Israel pounds Lebanon, as Iran's new supreme leader issues 1st statement

yisrael hammers lebanese republic with airstrikes, orders thomas more troops to edge

8 killed in Israeli drone strike on seaside area in Beirut

'This is a nightmare,' says woman in Beirut after strike near home

UN Security Council backs resolution on Iran attacks on Gulf states

3 cargo ships hit by 'projectiles' in Strait of Hormuz

Canadians fleeing war in Middle East arrive in Saudi Arabia

Trump dismissive about 'easy' Iran war but won't commit to exit timeline

Social media video shows drone strike on Oman oil storage facility

Fact check: Old video of missile attack in Israel

8 killed in Israeli drone strike on seaside area in Beirut

Lebanon's health minister says eight people were killed and at least 31 were injured in an Israeli drone strike targeting the vehicle of a Hezbollah commander in Corniche Beirut, a popular seaside promenade in central Beirut.

Beirut was shaken by a powerful wave of airstrikes overnight and into Thursday morning. One of the drone attacks landed on a popular promenade, the Corniche, which is lined with palm trees along the seaside in central Beirut.

We heard two massive booms before 2:00 a.m., and from our hotel we could see dozens of emergency vehicles rushing to the scene along the Corniche.

Israel says the target was a car carrying a Hezbollah commander who was killed along with seven other people; at least 30 were injured.

A Lebanese security source told our team three rockets tore into the ground. Two exploded sending shrapnel onto the promenade and the beach; a third didn't explode. Today the deep rocket holes were filled with sand and the Lebanese military removed the unexploded ordnance.

The attacks last night were the most powerful so far. There are real fears now that Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah are locked in, this front in the war is escalating every day and it will not end soon. 

Officials in India aren't confirming how long the 183 crew members of an Iranian warship stranded in the southern city of Kochi are expected to stay in India. 

The ship, IRIS Lavan, docked in the southern Indian port on March 4, the same day a U.S. Submarine struck another Iranian navy frigate, IRIS Dena, killing more than 80 of the crew and prompting an urgent rescue signal that officials in nearby Sri Lanka responded to. 

A third Iranian vessel is also docked in Sri Lanka, after it experienced engine trouble. 

India's response has been muted, with the External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar telling parliament Monday that Iran had requested permission for all three warships to dock in India on Feb. 28, the day the war broke out. 

New Delhi granted the request the following day, with Jaishankar calling it "the right thing to do."

Some analysts have said the U.S. Torpedoing an Iranian warship in international waters near India, after it had taken part in a friendly maritime activity in the South Asian country, raised "uncomfortable questions" about India's "authority in its own backyard."

Iran's Mojtaba Khamenei just shared his first public statement as the country's new supreme leader. 

In his message read out by a state TV broadcaster, Khamenei said that Iran should continue to block the Strait of Hormuz as a way to pressure its enemy. (State TV didn't say why Khamenei didn't read the speech himself.)

He also said all U.S. Military bases in the region should close because Iran will continue to target them — even as he reaffirmed his belief in friendship with Iran's neighbours. Gulf states are increasingly angry that they've been dragged into a war that they didn't start.

"Every member of the nation who is martyred by the enemy constitutes a separate case in the file of revenge,” he said, whose father the previous supreme leader was among those killed in the initial airstrikes on Iran.

He also said the deadly strike carried out against the school in Minab — which early investigations indicate was caused by a U.S. Strike — holds special status because the victims were children. 

Finally, he echoed Pezeshkian's previous statement demanding reparations for sustained damages during the war. In the meantime, Khamenei said, Iran will continue to damage enemy assets.

Trump dismissive about 'easy' Iran war but won't commit to exit timeline

At a Kentucky rally, U.S. President Donald Trump struck a dismissive tone about the Iran war, calling it 'easier than we thought,' despite his refusal to commit to a timeline on ending the conflict. Iran warns it will fight on until its terms are met.

The U.S. And Iran have offered different perspectives regarding when the war will end. Earlier this week, Trump said that the U.S. Had already "won" the war, but that it can't end too soon.

"In the first hours it was over," Trump said at a political rally in Kentucky. "We don't want to leave too early, do we?"

"We've got to finish the job," he added.

Trump's comments don't align with what the Iranian president is saying. Just yesterday, Masoud Pezeshkian took to social media to list Iran's conditions for ending the war.

"The only way to end the war" is by "recognizing Iran's legitimate rights, payment of reparations, and firm international guarantees against future aggression," he said.

Experts and officials have repeatedly said the war could drag on for weeks. 

Iran knows where the U.S. Will feel their attacks most, so they are concentrating their remaining munitions on oil infrastructure in the Gulf states, and ships in and near the Strait of Hormuz.

Two tankers were hit overnight, along with a cargo vessel. At least one is in flames.

Oil depots continue to be hit. Gulf oil is barely moving by ship.

This has effectively closed the strait, and caused both oil and gas prices to surge. Dozens of nations released emergency supply from strategic reserves, which has blunted the increases, but not stopped them.

Iran knows this is a weak spot for U.S. President Donald Trump, who was elected on a promise to make life more affordable, and gas prices cheaper. The opposite is happening — and Republicans in Congress are nervous. Trump has acknowledged his own vice-president has doubts about the war.

While some household items may take months to become more expensive as shipping surcharges get priced in, gas prices change immediately. Americans see it now. 

The pressure is building for Trump to call an end to the war. But even if he does, it would leave the Islamic republic's regime intact — led by a hardline supreme leader whose father, wife, sister and other family members have been killed in airstrikes. Would he accept a ceasefire from the U.S., or seek vengeance?

Iran isn't just targeting the global energy supply; it's also threatened banking in the Gulf that has ties to the U.S. And Israel.

As a result, the U.A.E. Is temporarily closing most of its Citibank branches until at least March 14 as a precaution. Citibank also issued evacuation notices for its staff in the Dubai International Finance Centre and Dubai's Oud Metha district. Employees are reportedly working from home until further notice. 

A drone strike hit a residential tower in Dubai's Creek Harbour district early Wednesday, damaging several apartments near the top of the building and setting off a fire that billowed against the city's dazzling skyline.

Authorities said the blaze was quickly contained and no injuries were reported among residents.

The strike came a day after drones fell near Dubai International Airport and amid threats from Iran that it would begin targeting economic and banking interests linked to the United States and Israel across the Gulf.

Banks and finance firms in the Dubai International Financial Centre told staff to work from home or leave offices temporarily, while some expatriate employees have begun relocating outside the city or moving in with friends.

Across the Gulf countries, more than 30 people have been killed since the attacks began, including six in the U.A.E.

Among the first victims in the U.A.E. Was a Pakistani father of five working as a driver in the country, hit by debris that fell onto his car. His death underscored the large foreign workforce in the Gulf, many working in warehouse districts close to airports and data centres that Iran has targeted.  

As we mentioned, this war is creating a huge global energy crisis as Iran steps up its strategy of creating economic chaos. 

Iranian drones have struck oil refineries in the U.A.E. And Bahrain as well, and multiple Gulf states have had to scale back oil production. Meanwhile, late-night attacks into Wednesday morning set two fuel tankers ablaze off the coast of Iraq, killing at least one crew member.

Hours prior to that attack, three other tankers were also targeted in the Gulf, including a Thai bulk carrier that Iranian authorities said didn't follow their orders. An unknown projectile struck yet another vessel near the U.A.E., as well.

Iran is blocking oil shipments from moving through the Strait of Hormuz — a path through which one-fifth of the world's oil and gas passes through — to disrupt the global economy.

A huge blaze ignited after oil storage facilities at Oman's Salalah port were struck by drones yesterday in one of the latest attacks disrupting global energy supply. 

Iran is targeting energy production and storage sites in the oil-rich region in retaliation for the U.S. And Israel's attacks. The war has already created the world's largest global energy supply disruption since the 1970s, according to the International Energy Agency.

The Associated Press

Iran launched attacks Thursday on shipping traffic and energy infrastructure, while also flouting a UN Security Council resolution from the previous day demanding it halt strikes on its Persian Gulf neighbours.

A container ship in the Gulf was hit with a projectile off the coast of Dubai, sparking a small fire, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center. It said the crew of the vessel were safe.

In Bahrain, an Iranian attack sparked a major fire on Muharraq Island, home to the country's international airport, while in the United Arab Emirates firefighters extinguished a blaze at a tower in Dubai Creek Harbour after a drone hit.

An Iranian drone also smashed into a residential building in Kuwait, wounding two people. Saudi Arabia said it shot down a drone targeting the diplomatic quarter of the capital, Riyadh, and also reported downing drones in the kingdom's east, including at least one trying to target its Shaybah oil field.

Following an Iranian attack on Iraq's Basra port Wednesday that killed at least one person, officials said Thursday that operations were halted at all the country's oil terminals. 

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