War widens to include Iranian-backed militias as Israeli and American
planes pound Iran
[March 02, 2026]
By JON GAMBRELL, DAVID RISING and SAMY MAGDY
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — A bomb-carrying drone boat struck a
Marshall Islands-flagged oil tanker in the Gulf of Oman on Monday,
killing one mariner on board, Oman said.
The state-run Oman News Agency reported the attack in the Gulf of Oman
off the coast of Muscat, the sultanate’s capital. It identified the
vessel as the MKD VYOM. It said the dead crew member was from India.
Iran has been threatening vessels approaching the Strait of Hormuz, the
narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf, and is believed to have launched
multiple attacks at the war in the Mideast continues after Israel and
the United States started a major airstrike campaign targeting the
Islamic Republic.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran and Iranian-backed militias
fired missiles at Israel and Arab states, apparently hitting the U.S.
Embassy compound in Kuwait, while Israel and the United States pounded
targets in Iran as the war expanded on Monday with statements of
defiance and increasing casualties.
At least 555 people have been killed in Iran so far by the U.S.-Israeli
campaign, the Iranian Red Crescent Society said, and more than 130
cities across the country having come under attack. Eleven people have
been killed in Israel, according to authorities there.
In Kuwait City, as fire and smoke rose from inside the U.S. Embassy
compound, the country's defense ministry said “several” American
warplanes had also crashed in the country. The ministry did not
elaborate on what caused the crashes or how many aircraft were involved,
but said the pilots were taken to a hospital and were in stable
condition. The U.S. military did not immediately respond to a request
for comment.
The embassy compound was hit not long after U.S. issued a warning to
Americans there to take cover and for others to stay away. There were no
immediate reports on damage or casualties.
Meantime, as the American and Israeli airstrikes continued, top Iranian
security official Ali Larijani vowed on X that “we will not negotiate
with the United States.”
In Iraq, a pro-Iranian militia claimed responsibility for a drone attack
targeting U.S. troops at the Baghdad airport, the day after it said it
fired at a U.S. base in the city of Irbil in the north, and Cyprus said
a drone attack targeted a British base on the Mediterranean island
nation.
Israel and the U.S. bombed Iranian missile sites and targeted its navy,
claiming to have destroyed its headquarters and multiple warships.
Iran expands attacks to regional oil infrastructure
With world markets already rattled by the fighting and oil prices
soaring, Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura oil refinery came under attack Monday
from drones, with defenses downing the incoming aircraft, a military
spokesman made the announcement on the state-run Saudi Press Agency.
Online videos from the site appeared to show thick black smoke rising
after the attack. Even successfully intercepted drones cause debris that
can spark fires and injure those on the ground.
Ras Tanura, near the city of Dammam in eastern Saudi Arabia, is one of
the world's largest with a capacity over half a million barrels of crude
oil a day. It was temporarily shut down as a precaution after the
attack, Saudi state television reported.
Earlier in the day, debris fell on Kuwait's Ahmadi oil refinery,
injuring two workers, after drones were shot down, the state-run KUNA
news agency reported.
Iran’s decision to expands its attacks to major regional oil
infrastructure add a new element to the war gripping the Middle East,
directly targeting the lifeblood of the area's economy.
“The attack on Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanura refinery marks a significant
escalation, with Gulf energy infrastructure now squarely in Iran’s
sights,” said Torbjorn Soltvedt, an analyst at the risk intelligence
company Verisk Maplecroft.
“An extended period of uncertainty lies ahead as Iran seeks to impose a
heavy economic cost by putting tankers, regional energy infrastructure,
trade routes and U.S. security partners in the crosshairs,” he added.
Already, Iran has been threatening ships in the Strait of Hormuz, the
narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all oil traded
passes. Several ships have been attacked as well there.
Sascha Bruchmann, a defense analyst with the International Institute for
Strategic Studies in Bahrain, told The Associated Press that Iran's goal
in hitting energy infrastructure is to 'cause global backlash and impose
costs" on the U.S. president.
So far, however, “this is not the wholesome destruction of critical
infrastructure the Iranian regime seeks,” Bruchmann said.
Meanwhile, Iran’s Ambassador to the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the
International Atomic Energy Agency, Reza Najafi, told reporters that the
U.S.-Israeli airstrikes had targeted Iran's Natanz nuclear enrichment
site on Sunday.
“Again they attacked Iran’s peaceful safeguarded nuclear facilities
yesterday,” he said. “Their justification that Iran wants to develop
nuclear weapons is simply a big lie.”
Israel and the U.S. have not acknowledged strikes at the site, which the
U.S. bombed back in the 12-day war between Iran and Israel in June. The
Israeli military also did not immediately comment on Najafi's
allegation.
Israel has not publicized specific targets in Iran but has said that it
is targeting “leadership and nuclear infrastructure.”
Hezbollah fires on Israel, prompting massive response
As the attacks on Iran continued, Hezbollah said it fired missiles from
Lebanon into Israel early Monday in response to the killing of Iranian
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and “repeated Israeli aggressions.” There
were no reports of injuries or damage, and Israel said that it had
intercepted one projectile while several fell in open areas.
Israel retaliated with strikes on Lebanon, killing at least 31 people
and wounding 149 others, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry. About
two thirds of the dead were in the country's south.
Lebanon’s government said it was holding an emergency meeting after
Hezbollah’s attack on Israel triggered the Israeli airstrikes.
Iran has been firing missiles at Israel and Arab states in a
counteroffensive since the joint America-Israeli attack Saturday that
killed Khamenei and many top Iranian officials.
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This image provided by U.S. Central Command shows a F/A-18F Super
Hornet preparing to make an arrested landing on the USS Abraham
Lincoln (CVN 72)) in support of Operation Epic Fury, on Saturday,
Feb. 28, 2026. (U.S. Navy via AP)
Casualties rise as attacks spread across the region
Gulf Arab states have warned that they could retaliate against Iran
after strikes that hit key sites and killed at least five civilians,
and U.S. President Donald Trump promised Washington would “avenge”
the deaths of three American troops who were killed in Kuwait, while
predicting more casualties.
“Sadly, there will likely be more before it ends,” Trump said.
“That’s the way it is.”
Trump has urged Iranians to “take over” their government and, while
he has also signaled he would be open to dialogue with new
leadership there following the death of Khamenei, suggested Sunday
there was no end in sight to the military operations.
“Combat operations continue at this time in full-force, and they
will continue until all of our objectives are achieved,” he said in
a video message. “We have very strong objectives,” he added, without
elaborating.
The U.S. military said B-2 stealth bombers struck Iran’s ballistic
missile facilities with 2,000-pound bombs. Trump said on social
media that nine Iranian warships had been sunk and that the Iranian
navy’s headquarters had been “largely destroyed.”
Others have mostly stayed out of the war and pressed for diplomacy.
But in an indication that the conflict could draw in other nations,
Britain, France and Germany said Sunday they were ready to work with
the U.S. to help stop Iran’s attacks.
Early Monday, Cyprus said an uncrewed drone “caused limited damage”
when it hit a British air base on the southern coast. Further
details were not immediately available, but it came after British
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the U.K. would help the U.S. in the
war against Iran.
The weekend attacks were the second time in eight months that the
U.S. and Israel had combined against Iran, in a startling show of
military might for an American president elected on an “America
First” platform and pledged to keep out of “forever wars.”
In the 12-day war last June, Israeli and American strikes greatly
weakened Iran’s air defenses, military leadership and nuclear
program. But the killing of Khamenei, who ruled Iran for more than
three decades, creates a leadership vacuum, increasing the risk of
regional instability.
Iranian proxies join the fray
Hezbollah’s launch of missiles at Israel was the first time in more
than a year that the militant group has claimed an attack.
Iran’s proxies were a chief concern for American and Israeli
officials before they suspended negotiations with Iran last week and
moved ahead with strikes on Iran.
Israel said the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group had “joined the
campaign” alongside Iran as it retaliated with strikes on Beirut,
Lebanon's capital.
Associated Press journalists in Beirut were jolted awake by a series
of loud explosions that shook buildings and caused windows to
shatter. Warplanes could be heard flying low overhead.
“The strikes continue,” said Maj. Gen. Rafi Milo, head of Israel’s
Northern Command. “Their intensity will increase.”
The Iraqi Shiite militia Saraya Awliya al-Dam claimed a drone attack
Monday targeting U.S. troops at the airport in the Iraqi capital,
Baghdad, further widening the retaliation over the killing of
Khamenei. It had claimed a drone attack on Sunday against a U.S. air
base in Irbil, in Iraq’s north.
The group is one of a number of Shiite militias operating in Iraq.
The U.S. and Iraq did not immediately comment on the claims.
In the Persian Gulf, Iran’s retaliatory strikes pushed the conflict
into cities that have long marketed themselves as regional safe
havens. Three people were reported killed in the United Arab
Emirates and one each in Kuwait and Bahrain.
In the United Arab Emirates, authorities said most Iranian missiles
and drones were intercepted. But some either got through or fell as
debris, causing the deaths and significant damage. Bahrain and
Kuwait said Iranian strikes in both countries hit civilian targets
outside the U.S. bases where Iran had pledged to retaliate.
WHO calls for protection of civilians
Tehran’s streets have been largely deserted with people sheltering
during airstrikes. The paramilitary Basij force, which has played a
central role in crushing recent protests, set up checkpoints across
the city, according to witnesses.
In the northern Iranian city of Babol, a student, speaking
anonymously over concerns of retribution, told the AP that armed
riot police were on the streets Saturday night and into the early
hours of Sunday after the death of Khamenei.
“We don’t know whether to be happy about the elimination of the
criminals who oppress us or to remain silent in the face of the U.S.
and Israel’s war against the country and its interests and the
terror that is taking place,” he said.
In Israel, rescue services have confirmed several locations have
been hit by Iranian missiles, including Jerusalem and a synagogue in
Beit Shemesh, where nine people were killed and 28 wounded, bringing
the overall death toll in the country to 11.
The World Health Organization called Monday for sparing civilians
and healthcare facilities in the Middle East amid the escalating
conflict.
“The protection of civilians and health care must be absolute,”
Hanan Balkhy, regional dietitian at WHO wrote on social media. “All
parties must … ensure medical facilities remain protected.”
___
Rising reported from Bangkok and Magdy from Cairo. Associated Press
writers Bassem Mroue and Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut contributed to
this report.
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