In addition to striking Tehran on the fifth day of the conflict, Israel hit the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon, while Iran\u00a0fired on Bahrain, Kuwait and Israel<\/a>. As the conflict spiraled, Turkey\u2019s Defense Ministry said NATO defenses intercepted a ballistic missile launched from Iran before it entered Turkey\u2019s airspace. And an Iranian warship sank off the coast of Sri Lanka, though it was not immediately clear what happened.<\/p>\n The tempo of the strikes on Iran was so intense that state television announced the mourning ceremony for Iranian\u00a0Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei<\/a>, who was killed in the conflict, would be postponed. As fighter jets roared overhead, those in Tehran worried about whether and how to flee.<\/p>\n The war has killed more than 1,000 people in Iran and dozens in Lebanon, while disrupting the supply of the world\u2019s oil and gas, snarling international shipping, and stranding hundreds of thousands of travelers in the Middle East.<\/p>\n Both sides are unrelenting in their attacks<\/p>\n Israel said it hit buildings associated with Iran\u2019s Basij, the all-volunteer force of Iran\u2019s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard that conducted a bloody crackdown on protesters in January that killed thousands and saw tens of thousands detained in the country.<\/p>\n The Israeli military also said it hit buildings associated with Iran\u2019s internal security command, which also has suppressed demonstrations in the past. It also pounded towns near Beirut on Wednesday.<\/p>\n Israel and the U.S. have said they want to see the Iranian public overthrow the country\u2019s theocracy. Strikes against counterprotest forces likely are part of that effort.<\/p>\n Iranian state television showed the ruins of buildings in center of the capital of Tehran, with interviewees complaining the attacks damaged their homes. Strikes have also been reported in the holy Shiite seminary city of Qom, targeting a building associated with a clerical panel set to pick Iran\u2019s next supreme leader. Iranian media said it was empty at the time and their work continued.<\/p>\n State TV has begun calling the conflict the \u201cRamadan war,\u201d a reference to the holy Muslim fasting month currently taking place. But that term also suggested leaders are trying to prepare the public that the war will continue for some time.<\/p>\n Adm. Brad Cooper, the top U.S. military commander in the Middle East, echoed that sentiment, saying: \u201cWe\u2019ve just begun.\u201d<\/p>\n Cooper and American forces have damaged Iran\u2019s air defenses and taken out ballistic missiles, launchers and drones. Israeli military spokesman Brig. Gen Effie Defrin said that has led to a decline in launches from Iran.<\/p>\n Still, explosions echoed across the skies over Jerusalem on Wednesday, and Israel\u2019s military said Iran had launched missiles toward the country.<\/p>\n Iran has also struck around the region. Air sirens sounded Wednesday morning across the island kingdom of Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy\u2019s 5th Fleet.<\/p>\n Authorities said 32 people were rescued from the Iranian ship that was reported in distress off the coast of Sri Lanka. It was not immediately clear what happened to the ship or how many people were on board. The U.S. military said earlier it had already destroyed 17 Iranian vessels and that its goal was sinking \u201cthe entire navy.\u201d<\/p>\n At least 1,045 people have been killed in Iran, the country\u2019s Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs said Wednesday. Eleven people in Israel have been killed. More than 50 people have been killed in Lebanon, according to the Health Ministry.\u00a0Six U.S. troops<\/a>\u00a0have been killed.<\/p>\n A police car blocks a street leading to the U.S. consulate after an Iranian drone struck a parking lot outside the compound, sparking a small fire in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, early Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (AP Photo\/Fatima Shbair)\n<\/p>\n This satellite image provided by Vantor shows damage to Gandhi Hospital after airstrikes, in Tehran, Iran, Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (Satellite image \u00a92026 Vantor via AP)\n<\/p>\n This image provided by U.S. Central Command shows aircraft on the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) that are operating in support of the war in Iran, on Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (U.S. Navy via AP)\n<\/p>\n Andrew Coady and his daughter Keira, right, talk about his son, Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, Iowa, outside their home, Tuesday, March 3, 2026, in West Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo\/Charlie Neibergall)\n<\/p>\n Show Caption<\/p>\n 1 of 4<\/p>\n A police car blocks a street leading to the U.S. consulate after an Iranian drone struck a parking lot outside the compound, sparking a small fire in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, early Wednesday, March 4, 2026. (AP Photo\/Fatima Shbair)\n<\/p>\n Expand<\/a> A resident of Tehran, who runs a clothing shop, said he didn\u2019t know what, if anything, he could do to protect himself from the bombing.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s very difficult to decide what to do. If I leave the city, how am I supposed to earn money and survive?\u201d said the man, who spoke on condition of anonymity for the fear of reprisals.<\/p>\n \u201cI just hope the Arabs do not get involved. If they do, their missiles won\u2019t be as precise as these.\u201d<\/p>\n Energy supplies in the crosshairs<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard issued its most-intense threat yet.<\/p>\n \u201cThe continued mischief and deception by the United States in the region will come at the cost of the complete destruction of the region\u2019s military and economic infrastructure,\u201d it said in a statement issued via Iranian state television.<\/p>\n With Iran\u2019s\u00a0stranglehold on tanker movement<\/a>\u00a0through the\u00a0Strait of Hormuz<\/a>, the narrow mouth of the\u00a0Persian Gulf<\/a>\u00a0through which about a fifth of the world\u2019s oil is shipped, Brent crude prices hit $84 a barrel, up more than 15% since the start of the conflict and at its highest price since July 2024.<\/p>\n Global stock markets<\/a>\u00a0have been hammered over worries that the spike in oil prices may grind down the world economy and sap corporate profits.<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s clerics are choosing a new supreme leader<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s leaders are scrambling to replace\u00a0Khamenei<\/a>, who ruled the country for 37 years, and was killed on the first day of strikes.<\/p>\n It\u2019s only the second time since\u00a0the 1979 Islamic Revolution<\/a>\u00a0that a new supreme leader is being chosen.<\/p>\n Potential candidates range from hard-liners committed to confrontation with the West to reformists who seek diplomatic engagement.\u00a0Mojtaba Khamenei<\/a>, Khamenei\u2019s son, has long been considered among them \u2014 despite the fact he\u2019s has never been elected or appointed to a government position.<\/p>\n In a sign that Iran\u2019s leadership will only seek to consolidate its power after it faced its biggest challenge in decades in recent nationwide protests, the head of the judiciary warned Wednesday that \u201cthose who cooperate with the enemy in any way will be considered an enemy.\u201d<\/p>\n Israel\u2019s defense minister, meanwhile, threatened whoever Iran picks to be the country\u2019s next supreme leader.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery leader appointed by the Iranian terror regime to continue and lead the plan to destroy Israel, to threaten the United States and the free world and the countries of the region, and to suppress the Iranian people \u2014 will be a target for elimination,\u201d Israel Katz wrote on X.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not clear how Washington will respond if a new leader in the mold of Khamenei is chosen. U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday that the \u201cworst case would be do this, and then somebody takes over who\u2019s as bad as the previous person.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Emirates_Iran_US_Israel_25143.jpg\"\/)
<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Iran_37278.jpg?w=620\")
<\/p>\n![\"Aircraft](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Iran_US_Israel_18928_c575ed.jpg?w=620\")
<\/p>\n![\"Andrew](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/APTOPIX_Iran_US_Military_Deaths_44443.jpg?w=620\")
<\/p>\n
\nThose in Tehran are unsure of what to do<\/p>\n