Middle East war spirals with fresh strikes on Iran, Gulf

By AFP Teams in Tehran, Beirut, Jerusalem and Washington
Tehran (AFP) Mar 5, 2026
Israel on Thursday launched a fresh wave of strikes on Iran, which stepped up its attacks on Gulf nations Qatar and Bahrain, as the Middle East war spread throughout the region and beyond.

AFP reporters in Tehran and Doha heard huge explosions over the cities, with a thick column of black smoke billowing on the horizon of the Qatari capital.

A conflict sparked Saturday with US-Israeli attacks on Iran that killed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has rapidly escalated, engulfing the region and drawing in global powers, while snarling shipping and energy markets.

The war has touched as far afield as the Sri Lankan coast, where a US submarine torpedoed an Iranian warship, and Azerbaijan, which threatened retaliation after a drone hit an airport.

Azerbaijan warned the attack "will not go unanswered" and vowed "necessary retaliatory measures," raising fears of another country entering the fray.

In Lebanon, AFPTV images showed buildings in rubble and plumes of black smoke over Beirut after Israeli strikes aimed at Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.

On another front, Tehran said it had hit Iraq-based Kurdish groups, as the United States reportedly seeks to arm Iranian Kurdish groups to infiltrate Iran.

Australia deployed two military aircraft to the theatre while Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney said he could not rule out his armed forces taking part in hostilities.

The war has also dragged in NATO member Turkey after alliance air defences destroyed a missile launched from Iran heading towards Turkish airspace.

While a Turkish official said the missile appeared to have been aimed at a British base in Cyprus, Turkey summoned the Iranian ambassador over the incident.

- 'I'm not afraid' -

Following Thursday's strikes on Tehran, AFPTV images showed blackened vehicles and mangled buildings, with smoke still rising from some.

A 30-year-old Tehran resident told AFP: "We're going through a very important page of our history and I'm not afraid."

"Hope is the only thing that we have right now."

Iran's official IRNA news agency said 1,045 military personnel and civilians have been killed since the war began, a toll AFP could not independently verify.

Iranian media reported Thursday that a sports complex, football stadium, municipality building and shop fronts across Tehran were damaged in Israeli and US strikes on the city.

The country is effectively cut off from the rest of the world, with the internet operating at around one percent of capacity, according to the Netblocks monitor.

Israel's war aims were to "inflict severe damage on the Iranian terror regime until it removes the existential threat", military spokesman Brigadier General Effie Defrin said in a televised briefing.

Defence Minister Israel Katz said his US counterpart Pete Hegseth had assured him of Washington's firm backing for their joint military campaign against Iran and urged him to continue the operation "to the end".

- 'We will not surrender' -

AFP reporters in Jerusalem heard explosions following warnings of incoming Iranian missile fire, but residents were quickly cleared to leave their shelters.

Across the border in Lebanon, Israel said its forces had hit "several command centres belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organisation" in south Beirut.

Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) said a separate pre-dawn Israeli drone strike hit an apartment in Beddawi, a Palestinian refugee camp near Tripoli, killing senior Hamas official Wassim Atallah al-Ali and his wife.

Lebanese authorities said at least 72 people had been killed, 437 wounded and 83,000 displaced from their homes since Monday.

The conflict has not spared the rich Gulf monarchies, usually seen as a safe haven in a volatile region, as Iran has lashed out at cities and energy infrastructure.

Thirteen people, seven of them civilians, have been killed in countries around the Gulf since the war began, including an 11-year-old girl in Kuwait.

Qatar said Thursday it was intercepting an incoming missile attack as loud blasts, described by AFP journalists as the most intense yet, reverberated across Doha.

It had earlier evacuated residents living near the US embassy in Doha, after earlier thwarting attacks on Hamad International Airport.

Falling debris from an intercepted drone also injured six people in Emirati capital Abu Dhabi, officials said.

- 'Catastrophic' -

The war could usher in a "prolonged period of flux" for the global economy, warned International Monetary Fund chief Kristalina Georgieva.

Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards have claimed the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the Gulf chokepoint through which a fifth of the world's crude oil flows, with oil tanker transits down 90 percent, according to market intelligence firm Kpler.

A tanker in the waters off Kuwait suffered a "large explosion" that caused an oil spill, the British maritime security agency UKMTO reported.

According to Iranian state TV, Iran struck a US oil tanker in the Gulf with a missile, an incident that could not immediately be independently confirmed.

Facing energy shortages, South Korea said it was activating a $68-billion market stabilisation fund, while China reportedly told oil refiners to stop exporting diesel and gasoline.

With flights scrapped and travellers stranded or hastily repatriated, the war is also hammering tourism in a region that has become a prized destination for holidaymakers worldwide.

"My last group of tourists left three days ago, and all the other groups planned for March have been cancelled," said Nazih Rawashdeh, a tour guide near Irbid, in northern Jordan.

"This is the start of the high season here. It's catastrophic," he told AFP.

War in the Middle East: latest developments
Paris, France (AFP) Mar 5, 2026 - Here are the latest main events related to the war in the Middle East:

- France lets US use bases -

France has allowed US aircraft on some of its bases in the Middle East during the conflict, the French military said Thursday, adding that they "contribute to the protection of our partners in the Gulf".

Spain has come under intense US pressure for refusing to allow Washington to use its bases.

- No call for aid -

Iran has not requested military aid from its ally Russia since Israel and the United States began striking the country last week, the Kremlin said Thursday.

- Cyprus ring of steel -

Spain will send its most advanced frigate to protect Cyprus after a drone strike on a British base on the Mediterranean island sucked it into the Middle East war, the defence ministry said on Thursday.

The "Cristobal Colon" will join French aircraft carrier "Charles de Gaulle" and Greek navy ships to offer protection and help evacuate civilians, the ministry said. Italy also said it would send "naval assets" to the EU member state in coming days.

Britain's Defence Minister John Healey arrived in Cyprus on Thursday.

- Fresh Israeli strikes -

Israel's military said Thursday it had "just begun a large-scale wave of strikes against infrastructure of the Iranian terror regime across Tehran".

Iranian news agency Tasnim and local media reported several explosions heard in Tehran Thursday morning.

Earlier, AFP journalists heard explosions in Jerusalem as Iran launched a fresh round of missiles at Israel, according to Iranian state media and the Israeli military.

- Blasts in Doha -

Another round of explosions were heard over the Qatari capital Doha Thursday, AFP journalists reported, describing a column of black smoke rising on the horizon.

Qatar's defence ministry said its military was working to intercept an incoming missile attack.

Earlier, Qatar began evacuating residents living near the US embassy in Doha.

- Iran hits Iraqi Kurds -

Iran said Thursday it had targeted the headquarters of Kurdish forces in Iraqi Kurdistan with three missiles, following strikes on Kurdish regions in both Iran and Iraq.

The strikes killed a member from an exiled Iranian Kurdish group, according to a representative.

- Israel kills Hamas official -

Lebanese state media said an Israeli strike had killed a senior Hamas official Thursday, the first reported targeted killing of a member of the Palestinian militant group since the war began.

- Azerbaijan protests Iran strikes -

Azerbaijan, a close ally of Israel, on Thursday summoned Iran's envoy after two people were wounded in drone hits on an airport and near a school in the exclave of Nakhichevan, warning the attack "will not go unanswered".

- US will 'regret' sinking -

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused the United States of committing an atrocity by sinking an Iranian navy ship off Sri Lanka.

"Mark my words: The US will come to bitterly regret precedent it has set," he posted on X.

A second Iranian warship was heading towards Sri Lanka's territorial waters Thursday, a minister told parliament.

- Iran says hit US tanker -

Iran hit a US oil tanker with a missile Thursday, "in the north of the Persian Gulf" and set it on fire, Iran's Revolutionary Guards said in a statement reported by state television.

The incident has not been independently confirmed.

- Iran internet blackout -

Iran's internet is "around 1 percent of ordinary levels" with a communication blackout sparked by the war with Israel and the United States entering a fifth day, monitor Netblocks said Thursday.

- Australia deploys 'military assets' -

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Thursday that "military assets" had been deployed to the Middle East as a contingency plan.

While Albanese did not elaborate, local outlet SBS News reported they were planes.

Italy said it would send air-defence assistance to the Gulf.

- Strike hits Hezbollah stronghold -

An air strike hit the Hezbollah stronghold of south Beirut early Thursday, after an Israeli warning to residents.

Israeli strikes along Beirut's airport highway killed three people, Lebanon's health ministry said.

- Oil spill near Kuwait -

A "large explosion" hit a tanker in the waters off Kuwait, causing an oil spill, British maritime security agency UKMTO said.

"The Master of a tanker at anchor, reports witnessing and hearing a large explosion on the port side then seeing a small craft leave the vicinity" off the Gulf state's Mubarak Al-Kabeer area, the agency posted on X.