Interim summary
Thank you for following along with our live coverage so far today.
The fighting continued in Lebanon, with Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, and Israel Katz, the Israeli defence minister, approving a military ground incursion into the southern part of the country and the Israeli military issuing new evacuation orders for dozens of locations in Lebanon. On Tuesday morning, the Israeli air force said it was attacking Tehran and Beirut simultaneously with “extensive strikes” against the Iranian regime and Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militant group in Lebanon that said it launched drones at northern Israel. Israeli airstrikes have killed 52 people and displaced at least 30,000 in Lebanon.
Israeli and US warplanes launched a fresh wave of strikes across Iran, where the Iranian Red Crescent Society said at least 787 people had been killed since the conflict began.
The International Atomic Energy Agency on Tuesday confirmed that the entrance buildings of Iran’s Natanz Fuel Enrichment Plant sustained some damage in the recent strikes.
Casualties and destruction were reported across at least nine countries, with the United Arab Emirates recording a total of 186 missiles and 812 drones sent toward the country since the start of the conflict and two ports in Oman targeted in drone strikes today.
The US embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia was hit by a drone strike, causing a fire to break out. The strike came as the state department urged that all US citizens leave more than a dozen Middle Eastern countries due to risks related to ongoing escalations that have pushed the region into chaos. The 14 countries included in the warning were Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel and the Palestinian territories, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
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Updated at 14.01 GMT
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Israel’s Magen David Adom (MDA) emergency services said they were treating seven people with injuries following the latest salvo of missiles fired from Iran.
“At three scenes in central Israel, MDA paramedics and EMTs are providing medical treatment to 7 injured people, including: a woman around 40 years old in moderate condition with blast injuries, and 6 additional casualties in mild condition suffering from glass shrapnel and blast-related injuries,” an MDA statement said.
Israeli police said officers were operating at several sites in the central and Tel Aviv districts where shrapnel had fallen.
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Updated at 13.54 GMT
Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva has cast doubt on the prospect of negotiations with the United States on Tuesday, three days after the US and Israel launched join strikes on the country.
“For the time being we are very doubtful about the usefulness of negotiation,” Ali Bahreini, ambassador of the Iranian mission to the UN in Geneva, told reporters.
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Tens of thousands of people left stranded in the Middle East as conflict complicates routes home
Tens of thousands of people are stranded across the Middle East and awaiting evacuation as the Iran war spreads throughout the region.
Major airlines have cancelled flights to and from the region and airspace across the Gulf is closed. Some of those who are stuck have been forced to seek shelter amid airstrikes , while others are stuck on cruise ships that currently cannot sail through the Strait of Hormuz, AP reports.
The US State Department urged all US citizens to leave more than a dozen Middle Eastern countries over the safety risk with the ongoing escalations that have dragged the region into significant chaos.
In Israel, the US ambassador told Americans there that the best way to leave is through Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula.
In Italy, the government has assisted with flights to Milan and Rome in the wake of mounting criticism against defence minister Guido Crosetto. The minister sparked a political controversy at home after being stuck in Dubai with his family during the initial phase of the US-Israeli attack on Iran.
Meanwhile, an estimated 30,000 German tourists remained on cruise ships, in hotels or at closed airports in the Middle East, and the first plane from Dubai to Frankfurt, Germany, was expected to land Tuesday afternoon.
France is also trying to organise the return of thousands of French people, the country’s foreign affairs minister said Tuesday. An estimated 200,000 French people live in the region affected by the conflict, and authorities believe roughly 25,000 French citizens are currently visiting the area.
The evacuation of Spaniards is already under way by land and air, and the country expects a first group of 175 citizens to land in Madrid from Abu Dhabi on Tuesday afternoon, Spanish foreign minister Jose Manuel Albares told reporters.
South Korea confirmed it had evacuated 23 nationals from Iran, while the UK’s foreign secretary Yvette Cooper said 130,000 British nationals have registered their presence in the Middle East.
A British government charter flight is to take off from Muscat, the capital of Oman, “in the coming days” she also told the Commons.
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UK considering sending warship to Cyprus to defend RAF airbase
Dan Sabbagh
John Healey, the British defence secretary, is considering sending Royal Navy destroyer HMS Duncan to Cyprus to help defend the Akrotiri RAF airbase from any future drone attacks.
Though a final decision has not been made, multiple sources said a deployment of the warship, currently in Portsmouth, was under discussion as a way to better protect the base in Cyprus.
HMS Duncan is specialised in counter drone operations and last month was engaged on a test exercise off the coast of Wales facing swarms of drones, before hosting a family day on Friday.
No major Navy warships are currently in or have been sent to the Middle East, even though the conflict is now in its fourth day, while concerns have been raised about the ease of which Akrotiri’s air defences were breached.
One drone, thought by Cypriot authorities to have been flown from Hezbollah controlled territory in Lebanon, crashed on to the runway at around midnight yesterday and two other drones were intercepted thereafter.
It would take several days for the HMS Duncan to reach Cyprus from Portsmouth as it travels at about 30 knots (34.5mph).
This is a cross-post from our live coverage on UK politics. For more, click here.
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Interim summary
Thank you for following along with our live coverage so far today.
The fighting continued in Lebanon, with Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, and Israel Katz, the Israeli defence minister, approving a military ground incursion into the southern part of the country and the Israeli military issuing new evacuation orders for dozens of locations in Lebanon. On Tuesday morning, the Israeli air force said it was attacking Tehran and Beirut simultaneously with “extensive strikes” against the Iranian regime and Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militant group in Lebanon that said it launched drones at northern Israel. Israeli airstrikes have killed 52 people and displaced at least 30,000 in Lebanon.
Israeli and US warplanes launched a fresh wave of strikes across Iran, where the Iranian Red Crescent Society said at least 787 people had been killed since the conflict began.
The International Atomic Energy Agency on Tuesday confirmed that the entrance buildings of Iran’s Natanz Fuel Enrichment Plant sustained some damage in the recent strikes.
Casualties and destruction were reported across at least nine countries, with the United Arab Emirates recording a total of 186 missiles and 812 drones sent toward the country since the start of the conflict and two ports in Oman targeted in drone strikes today.
The US embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia was hit by a drone strike, causing a fire to break out. The strike came as the state department urged that all US citizens leave more than a dozen Middle Eastern countries due to risks related to ongoing escalations that have pushed the region into chaos. The 14 countries included in the warning were Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel and the Palestinian territories, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
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Updated at 14.01 GMT
UAE air defences tallied 186 missiles, 812 drones launched toward country since start of conflict
The United Arab Emirates and its air defences have dealt with 186 missiles launched toward the country since the start of the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, the UAE Ministry of Defence said Tuesday.
Brigadier General Abdul Nasser Mohammed Al-Humaidi, a defence spokesperson, said only one missile fell on the country’s territories – the UAE’s air defences were able to intercept 172 missiles while 13 fell into the sea.
Air defences also detected 812 Iranian drones flown at the UAE, 57 of which fell within the country’s territory.
In addition to the 755 remaining drones that air defences were able to intercept, the UAE also detected and destroyed eight cruise missiles.
In total, three people were killed in the UAE since the start of the conflict, the spokesman said. There have been 68 cases of minor injuries as well as some minor to moderate damage to civilian facitilies.
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Drone crashes near Salalah port in Oman
Two drones were shot down on Tuesday above the Dhofar governorate in southern Oman with a third falling near the vicinity of Salalah port, according to state-run media Oman News Agency.
There were no casualties or damages.
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Amid soaring energy prices, QatarEnergy to halt production of some downstream products
QatarEnergy, the state-owned energy company, announced Tuesday that it was going to halt production on some downstream products including urea, polymers, methanol and aluminum.
The company previously announced that it had halted production of liquefied natural gas (LNG) after attacks on facilities in Ras Laffan and Mesaieed. QatarEnergy is one of the biggest producers of LNG in the world.
QatarEnergy to stop downstream production
Further to the decision by QatarEnergy to stop production of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and associated products, QatarEnergy is stopping the production of some downstream products in the State of Qatar, including urea, polymers,…
— QatarEnergy (@qatarenergy) March 3, 2026
Gas and oil prices have risen worldwide amid the turmoil in the Middle East, with a halt on shipping in the strait of Hormuz and attacks on refineries throughout the region threatening supplies.
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Iran’s women’s team decline to sing national anthem before Asian Cup tie
Tom Garry
Iran’s women’s football team declined to sing their national anthem ahead of their opening match of the Asian Cup in Australia on Monday, their first fixture since the war in the Middle East began.
Every member of the team stood silently, facing straight ahead, during the anthem prior to kick-off in their Group A match against South Korea, who went on to win 3-0 at the Gold Coast Stadium in Queensland. Iran’s head coach, Marziyeh Jafari, and her players declined to comment on either the war or the death of their long-serving leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, when asked by the media.
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At least 30,000 displaced in Lebanon, UN says
With the conflict in the Middle East spreading to Lebanon – the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah launched missiles and drones toward Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s supreme leader and the Israeli military responded with heavy airstrikes and a ground incursion – at least 30,000 people have been displaced, according to the United Nations.
AFP reports that Babar Baloch, spokesman for the UN refugee agency, said that “conservartive estimates” suggest that nearly 30,000 people were hosted and registered at shelters, with many more forced to sleep in their cars on the side of roads.
On Tuesday, Israeli defence minister Israel Katz said that he and Benjamin Netanyahu approved for the IDF to advance and seize additional areas in Lebanon in order to prevent any more rockets launched at Israeli border settlements.
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IAEA confirms damage to Iran’s Natanz nuclear site
The International Atomic Energy Agency has confirmed that the entrance buildings of Iran’s Natanz Fuel Enrichment Plant sustained some damage in the recent strikes.
However, there was no additional impact detected at the nuclear facility itself, nor were any radiological consequences expected, said the IAEA, which made its assessment based on the latest available satellite imagery.
The underground nuclear facility had been “severely damaged” in the June strikes, the IAEA said.
Based on the latest available satellite imagery, IAEA can now confirm some recent damage to entrance buildings of Iran’s underground Natanz Fuel Enrichment Plant (FEP). No radiological consequence expected and no additional impact detected at FEP itself, which was severely… pic.twitter.com/7CS7BRZo1s
— IAEA – International Atomic Energy Agency ⚛️ (@iaeaorg) March 3, 2026
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Iranian Red Crescent updates death toll to 787
The Iranian Red Crescent has updated the total death toll in the US-Israeli war on Iran to 787, a more than 40% increase from the humanitarian relief organisation’s earlier numbers.
However, in its latest update, the Norway-based human rights group Hengaw said the death toll on day three had reached at least 1,500, including 200 civilians and 1,300 members of the Iranian forces.
There have been at 1,039 recordeed attacks on 504 locations, according to the Iranian Red Crescent.
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