Overview
- Overnight strikes in Tehran ignited a major fuel depot, killing four oil company workers and blanketing the city in smoke, while President Masoud Pezeshkian vowed to step up attacks on U.S. bases; at least 1,230 people have been reported killed in Iran since the conflict began.
- The Israel Defense Forces warned it will target whoever becomes Iran’s new supreme leader and those involved in the selection, as Iran’s Assembly of Experts said it has decided on a successor without naming the choice.
- Iran’s Revolutionary Guard claimed drone and missile attacks on U.S.-linked sites in the UAE, including near Al Dhafra and Dubai where one person died, while Bahrain reported a drone strike on a desalination plant that injured three and the UAE publicized interceptions of incoming drones.
- Tehran’s leadership rift widened after Pezeshkian’s apology to Gulf states was scrubbed following backlash from IRGC commanders and hardliners, with senior officials insisting strikes will continue if attacks on Iran are launched from regional bases.
- India said more than 52,000 citizens returned from Gulf countries between March 1 and 7 as flights partly resumed, U.S. and South Korean forces opened the Freedom Shield drills, and media reports—unconfirmed by officials—described U.S.–Israeli planning for elite ground raids inside Iran.