Lebanon Says 217 Killed, 798 Wounded In Israeli Strikes Since March 2

An Iranian drone carrier was targeted and set ablaze, the U.S. military reported early on Friday.

A black-and-white video of the carrier on fire following many hits was included in the message from the U.S. military's Central Command.

The attack was not immediately acknowledged by the Iranian military. Tehran has not been offering details on its materiel losses in the war so far.

The IRIS Shahid Bagheri is a modified container ship that serves as a drone carrier.

Iran inaugurated the vessel in February 2025.

The vessel has a 180-meter-long (590-foot-long) runway for drones, and it can travel up to 22,000 nautical miles without needing to refuel in ports, reports said at the time.

The attack comes as the Central Command said “U.S. forces aren’t holding back on the mission to sink the entire Iranian navy.”

Saudi Arabia’s Defence Ministry said Friday morning that it has intercepted a cruise missile over the city of Kharj.

-AP

Israel carried out at least 11 airstrikes, some intense and causing fires near a gas station, late Thursday into Friday targeting the southern suburbs of Beirut.

The Israeli army had issued a warning Thursday evening urging residents in the densely populated areas to evacuate.

No casualties have been immediately reported from the strikes.

In eastern Tehran, witnesses described the Israeli airstrikes as particularly intense, shaking homes in the area.

Residents of Dubai have been receiving mass text messages warning them about their social media activity.

A message attributed to Dubai police said that “photographing or sharing security or critical sites, or reposting unreliable information, may result in legal action and compromise national security and stability.”

The message contained no further information.

As the Iran war rages on around the Middle East, Bahrain issued a similar but sterner warning.

Iranian state television reported Friday that a leadership council in the country met and discussed how to hold a meeting of the country’s Assembly of Experts, which will select the nation’s new supreme leader.

The leadership council includes President Masoud Pezeshkian, judiciary chief Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejehi and cleric Ayatollah Ali Reza Arafi.

The statement provided no timeline on the selection of the supreme leader, nor information on whether the Assembly of Experts would meet in person or remotely for the vote.

Buildings associated with the Assembly of Experts, an 88-member clerical panel, have been attacked during the Israeli-U.S. airstrike campaign.

-AP

Saudi Arabia said it destroyed three drones east of Riyadh on Friday (March 6, 2026), as Iran presses on with attacks across the Gulf.

“Three drones were intercepted and destroyed east of the Riyadh region,” the Saudi Defence Ministry posted on X, quoting a spokesperson.

Two days after a US submarine torpedoed and sank an Iranian warship off Sri Lanka's coast, Iran on Friday warned that the attack on an "unarmed ship cannot go with impunity." The Iranian frigate, IRIS Dena, was returning home after participating in the Milan multilateral naval exercise hosted by India. At least 87 Iranian sailors were killed in the attack, which marked a major escalation in the conflict between the US and Iran outside of the Persian Gulf.

Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh, who is visiting India, emphasised that the IRIS Dena was in a non-combat configuration, returning from the Milan naval exercises and the US action against it was a serious violation of international law.

"This is a very sad, very unfortunate incident. That vessel was by invitation of our Indian friends, attending an international exercise. It was ceremonial. It was unloaded. It was unarmed," he said "It is very unfortunate. Many of the young Iranian sailors who were attending these exercises lost their lives. It cannot go with impunity for those who actually did that," he told reporters on the sidelines of the Raisina Dialogue.

Khatibzadeh also responded to a question on India's position on the West Asia crisis.

"Iran and India have all civilisational roots with each other. We are Indo-Persian culture and civilisation and it is very much in line with this cultural civilisational heritage, and we attach great importance to Iran-India relations," he said.

Iran launched a new wave of missiles and drones targeting Tel Aviv, Israel, on Friday morning, the semiofficial ISNA news agency reported.

-AP

Indonesia will start evacuating its citizens from Iran today, a foreign ministry official in charge of overseas citizen welfare said.

Heni Hamidah told reporters that the evacuation “will begin gradually today, and this first phase will be carried out via Azerbaijan.”

The first group of 32 Indonesians is expected to arrive in Jakarta on Monday or Tuesday, she added.

In total, 329 Indonesians are in Iran, the majority of them students in the city of Qom.

-Al Jazeera

Residents of Dubai have received an alert on their phones from the Emirati Interior Ministry, warning them of potential missile threats and advising immediate precautions.

“Due to the current situation, potential missile threats, seek immediate shelter in the closest secure building and steer away from windows, doors and open areas,” the alert stated.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to help stranded Keralite expatriates in West Asia amid the Iran–US–Israel conflict.

In a March 5 letter, Vijayan highlighted the severe shortage of flights from GCC countries, leaving thousands without viable or affordable return options. He requested the Union government to coordinate with airlines to resume and increase services to key destinations in India, including tier-2 cities.

-The Hindu

Ahead of the second half of the Budget session next week, the Congress on Friday called for a full-fledged short-duration discussion on the West Asian situation, arguing that a suo motu statement from the government would be insufficient.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said the Modi government today appears “shrunken and diminished,” with India’s global standing “never as weak as it is now.” He added that the government is making India play “second fiddle” not only to the US but also to Israel.

Israeli media has reporting that Iranian missiles hit Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport. A comment from the Israeli army is awaited.

-Al Jazeera

In addition to its attacks in Beirut’s southern suburbs, the Israeli military has also continued attacks in southern Lebanon.

One of the latest raids occurred in the southern coastal city of Sidon, according to our colleagues on the ground.

Lebanon’s National News Agency also reported Israeli warplanes over the southern towns of Tyre and Bint Jbeil.

The UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk on March 6 has called on the US to carry out its announced probe into an attack that killed 175 people at an Iranian girls’ school.

“What we have asked for is obviously prompt, transparent and impartial investigations, which we understand has been announced by the USA,” Turk told reporters in Geneva.

He emphasised that “we need this to happen very quickly and we need to also make sure that there is accountability as well as redress for the victims”.

As a precautionary safety measure, Dubai Parks and Resorts announced that it will be closed on March 7 and March 8, following official guidance amid the ongoing regional situation, Khaleej Times reported.

Fresh Israeli strikes on Friday (March 6, 2026) battered Lebanon, where Prime Minister Nawaf Salam warned “a humanitarian disaster is looming” due to mass displacement.

An Israeli strike on an office building in the southern city of Sidon killed five people and wounded seven, the Lebanese Health Ministry said, as Israel presses attacks on Lebanon’s south, east, and in Beirut’s southern suburbs.

Speaking to foreign ambassadors, the Lebanese premier said “the consequences of this displacement, at the humanitarian and political level, may well be unprecedented”.

More than 95,000 people are displaced to official shelters, per the government’s latest count.

“Our country has been drawn into a devastating war that we did not seek and did not choose,” Mr. Salam said.

Source: AFP

Nearly 100 ceramic manufacturing units have shut down in Gujarat’s Morbi district following a disruption in fuel supplies linked to the U.S.-Israel-Iran war, with industry representatives warning that another 400 factories may close within days if the supply doesn’t normalise.

Manoj Arvadiya, president of the Morbi Ceramic Manufacturers Association (Vitrified Tiles Division), said the situation could worsen in the coming days if propane supplies are not restored and suppliers fail to issue clear guidelines.

“Due to the prevailing war-like situation, propane gas has not been available for the past two days, and around 100 units dependent on the fuel have already shut down,” Arvadiya told reporters.

- PTI

US officials said that three American MQ-9 Reaper drones were brought down. It is not clear exactly where the drones crashed, though one of them attempted to go down off the coast of Iran. Officials also said it remains unclear how the drones were downed or who was responsible. In a separate incident, another MQ-9 Reaper was shot down in recent days in what officials believe was friendly fire from Qatari forces, CBS News reported.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Friday (March 6, 2026) their forces had targeted radar systems in the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, and Qatar.

“US THAAD radars deployed in the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, as well as the US FPS-132 over-the-horizon radar [’Desert Eye’] stationed in Qatar, have been destroyed by the missile and drone units of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps [IRGC],” said the Guards on their website Sepah News.

Source: AFP

An Iranian military spokesman said on Friday (March 6, 20260 that forces targeted what he described as a US-owned oil tanker in the Gulf and that it was now “burning”.

“An oil tanker vessel owned by the United States near the borders of Kuwait has been targeted and is burning,” said Ebrahim Zolfaghari, spokesman for the military’s central headquarters, according to state TV.

Source: AFP

Explosions were heard on Friday (March 6, 2026) in the Kuwaiti capital, an AFP journalist said, as authorities said they were confronting missile and drone strikes on the country.

“Kuwaiti air defences are currently dealing with missile and drone attacks that penetrated Kuwaiti airspace,” the Defence Ministry said on X, after authorities said 67 soldiers were injured in Iranian strikes over the past week.

Source: AFP

The Israel Defense Forces says it has begun the 15th wave of strikes on "Iranian terrorist regime infrastructure in Tehran".

US President Donald Trump wants “unconditional surrender” from Iran, warning there will not be a deal without that, Al Jazeera reported.

The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier was not struck by drones, a U.S. defence official said on Friday, after Iranian state TV reported a strike on the massive warship.

“The reports are not true,” the defence official said.

Iran state TV had said the previous day that drones fired by the Revolutionary Guards, the ideological arm of the Islamic republic’s military, had struck the aircraft carrier.

State television did not provide any details on the claim. The Guards had previously alleged to have hit the Lincoln, but the Pentagon said at the time that the “missiles launched didn’t even come close.”

Source: AFP

At least 217 people have been killed and 798 wounded in Lebanon since the start of a new conflict between Israel and Hezbollah on March 2, Lebanon’s health ministry announced on Friday (March 6, 2026).

The previous toll from the ministry, published on Thursday evening (March 5, 2026), was 123 dead and 683 wounded.

Israeli air strikes hit south and east Lebanon as well as Beirut’s southern suburbs earlier in the day.

Source: AFP

Days before the IRIS Dena incident south of Sri Lanka, India was approached by Iran to take in the Iranian Ship IRIS Lavan, which was also in the region for the International Fleet Review, according to the Indian Government.

This request was received on 28 February 2026, indicating that a docking at Kochi was urgent as the vessel had developed technical issues. Approval was accorded for the docking on 1 March. 

IRIS Lavan has since docked at Kochi on 4 March. Its crew of 183 are currently accommodated at naval facilities in Kochi, it said.

Source: The Hindu

Israel’s military said on Friday (March 6, 2026) it had identified “simultaneous and coordinated” missile launches by Iran and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah aimed at overwhelming Israeli air defences.

“We... identified yesterday simultaneous and coordinated attacks between Iran and Hezbollah, simultaneous missile launching from both Iran and Lebanon in an attempt to overwhelm our aerial defence systems,” military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani told journalists.

Mr. Shoshani added that there had been no “significant hits” on Israel in the last 24 hours.

Source: AFP

France has sent a helicopter carrier to the Mediterranean in response to the West Asia war, the French military told AFP on Friday (March 6, 2026).

“An amphibious helicopter carrier has been deployed in the Mediterranean to reinforce the presence of the French armed forces in the context of the Middle East crisis,” a spokeswoman said, after France decided to deploy its flagship aircraft carrier and a frigate earlier in the week.

A similar ship was sent off the shore of Lebanon as a precautionary measure to help with repatriations if needed during the 2024 war between Israel and Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

Source: AFP