live Baghdad Blasts Target Iran-Allied Groups, US Embassy

Hours after the Israeli military warned residents in parts of the city of Tabriz in northwestern Iran, an official from the East Azerbaijan provincial administration confirmed that Israel had attacked “several military sites.”

According to the head of crisis management at the East Azerbaijan provincial governor’s office, the Israeli military bombed “a private industrial facility in western Tabriz, a production unit in the Akhula area, and several military centers around the city,” the state-aligned Mehr news agency reported.

He did not provide further details.

The official also reported that five people were injured in the attacks.

Hundreds of Iranian academic, civil, cultural, and political activists have issued a statement condemning both the Islamic Republic’s policies and the US and Israeli military attacks on Iran, which they described as “contrary to recognized principles of international law.”

Some 350 signatories called for an immediate halt to the war.

They wrote: “From our perspective, as supporters of ‘No to war and no to the Islamic Republic,’ this war -- like all destructive wars -- is an absolute evil that brings neither democracy nor security and prosperity for the people.”

The activists criticized the Tehran government's policies that they said -- “through the suppression of citizens’ rights, the killing of protesters, hostility toward the West, calls for the destruction of Israel, regional adventurism, and support for proxy forces -- have no connection to the national interests of Iranians.”

They also urged support for peace initiatives and diplomatic efforts to end the conflict.

The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) says the first two weeks of the war in Iran have resulted in at least 4,765 casualties, including both deaths and injuries, according to data compiled from field reports and verified sources.

The figure includes 1,298 civilian fatalities, among them at least 205 children, and 654 civilians injured, while the status of other casualties is classified as military or unspecified.

HRANA said 5,480 attacks were recorded in various parts of Iran since the conflict began on February 28, affecting all 31 provinces and at least 209 cities.

The group also reported widespread damage to civilian infrastructure, including 20 hospitals, 36 schools, and 98 residential areas.

The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) estimates that the fighting has displaced about 3.2 million people across Iran, while 203 individuals have been arrested by security forces in connection with the conflict, according to HRANA.

The rights organization said figures represent minimum confirmed numbers and could rise as verification continues.

Iran's Kharg Island, the country's main oil export outlet, could be a target for the United States, experts say, in a move that could cut off the revenues that sustain Tehran's sanctions-hit economy.

But the possible capture of the tiny island in the Persian Gulf, which handles around 90 percent of all Iranian oil exports, would mark a major escalation in the US-Israeli war on Iran. It is also unlikely to land a fatal economic blow to the Islamic republic, experts say.

Axios reported ‌on March 7 that the US administration has discussed capturing Kharg, on which Iran has heavily depended to export its oil since facilities on the island were built in the 1960s. The island's deep-water berths can accommodate supertankers that move oil in bulk.

A source close to White House told The New York Post that capturing the island "is not so much a matter of if but when, given its critical nature to the outcome of the war."

Read Kian Sharifi's analysis, which was published earlier this week, here.

The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas has urged Iran to refrain from targeting countries in the Persian Gulf, while backing what it called Tehran's right to defend itself against Israel and the United States.

“While affirming the right of the Islamic republic of Iran to respond to this aggression by all available means in accordance with international norms and laws, the movement calls on the brothers in Iran to avoid targeting neighboring countries,” Hamas said in a statement.

Hamas -- which fought a devastating two-year war with Israel in Gaza and is designated a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union -- also called on the international community to “work towards halting” the ongoing war immediately.

Iran has long been a major political and financial backer of Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups, providing funding, weapons and training, according to Western governments and regional analysts.

The group previously condemned the killing of Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, on the first day of the current conflict as a “heinous crime”, openly acknowledging his longstanding support for the Palestinian movement.

With reporting by AFP

After a relatively long silence, Iranian state media on March 14 confirmed a US attack on military facilities on Kharg Island.

The Fars news agency, which is close to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, reported hearing the sound of “more than 15 explosions” on Kharg and said thick smoke was rising from the island.

The state outlet confirmed that the United States targeted only the military equipment on Kharg and further claimed that the island’s air defense systems were not damaged.

RFE/RL's Radio Farda has not been able to independently verify this report.

Early on March 14, US President Donald Trump wrote on social media that the United States Central Command had "executed one of the most powerful bombing raids in the History of the Middle East, and totally obliterated every MILITARY target in Iran’s crown jewel, Kharg Island."

US Embassy Hit In Air Strike

by RFE/RL

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Explosions rocked multiple sites in Baghdad early on March 14, with an Iran-allied group being the target of two blasts while a drone attack reportedly targeted the US Embassy in the Iraqi capital.

Iraq, despite not being directly involved in the US-Israeli war on Iran, has increasingly seen violence spill over into its territory since the war started on February 28.

Two strikes targeted the powerful Iran-allied Kataeb Hezbollah group, killing two members including a "key figure," according to security sources.

At 2:15 a.m. on March 14, "a missile struck a house that was being used by Kataeb Hezbollah," a security source told AFP, adding that "a key figure was martyred," and two group members were injured.

About two hours later, an air strike hit a vehicle in eastern Baghdad, killing "a member of the Hashed al-Shaabi," another security source said. A Hashed al-Shaabi official told AFP that the slain member belonged to Kataeb Hezbollah.

Hashed al-Shaabi, also known as the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF), is a former paramilitary group now integrated into Iraq's regular armed forces. Kataeb Hezbollah seeks to create an Iran-aligned regime in Baghdad.

The sources said it was not known who was behind the attacks, although Iran-backed fighters have blamed the United States and Israel in the past.

AFP later quoted an Iraqi security official as saying a drone attack had taken place against the highly guarded US Embassy in Baghdad. "A drone hit the embassy," the official said, with a second security source confirming that an attack had targeted the site.

AP cited Iraqi security officials as saying the projectile hit a helicopter pad inside the embassy compound.

With reporting by AFP

The US State Department on March 13 told its nonemergency US government employees and family members in Oman to leave the Gulf country as war in Iran continues to spread throughout the Middle East. The State Department updated its advisory to warn Americans of "safety risks," adding that "there has been an ongoing threat of drone and missile attacks from Iran and significant disruptions to commercial flights." Two people were killed in an Iranian drone strike in northern Oman, state media reported.

Five US Air ⁠Force ⁠refueling planes ‌were struck and damaged on ⁠the ground at an air base in Saudi Arabia, the ⁠Wall Street ‌Journal reported, citing two unnamed U.S. officials.

The planes were hit during an Iranian ‌missile strike on the Prince Sultan base, the report said, although the exact date of the attack was not immediately clear. No deaths were reported.

The WSJ said the planes were being repaired are expected to return to service.

Saudi Arabia and other US Gulf Arab allies have been the target of Iranian missiles and drones fired in retaliation for the massive US-Israeli air strikes against Iran, which began on February 28.

A US service member died on March 1 after suffering injuries during an attack at the Prince Sultan base.

The latest report comes a day after the US Central Command, responsible for American forces in the Middle East, said six crew members aboard KC-135 refueling plane were killed in an apparent midair collision with another refueling tanker over western Iraq. The other plane landed safely.

President Donald Trump said on social media that US forces had carried out "one of the most powerful bombing" raids in the history of the Middle East on Iran's strategic Kharg Island in the Strait of Hormuz.

"Moments ago, at my direction, the United States Central Command executed one of the most powerful bombing raids in the History of the Middle East, and totally obliterated every MILITARY target in Iran’s crown jewel, Kharg Island," he wrote on his Truth Social platform.

"Our Weapons are the most powerful and sophisticated that the World has ever known but, for reasons of decency, I have chosen NOT to wipe out the Oil Infrastructure on the Island," he added.

Trump separately told reporters that the US Navy would "very soon" begin to escort ships through the strait as the US administration looked to secure global oil supplies amid disruptions caused by the US-Israeli war on Iran and Tehran's retaliatory strikes.