Iran expands Gulf assault as Trump warns of protracted war
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Debris lies on a street in the aftermath of an Israeli and US strike on a police station in Tehran.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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DUBAI – Iran targeted more American sites across the Gulf, and blasts shook its capital Tehran on March 3, as US President Donald Trump warned the conflict could be prolonged.
Two drones, apparently from Iran, struck the US embassy in Riyadh, in Saudi Arabia, early on March 3, causing minor damage and starting a fire.
At least eight more drones were intercepted before reaching the city, Saudi Arabia’s Defence Ministry said.
The US closed its embassies in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait on March 3, and ordered non-essential staff in several other countries to evacuate.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said its navy destroyed – with about 20 drones and three missiles – the main command building and headquarters of a US air base in Bahrain, and targeted another US military base in Qatar.
Qatar’s Defence Ministry earlier said its air force shot down two Iranian Su-24 bombers
Iran also launched new volleys against Israel.
Explosions shook buildings across Tel Aviv, as Israel’s air defences intercepted incoming Iranian missiles.
Iranian leaders have said the attacks are targeting US assets, but many civilian and economic infrastructures in countries that are allied with the US have also been hit, paralysing globally vital oil and gas shipments, as well as air travel across the region.
Tech giant Amazon said two of its data centres in the United Arab Emirates were “directly struck” by drones, disrupting cloud services in parts of the Middle East.
A facility in Bahrain was also damaged by “a drone strike in close proximity”, it said.
Israel fights deeper into Lebanon
Israel has been responding to Iran’s drones and missiles barrage by carrying out additional strikes in Iran and in Lebanon.
Loud explosions rocked Tehran on March 3, but it was not immediately clear what was hit.
The Israeli military said it carried out airstrikes on Iran’s presidential office and the National Security Council building in Tehran.
The UN nuclear watchdog said a key Iranian nuclear site suffered “recent damage”.
Iran’s Red Crescent Society, the country’s main humanitarian relief organisation, said that the death toll in Iran has risen to 787 since the start of the US-Israeli attack. It said it had recorded 1,039 attacks, and that 504 sites had been hit.
Israel is also fighting on a separate front in Lebanon against the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.
The Israeli military said its forces seized parts of southern Lebanon on March 3 after Hezbollah fired a volley of rockets at Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said troops were instructed to push forward and secure additional strategic positions inside Lebanon to shield border communities from attacks.
Military spokesman Nadav Shoshani described the latest move as defensive, saying it was aimed at eliminating what he called an imminent threat to Israeli towns near the border.
The announcement, however, fuelled concerns that Israel may be preparing for a broader ground offensive in Lebanon, similar to the campaign it carried out during the year-long war with Hezbollah that ended in late 2024.
Smoke rises after an Israeli strike on Hezbollah strongholds in Beirut’s southern suburbs.
PHOTO: REUTERS
‘Not a forever war’
US President Donald Trump, who launched the strikes on Iran sought to justify a broad, open-ended war
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the war against Iran was “not going to take years”
“I said it could be quick and decisive. It may take some time, but it is not going to take years. It is not an endless war,” Mr Netanyahu said on Fox News’ Hannity programme.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned on March 2 that “the hardest hits are yet to come from the US military”.
Asked how long he expected the US to be engaged in Iran, Mr Rubio said: “We believe the objectives we have set for this mission, the destruction of (Iran’s) ballistic missile capabilities, both launch capabilities and manufacturing, can be achieved without ground forces.”
“Right now, we are not postured for ground forces,” he said. “But, obviously, the President has those options and he is not going to rule out anything.”
The conflict has thrown global air transport into chaos and shut down shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, where one-fifth of the world’s oil trade skirts the Iranian coast, sending oil prices surging.
Major Gulf hubs, including the world’s busiest international airport Dubai, which usually handles over 1,000 flights a day, remained closed for a fourth day. That has left tens of thousands of passengers stranded.
Global oil and gas shipping rates have soared, with supertanker costs in the Middle East hitting all-time highs, after Tehran targeted ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, according to shipping data and industry sources.
A global market sell-off, meanwhile, intensified on March 3.
Stocks and bonds slipped as investors sought havens like the US dollar to protect their money from the uncertain and unpredictable effects of the fighting on the world economy. REUTERS
