Iran-US war latest: US embassy in Riyadh hit as Trump warns ‘you’ll be finding out very soon’ on future strikes
U.S. fighter jet crashes in Kuwait
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Donald Trump told reporters on Monday night that “you will be finding out very soon” what will happen next in Iran, just hours after a pair of drones struck the U.S. embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Earlier, Trump warned Tehran that the biggest strikes are yet to come as the US and Israel traded blows with Iran for a third day.
The US president said he expected the fighting to go on for around four weeks.
“We haven’t even started hitting them hard,” he bragged in comments to CNN on Monday. “The big wave hasn’t even happened. The big one is coming soon.”
In his first public comments since attacking Iran on Saturday, the president told reporters at the White House that the US was prepared to fight on for “far longer” than planned if necessary to decisively stop the regime from building missiles and getting a nuclear weapon. He said earlier it was the “last, best chance” to strike Tehran.
The president also refused to rule out putting boots on the ground as the Pentagon insisted the US was not veering into another “endless war” in the desert.
Trump told the New York Post: “I don’t have the yips with respect to boots on the ground — like every president says, ‘There will be no boots on the ground.’ I don’t say it … I say ‘probably don’t need them,’ [or] ‘if they were necessary.’”
Trump-Iran latest: Key Points
Iranian drones hit US embassy in Riyadh hit
Iran hit the U.S. embassy in Saudi Arabia’s capital with a drone early Tuesday as it kept striking targets around the region.
This comes as the U.S. and Israel pounded Iran with airstrikes in what President Donald Trump suggested was just the start of a relentless campaign that could last more than a month.
The attack from two drones on the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh caused a “limited fire” and minor damage, according to Saudi Arabia’s Defense Ministry, which did not release further details. It follows an attack the day before on the U.S. embassy in Kuwait.
Vehicles drive along a street near the Diplomatic Quarter, following drone strikes that hit the U.S. embassy compound and were intercepted by Saudi air defences (Reuters)
The expansion of Iranian retaliation across the Gulf and the intensity of the Israeli and American attacks, the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the lack of any apparent exit plan portend a possible prolonged conflict with far-reaching consequences.
Many countries deemed safe havens in the Mideast have been hit by Iran in retaliation for the U.S. and Israeli strikes, with recent targets including two Amazon data centers in the United Arab Emirates and a drone impact near another in Bahrain that caused damage, the company said Tuesday.
Iran has also hit energy facilities in Qatar and Saudi Arabia, and attacked several ships Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all oil traded passes, sending global oil and natural gas prices soaring.
The U.S. State Department urged U.S. citizens to leave more than a dozen Middle Eastern countries due to safety risks, as have many other countries, though with much of the airspace closed many remain stranded.
Namita Singh3 March 2026 05:17
Taiwan says it hopes Iran’s people can soon enjoy freedom and democracy
Taiwan supports the international community’s efforts to help Iran’s people pursue freedom and democracy and hopes that they can enjoy these rights soon, the island’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday, offering its backing to the US and Israel.
Taiwanese leaders, including president Lai Ching-te, have drawn parallels between Israel’s security situation and Taiwan’s own, given the stepped-up military pressure the Chinese-claimed island has faced from Beijing in recent years.
Taiwan views Israel as an important democratic partner and offered strong support to the country after the October 2023 Hamas attack in southern Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza. Since then, there has been an increased level of engagement.
Asked whether Taiwan’s government supported the US and Israeli attack on Iran, foreign ministry spokesperson Hsiao Kuang-wei said that Taiwan is a member of the international democratic community.
“We support the international community’s efforts to help the Iranian people pursue freedom and democracy, and we hope the Iranian people can soon enjoy freedom, democracy and human rights,” he said.
Taiwan also condemns Iran’s recent “indiscriminate military attacks,” Hsiao added, referring to Iran’s missile and drone attacks on Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and other Gulf countries.
Speaking at parliament earlier on Tuesday, Taiwan deputy foreign minister Francois Wu, who made a secret trip to Israel late last year, said the U.S. and Israel wanted to “eliminate terrorism”.
“Of course, the U.S. and Israel are both allies of Taiwan’s,” Wu added.
Taiwan has no formal diplomatic ties with either Israel or the U.S., though Washington has long been Taiwan’s most important international backer and arms supplier.
Taiwan has not had diplomatic relations with Iran since Tehran recognised the People’s Republic of China in 1971.
Namita Singh3 March 2026 05:02
Cyprus won’t rule out renegotiating Britain’s base use after drone attack
Cyprus refused to rule out renegotiating Britain’s use of airbases on the island following a drone attack in Akrotiri on Monday.
“There was no clear clarification that the British bases in Cyprus would under no circumstances be used for any purpose other than humanitarian reasons in Sunday’s statement by the UK Prime Minister,” said government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis.
“All necessary steps will be taken to communicate our dissatisfaction, both with the way this message was communicated and the fact that yesterday there was no timely warning to citizens of Cyprus living near the Akrotiri bases,” he told reporters.
The PM said that the UK believes the drone was launched before he allowed the US to use the base for specific, defensive purposes – and that Iran or its proxies did not attack the base in retaliation over the move.
But asked whether Cyprus would seek to renegotiate the status of the bases, Letymbiotis said: “In this context, we are not ruling anything out.”
A jet takes off from the U.K.’s RAF Akrotiri air base (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
James Reynolds3 March 2026 05:00
Pete Hegseth: Operation Epic Fury goals in Iran ‘laser focused’
Pete Hegseth: Operation Epic Fury goals in Iran ‘laser focused’
Namita Singh3 March 2026 04:59
Piers Morgan questions Rubio’s claim of ‘preemptive threat’ over U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran
British broadcaster Piers Morgan took to X Monday to react to remarks made by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio concerning the “preemptive threat” that led to US-Israeli strikes on Iran.
Rubio argued there had been an “imminent threat” that Iran would be targeted and suggested that, in such a scenario, “they would immediately come after us, and we were not going to sit there and absorb a blow before we responded”.
Responding online, Morgan wrote: “So the preemptive threat was based on prior knowledge that (presumably) Israel was going to attack Iran? This is nuts.”
Namita Singh3 March 2026 04:51
Video: Huge blasts in Beirut as IDF says it was targeting Hezbollah command centres
Huge blasts in Beirut as IDF says it was targeting Hezbollah command centres
Namita Singh3 March 2026 04:42
Kesha rebukes Trump administration for unauthorized use of one of her songs
What do Radiohead, Rihanna, Aerosmith, ABBA, the Rolling Stones, Village People, Beyoncé, Kenny Loggins, and now Kesha have in common?
On Monday the 39-year-old pop star joined the unhappy club when she demanded the Trump administration stop using her 2011 dance-pop hit ‘Blow’ in a TikTok video extolling the “lethality” of America’s armed forces amid ongoing air strikes against Iran.
Namita Singh3 March 2026 04:42
‘I’m watching the influencer bubble burst in real time’
The past 48 hours have been a wake-up call to the thousands of influencers who think Dubai is nothing more than a photo opportunity wearing a bejewelled bikini by an infinity pool.
Resident Sasha Maine explains the view from her 30th-floor apartment block and what it now means
Namita Singh3 March 2026 04:41
Netanyahu says war against Iran may take ‘some time,’ but not years
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that the U.S. and Israel’s war against Iran may take “some time,” but it will not take years.
The U.S. and Israeli air campaign against Iran began with attacks on Tehran on Saturday, killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and prompting Iranian retaliation against Israel, as well as missile strikes on Arab nations hosting US bases across the Middle East.
President Donald Trump initially projected the war would last four to five weeks but later said it could continue longer. He has since sought to justify a broader, open-ended campaign against Iran.
Israel’s government press office (GPO) shows prime minister Benjamin Netnayahu giving a televised address from his office in Jerusalem on 28 February 2026 (AFP via Getty Images)
Netanyahu rejected the idea that the conflict could stretch on for years, like previous wars in the region.
“I said it could be quick and decisive. It may take some time, but it’s not going to take years. It’s not an endless war,” Netanyahu said on Fox News.
The assault on Iran is part of a series of Trump’s foreign policy actions that mark a significant shift from his “America First” rhetoric opposing U.S. foreign interventions during his 2024 election campaign.
Netanyahu said he viewed the war as an opportunity for lasting peace in the Middle East, including between Israel and Saudi Arabia.
“Yes, I do,” he said when asked whether he saw a lasting path to peace in the region.
Namita Singh3 March 2026 04:40
Iranian Americans fear for relatives in their homeland as war continues
Many in the Iranian American diaspora spent several days glued to their televisions, watching the news of U.S. and Israeli bombs falling on Iran, some clinging to hope it might bring a brighter future to their homeland but terrified their relatives will suffer in a new Middle East war with no certain end.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who ruled Iran for decades while violently crushing dissent, was killed early in the attack. In the U.S., many celebrated, some popped champagne, some downed shots of tequila, some took to the streets to cheer the toppling of a ruler they considered a tyrant.
People protest against the war in Iran on 2 March 2026 in New York, New York (Getty Images)
“We are happy, we are happy that he is gone and he can’t kill our innocent people anymore,” said Ava Farhadi, 33, an electrical engineer in Indiana.
In January, Farhadi’s family participated in protests against their government, which were met with a brutal crackdown. While her immediate family was unhurt, Farhadi said, friends and close loved ones were among the thousands killed when security forces opened fire on peaceful protesters.
Many said they are worried for their families still there and for what the future holds.
Roozbeh Farahanipour, a Los Angeles restaurant owner who was jailed and tortured following the 1999 student protests in Iran, said he’s felt a swirl of emotions.
He celebrated when he heard Khamenei was killed in the initial U.S. and Israeli strikes. “I open a bottle of champagne and drink it up,” he said. “That was a happy moment but we are looking at what happens next.”
Deaths have mounted as the bombardment continued into Monday, claiming U.S. service members and Iran civilians. Farahanipour said he mourns for them.
Between 400,000 and 620,000 people of Iranian ancestry live in the U.S., according to the University of California Los Angeles, the vast majority of them in California.
Farahanipour’s restaurant is in a part of Los Angeles nicknamed Tehrangeles – the heart of the Iranian diaspora in the U.S. – where Iranian flags hang outside shops selling everything from books to rugs.
Namita Singh3 March 2026 04:27
