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India has activated emergency evacuation and support mechanisms for its citizens stranded in the Gulf as the widening Iran war continues to disrupt aviation routes across the region, with nearly 1,000 Indians departing Doha over the past three days on Qatar Airways flights , according to the Embassy of India in Qatar. File Photo Via fl360aero on X In an advisory issued Monday evening, the embassy said more than 300 Indian passengers flew from Doha to New Delhi earlier in the day , part of an ongoing effort to clear stranded travellers affected by flight disruptions linked to the regional conflict . The embassy said Qatar Airways had cooperated closely with Indian authorities , helping facilitate the departures of Indians who had been stranded in transit or on short-term visits as air routes across the Gulf face operational challenges . Additional flights are being planned to help evacuate more travellers. According to the advisory, three Qatar Airways flights to Delhi, Mumbai and ...

The expanding war triggered by the U.S.–Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28 has now killed more than 1,600 people across the Middle East , with multiple countries drawn into the conflict and governments around the world scrambling to cushion their economies from soaring energy prices and supply disruptions. Representational Image Via: Ideologix on X The deadliest toll has been reported in Iran , where at least 1,230 people have been killed , according to figures cited by the humanitarian organisation Iranian Red Crescent Society. Among the casualties were 175 schoolgirls and school staff killed in a missile strike on a primary school in Minab on the first day of the war. Iranian military officials also said 104 sailors were killed when a U.S. submarine sank an Iranian warship off the coast of Sri Lanka last week, though those deaths were not included in the Red Crescent’s overall casualty figure. The conflict has also caused fatalities in Israel, where authorities say two soldiers...

The United Nations cultural agency UNESCO has warned that the escalating war across the Middle East is placing World Heritage sites, schools, media institutions and fragile ecosystems at growing risk, as the conflict spreads across multiple countries and continues to cause large-scale civilian casualties and displacement. U.S.-Israeli strikes on Isfahan; Via: Assal Rad In a statement issued as fighting intensifies across the region, UNESCO said it was “deeply concerned over the protection of education, culture, media and the environment amid the escalation of hostilities in the Middle East and beyond.” The organisation said the situation has deteriorated rapidly since the outbreak of hostilities on February 28, warning that several sites of global cultural significance have already been affected. “Since the outbreak of hostilities on 28 February , several sites of cultural significance, including the Golestan Palace in Iran, the White City of Tel Aviv in Israel, and Tyre in Leban...

Iran has named Mojtaba Khamenei , the son of the slain supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei , as the country’s new supreme leader , state media reported Monday, marking a pivotal moment in the rapidly escalating Middle East war that has already spread across multiple countries and pushed global oil prices above $100 per barrel . Image Source: Iran in India Mojtaba Khamenei was selected by Iran’s Assembly of Experts , the 88-member body of senior clerics responsible for appointing the country’s supreme leader, following the killing of his father in U.S.–Israeli strikes earlier in the conflict . The appointment places the younger Khamenei at the center of Iran’s military and political response to the war, as the country’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) answers directly to the supreme leader and plays a central role in directing Iran’s regional strategy. The announcement came as U.S. President Donald Trump issued a warning about Tehran’s new leadership , and said the ...

India has ramped up aviation operations to bring back stranded travellers from West Asia as the escalating regional war continues to disrupt airspace across the Gulf and surrounding regions. According to an update issued by the Ministry of Civil Aviation , Indian carriers are planning around 50 flights on March 9 from airports across the Gulf to assist passengers attempting to return home amid the rapidly evolving security situation. Ambassador Deepak Mittal at the passport and consular service centre at Al Reem. File Photo: MEA The ministry said it was closely monitoring the airspace environment across West Asia and working with airlines to ensure passenger safety while maintaining orderly flight operations. Passenger movement data from March 7 shows that 51 inbound flights operated by Indian carriers arrived in India carrying 8,175 passengers from the region. Airlines including Air India, Air India Express, IndiGo, SpiceJet and Akasa Air have been operating services from key Gulf h...

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam has said his government considers Hezbollah’s military and security activities illegal and remains open to negotiations aimed at ending the war, even as Israeli strikes continue across Lebanon and hundreds of thousands of civilians have been displaced. In remarks published from an interview with the French-language newspaper L’Orient-Le Jour , Salam said Lebanon’s cabinet had formally declared that Hezbollah’s armed operations were unlawful and reaffirmed the state’s long-term objective of placing all weapons under government control. File Photo Via Nawaf Salam “Our position is clear and we will not change our course,” Salam said, and noted that the cabinet, with the participation of the president and the backing of a majority of ministers, had concluded that Hezbollah’s military activities were illegal and must cease. The Lebanese leader said the government was prepared to resume negotiations under an internationally supervised framework that wou...

India told Parliament on Monday that dialogue and diplomacy remain the only viable path to de-escalate the widening war in West Asia, with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar warning that the conflict poses serious risks to global energy flows , shipping routes and the safety of millions of Indians living in the Gulf region. Addressing both the hoses of the Parliament separately amid loud protests from opposition benches, Jaishankar said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was closely monitoring developments while multiple ministries were coordinating responses to the fast-evolving security situation in the Middle East. Image Source: ANI Screengrab of Sansad TV on X “Our government had issued a statement expressing deep concern and urging all sides to exercise restraint,” Jaishankar said . “We continue to believe that dialogue and diplomacy should be pursued to de-escalate the tensions.” The minister said stability in West Asia remained vital for India’s economic interests, given th...

✍️ Written by Saket Suman Nine days into the expanding war involving Iran, Israel, United States and Western allies, the conflict is no longer confined to military targets. Civilian deaths, migrant worker casualties, diplomatic scrambling and tightening information controls inside Iran are together revealing how rapidly the war is widening across the region. The United States confirmed that a seventh American service member has died during Operation Epic Fury, after succumbing to injuries sustained during Iran’s initial wave of attacks across the Middle East. According to United States Central Command, the soldier had been critically wounded during an attack on American troops stationed in Saudi Arabia on March 1, underscoring the continuing risk to US forces deployed across Gulf bases. Image Via: United States Central Command The war has also begun claiming foreign civilian lives in the Gulf. A projectile that struck a residential area in Al...

Lebanon’s government has moved to coordinate relief operations and stabilise essential supplies as the regional conflict continues to place pressure on the country’s economy and humanitarian infrastructure. Image Via: grandserail Prime Minister Nawaf Salam held a series of meetings at the Grand Serail in Beirut with senior officials and private sector representatives to address the emerging challenges created by the escalating war across the region. In one meeting, Salam met Hashem Haidar, head of Lebanon’s South Council, and the chief of the country’s Disaster Management Unit at the Saraya Zahi Shaheen, alongside Finance Minister Yassin Jaber and Social Affairs Minister Hanin Al-Sayed, to coordinate relief and emergency response efforts. The discussions focused on strengthening cooperation between government agencies responsible for disaster response and humanitarian assistance as the security situation along Lebanon’s southern front remains volatile. Separately, the prime mini...