NEW DELHI MAR 4: Israel launched airstrikes on dozens of Iranian command centers, internal security, and Basij sites in Tehran, while US forces hit nearly 2,000 targets including air defenses, missiles, drones, and 17 naval vessels—double the scale of 2003 Iraq’s “shock and awe.” Iran fired over 500 ballistic missiles and 2,000 drones at US/Israeli assets in Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, UAE via IRGC’s Operation True Promise 4, triggering sirens in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv with no immediate Israeli casualties reported. In Lebanon, Israeli strikes south of Beirut killed 6 civilians and injured 8.
Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi affirmed Tehran’s “decentralized Mosaic Defence” to outlast aggressors, insisting self-defense rights under UN Charter without initiating against neighbors; casualties hit 787 per Red Crescent, including 168 at a Minab school. Supreme Leader Khamenei was reportedly killed in initial US-Israel strikes.
Trump eyes US Navy escorts for Strait of Hormuz tankers amid oil price surges and Gulf route closures; global airlines canceled flights, stranding travelers as conflict disrupts energy from Qatar to Iraq.
