US, Israel attack Iran updates: Khamenei, top security officials killed

For more on the Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi’s interview with Al Jazeera, go here.

Read our article to understand how US-Israel attacks on Iran threaten the Strait of Hormuz and oil markets.

You can find our news story on the three US service members reportedly killed in Kuwait here.

• The three US soldiers killed and five seriously wounded so far during the US military campaign against Iran were reportedly based in Kuwait, with US President Trump suggesting more casualties are inevitable.
• Israeli police say nine people have been killed and 11 are missing as search-and-rescue teams continue looking for survivors after an Iranian missile attack on Beit Shemesh in Israel.
• Trump has urged Iranians to rise up to topple the Islamic Republic, a day after a joint US-Israeli attack killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
• UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer says he accepted a request from the US to use UK bases for “defensive” strikes against Iran.
• Gulf states have pledged to defend themselves against Iranian attacks, including by “responding to the aggression” if need be.
• The US administration has yet to spell out a “day-after” strategy for Iran, after ⁠joint US-Israeli strikes killed much of the country’s ⁠leadership, lawmakers from both US major political parties say.

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham has applauded the US-Israeli attack on Iran, suggesting the world is a better place after Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in an air strike.

“The mothership of terrorism is sinking. The captain is dead. The largest state sponsor of terrorism, Iran, is close to collapsing. The leader of the largest state sponsor of terrorism and his inner team are dead,” said Graham.

Following the US-Israeli strikes that killed Khamenei and other leaders, Iran’s counterattacks struck US bases in Bahrain and the UAE.

The US military denied Iranian claims that the USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier was struck with ballistic missiles, saying the “missiles launched didn’t even come close”.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard has threatened to launch its “most intense offensive operation” ever on Israeli and US military installations.

Sen. @LindseyGrahamSC: “The mothership of terrorism is sinking. The captain is dead. The largest state sponsor of terrorism — Iran — is close to collapsing. The leader of the largest state sponsor of terrorism and his inner team are dead.” pic.twitter.com/JCQLsD7t13

— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) March 1, 2026

Gulf states have pledged to defend themselves against Iranian attacks, including by “responding to the aggression” if need be, after the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) convened via video-link 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”.

The strikes by the US and Israel have elicited mixed global reactions, including angry protests, celebrations, and calls by world leaders for a return to negotiations and peace.

At least 22 people were killed in northern Pakistan and in the southern port city of Karachi after police responded to hundreds of protesters storming the US consulates in their area.

A few major shipping companies have begun rerouting their vessels around Africa, away from the Suez Canal and the Bab al-Mandeb Strait. The strikes could rattle global markets, particularly if Iran makes the Strait of Hormuz unsafe for commercial traffic. A fifth of the worldwide traded oil passes through the Strait.

There are global repercussions from disrupted air travel in the region, with hundreds of thousands of travellers stranded or diverted to other airports after Israel, Qatar, Syria, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and Bahrain closed their airspace.

The European Union will reinforce its naval mission in the Red Sea with additional vessels as Iran’s retaliation to US-Israeli strikes threatens maritime traffic.

Two new French ships will join the EU’s Aspides mission, bringing to five the number of warships taking part, an unnamed diplomat told the AFP news agency after foreign ministers from the bloc’s 27 nations held talks on Iran.

Nurses working at a hospital in Tehran’s Gandhi Street area have begun evacuating patients, two witnesses told the Reuters news agency.

The evacuation comes after the hospital was badly damaged in a strike by the US or Israel’s military earlier in the day.

Iran retaliated by firing missiles and drones at Israel and at US military installations around the Gulf, and also at the Saudi Arabian capital and the global business hub of Dubai.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer says he has accepted a request from the US to use his country’s military bases for defensive strikes against Iran.

“We have taken the decision to accept this request to prevent Iran firing missiles across the region, killing innocent civilians, putting British lives at risk and hitting countries that have not been involved,” he said in a video posted on X.

Starmer previously did not allow the US to use UK bases to launch strikes on Iran.

My update on the situation in the Middle East. pic.twitter.com/DvsOVcTDMy

— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) March 1, 2026

Jordan’s Foreign Ministry has summoned the Iranian Embassy’s charge d’affaires in Amman over attacks targeting Jordan and other Arab countries.

Jordan says it has intercepted dozens of Iranian missiles following the joint US-Israel attacks on Iran on Saturday.

There have been no casualties reported in Jordan.

The United States has yet to spell out a “day-after” strategy for Iran following ⁠joint US-Israeli strikes that killed much of the country’s ⁠leadership, lawmakers from both major political parties say.

Trump has called for a change in Iran’s government, which has entered a period of uncertainty following the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Saturday’s attack.

The strategy Trump has publicly outlined so far hinges largely on the hope that the Iranian people ⁠will rise up and determine their own future after decades of repression.

Republicans expressed optimism about the attacks, while Democrats were sceptical they would lead to a favourable outcome, but lawmakers on both sides were uncertain about the immediate future.

The foreign minister of Oman, who mediated recent talks between Iran and the US, says the “door to diplomacy remains open”, even after the second day of a massive US-Israel military campaign against the Islamic Republic.

“I want to be very clear – the door to diplomacy remains open,” Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi said on social media.

“Talks in Geneva made genuine progress towards an unprecedented agreement between Iran and the United States, and although the hope was to avoid war, war should not mean that the hope of peace is extinguished. I still believe in the power of diplomacy to resolve this conflict.”

Earlier on Sunday, al-Busaidi urged a ceasefire on a call with his Iranian counterpart, Abbas Araghchi.

I want to be very clear – the door to diplomacy remains open. Talks in Geneva made genuine progress towards an unprecedented agreement between Iran and the United States and although the hope was to avoid war, war should not mean that the hope of peace is extinguished. I still…

— Badr Albusaidi – بدر البوسعيدي (@badralbusaidi) March 1, 2026

US President Donald Trump says the military operation against Iran may take up to four weeks.

“It’s always been a four-week process. We figured it will be four weeks or so,” he told British newspaper the Daily Mail, in his 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.

Trump ⁠told the newspaper he remained open to more talks with the Iranians, but ⁠did not say if that would ⁠happen “soon”.

“I don’t know. They want to talk, but I said, ‘You should ‌have talked last week, not this week’.”

France, Germany, and the United Kingdom say they’re ready to defend their interests and those of allies in the Gulf, if necessary, by taking “defensive action” against Iran.

The three countries’ leaders are “appalled by the indiscriminate and disproportionate missile attacks launched by Iran against countries in the region, including those who were not involved in initial US and Israeli military operations”, the joint statement said.

“We will take steps to defend our interests and those of our allies in the region, potentially through enabling necessary and proportionate defensive action to destroy Iran’s capability to fire missiles and drones at their source,” it added.

Saudi Arabian Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman Al Saud has held a phone call with Major-General Sheikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Bahrain’s national security adviser.

“We discussed the Iranian aggression that targeted the Kingdom and the sisterly Kingdom of Bahrain and countries, and we affirmed our solidarity against any violations that affect our security and stability,” Al Saud said in a post on social media.

Earlier in the day, he spoke with Sheikh Saud bin Abdulrahman bin Hassan Al Thani, Qatar’s deputy prime minister and defence minister, and Sheikh Abdullah Ali Abdullah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, Kuwait’s defence minister.

أجريتُ اتصالًا هاتفيًا بأخي سمو الفريق الركن الشيخ ناصر بن حمد آل خليفة مستشار الأمن الوطني قائد الحرس الملكي الأمين العام لمجلس الدفاع الأعلى البحريني.
بحثنا العدوان الإيراني الذي استهدف المملكة ومملكة البحرين والدول الشقيقة، وأكدنا تضامننا ضد أي انتهاكات تمس أمننا واستقرارنا.

— Khalid bin Salman خالد بن سلمان (@kbsalsaud) March 1, 2026

The European Union’s top diplomat has warned that the Middle East “stands to lose greatly from any drawn-out war”, while urging Tehran to refrain from indiscriminate attacks in retaliation for US-Israeli air strikes on Iran.

“The events unfolding in Iran must not lead to an escalation that could threaten the Middle East, Europe and beyond with unpredictable consequences also in the economic sphere,” Kaja Kallas said in a statement.

“We call for maximum ⁠restraint, protection of civilians and full respect of international law including the principles of the United Nations Charter and international humanitarian law.”

She spoke on behalf of the EU’s 27-member nations after an emergency meeting of foreign ministers.