US, Israel attack Iran updates: Trump says war to last 4-5 weeks

Check out our explainer on Iran’s military strategy and how it has changed since the June 2025 war.

For more on why QatarEnergy’s LNG production halt could shake up global gas markets, click here.

You can also read our news story on US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s remarks on Iran.

• Heavy Israeli strikes targeted Iran’s state TV broadcaster and other areas in Tehran.
• A commander in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard says the Strait of Hormuz is now “closed” and warned that any vessels attempting to pass through will be attacked.
• At least six US service members have been killed in action during the conflict with Iran, the US military says.
• Qatar has condemned Iran’s attacks on its territory and against other Gulf nations in letters to the UN secretary-general and the president of the UN Security Council.
• US Secretary of State Marco Rubio says the coordinated attacks with Israel against Iran are driven by “self-defence”.
• Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi says the Kuwaiti government must explain why US jets were over its airspace when the country promised no attacks would be launched from its soil.

The Israeli military has said in a social media post that it is targeting Hezbollah facilities in the Lebanese capital.

“The IDF began attacking headquarters and weapons depots of the terrorist organisation Hezbollah in Beirut, more details to follow,” the Israeli military said in a social media post.

The Al-Manar news channel, affiliated with Hezbollah, reported that Israel was targeting its building in Haret Hreik in Beirut’s southern suburbs.

The scene is dominated by three elements: the smoke drifting through the air, the lingering echo of several explosions, and, of course, the concern and anxiety among people rushing out of their houses.

We know, based on the latest reports, the complex related to IRIB was attacked – the Iranian state broadcaster.

We saw thick smoke in footage coming out of that complex. The head of IRIB said they have no update on casualties. We may expect casualties given the scope and the sound of the explosions.

The latest update is that the broadcast is ongoing. The former building of the Iranian parliament was also said to be targeted.

US First Lady Melania Trump has presided over a UN Security Council meeting focusing on children in conflict, days after dozens of children at a school in Iran were reportedly killed in US-Israel strikes.

Iranian state media said an air strike hit a girls’ school in southern Iran, killing at least 165 people and wounding dozens more on Saturday.

The Israeli military said it was not aware of strikes in the area. The US military said it is looking into the reports.

Shortly before Monday’s UN session began, Iran’s ambassador to the UN, Amir Saeid Iravani, said it is “deeply shameful and hypocritical” for the US to convene a meeting on protecting children during war while launching attacks on heavily populated Iranian cities.

“For the United States, ‘protecting children’ and ‘maintaining international peace and security’ clearly mean something very different from what the UN Charter provides,” Iravani told reporters.

The Israeli air force has begun another attack on Iranian targets under the guidance of Israeli intelligence, according to the military.

Fighter jets dropped dozens of munitions and destroyed what the Israeli military said was the Iranian government’s “communications centre”, apparently referring to Iranian TV.

The Iranian broadcaster announced earlier that its headquarters in Tehran was under attack.

The joint US-Israeli attacks have killed at least 555 people in Iran since the air strikes began on Saturday, according to the Red Crescent.

Here are some more remarks from Marco Rubio:

• The United States will introduce action to mitigate rising energy prices due to a spike in the price of oil caused by the Iran conflict.
• The US is not postured for ground forces in Iran at this moment, but President Donald Trump has those options.
• The objective Washington has set can be achieved without ground troops.
• The hardest hits are yet to come in strikes on Iran.

The US president claimed – without any evidence to back his assertion – that had he not scrapped the Iran nuclear deal signed by his predecessor, Barack Obama, Tehran would have had a nuclear bomb by now.

“If I didn’t terminate Obama’s horrendous Iran Nuclear Deal (JCPOA), Iran would have had a Nuclear Weapon three years ago. That was the most dangerous transaction we have ever entered into, and had it been allowed to stand, the World would be an entirely different place right now. You can blame Barack Hussein Obama, and Sleepy Joe Biden,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.

Most independent analysts and inspectors had concluded, at the time, that Iran had complied with the JCPOA and kept its uranium enrichment under limit – far below the levels needed to build nuclear weapons.

Speaking to reporters, the US secretary of state says the US would not “deliberately” target a school, after Iran said 168 people died in an alleged US-Israeli strike.

“The United States would not deliberately target a school. Our objectives are missiles, both the ability to manufacture them and the ability to launch them,” Rubio told reporters, while adding that the Pentagon was investigating the alleged incident.

He also voiced support for toppling Iran’s authorities, but said it was not the objective of the US-Israel war against Tehran.

“We hope that the Iranian people can overthrow this government and establish a new future for that country. We would love for that to be possible,” Rubio said.

“But the objective of this mission is the destruction of their ballistic missile capabilities and of their naval capabilities,” he added.

The US Embassy in the Jordanian capital, Amman, says it temporarily evacuated its staff because of an unspecified threat.

“Out of an abundance of caution, all personnel at the U.S. Embassy have temporarily departed the Embassy compound due to a threat,” it said in a security alert posted on social media.

Jordan is among the countries across the Middle East that have been responding to Iranian counterattacks against a joint US-Israeli campaign that killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

SECURITY ALERT: JORDAN (MARCH 2,2026)

Out of an abundance of caution, all personnel at the U.S. Embassy have temporarily departed the Embassy compound due to a threat. pic.twitter.com/cThK21cDTa

— U.S. Embassy Amman (@USEmbassyJordan) March 2, 2026