Iran updates: Bombing rages as US Senate fails to curb Trump war powers

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If you’d like to read more about questions about the US decision to attack Iran, you can find our analysis here.

You can also find our investigation into a deadly strike on a girls’ school in Iran that has become a potent symbol of the human toll of the US-Israeli war here.

Our team on the ground reports three large explosions in the Lebanese capital, targeting the city’s southern suburbs.

The Israeli army claimed the strikes, which came without any forced evacuation order, saying it had begun attacking “Hezbollah infrastructure”, adding that more details would follow.

We will be closing this live page soon. Here’s a quick recap of the main developments today:

• The number of people killed in five days of US-Israeli attacks against Iran has topped 1,000, state media says.
• Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has warned of “terrorist movements” on the country’s border with Iraq in a call with the leader of the Iraqi-Kurdish political party.
• Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency denied reports of Kurdish infiltration into Iran, as did the leader of a group of Iranian Kurdish political parties, refuting a Fox News report saying Kurdish fighters had entered Iran from Iraq.
• A‌s the conflict engulfs the region, Turkiye says a ballistic ⁠missile fired by Iran was destroyed by NATO air and missile defence systems in the ‌eastern Mediterranean Sea. The target of the missile was not immediately clear.
• A ⁠US submarine has sunk an Iranian warship with a torpedo in international waters off Sri Lanka’s coast, says Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
• ⁠A ⁠majority of the US Senate ⁠has backed President Donald Trump’s ⁠military campaign against Iran.
• Israel has carried out renewed strikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs, while Hezbollah said it engaged Israeli soldiers in south Lebanon in combat.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson has accused the European Union of “hypocrisy and a blatant double standard” after comments by the bloc’s foreign policy chief about Tehran’s actions in the region.

In a post on X, Esmaeil Baghaei criticised European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas, saying the bloc had “lost its moral and political compass” by failing to condemn attacks against Iran.

Baghaei said Iran was “under attack by brutal aggressors” and had the right under international law to defend itself.

His comments came after Kallas wrote on X that Iran was “sowing chaos” in the region and “indiscriminately attacking its neighbours”.

She added that while a democratic Iran would pose less of a threat to the region, “no one can predict which direction Iran will take”.

Iran’s foreign minister has told his Turkish counterpart that Tehran will continue its military response to attacks by Israel and the United States.

In a phone call with Turkiye’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Iran’s armed forces would not stop until what he described as “the evil of the enemies” had been repelled, according to Iran’s Foreign Ministry on X.

Araghchi said Iran’s strikes were targeting bases used to plan and carry out attacks against the country, adding that Tehran considered its actions consistent with international law.

The call comes after Turkiye summoned Iran’s ambassador to Ankara to protest over a ballistic missile that flew towards Turkish airspace, according to a Turkish diplomatic source cited by the Reuters news agency.

Earlier, Turkiye said NATO air defence systems destroyed a missile launched from Iran over the eastern Mediterranean Sea. The intended target was not immediately clear.

Turkiye’s Defence Ministry said the intercepted missile fell over the Dortyol district near the Mediterranean coast and that no casualties were reported.

A group of nearly 30 United Nations special rapporteurs and experts have condemned the US and Israel’s “unprovoked attacks” against Iran, emphasising that “we cannot pick and choose when international law applies”.

The targeting of civilians, educational institutions and medical facilities constitutes a “grave violation of international humanitarian law and human rights law”, the experts wrote, adding that the conflict now threatens to destabilise the Middle East as a whole.

They also expressed concern over Israel’s ongoing strikes in Lebanon and rejected the narrative – pushed by the administration of US President Donald Trump – that conflict with Iran could lead to a self-determined shift in Iranian governance.

“Unlawful military intervention must not be seen as the solution to the grievances of the Iranian people, nor would any future nuclear deal that does not address these wider grievances be mistaken for one,” the experts wrote. “Calls by the US and Israel for Iranians to seize control of their own government are reckless and put countless civilian lives at risk.”

A statement from Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem said patience was wearing thin and that they were obligated to respond to Israeli aggression, adding that Israel had started the battle and they had to respond.

He said this was not only due to the killing of the ayatollah, but also months of ceasefire violations dating back to November 2024.

There is gunfire in the southern suburbs, and we have just received a fresh evacuation order warning people to leave immediately.

It is not just about the scale of people on the move – about 300,000 by this point – with orders for forced evacuation to anywhere south of the Litani River, as well as areas of the eastern and southern suburbs.

It has become a logistical nightmare for many, exposing fractures and divisions within Lebanon because the strikes have expanded beyond traditionally Shia areas, which are typically Hezbollah strongholds.

This means many people are now afraid to take in those who have been displaced.

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit has reiterated the League’s frustration with Iran’s ongoing attacks against Arab states.

In a new statement on Wednesday, Gheit said the attacks were not only a “blatant” violation of international law, but also an assault on the principles of “good neighbourliness”.

Gheit said Iran’s assaults have created “unprecedented” hostility between Iran and Arab states that will have a “profound impact” on future relations.

Although no Arab state is downplaying the crisis Iran currently faces, it is not an acceptable justification for attacking other states, the League head added.

Iran would target Israel’s Dimona nuclear facility if the United States and Israel attempt to pursue regime change in the Islamic Republic, an Iranian military official said.

The semi-official ISNA news agency reported that the official warned Iran could strike the nuclear site in southern Israel if such efforts were made.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian has praised Spain’s refusal to help the United States in its war against Iran.

“Spain’s responsible conduct in opposing the Zionist-American coalition’s flagrant human rights violations and military aggression against countries, including Iran, shows that ethics and awakened consciences still exist in the West,” the Iranian leader said. “I commend Spanish officials for their stances.”

Trump has criticised Spain’s refusal to allow the US to use its bases, while Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has hit back, saying that Madrid refused to “play Russian roulette with the lives of millions”.

The US president then threatened to break all trade ties with Spain, and earlier on Wednesday, the White House claimed that Spain had buckled and agreed to cooperate with Trump’s demands.

But the Spanish government has since rejected that claim, insisting that its position regarding the war in Iran had not changed.

⁠A ⁠majority of the US Senate ⁠backed President Donald Trump’s ⁠military campaign against Iran, voting to block a bipartisan resolution aiming ‌to stop the air war and require that any hostilities against Iran be ⁠authorised by Congress.

As ⁠voting continued, the tally in the ⁠100-member chamber was 52-47 ⁠not to ⁠advance the war powers resolution.

US officials asked Iraqi Kurds to help them in a cross-border military operation in Iran, Kurdish officials have told The Associated Press news agency.

Khalil Nadiri, an official with the Kurdistan Freedom Party in northern Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region, told The AP that some Kurdish forces had moved to areas near the Iranian border in Sulaymaniyah province, where they were on “standby”.

Nadiri said Kurdish opposition group leaders were contacted by US officials for a potential operation, but did not provide more details.

A second Kurdish official with Komala, another Kurdish Iranian group, told the outlet on condition of anonymity that its forces were ready to cross the border within a week and were “waiting for the grounds to be suitable”.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry has accused the United States and Israel of striking dozens of civilian sites during attacks across the country.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said in a post on X that locations hit included hospitals, schools, residential areas and markets in several Iranian cities.

Among the sites listed were residential areas in Tehran’s Niloufar Square, hospitals in Tehran and Ahvaz, the Tehran Grand Bazaar, the historic Golestan Palace complex south of the capital and an elementary school in Minab.

Baghaei also said residential areas in Maragheh in northwestern Iran and a sports hall in Lamerd in Fars province were struck, claiming civilians were killed in both incidents.

In total, the Iranian official listed 33 sites and facilities that he said had been targeted in the attacks.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll has found that 43 percent disapproved of the strikes, while only about one in four respondents said they supported the US-Israeli attacks.

The poll asked more than 1,200 US adults and was conducted over the weekend

A separate CNN poll conducted by SSRS between February 28 and March 1 found even stronger opposition, with nearly six in 10 Americans saying they disapproved of the decision to take military action in Iran. Forty-one percent said they approved.

The CNN survey also found that about six in 10 respondents said they did not believe President Donald Trump had a clear plan for handling the situation, while 39 percent said the US had not made enough diplomatic efforts before using military force.

The poll showed a sharp partisan divide: 82 percent of Democrats and 68 percent of independents said they disapproved of the strikes, compared with 23 percent of Republicans.