Israel has launched wide-ranging attacks on Tehran’s infrastructure as the week‑long Middle East conflict widens, as U.S. President Donald Trump encourages Iranian Kurdish forces in Iraq to attack Iran.
Israel on Friday (6 March) said it had started a "broad-scale" wave of attacks against infrastructure targets in Tehran, as Gulf cities came under renewed bombardment by Iran.
The seven-day war has now seen Iran target Israel, the Gulf states, southern Cyprus, Türkiye and Azerbaijan, and spread to the Indian Ocean off Sri Lanka where a U.S. submarine sank an Iranian naval ship.
On the possibility of the Iranian Kurdish forces entering Iran, Trump told Reuters on Thursday: "I think it's wonderful that they want to do that, I'd be all for it."
Iranian Kurdish militias have consulted with the United States in recent days about whether, and how, to attack Iran's security forces in the western part of the country, according to three sources with knowledge of the matter.
The Iranian Kurdish coalition of groups based on the Iran-Iraq border in the semi-autonomous region of Iraqi Kurdistan has reportedly been training to mount such an attack in hopes of weakening the country's military.
Trump, speaking with Reuters in a telephone interview, also said the United States must have a role in deciding who will be the next leader of Iran after airstrikes killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei last week.
"We're going to have to choose that person along with Iran. We're going to have to choose that person," he said.
U.S. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said on Thursday that the U.S. was not expanding its military objectives in Iran, despite what Trump said about choosing the country's next leader.
"There's no expansion in our objectives. We know exactly what we're trying to achieve," he said.
Hegseth and Admiral Brad Cooper, who leads U.S. forces in the Middle East, said during a briefing about operations that the U.S. has enough munitions to continue its bombardment indefinitely.
"Iran is hoping that we cannot sustain this, which is a really bad miscalculation," Hegseth told reporters at Central Command headquarters in Florida.
"Our munitions are full up and our will is ironclad," he said.
The Pentagon earlier this week said the military campaign, known as Operation Epic Fury, is focused on destroying Iran's missiles, missile production and navy, while not allowing Tehran to have a nuclear weapon.
Cooper said the U.S. had now hit at least 30 Iranian ships, including a large drone carrier that he said was the size of a World War Two aircraft carrier.
He added that B-2 bombers had in the past few hours dropped dozens of 2,000 penetrator bombs targeting deeply buried ballistic missile launchers, and that bombings were also targeting Iran's missile production facilities.
Iran's ballistic missile attacks had decreased by 90% since the first day of the war, while drone attacks had decreased by 83% in that time frame, he said.
In Iran, at least 1,230 people have been killed, according to the Iranian Red Crescent Society, including 175 schoolgirls and staff killed at a primary school in Minab in the country's south on the first day of the war.
Another 77 have been killed in Lebanon, its Health Ministry says. Thousands fled southern Beirut on Thursday after Israel warned residents to leave.
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Start your day informed with AnewZ Morning Brief. Here are the top news stories for the 15th of July, covering the latest developments you need to know.
Iran has said it remains determined to pursue legal action against Israel and the United States over the deaths of senior officials and civilians during recent military confrontations, insisting it will seek accountability through international bodies.
At least six people, including a nine-year-old girl, were killed in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip on Sunday, 12 July, Palestinian health officials said.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and his Omani counterpart Sayyid Badr Albusaidi have discussed arrangements to ensure the safe passage of ships through the Strait of Hormuz.
The United States carried out a third consecutive night of airstrikes against Iran, targeting military capabilities around the Strait of Hormuz as Donald Trump announced the reinstatement of a blockade on Iranian shipping and proposed a 20% fee on cargo passing through the strategic waterway.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced the reimposition of a U.S. naval blockade on all Iranian ports and warned that power plants and bridges could be targeted next week unless Tehran returns to negotiations.
The United States and Iran have significantly escalated their conflict, exchanging heavy missile and drone strikes across the Gulf region. Iran claims it has once again closed the Strait of Hormuz, a vital global shipping route.
The death toll from the fire at a live music pub in Bangkok has climbed to 32 after two more victims died from their injuries, according to Thailand's Police Hospital.
Ukraine and Russia exchanged fresh attacks on Tuesday, with Kyiv targeting shipping and energy infrastructure inside Russia while Moscow launched another large-scale missile and drone assault on Ukrainian cities.
Kyrgyzstan has introduced an indefinite ban on the export of crude oil and petroleum products by road and rail in an effort to prevent fuel shortages and strengthen the country's energy security.
The Iranian Army's Ground Force promised a crushing response to the U.S. after an air raid on its barracks in the southern city of Bampur on Wednesday (15 July) killed seven servicemen and wounded 13 others.
Pakistan's benchmark stock index recorded its steepest one-day fall in months on Tuesday as renewed fighting between the U.S. and Iran unsettled global markets and heightened fears of disruptions to oil supplies through the Strait of Hormuz. The benchmark KSE-100 Index closed down 3.56%.
A British inquiry has heard fresh allegations that UK special forces killed three Afghan farmers and abused detainees during operations in Afghanistan. The claims were published this week as part of an investigation into alleged unlawful killings and a possible cover-up.
Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan have begun installing the first border markers along their shared frontier, marking the start of the physical demarcation of a boundary that was disputed for decades before being formally settled under a landmark agreement signed earlier this year.
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