The IDF said earlier that it was attacking Lebanon and Iran<\/a> \u201csimultaneously\u201d.<\/p>\n Updated at\u00a009.23 EST<\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n Show key events only<\/p>\n Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature<\/p>\n The war in the Middle East triggered by the joint US and Israeli attack on Iran expanded dramatically on Monday, with casualties and destruction reported across at least nine countries in under 10 hours.<\/p>\n Israeli and US warplanes launched a fresh wave of strikes across Iran, where the Iranian Red Crescent Society said more than 500 people have been killed since the conflict began. Israel also launched an intense wave of attacks into Lebanon after Hezbollah struck at northern Israel<\/a> in retaliation for the Israeli strike on Saturday that killed Iran\u2019s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.<\/p>\n Iranian attacks were reported on oil infrastructure and other targets across a 2,000km swathe of the region \u2013 with damage inflicted from the Gulf of Oman, where a bomb-carrying drone boat exploded against an oil tanker, to Cyprus, targeting a British military base<\/a>.<\/p>\n The US military said Kuwait\u2019s air defences had mistakenly shot down three American F-15E fighters<\/a> during an Iranian attack. All six crew members were safely recovered. Video showed one of the planes spiralling out of the sky, an engine lit up in flames, until it hit the ground and exploded in a fireball.<\/p>\n Share<\/a> Fears that Cyprus is now the target of sustained attack by Iran<\/a> appear to have been reinforced by statements made by Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp.<\/p>\n General Sardar Jabbari has been quoted this afternoon as saying: \u201cThe Americans have relocated most of their fighter jets to Cyprus. We will launch attacks on Cyprus until the Americans are forced to leave it too.\u201d<\/p>\n Media in Greece, where the threat has made headlines, reported that the country\u2019s defence minister Nikos Dendias with the commander in chief of the armed forces, Dimitris Choupis will be flying to Cyprus on Tuesday to coordinate defence efforts.<\/p>\n Athens has announced the deployment of two state-of-the-art frigates and two F-16 fighter jets following the overnight drone strikes against RAF Akrotiri on the island.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a011.10 EST<\/p>\n Meanwhile, the UK prime minister Keir Starmer addresed Parliament on Monday afternoon to defend his decision to not get involved with the initial US-Israeli strikes on Iran.<\/p>\n \u201cWe believe that the best way forward for the region and for the world is a negotiated settlement in which Iran<\/a> agrees to give up any aspirations to develop a nuclear weapon and ceases its destabilising activity across the region,\u201d he said, adding that this was the \u201clongstanding position of successive British governments.\u201d<\/p>\n Starmer continued: \u201cPresident Trump has expressed his disagreement with our decision not to get involved in the initial strikes. \u201cBut it is my duty to judge what is in Britain\u2019s national interest. That is what I\u2019ve done and I stand by it.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Trump on Iran strikes: ‘The big wave hasn\u2019t even happened’ In an interview with CNN,<\/a> Donald Trump said that the \u201cbig wave\u201d of strikes against Iran is yet to come.<\/p>\n \u201cWe haven\u2019t even started hitting them hard,\u201d the US president said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re knocking the crap out of them,\u201d Trump told CNN\u2019s Jake Tapper during a nine-minute phone interview. \u201cI think it\u2019s going very well. It\u2019s very powerful. We\u2019ve got the greatest military in the world and we\u2019re using it.\u201d<\/p>\n When asked about the length of the war, Trump said he didn\u2019t \u201cwant to see it go on too long\u201d. Earlier, his defense secretary Pete Hegseth was belligerent with reporters, and insisted that he would not put a timeframe on the conflict.<\/p>\n \u201cI always thought it would be four weeks,\u201d Trump told CNN, \u201cAnd we\u2019re a little ahead of schedule.\u201d<\/p>\n My US-based colleague is follwing the latest lines on Iran from Donald Trump, Pete Hegseth and the Washington corridors over in the US politics live blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a011.09 EST<\/p>\n Spain has denied the US permission to use jointly operated military bases on its territory to attack Iran as Madrid stepped up its criticism of the \u201cunjustified and dangerous military intervention\u201d.<\/p>\n Spain\u2019s socialist prime minister, Pedro S\u00e1nchez, has explicitly condemned the US and Israel\u2019s \u201cunilateral military action\u201d<\/a> against Iran, warning that it is contributing to \u201ca more hostile and uncertain international order\u201d. The rebukes have been reinforced by his government\u2019s refusal to allow the US to use bases in Rota and Mor\u00f3n for the continuing strikes against Iran.<\/p>\n Jos\u00e9 Manuel Albares, Spain\u2019s foreign minister, said on Monday that while the government wanted \u201cdemocracy, freedom and fundamental rights for the Iranian people\u201d, it would on no account allow its bases to be used in the ongoing military action.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Footage circulating on social media appears to show a military aircraft falling from the sky in Kuwait.<\/p>\n US Central Command (Centcom) said on Monday that three US F-15 fighter jets flying in Iran-related operations had mistakenly been shot down by Kuwait air defences and that the cause of the incident was under investigation.<\/p>\n The US and Israel<\/a> launched a large-scale attack on Iran on Saturday, killing several top Iranian leaders including the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei<\/p>\n Dubai Airports said \u201climited\u201d flights would resume on Monday evening, three days after they were cancelled as Iran<\/a> began striking targets in the Gulf, including Dubai and Abu Dhabi airports.<\/p>\n \u201cDubai Airports announces a limited resumption of flights from Dubai International Airport (DXB) and Dubai World Central – Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC) starting this evening, Monday, March 2, 2026,\u201d it said in a statement.<\/p>\n Emirates and low-cost carrier flydubai both said they would resume some flights Monday evening.<\/p>\n Etihad Airways, which operates flights from Abu Dhabi, said it would resume flights on Tuesday.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Lebanon\u2019s government has decided on an \u201cimmediate ban\u201d of Iran-backed Hezbollah\u2019s military and security activity, prime minister Nawaf Salam said Monday, in an unprecedented move as Israel<\/a> retaliated to rocket fire.<\/p>\n Hezbollah is represented in both the government and parliament and the move came hours after the party announced it had launched rockets and drones towards Israel early Monday, to avenge the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli attacks Saturday.<\/p>\n Israel began bombarding Beirut\u2019s southern suburbs and dozens of villages in south Lebanon, vowing to make the group pay a \u201cheavy price\u201d and killing at least 31 people and wounding at least 149 according to the Lebanese health ministry.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Unidentified projectiles hit an oil tanker at a Bahrain port on Monday, causing a fire that was extinguished, local authorities said, with the ship\u2019s owner reporting that one crew member was killed.<\/p>\n \u201cUS-flagged tanker Stena Imperative was struck by two unknown projectiles in the Port of Bahrain at 02:57 UTC (0257 GMT),\u201d private maritime security company Vanguard Tech said in a statement.<\/p>\n It added that \u201call crew members are safe and have evacuated the vessel.\u201d<\/p>\n The vessel\u2019s Swedish owner, Stena Bulk, also told AFP that \u201cmariners have reported no injuries and a damage assessment is being conducted.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"Iranian](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/5685.jpg\")
Iranian security forces stand guard next to the huge billboard of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei at Valiasr Square in Tehran, Iran. Photograph: Abedin Taherkenareh\/EPA![\"Explosions](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/5760.jpg\")
Explosions heard in Tehran as new strikes hit Iranian capital. Photograph: Fatemeh Bahrami\/Anadolu\/Getty Images![\"Debris](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/8640.jpg\")
Debris is seen in a room of Tehran\u2019s Gandhi hospital, which was damaged when a strike hit a state TV communications tower and nearby buildings across the street, during the ongoing joint US-Israeli war on Iran. Photograph: Vahid Salemi\/APShare<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Helena](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1772467930_369_helena.jpg\")
Helena Smith<\/p>\n![\"Shrai](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Shrai_Popat.png\")
Shrai Popat<\/p>\n![\"Sam](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Sam_Jones.png\")
Sam Jones<\/p>\n![\"Footage](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/5500.jpg\")
Footage shows military jet plummeting from the sky in Kuwait \u2013\u00a0videoShare<\/a><\/p>\n