03 March 2026

17:21 GMT

Eyewitnesses report explosions in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Doha. According to the reports, a new series of powerful blasts shook the Qatari capital and its suburbs, including the satellite city Lusail to the north and the southern suburb Wakrah. Explosions were also reported at US facilities in Kuwait.

17:11 GMT

The US and Israel have attacked Tehran’s Mehrabad Airport, the news agency Mehr is reporting.

16:57 GMT

The UAE is considering military action to halt Iranian missile and drone strikes, sources have told Axios. The Ministry of Defense says 174 missiles and 689 drones have been intercepted since Saturday. Three people were killed and 68 others sustained minor injuries in the attacks, according to the ministry.

16:40 GMT

Local reporters in the Minab district have spoken to families affected by the devastating US-Israeli attack on the school, in which their children were either killed or are still missing. One father described finding teaching staff and female students on the upper floor and male students on the lower floor, “all buried under the rubble.”

Another father said, “My daughter, Zeinab, is still under the rubble,” adding he does not know if she is alive or has become a martyr. “But here, in this very place where this destruction occurred, I want to announce … that if my Zeinab has become a martyr under this rubble, if she has been killed, then let them know: we are raising thousands and thousands of Zeinabs.”

16:14 GMT

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has condemned the White House’s posting of a TikTok video showing strikes on Iran set to the upbeat rhythm of Los del Rio’s ‘Macarena’ at the time a mass funeral for 165 children killed in the attacks is being held.

“This is no longer cynicism or double standards – it is about how far they are prepared to go,” Zakharova said.

15:30 GMT

Thousands have lined the streets in Iran’s southern city of Minab as the nation mourns the 165 schoolgirls (most aged between 7 and 12) and staff killed in the US-Israeli attack. Trucks transporting the coffins, draped with Iranian flags, can be seen moving slowly through the crowds, with people holding up pictures and waving flags as they walk alongside the vehicles.

"I'd Be Angry, Too": Jamie Dimon Says Trump Debanking Suit Has No Merit, Then Rails Debanking Practices

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said Monday that Donald Trump’s $5 billion lawsuit over the closure of his accounts “has no merit,” but added, “They have the right to be angry. I’d be angry, too.”

Trump claims JPMorgan and other banks shut his accounts for political reasons, according to CNBC. Dimon said banks are often “forced” to debank clients due to legal and regulatory pressures tied to reputational risk. “We debank people because it causes legal, regulatory risk for us,” he said, noting it’s easier for banks to avoid that risk.

Trump sued JPMorgan and Dimon in January, part of a broader legal campaign that also includes claims against Capital One, media outlets, and the IRS. JPMorgan has acknowledged closing dozens of Trump-related accounts after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack.

“But I agree with them,” Dimon said during an interview in Miami. “Like, why is a bank allowed to do that?”

CNBC writes that though no single law mandates dropping clients over reputational concerns, regulations make serving certain customers risky. The case puts Dimon in a delicate spot as banks begin benefiting from deregulation under Trump appointees.

“There are a lot of misunderstandings here,” Dimon said. “Hopefully the law will change, and hopefully it’ll get sorted out.”

Recall, President Donald Trump filed a lawsuit against JPMorgan Chase and its CEO Jamie Dimon, claiming the banking giant debanked him for political reasons.

The lawsuit was filed in January in a Miami state court by his attorney, Alejandro Brito, on behalf of Trump and several of his hospitality companies.

https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/id-be-angry-too-jamie-dimon-says-trump-debanking-suit-has-no-merit-then-rails-debanking

Lavrov issues nuclear warning after US-Israeli attacks on Iran

Washington’s claims that it defends non-proliferation don’t hold water, Russia’s top diplomat has argued

On Tuesday, Lavrov criticized Steve Witkoff, special envoy for US President Donald Trump, for calling Iran’s insistence on its right to uranium enrichment unacceptable. Witkoff told Fox News: “We of course responded that the president feels we have the inalienable right to stop you dead in your tracks.”

“If this logic is being pushed, I guarantee that powerful forces will arise in Iran seeking exactly what the United States seeks to prevent: to make a nuclear bomb, because people who have nuclear bombs don’t get attacked by the US,” Lavrov said.

Iran’s right to a peaceful nuclear program, including uranium enrichment, is recognized under the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which allows such activity with International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards.

“In a seemingly paradoxical twist, the declared noble cause of preventing nuclear proliferation through a war could stimulate the opposite trend,” Lavrov said.

He added that foreign diplomats have told him the fate of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi – who abandoned his nuclear program only to be overthrown and killed in a 2011 NATO-backed uprising – serves as a powerful argument for nuclearization.

https://www.rt.com/russia/633627-lavrov-iran-nuclear-proliferation/

Skynet

Drone Strikes On Amazon Data Centers In Middle East Reveal Urgent Need To Defend AI

For the first time in modern warfare, Iranian kamikaze drones struck commercial data centers in the Middle East operated by Amazon. This marks a major escalation in the targeting of civilian digital infrastructure.

Amazon wrote on its website that three Middle East data centers were hit by Iranian drones, causing widespread outages at Amazon Web Services facilities tied to the "ongoing conflict in the Middle East."

"These strikes have caused structural damage, disrupted power delivery to our infrastructure, and in some cases required fire suppression activities that resulted in additional water damage," the company said in a post on Monday on AWS's health dashboard.

Operations in the Middle East remain "significantly impaired," AWS said, noting that "customers are experiencing elevated error rates and degraded availability for services."

The entire 'bomb the data center' incident led us to write a note on Monday morning titled, "Modern Warfare Sees First Drone Strike on a Commercial Data Center." This marks a first in a world where Morgan Stanley's Vishwanath Tirupattur recently forecasted that $3 trillion in global data center spending will occur through 2028. Translation: there's a massive security gap in defending data centers from aerial threats.

We first outlined the theme in a late January note titled "Explosion in AI Data Center Buildouts Will Demand Next-Gen Counter-Drone Security."

https://www.zerohedge.com/ai/drone-strikes-amazon-data-centers-middle-east-reveal-urgent-need-defend-ai

'If Iran Had Nukes, They Would've Used It,' Trump Amid Regional War Spiral, Oil Disruptions

Here are the most critical developments unfolding in the US-Iran conflict:

Trump tries to articular war justification: says if we have a little high oil prices, could be for a little while, but they will drop, and could even be below the levels before, but that he 'had to' act or else Iran would have 'used nukes'. Claims Israel didn't force America's hand. Admits leadership vacuum.

The Pentagon has released Operation Epic Fury's objectives; 1- Demilitarization of Iran: destruction of its missile forces, production facilities, and naval fleet 2- Elimination of the terrorist regime 3- Protection of the United States from current and future threats 4- Ensuring that Iran does not possess nuclear weapons

UAE mulling joining US-Israel attack on Iran, and the Saudis too, to stop Iranian missile and drone strikes on their countries.

The American Embassy in Riyadh has been hit in another drone attack, with WSJ reporting it was struck twice Tuesday, resulting in damage to the roof. More embassies across region are shuttering, including the US Embassy in Beirut.

President Trump mulling arming anti-Tehran militias. But he hasn't decided yet while urging Iranians to rise up and be Washington's 'boots on the ground.'

The Israelis just struck the meeting of the Iranian Supreme Council where officials were gathering to choose a new Supreme Leader, a senior Israeli official told Fox News. "Israel struck while they were counting the votes for the appointment of the supreme leader."

US-Israel bombing is expanding inside Iran. Explosions heard in the northwestern cities of Tabriz and Urmia, as the capital no longer the only focus.

Iraq's crude oil output is being significantly curtailed. An update from Iraq specifies a shutdown of 460,000 bpd at West Qurna 2 and a cut of 700,000 bpd at Rumaila, while warning that more than 3 million bpd could be forced offline in the coming days if tanker access remains limited.

Export crude bottlenecks are developing across Iraq. Storage at southern export terminals is nearing critical capacity because tanker traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has been paralyzed. Iraq has also halted most Kurdistan-to-Turkey exports via Ceyhan, leaving only about 50,000 bpd for domestic use.

Iranian retaliation expanded on Tuesday, with Gulf states' energy infrastructure hit by multiple drones. This included a drone strike on Fujairah in the UAE, a key bunkering and crude-loading hub outside the Strait of Hormuz, as well as a drone strike at the Port of Salalah in Oman.

The U.S.-Israeli operation against Iran is intensifying. Strikes are said to be hitting major targets, including state media, military command sites, and leadership compounds, with the reported Iranian death toll rising to 787 since the start of Operation Epic Fury.

The war is spreading into a broader regional conflict. Israel has expanded attacks into Lebanon, including renewed strikes on Beirut and a ground move into the south, while regional actors such as Qatar and possibly Saudi Arabia are portrayed as being drawn more directly into the conflict.

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/israel-opens-second-front-day-4-trumps-iran-war-irgc-refuses-back-down