Commander killed in 'Zionist-US strike', says Iraqi Hezbollah faction

Amid the ongoing US and Israeli joint military operation against Iran, the Iraqi group Kataeb Hezbollah confirms the death of their commander. The Tehran-backed group said one of their commanders died in a strike near Jurf al-Nasr, in southern Iraq, on Wednesday (March 4). In a statement issued by Ahmad al-Hamidawi, the secretary-general of the armed faction, mourned the loss of a "great commander", Ali Hussein al-Freiji.

According to the statement, he has been a member of the group for over 20 years. The information was shared by two sources from the Iraqi faction to the news agency AFP. The strike reportedly hit the vehicle near the group's main base in southern Iraq, killing two fighters. One of the sources described the attack as a "Zionist-US strike" and included the killing of the commander; the death toll rose to three.

After a second round of nuclear negotiations between the US and Iran in Geneva, not a breakthrough but an understanding had been reached. While US President Donald Trump demanded zero enrichment of uranium, the slain Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei said, “nuclear energy was their undeniable right.” As Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, “a new window of opportunity has opened, under which we had the second round of the negotiations with the United States earlier today here in Geneva.”

And days after the talks, the US and Israel began airstrikes on Iran, which killed Ali Khamenei, after which Tehran attacked US bases across the Middle East. And just four days into the conflict, Washington lost military equipment worth over $2 billion.