Heavy US and Israeli strikes hit Tehran

Iranian lawmaker Mohsen Zangeneh said a new supreme leader will be introduced within two days.

Zangeneh, who represents Torbat-e Heydarieh, said the final two candidates have both been "reluctant to accept the position".

President Masoud Pezeshkian said Iran is committed to “lasting peace in the region” but will defend its dignity and sovereignty, in a post on X.

“Some countries have begun mediation efforts. Let’s be clear: we are committed to lasting peace in the region yet we have no hesitation in defending our nation’s dignity & sovereignty,” Pezeshkian wrote. “Mediation should address those who underestimated the Iranian people and ignited this conflict.”

A spokesperson for Iran’s Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters said a US-owned oil vessel was targeted near Kuwait’s borders and is on fire.

The spokesperson said the vessel was struck near Kuwaiti waters and was burning, but provided no further details.

Israel’s military spokesperson said about 50 Israeli Air Force jets struck an underground bunker beneath Iran’s leadership compound in central Tehran on Friday, which he said had been built for Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

The spokesperson said the strike, carried out with intelligence guidance, targeted a subterranean shelter constructed under the compound and described it as an emergency command site intended for use during wartime. He said the facility was destroyed before it could be used.

He added that the complex had continued to be used by senior Iranian officials after Khamenei was killed earlier in the campaign. The spokesperson said the underground network extended beneath several streets in central Tehran and included multiple entry points and meeting rooms.

He said the compound functioned as a central headquarters for Iran’s leadership and that destroying the bunker would further damage Iran’s command and control capabilities.

Russia is providing Iran with intelligence to help target US forces in the Middle East, including the locations of American warships and aircraft, the Washington Post reported, citing three officials familiar with the matter.

The report said the targeting information marks the first indication that another major US adversary is participating, even indirectly, in the war.

Iranian lawmaker Mohammad Saleh Jokar said he hopes the war expands into a ground conflict so that American soldiers are killed, and vowed that the outcome will be decided on the battlefield, not through diplomacy.

“I hope this war turns into a ground war so we witness the burial of American soldiers in the Persian Gulf region,” Jokar told Didban Iran.

Referring to US President Donald Trump, he added: “America, which Trump boasted about and said we have the strongest army in the world — where is it now?”

He said Iran has not yet used its “new tactics and technologies” in the fight against the United States and Israel, adding: “We will determine the final result on the battlefield, diplomacy is no longer enough.”

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Qatar condemned an Iranian attack on buildings in Bahrain that house members of the Qatari Emiri Naval Forces.

In a statement posted on X, the ministry called the strike a “blatant hostile act” and a “flagrant violation” of Bahrain’s sovereignty, saying it posed a direct threat to the country’s security and to regional stability.

It said the Qatari naval personnel stationed at the targeted sites, who were participating in a joint maritime operations center under the Gulf Cooperation Council’s unified military command, were safe and no injuries were recorded.

The ministry expressed full solidarity with Bahrain and urged an end to escalation and adherence to international law and the United Nations Charter.

Iran has launched a new wave of missiles toward Israel, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said.

In a statement, the IRGC said the 22nd wave of its “True Promise 4” operation began with what it described as a large number of missiles fired toward Israeli territory.

Sri Lanka has taken control of a second Iranian naval vessel off its coast, a day after a US submarine sank an Iranian warship in nearby waters.

The vessel, identified as the Irins Bushehr, requested permission to dock after reporting engine trouble. Sri Lankan authorities allowed it to enter the northeastern port of Trincomalee, and 208 crew members were evacuated, officials said.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake said Sri Lanka acted on humanitarian grounds and stressed the country’s neutrality amid the US-Israeli campaign against Iran.

The move follows Wednesday’s US torpedo attack on the Iranian frigate Iris Dena about 44 nautical miles off Sri Lanka’s southern coast, in which at least 87 people were killed.

Azerbaijan has withdrawn its diplomatic staff from Iran amid sharply rising tensions between the two neighbours, IFAX reported on Friday.

The move comes after recent drone strikes that Azerbaijan says were launched from Iranian territory into its Nakhchivan exclave, sparking condemnation from Baku and a diplomatic rift.

The Kremlin said Russia remains a reliable supplier of oil, natural gas and liquefied natural gas and can guarantee deliveries despite market turmoil linked to the Iran crisis.

Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Russia is in dialogue with representatives of Iranian leadership but gave no further comment.

He said there has been a “rise in demand for Russian energy because of war in Iran,” pointing to higher global interest in Russian supplies amid disruptions in other markets.

Qatar’s energy minister warned that war in the Middle East could force Persian Gulf exporters to halt energy shipments within weeks and send oil prices sharply higher, the Financial Times reported on Friday.

“This will bring down the economies of the world,” Saad al-Kaabi told the newspaper, predicting that if the war continues, global growth would suffer and energy prices would surge.

Kaabi said it would take Qatar “weeks to months” to return to normal deliveries after an Iranian drone strike hit its Ras Laffan liquefied natural gas plant, and added that “all exporters in the Gulf region will have to call force majeure” if hostilities persist.

Etihad Airways said it has resumed more routes to and from Abu Dhabi on a limited schedule through March 19.

The airline said it will operate flights to key destinations including London Heathrow, New York JFK, Washington, Chicago, Toronto, Paris, Frankfurt, Munich, Zurich, Milan, Rome, Madrid, Amsterdam, Athens, Istanbul, Moscow, Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Karachi, Islamabad, Bangkok, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Seoul Incheon, Tokyo, Sydney and Melbourne.

The US Central Command said Iranian targets were “being decimated” by American forces as military operations continue.

“Iranian targets are being decimated by US forces, paving the way for continued delivery of overwhelming American military firepower,” CENTCOM said in a post on X.

Ali Bahadori Jahromi, a former spokesperson for Iran’s government under late President Ebrahim Raisi, described the Persian-language broadcaster Iran International as a “legitimate and priority target” in a post on X.

He accused the channel of being an integral part of what he called hostile actions against the Islamic Republic and said it could be targeted in what he described as reciprocal measures.

Iran’s internet has remained almost entirely cut off for six full days, with connectivity stuck at about 1% of normal levels, internet monitoring group NetBlocks said.

Metrics show the country continues in “digital darkness” even as authorities maintain highly restricted networks, the group said, adding that the regime is promoting its agenda through whitelisted online services while most of the population remains offline.

Europe must step up production of air defense and anti-ballistic missiles as the Middle East war intensifies, EU Defense Commissioner Andrius Kubilius said.

“With the Iranian crisis ... it has become very clear that Europe must ramp up production of air-defense and anti-ballistic missiles,” Kubilius said at a news conference with Poland’s deputy prime minister.

Residents in Dubai received alerts on their mobile phones warning of potential missile threats, according to Reuters witnesses.

New initiatives and weapons by the Islamic Republic are “on the way” and have not yet been deployed on a large scale, IRGC spokesperson Ali-Mohammad Naini said on Friday.

Media in Iran reported that multiple explosions hit Kermanshah, in the west, on Friday morning.

Explosions were heard early Friday in the cities of Salmas, Maku and Saqqez in western Iran, according to published reports.

A series of powerful explosions were heard early Friday in eastern and central Tehran, local media report.

Saudi Arabia said it intercepted three drones east of the Riyadh region Friday morning.

Iranian media reported that a council of "ruling" Revolutionary Guards convened its fourth session to review the latest developments in the war, strengthen the armed forces and address the supply of essential goods.

According to the reports, members also discussed arrangements for convening the Assembly of Experts to select the Islamic Republic’s next supreme leader.

Rep. Yassamin Ansari of Arizona, the first Iranian American Democrat elected to Congress, said Thursday she was “conflicted” and “deeply concerned” about the US operation in Iran, criticizing the lack of congressional authorization.

“I have always opposed the Islamic Republic regime,” Ansari told CNN. “As an American congresswoman … I am deeply concerned that Donald Trump has decided to wage an illegal war … without coming to Congress, without making a case to the American people.”

Ansari said many of her constituents oppose the war and some are trying to leave the Middle East but are struggling to get assistance.

She added that while many Iranian Americans and people inside Iran are celebrating developments, others feel anxiety and uncertainty about what comes next.