live Iran War Enters Its Second Week

On March 5, there were reports of continuing attacks on Iranian locations, including Tehran and Alborz. This comes as the Israeli Army carried out a wave of air strikes on Iranian government infrastructure "all over Tehran" overnight.

Iranian news agencies confirmed attacks on areas in Tehran, including "the Mehrabad airport area, several points west of Azadi Square, Tehransar, and Chitgar," as well as a military garrison near Qom.

Images posted on social media showed strikes occurring in the cities of Marivan and Saqqez.

Targets in Yazd were also attacked on the evening of March 4, and according to unofficial reports these targets include a "missile site near Yazd Mountain Park."

Iranian state media does not publish reports on attacks on its territory. At the same time, the national Internet blackout -- enforced as part of the crackdown on widespread protests in January -- has made it difficult to obtain accurate and detailed information.

Iran retaliated early on March 5 fired several missiles at various areas of Israel, including Jerusalem.

According to the British Maritime Safety Agency, an oil tanker in waters near Kuwait also witnessed a "large explosion" on March 5.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) claimed responsibility for the attack. The IRGC’s public relations department released a statement saying that a missile had been fired at an oil tanker in the Gulf.

The IRGC called the tanker "American" and announced that the IRGC Navy targeted it on March 4.

The official IRNA news agency, citing the IRGC, wrote that the tanker "is currently burning."

The United States has yet to comment on the attack.

Kataib Hezbollah, one of Iran's main and most powerful proxy groups in the region, announced on March 5 the killing of one of its commanders in southern Iraq.

The group confirmed in a statement that Ali Hussein al-Freiji, who joined the group two decades ago, was killed in a bombing raid by American and Israeli forces on March 4.

The AFP news agency, citing two sources close to the group, reported that a vehicle carrying three members of Kataib Hezbollah was targeted near the group's main base in southern Iraq.

Last week, two days before the start of the US and Israeli military operation against Iran, Kataib Hezbollah announced to its members that they should prepare for a long and attritional war "in the event of an attack" on Iran.

The group also announced that in the event of a US attack, Kataib would "most likely" also enter the war in defense of the Islamic republic.

The Kataib Hezbollah base in Jurf al-Nasr, 60 kilometers southwest of Baghdad, was the "first target" reportedly hit by the US and Israel, according to AFP. Several locations in Baghdad and Erbil were then targeted on March 4.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Iranian regime threatens regional and global stability, adding that Ukraine is ready to deploy experts to counter Iranian drones and missiles.

"The Iranian regime, which is striving to survive at any cost, poses clear threats to all states in the region and to global stability. No country close to Iran can feel secure," he wrote in a post on X.

Zelenskyy said that the attack drones Iran launched in the Middle East are the same Shahed drones that have attacked Ukrainian cities, villages, and infrastructure throughout Russia's full-scale invasion, now in its fifth year.

"Ukraine can contribute to protecting lives and stabilizing the situation. Partners are reaching out to us," he stated.

"Our military possesses the necessary capabilities. Ukrainian experts will operate on-site, and teams are already coordinating these efforts. And we are ready to help protect lives, defend civilians, and support real efforts to stabilize the situation and, in particular, restore safe navigation in the region," Zelenskyy added.

TEL AVIV -- Sirens sounded three times in Tel Aviv overnight, in what one resident told RFE/RL was "the most sleepless night since the beginning of the war."

From my hotel bomb shelter, loud explosions could be heard overhead as incoming missiles were intercepted by air defense. People from neighboring houses sheltering in the bunker said the interceptions were occurring nearby.

Israeli media, citing intelligence sources, said Israel and its Lebanon-based proxy, Hezbollah, coordinated attacks for the first time since the start of the war.

There were no immediate reports of casualties.

The attacks came amid some signs of wartime strictures easing here. The main airport, Ben Gurion, reopened after five days with a repatriation flight bringing home Israelis from Athens. Gatherings of up to 50 people are now permitted, provided there is a protected space that can be reached quickly, and likewise workplaces can reopen if they have shelters.

Schools remain closed, however, and buses are continuing to evacuate foreign nationals from Israel.

The Israeli Defense Force has just announced details of some of its overnight strikes on Iran, including an "armed ballistic missile launcher" near Qom and air defense in Isfahan.

A US government charter flight carrying American citizens departed the Middle East on March 4 as part of ongoing efforts to help Americans return home, according to a US State Department statement.

The agency did not provide any details regarding the number of passengers on the flight, the countries they were leaving, or the flight's departure and arrival times.

The State Department has opened a crisis intake form for Americans in the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Israel.

Since February 28, when US and Israeli forces launched initial strikes on Iran, more than 17,500 Americans have returned safely to the United States from the Middle East -- including about 8,500 on March 3 alone -- while many others have departed the region for countries in Europe and Asia, the department said.

With reporting from Reuters

The 32 rescued Iranian sailors who survived a US submarine strike in ⁠the Indian ⁠Ocean were recovering ‌at a hospital in Sri Lanka, authorities said on March 5.

Officials at the hospital in the port city of Galle said the survivors were being treated for minor injuries and could be released later in the day.

Sri Lankan officials said 87 bodies had been recovered by military rescuers who had responded to a distress call from the IRIS Dena on March 4. Some 60 sailors remain unaccounted for and the search mission was continuing, officials added.

US defense chief Pete Hegseth confirmed that a US submarine sank ‌the Iranian warship off the coast of Sri Lanka.

"An American submarine sunk an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters. Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo," Hegseth told a news briefing.

A Pentagon video purporting to depict the attack showed the warship being hit by a huge explosion, blowing apart the rear of the vessel and causing it to sink.

Fox News reported that a $4.2 million torpedo detonated under the Iranian warship in a nighttime submarine strike.

Fox identified the weapon as a Mark 48 Advanced Capability (ADCAP) torpedo and quoted a former US submarine commander as saying the action signaled to Tehran that "the gloves really are off."

The attack -- hundreds of kilometers away from the Persian Gulf -- dramatically widened the geographic scope of the war.

US and Israeli forces launched a massive air campaign against Iran on February 28, and Tehran has retaliated by firing missiles and drones at Israel and Gulf countries that host US military bases.

With reporting by Reuters and Fox News

WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon announced the identify of an officer killed during the US war against Iran, the fifth of six US service members killed in action to be named.

The service member was identified as Major Jeffrey R. O'Brien, 45, of Iowa. He died on March 1 in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait, during an unmanned aircraft system attack, a Pentagon statement said.

The soldier was assigned to the 103rd Sustainment Command, Des Moines, Iowa.

Full details of the incident in which six US soldiers were killed have not been disclosed. The Pentagon said the incident is still being investigated.

US President Donald Trump on the first day of the US attack on Iran -- February 28 -- warned that casualties were possible.

"Sadly, there will likely be more before it ends," he said later after the first deaths were reported.

Qatari authorities on March 5 said the area around the US Embassy in the small Gulf nation has been evacuated for safety reasons as Iran continues to launch drones and missiles in retaliation for a joint US-Israeli air campaign against the country.

Qatar’s Interior Ministry said residents of nearby buildings were temporarily moved to safety as a precaution and that suitable accommodation had been provided for them.

Further details were not provided and it was not clear if authorities expected an imminent attack.

Qatar has been a regular recipient of Iranian missiles and drones since the February 28 launching of the US and Israeli air strikes on Iran.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said the air strikes were aimed only at "US interests in Qatar," although local authorities said projectiles have also hit civilian and residential areas.

Qatari Foreign Minister Muhammad bin Abdulrahman al-Thani "categorically rejected" that assertion and called for an immediate halt to Iran’s attacks.

Qatar's top diplomat said his country would confront any aggression and would assert its "right to self-defense."

Officials in Qatar said an Iranian ballistic missile hit the US military base at Al-Udeid near Doha on March 3 without causing casualties. The facility is the largest US base in the Middle East and houses some 10,000 American service members.

Iranian drones hit a power plant and energy facility in Qatar on March 2, leading one of the world's largest exporters of liquefied natural gas to stop production.

With reporting by Reuters and dpa

WASHINGTON — The US Senate voted 53–47 to block a bipartisan resolution seeking to curb President Donald Trump’s authority to continue military action against Iran without congressional approval.

The measure would have required Congress to authorize further strikes, but Republicans largely opposed it, arguing the president has commander-in-chief authority to direct ongoing operations.

Only Rand Paul of Kentucky broke with his party to support the resolution. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska voted against advancing it, while voicing concern about the scope of the conflict.

Collins said the administration had briefed Congress more thoroughly than it did before the overnight operation targeting Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, yet stressed that lawmakers must remain fully informed.

Passing the resolution now, she said, “would send the wrong message to Iran and to our troops,” emphasizing the need for “unequivocal support” alongside continued consultation with Congress.

Murkowski said communication had improved compared with Venezuela -- “but that doesn’t say much” -- and acknowledged public anxiety over the lack of a defined endgame. “That’s what most Americans are thinking,” she said.

Democrats cast the vote as a constitutional test. Chuck Schumer of New York said lawmakers must decide whether to send “sons and daughters into harm’s way.” John Fetterman of Pennsylvania was the only Democrat to vote to block the measure.

Republican leaders defended the president. John Thune of South Dakota said Trump is acting to protect US forces, while Lindsey Graham of South Carolina called the resolution unconstitutional.

The vote leaves the White House with broad latitude to continue operations as debate over Congress’s war powers persists.

US President Donald Trump said Iranian officials who seek to assume top positions to replace Iran’s fallen leaders “end up dead” and he vowed that the United States and Israel will “continue forward” in the military campaign against the Middle East country.

"We're in a very strong position now, and their leadership is just rapidly going. Everybody that seems to want to be a leader, they end up dead," Trump told a meeting with technology sector leaders at the White House on March 4.

"We're doing well on the war front, to put it mildly. Somebody said on a scale of 10, where would you rate it? I said about a 15," Trump said, as the war entered its fifth day.

Trump said that Tehran's arsenal of ballistic missiles was being "wiped out rapidly."

The president said he would "continue forward" with the air campaign, being conducted jointly with Israel, that has killed Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei and many other security, military, and political leaders.

The White House has received criticism from Democrats and some Republicans for launching the attack against Iran, with some questioning the legality of the decision to go to war.

On March 4, a majority of the Republican-controlled US Senate voted to block a bipartisan resolution seeking to stop the war and require any military actions against Iran to be authorized by Congress.

The US president again stated that a key reason for launching the attack, starting on February 28, was to eliminate Tehran’s ability to develop a nuclear weapon.

"When crazy people have nuclear weapons, bad things happen," Trump said.

While Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and others in the West have accused Iran of attempting to build a nuclear weapon, Tehran has insisted that its program is for civilian purposes.

Washington and Tehran had been locked into a series of indirect negotiations, mediated by Oman, on the future of Iran’s nuclear program, However, Trump said he determined Tehran was not going to accept a deal and decided to launch the massive air campaign against Iran.

With reporting by AFP and Reuters