Last Updated on March 5, 2026 11:02 pm by INDIAN AWAAZ
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The conflict in West Asia is escalating rapidly as several countries are becoming involved. The United States and Israel are carrying out joint air strikes against Iran while Tehran is responding with missiles and drones. Fighting is spreading across different parts of the region, and the Iran-backed armed group Hezbollah has joined the conflict. Many countries are expressing concern and are calling for de-escalation, as the situation is threatening regional stability and global security.
As per the latest reports, Azerbaijan today strongly condemned drone attacks launched from Iranian territory targeting the city of Nakhchivan and its airport, resulting in damage to infrastructure and injuries to two civilians. However, Iran’s general staff of the armed forces has denied that it launched a drone toward Azerbaijan.
Qatar has said the country has also been subjected to a missile attack and that its air defence systems were actively intercepting the incoming missiles. Local reports indicated that multiple loud explosions were heard across parts of Doha during the interception, with smoke also seen rising from a residential district on the western edge of Doha. Amid strikes from Iran, Qatar has said that the local authorities are evacuating residents living in the vicinity of the US Embassy as a temporary precautionary measure.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced the deployment of four additional Typhoon fighter jets to Qatar. Speaking at Downing Street, Mr Starmer said, the aircraft will join UK forces already stationed in Qatar to strengthen Britain’s defensive posture in the region.
Saudi Arabia has also said that its air defense system intercepted and destructed several drones. UAE also claimed that one ballistic missile and six drones hit the country’s territory today. Country’s Ministry of Defence said it repelled six missiles and 131 drones and hundreds since the start of the war.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps has said that country launched its large Khorramshahr-4 missiles in an attack targeting Israel. It claimed attacks in Bahrain, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates as well.
Earlier in the day, Iran threatened that the United States would regret torpedoing an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean. The US Navy sank the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena on Tuesday night in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the Sri Lankan city of Galle, killing 87 Iranian sailors and marking a significant escalation of hostilities at sea.
Another Iranian vessel, the support ship IRIS Bushehr, is currently located near Sri Lanka’s Exclusive Economic Zone but outside its territorial waters. The vessel has requested permission to dock at a Sri Lankan port, and the government is currently considering the request.
In the meantime, Israel announced multiple incoming missile attacks and air sirens sounded in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Iran has also threatened to target Israel’s Dimona nuclear site if Israel and the US seek to topple the Iranian regime.
On the other hand, Israeli military said, it has launched another wave of strikes on Iran as explosions were heard in multiple locations in Tehran. Israeli airstrikes hit two indoor sports halls in Iran’s capital. In addition to this, Israel also conducted targeted attacks in Lebanon at several command centers of Iranian-backed Hezbollah, including one being used by the air unit of the armed group.
The US and Israel launched the military operation on Saturday, targeting Iran’s leadership and killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as its missile arsenal and nuclear program. According to media reports, the war has so far claimed over one thousand and two hundred lives in Iran, 77 people have been killed in Lebanon and around a dozen in Israel. It has disrupted the supply of the world’s oil and gas, snarled international shipping and stranded hundreds of thousands of travellers in the West Asia.
Meanwhile, the conflict has blocked access to major ports in the Gulf region, impacting the supply of food to over 50 million people in a region highly dependent on agricultural imports. In view of this, France, Italy and Greece have agreed to coordinate deployment of military assets to Cyprus and Eastern Mediterranean. The three countries will work together to ensure freedom of navigation in the Red Sea. A French diplomat said, the decision was announced after President Emmanuel Macron called Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Earlier this week, President Macron noted that the Suez Canal and the Red Sea were under strain and France will take the initiative to build a coalition to restore and secure traffic through these maritime routes.
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said, Moscow will do everything possible to create conditions that would make any US-Israel military operations against Iran impossible. Mr Lavrov made the remarks at the ambassadors’ round-table meeting in Moscow. He said Russia will continue engaging in dialogue with regional countries as well as with the international community, including members of the United Nations Security Council and the United Nations General Assembly, to prevent further military escalation.