The US and Israel proceed to strike Iran, hitting oil storage depots and refining services for the primary time.
Printed On 8 Mar 2026
America and Israel are persevering with large-scale strikes on Iran, together with an assault on an oil depot on Saturday, because the battle has widened to incorporate the Gulf area in addition to Lebanon and Iraq.
Iran has mentioned the US can pay for waging conflict and continued its retaliatory strikes on Israel and US navy property in Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, regardless of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian promising on Saturday to halt assaults on Gulf states so long as their territories weren’t used to assault Iran.
Right here is the place issues stand on day 9 of the conflict:
In Iran
- Navy assaults and rising casualties: The US and Israel have continued large-scale strikes on Iran and struck oil storage depots and refining services for the primary time within the nation. Late on Saturday, native media captured footage of an enormous fireplace raging on the Shehran oil depot on the outskirts of Tehran. The Israeli navy claimed accountability for putting gasoline storage and associated websites it alleges are affiliated with the Iranian armed forces. Not less than 1,332 folks have been killed since Israel and the US launched assaults on February 28.
- US calls for: President Donald Trump continued together with his demand for an “unconditional give up” from Iran. Late on Saturday, he acknowledged that the conflict would proceed for “a short time” however pressured that Washington was not trying “to settle with Tehran”.
- Maritime threats and actions: The Iranian navy confirmed that the Strait of Hormuz stays open, but it surely explicitly acknowledged that it will goal any US or Israeli ships trying to move by. On Saturday, when requested by journalists in regards to the lack of site visitors by the strait, Trump mentioned it was the selection of the ships and claimed that Washington has “worn out” Iran’s navy.
- Relations with neighbours: President Masoud Pezeshkian reiterated that Tehran needs good relations with the brotherly neighbouring nations, stating that the enemy is attempting to create divisions. Pezeshkian mentioned his remarks have been “misinterpreted by the enemy that seeks to sow division with neighbours”, state TV reported on Sunday. His feedback got here as nations throughout the Gulf area reported drone strikes from Iran.
- Iran’s new management: Ayatollah Mohammad-Mahdi Mirbagheri, a member of Iran’s Meeting of Specialists, hinted {that a} resolution on a successor to the slain Supreme Chief Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was close to. In a video posted by the Fars information company on Telegram, Mirbagheri mentioned “nice efforts to find out the management” had been made and that “a decisive and unanimous opinion” had been reached.
- Struggle crimes: Human Rights Watch mentioned the assault on a main faculty in southern Iran that killed no less than 160 folks, lots of them schoolchildren, needs to be investigated as a conflict crime. Al Jazeera’s investigation has additionally discovered that the concentrating on of the college was seemingly “deliberate”, whereas The New York Instances reported that the strike could have been carried out by the US.
- Intelligence report: A report carried out by the US Nationwide Intelligence Council discovered {that a} “large-scale” US-led assault on Iran was unlikely to topple the nation’s authorities, in response to The Washington Submit. The report additionally described the prospect of Iran’s fragmented opposition taking management of the nation as “unlikely”.
- Oil commerce: The conflict has roiled world markets, and oil costs have hit multiyear highs, with the Strait of Hormuz successfully shut. In a single week of the conflict, Brent crude oil value climbed 27 %, the largest weekly achieve because the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
In Gulf nations
- Bahrain: An Iranian drone assault brought about materials injury to a water desalination plant in Bahrain, the nation’s Ministry of Inside mentioned. This comes a day after Iranian International Minister Abbas Araghchi mentioned the US attacked a freshwater desalination plant on Qeshm Island in southern Iran, setting a “precedent”. There was no quick remark from Iran following Bahrain’s assertion. Nearly all of the Gulf nations largely rely upon desalinated water for his or her inhabitants’ consumption.
- Qatar, Kuwait and the UAE: The three nations reported incoming missiles and drones of their territories, regardless of the Iranian president’s assurance of no assaults on neighbouring nations. Kuwait mentioned two border safety personnel have been killed whereas on responsibility, and mentioned assaults on its worldwide airport and social safety workplace additionally brought about fires.
- Saudi Arabia: It mentioned an assault on Riyadh’s diplomatic quarter was foiled and a number of other drones have been downed in its airspace.
- Gulf Cooperation Council: The GCC mentioned Iran’s continued assaults towards Bahrain and Kuwait are “harmful acts of aggression” that threaten regional safety and stability. The bloc contains Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
- Aviation and evacuation updates: Following important regional airspace closures and flight cancellations, Qatar’s Hamad worldwide airport partially resumed air navigation by way of devoted “emergency routes”. Qatar Airways operated particular flights from London, Paris, Madrid, Rome, Frankfurt and Bangkok to Doha on Sunday. Based on the airport’s web site, all of these flights landed safely.
In Israel
- Iranian strikes: The Israeli navy mentioned Iran launched a number of missiles in direction of Israel. Air raid sirens have been activated in southern Israel, together with within the Negev Desert.
- Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) described the newest assault because the “twenty seventh wave of Operation True Promise”.
Within the US
- Timeline of the conflict: President Trump mentioned the conflict would proceed for “a bit” whereas, and that it was going “unbelievably good” for the US navy. The White Home has mentioned the marketing campaign could final 4 to 6 weeks.
- US casualties: The caskets of the six American service members killed within the retaliatory Iranian strikes towards the US arrived within the US. Trump presided over the arrival ceremony of the slain troopers as commander-in-chief of the US navy. He described their deaths as a “very unhappy day” for the Individuals.
- Pentagon chief risk: US Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a brand new risk to Iran. “Should you kill Individuals, if you happen to threaten Individuals wherever on earth, we’ll hunt you down with out apology and with out hesitation, and we’ll kill you,” he mentioned on X.
- Nuclear stockpile: Axios reported that the US and Israel have mentioned the potential of deploying particular forces to grab Iran’s stockpile of extremely enriched uranium. The information outlet mentioned the mission would seemingly happen “at a later stage” of the conflict.
In Lebanon, Iraq
- Israeli forces bombed a lodge in downtown Beirut, killing no less than 4 folks and wounding 10 others. The Israeli navy mentioned it struck “key commanders within the Quds Drive’s Lebanon Corps” who have been working in Beirut.
- Early on Sunday, Israel carried out a raid on the southern suburbs of the Lebanese capital.
- Israel threatened the residents of Arnoun, Yohmor, Zrariyeh East and Zrariyeh West villages in southern Lebanon with an imminent assault, ordering them to flee north of Nabatieh governorate instantly.
- Hezbollah mentioned it focused Israeli forces within the city of Marba in southern Lebanon.
- Rising numbers of residents have fled areas, together with Tyre and Beirut’s southern suburb of Dahiyeh. Faculties in Beirut are actually getting used as shelters.
- Kurdish Peshmerga forces shot down a drone over the Kurdish space of Sulaimaniyah in northern Iraq amid a sequence of aerial assaults on the area, in response to information outlet Rudaw.
- Trump mentioned he didn’t need to make the conflict “extra advanced than it already is” by permitting the Kurds to hitch the conflict. Earlier, a number of publications had reported that Trump was in energetic talks with Iranian and Iraqi Kurdish teams, and that Washington had hoped to make use of them to spur a preferred rebellion.
- Iraqi Brigadier Common Haider al-Kharki has mentioned neither Iraqi forces nor members of the regional Kurdish Peshmerga forces have crossed into Iran because the US-Israel conflict on the nation began.
