NATO’s Mark Rutte emerges as Trump whisperer-in-chief after dramatic about-face at Davos AOL.com
Day: March 1, 2026
2/ Iran Update Evening Special Report, February 28, 2026: isw.pub/IranUpdate022826_PM_…
— Institute for the Study of War (@TheStudyofWar) Mar 1, 2026
NEW: The combined US-Israeli force killed Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and it is unclear who is currently ruling Iran. US President Donald Trump confirmed on February 28 that Khamenei was killed. The Iranian constitution stipulates that the President, the Judiciary Chief, and a member of the Guardian Council will take over the responsibilities of the Supreme Leader until Iran’s Assembly of Experts convenes to select a new leader. Khamenei was reportedly making plans prior to the current conflict for who he wanted to rule Iran in the event of his death, however.
The combined force conducted nearly 900 strikes on Iranian targets in the first 12 hours of its campaign, according to an unspecified US official speaking to Fox News. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) stated that it struck 500 Iranian targets. The regime’s internet shutdown has almost certainly limited the amount of information about US and Israeli strikes coming out of Iran. ISW-CTP’s strike data, therefore, only reflects a portion of the total amount of US and Israeli strikes.
The United States and Israel are pursuing several lines of effort to achieve their stated campaign objectives: 1) suppressing Iranian air defenses, 2) degrading Iranian retaliatory capabilities, and 3) disrupting Iranian command-and-control.
US Central Command (CENTCOM) stated that Iran’s retaliation in response to the joint US-Israeli air campaign has not inflicted US casualties or caused meaningful damage to US military installations used to conduct offensive operations against Iran. CENTCOM said that US forces have successfully defended against hundreds of Iranian missile and drone attacks.
Iran has not attacked vessels in the Strait of Hormuz at the time of this writing, despite warning vessels against transiting through the strait. A European Union official told Reuters on February 28 that the IRGC warned vessels transiting through the strait that “no ship is allowed to pass the Strait of Hormuz.” ISW-CTP has not observed any reports of Iranian naval forces taking kinetic measures to harass or attack vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.
Several members of Iran’s Axis of Resistance, including Hezbollah and the Houthis, have condemned the US and Israeli strikes in Iran but have not conducted retaliatory attacks as of ISW-CTP’s 04:00 PM ET data cutoff. These Axis of Resistance members could decide at any time to attack the United States or Israel in response to the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, however.
The Islamic Resistance of Iraq, which is a coalition of Iranian-backed Iraqi militias, claimed on February 24 that it conducted 16 unspecified “operations” with “dozens” of drones targeting “enemy” bases in Iraq and the region. The Iraqi Joint Operations Command also reported on February 28 that Iraqi air defenses intercepted nine drones that unspecified actors launched at Iraqi military sites in Dhi Qar and Basra provinces. No group has claimed responsibility for these attacks at the time of this writing.
— Institute for the Study of War (@TheStudyofWar) Mar 1, 2026
#OpEd Putin’s ambivalence toward Stalin seems part of a strategy to stop Russians drawing parallels between their country’s past and present, writes
@drpollyjones.
themoscowtimes.com/2026/02/2…— The Moscow Times (@MoscowTimes) Mar 1, 2026
On March 1, 2026, a telephone conversation took place between Azerbaijan’s Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and the Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Seyyed Abbas Araghchi, AzerNEWS reports.
The post Azerbaijan and Iran FMs hold urgent talks amid regional military escalation first appeared on The South Caucasus News – SouthCaucasusNews.com.