WASHINGTON, March 6 (Reuters) - The United States is well on its way toward controlling Iranian airspace, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Friday, adding that Washington expects the achievable U.S. objectives to be completed in four to six weeks. Speaking to
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned Friday "unlawful attacks" across the Middle East and warned that the situation could spiral out of control as the conflict spreads to multiple countries. US and Israeli forces launched a massive air campaign against
By Humeyra Pamuk WASHINGTON, March 6 (Reuters) - The United States is pressing Sri Lanka's government not to repatriate the survivors from the Iranian warship it sank this week, as well as the crew of a second Iranian ship that is in Sri Lankan custody, according to an internal
The United States insists it attacked Iran to curb "direct threats" from the Islamic republic, but legal experts say the dangers cited by Washington do not justify war under international law. US and Israeli forces launched a massive air campaign against Iran on February 28,
Only nine oil tankers, cargo and container ships, some of which at times concealed their position, have been recorded crossing the Strait of Hormuz since Monday, according to MarineTraffic data analysed by AFP. After three ships were attacked on Sunday, at least three tankers
Sources say Russia has been providing Iran with locations of American military assets, including warships and aircraft, since the beginning of Iran's war with the U.S. and Israel. Iran has launched thousands of drones and hundreds of missiles at U.S. targets in the Middle East
When blasts rolled across Dubai as air defences intercepted Iranian missiles overhead, Marion Kuria froze as a tremor ran through her building. Then, like countless African migrants in the Gulf, she went back to work, driven by a need for income and with few alternatives to
Doha is warning that deliveries of oil and gas from the Gulf will be severely disrupted due to the conflict, driving up global energy prices
March 6 (Reuters) - The United States will respond to Iranian attacks on civilians throughout the Middle East, the leader of the U.S. Central Command, Brad Cooper, said on Friday. Cooper said that Iran has attacked 12 different countries since the U.S. and Israel launched
By Pesha Magid JERUSALEM, March 6 (Reuters) - Israel has been bombing parts of western Iran to support Iranian Kurdish militias who hope to exploit the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran to seize towns near the frontier, according to three sources familiar with Israel's talks with the
From Kurdistan in western Iran to the shores of the Gulf and in Tehran, AFP reporters have spoken to Iranians throughout the week to build a picture of their lives under daily US and Israeli bombardment. Most spoke of anxiety, but also frustration about rising prices and, for
Ukraine is preparing to despatch military drone specialists to Gulf states to help them fend off Iranian-designed drones -- something the Ukrainian army has been doing since the start of Russia's invasion. The military assault launched in February 2022 spawned a cat-and-mouse
In a series of media interviews, U.S. President Donald Trump said the war with Iran will continue until he can force regime change. The U.S. defense establishment insists that the U.S. could continue bombing Iran 'indefinitely'
As US and Israeli war planes pummel Iran with daily strikes, witnesses say that civilian deaths, damage to infrastructure and anxiety are mounting while security forces remain an intimidating presence on the streets. Millions of Tehran residents spent another stressful night on
Planet Labs PBC, a leading provider of high resolution images taken from space, said Friday it would hold back for 96 hours images of Gulf states targeted by Iranian drone attacks. The satellite images produced by the California-based company are normally available almost
STOCKHOLM, March 6 (Reuters) - Denmark's government said on Friday that the ongoing turmoil in the Middle East may prevent some overseas votes in the country's March 24 general election from arriving in time to be counted. Global air travel remains severely disrupted after the
A UNHCR source said that some 96,000 displaced people are staying in some 441 shelters in Lebanon, though the true number remains far higher. The remaining displaced people are sleeping in rented apartments, hotels, with relatives or on the streets
WASHINGTON, March 6 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Friday said the U.S. is moving thousands of people out of various countries throughout the Middle East amid the military conflict between the U.S., Israel and Iran. "It is being done quietly, but seamlessly," Trump said
WASHINGTON, March 6 (Reuters) - The United States has removed Russia-related sanctions on United Arab Emirates-based freight and logistics company Globe Trekkers, a notice on the U.S. Treasury's website showed on Friday. (Reporting by Katharine Jackson and Susan Heavey)
The United States and France have promised to secure oil shipping threatened by the Middle East war, but experts warn warship availability and Iran's wide range of weaponry could make this complicated. US-Israeli attacks on Iran since Saturday and Iran's fiery response have
Global energy prices have shot upwards after the US and Israel unleashed war in the Middle East, but just how far those shocks will ripple across the economy remains unclear. Still, the spectre of "stagflation" -- high inflation coupled with stagnant economic growth -- once
The United Nations on Friday demanded swift investigations into fatal Israeli strikes across Lebanon to decide if they complied with international law. "Lebanon is becoming a key flashpoint," UN rights chief Volker Turk told reporters in Geneva. "I call for an immediate
WASHINGTON, March 6 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday there would be no deal struck with Iran except "unconditional surrender." (Reporting by Bhargav Acharya; editing by Susan Heavey)
By Abir Ahmar and Federico Maccioni DUBAI, March 6 (Reuters) - When Samuel Lait launched his private flights firm focused on pet travel in Dubai on Saturday, he was expecting to receive queries from owners looking to travel with their pets between the glitzy Gulf hub and the
BRUSSELS, March 6 (Reuters) - EU leaders Antonio Costa and Ursula von der Leyen will hold a video conference with Middle Eastern leaders on Monday to discuss the situation in the region, a spokesperson for Costa said on Friday. "This exchange will provide an opportunity to hear
By Antonio Bronic KARLOVAC, Croatia March 6 (Reuters) - Croatia is set to resume mandatory military service for the first time in 17 years as part of the European Union member's broader strategy to address security concerns in Europe and the Western Balkans. On Monday, 800
The United Nations rights chief called Friday for answers after a deadly strike on an Iranian elementary school, as a media investigation concluded the United States was most likely responsible. On the first day of the war last Saturday, a strike hit an elementary school in the
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said Friday that "loyal cooperation" should prevail over "confrontation" in relations with the United States after tensions over Madrid's opposition to Washington's use of its bases against Iran. Relations should take place "with respect, in
In the lobby of a vocational school packed with hundreds of people, Zeinab Moqdad, who fled Beirut's southern suburbs, rages at a new war between Hezbollah and Israel whose consequences she is once again forced to bear. "It's a nightmare. To be safe at home and then suddenly
The UAE's move to freeze Iranian assets will hit Iran’s economy hard, as it is straining under high inflation, unrest and now a war.
MUNICH, March 6 (Reuters) - German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Friday called for Iran's territorial integrity to be preserved as the war against Tehran initiated by Israel and the United States last week threatens to expand across the Middle East. Merz said that the collapse
By John Davison BAGHDAD, March 6 (Reuters) - Iran has spent decades and billions of dollars preparing foreign proxy fighters like A.J., a commander in a pro-Iranian paramilitary group in Iraq, for a moment just like this. Since the U.S. and Israel went to war on the Islamic
By Emma Farge GENEVA, March 6 (Reuters) - The World Health Organization said on Friday that medical supplies in Gaza were running critically low despite Israel's reopening of a key crossing this week. Supplies of some items such as gauze and needles have already run out, said
A US submarine this week torpedoing an Iranian warship during the Middle East conflict raised the crucial question of who controls the seas during wartime. The sinking of IRIS Dena on Wednesday in international waters off the coast of Sri Lanka killed at least 86 crew members,
By Jonathan Spicer, Feras Dalatey and Jonathan Saul ISTANBUL/DAMASCUS/LONDON, March 6 (Reuters) - Turkey’s intelligence agency asked itsBritish counterpart MI6 last month to take a larger role in protecting Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa after recent assassination plots,
By Michele Kambas NICOSIA, March 6 (Reuters) - A drone strike this week on a British air base in Cyprus has renewed calls for an end to British military presence on the Mediterranean island as many fear being dragged into the wider Iran conflict. Cypriot politicians have long
Iranian drone strikes on Azerbaijan have raised fears that the Middle East war could spill into the Caucasus, as Baku, an ally of Israel, vows to respond. Azerbaijan announced on Friday it was withdrawing diplomatic staff from Iran, a day after drones launched from Iranian
Israel’s air force has struck deep inside Iran with devastating precision, killing even the country’s supreme leader within minutes of the war’s outbreak -- a feat experts say reflects years of elite pilot training and combat experience. "These pilots are the most trained in
Israel's air superiority over Iranian skies in the war with the Islamic republic reflects decades of strategic thinking and a singular partnership with Washington, experts told AFP. Its air force appears to have been able to bomb Iran at will, a success owed to "20 years of
BEIRUT, March 6 (Reuters) - About 100,000 people have fled to shelters in Lebanon and the number of displaced is expected to rapidly increase following "unprecedented" Israeli warnings ordering people out of large parts of the country, a senior U.N. official said on Friday.
By Uditha Jayasinghe GALLE, Sri Lanka, March 6 (Reuters) - Sri Lankan authorities said on Friday they were escorting a second Iranian naval vessel to harbour and moving 208 of its crew to a camp, two days after a U.S. submarine sank an Iranian warship in the same area.
By Emily Rose JERUSALEM, March 6 (Reuters) - Israeli attacks against Lebanon's Iranian-backed Hezbollah group will likely continue after its joint air war with the U.S. against Iran ends, a source briefed on Israel's military strategy told Reuters, describing the two fronts as
GENEVA, March 6 (Reuters) - The U.N. refugee agency said on Friday that nearly 100,000 people have been displaced within Lebanon and tens of thousands of Syrian refugees there have fled back over the border, calling the situation in the region a "major humanitarian emergency".
GENEVA, March 6 (Reuters) - The United Nations human rights chief will travel to Washington this month, he said on Friday, but expressed doubt he could influence the development of the Middle East crisis amid mounting concerns. "I hope to go to Washington D.C. later this month,
BAKU, March 6 (Reuters) - Azerbaijan is evacuating its diplomats from Iran for their own safety, Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov said on Friday, a day after Baku said four Iranian drones had crossed its border and injured four people in the Nakhchivan exclave. Speaking at a
State officials have said their leadership is growing discontent about the way the Trump administration is handling the war effort, particularly its preferential defense of Israel relative to its allies in the Gulf
By Olivia Le Poidevin GENEVA, March 6 (Reuters) - Large-scale evacuation orders issued by the Israeli army for southern Lebanon and Beirut's southern suburbs raise serious concerns under international law, the U.N. human rights chief said on Friday. "These blanket, massive
By Olivia Le Poidevin and Emma Farge GENEVA, March 6 (Reuters) - Key humanitarian air, sea and land routes are being constricted by disruption from the war in the Middle East, delaying life-saving shipments to some of the world's worst crises, 10 aid officials have told
By Mohammad Yunus Yawar KABUL, March 6 (Reuters) - Pakistani and Afghan troops exchanged fire at dozens of points along their border on Friday as the U.N. said their week-old conflict has forced the displacement of more than 100,000 people. The South Asian nations show no signs
Israeli air strikes left behind massive destruction in Beirut's southern suburbs on Friday morning, with the Israeli military saying it had destroyed Hezbollah targets. The attacks came after the Israeli military issued an unprecedented evacuation warning for the area, which is