Benjamin Netanyahu

March 1, 2026 6:02 PM

Israel says its air force strikes Tehran again after killing Khamenei but many targets remain

Israel said it launched a broad wave of strikes in central Tehran on Sunday and was seeking to dominate the skies over the capital, after its air force killed Iran's supreme leader in a large-scale assault that has raised fears of widening instability in the Middle East. Over the past day Israel's air force conducted strikes to open the "path to Tehran", and the Israeli military said the majority of aerial defence systems in western and central Iran had been dismantled. Israeli military spokes...

March 1, 2026 5:11 PM

MEA advises foreign nationals to contact FRRO for visa assistance amid West Asia crisis

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Sunday issued an advisory asking foreign nationals in India who have been affected by the ongoing security situation in West Asia to approach the nearest Foreigners Regional Registration Office (FRRO) for assistance with visa extensions or regularisation of stay. The MEA said, “All foreign nationals in India, who have had to change their travel plans due to the ongoing developments in the West Asia region and need assistance with extension of their vi...

March 1, 2026 4:24 PM

In polarised Iran, Khamenei’s death triggers celebrations and grief

Some Iranians grieved while others celebrated the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, exposing a deep fault line in a country stunned by the sudden demise of the man who ruled for 36 years. Iranian state TV announced his death in the early hours of Sunday, the voice of the broadcaster breaking with emotion as he confirmed Khamenei had been killed in the U.S.-Israeli attack on Saturday. Footage from Tehran showed mourners packed into a square, dressed in black and many of them weepin...

March 1, 2026 4:15 PM

In Khamenei’s absence, pragmatist Larijani emerges as power broker in Iran

Veteran Iranian politician Ali Larijani, who said on Sunday a temporary leadership council would be set up after an air strike killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, reemerged last year as one of the most powerful figures in the security hierarchy. He has been managing a broad portfolio from nuclear negotiations to Tehran’s regional ties to its violent suppression of internal unrest. An establishment insider who hails from one of the country's leading clerical families, Larijani had b...

March 1, 2026 4:10 PM

PV Sindhu stranded at Dubai airport amid Middle East crisis

India's double Olympic medallist PV Sindhu said that she was left stranded at Dubai airport on her way to the All England Open badminton tournament after the flight operations were suspended in the city as a result of the ongoing conflict in the region. Explosions were heard across the Gulf as Iran responded to U.S. and Israeli airstrikes, with blasts in the United Arab Emirates' capital of Abu Dhabi and Dubai, leading to Dubai International Airport suspending all flights. “To everyone who h...

March 1, 2026 1:36 PM

Trump’s Iran strikes mark his biggest foreign policy gamble

With his large-scale attack on Iran, Donald Trump has seized a legacy-defining moment to demonstrate his readiness to exercise raw U.S. military power. But in doing so, he is also taking the biggest foreign policy gamble of his presidency, one fraught with risks and unknowns. Trump joined with Israel to plunge into war against Iran, and after a day of air strikes announced on Saturday that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had been killed, which would mark a major achievement for the operat...

March 1, 2026 1:37 PM

Explainer: Why is the US attacking Iran?

The United States and Israel launched their most ambitious attacks on Iran in decades on Saturday in an operation that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The biggest foreign-policy gamble of U.S. President Donald Trump's presidency comes after he campaigned for reelection as a "peace president" and after saying he preferred a diplomatic solution to the standoff with Iran. Trump did not make a sustained case to the American people before acting, but addressed the issue briefly in his ...

March 1, 2026 12:23 PM

What is the Strait of Hormuz and why is it so important for oil?

The United States and Israel attacked Iran on Saturday in a development that could lead to a closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a major oil export route, for days. Below are details about the strait: WHAT IS THE STRAIT OF HORMUZ? The strait lies between Oman and Iran and links the Gulf north of it with the Gulf of Oman to the south and the Arabian Sea beyond. It is 21 miles (33 km) wide at its narrowest point, with the shipping lane just 2 miles (3 km) wide in either direction. WHY DOES IT MAT...

March 1, 2026 12:13 PM

Ahead of strikes, Trump was told Iran attack is high risk, high reward

Ahead of the U.S. attack on Iran, President Donald Trump received briefings that not only delivered blunt assessments about the risk of major U.S. casualties but also touted the prospect of a geopolitical shift in the Middle East in favor of U.S. interests, a U.S. official told Reuters. The launch of what the Pentagon called Operation Epic Fury on Saturday plunged the Middle East into a new and unpredictable conflict. The U.S. and Israeli militaries struck sites across Iran, triggering retaliat...

March 1, 2026 12:02 PM

US tells Lebanon: Israel won’t escalate if no hostile acts come from Lebanese side

Lebanon's presidency said on Saturday it had been told by the U.S. ambassador that Israel would not escalate against Lebanon as long as there are no hostile acts from the Lebanese side, following the launch of U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran. Lebanon's Shi'ite Muslim armed group Hezbollah, long one of Tehran's principal allies in the Middle East, expressed solidarity with Iran on Saturday but stopped short of saying whether it would get involved. In its statement, Hezbollah said the U.S.-Israeli ...