Live updates: US and Iran vow to step up attacks in rapidly spreading war; Azerbaijan caught in crossfire

In an interview broadcast Thursday on Iranian state television, the deputy head of Iran’s central military command, Major General Amir Haidari, declared that the beleaguered Islamic Republic is relentless and unwilling to give in to the six-day attack between the United States and Israel.

“We will only end this war when we feel that we have achieved our objectives and made them repent and despair for their shameful actions,” Haidari said. “Rest assured, time means very little to us; we will not fail or be unable to continue.”

Hadari said Hazrat Khatam al-Anbiya Headquarters, Iran’s combined military command, of which he is deputy commander, was directing and planning all operations in coordination with the Iranian Army and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

“We will not stop this war,” Haidari insisted. “We don’t care how many days it takes. We are prepared.”

The Iranian Martyrs and Veterans Affairs Organization, a government agency responsible for supporting the families of those killed in service to the nation, said Thursday that as of the previous day, at least 1,230 people had been killed by US and Israeli strikes in the country.

The previous death toll provided by Iranian officials was just under 1,000.

The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said that according to its data, as of Wednesday, civilian deaths in Iran numbered “1,114, including 181 children,” with another 926 deaths reported “under review pending verification and classification.”

Qatar Airways says it will offer “a limited number of relief flights” from two Persian Gulf airports starting Thursday, “to assist passengers who are stranded due to the current situation across the region.”

The Qatari airline said its normal operations would remain suspended due to the closure of Qatari airspace, which, along with the rest of the Persian Gulf, has been inundated by hundreds of Iranian drones and missiles fired in retaliation for the US-Israeli strike launched on Saturday.

The limited evacuation flights that began Thursday included departures from two Gulf airports, with planes leaving Muscat, Oman, for London, Berlin, Copenhagen, Madrid, Rome and Amsterdam, and more leaving Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for Frankfurt, Germany.

“Please ensure your contact details are up to date so we can contact you with flight information and instructions. Details can be updated on qatarairways.com or via the Qatar Airways mobile app,” the airline said in its social media post.

He said normal operations in Doha would resume “once the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority announces the safe reopening of Qatari airspace”, adding that “a further update” would be provided on Friday.

The Trump administration, after coming under fire for offering little help to thousands of Americans stranded in the region by war, said Wednesday it was working on “a number of options” to bring people home.

The UAE Defense Ministry said half a dozen missiles and 126 drones were intercepted targeting the Gulf state on Thursday alone, after Iran vowed to step up its attacks across the region in retaliation for the US-Israel war launched on Saturday.

“UAE air defenses are dealing with 6 ballistic missiles and 131 drones. Today (March 5, 2026), UAE air defenses detected seven ballistic missiles, six of which were intercepted and destroyed, while one ballistic missile fell within the country’s territory. They also detected 131 drones, 125 of which were intercepted,” the Ministry of Defense said in a social media post.

Earlier Thursday, the government of Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, said six people were injured by falling debris when the drones were intercepted. His injuries were not described as serious.

Israel’s private Institute for National Security Studies has offered a series of figures that highlight the scale of the current war between the United States and Israel against Iran. According to the INSS, Iran has launched more than 1,600 drones against Israel, Jordan, the Persian Gulf nations and Cyprus:

Launches from Iran in:

• Israel: Approximately 200 missiles and more than 120 UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles)
• United Arab Emirates: 941 unmanned aerial vehicles, 189 ballistic missiles and 8 cruise missiles
• Bahrain: 92 unmanned aerial vehicles and 74 missiles
• Qatar: 41 unmanned aerial vehicles and 112 missiles
• Jordan: 36 unmanned aerial vehicles and 13 missiles
• Oman: 5 unmanned aerial vehicles, 3 missiles (Gulf of Oman)
• Kuwait: 178 ballistic missiles, 384 unmanned aerial vehicles
• Cyprus: 2 missiles, 3 unmanned aerial vehicles
• Iraqi Kurdistan: 70 missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles
• Saudi Arabia: 14 unmanned aerial vehicles, 5 cruise missiles
• Türkiye: 1 missile

Launches from Lebanonwhere Hezbollah is based:

• Israel: 27 unmanned aerial vehicles and 35 rockets
• Cyprus: 6 unmanned aerial vehicles

The INSS said U.S. and Israeli strikes against Iran had, as of Thursday, included at least 11 waves of attacks against some 600 targets. In the joint strikes, Israel fired about 5,000 munitions, while the United States used more than 2,000.

The latest casualty figures cited by the institute, affiliated with Tel Aviv University, say at least 1,097 people have died in Iran, citing data provided by the US-based activist organization HRANA. The INSS indicated that at least 87 Iranian sailors would have died in a American torpedo attack against an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean on Wednesday, off the coast of Sri Lanka.

In the Gulf region, the INSS said casualty figures include:

• Israel: 13 dead (including 3 from related medical problems, not direct fire); 1,524 injured
• USA: 6 dead18 injured
• Lebanon: 72 dead, 347 injured
• Iraq: 11 dead, 8 injured
• Syria: 5 dead, 7 injured
• Kuwait: 4 dead, 35 injured
• United Arab Emirates: 3 dead, 68 injured
• Oman: 3 dead, 4 injured
• Bahrain: 2 dead, 8 injured
• Qatar: approximately 20 injured
• Jordan: 5 injured

News themezone has not independently verified all of the INSS data, which the organization says is based on constant monitoring of “intelligence assessments, open source information and media reports.”

Residents of the British enclave of Akrotiri on the eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus were reportedly ordered to shelter in place on Thursday as authorities warned of an ongoing security threat.

The UK has a sovereign military base at Akrotiri, which it has granted the US use for “defensive purposes” amid the ongoing war with Iran, which has already been attacked at least twice by missiles or drones since the conflict began.

According to the Cypriot media outlet in Cyprus, an alert was sounded on Thursday and residents were ordered to remain in their places until further official notification, and to move away from windows and take shelter behind or under sturdy furniture. The Cypriot government later announced that no threat had been detected, In-Cyprus said.

A landing strip at the British base at Akrotiri sustained damage on Monday from a suspected Iranian drone strike, although there were unconfirmed reports on Thursday that it may have been launched from Lebanon, where the Iran-backed Hezbollah group is based.

Italy, Spain, France and the Netherlands were ready to deploy naval assets to Cyprus following the drone attacks, Reuters news agency quoted Italian Defense Minister Guido Crusto as saying on Thursday.

Six people were injured Thursday when debris fell to the ground following drone interceptions, the government of Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, said Thursday.

Iran has launched dozens of rounds of missiles and drones at Persian Gulf countries in retaliation for ongoing attacks between the United States and Israel that began on Saturday.

“Abu Dhabi authorities have responded to a falling debris incident at two locations,” the Abu Dhabi Media Office said in a statement shared on social media, adding that “following the successful interception of drones by air defense systems,” six Pakistani and Nepalese nationals suffered minor or moderate injuries.

According to data collected by Israel’s private Institute for National Security Studies, Iran has launched 941 drones, 189 ballistic missiles and 8 cruise missiles at the United Arab Emirates since the war began on Saturday. The vast majority of the weapons have been intercepted.

The administration in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, said on Thursday that limited flights had resumed from its main airport, offering hope to thousands of people stranded by the closure of aviation hubs across the Persian Gulf due to the ongoing US-Israel war with Iran.

In a statement, Abu Dhabi authorities said Zayed International Airport had “resume limited flight operations following a period of disruption in a significant show of resilience of Abu Dhabi’s ecosystem.”

“Over the past few days, efforts were carried out under strict coordination of security protocols and in close cross-sector collaboration to ensure comprehensive support. This unified response included the provision of more than 4,300 complimentary hotel rooms in 74 hotels for approximately 7,000 passengers, ensuring that those affected by the scheduling changes were comfortably accommodated,” Abu Dhabi’s official Media Office said in its statement.

“Passengers with confirmed tickets are asked to contact their airlines for the latest flight schedules and are urged to travel to the airport only after receiving specific guidance on when to arrive at AUH for departure,” the statement said.

Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry said Iranian drones attacked an airport terminal and a school building on Thursday, warning that it reserved “the right to take appropriate retaliatory measures” against its southern neighbor.

It was the first hit reported by Azerbaijan amid the widening war sparked by the joint US-Israeli attack on Iran on Saturday.

“A drone crashed into the airport terminal building of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, and another drone crashed near a school building in the village of Shekarabad,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

“We strongly condemn these drone attacks carried out from the territory of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which resulted in damage to the airport building and the injury of two civilians,” the ministry said, demanding that “Iran clarify the aforementioned issue within a short period of time, provide an explanation and take necessary and urgent measures to prevent such incidents.” to be repeated in the future.”

“The Azerbaijani side reserves the right to take appropriate retaliatory measures,” he said, adding that Iran’s top diplomat in the country had been summoned.

Iran’s official state news agency Fars quoted a commander of the country’s Revolutionary Guard Corps as saying on Thursday that the coming days would bring “more intense and widespread” attacks by the Islamic Republic.

Iranian state television earlier in the day broadcast a message from an ayatollah in Iran calling for the “shedding” of blood of Israelis and President Trump.

Ayatollah Abdollah Javadi Amoli’s message represented one of the few statements by Iran’s powerful Islamic clerics since the war began.

“We are now on the verge of a great test and we must be careful to fully preserve this unity, to fully preserve this alliance,” Amoli said, adding a call for “Zionist bloodshed, Trump’s bloodshed.”

Israel’s airspace reopened Thursday for limited inbound flights after being closed since the joint US-Israeli war against Iran began.

Under the phased plan, one passenger flight per hour will be allowed in the first 24 hours, for a total of about 5,000 people, and later depending on safety.

Outbound commercial flights remain prohibited.

Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard claimed responsibility for an attack Thursday on a U.S. oil tanker at the northern end of the Persian Gulf, but it appears to have been a Bahamian-flagged ship that reported a possible marine drone attack.

Maritime security agencies, including Vanguard, said the attack claimed by Iran was likely against the Sonangol Namibe, which was tracked off the coast of Kuwait on Thursday.

The company that operates the tanker, Sonangol Marine Services, told News themezone in a statement Thursday that “an unknown small vessel approached the tanker while it was anchored near Khor Al Zubair, Iraq” early Thursday, “and a loud bang was heard a short time later.”

“All 23 crew members are safe, accounted for and reunited inside the ship. The crew reports that a port ballast tank is leaking water, suggesting some type of breach in the hull, but the ship remains stable and safely afloat. The ship was in ballast with no cargo on board and there are currently no reports of any pollution,” the company said.

British maritime safety agency UKMTO earlier reported an explosion on the port side of the tanker, consistent with information provided by the Namibe’s operators. Public tracking data showed the tanker near the Iraq-Kuwait border at the northern end of the Persian Gulf.

News themezone obtained satellite images showing the site of a school in Minab, southern Iran, where Iranian officials They say an American or Israeli attack killed about 175 people during the weekend, many of them schoolgirls.

News themezone had previously confirmed that the building was located in close proximity to two sites controlled by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including the IRGC’s Seyyed Al-Shohada Barracks.

Analysis of images shared by Planet Labs shows that the school was not the only damaged building at the site. Images captured four days after the alleged February 28 attack more clearly show another collapsed building within the IRGC site and a hole in the roof of another building, as well as debris in the area.

Neither the United States nor Israel have said they were behind the attack. An Israel Defense Forces spokesperson told News themezone earlier in the week that the IDF had “found no connection to our operations.” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Pentagon was investigating.

“Mr. Trump! Was this the anthem you composed for freedom in Iran?” Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, fumed in a social media post Thursday, condemning what he called “the mass martyrdom of innocent girls in Minab at a school by Israeli-American criminals.”

The Israeli military said it launched targeted strikes in Lebanon against the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group, along with a “wave of large-scale attacks against infrastructure” in Iran’s capital, without giving further details.

Shortly afterward, explosions were heard in several places in Tehran.

News/AP

the senate defeated a war powers resolution that sought to prevent President Trump from continuing to use military force against Iranrejecting a Democratic push to rebuke the president amid the administration’s shifting justifications for the war and warnings of more American casualties to come.

The measure was rejected 47-53.

Read more here.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said Wednesday that Israel and the United States had “not much choice” but to “take action” and attack Iran.

In an interview with “News Evening News” host Tony Dokoupil, Herzog said there were concerns that Iran was going to expand its weapons arsenal, and that the United States and Israel believed Iran had “another secret new plan to accelerate” to develop a nuclear weapon.

“When you know they’ve invested all of their nation’s resources and money into creating havoc in the Middle East while you’re trying to make peace with Muslim countries,” Herzog said. “When you know they have another secret new plan to rush to the bomb, you have to act.”

The U.S. intelligence community assessed last year that Iran was not building a nuclear weapon, and the United States and Israel have not provided evidence of a new plan to develop nuclear bombs. Iran has long insisted that its uranium enrichment program is intended only for peaceful purposes, although it enriches it far beyond the level needed for non-weapons uses.

Herzog also said that Israel is not calling for a ground invasion of the country.

“Let me be clear: I’m not going to call any soldiers on the ground. I’m not going to ask any Americans or anyone else,” Herzog said.

Read more here.