06/03/2026

FRIDAY | MAR 6, 2026

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Iran fires barrage of missiles at Israel

French president calls for peace in Lebanon GENEVA: French President Emmanuel Macron has called on Israel to avoid launching a ground offensive in Lebanon amid growing concerns over escalating tensions along the border, Anadolu Ajansy reported. He also urged Hezbollah to immediately stop its attacks against Israel. He said he has spoken with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam, as well as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the “very worrying” situation in Lebanon. He stressed the need for Hezbollah to “immediately cease its attacks against Israel and beyond”, noting that the group’s escalation strategy represents “a major mistake that puts the entire region at risk”. Macron called on Israel to respect Lebanon’s territorial integrity and refrain from launching a ground operation. He said it is important for all parties to return to the existing ceasefire agreement. On Tuesday, Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot signalled the “need for de-escalation” during a conversation with Israeli counterpart Gideon Sa’ar, according to the Foreign Ministry. Barrot expressed France’s solidarity with those affected by recent Iranian attacks but stressed that Lebanon’s“territorial integrity” must be respected. While he condemned the “firing of rockets and drones” by Hezbollah against Israel, he said Lebanese non-combatants should be spared from violence.

local authorities. “Rapid response teams are assessing needs and distributing emergency supplies in affected areas and collective shelters. “Partners working in food security have reached more than 20,000 displaced people with hot meals and over 15,000 with ready-to-eat food.” – Bernama-Xinhua and delays the pilot had clocked his hours and needed to rest.“ Hundreds of thousands of Europeans have been stranded in the Gulf states since Israel and the United States struck Iran and Iran then attacked its neighbours. Those stuck in the region are on holiday, in transit or permanently based there. British Airways, which is currently unable to fly from Dubai, Doha, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Amman and Tel Aviv, said it would operate a flight from Oman yesterday. – Reuters Iran said the Assembly of Experts that will select the new leader would announce its decision soon, only the second time it has done so since the Islamic Republic’s founding in 1979. Israel said it would hunt down whoever was chosen. – Reuters shipping through the Strait of Hormuz yesterday, choking off vital Middle East oil and gas flows. Trump has pledged to provide insurance and naval escorts for ships to contain soaring costs, with oil prices rising yesterday. At least 200 vessels remain anchored off the coast, according to Reuters estimates. The US navy will escort oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz “as soon as it can” but is focused on the conflict, said US Energy Secretary Chris Wright on Wednesday. “We will do that as soon as we can. Right now, our navy and our military, is focused on other things, which is disarming this Iranian regime,” he said when asked if any commercial vessels had requested US navy assistance in the Gulf. Asian shares rallied yesterday after days of sharp losses while US stocks closed up on Wednesday on hopes that the war might end soon. Some traders said the improved sentiment followed a New York Times report that Iranian intelligence had reached out to the CIA early in the war about a path towards ending it. A source from the Iranian Intelligence Ministry rejected the article as “absolute lies and psychological warfare in the midst of war”, Iran’s semi-official news agency Tasnim reported. Repatriation flights departed the Middle East on Wednesday as governments rushed to bring home tens of thousands of citizens stranded by the war. Meanwhile, plans were in doubt for a funeral for former supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 86, killed by Israeli forces on Saturday in the first assassination of a nation’s top ruler by an airstrike. The body had been expected to lie in state in a vast Tehran mosque from Wednesday evening, but Iran announced that three days of farewell ceremonies has been indefinitely postponed and no funeral date has been announced.

an Iranian ballistic missile fired towards Turkiye. The escalation comes as the son of Iran’s slain supreme leader emerged as a front runner to succeed him, suggesting that Tehran is not about to buckle to pressure from the United States and Israel’s military campaign that has killed hundreds. The missile incident is the first time that Turkiye, which borders Iran and has Nato’s second-largest military, has been drawn into the conflict, but US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said there was no sense that it would trigger the Atlantic alliance’s collective-defence clause. The war continued to paralyse

voted against a motion aimed at stopping the air campaign and requiring that military action be authorised by Congress, leaving US President Donald Trump’s power to direct the war largely unbound as the conflict continues to widen across the Middle East and beyond. The US Senate voted 53 to 47 not to advance the resolution, largely along party lines, with all but one Republican voting against the procedural motion and all but one Democrat supporting it. The US–Iran war has widened sharply, with a US submarine sinking an Iranian warship off Sri Lanka on Wednesday, killing at least 80 people, and Nato air defences destroying

DUBA: Iran launched a wave of missiles at Israel yesterday, sending millions of residents into bomb shelters as the US-Israel war with Iran entered its sixth day and just hours after moves to halt the US air assault were blocked in Washington. Republican senators in Washington o Son of supreme leader emerging as succesor suggests Tehran will not bow to US pressure

The discussion also addressed broader security challenges posed by the Iranian regime, including its nuclear and ballistic programmes. Barrot stressed the need for a “long-term response” to regional destabilisation activities, saying a diplomatic shift is vital to ensuring collective security for all parties involved. – Bernama-Anadolu US and UK scramble to repatriate citizens

Residents in Tehran praying after a strike on a police station on Wednesday. – REUTERSPIC

WASHINGTON: A US government charter flight was bringing Americans to the United States from the Middle East while additional flights were being arranged for locations across the region, the US State Department said on Wednesday. The agency provided no details on the number of passengers aboard the flight, the countries they were leaving or the departure and arrival times of the flight. Since Saturday, when US and Israeli forces launched strikes on Iran, more than 17,500 Americans have returned

to this represents only a fraction of all people who have been displaced.” Forced displacement orders continue to be issued, including one on Wednesday covering the entire area south of the Litani River, home to hundreds of thousands of people. “Humanitarian partners are working closely with national and authorities. However, confirm the report. The British Foreign Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours. The flight was open to British nationals and their spouses or partners and children, with the most vulnerable people having priority, the Foreign Office had said earlier. “We have been told that the plane will take off later today once the pilot has rested,“ Sky News quoted an unnamed passenger as saying yesterday. “We were told due to slow check-in

The situation prompted criticism from some US lawmakers who accused the State Department of inadequate planning and late warnings. The department responded by saying it was “facilitating charter flights”from the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Jordan for US citizens in need of such assistance. Meanwhile, a British flight to repatriate UK nationals did not take off as scheduled from Oman on Wednesday and was rescheduled for yesterday, Sky News reported. Reuters could not immediately

to the United States from the Middle East, including about 8,500 on Tuesday, the State Department said. Many more US citizens have left the Middle East to other countries in Europe and Asia since the start of the conflict, the department said. On Monday, the State Department urged Americans across 14 countries in the Middle East to immediately depart the region using “available commercial transportation”. However, many US citizens face challenges due to global air travel disruptions caused by the war.

Middle East conflict disrupting aid missions, says UN NEW YORK: Middle East hostilities are severely impacting aid operations across the region, with disruptions to shipping and travel routes affecting relief supply chains, United Nations (UN) humanitarians said on Wednesday, reported Xinhua. aid workers and threaten to worsen food insecurity in many areas. Ocha said Lebanese authorities reported that more than 50 individuals have been killed and hundreds more injured in the past two days. significant destruction. Three paramedics were killed and six were injured while responding to an airstrike on Tuesday.

“Civilians continue to flee, often with little more than the clothes they are wearing and what they can carry. “Since the onset of hostilities, at least 80,000 people have sought refuge in collective shelters, according

Widespread Israeli strikes hit southern Lebanon, Baalbek, Chouf and the southern suburbs of Beirut, causing further casualties and

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) said the disruptions curb the movement of