“We’re doing very well on the war front,” Trump said Wednesday at the White House, adding that for “47 years, they’ve been killing our people and killing people from all over the world, and I think we have great support.”
The conflict showed no sign of abating, with Tehran again targeting Israel and Gulf states. Meanwhile, Israeli and US forces made good on pledges to bomb more targets in the Islamic Republic. The US sank an Iranian warship in international waters, marking the first time since World War II that an American submarine has attacked a surface vessel.
In Washington, the Republican-controlled Senate rejected a Democratic attempt to halt the strikes, clearing the way for operations to continue. The House, also controlled by Trump’s party, is expected to vote on a similar measure Thursday.
The White House said Iran’s regime had been “absolutely crushed.” Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said US forces had struck more than 2,000 targets and were moving toward “complete and total control of Iranian airspace.” Markets remained volatile amid fears of further escalation.
Trump has offered shifting explanations for the strikes, reiterating claims that Iran posed an imminent threat and saying the US acted before Tehran could attack Israel or American interests.
“Their missiles are being wiped out rapidly. Their launchers are being wiped out. They’re attacking their neighbors. They’re attacking their in some cases, allies, or not so long ago, allies,” Trump said. “It’s really a nation that was out of control, and they would have used it on us if we let them.”
Leavitt reinforced Trump’s caution that the future of Iran’s leadership remains unclear, with intelligence agencies “closely monitoring” the succession.
The duration of military operations remains uncertain, with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth telling reporters that “it could be six, it could be eight, it could be three” weeks.
At times, US officials appeared to sow confusion about the operation. Leavitt said that it was her “understanding over the past several hours” that Spain had “agreed to cooperate with the US military.” A Spanish official later denied that the government had reversed course on its refusal to allow the US to strike targets from bases inside its borders.
Iran has shown no sign of abandoning its nuclear or missile programs despite US and Israeli claims of heavy damage. Israel’s UN ambassador, Danny Danon, said Iran still has “significant capabilities” and that “there’s still a long way to go.”
Critics have said the Trump administration failed to sufficiently plan evacuations of Americans. US officials pushed back, with the State Department reporting that some 17,500 Americans have safely fled the region and urging others to register via its website.
The State Department said Wednesday a charter flight of Americans had departed the Middle East, and “flights will be surged across the region.”
Oil extended gains as traders assessed the widening fallout from the war. Brent climbed above $83 a barrel, after adding about 12% over the first three days of the week.
Traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, a maritime chokepoint vital for energy flows and container shipping, has slumped, prompting Trump to announce the US would provide insurance guarantees and naval escorts if needed to ensure safe passage for oil tankers and other vessels.
Leavitt provided few details about the insurance program, or when US naval escorts would begin. Traders and analysts still expect it will take weeks before flows can resume meaningfully.
Iran’s attacks on neighboring countries and Israel continued to cause havoc. Tehran dismissed a report that its Ministry of Intelligence had reached out to the US to negotiate an end to the conflict as “pure falsehood.”
“We have no trust in the Americans and no intention of negotiating with the US,” Mohammad Mokhber, an adviser to the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who was slain in the first salvo of strikes, told Iran’s state-run television.
More than 1,000 people have died in Iran so far, and dozens elsewhere in the region.
In all, about a dozen nations have become embroiled in the war, with Tehran striking US bases and embassies across the Middle East, and Israel launching an air and ground offensive against Iranian-aligned Hezbollah in Lebanon. China, India, Japan and South Africa are among a host of nations to call for deescalation.
Turkey also came under fire on Wednesday, a first for a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization since the conflict began. The alliance’s air defense shot down a ballistic missile heading from Iran, and Ankara warned Tehran against acts that could further widen the war.
The Iranian warship was sunk off the coast of Sri Lanka. Some 32 sailors were rescued and more than 100 were missing or dead.
A survey carried out in Israel by the Institute for National Security Studies, a Tel Aviv University-linked think tank, showed 81% of more than 950 respondents supported the strikes on Iran and 63% said it should continue until its government was overthrown. US polls indicate an overwhelming majority of Americans oppose the war.
Iranian strikes on US sites in neighboring Arab states continued overnight, with a drone attack on the US consulate in Dubai, the latest American diplomatic facility to be targeted. The drone caused a “limited” fire near the consulate that was extinguished, according to the Dubai Media Office.
States such as the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Qatar have collectively faced far more drone and missile strikes than Israel.
There are signs Iran is increasingly switching to drones, which tend to be less destructive because they carry smaller payloads.
Sirens also sounded in Bahrain, home to a US Navy base. In Qatar, US air base Al Udeid was hit by an Iranian missile and another was intercepted.
A British air base in Cyprus was hit by a drone strike on the weekend — so far the only attack on European territory. Greece, the UK and France are now bolstering the Mediterranean island’s defenses.
Israel struck 60 Hezbollah targets in Lebanon after the Iran-backed group carried out cross-border attacks on Tuesday. Lebanon’s government said the strikes had killed 72 people since Monday.
Israel’s military said it hit dozens of command centers across Tehran and has struck some 300 missile launchers since the conflict began. Iran fired four barrages of missiles at Israel overnight.
Israel confirmed attacking a building in Iran’s Qom used by the Assembly of Experts — a conclave that will select Khamenei’s successor. The military spokesperson also appeared to acknowledge that, as widely reported, the site was empty at the time and the clerics survived.
The leadership selection process is close to complete, with options having been identified, Iran’s semi-official Mehr news agency reported, citing Ahmad Khatami, a member of the assembly.
Preparations were under way for Khamenei’s funeral to begin in Tehran on Wednesday, but the ceremony has been postponed to a later date, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.
–With assistance from Yasufumi Saito, Devika Krishna Kumar, Rodrigo Orihuela, Michelle Jamrisko, Meghashyam Mali, Jordan Fabian, Jon Herskovitz, Dan Williams and Thomas Hall.
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Published on March 5, 2026