US-Israel strikes kill Iran’s Khamenei, chaos continues across Middle East: Live Updates (VIDEOS)

The joint attack against the Iranian leadership has triggered a wave of retaliatory strikes across the region

Massive, unprovoked US-Israeli strikes against Iran began on Saturday morning and are continuing for the second day in a row.
The strikes have killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the head of the Iranian Republican Guard, and several other top officials, state media has confirmed.

Iran has responded with hundreds of missile and drone attacks targeting Israel and US bases across the Gulf region, accusing the US and Israel of violating its territorial integrity and sovereignty.

Hundreds of Iranian civilians have been killed, including more than a hundred schoolchildren in a single strike, which Iran blamed on Israel.

Shipping and air traffic across the Middle East have been plunged into chaos, with thousands of tourists stranded across airports.

Moscow, China, and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, along with several other nations, have condemned the US and Israeli attacks. The EU has criticized Tehran for its retaliatory strikes more than it has Israel and the US for its unprovoked aggression.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered his condolences over the killing of Khamenei, describing his death as a “cynical violation of all norms of human morality and international law.”

01 March 2026
12:56 GMT
Israel will conduct “a nonstop air train” of strikes on military targets and officials in Iran, Defense Minister Israel Katz has said.
12:47 GMT
Pope Leo has expressed “deep concern” over the Middle East conflict, urging all sides to “stop the spiral of violence before it becomes an irreparable abyss.”
12:37 GMT
China has denounced Khamenei’s killing as “a grave violation of Iran’s sovereignty and security, adding that it “tramples on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter” while urging de-escalation.
12:36 GMT
Four people were killed and 20 others were wounded after an Iranian ballistic missile landed in Beit Shemesh, a city some 30km east of Jerusalem, according to local officials. Videos circulating on social media depict the moment of impact and its aftermath.
12:26 GMT
Protests against the US and Israel have now spread to Athens, Greece, where hundreds of activists marched on the American Embassy.
Συγκέντρωση στο πάρκο Ελευθερίας και πορεία προς την αμερικανική πρεσβεία πραγματοποίησαν εργατικά σωματεία και φορείς κατά των επιθέσεων των ΗΠΑ και Ισραήλ στο Ιράν.🎥orange press#ingr #news #αθηνα #iran pic.twitter.com/q5IcH44kzk
— in.gr/news (@in_gr) March 1, 2026
12:10 GMT
Hundreds of pro-Iran protesters in Baghdad have attempted to break into the Green Zone, a fortified area which is the seat of the Iraqi government and US Embassy.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad faced similar event.People will not tolerate foreign arrogance. pic.twitter.com/kl8jYtomIp
— Sprinter Press (@SprinterPress) March 1, 2026
A security source told AFP that “their attempts had been thwarted so far, but they keep trying.”
11:53 GMT
RT’s Charlotte Dubenski reporting from a badly damaged building in Tel Aviv following Iranian strikes:
11:47 GMT
An Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman has declined to comment on the deadly strike on a girls' school in Minab, Iran, which Tehran claims was conducted by the IDF. He added, however, that the “Iranian regime is known to produce fake information for propaganda purposes.”
11:39 GMT
Palau-flagged oil tanker Skylight has been attacked in the Strait of Hormuz, according to the Omani authorities. Four people have been injured and the crew of 20 evacuated. Videos on social media show the vessel on fire.
JUST IN: 🇵🇼🇮🇷 Footage of Palau-flagged oil tanker 'Skylight' on fire following Iranian strikes near the Strait of Hormuz. pic.twitter.com/ep3sUBp7al
— BRICS News (@BRICSinfo) March 1, 2026
It is unclear who attacked the vessel, which has been under US sanctions as an “enabler of Iranian petroleum exports,” according to Bloomberg.
11:18 GMT
The IDF claims that it killed 40 senior Iranian commanders, including seven members of the security leadership, adding that it “dismantled the majority of the aerial defense systems in western and central Iran” and is now working to establish air superiority over Tehran.

28 February 2026
07:35 GMT
Farhad Ibrahimov, a lecturer at the Higher School of Economics (HSE) in Moscow and a specialist on Iran and the Middle East, says Israel’s strikes on Iran were similar to the June 12-13 attack last year.
On the eve of those events, US President Donald Trump announced a new round of negotiations with Tehran, and the following day Israel struck Iran, he posted on his Telegram channel. “The same thing is happening today,” Ibrahimov, a regular RT contributor, added.
Israel carried out what it described as a “pre-emptive strike” on Tehran and a number of other Iranian cities, fully aware that Iran would respond, he posted. “And if Iran responds, the Americans will step in and the negotiations will be over.”
07:36 GMT
Tehran is preparing retaliatory measures and its response will be devastating, an Iranian official told Reuters.
07:37 GMT
The current attack on Iran will be far larger in scale than US strikes on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear facilities in June last year, American officials told the New York Times.
The strikes were reported to have come after US President Trump expressed dissatisfaction with the progress of negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program.
07:42 GMT
US forces have begun a military operation against Iran, President Trump confirmed in a video posted on Truth Social. He said the aim of the operation was to protect the American people by eliminating what he described as the “threat” posed by the Iranian government.
He said the “major combat operation” against Iran was aimed at its nuclear and missile programs and added that Tehran would never obtain a nuclear weapon.
The White House and Trump administration, via Donald Trump, have just released a video saying they have attacked Iran and "defend the American people and eliminating the Iranian regime...a vicious group of very hard, terrible people". pic.twitter.com/bpEZOXQ69m
— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) February 28, 2026
08:01 GMT
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian was not harmed in the US and Israeli attack, Mehr news agency reported, citing a source.

Israel is preparing for four days of strikes in the initial phase of the operation against the Islamic Republic, Channel 12 reported.
08:08 GMT
At least five explosions were heard in Tehran and were also reported in other cities – including Qom, Isfahan, Kermanshah and Karaj – Iranian news agencies have reported.
The military operation has been named “Roar of the Lion” for the Israeli phase and “Shield of Judah” for the joint operation with Washington.
© RT
08:16 GMT
An air raid alert has been declared in Israel, with launches detected from Iran, authorities said.
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has urged his people to remain steadfast “in the coming days” following the start of the operation against Tehran.
© Social media
08:18 GMT
According to RT sources, the IDF is focusing its strikes on taking out missiles.
A source familiar with the matter also said a security meeting is currently taking place chaired by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
08:27 GMT
‘Thick black smoke RISING’ over Tehran after Israeli strikes, RT correspondent Saman Kojouri reports
‘I’m hearing ANOTHER EXPLOSION right now’ as Iran warns of a ‘decisive response’
08:30 GMT
The US has begun evacuating personnel from Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar following the attack on Iran, Reuters has reported, citing a source.
The facility is the largest American military installation in the Middle East, hosting about 10,000 service members. In June 2025, the base was targeted by an Iranian missile strike in response to a US and Israeli attack against nuclear sites in the Islamic Republic.