CIA spent months tracking Iranian leaders ahead of attack
Israeli and American authorities spent weeks tracking the movements of senior Iranian leaders, including Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, sharing information that allowed the strikes to be carried out in a surprise daylight attack, according to an Israeli military official and a person familiar with the operation.
The official insisted on anonymity to more fully detail the attack, but said that a variety of factors created a golden opportunity to take out much of Iran’s leadership, including weeks of training and monitoring the movements of senior figures, as well as real-time intelligence before the attack began indicating that key targets were gathered together.
Before the attacks, the CIA had for months tracked the movements of senior Iranian leaders, including the country’s supreme leader.
The intelligence was shared with Israeli officials, and the timing of the strikes was adjusted in part because of that information about the Iranian leaders’ location.
UAE closes Tehran embassy after deadly Gulf strikes
The United Arab Emirates said on Sunday it was closing its embassy in Tehran and recalling the Emirati ambassador after Iran’s retaliatory missile and drone campaign in the Gulf killed four people and wounded dozens more.
The move marks the strongest condemnation yet by a Gulf state since Tehran began targeting the region with a barrage of strikes after the United States and Israel launched a massive air campaign against Iran that killed its supreme leader and other top officials.
“These hostile attacks against civilian sites, including residential areas, airports, ports and service facilities, endangered innocent civilians in a serious and irresponsible escalation,” the UAE foreign ministry said in a statement.
Gulf states vow collective defence after Iranian strikes
Gulf states vowed to defend themselves against Iranian attacks, including by “responding to the aggression” if need be, after the Gulf Cooperation Council convened via video link on Sunday to formulate a unified response.
The foreign ministers of the six GCC states – the UAE, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait, all of which have experienced Iranian strikes – “reviewed the extensive damage resulting from the treacherous Iranian attacks” and discussed steps for restoring stability in the region.
Gulf countries “will take all necessary measures to defend their security and stability and to protect their territories, citizens and residents, including the option of responding to the aggression”, a statement released after the meeting said.
It also called for the “immediate cessation of these attacks”, adding that the stability of the Gulf region “is not merely a regional concern but a fundamental pillar of global economic stability”.
Switzerland urges diplomacy after Gulf strikes
Switzerland urged a return to diplomacy as Tehran launched retaliatory strikes across the Gulf on Sunday – three days after mediated talks in Geneva between the United States and Iran.
Swiss President Guy Parmelin said on X that “all parties must protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, de-escalate immediately and return to diplomacy”.
EU naval mission Aspides for Red Sea and Gulf to be reinforced, EU’s Kallas says
The EU’s naval mission Aspides for the Red Sea, Gulf and Indian Ocean will be reinforced with additional ships, the bloc’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said.
“Our naval mission, Aspides, has seen a sharp rise in protection requests, and we will reinforce it with additional ships to bolster maritime security in the region,” Kallas said in a statement after a video conference with European foreign ministers, adding that she also plans to convene a meeting with Gulf countries.
Trump tells Iranians to rise up, ‘America is with you’
US President Donald Trump urged Iranians to rise up to topple the Islamic republic a day after a joint US-Israeli attack killed the supreme leader.
“I call upon all Iranian patriots who yearn for freedom to seize this moment to be brave, be bold, be heroic, and take back your country. America is with you,” Trump said in a video address.
Trump vows to avenge US military deaths, warns more likely
US President Donald Trump vowed to avenge the deaths of three US troops in a war he launched on Iran as he acknowledged more casualties were likely.
“Sadly, there will likely be more before it ends,” Trump said in a video address. “But America will avenge their deaths and deliver the most punishing blow to the terrorists who have waged war against, basically, civilization.”
EU reinforces Red Sea naval mission with two French ships
The EU is to reinforce its naval mission in the Red Sea with additional vessels as Iran’s retaliation to US-Israeli strikes threatens maritime traffic, a European diplomat said.
Two new French ships will join the EU’s Aspides mission, bringing to five the number of warships taking part, the diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity, after foreign ministers from the bloc’s 27 nations held talks on Iran.
Trump tells Iran’s Revolutionary Guard to surrender or face ‘certain death’
US President Donald Trump warned Iran’s security forces to surrender or be killed, after the US military said it destroyed the headquarters of the elite Revolutionary Guards.
“I once again urge the Revolutionary Guard, the Iranian military and police to lay down your arms and receive full immunity or face certain death. It will be certain death. It won’t be pretty,” Trump said in a video address.
Trump says combat operations in Iran will continue until all objectives achieved
US President Donald Trump warned that combat operations in Iran were continuing and would carry on until all of Washington’s objectives are achieved.
Trump confirmed in a video posted on Truth Social that three US service members had been killed and said there would likely be more casualties, vowing to avenge the deaths of Americans.
“Combat operations continue at this time in full force, and they will continue until all of our objectives are achieved. We have very strong objectives,” Trump said.
UK ‘will not join offensive action in Iran’
UK to let US use its bases for missile strikes on Iran
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that his country has accepted a U.S. request to use British bases for defensive strikes against Iranian missiles in storage depots or launchers.
“The United States has requested permission to use British bases for that specific and limited defensive purpose. We have taken the decision to accept this request to prevent Iran firing missiles across the region,” Starmer said in a video message on X.
Seven injured in Jerusalem after Iran missile barrage
Seven people were injured in the Jerusalem area following the latest salvo of missiles fired from Iran, Israeli firefighters said.
“Jerusalem District firefighters are currently responding at an impact site located on a highway … in the Jerusalem region,” a statement from the national fire service said.
“According to medical authorities, seven injured people with varying degrees of severity have so far been evacuated from the site to receive medical treatment,” it added.
Israeli emergency responders work at the scene of an Iranian missile strike on a road in Jerusalem on March 1, 2026. © Ammar Awad, Reuters.
Iran’s temporary leadership council holds second meeting after death of Supreme Leader
OPEC+ boosts oil production after attacks on Iran and throughout region
Eight countries that are part of the OPEC+ oil cartel announced they will boost production of crude as US and Israeli forces launched a major attack on Iran and the country responded with retaliatory strikes against Israel and US military installations around the Gulf, disrupting oil shipments from the region.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, in a Sunday meeting planned before the war began, said it would increase production by 206,000 barrels per day in April, which was more than analysts had been expecting. The countries boosting output include Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Kazakhstan, Algeria and Oman.
Trump says ‘we expect casualties’ after three US service members die
US President Donald Trump said that American soldiers dying during strikes on Iran was to be expected in a war that was nevertheless a “great deal.”
“We have three, but we expect casualties, but in the end it’s going to be a great deal for the world,” Trump told NBC after the Pentagon announced three US service members had been killed during military strikes on Iran.
Oman’s foreign minister says door to diplomacy between US, Iran remains open despite attacks
Oman’s foreign minister said that the door to diplomacy between the US and Iran remains open, as regional tensions between the two countries continue.
“I still believe in the power of diplomacy to resolve this conflict. The sooner talks are resumed the better it is for everyone,” Oman’s Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said in a post on X.
Oman has been acting as a mediator in nuclear talks between the US and Iran.
Trump says war on Iran could last four weeks
US President Donald Trump said he envisages a four-week military operation against Iran, where American and Israeli strikes have killed the country’s supreme leader and crippled its defense capabilities.
“It’s always been a four-week process. We figured it will be four weeks or so,” he told British newspaper the Daily Mail, the latest of several interviews with media outlets.
“As strong as it is, it’s a big country, it’ll take four weeks – or less,” Trump said.
France to step up military ‘posture’ in Gulf, says Macron
French President Emmanuel Macron announced that the country would do more to protect its citizens and bases in the Middle East, as well as support countries targeted by Iran.
The US-Israeli strikes have led France to “step up its defensive posture to stand alongside those with whom we have defence treaties”, he said after the second defence council meeting on the conflict in as many days.
It was necessary to “adjust our stance in light of recent developments, which nothing justifies and which we will not let pass”, he said, indicating a possible surge in French military resources in the region.
