Iran has launched a massive, multi-front retaliatory campaign targeting at least six nations across the Middle East. Israel-Iran War LIVE Updates: Italian defense minister Guido Crosetto was stuck in Dubai with his family on Saturday as flights were suspended after US and Israeli attacks on Iran, a source close to the ministry told Reuters.
The minister left Rome on Friday evening aboard a civilian flight to join his family, already in Dubai on holiday. He was scheduled to return to Italy on Friday 28 afternoon. The Italian carrier ITA Airways said it had suspended flights to and from Dubai until March 1.
Israel said that over 200 fighters jets participated in the attacks on Iran. The attack struck some 500 targets that included air defenses and missile launchers.The Israeli military said it was the largest “military flyover” in its air force’s history.
Israel’s energy ministry has directed a temporary shutdown of sections of the country’s natural gas infrastructure as Iran steps up retaliation following the US-Israeli strikes.
Dubai has suspended all flight operations at Dubai International Airport until further notice, reported Reuters quoting the Dubai Media Office.
The Ministry of Transport (@MOTQatar) has called on all individual and corporate owners of marine vessels to temporarily suspend maritime navigation as part of precautionary measures implemented by Qatar, in light of recent regional developments.
Israeli officials told media that top Iranian regime and military leaders, including Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and president Masoud Pezeshkian, were targeted in the attacks.
Israel-Iran War LIVE Updates: The leader of the Houthi rebels in Yemen says they’re ready for “any necessary development” following U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran and Tehran’s counter attacks against Israel and US interests in the region.
In a pre-recorded speech, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi said the rebels “will take action in various activities” in solidarity with Iran. He didn’t elaborate further details. “The Islamic Republic is waging the battle of the entire Islamic nation against American-Israeli-Zionist tyranny,” he said.
Israel-Iran War LIVE Updates: French President Emmanuel Macron said France was “neither warned nor involved” in the US and Israeli strikes on Iran. Macron spoke as he chaired an emergency security meeting in the presidential palace Saturday evening.
He called for intensified efforts for a negotiated solution, saying “no one can think that the questions of Iran’s nuclear program, ballistic activity, regional destabilization will be settled by strikes alone.”
Israel-Iran War LIVE Updates: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday held separate phone conversations with Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi and his Israeli counterpart Gideon Sa'ar as the Middle East reeled under massive tension following a joint US-Israel military offensive against Iran.
Jaishankar conveyed to Araghchi India's deep concern over the developments in Iran and the region.
Israel-Iran War LIVE Updates: Exporters recalled that tensions in the Middle East following the Israel-Hamas war in 2024 had already disrupted shipments via the Red Sea route, forcing carriers to opt for longer voyages. The crisis had intensified on October 19, 2023, when Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen began attacking civilian cargo vessels near the Yemeni coast.
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Israel-Iran War LIVE Updates: The 27-nation bloc will hold an emergency security meeting on Monday over the conflict in the Middle East, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said. “For regional security and stability, it is of the utmost importance that there is no further escalation through Iran’s unjustified attacks on partners in the region,” she said in a social media post.
Israel-Iran War LIVE Updates: Morocco, one of four countries to normalize ties with Israel in 2020 under the Trump-brokered Abraham Accords, has joined other Arab nations in condemning Iran for striking Gulf states. The North African kingdom’s foreign ministry said in a statement that it decried “the abject Iranian missile attack that violated the integrity and security of brotherly Arab states.”
Israel-Iran War LIVE Updates: The confirmation follows widespread speculation online after viral videos claimed that Fairmont The Palm on Palm Jumeirah had been hit during Iran’s strikes on US targets in the Middle East. Residents across Dubai reported hearing loud explosions, and footage shared on social media showed smoke rising from the vicinity of the luxury hotel.
Israel-Iran War LIVE Updates: Pakistan has condemned Israeli and US attacks on Iran and also denounced Iranian strikes against Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
The Pakistani foreign ministry said in a statement that the attacks on Iran came “at a time when diplomatic efforts were underway to reach a peaceful and negotiated solution” and warned that such actions could undermine regional peace and stability with far-reaching consequences. The ministry also condemned the death of a Pakistani national in the UAE during the attacks.
Israel-Iran War LIVE Updates: Kuwait’s civil aviation authority says a drone has targeted the capital’s main international airport and wounded several employees and caused material damage.
Abdullah Rajhi, spokesman of the civil aviation authority, says the damage is being assessed and repair work is ongoing. He says that emergency measures are being taken, adding that the situation is under control.
Israel-Iran War LIVE Updates: The UN Security Council called an emergency meeting after the US and Israeli attacks on Iran and retaliatory strikes by Tehran.
The emergency session was requested by the permanent missions of France, Bahrain, China, Russia and Colombia, according to a statement by the permanent mission of Russia to the UN.
The session, due to start at 4pm local time (9pm GMT), will address “the situation in the Middle East”, the UN said.
Israel-Iran War LIVE Updates: Iran holds the world’s third-largest proven oil reserves, estimated at 208-209 billion barrels as of 2024-25. That accounts for roughly 12% of global reserves and nearly a quarter of the Middle East’s total. Despite years of sanctions and constrained foreign investment, the country remains a pivotal supplier in a tightly balanced oil market.
Sanctions have curbed its ability to sell freely, yet Iran continues to export an estimated 1.3 to 1.5 million bpd of crude, with the majority heading to China. In 2023, its net oil export revenues were estimated at $53 billion, up from $37 billion in 2021.
Israel-Iran War LIVE Updates: Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi has spoken by phone with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman following an Iranian attack in Saudi Arabia. El-Sissi expressed solidarity with Saudi Arabia, and stressed the importance of intensifying efforts to “contain the escalation” in the region. “Continued military escalation will only bring more suffering to the people of the region and undermine development opportunities,” el-Sissi said.
Israel-Iran War LIVE Updates: Abbas Araghchi, the Iranian foreign minister, told NBC News that Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and president Masoud Pezeshkian were still alive “as far as I know”.
“All high ranking officials are alive,” he said. “So everybody is now in its position, and we are handling this situation, and everything is fine.”
Israel-Iran War LIVE Updates: Iran's Defence Minister Amir Nasirzadeh and Revolutionary Guards commander Mohammed Pakpour are believed to have been killed in Israeli strikes, according to two sources familiar with Israel's military operations and one regional source. - Reuters
Israel-Iran War LIVE Updates: An image dated February 28 shows black smoke rising from the compound. Visible structural damage suggests that several buildings within the complex were hit in what have been described as joint US-Israeli attacks.
CNN said it confirmed the location of the strikes on the compound by comparing the satellite imagery with other videos of strikes in the area and triangulating their positions.
Israel-Iran War LIVE Updates: Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has voiced support for the United States’ efforts to stop Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon and to curb actions he says threaten international peace and security.
He said Canada’s position is clear that “the Islamic Republic of Iran is the principal source of instability and terror throughout the Middle East.” Carney also urged Canadians in Iran to shelter in place after the country was struck this morning by the United States and Israel.
Israel-Iran War LIVE Updates: Israel’s energy ministry has directed a temporary shutdown of sections of the country’s natural gas infrastructure as Iran steps up retaliation following the US-Israeli strikes. The offshore Leviathan gas field, operated by Chevron, has been shut, three sources told Reuters. Energean also said in a statement that its production vessel, which services several Israeli gas fields, has been taken offline.
Israel-Iran War LIVE Updates: Iran's Energy Minister Eli Cohen has ordered a "temporary suspension" of operations at some natural gas wells in the Mediterranean Sea, saying alternative fossil fuels will be used to maintain power supply. Previously, during the early days of the Gaza war in October 2023, the Tamar gas platform was temporarily closed, and during the June conflict with Iran, Israel's Leviathan and Karish gas platforms also paused operations.
Israel-Iran War LIVE Updates: Russia’s Foreign Ministry on February 28 denounced the recent U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran, calling them “a pre-planned and unprovoked act of armed aggression against a sovereign and independent UN member state.” The ministry urged an immediate cessation of military operations and a renewed push for diplomatic engagement.
In a statement shared on Telegram, Moscow accused Washington and Tel Aviv of “hiding behind” concerns over Iran’s nuclear programme, alleging that their real objective was regime change.
It further cautioned that the strikes could spark a “humanitarian, economic and possibly radiological catastrophe” across the region, and charged the U.S. and Israel with “plunging the Middle East into an abyss of uncontrolled escalation.”
Israel-Iran War LIVE Updates: In a lengthy statement posted on X, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the country “stands with the brave people of Iran in their struggle against oppression.” He described Iran’s current leadership is a destabilizing force, and he noted two attacks on Australian soil that were blamed on the country.
Australia in August cut off diplomatic relations with Iran and expelled its ambassador after accusing it of orchestrating two antisemitic attacks in the country.
