https://www.reuters.com/world/iran-crisis-live-explosions-tehran-israel-announces-strike-2026-02-28/
Live: US and Israel strike Iran as Trump says actions give Iranians chance to 'topple their rulers'
FILE
PHOTO: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi speaks to the media in
Beirut, Lebanon, October 4, 2024. REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
Iran's foreign minister said on Saturday that "we may have lost a few commanders, but that's not such a big problem," according to an NBC News reporter on X.
Earlier, we reported that Iran's defence minister and Revolutionary Guards commander were believed to have been killed in Israeli attacks.
FILE PHOTO: Bessent in Davos, Switzerland, January 20, 2026. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Saturday that his department was reaffirming its commitment to tracking all illegal funds moved outside of Iran, and to retrieving the money for the Iranian people.
Bessent has said for several weeks that Iranian officials have been moving funds out of the country, describing the actions as "rats leaving the ship," and vowing to track and recover the funds.
FILE PHOTO: Himes in Washington, D.C., April 15, 2021. Al Drago/Pool via REUTERS
“The President’s own statement acknowledges this is war, and the Constitution requires the Administration to come to Congress for authorization, something it has not done,” said Representative Jim Himes of Connecticut, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee.
As a member of the so-called “Gang of Eight” grouping of intelligence committee and congressional leaders, Himes was briefed by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Himes said: “As I expressed to Secretary Rubio when he briefed the Gang of Eight, military action in this region almost never ends well for the United States, and conflict with Iran can easily spiral and escalate in ways we cannot anticipate. It does not appear that Donald Trump has learned the lessons of history.”
Members of the U.S. Congress called for votes next week on a war powers resolution following the strikes on Iran.
Most of the calls came from Democrats, who called the strikes illegal. But Republican Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky also said lawmakers should go on record. “The Constitution requires a vote and your representative needs to be on record as opposing or supporting this war,” he said in X.com.
Source: @RepThomasMassie via X
FILE PHOTO: Macron, Starmer and Merz in Kyiv on May 10, 2025, LUDOVIC MARIN/Pool via REUTERS
Germany, France and Britain condemned Iranian attacks on countries in the region on Saturday, saying Iran must refrain from indiscriminate military strikes and resume negotiations.
"We condemn Iranian attacks on countries in the region in the strongest terms," French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said in a joint statement.
"We call for a resumption of negotiations and urge the Iranian leadership to seek a negotiated solution. Ultimately, the Iranian people must be allowed to determine their future," they said.
Their countries did not participate in strikes on Saturday, they said. Read more here.
FILE PHOTO: Turk at UN European headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, September 8, 2025. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk condemned the Israeli and U.S. attacks on Iran as well as Iran's retaliatory strikes, saying civilians would pay the ultimate price.
Turk called on the parties to return to the negotiating table where they had actively been seeking a solution only hours before the military strikes began.
"I have already warned that failing to do so risks an even wider conflict, that will inevitably lead to further senseless civilian deaths and destruction on a potentially unimaginable scale, not just in Iran but across the Middle East region," he said.
Vehicles burn in Tehran after U.S. and Israeli strikes, February 28, 2026. Social Media/via REUTERS
You can see a gallery of pictures from across the Middle East here.
FILE
PHOTO: Head of Iran's Revolutionary Guards ground forces
Mohammed Pakpour attends a funeral ceremony in Tehran October 20, 2009.
Iran's Defence Minister Amir Nasirzadeh and Revolutionary Guards commander Mohammed Pakpour are believed to have been killed in Israeli attacks, two sources familiar with Israel's military operations and one regional source said.
FILE PHOTO: Oil tankers pass through the Strait of Hormuz, December 21, 2018. REUTERS/Hamad I Mohammed
Some oil majors and top trading houses have suspended crude oil and fuel shipments via the Strait of Hormuz amid ongoing U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran and Tehran's retaliation, four trading sources said on Saturday.
The strait lies between Oman and Iran and links the Gulf north of it with the Gulf of Oman to the south and the Arabian Sea beyond. About a fifth of the world's total oil consumption passes through the strait.
"Our ships will stay put for several days," one top executive at a major trading desk said.
The EU maritime mission Eunavfor Aspides advised the shipping industry to remain vigilant and said attacks on ships could not be ruled out following the strikes on Iran.
Aspides said in a statement sources had said Yemen's Houthis threatened to launch new attacks against Israel and U.S. ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, adding it was ready to help protect lives at sea.
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