Cyprus
(Jessica Parker – BBC) A drone strike on a British airbase in Cyprus has reignited an enduring debate about the UK’s presence on the island. It’s a week since the drone punched a hole in a hangar at RAF Akrotiri. That hole, for some in Britain, symbolises embarrassing gaps in UK hard power. For some in Cyprus, it’s another unwelcome result of British military overreach. “We just want to have an independent Cyprus,” said local business owner Natasha Theodotou. She was holding a banner that read “British Bases Out” at a demonstration outside the presidential palace in the capital, Nicosia. “Just as we’re occupied by the Turkish government,” said Natasha, “we are occupied by the UK.” – War fuels debate in Cyprus over UK military bases
Iran and beyond
(Reuters/Al Arabiya) The Israeli military warned it would continue pursuing every successor of Iran’s slain Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed in US and Israeli strikes on Iran. – Israeli military says it will pursue every successor of Iran’s Khamenei
(Reuters/Al Arabiya) The clerical body that will choose Iran’s next supreme leader, succeeding the slain Ali Khamenei, has more or less reached a majority consensus, Assembly of Experts member Mohammadmehdi Mirbaqeri said on Sunday. The Mehr news agency quoted him as saying “some obstacles” still needed to be resolved regarding the process. On Saturday, a senior cleric in the Assembly of Experts said its members would meet “within one day” to choose the leader. – Panel picking Iran’s supreme leader has reached consensus, member says
(Al Arabiya) Bahrain’s interior ministry said on Sunday an Iranian drone attack had damaged a water desalination plant as the Islamic Republic presses an air campaign against its Gulf neighbors. – Bahrain says water desalination plant damaged in Iran attack, 3 people injured by debris
(Al Arabiya) Gulf nations reported missile and drone attacks Sunday, while Iran vowed to press on with strikes against neighboring countries as the regional war entered its second week. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait all reported new attacks, after loud explosions were heard in Dubai and Bahrain’s Manama a day earlier. – Iran presses on with Gulf attacks
(AFP/Al Arabiya) The United States and Israel hit five oil facilities with overnight strikes in and near the Iranian capital, killing four people, an official told state TV on Sunday. “Last night, four oil depots and a petroleum products transport centre in Tehran and the Alborz were attacked by enemy aircraft,” the CEO of the National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company, Keramat Veyskarami, told state TV. – US, Israel hit five oil sites in and near Tehran: Official
(Kian Sharifi – RFE/RL) The United States is considering arming Iranian Kurdish opposition groups based in neighboring Iraq, according to reports, with the aim of fomenting an uprising inside the Islamic republic. The possibility of the United States supplying weapons to the exiled groups and supporting potential cross-border ground attacks in western Iran comes amid a joint US-Israeli aerial campaign against Tehran, launched on February 28. US President Donald Trump on March 5 encouraged the over half a dozen exiled Iranian Kurdish groups to attack Iran. “I think it’s wonderful that they want to do that. I’d be all for it,” he said. Tehran has responded by intensifying attacks on camps and bases operated by the Iranian Kurdish groups in Iraq’s semi-autonomous Kurdish region. RFE/RL spoke to Iraq-based Kurdish expert Wladimir van Wilgenburg, who said the Iranian Kurdish groups are deeply cautious about becoming entangled in the US-Israeli war on Iran. – Wladimir Van Wilgenburg: Kurdish Groups Need US ‘Guarantees’ Before Iran Offensive
(Jones Hayden – Politico) U.S. President Donald Trump told Keir Starmer that Washington doesn’t need U.K. aircraft carriers in its strikes against Iran, accusing the British prime minister of seeking to “join wars after we’ve already won.”. Trump’s comments late Saturday came as the U.S. and Israel continued to launch airstrikes on Iran as the conflict entered its second week. His criticism also came as the HMS Prince of Wales aircraft carrier is being prepared to sail to the Persian Gulf, according to U.K. media reports. The British government “is finally giving serious thought to sending two aircraft carriers to the Middle East.” Trump said in a post on social media. “That’s OK, Prime Minister Starmer, we don’t need them any longer — But we will remember,” he said. – Trump says Starmer seeking to join Iran war ‘after we’ve already won’ – POLITICO
Israel
(Amos Chapple – RFE/RL) Shaky amateur footage showing rockets apparently disappearing in bursts of sparks over Lebanon were shared online on March 2, along with claims the videos showed the results of a futuristic Israeli air defense weapon in action amid the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. These claims have been widely disputed, but one element of the discussion is based on reality: Since December 2025, the Israeli military has fielded a laser weapon, dubbed Iron Beam, designed to counter “various aerial threats” faced by Israel. – Magic Bullet? Sci-Fi Laser Weapons Are Now An Anti-Drone Reality
Spain – US
(Aitor Hernández-Morales – Politico) Spain’s business sector isn’t sure Donald Trump will chicken out. While the country’s political class may be steadfast in its defiance against the U.S. and Israel’s war in Iran, its companies and regional leaders are scrambling to figure out what retaliation out of Washington would look like. The fear is that a transatlantic rift between Washington and Madrid, which opened after Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez refused to let U.S. military planes use jointly operated air bases on Spanish soil to attack Iran, could turn into a complete rupture. Earlier this week, the U.S. President and his Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent threatened to cut all trade ties with the EU’s fourth-largest economy in retaliation. – Why Spanish businesses fear escalating clash with Trump – POLITICO
West Bank
(Middle East Eye) Israeli settlers shot and killed three Palestinians in the occupied West Bank over the weekend, amid a surge in attacks since the start of the war on Iran. A fourth Palestinian died after inhaling tear gas fired by Israeli forces during one of the settler assaults. The first incident took place on Saturday in the Wadi al-Rakhim area of Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron, when settlers opened fire at two brothers from close range. Amir Mohammad Shanaran was killed in the attack, while his brother was critically wounded, according to Palestinian media. The two men were reportedly shot near their home by settlers from the nearby settlement of Susiya, which is built on Palestinian land. – Israeli settlers kill three Palestinians as attacks surge amid Iran war | Middle East Eye
Western Sahara
(Ignacio Cembrero – Middle East Eye) The United States has intensified its efforts to resolve the long-standing conflict between Morocco and Western Sahara independence supporters since last autumn, organising three secret meetings that brought together the main protagonists for the first time in years. However, according to Middle East Eye’s diplomatic sources, the task is proving more difficult than initially thought. As with conflicts between Israelis and Palestinians in Gaza, Armenia and Azerbaijan or Thailand and Cambodia, US President Donald Trump wants to cast himself as a peacemaker on African soil as well. Washington is keen to resolve the Western Sahara conflict in a way that satisfies Morocco without humiliating Algeria, a key backer of the Polisario Front, the armed Sahrawi liberation movement that has fought for Western Sahara’s independence since 1973. In the last month alone, three rounds of negotiations have been convened at the foreign minister level, but with little result. – Inside the secret US-led talks to solve the Western Sahara conflict | Middle East Eye
