Photo to illustrate Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. (Photo: MOHD RASFAN / AFP)
Get the latest news on the conflict in the Middle East here.
Certain death for newly elected, Israel threatens
Israel Katz, Israel’s defense minister, threatened on Wednesday that any Iranian leader elected as supreme leader after the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei will be killed.
“Any leader chosen by the Iranian terror regime to continue leading the plan for Israel’s destruction, threatening the US, the free world and countries in the region, and oppressing the Iranian people will be a certain target for assassination, regardless of his name or where he is hiding,” Katz said in a post on X on Wednesday.
This warning comes after Israel on Tuesday struck the building where Iran’s new supreme leader was to be elected after the death of Khamenei.
Khamenei was killed in joint US-Israeli airstrikes on Saturday.
Senior clerics are said to have gathered at the Assembly of Experts building in Qom, south of Tehran, on Tuesday to elect a new supreme leader.
The Assembly of Experts has 88 members. However, it is still unclear how many clergy were in the building at the time of the attack. – Times of Israel
Photo to illustrate Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. (Photo: AFP)
Iranian frigate zinc
Sri Lanka on Wednesday sent ships and aircraft to rescue 30 Iranian sailors after an Iranian frigate, the Iris Denasank just outside Sri Lanka’s territorial waters.
Vijitha Herath, minister of foreign affairs in Sri Lanka, told the country’s parliament on Wednesday that 30 sailors are being brought to a hospital in the south of the island after the frigate sank with 180 crew members on board.
Sailors sent a distress signal at sunrise, but it was not immediately clear why the warship sank. An opposition member asked in parliament whether the vessel was bombed as part of the attacks against Iran, but there was no immediate response from the government. – AFP
Iran takes ‘full control’ of key straits
A fleet ship is sailing in the Strait of Hormuz. (Photo: SAHAR AL ATTAR / AFP)
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard says it has “full control” of the Strait of Hormuz, the only sea channel connecting the oil-rich Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea.
About 20% of the world’s petroleum flows through this strait.
Pres. Donald Trump said on Tuesday that the US Navy is ready to escort oil tankers through the important shipping route.– AFP
Americans fire ‘at everything’
Archive photo of adm. Brad Cooper, commander of US Central Command. (Photo: AFP)
The US military has hit nearly 2,000 targets since the first deadly strikes were launched with Israel on Iran on Saturday.
“We have severely knocked back Iran’s air defenses and destroyed hundreds of Iran’s ballistic missiles, launchers and drones,” Adm. Brad Cooper, commander of US Central Command, said.
Now the focus is “to shoot at everything we can shoot at,” Cooper said.
According to Cooper, the first 24 hours of this weekend’s initial operation against Iran was almost twice the scale of the initial attacks in 2003 during the US-led Iraq war.
Saturday’s joint operation consisted of 50,000 US troops, 200 fighter jets, two aircraft carriers and bombers.
Cooper calls it “the biggest US build-up in the Middle East in a generation.” – AFP
New wave of attacks
The conflict continues. Smoke rises from Beirut on Wednesday after an Israeli airstrike. (Photo: IBRAHIM AMRO / AFP
Meanwhile, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard also said more than 40 missiles were launched at American and Israeli targets in a new wave of attacks.
Air raid sirens could be heard over large parts of Israel on Wednesday morning, including Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, after missiles were launched from Iran early in the morning.
Israel, in turn, launched new attacks on Iranian and Lebanese targets.
Israel’s military said on Wednesday that a “broad wave of attacks” had been launched against Iran after Iran carried out three separate missile attacks on Israeli territory. Numerous targets in Iran were attacked, including security control centers in the capital, Tehran.– AFP
Americans asked to leave area
The US is now encouraging all Americans to leave the Middle East if they can catch commercial flights.
The US government has already arranged repatriation flights from Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to help Americans leave the region.
The US Department of State has meanwhile given non-emergency personnel and their families permission to leave the countries of the US embassies in Saudi Arabia, Oman and Cyprus, among others, the US embassies in these countries said.
The US has also ordered all non-emergency staff at two Pakistani consulates to leave the country due to “security risks”.
Britain and France have also already sent repatriation flights to help bring their citizens out of the region. – AFP
American consulate in Dubai fire
The American consulate building in Dubai was engulfed in flames on Tuesday evening after it was hit by a drone.
According to Marco Rubio, the US Secretary of State, a drone hit a “parking lot” next to the consulate’s chancellery building.
The consulate’s staff are all safe.
“Obviously we were very happy, but our embassies and our diplomatic facilities are being directly attacked by a terrorist regime,” Rubio said Tuesday night. – AFP
Mbalula slammed for silence on human rights abuses in Iran
Fikile Mbalula, secretary general of the ANC. (Photo: ANC/X)
Fikile Mbalula, secretary general of the ANC, incurred the wrath of several people after he posted a video of ex-pres. Nelson Mandela and Iranian leaders shared on social media with the caption that reads, among other things: “Two freedom fighters meet in Tehran.”
Mbalula also writes that the Shah regime, before the Iranian revolution, was a close ally of the apartheid government and that the latter got oil at a ridiculously cheap price from the “despotic regime”.
This changed after 1979.
“We must not forget our friends,” Mbalula wrote.
Two freedom fighters meet in Tehran. Lest we forget, prior to Iranian revolution, the Shah regime was a close ally of apartheid regime. The latter was getting oil for a song from the Shah’s despotic regime. In 1979, things changed through the leadership of Imam Khomeini supported… pic.twitter.com/z6AtZ4Q855
— ANC SECRETARY GENERAL | Fikile Mbalula (@MbalulaFikile) March 3, 2026
Many social media users reacted angrily, asking why Mbalula was silent on the human rights abuses being reported in Iran. Among other things, they accused the ANC of “moral bankruptcy” due to its close ties with the Iranian regime.
“Moral bankruptcy is what defines you and your organization… Even if they boycotted apartheid, that doesn’t mean they should be praised for slaughtering their own people. You are an embarrassment,” wrote one user.
Tony Leon, veteran politician and former DA leader, also commented.
Your friends who murder their own people
— Tony Leon (@TonyLeonSA) March 3, 2026
The MK party’s Magasela Mzobe, for his part, said that South Africa’s “friends” should not kill their own citizens either.
Our “ friends” must also not slaughter their citizens who don’t agree with them . They must allow freedoms of speech , religion and political affiliation ????????????????????
— Magasela Mzobe (@MagaselaMzobe) March 3, 2026
Pres. On Sunday, Cyril Ramaphosa expressed his deep concern about the increasing tension in the Middle East and said it poses a serious threat to regional and international peace and security, with far-reaching humanitarian, diplomatic and economic consequences. He appealed to all parties to show maximum self-control and act in a way that is consistent with international law, international humanitarian law and the principles of the United Nations charter.
“Experience has repeatedly shown that there can be no military solution to fundamentally political problems that can and must be resolved diplomatically. Military confrontation has never resulted in lasting peace nor addressed the legitimate grievances that lead to the conflict. Long-term peace and stability can only be achieved through inclusive dialogue and a real commitment to justice and coexistence.” – Christel Cornelissen