A series of loud explosions were heard across Gulf cities on Monday as the conflict between the US, Israel and Iran spilled further across the Middle East.
Blasts were reported in Jerusalem, Dubai, Abu Dhabi in UAE, Doha in Qatar, and Manama in Bahrain on the third day of a conflict that has plunged the region into chaos.
As the American and Israeli airstrikes continued, top Iranian security official Ali Larijani vowed on X that “we will not negotiate with the United States.”
Meanwhile, Israel launched a wave of missile and drone attacks on Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs of Beirut in Lebanon on Monday and ordered evacuations.
Smoke was also seen rising from the vicinity of the US embassy in Kuwait, according to witnesses, and the US consulate urged Americans to “not come to the embassy”.
Three American troops have been killed and five are seriously injured, the US military said, confirming its first casualties in the conflict.
President Donald Trump has suggested the conflict with Iran could go on for the next four weeks after the US president earlier said that operations are “ahead of schedule”.
Israeli strikes on Lebanon have killed 31 people and injured 149, according to Lebanon’s health ministry, as Israel refused to rule out the possibility of a ground invasion.
Iran says it won’t negotiate with US as conflict escalates in Middle East
Mr Larijani, who also served as an adviser to the late supreme leader, dismissed reports claiming that Iranian officials were seeking to revive negotiations with Washington in an effort to end the ongoing war.
Iran sought to open talks with the Donald Trump administration after a wave of US-Israeli strikes over the weekend sparked a regional conflict, days after Tehran and Washington had held nuclear negotiations in Oman, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Maira Butt2 March 2026 09:16
Israeli strikes on Lebanon kill 31, says health ministry
Israeli strikes on Beirut and southern Lebanon have killed 31 people and injured 149, according to Lebanon’s health ministry.
The death toll is a preliminary estimate of the number of people killed in the conflict.
It comes as the Israeli military refused to rule out the possibility of a ground invasion.
Maira Butt2 March 2026 09:09
Macron speaks with Iraqi president as airstrikes hit Hashid Shaabi forces in Iraq
President Emmanuel Macron has spoken to Iraqi president Abdul Latif Rashid on Monday, according to French politician Jean-Noël Barrot.
Mr Barrot said that President Macron had expressed his support in efforts to avoid conflict.
It comes as airstrikes hit key positions associated with the Hashid Shaabi forces in Iraq’s Jurf al-Sakhar on Monday, army sources told Reuters.
No casualties were reported.
Maira Butt2 March 2026 09:09
Watch: Israel say they neutralised Iranian warhead that landed next to holy sites in Jerusalem
Maira Butt2 March 2026 09:03
UK is not at war with Iran, minister insists
The Independent’s political correspondent Millie Cooke reports:
Britain is not at war with Iran, a government minister has said in the wake of a drone attack on a British military base in Cyprus.
Middle East minister Hamish Falconer told BBC Radio Scotland an “unmanned drone” had hit the runway at RAF Akrotiri and inflicted “relatively limited damage”.
But asked if the UK was now at war, he said: “The UK is not at war.
“Let me be really clear, the UK took a deliberate decision not to be part of the first wave of strikes conducted by the United States and Israeli governments.
“But in the face of reckless attacks from Iran on a whole range of allies in the region – those are Gulf allies in which there are many, many UK nationals, probably 300,000 – and in response to requests from those Gulf allies… we took the decision, as the prime minister announced last night, to support the US’s request to use our bases in order to conduct defensive actions.
“There are ballistic missile launches in Iran, pointed at the Gulf and it is vital that those missile launches are taken out in the face of these completely reckless attacks.”
Maira Butt2 March 2026 08:57
‘No elevation of radiation levels detected’, says IAEA
Rafael Mariano Gross, the director general of the IAEA, confirmed that there has been “no elevation of radiation levels above the usual background levels” in countries bordering Iran.
The United Nations’ nuclear watchdog held an emergency meeting on Iran on Monday as conflict broke out over the weekend.
Maira Butt2 March 2026 08:51
UN nuclear watchdog urges ‘return to diplomacy’ after holding emergency meeting on Iran
The International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations’ nuclear agency, has urged the “utmost restraint” as US-Israeli strikes on Iran continue and Tehran retaliates against its neighbours.
Rafael Mariano Gross, the director general of the IAEA, held an emergency meeting on Iran on Monday and called on all parties to return to the negotiating table and to resolve their differences through diplomatic means.
Maira Butt2 March 2026 08:49
Ground invasion of Lebanon ‘on the table’, says Israel
The Israeli military has not ruled out a ground invasion of Lebanon, a military spokesperson said on Monday.
Asked if Israel would consider putting boots on the ground, they responded: “All options are on the table”.
At least 31 people have been killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon over the weekend.
Maira Butt2 March 2026 08:42
555 people killed in Iran since outbreak of US-Israeli strikes
At least 555 people have been killed in Iran since the US and Israel launched strikes on the country on Saturday, according to Iranian state media citing the Red Crescent.
Maira Butt2 March 2026 08:35
Israel says Lebanon’s Hezbollah chief next ‘target for elimination’
Israeli defence minister Israel Katz has warned that Lebanon’s Hezbollah chief Naim Kassem is now a “target for elimination”.
It comes after the group fired at Israel in retaliation for killing Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Maira Butt2 March 2026 08:27
