Article By Kurt Zindulka and Oliver JJ Lane
The military operation against Iran has entered its fourth day on Tuesday, with missiles and rockets traded by combatants overnight, and Israel announcing the commencement of a land invasion of Lebanon to deny strategic areas to Hezbollah.
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**Tuesday’s live updates below. All updates in Eastern time**
11:15 AM: Grenell says Iran conflict shows importance of U.S. acquiring Greenland
Former U.S. ambassador to Germany and current interim President of the Kennedy Center, Richard Grenell, said that the lacklustre response from NATO allies to Operation Epic Fury in Iran demonstrated that President Donald Trump was “absolutely right” that the United States should have control over Greenland.
Greenland is currently under Danish control, which has exercised some form of control over the island for centuries. The Trump administration has argued that Copenhagen has failed to develop the defenses on the island, which it claims will become increasingly important to counter threats from countries like China and Russia.
“NATO members aren’t all with us on Iran,” Grenell wrote. “We need Greenland for U.S. national security purposes as soon as possible.”
11:15 AM: UK to deploy warship to Cyprus
Following a suspected Iranian drone strike on the British RAF Akrotiri base on Cyprus on Sunday evening, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced on Tuesday that the UK will deploy helicopters with “counter drone capabilities” and the Type 45 HMS Dragon air defense destroyer to the region. This followed deployments of naval assets from France and Greece amid indiscriminate Iranian strikes throughout the Gulf and beyond.
The UK is fully committed to the security of Cyprus and British military personnel based there.
— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) March 3, 2026
We’re continuing our defensive operations and I've just spoken with the President of Cyprus to let him know that we are sending helicopters with counter drone capabilities and HMS… pic.twitter.com/0tsZb4dG2i
10:55 AM: Communist China pushes for ceasefire in call with Israel
CCP Foreign Minister Wang Yi spoke by phone on Tuesday to his Israeli counterpart, Gideon Sa’ar, and urged an “immediate cessation of military operations to prevent the further escalation and loss of control of the conflict,” according to a readout from Beijing.
China, which depends significantly on Iran for oil imports, added that it “opposes any military strikes launched by Israel and the US against Iran. Force cannot truly solve problems; instead, it will bring new problems and serious long-term consequences.”
10:40 AM: IDF targets Iranian missile production sites
The Israeli Defense Forces said that it carried out a series of airstrikes in Tehran, which struck “sites used by the regime for the production of weapons, with an emphasis on ballistic missile production sites.” The IDF also claimed to have struck dozens of ballistic misiile launcher and storage sites in Isfahan, the Times of Israel reported.
✈️🎯60+ strike flights: The IAF completed additional waves of strikes in western Iran targeting the Iranian regime’s missile launchers, defense systems, and live-fire arrays. pic.twitter.com/I1rRLBJlUR
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) March 3, 2026
10:10 AM: According to a report from the Times of Israel, citing a Jerusalem defence source, the Israeli Air Force hit a building in the Iranian city of Qom, which is south of Tehran, where Islamic clerics had allegedly gathered to select the successor to slain Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. It is so far unclear how many, if any, were killed in the strike.
The Times of Israel further reported that local pro-regime Tasnim news agency said: “The American-Zionist criminals attacked the Assembly of Experts building in Qom.”
09:30 AM: Berlin and Rome summon Iranian ambassadors
Germany’s Foreign Office summoned its Iranian ambassador on Tuesday in response to the “reckless attacks on states” in the Gulf region. Berlin said that it condemns the “arbitrary and disproportionate rocket and drone attacks by the Iranian regime, including on civilian targets. The attacks threaten our allies, our military personnel, and our nationals in the region.”
Meanwhile, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani also summoned the Iranian ambassador to Rome in the wake of a suspected Iranian drone attack against a British Royal Air Force base in Cyprus on Sunday evening.
Both German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni have condemned the regime in Tehran for its strikes across the Gulf.
09:00 AM: CENTCOM publishes footage of U.S. “hunting” Iranian missile launchers
U.S. Central Command said that its forces are “hunting” down mobile launchers being used by Iran to fire missiles “indiscriminately” across the region.
The Iranian regime is using mobile launchers to indiscriminately fire missiles in an attempt to inflict maximum harm across the region. U.S. forces are hunting these threats down and without apology or hesitation, we are taking them out. pic.twitter.com/gv1SfKCrk4
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) March 3, 2026
08:45 AM: Qatar halts more production
QatarEnergy, one of the world’s largest producers of liquid natural gas, said on Tuesday that it is stopping production of “downstream products” such as aluminum, methanol, polymers, and urea. This followed Monday’s announcement that it would halt LNG production in Qatar amid Iranian attacks. Qatar accounts for around 20 per cent of global LNG production.
08:10 AM: Iran Prez delegates power to governors
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said that to ensure that “decision-making is carried out swiftly and in proportion to local conditions,” he announced that Tehran will delegate the “necessary authorities” to governors.
“We are in direct contact with the governors. The situation is exceptional, but the country has not come to a halt,” he said, adding: “National unity is our primary asset.”
In addition to serving as president, Pezeshkian has been tapped for the three-person emergency council tasked with selecting the successor to the slain Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
08:00 AM: Time for talking is over, says Trump
In a post on Truth Social on Tuesday morning, U.S. President Donald Trump suggested that what remains of the Iranian regime wants to negotiate an end to the conflict.
“The Iranians want to negotiate. I replied: ‘Too late!’” President Trump quipped.
07:50 AM: Huckabee lays out escape routes from Israel for Americans
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee has said that American citizens seeking to flee the country should do so through Egypt, noting that there are “limited” options given airport closures. He said that the Israeli Tourism Ministry is providing buses from Haifa, Herzliya, Jerusalem, and Tel Aviv to the Egyptian border city of Taba, which has an international airport or ground transport to Cairo.
On Monday, the U.S. State Department urged American citizens to evacuate from Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel (and the West Bank and Gaza), Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen amid the conflict with Iran.
Watch my message to American citizens in Israel and be sure to register with the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program (STEP) to receive important security updates directly. >> https://t.co/8fk1kydTB2 pic.twitter.com/r4IV0WQFEk
— Ambassador Mike Huckabee (@USAmbIsrael) March 3, 2026
07:30 AM: IDF says Iranian presidential complex “dismantled”
The Israel Defence Forces said that it has struck the Iranian Regime’s “leadership compound”, including the Supreme National Security Council building, the Presidential complex, and the assembly area of the Council of Experts.
“This command headquarters was one of the most heavily secured assets in Iran. The compound that housed the regime’s most senior forum was struck by the IAF overnight using precise intelligence,” the IDF. “The leaders behind this terror regime, and the headquarters in which they sat, have been eliminated.”
However, it is currently unclear if any senior leaders were killed during the strikes, such as the head of the National Security Council, Ali Larijani, who has emerged as a top power broker in the wake of the killing of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Saturday.
🎯STRUCK: The Iranian Regime’s Leadership Compound — the central headquarters have been dismantled
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) March 3, 2026
This command headquarters was one of the most heavily secured assets in Iran. The compound that housed the regime’s most senior forum was struck by the IAF overnight using precise… pic.twitter.com/4iW2xd71bC
07:10 AM: Saudi rages over Iran drone attack on U.S. Embassy in Riyadh
In a statement posted on social media, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia expressed its “rejection and condemnation in the strongest terms of the flagrant Iranian attack that targeted the U.S. Embassy building in Riyadh.”
Saudi described the attack — which resulted in a fire at the building, but no injuries — as “cowardly and unjustified” and said that it “blatantly” violated international norms and laws, including the Geneva Convention.
“The Kingdom reaffirms its full right to take all necessary measures to protect its security, territorial integrity, citizens, residents, and vital interests, including the option of responding to the aggression,” the statement said.
07:00 AM: IAEA weighs in on Natanz nuclear site
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Tuesday that it can “confirm” that there has been damage to the entrance of Iran’s underground Natanz Fuel Enrichment Plant (FEP).
However, the monitoring agency said that there are “no radiological consequence expected and no additional impact detected at FEP itself, which was severely damaged in the June conflict.”
06:45 AM: France deploys to the region
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told broadcaster BFMTV on Tuesday that Paris has deployed Rafale fighter jets over the United Arab Emirates to protect its air and naval bases from Iranian attacks. It comes after a base in the UAE housing French troops and aircraft was struck on Sunday by an Iranian drone. Barrot said it was unclear whether France was the target of the attack and noted that the damage was “limited,” with no injuries.
05:40 AM: Farage thinks of the future
While much of the focus is presently on the immediate urgency of military operations, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has a weather eye on what comes next, which decades of experience in Europe suggests an inevitability of a migrant crisis. Britain can’t take any more migrants, Farage warned — we “simply can’t”, he said — saying instead the focus should be on ensuring Persia is a place that makes the Iranian diaspora worldwide want to go home to rebuild.
Farage said of the many “wonderful Persian people” he’d met, “many” would “love to go back to their home country, but away from the barbarity of this regime”. Read more here.
Trump’s Iran strikes have triggered something of a political crisis in the United Kingdom as weak and unpopular Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer initially refused to allow the country to get involved, only to later relent under specific circumstances and while decrying the U.S. strikes as illegal and badly thought-through.
President Trump has expressed his despair at Britain, which, until the Starmer era, was traditionally America’s most staunch ally, for having turned its back on Washington. Yesterday, Trump said he is “very disappointed”, and has gone further today, lamenting, “I never thought I’d see that. I never thought I’d see that from the UK. We love the UK.”
Trump suggested this change was down to the UK’s ruling Labour party trying to appease the many Muslim voters in the country it once took the votes from, but who are now deserting it for more obviously Islamist, foreign-interest political parties. We wrote about that last week; you can read more on these demographic-political changes here.
President Trump reflected on Britain: “It’s also not such a recognisable country… London is a very different place, with a terrible mayor. You have a terrible mayor there, some terrible people. But it’s a very different place.”
05:00 AM: Israel announces it is moving into Lebanon
Hezbollah has joined “the campaign of the Iranian terror regime”, Israel has said this morning, amid barrages of rockets against communities in the Galilee region and elsewhere. The IDF will roll into Lebanon and take strategic sites to deny them to Hezbollah, said Defense Minister Israel Katz.
— Tuesday — 02:15 AM: U.S. President Donald Trump said that the United States has a “virtually unlimited supply” of “medium and upper medium grade” munitions. President Trump said that such weapons could be used to fight wars “forever”. He said that the United States is currently “not where we want to be” in terms of the “highest end” munitions, which he criticised former President Joe Biden for having given much of the “super high end” weapons away to Ukraine and others, without “bothering to replace” them.
“Fortunately, I rebuilt the military in my first term, and continue to do so. The United States is stocked, and ready to WIN, BIG!!! Thank you for your attention to this matter,” President Trump wrote on Truth Social.
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