The war is now in its 10th day, and Israel and the United States continue to trade blows with Iran, with further missile and drone strikes across the Middle East. Meanwhile, the U.S. military’s ability to execute more rapid heavy airstrikes against Iranian targets was stepped up further today, with the arrival at RAF Fairford in England of three U.S. Air Force B-52H Stratofortress bombers. The aircraft are from the 5th Bomb Wing at Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota.
The bombers arrived at Fairford after U.K. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer approved so-called defensive U.S. actions against Iranian targets from British bases. This includes striking Iranian missile sites prior to them launching attacks.
The B-52s are part of a growing fleet of U.S. bombers at Fairford. The base received a single B-1B Lancer on Friday, and another two of the swing-wing bombers arrived on Saturday.
As well as making use of RAF Fairford to strike Iran, the change in U.K. government policy covers Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. Satellite imagery from today that TWZ has reviewed via Planet Labs shows no sign of bombers on the island, but heavy transport aircraft continue to show up there, along with the handful of tankers and five F-16s currently operating from the Indian Ocean outpost.
B-52s have already flown missions against Iran from bases in the United States, delivering AGM-158 JASSM stealthy cruise missiles. These missiles would have launched from outside Iranian airspace, likely over Iraq or another friendly Arab country. You can read more about the implications of standoff strikes such as these in our previous analysis of the enduring Iranian air defense threat here.
As we have discussed repeatedly in recent weeks, having the bombers forward deployed to England and/or Diego Garcia will drastically increase sortie rates and decrease wear-and-tear on the precious bomber fleet compared to flying from the U.S. and back. This will become even more relevant if the B-1 and B-52 force move from making standoff strikes to direct attacks on Iranian targets, even if just over limited parts of the country where air supremacy is more guaranteed.
LATEST UPDATES
1:02 PM EST –
The U.S. has intercepted encrypted communications believed to have originated in Iran that may serve as “an operational trigger” for “sleeper assets” outside the country, ABC News reported, citing a federal government alert sent to law enforcement agencies.
The alert cites “preliminary signals analysis” of a transmission “likely of Iranian origin” that was relayed across multiple countries shortly after the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Khamenei, the supreme leader of Iran, was killed in a U.S.-Israeli attack on Feb. 28.
CBS News broke down targets hit across the Middle East since Epic Fury was launched.
Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi posted a list of oil prices that have spiked since the launch of what he calls “Operation Epic Mistake.”
“…oil prices have doubled while all commodities are skyrocketing,” Araghchi stated on X. “We know the U.S. is plotting against our oil and nuclear sites in hopes of containing huge inflationary shock. Iran is fully prepared.”
It should be noted that prices are volatile and subject to frequent change.
“I don’t see any room for diplomacy anymore,” Kamal Kharazi, Foreign Policy Advisor to the office of the Supreme Leader, told CNN in an exclusive interview in Tehran. He also said he believes the regime can continue with the war for a long time.
The IDF posted images it said were from the aftermath of an Iranian cluster munition attack on the city of Rishon Lezion.
Iranian Gen. Abdolrahim Mousavi, head of the IRGC Aerospace Force, claimed his nation has a new tactic for launching missiles.
Only those with warheads over one ton will be fired, and the frequency will increase, Mousavi posited.
UPDATE:12:28 PM EST –
The Trump administration has discussed seizing Kharg Island, a strategic terminal responsible for roughly 90% of Iran’s crude oil exports, according to Axios.
Trump took to his Truth Social platform to say that short-term oil price hikes are worth the long-term removal of the Iranian nuclear threat.
U.S. officials were reportedly surprised by Iran’s sustained response to Epic Fury.
Gulf states have been surprised that Iran has carried out widespread attacks across the region.
Iran’s Isfahan Optics plants was reportedly leveled by U.S.-Israeli airstrikes this morning.
American allies “are watching in disbelief as the Pentagon reroutes weapon shipments to aid the Iran war, angry and scared that arms the U.S. demanded they buy will never reach them,” Politico reported.
European nations that have struggled to rebuild arsenals after sending weapons to Ukraine “fear they won’t be able to ward off a Russian attack,” the outlet added. “Asian allies, startled by America’s rate of fire, question whether it could embolden China and North Korea. And even in the Middle East, countries aren’t clear if they will get air defenses from the U.S. for future priorities.”
U.S. military transport planes have flown out of South Korea in recent days, after Seoul confirmed it was discussing the possible redeployment of American military assets as the Iran conflict escalates, Bloomberg News reported, citing flight tracking data.
“Data from the Flightradar24 website indicated that US military transport planes, including C-17 and C-5, flew out of South Korea’s Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, one as recently as Saturday,” the news outlet stated. “It wasn’t immediately clear what the aircraft were carrying.”
France will deploy an aircraft carrier, two helicopter carriers and three other warships for an international defensive naval mission to reopen the Strait of Hormuz after the most intense part of Epic Fury subsides, French President Emmanuel Macron announced.
The UAE MoD said Iran launched 15 ballistic missiles and 18 drones overnight, adding that all but one were intercepted, Fox News reported on X. That represents a sharp decline of drone attacks on the Gulf nation, which had been averaging 124 a day over the past week.
UPDATE: 12PM EST—
U.S. Central Command has previously released a video confirming the employment of ground-launched Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) short-range ballistic missiles as part of the strikes on Iran. Now, there appears to be evidence that at least some of the missiles are being fired from Kuwait. We have seen another video showing a HIMARS launcher fire from a beach in Bahrain, as well.
Among the targets of recent U.S. strikes are what is left of the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy. There have been more attacks against Iranian vessels in coastal waters, one of them being struck while anchored off the coast of Bandar Lengeh earlier today. The warship in question has been widely identified as a Shahid Soleimani class missile corvette. One of these unusual catamaran vessels had been sunk in an earlier U.S. strike, as you can read about here.
Iran has named its new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, who is succeeding his father, Ali Khamenei, after he was killed on February 28, as part of a series of Israeli airstrikes around Tehran aimed at high-ranking Iranian officials. While the Iranian regime remains under the highest level of pressure from continued U.S. and Israeli attacks, the appointment of Mojtaba Khamenei represents continuity for the regime and signals that hardliners remain in charge — for now.
Russian President Vladimir Putin was among the international leaders to congratulate Mojtaba Khamenei on his appointment.
The Israeli military said today that it had begun a new wave of attacks against targets in Tehran, Isfahan, and elsewhere in central and southern Iran.
It also said that it struck targets associated with the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group in Beirut.
According to Hezbollah, its fighters are meanwhile engaged with Israeli forces who entered eastern Lebanon via helicopter. Hezbollah said it detected “the infiltration of approximately 15 Israeli enemy helicopters” from the Syrian side of the border into Lebanon. The Iran-backed militant group said in a statement that its fighters “engaged the helicopters and the infiltrating force with appropriate weapons” and that the confrontation was ongoing.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency described “fierce clashes … towards the outskirts of the town of Nabi Sheet to repel Israeli forces that carried out a landing by helicopters” in the area. Two Hezbollah officials told AFP that an Israeli helicopter was downed, but this has not been independently verified.
A previous Israeli commando raid was launched into Lebanon overnight on Friday. Among its aims was the recovery of the remains of Ron Arad, an Israeli airman missing since 1986. The fighting left three Lebanese soldiers and 41 residents of the Bekaa Valley dead, according to the Lebanese Ministry of Health.
The Israeli military confirmed that two of its soldiers were killed in southern Lebanon.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) today issued a new warning in Lebanon, calling for residents of the southern suburbs of Beirut to evacuate the area. An IDF spokesman said that the Israeli military will act “forcefully” against terrorist infrastructure in “the coming hours.”
The IDF also said it conducted targeted strikes against the Iranian Lebanon Corps in Beirut over the weekend.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused Israel of unlawfully using white phosphorus munitions in the town of Yohmor in southern Lebanon. HRW verified and geolocated various images that confirmed the airburst use of white phosphorus munitions over a residential part of the town last week.
“The Israeli military’s unlawful use of white phosphorus over residential areas is extremely alarming and will have dire consequences for civilians,” Ramzi Kaiss, Lebanon researcher at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.
White phosphorus is not a chemical weapon, as sometimes described, since it is primarily an incendiary weapon, although it’s also regularly used for making smokescreens and for target marking. Burning at around 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit, white phosphorus can obviously inflict terrible injuries, and its use in densely populated areas violates international law.
As we discussed last week, Israel may be using a version of the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) that includes white phosphorus in its warhead. However, this particular weapon was designed to attack chemical and biological weapon stockpiles.
Iran and its proxies launched more attacks across the region over the weekend and into Monday.
There are reports that strikes targeted a U.S. diplomatic facility near Baghdad’s international airport but were apparently intercepted.
Another successful drone interception reportedly occurred east of Saudi Arabia’s northern Al-Jawf region. The Saudi Ministry of Defense has released footage showing Iranian drones being taken out by Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF) F-15 and Typhoon fighters. The RSAF has plenty of practice in this, having targeted drones launched by the Houthis in Yemen for many years.
However, Iran was more successful in its targeting of the Bapco (Bahrain Petroleum Company) oil refinery — the only one in Bahrain.
Videos show smoke rising from the refinery, where operators declared a state of emergency.
A statement from the company said it “hereby serves notice of force majeure on its group operations which have been affected by the ongoing regional conflict in the Middle East and the recent attack on its refinery complex.”
The Bahrain Ministry of Interior earlier today said that the fire at the refinery had been brought under control, with no casualties reported.
Earlier today, Bahrain said an overnight Iranian drone attack on the island of Sitra injured 32 people.
Other countries in the region have also reported being targeted by more retaliatory Iranian strikes.
In central Israel, a man was killed, and several more were injured in an airstrike, according to local emergency services. It is unclear who launched the attack, but several people were reportedly injured as they made their way to a shelter.
The recent Iranian missile strikes on Israel reportedly also involved the use of warheads carrying cluster munitions.
In the United Arab Emirates, authorities reported two people injured in two separate locations in Abu Dhabi. Both are said to have been hit by debris from intercepted airstrikes.
Meanwhile, the fallout from an attack last week on the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone in the UAE is threatening to further disrupt the flow of oil out of the region.
The United Arab Emirates is now using AH-64 Apache attack helicopters in a counter-drone role. The footage below shows Apaches from the UAE Joint Aviation Command — reportedly the latest AH-64E versions, rather than the earlier AH-64Ds — using their 30mm guns to bring down Iranian UAVs. While the U.S. Army and other operators using AH-64s to swat down lower-end long-endurance drones might be relatively new, it’s worth noting that Israel has been using the Apache in an air defense role for this purpose for many years.
AFP reports several explosions heard today in the Qatari capital of Doha.
Qatar’s defense ministry said that its forces had intercepted and destroyed two drones heading toward the Shaybah oil field in the southeast of the country. These were just a fraction of a much larger barrage of ballistic missiles and drones sent toward Qatar, according to the defense ministry.
In Kuwait, the defense ministry reported that air defenses were working to intercept a missile and drone attack on Monday.
Footage purportedly showing a burning high-rise building in Kuwait after it was struck by an Iranian drone over the weekend.
Cyprus, which has also been on the receiving end of drone strikes, received six Turkish Air Force F-16 fighters today. The jets were deployed to the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus to bolster local defenses for the Turkish Cypriot state.
Turkey has also reportedly come under attack from at least one Iranian ballistic missile, which the local defense ministry said was brought down by “NATO air and missile defense assets” based in the eastern Mediterranean.
In a statement provided to TWZ, a NATO spokesperson added:
“In less than 10 minutes, NATO service members identified a threat to Allies, a ballistic missile, confirmed its trajectory, alerted land- and sea-based missile defence systems, and launched an interceptor to defeat the threat and protect our territory and its people.”
The U.S. military has confirmed the death of a seventh American soldier due to injuries sustained during Iran’s initial counterattack. The Department of War said that Sgt. Benjamin N. Pennington, 26, of Glendale, Kentucky, died of his wounds yesterday. He had come under enemy attack on March 1, 2026, at Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, where he served with the 1st Space Battalion, 1st Space Brigade.
However, unverified reports of the death of an eighth U.S. service member during the current campaign have proven to be erroneous.
According to a report from Axios, U.S. President Donald Trump, together with envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, plans to travel to Israel tomorrow for talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
However, reports from Israel suggest that the visit has been postponed.
Regardless, Trump has said that the end of the war will be a “mutual” decision to be made with Netanyahu, the Times of Israel reported.
“I think it’s mutual…a little bit. We’ve been talking. I’ll make a decision at the right time, but everything’s going to be taken into account,” Trump said.
In a telephone interview with the Times of Israel on Sunday, Trump said that Iran would have destroyed Israel if it weren’t for his and Netanyahu’s actions.
“Iran was going to destroy Israel and everything else around it…We’ve worked together. We’ve destroyed a country that wanted to destroy Israel,” the U.S. president said.
Contact the author: thomas@thewarzone.com