US-Israel-Iran war highlights: Two senior Iranian intel officers killed in Tehran airstrike, says IDF

A US-Israeli missile attack on an industrial area of Isfahan killed at least 15 people, Iran's Fars news agency reported on Saturday.

The attack targeted a factory that produces heating and cooling equipment and was in operation at the time of the strike, Fars reported. Saturday is a working day in Iran. 

An Israeli Air Force fighter jet was almost shot down over Iran amid the war, the military said on Saturday. According to the IDF, an attempt was made to shoot down the jet, and it was “close to being hit.”

The attack on the plane “failed due to the alertness and professionalism of the pilot,” the military said, adding that the sortie “was completed successfully.”

Two senior Iranian intelligence officers were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Tehran on Friday, the IDF announced on Saturday. The strike targeted a facility of the intelligence directorate of the Khatam-al Anbiya Central Headquarters, also known as Iran’s military emergency command.

The strike killed Abdollah Jalali-Nasab and Amir Shariat, two top officers in Khatam-al Anbiya’s intelligence directorate.

Total Iranian gas supplies to Iraq rose from 6 million cubic metres to 18 million cubic metres over the past week, Iraqi electricity ministry spokesperson Ahmed Mousa told Reuters, adding that the additional volumes were allocated to the country’s southern region.

The Israel Defence Forces said on Saturday (March 14) that missiles were launched from Iran toward Israeli territory, and air defence systems were operating to intercept the incoming threat.

Israel said on Saturday (March 14) it had killed Hisham Abd al-Karim Yassin, a commander in the Palestine Corps of Iran’s Quds Force and in Hezbollah’s communications unit.

“We have them on tape—we know who they are,” US President Donald Trump said on the Fox News Brian Kilmeade Show on Friday (March 13), referring to individuals he said are killing protesters in the streets. “When they’re caught, they will be tried and executed.”
 

US President Donald Trump dismissed reports by The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times that US refueling tanker aircraft were destroyed in a strike in Saudi Arabia. 

Trump said in a post on Truth Social, “Four of the five had virtually no damage, and are already back in service. One had slightly more damage but will be in the air shortly. None were destroyed, or close to that, as the Fake News said in headlines,” he wrote.

Israeli Home Front Command troops, including active and reserve soldiers, were deployed to the site of a strike in southern Israel, the Israeli military said.

Iranian state media warned residents and workers in areas around the Jebel Ali, Khalifa and Fujairah ports in the UAE to leave immediately, saying the locations could be targeted in the coming hours.

Amid concerns over fuel supply due to developments in West Asia, the Union Petroleum Ministry on Saturday said India has sufficient crude oil supplies and that refineries across the country are operating at full capacity, with no reports of fuel shortages at retail outlets.

Addressing an inter-ministerial briefing on developments in West Asia, Joint Secretary (Marketing & Oil Refinery) at the Ministry, Sujata Sharma, said adequate petrol and diesel are available in the country, and there is currently no need for imports.

Two Indian-flagged tankers carrying liquefied petroleum gas bound for ports in the country's west crossed the Strait of Hormuz, the shipping ministry said Saturday.

"They crossed the Strait of Hormuz early morning safely and are en route to India," Rajesh Kumar Sinha, special secretary of the Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways, said at a news briefing in New Delhi.

Israel says 'antisemitism epidemic raging' in Netherlands after blast outside Jewish school

Israel's Defence Minister Israel Katz said Saturday the war with Tehran was entering a "decisive phase", praising US strikes on what Washington called military targets on Iran's Kharg Island oil export hub.

Iran's military warned Saturday that it considers ports in the United Arab Emirates to be legitimate targets and urged residents to avoid them, in a statement carried by state TV.

Tehran "considers it its legitimate right to defend its national sovereignty and territory by striking American enemy missiles located in ports, docks and US military hideouts" in the UAE, the military's central operational command, Khatam Al-Anbiya, said.

Amir Hatami, commander-in-chief of the Iranian army, has warned that the killing of 104 crew members from the IRIS Dena, in the Indian Ocean upon returning from a military exercise, “will not go unanswered."

 Police have arrested 54 supporters of the Shah's rule within 72 hours, who were planning riots in the country, say Iranian news agencies, identified with the regime.

At least 112 people have lost their lives so far after US-Israel attacks on the Kurdistan province of Iran, according to a local official quoted by the Tasnim news agency. In addition, at least 969 people were injured in the attacks, according to the Head of the Kurdistan Provincial Emergency Department.

The official further confirmed that 27 people are currently hospitalised in standard wards, while five are in intensive care units.

Iran has now completed two weeks under a nationwide internet shutdown imposed by authorities, according to the internet monitoring organisation NetBlocks.

Iran has reported significant damage to dozens of its cultural landmarks following US-Israeli strikes since the beginning of the war. According to the country’s Culture Ministry, at least 56 sites, including museums and historic monuments, have suffered serious structural damage.

In a statement cited by the ISNA news agency, the ministry said Tehran province recorded the highest number of affected sites, with 19 monuments damaged. It added that Iran’s Kurdistan province has also been impacted, where 12 major historical monuments were reported damaged.

Six members of the same family, along with a 6‑month‑old baby, have been killed after Israeli-US forces launched an attack on a residential building in the city of Eyvan in Iran’s Ilam province, according to Iranian media reports. A local authority stated that rescue workers are still on the way to the scene of the strike, clearing the rubble.

No oil infrastructure was damaged in US strikes on Kharg Island, Iranian media reported on Saturday.

Fars news agency, citing sources on the ground, reported there had been no damage to oil facilities after President Donald Trump said US bombardment of the island had destroyed military targets.

Trump had threatened in a social media post to target oil infrastructure on the island, a crucial hub for Iran, if Tehran continued to block the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas on Saturday called on Iran to refrain from targeting neighbouring countries, while affirming Tehran's right to defend itself against Israel and the United States.

"While affirming the right of the Islamic Republic of Iran to respond to this aggression by all available means in accordance with international norms and laws, the movement calls on the brothers in Iran to avoid targeting neighbouring countries," Hamas said in a statement.

The Israeli army told people in an industrial zone in the west of Iran's northern city of Tabriz to leave ahead of military operations on Saturday.

"Urgent warning to all people located in the industrial area west of Tabriz," the Israeli military posted on X, adding it would "continue to operate in the area in the coming hours".

Internet shutdowns in Iran since US-Israeli strikes late last month triggered a war in the Middle East meant that residents were unlikely to be able to access online evacuation warnings.

A drone struck the US embassy in Baghdad on Saturday, an Iraqi security official said, as an AFP journalist saw smoke rising from the complex.

"A drone hit the embassy," the official said, with a second security source confirming that an attack had targeted the diplomatic mission.

The attack took place shortly after two Iran-backed fighters were killed in strikes on Iraq's capital, according to several sources.

Explosions rocked Iraq's capital Baghdad on Saturday after two strikes targeted the powerful Iran-backed group Kataeb Hezbollah, killing two members including a "key figure", security sources said.

The strikes are the first in the heart of Baghdad to kill Iran-backed fighters since the start of the Middle East war on February 28, which has not spared Iraq, long a proxy battleground between the US and Iran.

"At 02:15 am (2315 GMT Friday), a missile struck a house that was being used by Kataeb Hezbollah," said a security source, adding that "a key figure was martyred," and two members of the group were wounded.

The Government of Nepal has decided to stop granting on arrival visas to Iranian nationals, requiring them to obtain visas from Nepali embassies abroad before travelling to the country.

The Department of Immigration said the rule will apply to all Iranian citizens except those holding government and diplomatic passports.

With the move, the number of countries whose citizens are not eligible for Nepal’s on arrival visa facility has risen to 13.

According to the department, the list now includes Nigeria, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Switzerland, Cameroon, Somalia, Liberia, Ethiopia, Iraq, Palestine, Afghanistan and Syria.

Turkey on Friday advised its citizens to avoid non‑essential travel to Iraq, with the country drawn into the war between Iran and the United States and Israel.

In a statement, the Turkish embassy in Baghdad said: "It is considered appropriate for our citizens to avoid travelling to Iraq during this period unless there is a compelling reason to do so".

The embassy also advised citizens to avoid crowded squares, gathering areas around the Green Zone in Baghdad, as well as Baghdad and Erbil international airports, residential areas in and around Mosul, areas adjacent to Basra and critical infrastructure facilities such as military zones and oil fields across Iraq.

An Israeli strike in southern Lebanon killed a dozen medical staff at a clinic, Lebanese health authorities said Saturday, after Iran-backed Hezbollah's leader said his group was ready for a long confrontation with Israel.

Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war last week when the Tehran-backed militant group attacked Israel in response to the killing of Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes.

The United States on Friday told its non-emergency US government employees in Oman and their family members to leave the Gulf country as war rages in the Middle East.

The State Department updated its advisory to warn Americans of "safety risks," noting "there has been an ongoing threat of drone and missile attacks from Iran and significant disruptions to commercial flights."

Two people were killed by a drone in northern Oman, state media reported Friday, as Iran continues its retaliatory attacks on neighbouring countries.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed moving Iran's enriched uranium to his country, according to reports. This offer was made during his call with US President Donald Trump this week, reports Axios. Speaking to the publication, a US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, revealed that this was not the first time Russia had made this offer. Notably, the ongoing war between the US, Israel and Iran started amid Washington's claims that Tehran had enriched uranium to weapon-grade. Why didn't Trump accept Putin's proposal even as the US insists that securing Iran's uranium stockpile remains a priority? 

Here's all you need to know

Mojtaba Khamenei, the new Iranian Supreme Leader, was injured in a "chaotic environment" and is "likely disfigured", said the United States on Friday (Mar 13). However, speaking to the press, US Vice President JD Vance confessed that it was "not totally clear" if the new Ayatollah was injured by a US strike. Meanwhile, America's War President Pete Hegseth, while questioning Ali Khamenei's son's ability to rule Iran, said that Mojtaba was "wounded and likely disfigured". This comes just two days after Yousef Pezeshkian, the son of President Masoud Pezeshkian, confirmed that the newly appointed Supreme Leader had sustained injuries in the Iran war, but insisted that he was "safe and sound". Here's all we know about Mojtaba Khamenei's condition.

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US President Donald Trump on Thursday (Mar 13) claimed that Tehran ‘has no radar,’ while insisting that the Iran war will last as long as necessary. The POTUS effectively signalled that the US and Israel have achieved total air supremacy over Iran. 

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Blasts were heard in Doha early Saturday, according to AFP journalists, after Qatar's interior ministry said it was evacuating some key areas.

Interceptors were seen over the Qatari capital's downtown area, downing two projectiles, an AFP journalist said, as Iran presses its retaliatory air campaign against Gulf states.

The Gulf state's defence ministry said its military had "intercepted a missile attack which targeted the State of Qatar".

US President Donald Trump on Thursday (Mar 13) said the United States will soon begin naval escorts for ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz as tensions escalate in the Gulf. Speaking to the press at Joint Base Andrews-Naval Air Facility in Washington, Trump claimed Tehran’s military capabilities have been severely degraded. “Iran has no radar. They have no anti-aircraft weapons,” he said, adding that the US military had been rebuilt during his presidency after previously being in poor condition.

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Explosions were heard on Saturday in Iraq's capital Baghdad, AFP journalists reported.

The cause of the loud blasts in Baghdad was unclear, but witnesses said they saw smoke rising from an area in the city's centre.

US President Donald Trump said on Friday (March 13) that the US military had carried out a heavy bombing campaign against targets on Kharg Island, a key Iranian oil export hub, while warning that the island’s oil infrastructure could be targeted if tensions escalate. Posting on social media, Trump said the strikes had destroyed military sites on the island.

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