IDF says 'broad wave of strikes' launched 'in the heart of Tehran'
In a statement posted to social media, the Israel Defense Forces says it is now striking “targets” of the Iranian “regime in the heart of Tehran”.
“The Air Force, guided by military Intelligence, has now launched a broad wave of strikes against targets of the Iranian terror regime in the heart of Tehran,” a statement to X reads.
“Over the past day, the Israeli Air Force conducted large-scale strikes in order to establish aerial superiority and to pave the path to Tehran.”
Although Israel has said it has been targeting military assets in Iran, there have been reports of a high civilian death toll.
Amir Saeid Iravani, the Iranian ambassador to the UN, told an emergency UN security council meeting that hundreds of civilians had been killed or injured in the US-Israeli strikes. He accused them of deliberately attacking civilian neighbourhoods in multiple cities.
All members of Iran's temporary leadership council appointed - reports
According to reports, all three members have been appointed to Iran’s temporary leadership council, which is meant to fulfil the supreme leader’s role until a successor is chosen.
Alireza Arafi was appointed on Sunday as the jurist member of the council, ISNA news agency reported, joining Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian and chief justice Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei.
We have not yet been able to independently verify this information.
Revenge is 'legitimate right', Iranian president says after killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
The Iranian president, Masoud Pezeshkian, has said the killing of Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, is “an open war against Muslims, especially Shiites, in all corners of the world”.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran considers bloodshed and revenge against the perpetrators and commanders of this crime as its legitimate duty and right, and will fulfill this great responsibility and duty with all its might,” Pezeshkian was quoted as having said.
In this video explainer, the Guardian’s diplomatic editor, Patrick Wintour, explains what we know so far about the US-Israel attacks, and Iran’s retaliation, and what to expect next:
US-Israeli strikes on Iran: what do we know so far? – video analysis
Hundreds of thousands of travellers were either stranded or diverted to other airports after Israel, Qatar, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and Bahrain closed their airspace.
There also was no flight activity over the United Arab Emirates, flight tracking website FlightRadar24 said, after the government there announced a “temporary and partial closure” of its airspace.
That led to the closure of key hub airports in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha, and the cancellation of more than 1,000 flights by major Middle Eastern airlines.
Information on flights are displayed on a screen at Tribhuvan International Airport after all evening flights to Sharjah, Doha, Dubai, Kuwait City, Abu Dhabi, and Dammam were cancelled, following strikes on Iran launched by the US and Israel. Photograph: Navesh Chitrakar/Reuters
The three major airlines that operate at those airports – Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad – typically have about 90,000 passengers per day passing through those hubs and even more travellers headed to destinations in the Middle East, according to aviation analytics firm Cirium.
Dubai international airport is the world’s busiest airport for international flights. You can read more here:
Emirates suspends 'all operations to and from Dubai' as travel chaos deepens
Emirates airline has said it has temporarily suspended all operations to and from Dubai until at least 15:00 UAE time tomorrow due to airspace closures across the region.
Key transit airports, including Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the UAE and Doha in Qatar, were shut or severely restricted as of this morning.
Dubai International Airport was damaged during Iran’s retailitaroy attacks, while airports in Abu Dhabi and Kuwait were also hit.
British Airways and Virgin Atlantic are among carriers to have cancelled flights to the region as attacks continue and airspace remains closed or restricted.
Putin says the 'murder' of Khamenei was a 'cynical violation of all norms of human morality'
Russian President Vladimir Putin has described the killing of Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, in a large-scale air attack by the US and Israel as a “cynical violation of all norms of human morality”.
Putin said in a note to Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian:
Please accept my deep condolences in connection with the murder of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Seyed Ali Khamenei, and members of his family, committed in cynical violation of all norms of human morality and international law.
In our country, Ayatollah Khamenei will be remembered as an outstanding statesman who made a huge personal contribution to the development of friendly Russian-Iranian relations and bringing them to the level of a comprehensive strategic partnership.
I ask you to convey my most sincere sympathy and support to the family and friends of the Supreme Leader, the government and the entire people of Iran.
Russia is key trade partner and supplier of weapons and technologies for Iran. Meanwhile, North Korea’s foreign ministry spokesperson said Israel’s attacks on Iran and the US military operation were “illegal aggression” and a violation of national sovereignty.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei addressing a ceremony in Tehran, Iran, on 17 February 2026. Photograph: Iran’S Supreme Leader Office Handout/EPA
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Israel’s military said its strikes have killed 40 Iranian commanders, including the armed forces’ chief of staff, Abdolrahim Mousavi. “Iran’s security leadership decapitated in opening strike,” it wrote in a post on X, the contents of which we have not yet been able to independently verify.
Israel said yesterday that its initial strikes killed other senior Iranian defence officials as they gathered in meetings, including defence minister Aziz Nasirzadeh and MohammadPakpour, the former commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Dan Sabbagh is the Guardian’s defence and security editor
The UK did not participate in the first waves of strikes against Iran on Saturday morning and has no immediate intention of doing so, but fighter jets were running defensive operations from Qatar and Cyprus to shoot down any incoming drones and missiles …
Iran launched an immediate counterattack, including strikes on Israel and Jordan as well as on US bases in Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait. British forces are located at the bases in small numbers.
Details of the operations were scant, and the Ministry of Defence would not specify which countries and bases were being defended, though the UK recently boosted deployments in case there was an escalation of hostilities.
British nationals in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates were advised to immediately shelter in place after reports of Iranian missile attacks. The Foreign Office advised against all travel to Israel and Palestine.
The UK prime minister, in a joint statement with his French and German counterparts, Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz, said: “We did not participate in these strikes”, but all three leaders added that they were in contact with the US, Israel and other regional allies. You can read more here:
Iranian strikes landed within 'a few hundred yards' of British troops in Bahrain, UK defence secretary says
Over in the UK, the British defence secretary, John Healey, said Iranian strikes landed within “a few hundred yards” of British troops in Bahrain.
Healey told Sky News:
This is a really serious and deteriorating situation, (with) rising risks of increasing Iranian indiscriminate retaliatory attacks.
Let me give you a couple examples. Yesterday, we had 300 personnel on that Bahrain base that was attacked by Iranian missiles and drones, some of them within a few hundred yards of where they landed.
We had two missiles fired in the direction of Cyprus. We don’t believe they were targeted at Cyprus, but nevertheless, it’s an example of how there is a very real and rising threat from a regime that is lashing out widely across the region, and that requires us to act.
When asked if the US attacks were legal, Healey sidestepped the question by saying it was not for him to make that judgment.
In an interview with the BBC, the defence secretary said he was worried that “indiscriminate attacks from Iran” were putting British personnel and citizens abroad at risk.
John Healey appearing on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme. Photograph: Jeff Overs/BBC/PA
Gulf states report successfully intercepting Iranian missiles and drones
Qatar’s defence ministry said its air force intercepted missiles and drones fired from Iran earlier today, while Kuwait said its air defenses repelled “a number of hostile aerial targets” and Bahrain said it shot down missiles and drones launched by Iran. There were no immediate reports of any casualties.
Iran has launched missiles and drones targeting Israeli and American military installations in Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar, in response to Saturday’s deadly US-Israeli strikes on the country. The US military has reported no American casualties and minimal damage at its bases.
Here are some images taken in the aftermath of reported Iranian retaliatory strikes on US allies in Gulf states and in Iraq:
Smoke rises after an Iranian drone attack in the port area of Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, on 1 March 2026. Photograph: Fatima Shbair/AP
A plume of smoke rises from the port of Jebel Ali following a reported Iranian strike in Dubai on 1 March 2026. Photograph: Fadel Senna/AFP/Getty Images
Security and civil defence workers stand outside the damaged Crown Plaza hotel following an Iranian military strike in Bahrain’s capital Manama on 1 March 2026. Photograph: Fadhel Madan/AFP/Getty Images
A plume of smoke rises near Erbil international airport on 1 March 2026. Blasts were heard near Erbil airport, which hosts US-led coalition troops, in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region. Photograph: Shvan Harki/AFP/Getty Images
We reported in an earlier post that the Israel Defense Forces said the country’s air force was striking “in the heart of Tehran”. We can bring you some of the latest pictures from Tehran now:
A plume of smoke rises following reported explosions in Tehran on 1 March 2026. Photograph: Atta Kenare/AFP/Getty Images
Smoke rises as a series of explosions are heard in Tehran. The IDF says it has started a wave of strikes against “targets” linked to the Iranian regime in the capital. Photograph: Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu/Getty Images
Israel says it is striking Iranian regime targets in Tehran. Photograph: Majid Asgaripour/Reuters
Oman has said an oil tanker in the strategically important strait of Hormuz came under attack, imjuring four mariners on board.
The attack targeted a Palau-flagged vessel called Skylight, the state-run Oman news agency said in a report we have not yet been able to independently verify. It described the crew as Indian and Iranian.
It was not immediately clear who attacked the vessel, but it came after authorities said Iran had been threatening ships traveling the strait since the US-Israeli attacks.
The strait of Hormuz – a crucial chokepoint for oil transit – lies between Oman and Iran and links the Gulf to the north with the Gulf of Oman to the south and the Arabian Sea beyond. The strikes could cause serious economic disruption around the world, particularly if the strait becomes unsafe for commercial traffic.
IDF says 'broad wave of strikes' launched 'in the heart of Tehran'
In a statement posted to social media, the Israel Defense Forces says it is now striking “targets” of the Iranian “regime in the heart of Tehran”.
“The Air Force, guided by military Intelligence, has now launched a broad wave of strikes against targets of the Iranian terror regime in the heart of Tehran,” a statement to X reads.
“Over the past day, the Israeli Air Force conducted large-scale strikes in order to establish aerial superiority and to pave the path to Tehran.”
Although Israel has said it has been targeting military assets in Iran, there have been reports of a high civilian death toll.
Amir Saeid Iravani, the Iranian ambassador to the UN, told an emergency UN security council meeting that hundreds of civilians had been killed or injured in the US-Israeli strikes. He accused them of deliberately attacking civilian neighbourhoods in multiple cities.
