The Middle East war unleashed by US-Israeli attacks on Iran has swelled outwards to Cyprus, Sri Lanka, Turkey and Azerbaijan, and risks drawing more countries into the conflict. The United States and Israel initiated the war by launching strikes on Iran and killing its supreme
By Max Hunder KYIV, March 5 (Reuters) - The U.S. and Qatar are in discussions with Kyiv about acquiring Ukrainian interceptor drones as a cheap alternative to down Iranian Shahed UAVs amid the war in the Gulf, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters. The early-stage
March 5 (Reuters) - NATO has increased its alliance-wide ballistic missile defence posture following the intercept of a missile from Iran targeted at Turkey, its military headquarters said on Thursday. The posture will remain at the heightened level until the threat from Iran's
Britain is sending additional fighter jets to Qatar amid the widening war in the Middle East, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced Thursday as his defence minister visited Cyprus. The four Typhoon planes will join an existing UK squadron in the Gulf state "to strengthen our
JERUSALEM, March 5 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday called again on Israel's president to grant Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a pardon for corruption charges, saying the premier should have nothing on his mind but the war with Iran.
PARIS, March 5 (Reuters) - France will strengthen its cooperation with the Lebanese Armed Forces and provide them with armored transport vehicles as well as operational and logistical support, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Thursday, as Lebanon was pulled deeper into
By Simon Lewis WASHINGTON, March 5 (Reuters) - The U.S. State Department said on Thursday it was ramping up the provision of charter flights from the Middle East after criticism over the Trump administration's planning and initial assistance to U.S. citizens trying to leave the
Despite renewed fighting with the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah just over the border, the mood was almost normal Thursday on the main street of Kiryat Shmona, a small town in northern Israel. Unlike during the last war with the Iran-backed movement, when the town was evacuated
WASHINGTON, March 5 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump told Reuters in a telephone interview on Thursday that the United States will have a role in choosing Iran's next leader. Trump said it was very early in the process of picking a new leader but that Ayatollah Ali
By Samia Nakhoul DUBAI, March 5 (Reuters) - With its supreme leader killed and its war machine under relentless U.S. pressure, Iran now stands largely alone - its longtime partners Russia and China offering nothing more than diplomatic condemnations and expressions of concern.
Dozens of Emirati flights were forced to hold or diver after the country's Defense Ministry said it had intercepted six ballistic missiles and 125 drones.
KYIV, March 5 (Reuters) - Ukraine returned 200 prisoners of war in its latest swap with Russia, including troops captured in Moscow's siege of Mariupol in early 2022, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Thursday. "Every time our people come home, it proves that Ukraine is
ZURICH, March 5 (Reuters) - The current turmoil in the Middle East is a direct result of the erosion in international law, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Thursday. In a speech at the University of Zurich, Kallas said the international order has been undermined by
Fewer commercial flights were cancelled Thursday in the Middle East despite continued military strikes, with more than 100 flights taking off from the United Arab Emirates, according to a specialist data firm. The United States and Israel launched a campaign of air strikes
Mehrangiz Kar, a pioneering feminist in Iran and a leading voice among the country's exiles, has very quickly lost any of the hope she harbored at the start of the Israeli-U.S. attacks on the regime in Tehran
March 5 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump told Axios on Thursday that he needs to be personally involved in selecting Iran's next leader. "Khamenei's son is unacceptable to me. We want someone that will bring harmony and peace to Iran," Axios quoted Trump as saying in an
LONDON, March 5 (Reuters) - Seafarers have the right to refuse to sail on ships passing through the Middle East Gulf, including the Strait of Hormuz, after the threat level for the region was raised to its highest level, the leading labour union and shipping industry groups
By Andrew Gray BRUSSELS, March 5 (Reuters) - NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said on Thursday he was "not deaf" to criticism that he goes overboard in praising Donald Trump but argued the U.S. president deserved it. However, in an interview with Reuters, Rutte also offered
By Katharine Jackson WASHINGTON, March 5 (Reuters) - A man protesting the U.S. and Israel's strikes on Iran was injured in a struggle with U.S. Capitol Police and Republican Senator Tim Sheehy on Wednesday. The man, Brian McGinnis, a former Marine who is a Green Party candidate
Tehran's Azadi Sport Complex was the target of the strike, which according to Iran International, was being used as the headquarters of one of the Iranian regime's special units
The Middle East war has forced the World Health Organization to suspend operations at its global emergency logistics hub in Dubai, the UN agency's chief said Thursday. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that the impact of the conflict, sparked by the US-Israeli attacks on Iran
Wary of getting directly involved in the US-Israeli war with Iran, European countries are nevertheless being drawn into the conflict following attacks on Cyprus and Western allies in the Gulf. While underlining their "defensive" aims, several European countries have now pledged
Iranian authorities were issuing warnings to people connecting to the internet in defiance of a communications blackout that had left the Islamic republic largely cut off from the outside world, witnesses told AFP on Thursday. Iran's internet connectivity was currently running
The order came after Israel on Wednesday told all residents of southern Lebanon to evacuate north of the Litani River • Lebanon says any member of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps found on its territory will be arrested and deported
The Lebanese government has instructed military and security agencies to arrest IRGC members in Lebanon, after Iranian-backed Hezbollah joined the conflict between Iran on the one hand and the US and Israel on the other, by launching attacks against Israel.
BEIRUT, March 5 (Reuters) - Israel warned residents to leave Beirut's Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs on Thursday, sparking panic as people fled a swathe of the Lebanese capital on the fourth day of full-scale hostilities between the Iran-backed group and Israel. An
The US House of Representatives was expected Thursday to reject an effort to curb Donald Trump's authority to wage war against Iran, as the president faces fierce criticism over launching the conflict without seeking approval from Congress. Lawmakers are due to vote on a
LONDON, March 5 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Thursday that four additional Typhoon fighter jets would be sent to Qatar as the conflict in the Middle East escalates, insisting that the UK has the right plan for defence. Britain's cautious response to
By Steven Scheer JERUSALEM, March 5 (Reuters) - More than 20,000 Israelis have returned to the country since the start of the Iran air war that began on Saturday, the Transportation Ministry said on Thursday, adding that about 120,000 more Israelis currently abroad are seeking
PIRAEUS, Greece, March 5 (Reuters) - Greek seafarers began a 24-hour strike on Thursday, halting local ferry services, as they protested over vessel crews stranded in the Gulf amid the escalating Middle East war, and demanded the area is declared a war risk zone to enable their
(Clarifies Iranian ambassador's title) GENEVA, March 5 (Reuters) - The World Health Organization chief said on Thursday that it has verified 13 attacks on health infrastructure in Iran amid a U.S.-Israeli campaign, killing four health care workers and injuring 25 others. "WHO
By Joshua McElwee VATICAN CITY, March 5 (Reuters) - Pope Leo released a video on Thursday praying that God would help world leaders renounce war as a means of resolving conflicts in an unusual appeal as the U.S.-Israeli bombing campaign against Iran pressed on for the sixth
The Emirati businessman condemned the US president, a former business partner, for his “dangerous” attack on Iran and asked whether he had stopped to consider the collateral damage.
By Laila Bassam BEIRUT, March 5 (Reuters) - Hezbollah has deployed elite fighters to confront Israeli forces in southern Lebanon, sending them back into the border region from which they withdrew after a war in 2024, three Lebanese sources familiar with the deployments said, as
LONDON, March 5 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will address a press conference on Thursday afternoon to give an update on the escalating conflict in the Middle East, his spokesman said. Starmer will speak to journalists at 1400 GMT in London, his spokesman
By Jonathan Saul and Anna Hirtenstein March 5 (Reuters) - More tankers came under attack in Gulf waters on Thursday as the U.S.–Iran war escalated, and Iranian drones entered Azerbaijan, threatening to spread the crisis to more oil producers in the region. A Bahamas-flagged
By Alexander Cornwell and Rami Ayyub TEL AVIV, March 5 (Reuters) - Israel's war in Iran is entering a second phase that will see its fighter jets attacking ballistic missile sites buried deep underground, two sources familiar with Israel's military campaign said. The joint air
BRUSSELS, March 5 (Reuters) - NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte told Reuters on Thursday the alliance was vigilant and ready to defend every inch of its territory after Iran fired a ballistic missile towards NATO member Turkey. Rutte also addressed France's shift in nuclear
As far as Cypriots are concerned, the alliance with Israel provides it with security against Turkish threats. But during this week's drone attacks, Israel did not provide assistance. A Cypriot source says that may be a good thing
ROME, March 5 (Reuters) - The U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran which sparked the latest Middle East crisis were clearly in breach of international law, Italian Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said on Thursday. It was the strongest criticism to date from Italy's right-wing
By Andrew Gray BRUSSELS, March 5 (Reuters) - NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Thursday welcomed French President Emmanuel Macron's pledge to expand his country's nuclear deterrent but said the U.S. nuclear umbrella would remain the ultimate guarantor of European security.
RIYADH, March 5 (Reuters) - Diplomats and staff at embassies in Riyadh's Diplomatic Quarter have been told to shelter in place due to a potential threat, three people with direct knowledge of the matter said. They did not have further details. (reporting by Timour Azhari in
By Andrew MacAskill, Kate Holton and Alistair Smout LONDON, March 4 (Reuters) - Britain's cautious response to the escalating conflict in the Middle East and its hesitancy in defending its allies from attack have renewed doubts among partners about its military effectiveness
By Sarah Young and Marissa Davison LONDON, March 5 (Reuters) - In an area of London known as Little Tehran, the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei prompted spontaneous street parties, dancing and fireworks. Shoppers still smile as some stores hand out sweet pastries, traditional
Iranians in exile who spoke with Haaretz describe growing support for Reza Pahlavi, the shah's son. But experts say Iran's elite sees him as an Israeli-American pet project and would oppose a return to monarchy: 'They're desperate – that's the word'
By Saurabh Sharma NEW DELHI, March 5 (Reuters) - The U.S. attack on an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean this week was the first time since World War Two that the United States has sunk an enemy vessel with a torpedo. The following details are based on accounts from Sri
Azerbaijan condemns strike on Nakhchivan airport and summons Iran's ambassador, warning it reserves the right to retaliate; Iran denies targeting the country
By Andrew Gray BRUSSELS, March 5 (Reuters) - The shooting down of a ballistic missile headed for Turkey by NATO air defences does not provide immediate reason to trigger the alliance's Article 5 mutual defence clause, its Secretary General Mark Rutte told Reuters on Thursday.
BRUSSELS, March 5 (Reuters) - NATO allies will keep supporting Ukraine despite the situation in Iran, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte told Reuters on Thursday. "Many leaders in Europe and the United States, Canada say it has to be 'and, and': make sure that as allies we
The attacks damaged an airport in the Nakhchivan exclave and slightly wounded two civilians.