02/03/2026

MONDAY | MAR 2, 2026

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Iran hit with more strikes after death of Khamenei

CIA INTEL GUIDED STRIKES TO KILL LEADER: NYT WASHINGTON: CIA intelligence indicating Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would attend a meeting of top Iranian officials helped guide strikes in a US and Israeli attack that killed Iran’s supreme leader, the New York Times reported yesterday. The agency had been tracking Khamenei for months, the Times reported, citing people familiar with the operation, and learned that a meeting of top Iranian officials was set for Saturday morning at a leadership compound in Tehran. Washington and Tel Aviv originally planned to launch strikes on Iran at night, but officials adjusted the plan based on the CIA intelligence, according to the Times . – AFP ALIREZA ARAFI APPOINTED TO LEADERSHIP COUNCIL ISTANBUL: Iranian authorities have selected Ayatollah Alireza Arafi, a clerical member of the Guardian Council, to serve on Iran’s interim Leadership Council. Spokesperson Mohsen Dehnavi said the appointment was made in accordance with Article 111 of the Iranian Constitution. He explained that until a new leader is chosen, a temporary Leadership Council is formed comprising the president (Masoud Pezeshkian), the head of the judiciary, and one clerical member of the Guardian Council. Dehnavi said the council selected Arafi as its clerical representative to ensure continuity of leadership while the Assembly of Experts proceeds with selecting a permanent leader “as soon as possible.” – Bernama PROTESTERS TRY TO STORM EMBASSY IN GREEN ZONE BAGHDAD: Hundreds of Iraqis, many dressed in black, attempted yesterday to storm Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone, where the US embassy is located. Ali, a masked protester, said “the martyrdom of Sayyed Ali Khamenei has hurt us”.“We want the withdrawal of the occupying American forces,”referring to US-led coalition troops who have recently reduced their presence and are now mostly stationed in northern Iraq. Journalists near the zone reported a heavy security deployment and the closure of its entrance but protesters kept trying to break in. Protesters hurled stones at security forces, who KARACHI: Pakistani police yesterday clashed with pro-Iranian protesters who breached the outer wall of the US consulate in Karachi, leaving nine people dead. Protesters had been pushed back from the consulate, a government spokesman said, after they set a vehicle ablaze outside the main gate and clashed with police. At least nine people were killed, police said. Reporters heard sounds of gunfire and saw teargas being fired in streets around the compound. Large protests also occurred in other parts of Pakistan. – Reuters FOUR HURT IN ATTACK ON OIL TANKER ISTANBUL: Four people were injured in an attack on a Palau-flagged oil tanker north of Khasab Port in Oman, the country’s Maritime Security Centre said. It said the Skylight was targeted in the Musandam Governorate. “All 20 crew members, including 15 Indian nationals and five Iranian nationals, were evacuated,” it said. Four crew members sustained injuries and were transferred to receive medical attention. The centre did not specify who was behind the attack on the oil tanker. – Bernama responded with tear gas. – AFP NINE DIE IN KARACHI CONSULATE CLASHES

BR I E F S

o Trump issues new warning

TEL AVIV: Israel said yesterday it had launched another wave of attacks on Iran, as Iranians grappled with uncertainty after the killing of their supreme leader in US and Israeli strikes a day earlier, while President Donald Trump warned Tehran of consequences for retaliation. Hours after the US and Israel said an airstrike killed Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (pic) in the military campaign to overthrow the

government of the Islamic Republic, Iran’s state media confirmed the 86-year-old leader had died. The Israeli military said yesterday that he had been killed in a large-scale operation carried out by its air force. In another blow for Iran’s

leaders, Armed Forces Chief of Staff Abdolrahim Mousavi was killed in the strikes, broadcaster Iran TV said. The United States will hit Iran “with a force that has never been seen before”, Trump warned yesterday, if the Middle East nation hit back after the strikes. “Iran just stated that they are going to hit very hard today, harder than they have ever been hit before,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. He said, “They better not do that, however, because if they do, we will hit them with a force that has never been seen before!” Iran’s top security official, Ali Larijani, said a temporary leadership council would be set up. He accused the United States and Israel of trying to plunder and disintegrate Iran and warned “secessionist groups” of a harsh response if they attempt action. In remarks directed at Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf said they had crossed a red line. Iran’s air force conducted strikes on US bases in Iraq’s mostly Kurdish area of the north and

Iranians gathering yesterday in the capital Tehran to mourn Khamenei’s death. – WEST ASIA NEWS AGENCY/REUTERSPIC

the major oil-producing Gulf on edge. Air raid sirens sounded repeatedly across Israel early yesterday, with a series of explosions heard in Tel Aviv as Israel’s sophisticated air defence system sought to intercept missiles. Trump said the airstrikes aimed to end a decades-long threat from Iran and ensure it could not develop a nuclear weapon. He also sought to justify a risky gambit that seemed to contradict his professed opposition to American involvement in complex overseas conflicts. “This is not only Justice for the people of Iran, but for all Americans, and those people from many countries that have been killed or mutilated by Khamenei and his gang,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. Trump and Netanyahu told Iranians to pursue a rare chance to topple their clerical leaders. – Reuters On Saturday, across the UAE, Iran fired 137 missiles and 209 drones at the territory, the country’s Defence Ministry said, with fires and smoke reaching landmarks The Palm and Burj Al Arab. At Abu Dhabi’s airport, at least one person was killed and seven wounded during what the facility’s authority called an “incident”. Dubai airport, the world’s busiest for international traffic and Kuwait’s airport were also hit. In Qatar, officials said Iran had launched 65 missiles and 12 drones towards the Gulf state, most of which were intercepted, but eight people were injured in the salvos, with one of them in critical condition. On the first day of the strikes, smoke poured from US bases in Abu Dhabi and Bahrain’s capital Manama, home of the American navy’s Fifth Fleet, witnesses saw, with bases also targeted in Kuwait. The oil-and-gas-rich Arab monarchies, lying just across the Gulf from Iran, are long-term American allies and host a clutch of US military bases. In Manama, the Iranian attacks saw drones and shrapnel slam into residential buildings, with video on social media showing smoke and fire from high-rises. Saturday’s unprecedented barrage also targeted Qatar’s Al Udeid base, the region’s biggest US military base, as well as Riyadh and eastern Saudi Arabia. – AFP

Gulf countries, Tasnim news agency reported. A source briefed on the Israeli campaign told Reuters there had been no change in military strategy after the killing of Khamenei and that strikes would continue to target Iranian officials and missile infrastructure. Khamenei, who quashed the ambitions of a succession of independent-minded elected presidents who sought more open policies at home and abroad, had a following among fellow Shiites outside Iran in countries such as Iraq, where Tehran-backed armed groups threatened to retaliate. Iraq’s top Shiite cleric Grand Ayatollah Ali al Sistani expressed condolences over the killing of Khamenei and urged Iranians to maintain unity in the face of attacks. Iran, which had said it would target US bases if attacked, hit a range of other targets, keeping The new explosions came after a day of deadly Iranian strikes in the Emirati capital Abu Dhabi, as well as hits on military bases and civilian infrastructure across the Gulf except for mediator Oman. Iran’s attacks on the Gulf raised fears of a wider conflict and rattled a region long seen as a haven of peace and security in the Middle East.

Explosions heard in Gulf cities DUBAI: Fresh blasts were heard across the Gulf cities of Dubai, Doha and Manama yesterday morning after a day of Iranian strikes in retaliation for US and Israeli attacks. Reporters heard blasts in Dubai, Bahrain’s capital Manama and Qatar where

correspondents saw thick black smoke rising on the clear morning horizon in the south of the city.

Smoke rises after blasts were heard in Manama on Saturday. – REUTERSPIC