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US urges to 'depart now' from Middle East: Latest developments in Iran war Washington, United States, March 2 (AFP) Mar 02, 2026 President Donald Trump said US strikes were the "last, best chance" to stop Iran building a nuclear bomb, as the war raged through a third day and Israel traded fire with Hezbollah in Lebanon. Here are the latest developments:
"A short while ago, the IDF identified missiles launched from Iran toward the territory of the State of Israel. Defensive systems are operating to intercept the threat," the military said.
The State Department "urges Americans to DEPART NOW from the countries below using available commercial transportation, due to serious safety risks," wrote Mora Namdar, the assistant secretary of state for consular affairs, in a social media post. The 14 countries included in the warning were Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel and the Palestinian territories, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
"A short while ago, the Israeli Air Force struck and dismantled the Iranian terrorist regime's communications centre" in Tehran, the military said, referring to IRIB.
"We will also attack oil pipelines and will not allow a single drop of oil to leave the region. Oil price will reach $200 in the coming days," General Sardar Jabbari said in a post on the Guards' Telegram channel.
"We knew that if we didn't preemptively go after them before they launched those attacks, we would suffer higher casualties," Rubio told reporters.
"Following the joint US-Israeli attack on Arag square in southern Tehran on Sunday evening, parts of the Golestan Palace... were damaged," the ISNA news agency reported, adding that windows, doors, and mirrors were hit by reverberations from blasts.
Targets struck included command-and-control centers, ballistic missile sites, Iranian navy ships and submarines, and anti-ship missile sites, according to a fact sheet released by the US Central Command, which is responsible for American forces in the region.
Qatar's air force shot down two Sukhoi Su-24 bombers, the defense ministry said -- the first time a Gulf country has hit Iranian planes, after Tehran began region-wide attacks in retaliation for US and Israeli strikes that have devastated its leadership.
In his first public comments since launching the military operation, the president laid out what he said were four key objectives for hitting Iran. "First, we're destroying Iran's missile capabilities...Second, we're annihilating their navy...Third, we're ensuring that the world's number-one sponsor of terror can never obtain a nuclear weapon. "Finally we are ensuring the Iranian regime can't continue to arm, fund and direct terrorist armies outside of their borders."
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