Israel launches fresh strikes on Iran and Lebanon as Iran targets US bases in Gulf — as it happened

The Israeli military has announced it's killed Islamic Jihad's top commander in Lebanon.

"Abu Hamza Rami carried out hundreds of terrorist attacks against IDF troops and Israeli civilians, including recruiting and training terrorists and procuring weapons," the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said on X.

Rami has "managed the movement of Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) terrorists along the Syria-Lebanon border and their activities against IDF troops in southern Lebanon", the IDF said.

"His elimination has significantly degraded PIJ's ability to carry out terrorist operations against Israel."

The PIJ is a terrorist organisation allied with Palestinian militant organisation Hamas.

Earlier, the IDF said it had killed Hussein Makled, the head of Hezbollah's intelligence headquarters, during a strike in Beirut.

Hezbollah has not confirmed this.

— Caroline Riches with Australian Associated Press

With the ongoing conflict in the Middle East causing widespread travel disruptions, Formula 1 officials are chartering flights to get key team staff to Melbourne ahead of this weekend's 2026 Australian Grand Prix, according to The Athletic.

Approximately 1,500 paddock personnel — including team staff, race organisers and officials, and media and hospitality personnel — typically attend such a race, scheduled for 8 March at Melbourne's Albert Park track.

Many of these were scheduled to pass through Middle East travel hubs Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha, which are temporarily closed.

Airport closures have led to the widespread cancellation of flights and sent global air travel into turmoil.

Smartraveller has updated its travel warnings, with Bahrain, Israel and Yemen added to the 'Do not travel' list today. Source: SBS

Meanwhile, the US has called on Americans to immediately depart more than a dozen countries in the Middle East using available commercial transportation.

However, commercial transportation is extremely limited, as global travel faces its biggest crunch since the COVID-19 pandemic.

In Australia, DFAT has today added Bahrain, Israel and Yemen to its 'Do not travel' list, which already includes the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, the occupied Palestinian Territories and Lebanon among other nations.

Australians are being told to reconsider their need to travel to Jordan and Oman.

On Monday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese warned consular assistance for those in Iran was limited after Australia withdrew its ambassador from Tehran in 2025, when it expelled the Iranian ambassador.

"That has meant that our possibilities are restricted of what we can achieve, but we will continue to engage," Albanese said.

He urged Australians in the region seeking assistance to register with the Department of Foreign Affairs, saying officials would contact those registered.

As a result of the turmoil, airline shares have plunged.

— Caroline Riches with Reuters

Israel's military has launched strikes on Hezbollah targets in Beirut, after warning it would press ahead with its campaign against the Iran-backed group.

"The IDF is currently striking Hezbollah command centres and weapons storage facilities in Beirut," the military said in a statement quoted by the Agence France-Presse.

Israel has declared Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem a "target for elimination".

A few hours ago, Lebanon's government took the unprecedented step of banning Hezbollah's military and security activity, a decision Hezbollah has condemned.

— AFP

The US State Department has urged American citizens to leave much of the Middle East, including Egypt and the Gulf states, due to the war on Iran.

The alert first came in a post on X by Mora Namdar, assistant secretary of state for consular affairs.

"(The State Department) urges Americans to DEPART NOW from the countries below using available commercial transportation, due to serious safety risks," the post reads.

One problem that faces US citizens trying to heed this advice is that actually finding commercial transport out of many countries close to conflict is proving very challenging.

Commercial airports have closed across the Middle East, along with much of its airspace, creating headaches for numerous nations attempting to help citizens safely depart the region.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Sunday that the closures and cancellations had hampered repatriation efforts by the Australian government.

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Wong warns Australians in Middle East of 'difficult days ahead' as flights cancelled

— David Smith with Agence France-Presse.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong has spoken with her United Arab Emirates counterpart, confirming Australians impacted by travel disruptions in the UAE are being accommodated and provided meals.

It's understood a small number of flights out of the country have been facilitated so far while most have been cancelled due to safety concerns.

Flights to and from the Middle East have been cancelled following escalating tensions. Source: AAP / Suvra Kanti Das/ABACA/PA

The deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, reportedly updated Wong this morning.

There are up to 115,000 Australians in the Middle East region — with 11,000 Australians travelling through the region each day when flights are operating normally, Wong said yesterday.

In a statement made this morning, she said the government will be working with the UAE "around the clock" to assist Australians.

— Cameron Carr

Marco Rubio has clarified that the United States' strikes against Iran were pre-emptive, designed to safeguard US forces from retaliation after discovering that Israel was preparing to carry out an attack.

The US secretary of state said: "There absolutely was an imminent threat. And the imminent threat was that we knew that if Iran was attacked, and we believed that they would be attacked, that they would immediately come after us."

"We were not going to sit there and absorb a blow before we responded," he added.

Rubio said that by attacking Iran first, it would reduce US casualties.

— Cameron Carr

For more on Middle East developments, expert analysis and stories behind the headlines, see our latest SBS News coverage:

Iran's 'weaknesses' have long been clear. So why a major escalation?

'Change has a price': Iranian eyewitnesses speak from the shadows of war

Will a 'survival pact' in Iran keep the regime alive after Khamenei?

'Very serious': Travel insurance exclusions Australians must know amid flight chaos

British UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has defended his decision to initially refuse UK bases to be used by the US in its early strikes again Iran. His comments come as he faces criticism from US President Donald Trump.

Though the prime minister granted permission on Sunday for the US to use British bases to target Iran's missile launchers and stores to help protect countries targeted by Tehran, he was initially hesitant to do so.

The US president said he was "very disappointed" by Starmer's early refusal, saying it "took far too much time" for the prime minister to change his mind.

Starmer, however, is sticking up for himself.

"President Trump has expressed his disagreement with our decision not to get involved in the initial strikes, but it is my duty to judge what is in Britain's national interest," Starmer told parliament on Monday. His further comments remained bullish, saying that the "decision was deliberate" and that he stood by it.

"We all remember the mistakes of Iraq," he said. "Any UK actions must always have a lawful basis and a viable thought-out plan."

Keir Starmer has defended himself in the wake of criticism from US President Donald Trump. Source: Getty / WPA Pool

Then, in an apparent criticism of the US abroad, he said "This government does not believe in regime change from the skies."

In another statement, Starmer said the UK will not join the US and UK in offensive strikes.

"We were not involved in the initial strikes on Iran, and we will not join offensive action now, but in the face of Iran’s barrage of missiles and drones, we will protect our people in the region, and support the collective self-defence of our allies, because that is our duty to the British people, he said.

SBS News has previously spoken to Iraqi Australians about the trauma of the US' protracted invasion of their country. Last year, when the US attacked Iran, some drew comparisons to the Iraq war, as Starmer has done again now.

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Noor’s world collapsed when the US invaded Iraq. She has a message for Trump about Iran

—David Smith with the Australian Associated Press.

United States officials have declined to give a timeline on the war in Iran and expect more US casualties, as the defence secretary says the conflict will not be "endless".

Defence secretary Pete Hegseth said: "To the media outlets and political left screaming 'ENDLESS WARS' — stop. This is not Iraq. This is not endless".

Hegseth dismissed a reporter who asked about the timeline for the campaign, saying Donald Trump would not be pinned down, even after the US president suggested on Sunday that strikes against Iran could go on for the next four weeks.

— Cameron Carr and The Reuters News Agency

United States secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has said the US is targeting Iran's ability to manufacture and launch missiles, following reports of a deadly strike on a school.

Rubio insisted the US would not "deliberately" target a school, after Iran said 168 people died in an alleged US-Israeli strike.

The strike, which is reportedly being investigated by the Pentagon, appears to be the most lethal singular attack in the conflict so far.

— Cameron Carr

Defence Minister Richard Marles has confirmed this morning that an air base housing Australian soldiers has been hit by a military strike.

Marles said the Australian personnel at the Al Minhad base near Dubai are all "safe and accounted for".

"There were no injuries to Australians. We’ve got more than 100 personnel, actually, across the Middle East," he said.

The defence minister said the attack appeared to be carried out by "some drones" on the "first night" of the US and Israeli-led campaign on Iran.

— Cameron Carr

In a rather unexpected and perplexing turn of events, US First Lady Melania Trump is chairing a historic UN Security Council meeting on children and education in conflict zones.

It comes two days after her husband, US President Donald Trump, and Israel launched attacks on Iran that prompted a UN warning about child safety.

US First Lady Melania Trump presides over the United Nations Security Council at United Nations headquarters in New York. Source: AAP / Angelina Katsanis/AP

It was the first time a spouse of any serving world leader has chaired a meeting of the 15-member Security Council, the UN body charged with maintaining international peace and security.

The plan was announced last week before the launch of the US and Israeli strikes.

It comes after the US took over the monthly rotating presidency of the council, and was another sign of how the US president has personalised US foreign policy by involving friends and family in major issues.

In a statement to the council, Melania said: "The US stands with all of the children throughout the world. I hope soon peace will be yours."

On Saturday, the UN children's agency UNICEF issued a statement saying the military escalation in the Middle East "marks a dangerous moment for millions of children in the region".

It echoed a call by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for an immediate cessation of hostilities.

— Caroline Riches with Reuters

Experts say the United States and Israel's attack on Iran was an act of "clear aggression" aimed at regime change.

Iran is not a military threat, they told SBS News, but it does impact the US and Israel's ability to project power in the Middle East.

Brendan O'Connor, professor of US politics and foreign relations at the University of Sydney, notes an intelligence assessment released last year found it would take Iran 10 years to develop a viable missile capable of attacking the US.

"This is what they call a war of choice. This is an act of clear aggression rather than preventative or defensive," he told SBS News.

Read more analysis by SBS News journalist Charis Chang here:

READ MORE

Iran's 'weaknesses' have long been clear. So why a major escalation?

— Cameron Carr

The burgeoning conflict is threatening oil supply, leading to spikes in cost, as oil and gas facilities across the region shut down.

Brent crude oil prices have risen by nearly 7 per cent, and United States crude has gained 6 per cent, according to global markets.

Hundreds of ships are now moored in the Gulf, data shows, after Iran's Revolutionary Guards threatened to torch ships in the Strait of Hormuz.

Ships carrying crude oil equal to about one-fifth of global demand sail through the Strait of Hormuz along with tankers hauling diesel, gasoline and other fuels.

The waterway is also the conduit for about 20 per cent of the world’s liquefied natural gas.

— Cameron Carr

SBS World News contributor Emily Wither is at Iran's eastern border with Türkiye.

There are three land crossings between Iran and Türkiye, which for now remain open.

"If you're an Iranian, you can come to Türkiye without a visa, and we have seen small numbers of Iranians arriving here throughout the day," Emily says in an Instagram reel.

Increasing numbers of Iranians are trying to flee the country since the US and Israel launched attacks over the weekend.

Emily spoke of Iranians desperately seeking safety, and families already torn apart by the war.

"I spoke to one woman who came here from Tehran, she said there was very heavy traffic leaving the city and her plan was to just get her daughter to safety. She had a three-year-old daughter, she says now she's in Turkey she's not sure what comes next but she just wanted to protect her daughter," she said.

"I also spoke to another man who was crying as he said goodbye to his family. He was dropping his family off, they'd also driven here from Tehran. He was saying goodbye to his wife, his daughter and her child and then he was planning to return and he was visibly emotional about it."

The man told her he had to return and "stand by his country", which he believes is being "unfairly attacked".

Emily adds Türkiye has been planning for an influx of refugees from Iran.

"We're not seeing that at the moment but the reality is nobody knows what will come next," she said.

— David Smith and Caroline Riches

Iran's Revolutionary Guard have said its enemies who killed its late leader, Ali Khamenei, will not be safe "even at home".

The guard has also threatened to attack any ship passing through the Strait of Hormuz, a vital oil export route connecting countries like Saudi Arabia, Iran and Iraq.

"The strait (of Hormuz) is closed. If anyone tries to pass, the heroes of the Revolutionary Guards and the regular navy will set those ships ablaze," a senior advisor to the group said.

Meanwhile, Iranian officials have vowed to continue fighting, according to comments to the Reuters News Agency.

A senior Iranian security official contacted Reuters to say Iran was defending itself against aggressors and would continue to do so.

— Cameron Carr and the Reuters News Agency

Three United States aircraft have been "mistakenly" downed by Kuwait while flying over the country.

The three F-15E fighter jets were shot down during an Iranian attack, but all six crew members ejected and were safely recovered, according to US Central Command.

"During active combat – that included attacks from Iranian aircraft, ballistic missiles, and drones – the US Air Force fighter jets were mistakenly shot down by Kuwaiti air defences," the statement said.

Kuwait has acknowledged the incident and launched an investigation, it added.

— Cameron Carr

US President Donald Trump has delivered his first public remarks on the US strikes against Iran during a White House Medal of Honour ceremony, in which he addressed previous criticism over his vague war goals, and suggested the conflict could drag out a fair while.

Here were the key takeaways:

War could go longer than four weeks

Trump suggested that the four-week timeframe he initially gave for the conflict could drag out.

"From the beginning we projected four to five weeks, but we have capability to go far longer than that," he said, adding that the US was "substantially ahead of our time projections".

Alarmingly, he also told CNN that there would be an escalation in the assault on Iran. "The big wave hasn't even happened," he said. "The big one is coming soon."

READ MORE

Who is leading Iran now — and how will a new supreme leader be chosen?

Four key objectives

Trump's virtual silence on his justifications and goals for his attack on Iran had sparked criticism from members of his Make America Great Again movement, who bought into his pledges to end foreign wars.

So today he was determined to lay out some clear aim for Operation Epic Fury, which were:

1. Destroying Iran's missile capabilities

2. Annihilating its navy

3. Preventing nuclear weapon acquisition

4. Stopping the regime from arming and funding terrorist proxies abroad

Troops on the ground?

Trump has refused to rule out boots on the ground in Iran, saying he doesn't shy away from the option like other presidents, amid reports of more US forces deploying to the region.

Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said today the US didn't yet have troops on the ground in Iran — but the option had not been ruled out.

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth says the US war against Iran would not drag on like those against Iraq and Afghanistan. Source: AAP / Mark Schiefelbein/AP

However, the Iraq veteran insisted the campaign would not drag on like past long-running US wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"This is not Iraq. This is not endless," he said.

— Caroline Riches with Reuters and Agence France Presse

During the Australian overnight, the US and Israeli air war against Iran has widened with no end in sight, as Israel attacked Lebanon in response to strikes by Hezbollah, and Tehran kept up its missile and drone attacks on Gulf states.

Meanwhile US President Donald Trump has delivered a speech at the White House for the first time since the conflict ignited over the weekend.

Here are the latest developments:

• Israel and Hezbollah have intensified cross-border attacks, with the Lebanese armed movement firing missiles and drones at Israel, and Israel responding with major airstrikes on Hezbollah targets in Beirut, which Lebanon’s state news agency NNA said killed at least 31 people and left 149 injured
• Israel has declared Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem a "target for elimination". Now, Lebanon's government has taken the unprecedented step of banning Hezbollah's military and security activity, a decision Hezbollah has condemned
• In his first White House speech since the war began, President Donald Trump has said the US campaign has the "capability to go far longer" than the originally-projected four weeks. He also said he would not rule out sending ground troops into Iran. US Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine says more US forces are now on their way to the region

READ MORE

Iran's 'weaknesses' have long been clear. So why a major escalation?

• European allies, which distanced themselves from Trump's initial decision to go to war, have now said they can help suppress Iran's ability to retaliate
• A senior Iranian security official says Iran will continue to defend itself against aggressors. Meanwhile, Iran's conservative clerical leaders have shown no sign of yielding power following the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Military experts say US and Israeli air power, with no armed force on the ground, may not be enough to drive them out
• Iranian Red Crescent says 555 people have been killed in Iran since the strikes began. As bombing continues, residents are flooding highways to escape, many gripped by uncertainty, fear and anger about what lies ahead

READ MORE

'Change has a price': Iranian eyewitnesses speak from the shadows of war

• Qatar, one of the world's biggest exporters of liquefied natural gas, has halted production, with no prospect of being able to ship safely through the chokepoint of the Strait of Hormuz. At the same time, Saudi Arabia has shut its biggest refinery after drone strikes caused a fire there, one of a number of energy installations that became targets. There are fears oil prices will continue to surge
• Major Middle East airport hubs remain closed, leaving more than 100,000 Australians unable to leave the region and facing potentially weeks of uncertainty
• Foreign Minister Penny Wong has said Australia is unlikely to send military support to the Middle East

Once again, we'll be bringing you the latest updates throughout the day.

— Caroline Riches with Reuters, Agence France Presse and Australian Associated Press