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Africa
Djibouti
28 Feb (2026) Will Djibouti be Iran’s next target? (Source: Horn Review - Ethiopia)
Asia
Bahrain
28/02/2026 - 15:39 GMT+1 Moment Iranian strike hits US military base in Bahrain. (Source: Euronews – based in Lyon, France)
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Iran
28 Feb 2026 At about 9:27am (06:27 GMT), Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported a series of explosions in the capital, Tehran. Iranian media reported strikes on the Ministry of Intelligence, the Ministry of Defence, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran and the Parchin military complex. Several missiles also hit University Street and the Jomhouri area of the capital. Iran’s National Security Council has advised residents to leave Tehran amid fears of further escalation. While it is not yet clear what was hit, Isfahan is considered a key hub for Iran’s ballistic missile programme, with production plants and research facilities in and around the city. Other locations that were struck include: Kermanshah, Qom, Tabriz, Ilam, Karaj, Lorestan province, Zanjan, Urmia, Bushehr, Damavand, and Shiraz. At their closest points, Israel and Iran are less than 1,000km apart. The distance from Tel-Aviv to Iran’s capital, Tehran, is about 1,600km. Iran’s missile arsenal; How ballistic missiles work. * Multiple explosions were reported in the skies above northern and central parts of Israel, including in the Tel Aviv area and Haifa, where sirens have been sounding continuously. A nine-storey building was hit in northern Israel after Iranian missiles had been intercepted. Israel’s missile arsenal; Israel’s air defence capabilities ** Major US military buildup in the region: The USS Abraham Lincoln; the USS Gerald R Ford. *** According to the Council on Foreign Relations, the US operates a broad network of military sites, both permanent and temporary, across at least 19 locations in the region. Of these, eight are permanent bases, located across Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE. As of mid-2025, there are about 40,000 to 50,000 US soldiers in the Middle East, comprising personnel stationed in both large, permanent bases and smaller forward sites across the region. The countries with the most US troops include Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, the UAE and Saudi Arabia. These installations serve as critical hubs for air and naval operations, regional logistics, intelligence gathering and force projection. **** (Source: Al Jazeera – Qatar)
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**** : Maps
Photo, videos
February 28, 2026 9:37pm EST On Tuesday, the CIA published a Persian-language video on its X account urging Iranian dissidents to make secure contact with the CIA amid renewed anti-government demonstrations. Iranian authorities have imposed restrictions with national connectivity dropping to roughly 4%. Voice of America Persian-language service pushes Trump’s message inside Iran today as regime clamps down on communications. VOA launched its Persian-language programming in 1979. Foreign-based Persian-language satellite channels attract a large viewership, according to BBC News. (Source: Fox News – U.S.)
28 February 2026 23:18 GMT A civil war in Iran would bring serious disorder to the Middle East and risk destabilising Iraq, Turkey and potentially Pakistan. Trump need only look at Afghanistan and Libya for examples of the danger of ousting a regime without an obvious plan for a transition 'to liberal democracy'. There are now real concerns about the possibility of a violent power struggle, with Iran now in a power vacuum. The powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) could impose martial law and take control of the country in the short term if the clerical elite are removed from power. Different groups who form Iran’s fragmented opposition and who could vie for the Iranian leadership in the event of a power vacuum: The People’s Mujahideen Organisation. Known by its Persian name, the Mujahideen-e Khalq Organisation (MEK or MKO), the group fell out with the other factions alongside which it deposed the Iranian Shah and replaced the Imperial State of Iran with the Islamic Republic of Iran in 1979. The remnants of the once-powerful leftist militant group which bombed the Shah’s government and US targets in the 1970s still wield a degree of influence in Iran, and now advocate for the overthrow of the Iranian government. The Mujahideen soon developed large numbers of enemies in Iran after siding with Iraq during the war of 1980-88. Rajavi, its former leader, remains in exile and has not been seen for more than 20 years. His wife, Maryam, is now in control, but the group has shown little evidence of activity within Iran’s border for years. The group is the driving force behind the National Council of Resistance of Iran, led by Ms Rajavi, which has an active presence in many Western countries. The Mujahideen has been criticised by rights groups for what they describe as cult-like behaviour and the abuse of its followers. The group denies these allegations. The monarchists: Revolution swept through Iran in 1979, transforming the country into an Islamic Republic. Pahlavi – Iran’s last Shah – fled the country. He died in Egypt in 1980. Reza, his son, was heir to the Iranian throne at the time of the revolution. He now lives in the US, from where he calls for regime change through non-violent means and a referendum on a new government. Following reports Khamenei had been killed, he wrote on X: 'With his death, the Islamic Republic has in effect reached its end and will very soon be consigned to the dustbin of history.' Despite having support among the Iranian diaspora, it is unclear whether Mr Pahlavi would be a popular choice within Iran. Ethnic minority groups: Iran’s Sunni Muslim Kurdish and Baluch minorities have long expressed opposition to Tehran’s Persian-speaking and Shi’ite government. Major protests in Iran have often been the fiercest in the Kurdish and Baluchi areas. But there is no strong, unified resistance against Tehran’s rule. Kurdish groups have carried out periods of active insurgency against government forces in western areas of Iran, where they form a majority. In Baluchistan, along the border with Pakistan, opposition ranges from supporters of Sunni clerics to armed jihadists linked to al-Qaeda. Leaders of mass protests movements which have swept Iran at different points for many decades. Protests in December and January soon spiralled into anti-regime protests which were met with brutal force by the Iranian regime. Some reports suggested around 30,000 were killed by regime forces. Whether mass unrest will once again erupt following Khamenei’s death and whether Tehran’s response would be quite as forceful as it was in January - and who would lead it - remains to be seen. In 2022, major protests gripped Iran, centred on women’s rights. Mohammadi, a 2023 Nobel Peace Prize winner who served as one of the figureheads, is currently in Iran’s notorious Evin prison. (Source: The Independent – United Kingdom)
Saturday, February 28, 2026 Iranian exile group forms provisional government as U.S.-Israeli military operation continues (Source: Maryam Rajavi – France ? / The Washington Times – U.S. )
(28 February 2026) 21:44 GMT Khamenei is dead. (Source: Iran International – headquarters in London, United Kingdom)
(28 February 2026) Fresh strikes by US and Israel carried out across Iran (Source: YouTube – U.S. / BBC – United Kingdom)
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February 28, 2026 The primary objective of the US-Israeli strikes is to dismantle Iran’s missile architecture. Tehran is currently at a diminishing, but far from zeroed-out capacity. The 2025 war destroyed roughly one-third of Iran’s missile launchers and depleted long-range missile stocks. Iran retains 2,000 or so ballistic missiles, Bryza, former US ambassador and an Istanbul-based international affairs specialist says, while noting uncertainty over attack drones that Iran has reportedly supplied to Russia for use in Ukraine. According to Toga, a researcher at the Ankara-based Centre for Iranian Studies (IRAM), Iran’s post-2025 inventory has fallen from about 2,500 to 1,500 missiles, while two-thirds of its launchers have also been destroyed. Iran is assessed to have significantly replenished its stockpiles, he tells. In the so-called first wave of retaliation, Iran launched around 35 ballistic missiles at Israel, while simultaneously hitting multiple US bases across Gulf nations. One asymmetric option Tehran has actually rehearsed is the disruption of the Strait of Hormuz, through which most of its own oil exports and roughly one-fifth of global oil transits every year. A closure of the strait will sever Tehran’s lifeline to China, its largest oil customer, while alienating Gulf neighbours. Operationally, there are currently two US aircraft carriers in the region. Iran’s naval assets would be degraded within hours, Toga says. A short-term symbolic closure or mining attempt remains possible, Toga says. Such a move will only be aimed at driving up global oil prices and raising the cost of war for the US. The Strait of Hormuz, attacks via Iraq, and cyber operations are all on the table, he says. (Source: TRT World - Turkey)
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Feb 28, 2026 2:04 PM EST Satellite imagery from Vantor shows what it assesses to be an Iranian Alvand class frigate, one of three seen sitting pier-side in Konarak, a port city in Iran’s southeastern corner, that sits along the Gulf of Oman and near the Pakistani border, billowing dark smoke after being struck as part of the U.S. and Israeli air campaign against the country. The location gives Iran closer access to the Indian Ocean, and it’s also an area known to be a hotbed of drone and missile capabilities, especially the anti-shipping kind, that can be launched from there to reach far out beyond the Gulf of Oman, putting ships at risk in the Indian Ocean. Though Iran refers to them as frigates, the Alvand class warships displace around 1,500 tons with a full combat load, putting them in a category more typically described as corvettes. The current Islamic Republic inherited four Alvand class vessels from the previous imperial regime, all of which had originally been built in the United Kingdom in the 1970s. (Source: The War Zone – U.S.)
February 28, 2026 1:14pm EST Israel pummeled Iranian targets with simultaneous airstrikes from roughly 200 fighter jets which dropped hundreds of munitions on about 500 targets, including aerial defense systems and missile launchers, attaining air superiority over Iran and severely degrading its offensive capabilities. (Source: Fox News – U.S.)
February 28, 2026 12:18pm EST Iran's terror proxies in Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen say they're ready to respond to US-Israel attacks. (Source: Fox News – U.S.)
28/02/2026 - 16:53 Iran's judiciary said US-Israeli air strikes killed at least 85 people at a girls' elementary school in Minab, in the southern Iranian province of Hormozgan, the state-run IRNA news agency reported. (Source: France 24)
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February 28, 2026 16:17 CET Fires, destruction in Iran after US and Israeli strikes. (Source: Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty – U.S.
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February 28, 2026 15:34 CET Debris, protests against US and Israeli strikes in Tehran; people waiting in lines at gas stations; heavy traffic on the streets of the Iranian capital; people looking for shelter; plumes of smoke in Tehran. (Source: Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty – U.S.
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February 28, 2026 4:00 PM Iran's Defence Minister Nasirzadeh and Revolutionary Guards commander Pakpour are believed to have been killed in Israeli attacks, two sources familiar with Israel's military operations and one regional source said. (Source: AsiaOne - Singapore)
Saturday 28 February 2026 09:51 GMT Iran has the largest stockpile of ballistic missiles in the Middle East, according to the U.S. Office of the Director of National Intelligence. They have a self-imposed range of 2,000 km, which Iranian officials have said was enough to protect the country as they can reach Israel. Many of Iran's missile sites are in and around Tehran. There are at least five known underground "missile cities" in various provinces, including Kermanshah and Semnan, as well as near the Gulf region. The arsenal encompasses multiple long-range missiles that can reach Israel, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies. It says these include the Sejil, with a 2,000-km range; Emad, 1,700 km; Ghadr, 2,000 km; Shahab-3, 1,300 km; Khorramshahr, 2,000 km; and Hoveyzeh 1,350 km. The semi-official Iranian news outlet ISNA published a graphic in April 2025 showing nine Iranian missiles it said could reach Israel, including the Sejil, which ISNA said was capable of flying at more than 17,000 km per hour and had a range of 2,500 km; the Kheibar, with a range of 2,000 km; and the Haj Qasem, 1,400 km. Washington-based think tank, the Arms Control Association says Iran's ballistic arsenal included the Shahab-1, with an estimated range of 300 km; the Zolfaghar, 700 km; Shahab-3, 800-1,000 km; Emad-1, under development, 2,000 km; and a Sejil model under development, 1,500-2,500 km. The Arms Control Association says Iran's missile programme is largely based on North Korean and Russian designs and has benefited from Chinese assistance. Iran also has cruise missiles such as the Kh-55, an air-launched nuclear-capable weapon with a range up to 3,000 km. (Source: The Independent – United Kingdom)
28.02.2026 US-Israeli airstrikes struck more than 20 cities across Iran since early Saturday, according to the Iranian Red Crescent. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)
Feb 28, 2026 06:01 IST Iran agrees to 'never, ever' have nuclear bomb material, says Oman's foreign minister. He said US-Iran nuclear talks have made major progress, including agreement on zero stockpiling of enriched uranium and full IAEA verification, urging more time to finalize the deal. (Source: India Today)
(Saturday, February 28, 00:11 CET) Breaking news. US launches major combat operations in Iran (Source: Sky News – United Kingdom)
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Israel
February 28, 2026 China’s port investments in Israel open the door to espionage. US Navy vessels can no longer dock at Israel’s northern port of Haifa without worrying that its Chinese-made cranes could be spying on them. (Source: The National Interest - U.S.)
by Cohen, the program manager for foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute.
28.02.2026 Iran fired more than 200 missiles at Israel today, wounding 89 people and causing damage in central areas, as one missile struck a building in the city of Bnei Brak near Tel Aviv. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)
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February 28, 2026 Israel intercepts Iranian missiles (Source: ABC News – U.S.)
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(28 February 2026) 19:59 GMT+1 Explosions were seen over Tel Aviv as Israel’s defense system intercepted missiles reportedly launched by Iran. Tehran said it had begun a first wave of drones and missiles. (Source: Euronews - based in Lyon, France)
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Saturday, February 28, 2026 Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s full statement on Iran. (Source: Washington Times – U.S.)
Oman
(Saturday), 2026-02-28 14:02 Oman to US after Iran strikes: This Is Not Your War. Before today’s strikes, a new round of US-Iran nuclear talks had been scheduled for Monday in Vienna under Omani mediation. However, US President Trump said he was not happy with the negotiation process and reaffirmed his refusal to allow Iran to enrich uranium at any level. Tehran has consistently maintained that its uranium enrichment is for civilian purposes. Oman’s Foreign Minister Albusaidi said today that the recent US and Israeli strikes on Iran have disrupted nuclear talks, warning Washington against being 'sucked in further' into the conflict. “I am dismayed. Active and serious negotiations have yet again been undermined,' Albusaidi wrote on X, adding that neither US interests nor global peace are served by the escalation. Addressing Washington directly, he stressed, “This is not your war.” (Source: Shafaq News - Iraq)
Persian Gulf
February 28, 2026 10:15am EST Iran launched missile and drone strikes targeting U.S. military facilities in multiple Middle Eastern countries 'Friday', retaliating after coordinated U.S.–Israeli strikes on Iranian military and nuclear-linked sites. Explosions were reported in or near areas hosting American forces in Bahrain - home to the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet -, Qatar’s Al Udeid Air Base and the United Arab Emirates' Al Dhafra Air Base, Kuwait and Jordan, according to regional officials and state media accounts. Several of those governments said their air defense systems intercepted incoming projectiles. The United States military earlier carried out strikes against what officials described as high-value Iranian targets, including IRGC facilities, naval assets and underground sites believed to be associated with Iran’s nuclear program. One U.S. official told that American forces had suppressed Iranian air defenses in the initial wave of strikes. Tomahawk cruise missiles were used in the opening phase of the U.S. operation. The campaign was described as a multi-geographic operation designed to overwhelm Iran’s defensive capabilities and could continue for multiple days. Officials also indicated the U.S. employed one-way attack drones in combat for the first time. (Source: Fox News - U.S.)
February 28, 2026 7:56 AM ET Several Gulf countries that host American military bases in the region including the Bahrain, Qatar and United Arab Emirates say Iran has retaliated to U.S. strikes, they have been attacked. (Source: NPR - U.S.)
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Saturday, February 28, 2026 The Iranian attacks have targeted locations in at least six countries, including U.S. military bases across the region, and Israel. Explosions reported near Riyadh, Dubai, Abu Dhabi as Iran launches major counterattack. (Source: Washington Times – U.S.)
Qatar
Saturday 28 February 2026 14:24, UK A missile, which was likely intercepted, was free falling into a residential area in Doha. (Source: Sky News - United Kingdom)
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Saudi Arabia
February 28, 2026 US base in Saudi Arabia under attack. (Source: Fox News - U.S.)
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28.02.2026 Saudi Arabia today strongly condemned what it described as blatant Iranian attacks targeting the Riyadh region and the Eastern Province, saying its air defenses intercepted the projectiles. The Foreign Ministry said the attacks were unjustifiable under any circumstances and came despite the kingdom’s prior assurances that its airspace and territory would not be used to target Iran. Riyadh said it would take all necessary measures to safeguard its security and protect its territory, citizens and residents, including the option of responding to the aggression. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)
Strait of Hormuz
Feb 28, 2026 21:47 IST No ship allowed through Strait of Hormuz, Iran Guards tell vessels: EU naval mission. (Source: India Today)
United Arab Emirates
Mar 1, 2026 00:30 IST A viral video showed, in what appeared to be a drone, plummeting into the landmark Palm Jumeirah area in Dubai. (India Today)
01.03.2026 UAE says today it shot down 132 missiles, intercepted 195 drones in Iranian attack. Defense Ministry outlines interception figures, affirms right to respond. (Source: Anadolu Agency - Turkey)
(Saturday), Feb 28, 2026 22:53 IST Dubai, a key global trade and aviation hub, was targeted by Iran despite does not host U.S. base. The UAE Ministry of Defence announced that its air defence systems intercepted and destroyed a new wave of Iranian missiles and drones launched towards the country. Over 100 airlines operate flights to and from Dubai, connecting it to countries across continents. Over 700 flights were cancelled at Dubai alone. (Source: India Today)
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