By The Associated Press undefined
On one of the holiest days on the Islamic calendar, Iran fired on Israel and energy sites in neighboring Gulf Arab states, insisting that it can still build missiles and issuing a new threat: to deny safety to its enemies in “parks, recreational areas and tourist destinations” worldwide. Israel meanwhile pounded Tehran with airstrikes as Iranians marked Nowruz, the Persian New Year.
The U.S. military is deploying three more warships and roughly 2,500 more marines to the Middle East, where there’s no end to the war in sight despite three weeks of U.S. and Israeli air strikes that have decimated Iran’s military and leadership. The Pentagon’s request for another $200 billion to fund the war would need congressional approval as the U.S. national debt hits a record $39 trillion.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel will stop attacking the gas field that Iranians depend on for most of their electricity at the request of U.S. President Donald Trump. Iran responded to Israel’s attack on the field by intensifying targeting of energy infrastructure in other Middle East countries, sending oil and gas prices soaring.
The death toll has risen to more than 1,300 people in Iran, more than 1,000 people in Lebanon, 15 in Israel and 13 U.S. military members in the region. Millions of people in Lebanon and Iran have been displaced.
Here is the latest:
UK to allow US to use bases against Iran attacks in Strait of Hormuz
British ministers have agreed to allow the U.S. military to use the U.K.’s bases in operations to prevent Iran attacking ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
In a statement, No. 10 Downing Street said ministers met Friday afternoon and “confirmed that the agreement for the U.S. to use U.K. bases in the collective self-defence of the region includes U.S. defensive operations to degrade the missile sites and capabilities being used to attack ships in the Strait of Hormuz.”
The statement follows President Donald Trump’s labelling of NATO partners as “cowards” for not directly joining operations to secure the Strait of Hormuz.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer allowed the U.S. to use U.K. bases in the region for defensive operations a few days after the start of the war on Feb. 28, when Iran started launching missiles and drones around the Middle East, notably those on the other side of the Persian Gulf.
Under that agreement, U.S. armed forces could use the bases to target Iran’s missiles and missile facilities.
232 service members injured in Iran war so far, U.S. military says
Capt. Tim Hawkins, the spokesman for U.S. Central Command, told The Associated Press that 232 service members have been injured in the Middle East.
That’s 30 more than a previous military tally of roughly 200 from Monday.
Hawkins said 207 of the 232 injured have already returned to duty. The number of service members that are considered seriously wounded has remained at 10.
Since the war in Iran began, 13 U.S. service members have been killed.
Lebanon death toll reaches 1,021 and millions in Iran seek refuge
Lebanon’s Health Ministry said Friday that 20 deaths were reported over the past 24 hours, and that 57 more people were wounded raising the total injured to 2,641.
Israel renewed its offensive in Lebanon after Iran-backed Hezbollah fired rockets into northern Israel, two days after the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran triggered the widening war. Israel has since ordered evacuations from large parts of Lebanon, displacing more than 1 million people.
The U.N. refugee agency said last week that more than 3.2 million people inside Iran have been displaced as U.S. and Israeli airstrikes target Tehran and other major cities. And on Thursday, the U.N. migration agency said more than 80,000 people had fled to neighboring countries, mostly Afghanistan.
Israel strikes Iran’s feared Basij from commanders down to street level, but its grip remains strong
Iran threatened recreational and tourist sites worldwide, insisted it was still building missiles and its supreme leader issued another defiant statement on Friday. The United States was deploying more warships and another 2,500 Marines three weeks into the war it launched alongside Israel.
Iran fired on Israel and energy sites in neighboring Gulf Arab states as many in the region marked one of the holiest days on the Muslim calendar. Iranians were also celebrating the Persian New Year, known as Nowruz, a normally festive holiday that is more subdued this year.
With little information coming out of Iran, it was not clear how much damage its arms, nuclear or energy facilities have sustained in the punishing U.S. and Israeli strikes that began Feb. 28 — or even who was truly in charge of the country. But Iran’s attacks are still choking off oil supplies and denting the global economy, raising food and fuel prices far beyond the Middle East.
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A look at celebrations for Eid al-Fitr around the world, in photos
From prayers amid the rubble of Gaza to the great mosques of Istanbul, Muslims around the world are celebrating the holiday of Eid al-Fitr as they bid farewell to the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
Eid is typically greeted with joy and excitement and is marked with prayers and festivities that include family visits, gatherings, outings and new clothes. Prayers and celebrations are being held across Muslim countries like Egypt, and by Muslims in Greece, Russia and further afield.
This year Eid is also being marked with war raging in Iran and many parts of the Middle East.
This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.
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Iranian diaspora marks Nowruz with heavy hearts as war cuts contact with loved ones
When Iran erupted in nationwide protests at the end of 2025, Shayan Ghadimi’s mother returned to the country from Paris to see the uprising for herself.
Her absence — and the struggle to stay in touch through the bloody crackdown that followed and now the Iran war — hang over the family. Like many Iranians outside the country, they will mark the normally festive Persian new year, known as Nowruz, with heavy hearts — or not at all.
Ghadimi’s 70-year-old mother had watched the early protests on TV. “We could see the market closed, the people in the street. She said, ‘I want to be there,'” Ghadimi, 41, said as she prepared to serve lunches in the spice-scented restaurant she runs in Paris.
“Now, she is all alone at home, with no way to stay in contact, watching the sky. I cannot imagine the state she is in,” Ghadimi said.
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UK denies Iran’s claim of aggression
Britain’s top diplomat says the U.K. is involved only in defensive action, after Iran’s foreign minister said the U.S. use of British bases to attack Iran amounted to “participation in aggression.”
The British government says Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper told Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi that “the defensive U.K. operations in the region were a response to the Iranian aggression against Gulf partners.”
In a call on Thursday she warned Iran against targeting British bases, territory or interests directly, and made clear that the U.K. wants to see a swift resolution.
Energy fallout from Iran war signals a global wake-up call for renewable energy
The war in Iran is exposing the world’s reliance on fragile fossil fuel routes, lending urgency to calls for hastening the shift to renewable energy.
Fighting has all but halted oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that carries about a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas, or LNG. The disruption has jolted energy markets, pushing up prices and straining import-dependent economies.
Asia, where most of the oil was headed, has been hit hardest, but the disruptions also are a strain for Europe, where policymakers are looking for ways to cut energy demand, and for Africa, which is bracing for rising fuel costs and inflation.
Unlike during previous oil shocks, renewable power is now competitive with fossil fuels in many places. More than 90% of new renewable power projects worldwide in 2024 were cheaper than fossil-fuel alternatives, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency.
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A look at who holds the reins of power in Iran since the country’s top leaders were killed
One after another, Israel has taken out Iran’s top leaders.
First it was Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, killed in the opening shots of the war. Now Ali Larijani, the secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council who was considered one of the most powerful figures in the country, has also been killed. As have a raft of other top-ranking military and political leaders.
With so many top leadership figures taken out, who is now running Iran? Here is a look at the country’s power structure, what is known — and what is not.
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Satellite images begin to show damage wrought by Iran war
The images are providing a glimpse of the toll of the Iran war, with ships ablaze in an Iranian port and destroyed buildings at an American base.
Information about the damage being done across the Middle East, particularly when it’s inside military bases, has been scarce. These images come from Planet Labs PBC. The San Francisco-based firm is releasing them with two-week delays.
Some show ships ablaze on March 2 in a major Iranian military port in Bandar Abbas, along the Strait of Hormuz. U.S. Central Command says it has sunk or damaged more than 100 Iranian vessels so far.
More images, from March 6, show damage to buildings at the Parchin military base outside Iran’s capital. Israel’s military said its Parchin strikes hit “infrastructure used for the production of essential components for the development of various weapons.” The site has been linked to Iran’s ballistic missile program as well.
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Report: Israeli troops infiltrating into Lebanon close to the Mediterranean coast
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said Friday that an Israeli force is trying to push into the Lebanese border area of Labbouneh near the coastal town of Naqoura.
The agency said the advancing Israeli force is being confronted by Hezbollah fighters.
Georgia suspends gas taxes. Other US states may not
Georgia has become the the first U.S. state to suspend fuel taxes as pump prices soar due to war in the Middle East. The average gas price nationwide has risen from $2.93 a gallon on Feb. 20 to $3.91 today, motorist group AAA says.
Republican Gov. Brian Kemp signed into law Friday a 60-day suspension of the state’s 33-cents-per-gallon tax on gas and 37-cents-per-gallon tax on diesel.
That’s $5 or $6 per tank for a typical passenger vehicle, and could mean forgoing $360 million to $400 million fuel taxes.
Other states aren’t moving in the same direction. Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday he won’t suspend that state’s taxes. A leading Maryland Democrat on Friday rejected a GOP-supported gas tax holiday there.
Kuwait’s military says it shot down ballistic missile
Defense Ministry spokesman Col. Saud al-Atwan said that the country’s air defenses also shot down 15 of 25 more drones fired into Kuwait.
Two of the drones exploded in an oil refinery, igniting a fire that was later extinguished, and there were no casualties, Al-Atwan said.
Al-Atwan said eight other drones exploded in open areas without causing any danger.
He said the missile and the drones were fired into Kuwait over the past 24 hours.
More on shrapnel damage to Jerusalem’s old city
Israeli Police officers scaled the ramparts of Jerusalem’s Old City to inspect a public playground for missile fragments. The playground was just below the site where debris from an intercepted Iranian missile careened onto the walled city’s southern flank.
The debris landed Friday in the Jewish quarter, less than 500 meters from The Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray, and Al Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site in Islam. It struck just above Dung Gate, one of seven functional entrances into the Old City.
It came as residents were entering Shabbat, disrupting preparations with a loud bang. After the hit, soldiers swatted away crowds of ultra-Orthodox children craning their necks to see the damage.
Up a limestone passageway, an Armenian man quietly swept up shards of glass blown out from his window.
Trump says top officials are in the Situation Room as Iran conflict continues
The president mentioned the war as he presented the Commander in Chief trophy to the Navy football team for beating Army during their 2025 game. Without providing details, he said “We’re doing extremely well.”
Trump said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, weren’t at the ceremony because they were in the White House Situation Room.
As the event unfolded, an official told The Associated Press that the U.S. was deploying three more warships, consisting of roughly 2,500 more Marines, to the Middle East, as the war in Iran continues.
Concluding his remarks, Trump said he’d lead the team on a tour of the Oval Office.
Turkish president condemns Israel’s closure on Friday of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem
“Using the war with Iran as a pretext, they closed our first Qibla, the Al-Aqsa Mosque, to worship,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, speaking to citizens during an Eid al Fitr celebration in the northeastern city of Rize.
“They have accelerated their illegal settlement activities and expansionist policies in the West Bank and in Palestinian territories they occupied,” he said. “Terror by Netanyahu continues to threaten regional and global peace. The Iran-centered attacks launched on February 28th, with provocations by Netanyahu, have further deepened instability in our region.”
Syria condemns Israeli strikes on Syrian military
Syria’s foreign ministry condemned strikes launched Friday by Israel on military infrastructure in southern Syria. Israel had said it was acting to protect members of the Druze minority after attacks by government forces.
The foreign ministry said Israel was acting on “flimsy pretexts and fabricated excuses” in a “continuation of its policy of interference in internal affairs with the aim of destabilizing security and stability in the region.” No casualties were reported from the strikes.
In recent days, there have been scattered clashes between Druze groups in Sweida province and Syrian government forces. Last year, armed groups affiliated with Druze leader Sheikh Hikmat al-Hijri clashed with local Bedouin clans, spurring intervention by government forces, which effectively sided with the Bedouins. Hundreds of civilians, mostly Druze, were killed, many by government fighters.
Since then, a group of the militias banded together under al-Hijri, creating a de facto autonomous area in large swaths of the province, with backing from Israel.
Naval expert says reopening Strait of Hormuz a tall order
A British naval expert says it’s “fanciful” to try to reopen the Strait of Hormuz while fighting still rages.
Trump has criticized other countries for failing to send naval ships to unblock the key oil route, which has been effectively shut by Iran. But Retired Royal Navy Commodore Steve Prest said Friday that “the idea that you could force the strait, even with significant warships and firepower, against a determined enemy … is fanciful.”
Prest, an associate fellow at defense think-tank RUSI, said it’s necessary to degrade Iran’s ability to use missiles, drones, attack craft and mines “to bring the risks down to a tolerable level, even before you start sending warships through the strait.”
To restore shipping, “you have to come to a ceasefire. The fighting has to stop and then you can create the necessary conditions of security,” he said.
NATO pulls its security advisory mission out of Iraq
NATO has pulled its security advisory mission out of Iraq and relocated several hundred personnel involved in the effort to Europe. The move came after a series of attacks from Iran on other troops at British, French and Italian bases in northern Iraq.
NATO’s top commander, Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, confirmed that the last troops left on Friday. He thanked the government of Iraq and allies who helped to safely relocate them, as well as the troops involved, calling them “true professionals.”
The non-combat mission was launched in 2018 to advise Iraq’s national security chief, ministries of defense and interior, and police on how to develop and build effective institutions and forces. It has worked mostly around Baghdad.
The mission will now be run from NATO’s headquarters in Naples, Italy.
Missile fragments hit near revered holy sites in Jerusalem
A strike hit near Jerusalem’s Old City on Friday, close to the hilltop compound home to religious sites revered by Jews and Muslims, marking the danger facing holy sites.
Israel’s military said it was Iranian missile fragments that smashed into a gate on a path toward the Western Wall and the Dome of the Rock compound, less than 500 meters away.
The wall and hilltop compound is where Jews believe the ancient biblical temples once stood and Muslims believe Muhammad ascended to heaven. Shrapnel also fell nearby on Monday.
White House official says Trump has no plans to send troops into Iran, despite new deployment
Asked about Trump’s plans for the additional troops, and reports that the administration is considering plans to occupy or blockade Kharg Island, a White House official said that Trump has said he has “no plans” to send troops into Iran, but retains all options and does not broadcast his military strategy.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media, said the U.S. military could “take out Kharg Island at any time.”
Khamenei praises Iranian people, says killing top leaders won’t topple government
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei praised Iranians’ steadfastness in the face of war, saying that U.S. and Israeli attacks were based on an illusion that by killing top leaders they could cause the overthrow of the government.
Khamenei’s written statement marking the Persian New Year, Nowruz, was read on Iranian television.
He commended Iranians for “building a nationwide defensive front and strongholds across cities, neighborhoods, and mosques, delivering such a bewildering blow that the enemy fell into contradictions and irrational statements.”
Khamenei has not been seen in public since he became supreme leader following the assassination of his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, at the start of the war.
Political tug of war over Iranian women’s soccer team prompts criticism in Australia
The United States and Australia’s political tug of war against Iran over the fates of seven members of the Iranian women’s soccer squad appears to have ended with the depleted team returning home, minus the two players who defected last week.
Critics now say politics trumped concern for the women’s best interests as the drama played out. The evidence is that of seven Iranian women who initially accepted asylum in Australia, five changed their minds within days and returned to the team for reasons undisclosed. Iranian media showed them wearing head coverings as they signed soccer balls Thursday during a welcome home ceremony in Tehran.
“We ended up with an outcome that is certainly far from ideal,” said Graham Thom, advocacy coordinator for the Refugee Council of Australia, a nonprofit umbrella organization representing asylum-seekers. “Hopefully the two who are remaining get the protection they need, but we just hope that those who have returned are also safe.”
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Lebanon’s Hezbollah denies it has a network in the United Arab Emirates
Hezbollah’s statement on Friday came a day after authorities in the oil-rich country said they dismantled a “terrorist network” working undercover. UAE state media reported that authorities detained members of an Iran-backed network involved in money laundering and financing terrorism.
Hezbollah called the allegations a “baseless” attempt to harm its image, and said it has no presence in the Emirates.
Earlier Friday, Lebanon’s Foreign Ministry condemned “the terrorist plot targeting the United Arab Emirates.” The statement noted that the Lebanese government declared on March 2 that all military and security activities by Hezbollah are illegal.
Ukraine is using its drone expertise to help Middle East countries against Iran
Ukrainian officials are helping five Middle Eastern and Gulf countries counter attacks by Iranian drones, while the United States and European countries have requested support, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday.
Ukraine is also looking into whether it can have a role in restoring security in the Strait of Hormuz amid the Iran war, he said.
Ukraine has become a leading producer of cutting-edge, battle-tested drone interceptors that are cheap and effective in defending against Russia’s full-scale invasion. A Ukrainian official said Ukrainian military specialists are operating in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Jordan.
“Our teams are already working with five countries on countering (Iran’s) ‘Shahed’ drones — we have provided expert assessments and are helping build a defense system,” Zelenskyy said on X.
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