Here's the latest
• US consulate in Dubai impacted: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said all personnel is accounted for after a drone hit the grounds of the US consulate in Dubai. A source told CNN it was suspected to be Iranian. The US earlier closed embassies in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Lebanon and warned Americans to leave some countries in the region.
• New strikes: US President Donald Trump said most of Iran’s military installations have been “knocked out” and that new strikes today targeted Iranian leadership. Israel also struck a compound belonging to a group responsible for electing Iran’s next supreme leader, an Israeli source told CNN.
• Iran death toll: At least 780 people have been killed by US and Israeli bombing across Iran, the semi-official Tasnim news agency reported, citing the Iranian Red Crescent.
• Oil markets roiled: The price of gasoline in the US just had its largest one-day increase since 2005, as vessels have effectively stopped going through the critical Strait of Hormuz. Oil continued to rise and stocks fell.
House Democratic leader says his caucus will discuss war powers in meeting
House Democrats will discuss the upcoming vote on President Donald Trump’s Iran war powers in tomorrow’s caucus meeting, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said.
It’s unclear whether the reslution can get across the line in the House.
Jeffries criticized the administration, saying there was no “imminent” threat based on the briefings he has attended.
“Having been briefed now, not once, but twice. There is no evidence that has been presented to us that the United States was under threat of imminent attack from Iran. Zero evidence of that,” he said.
Jeffries called the action illegal as Congress did not authorize the attack.
“The Constitution of the United States is not a mere inconvenience,” he said.
Israel detects new wave of incoming missiles from Iran
Israel’s military says it has identified a new wave of missiles heading toward the country launched from Iran.
It said its defense systems are working to intercept them.
The public has been instructed to take shelter until further notice.
Rubio says the US is identifying ways to help Americans leave the Middle East
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the State Department is actively working on efforts to assist Americans who want to leave the Middle East.
“We have identified and continue to identify charter flights, military flight options and expanded commercial flight options, meaning working with the airlines to send bigger airplanes with more seats,” Rubio told reporters on Capitol Hill today.
Rubio said that in “a couple instances” planes were on their way to the region before the airspace was closed and they had to turn around.
More than 1,500 Americans have requested assistance from the State Department to depart the Middle East, Rubio said.
“We know that we’re going to be able to help them. It’s going to take a little time, because we don’t control the airspace,” he said.
Rubio asked Americans to register with the State Department so they can get updated information about evacuation opportunities.
“We need to know where you are. … They have to register with us, because as these options begin to open up … we have to be able to call you, we have to be able to reach you,” Rubio said.
Americans should register with the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program at
step.state.gov.
The secretary of state’s comments come a day after the State Department’s top official for consular affairs called on US citizens to depart “using available commercial travel” from Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen. Only a limited number of commercial flights are operating in the region.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the attacks against Iran will intensify in the coming hours and days.
Israel calls on Lebanese government to restrain Hezbollah, warning of "further escalation"
Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations has called on Lebanon to “act now to prevent further escalation” in the country by restraining the Iranian-back militant group Hezbollah. His comments at the UN come as Israel has been carrying out near round-the-clock strikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, as it widened its campaign following its large-scale attacks on Iran.
“We expect the Lebanese Government to restrain Hezbollah. Take control, act now to prevent further escalation,” Ambassador Danny Danon said Tuesday in a news conference, arguing that the militant group has violated a UN resolution to disarm.
Danon also appeared to call on Iranian people to rise up against their government, echoing statements made by US officials, including US President Trump.
“I can tell you that there are a lot of brave people in Iran that live there. They deserve a better future. They were oppressed for generations, and now they have a chance. They have a chance, and should grab this chance,” Danon said.
What Lebanon has said: Salam said his government “will take all necessary measures to stop those responsible and protect the Lebanese people,” and already banned Hezbollah’s military activities.
All personnel accounted for after drone attack on US consulate grounds, Rubio says
A drone that attacked the grounds of the US consulate in Dubai hit a “parking lot adjacent to the chancellery building,” according to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
All personnel were accounted for, Rubio said, as many had left before the US-Israeli action against Iran had begun.
An Emirati official told CNN’s Erin Burnett that the consulate was closed at the time of the strike. Earlier, a source told CNN the drone hit the consulate grounds late on Tuesday night and was suspected to be Iranian.
A security alert issued Tuesday said both the US Embassy in Abu Dhabi and the consulate had “cancelled all appointments for US visas, American Citizen Services, and notary services through at least March 4.”
US government personnel in the UAE have been told to shelter in place, it added. “Do not come to the embassy or consulate for any reason,” the alert said.
Videos geolocated and verified by CNN show a black plume of smoke rising over the consulate building, visible from a considerable distance.
In a post on X, the Dubai Media Office later announced that the fire, caused by a “drone-related incident,” had been extinguished and no one had been hurt.
The United Arab Emirates Ministry of Defense says it has intercepted the vast majority of missiles and drones launched toward its territory since the start of the war. On Tuesday, it said that 812 Iranian drones had been detected, “of which 755 were intercepted, while 57 fell within the country.”
This post has been updated with additional information.
France orders nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to Mediterranean as Mideast war widens
French President Emmanuel Macron announced that France is deploying its nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle and its escort frigates to the Mediterranean as war spreads across the Middle East following US and Israeli strikes on Iran.
He said the United States and Israel had launched military operations against Iran “outside the framework of international law, which we cannot approve,” even as he sharply criticized Tehran, saying the Islamic Republic bears “primary responsibility” for regional instability.
Macron warned that strikes against Iran are expected to continue in the coming days and that retaliatory Iranian attacks across the region are also likely to persist.
Alongside Germany and the United Kingdom, he said France had called for an immediate halt to the strikes, stressing that “lasting peace in the region will only come through the resumption of diplomatic negotiations.”
France has also deployed Rafale fighter jets, air defense systems and airborne radar assets to protect allied airspace, and will maintain those measures “as long as necessary,” he said.
Not many other places to evacuate to, says mayor on Israel’s border with Lebanon
The mayor of a town on Israel’s northern border said there aren’t many other places to evacuate to as the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah escalates dramatically.
Stern mused that it might even be safer in his town, since Hezbollah is severely weakened, while other parts of the country have faced the greater threat of Iranian ballistic missiles.
Kiryat Shmona was forced to issue evacuation orders in October 2023 when Hezbollah launched rockets and drones at Israel following the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel. Now the Israeli military, which seized more locations in southern Lebanon, has vowed that it will not be forced to evacuate residents in the north again. Stern says most residents have stayed.
“I very much hope that now we will seize the opportunity and this time remove this threat posed by Hezbollah,” Stern told CNN. “Who knows? Maybe one day we’ll go back to the days of the ‘Good Fence,’” he said, a reference to the loose border that once existed between the two countries.
“We lived together. Today it sounds like science fiction.”
Iran's Assembly of Experts meeting virtually to select new supreme leader
Iran’s Assembly of Experts, the body tasked with choosing the country’s next supreme leader, has been meeting virtually, according to Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency.
The elected body of 88 senior clerics has been holding remote meetings after Israel struck compounds belonging to the assembly this week.
State media said US-Israeli strikes hit the Assembly of Experts compound in Tehran on Monday, and on Tuesday, Israeli military spokesman Effie Defrin confirmed a hit on the compound in Qom.
“The results of the strike are still being examined. If there are confirmed outcomes, we will provide updates accordingly,” Defrin said at a briefing.
No assembly session was being held in the building at the time of the strike, according to Fars.
The strikes come as Fars says the assembly is in the “final stages” of selecting a new supreme leader, though it is unclear when exactly the new leader will be announced.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei does not have an officially declared successor. With Khamenei gone, his powers have been temporarily transferred to a three-person council comprising the president, the head of the judiciary, and a senior cleric from the Guardian Council until a new supreme leader is chosen. The Guardian Council is a body of 12 jurists that oversees the activities of Iran’s parliament.
Satellite images show significant destruction of Iranian facilities in Tehran
Satellite images taken today show significant damage at Iranian government and military facilities, as well as a hospital.
Trump says he's ordered US to provide “insurance and guarantees” to ships traveling in Gulf
President Donald Trump said Tuesday he has ordered the United States International Development Finance Corporation to provide “insurance and guarantees” for ships traveling through the Persian Gulf while suggesting the US Navy would escort tankers through the Strait of Hormuz “if necessary.”
“Effective IMMEDIATELY, I have ordered the United States Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to provide, at a very reasonable price, political risk insurance and guarantees for the Financial Security of ALL Maritime Trade, especially Energy, traveling through the Gulf. This will be available to all Shipping Lines,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Iran this week threatened to attack vessels traveling through the strait, and some tankers have already come under attack in the area. A number of maritime insurers, including Skuld, Steamship Mutual and North Standard, notified clients that they have terminated coverage for any war-related damage in the surrounding waters.
“I don’t think Iran can shut down the Strait of Hormuz, but insurance companies and vessel operators can,” Tom Kloza, an independent oil analyst who advises Gulf Oil, previously told CNN.
Trump’s program would aim to cover ships that lost their insurance — without which they’d be saddled with the cost of any lost oil in an attack.
The strait has been effectively shut down as a result: Just two oil and chemical tankers transited it on Monday, according to S&P Global Commodities at Sea data shared with CNN. Typically, 60 vessels pass through the strait each day, carrying about 20% of the world’s oil flows.
Israel says it struck "covert" nuclear weapons development site in Iran
The Israeli military said it struck a “covert” underground compound that it claimed Iranian scientists were using to develop “necessary capabilities” for nuclear weapons.
The scientists began using the “Minzadehei” compound in northeastern Tehran after Israel damaged key Iranian nuclear sites during Operation Rising Lion in June, the Israel Defense Forces said.
The IDF added that the strike removes a key component in Iran’s ability to develop nuclear weapons.
Spain responds to Trump’s threat to cut trade: “We are a reliable partner”
Spain has defended its role in NATO after US President Donald Trump criticized the country’s defense spending and threatened to cut trade with it.
In a statement, Spain said that it “fulfills its commitments and makes a prominent contribution to the defense of European territory.” It described itself as “a reliable partner” for 195 countries, including the United States.
Spain said that if the Trump administration wanted to review the trade relationship, “it must do so with respect for the autonomy of private companies, international law, and the bilateral agreements between the European Union and the US.”
Spain added that it would work for free trade and economic cooperation between countries, based on mutual respect and compliance with international law, “because what the public asks for and deserves is more prosperity, not more problems.”
Americans in Gulf region criticize US response as they debate leaving or staying
Americans living in the Gulf tell CNN that they are frustrated by the US government’s response in the region, with some saying they prefer to stay in their adopted home while others are heeding the warning to leave.
In the United Arab Emirates in particular, several Americans tell CNN that they have more confidence in Abu Dhabi’s leadership than Washington’s.
Kiran Ali, the creator of a WhatsApp group chat with 800 American women living in Dubai, says the overwhelming sentiment from members is trust in the UAE, “coupled with a bit of (a) disturbed feeling towards the US for not fronting money for evacuation, for not doing more to make sure US citizens are safe.”
She said that the US State Department’s call to immediately evacuate the region, despite airspaces being broadly closed, conflicts with the guidance it continues to give on the phone to shelter in place.
Other Americans living in the UAE tell CNN they prefer the uncertainty of missile interceptions to the risk of their kids experiencing a mass school shooting in the US.
“The cynic in me knows that my daughter has more of a chance of being hit by a bullet in the US than a drone in Dubai, so we feel very comfortable about seeing this through,” one man said.
An American man living in Dubai, says he managed to leave the UAE via its land border with Oman, and was able to book a seat on a flight to Sri Lanka after searching for hours for a flight abroad. He said the State Department’s evacuation order “felt late.”
An American woman living in Saudi Arabia says today’s attack on the US embassy in Riyadh motivated her to try to fly back to the US via Africa and Europe.
They both said they wanted to return back to the Gulf as soon as possible.
Witkoff has not engaged in diplomacy with Iran following strikes, official says
Steve Witkoff, who has led US-Iran diplomatic negotiations in recent months, has not spoken with the Iranians or an interlocutor in the days since the US and Israel launched strikes in Iran, a senior Trump administration official said today.
The comments reflect that the Trump administration has moved on from diplomatic efforts, at least for now, while carrying out military strikes in Iran.
“This is a military action, and it’s got to run its course,” the official said.
Witkoff has not spoken with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in the days “since this thing went kinetic” the official said, which is notable given the two have had numerous back-and-forth conversations over the past year as the Trump administration tried to negotiate a nuclear deal.
The official also disputed reports that Witkoff has spoken with Iran’s top national security official, Ali Larijani, adding that Witkoff has never had a conversation with him.
Roughly a dozen countries have reached out to the Trump administration in recent days to see if they can aid the United States’ efforts in the war, the official said. The official emphasized that none of those conversations have included direct or indirect talks with the Iranians.
Trump posted this morning that the Iranians “want to talk. I said ‘Too Late!’”
Trump admin says it is working to secure military aircraft to transport stranded Americans
The Trump administration on Tuesday said it is working to secure military aircraft and charter flights to assist the scores of US citizens trapped in the Middle East.
Trump officials took to social media to assure those stranded days after the US and Israel launched its operation against Iran, prompting retaliatory attacks on countries throughout the Middle East.
“The State Department is actively securing military aircraft and charter flights for American citizens who wish to leave the Middle East,” Dylan Johnson, Assistant Secretary of State for Global Public Affairs, posted on X.
“We’ve been in direct contact with nearly 3,000 Americans abroad. American citizens should call 1-202-501-4444 for assistance with departure options,” he wrote.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the State Department “is actively working on plans to help Americans in the Middle East return home.”
The administration has come under immense scrutiny for what critics say is a failure to properly advise Americans to leave the region before the military action began and a lack of assistance to US citizens stuck in the Middle East.
On Monday, days after the launch of the first wave of strikes, State Department’s top official for consular affairs called on US citizens to depart “using available commercial travel” from Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen.
There are virtually no commercial travel options available.
UAE opens safe air corridors with neighbors for evacuation flights
The United Arab Emirates says it has opened safe air corridors with its neighbors to facilitate the return of its citizens and help visitors leave the country.
The UAE says it is capable of operating 48 emergency flights per hour, Economy and Tourism Minister Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri told reporters on Tuesday, adding that the number of flights could increase gradually based on safety assessments.
More than 17,000 passengers have been flown out of the country on 60 flights since Sunday in the first phase of the plan, the minister said. The next phase will see more than 80 flights per day with the capacity to transport over 27,000 people, he added.
Israel says it killed Iran's top commander for Lebanon in strike on Tehran
Israel’s military claims it killed a commander of Iran’s Quds Force - the unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in charge of foreign operations -in a strike on Tehran.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it killed Daoud Ali Zadeh, who is described as the “temporary commander” of the Quds Forces’ Lebanon Corps and the “highest ranking” Iranian commander responsible for Lebanon. Zadeh’s predecessor Hassan Mahdavi was previously killed in an IDF strike, the military said.
CNN is unable to independently confirm the claim and Iran has not commented on it.
The division Zadeh led supports Hezbollah in building its forces and functions as the connection between senior IRGC and Hezbollah leadership, the IDF said.
According to the IDF, the Lebanon corps was the bridge between the IRGC and Hezbollah, the Iran-backed militia in Lebanon that Israel has repeatedly targeted since Monday.
After claiming to kill Zadeh, the Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee warned “all remaining representatives of the Iranian Terror Ministry in Lebanon” to leave before they are targeted
Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee said Iranian “regime representatives” had 24 hours to leave.
“After this time, no location in Lebanon will be considered a safe haven for Iranian regime personnel,” Adraee said. The IDF will engage these targets with full force wherever they are located.
Trump just spoke to reporters about the war with Iran. Catch up here
US President Donald Trump discussed the war with Iran on Tuesday, marking the first time he took questions from reporters in a public setting since the conflict began. His remarks came as he sat in the Oval Office alongside German Chancellor Chancellor Friedrich Merz before the pair had a closed-press meeting.
Catch up on what was said below:
- Trump disputed the suggestion that Israel’s plans to attack Iran prompted him to launch strikes on Saturday, saying he might have “forced their hand” rather than the other way around.
- “Just about everything’s been knocked out” in Iran, he said, telling reporters the country has “no navy,” “no air force,” “no air detection” and no radar after the US military operation.
- There was no evacuation plan for Americans in the Middle East before the strikes in Iran on Saturday, Trump also said, arguing the military operation unfolded too quickly to organize such efforts in advance.
- Trump said he was surprised to see Iran turn its fire on its neighbors in its retaliation to the US-Israeli attacks, adding that he thinks countries targeted by Tehran were surprised as well.
- The US has an effectively inexhaustible supply of certain munitions, Trump claimed. He also told Politico that defense manufacturers are operating under emergency authorities to accelerate weapons production.
- The president blasted the UK as “very, very uncooperative,” renewing his feud with the close US ally over its decision to give up sovereignty of the Chagos Islands, which house a joint military base.
- Trump said he does not want Iranians to protest “yet,” saying that “it’s very dangerous out there. A lot of bombs are being dropped.”
- He also said the “worst-case” scenario for Iran would be if “somebody takes over who’s as bad as the previous person,” referring to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei, who was killed this weekend.
CNN’s Kevin Liptak, Maureen Chowdhury, Alejandra Jaramillo, Alayna Treene, Adam Cancryn, Morgan Leason and Rebekah Riess contributed to this reporting.
The war isn't just delaying oil shipments. It’s causing supply cuts in the Middle East
The war consuming the Middle East has caused a de facto shutdown of the Strait of Hormuz that is delaying the shipment of oil to the rest of the world.
Not only are supplies delayed, but some OPEC countries have been forced to dial back crucial oil production just when it’s needed to fight surging prices.
“It’s causing production cuts,” Andy Lipow, president of Lipow Oil Associates, told CNN in a phone interview.
Lipow noted that if virtually no tankers are transiting the Strait of Hormuz, that means tankers are not loading crude oil in key Gulf nations, including Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iraq.
“If they’re not loading crude oil, then the storage tanks are filling up. If you can’t put the oil in storage, what are you doing to do with it?” Lipow said.
These supply cuts are already happening in Iraq.
According to Bloomberg News, Iraq has started shutting oil production at its biggest oilfields and could eventually shutter 3 million barrels per day of output if the Strait of Hormuz crisis continues.
For instance, the Rumaila field, one of the biggest in the world, has started to shut down, Bloomberg reported.
CNN has reached out to BP, which helps manage the Iraqi field.
Israeli military warns residents to evacuate ahead of strikes on Tyre in southern Lebanon
Israel’s military has issued an urgent warning to residents of Tyre in southern Lebanon, saying it would “shortly strike Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure” in the area.
The Israel Defense Forces said the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group was attempting to reconstitute activity there and warned those in buildings it marked on maps to evacuate immediately and remain at least 300 meters away.
Just now, the IDF said several projectiles from Lebanon were launched at central Israel and mostly intercepted. The barrage would mark the second time Hezbollah fired at central Tel Aviv since it entered the latest conflict on Monday, but the first time it triggered sirens in the city.
Israel has been carrying out intensified strikes on Hezbollah targets in Lebanon, after the militant group fired toward Israel on Sunday night.
