CIA station hit in Saudi; Mojtaba elected as Iranian supreme leader – Firstpost

It’s Day 5 of the Iran war, with Iran continuing its retaliatory missile and drone strikes against Israel and across the Gulf — disrupting travel and driving up oil prices. The conflict has also spread to Lebanon, where Iran-backed Hezbollah keeps up its missile attacks at Israel, prompting Israeli strikes in Beirut and additional troop deployments to southern Lebanon.

However, the pace of the Iranian attacks seems to be slowing down, raising questions on how long the war will continue.

But as the nations keep up its fighting for now, here are the latest developments from the conflict.

1) The top US military commander in West Asia said American forces have struck nearly 2,000 targets in Iran since the operation against the Islamic Republic began last Saturday. Admiral Brad Cooper, head of Central Command, said in a video on X that the US military has “severely degraded Iran’s air defences” and taken out hundreds of ballistic missiles, launchers and drones.

Moreover, the first 24 hours of the operation in Iran was nearly double the scale of the first day of the “shock-and-awe” strikes on Iraq in 2003. In March 2003, the US hit Iraq with more than 1000 strikes as it began the invasion that would eventually topple the government of Saddam Hussein.

2) Qatar’s Defence Ministry said that an Iranian ballistic missile struck
Al-Udeid Air Base, the largest US military installation in West Asia. Fortunately, there were no casualties. In a statement, the ministry said Qatar was targeted by two ballistic missiles launched from Iran, adding that air defence systems intercepted one of them while the second fell on the base, located southwest of the capital Doha, without resulting in human losses.

3) Qatar also reported that it had dismantled two spy cells linked to
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards. Ten suspects were arrested who “admitted during the investigation their links to the Revolutionary Guards and having been instructed to conduct espionage and sabotage activities,” the nation’s official press agency said.

4) According to Iran International,
Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the late
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has been chosen to be Iran’s next supreme leader. “The Assembly of Experts elected Ali Khamenei’s son Mojtaba as the next Supreme Leader,” Iran International reported, citing informed sources. Fifty-six-year-old Mojtaba, the second-eldest son, has long been seen by observers as a potential successor.

5) A drone attack near the American consulate in Dubai set part of the building on fire, though no injuries were reported. Residents told AFP they heard a bang and one said she then saw the blaze. Police cordoned off roads nearby and shooed away passers-by trying to see the damage.

6) The CIA station in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, has also been hit by Iran. There were no casualties, though there was significant damage to the building, which is in the same complex as the embassy, reports CNN.
It was earlier reported that two suspected Iranian drones had struck the embassy, which the Saudi defence minister said caused “limited fire and minor material damages.” An additional two suspected Iranian drones struck “at or near” the embassy.

Iranian media has reported that the U.S and Israel carried out a strike on Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran, though officials have yet to release detailed information about the extent of the damage.

Mehr News Agency published images it said were related to the attack on… pic.twitter.com/mOdxjUeLyg

— Breaking Aviation News & Videos (@aviationbrk) March 3, 2026

7) Amid the strikes, an Iranian aircraft was destroyed on the ground at Bushehr airport. According to Mehr News Agency, the Mehrabad airport in Tehran was targeted by strikes. The agency published photos showing a cloud of grey smoke rising into the sky behind what appeared to be a runway. “The American-Zionist terrorists attacked the area around the Mehrabad airport” in the capital’s west, it said.

8) Today is also a crucial day for Donald Trump, as the US president’s decision to launch strikes on Iran will be tested. The vote on the War Powers Act has been scheduled in the Senate today. The measure is aimed at limiting Trump’s ability to wage military operations.

9) An 11-year-old girl has been killed after shrapnel fell in a residential area in Kuwait City. The Kuwait army said in a statement the shrapnel fell over a house and left casualties while forces were intercepting “several hostile aerial targets” over the country.

The Health Ministry said in a separate statement that the child died of her wounds at the hospital. The child’s mother and three other relatives were injured and being treated at the hospital.

10) US President Donald Trump has stated that the US navy would escort oil tankers through the
Strait of Hormuz if needed amid the Iran war and ordered Washington to provide insurance for shipping. “If necessary, the United States navy will begin escorting tankers through the Strait of Hormuz, as soon as possible. No matter what, the US will ensure the free flow of energy to the world,” he said on his Truth Social platform.

As of Monday, only two oil and chemical tankers transited through the waterway, according to S&P Global Commodities at Sea data. Normally, about 60 oil and chemical vessels flow through the Strait of Hormuz, carrying about a fifth of the oil the world consumes each day.

With inputs from agencies