacks in Iran may last
The US has sent conflicting messages about how long a war with Iran might last as Israel launched new air strikes, with the widening conflict reverberating across the Middle East and upending energy markets.
US defence secretary Pete Hegseth rejected the idea of an “endless” war with Iran. But president Donald Trump later insisted there was no fixed timeline. Both refused to rule out putting American boots on the ground.
“Whatever the time is, it’s okay – whatever it takes,” Trump said. “Right from the beginning, we projected four to five weeks. But we have capability to go far longer than that.”
Irish citizens in UAE could be bussed to Oman
Irish authorities are considering bussing citizens stranded in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to Oman before flying them home if flights from Dubai and Abu Dhabi remain heavily restricted because of the Iran conflict.
Senior officials and Ministers met in Dublin on Monday to discuss the escalating crisis in the region after a combined US-Israeli attack on Iran killed Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei and other senior regime figures.
US and Israel continue assault on Iran
Fears of a protracted and complex war deepened as missile strikes were exchanged by countries across the Gulf on Monday, pushing the Middle East into a new chapter of volatility.
The immediate consequences were evident in reports of hundreds of lives lost and thousands displaced within the region, and the more privileged fretting over spiking fuel and energy prices in Europe and the West.
At the White House in Washington on Monday, US president Donald Trump said the United States would continue attacking Iran for as long as it takes to leave it incapable of posing a threat, indicating that an expanding war in the Middle East could continue for weeks or more. Read Keith Duggan’s full report here.