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Signs of divergence are now emerging between Washington and Tel Aviv over the political endgame of the expanding war with Iran, even as U.S. and Israeli forces continue coordinated military operations targeting Iranian missile systems, naval assets and military infrastructure. In the early hours of the conflict, both U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had publicly framed the campaign as one that could ultimately lead to the fall of Iran’s current leadership. But subsequent statements from Washington have suggested a more limited military objective.  Image Via: Netanyah u on X Speaking at the White House two days after the strikes that killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and several senior figures, Trump said the primary U.S. goals were to destroy Iran’s missile capabilities, weaken its naval forces and prevent Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth echoed that position at a Pentagon briefing ear...

Israel has widened its strike campaign inside Iran on Wednesday, and targeted security and internal control forces in Tehran after it earlier hit a building in Qom linked by Iranian media to the clerical panel charged with selecting Iran’s next supreme leader, as Iran’s Revolutionary Guard launched a fresh volley of ballistic missiles and Iran-backed groups signaled potential new fronts across the region. Representational Image Via: IDF The Israeli military said it carried out a series of strikes across Tehran aimed at the Basij and other internal security-related buildings. It described the targets as part of Iran’s security apparatus that has suppressed protests in the past.  Iranian semiofficial outlets also reported an airstrike in the holy city of Qom that hit a building they linked to the Assembly of Experts, the body tasked under Iranian law with choosing a successor to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed at the start of the war. Iranian reports said there ...

✍️ Written by Saket Suman India’s political divide over the US–Israel–Iran war has sharpened as the Congress and Left parties have accused the Modi government of “silence” and “moral cowardice” over the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei , while the government has simultaneously expanded high-level outreach to Gulf leaders , activated trade and energy contingency mechanisms , and reiterated that dialogue and diplomacy are the only viable path to restore regional stability. Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi, in an opinion piece in a mainstream daily, argued that New Delhi’s lack of a clear response to the assassination of Khamenei amounted to an “abdication” rather than neutrality and risked normalising targeted killings as instruments of statecraft.  File Photo; Via: LoP Raga She framed the killing of a sitting leader during a diplomatic process as a rupture in contemporary international relations and...

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Tuesday made a public appeal for news organizations to help amplify emergency contact information for Americans trying to leave the Middle East, saying thousands may still be in affected areas as airspace closures and ongoing missile and drone attacks complicate evacuation efforts.  File Photo Via Sec R u bio His plea came amid fresh security incidents in the Gulf, including an Iranian drone strike near the U.S. consulate in Dubai, and as the United Arab Emirates disclosed that it has intercepted hundreds of incoming drones and missiles since the conflict escalated — underscoring the volatile environment facing civilians and diplomatic personnel across the region. Rubio said the State Department believes roughly 1,500 Americans remain in affected areas and is working to assist them, though evacuations are complicated by widespread airspace closures.  “We know that we’re going to be able to help them,” Rubio said, adding that officials do ...

U.S. President Donald Trump said Tuesday he has ordered the United States International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to provide political risk insurance and financial guarantees for maritime trade moving through the Gulf, and signaled that the U.S. Navy could begin escorting tankers through the Strait of Hormuz if necessary. Representational Image: NY Post In a public statement, Trump said the directive takes effect immediately and is intended to safeguard the financial security of all maritime trade, particularly energy shipments transiting the Gulf. He said the insurance and guarantees would be available to all shipping lines at what he described as a reasonable price. Trump added that if conditions require, the U.S. Navy will begin escorting tankers through the Strait of Hormuz “as soon as possible,” asserting that the United States will ensure the free flow of energy to global markets. He described U.S. economic and military capacity as sufficient to uphold that object...

✍️ Written by Saket Suman The widening confrontation following U.S.–Israeli strikes on Iran has rapidly evolved beyond a bilateral military clash into a sprawling proxy conflict stretching across multiple countries, armed groups and political theatres. This is a transformation that may ultimately define the trajectory of the war more than frontline combat itself. As consistently reported by IndianRepublic.in in its ongoing coverage , the most significant escalation since the initial strikes has been the entry of Iran-aligned militias and regional actors into active hostilities, that has created overlapping fronts from Lebanon and Iraq to the Gulf and eastern Mediterranean. What began as targeted military operations has now become a decentralized conflict involving state and non-state actors operating simultaneously across borders. File Photo of IDF attack on ammunition warehouses; Via: Open Source Intel The shift became unmistakable when Hezb...

Governments across Europe, North America, South Asia and the Middle East are scrambling to evacuate their citizens as the widening Iran war has shut large swaths of Gulf airspace, disrupted commercial aviation and left tens of thousands stranded, while leaders in Washington debated the war’s objectives even as international watchdogs sought to calm fears over nuclear risks. Chancellor Merz meets US President Trump; Via: Foc u s Online From Romanian pilgrims to tourists and diplomats’ families, foreign nationals have struggled to leave Israel, Lebanon and parts of the Gulf as major airlines canceled flights and regional airspace closures narrowed exit options.  Some evacuees described fear as missiles and drones crossed the skies, followed by relief upon reaching neighboring countries by land. Israel announced that Ben-Gurion Airport would reopen for limited incoming repatriation flights beginning early Thursday, initially allowing one passenger flight per hour, as governments coord...

Britain is reinforcing its military posture in the eastern Mediterranean after an Iran-made drone struck the Royal Air Force base at Akrotiri in Cyprus, which has now prompted Prime Minister Keir Starmer to announce the deployment of the air-defense destroyer HMS Dragon and counter-drone capable helicopters to the region.  The move comes as the conflict widens beyond direct Israel–Iran exchanges as Israeli forces have expanded airstrikes into southern Lebanon, targeting areas including the port city of Sidon; maritime disruptions linked to Iranian retaliation have sharply constrained tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, pressuring global oil markets; and major international actors from China to Ukraine are recalibrating their diplomatic and military strategies in response to the spreading instability. Image Via: Keir Starmer Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the U.K. will send the air-defense destroyer HMS Dragon and helicopters equipped with counter-drone capabilities to th...

Israel’s military on Tuesday evening (IST) issued an urgent public evacuation warning in Persian to residents and workers in Tehran’s Hakimiya industrial area, stating that it would conduct operations targeting what it described as Iranian military infrastructure in the coming hours. Location Source: IDF FARSI In a post published by its Farsi-language account, the Israeli army warned individuals located in the red-designated zone shown on an attached map to immediately leave the area. The message said the military had conducted similar operations in recent days in the Tehran region and would continue targeting infrastructure linked to the Iranian regime. “Your presence in this area puts your life in danger,” the statement said, urging civilians to evacuate for their safety. The warning marks a significant escalation in public military messaging, with Israel directly addressing Iranian civilians in Persian ahead of planned strikes inside the capital. It comes amid intensified Israeli ai...

✍️ Written by Saket Suman India on Tuesday intensified its diplomatic outreach and economic preparedness measures as the West Asia conflict widened, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaking to leaders of Oman, Kuwait and Qatar, the External Affairs Minister engaging European counterparts, and key ministries reviewing trade, defence and energy contingencies. File Photo: PM NaMo The outreach followed the Ministry of External Affairs statement earlier in the day reiterating India’s concern over the deteriorating situation across Iran and the Gulf, the safety of nearly one crore Indian nationals in the region, and the need for dialogue and diplomacy to restore stability. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he spoke with Sultan Haitham bin Tarik of Oman and condemned what he described as the violation of Oman’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. He said both sides agreed that sustained diplomatic engagement was essential for the earliest restorat...

Saudi Arabia on Tuesday condemned what it described as a “flagrant Iranian attack” targeting the U.S. Embassy building in Riyadh , warning that repeated strikes on diplomatic premises violate international law and risk further regional escalation as the war expands across the Gulf. Image Source: KTRH News on X In a statement issued March 3, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia said the Kingdom rejects and condemns “in the strongest terms” the drone attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in the capital . Saudi authorities said earlier that two drones struck the embassy compound, causing a limited fire and minor damage. The statement said the repetition of such attacks constitutes a violation of international norms and laws, specifically referencing the 1949 Geneva Convention and the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which grant immunity to diplomatic premises and personnel even during armed conflict. The Kingdom also emphasized that despite its...

India on Tuesday urged an early end to the expanding West Asia conflict , warning that the deteriorating security situation across Iran and the Gulf directly affects nearly one crore Indian citizens living and working in the region, as well as India’s trade and energy supply chains. File Photo; Via: FM In a statement issued in New Delhi on March 3, Official Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs Randhir Jaiswal said India had expressed deep concern at the start of the conflict on February 28 and had called for restraint, de-escalation and prioritization of civilian safety. He said the situation has since “deteriorated significantly and continuously,” even as the holy month of Ramadan is underway. Statement by the Official Spokesperson on the ongoing conflict in the West Asia region ⬇️ https://t.co/s1Qm6xIqbS — Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia) March 3, 2026 The spokesperson said the conflict has intensified in recent days and spread to other nations, resulting in mounting destruct...

Iran has launched a second wave of missiles toward Israel within about 90 minutes on Tuesday, the Israeli military confirmed, as Hezbollah declared it would enter an “open war” with Israel and a fire broke out at the Fujairah port in the United Arab Emirates following a drone interception. The Israeli military confirmed that missiles were launched from Iran toward Israeli territory for the second time in roughly an hour and a half. The announcement came amid heightened regional tensions after days of cross-border strikes and retaliatory attacks that have already drawn in Lebanon and multiple Gulf states. Damage to the Hezbollah-owned Al-Nour radio building in Dahieh; Via: Agoraphobic Journalist In Beirut, senior Hezbollah official Mahmoud Komati said the group would no longer exercise restraint and would return to armed confrontation with Israel. In comments released by Hezbollah’s media office, Komati has said that after more than a year of observing a ceasefire that ended the previou...

✍️ Written by Saket Suman The widening war involving Iran, Israel and the United States has revealed that control over connectivity, not territory, is emerging as the primary strategic battleground. Across West Asia, airports, shipping lanes, energy infrastructure and airspace corridors have become central pressure points, and have transformed a regional military confrontation into a global economic disruption with immediate consequences for travel, trade and energy markets. What distinguishes the current crisis is not simply the scale of military action but the systematic disruption of systems that enable globalization. As reported repeatedly by IndianRepublic.in , missile and drone attacks, defensive interceptions and precautionary closures forced Gulf aviation authorities to shut or restrict large portions of regional airspace, and triggered one of the most severe aviation shocks since the COVID-19 pandemic. File Photo Via U.S. Central Command ...

Iran’s Natanz nuclear enrichment site has sustained “some recent damage” during the ongoing U.S.-Israeli airstrike campaign, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog said Tuesday, while stressing that no radiological consequences are expected from the impact. Representational Image Via EasternVoices on X The International Atomic Energy Agency said the damage at Natanz was concentrated on entrance buildings to the underground portion of the facility.  The agency did not report any radiation leaks. Natanz, one of Iran’s most closely monitored nuclear sites, had previously been targeted during the 12-day Iran–Israel war in June. The disclosure came as the human toll inside Iran continued to rise. The Iranian Red Crescent Society said at least 787 people have been killed since the start of the U.S.-Israeli air campaign.  The updated figure marks a significant increase from earlier casualty reports and underscores the scale of the bombardment across multiple Iranian cities. Iranian sta...