The United States evacuated diplomats across the Middle East and shut down some embassies as war with Iran intensified Tuesday while President Trump signaled the conflict could turn into extended war.
Israel said it sent ground forces across the border into south Lebanon and bombed Beirut suburbs as fighting with Hezbollah resumed after more than a year.
The U.S. and Israel kept up their attacks in Iran. Explosions were heard in the Iran's capital and other parts of the country.
Trump said Monday that the war could last four to five weeks, then said later that the U.S. had "the capability to go far longer" than that.
In a social media post, Trump said that the U.S. had a "virtually unlimited supply" of munitions.
"Wars can be fought 'forever,' and very successfully, using just these supplies," Trump wrote.
The war has so far killed six U.S. service members, according to U.S. officials who have warned there are expected to be more casualties.
Here are more of the key updates NPR is reporting on.
U.S. closes embassy in Kuwait, orders evacuation of staff in several countries
The State Department, which earlier ordered evacuations of diplomatic missions in several countries in the Middle East, said it was adding Kuwait, Qatar and Iraq to the list.
The U.S. Embassy in Saudi Arabia Tuesday urged Americans to avoid the compound after the Saudi defense ministry said the diplomatic post had been attacked by two drones.
The drone strikes caused "limited fire and minor damage" to the U.S. Embassy in Riyadh, according to the Saudi defense ministry.
This comes after an Iranian attack on the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait on Monday.
The U.S. Embassy in Kuwait said in a social media post Tuesday that it was closing until further notice.
In Jordan, the State Department said Tuesday it had evacuated its huge embassy in Amman after threats against it.
Iran has been striking Gulf countries like the United Arab Emirates that are normally considered safe in retaliation to U.S. attacks that started Saturday.
Iran has also hit commercial targets after warning that it would attack American interests across the region.
Amazon said Monday that two of its data centers in the United Arab Emirates and one of its centers in Bahrain were hit by drones, affecting their operations.
- Jane Arraf
Americans urged to leave several countries
The State Department urged Americans to leave more than a dozen countries and territories in the Middle East because of the conflict, even as options to leave narrowed with flight cancellations and airport closures.
Americans need to "DEPART NOW from the countries below using available commercial transportation, due to serious safety risks," Mora Namdar, the State Department's Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs said in a post on X.
The countries and areas included:
- Bahrain
- Egypt
- Iran
- Iraq
- Israel
- Jordan
- Kuwait
- Lebanon
- The West Bank and Gaza
- Oman
- Qatar
- Saudi Arabia
- Syria
- United Arab Emirates
- Yemen
—Ayana Archie
Israel resumes strikes in Lebanon, targeting Hezbollah
The Israeli military said soldiers were "operating in southern Lebanon' as it continues strikes against Hezbollah, including in the Lebanese capital.
Israel and Lebanon signed a ceasefire in November, 2024 but Israel has continued almost daily strikes since then. Iran-backed Hezbollah had refrained from attacks until Sunday, when it launched strikes in retaliation for the killing of the supreme Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The Israeli military said Tuesday it targeted what it called Hezbollah command centers and weapons storage facilities in Beirut's southern suburbs.
"Let me be clear: this is not a ground maneuver into Lebanon. It is a tactical step to create an additional layer of security for the residents of northern Israel," said Israeli military spokesperson Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani describing the Israeli troop movements.
Thousands of Lebanese streamed out of Dahya, the suburb where Hezbollah, a political party as well as paramilitary group designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. and some other Western countries, is based.
They joined what the government says are at least 30,000 Lebanese fleeing Israeli strikes in south Lebanon and in Beirut. Shelters were so over-crowded some families resorted to laying out blankets on sidewalks of the corniche, Beirut's sea-side.
The Lebanese government says 52 people have been killed in Israeli airstrikes since Saturday.
- Jane Arraf
US and Israel continue to strike Iran
In the Iranian capital, residents heard the sound of explosions overnight. There were no immediate reports of what had been hit.
Israel's military said it struck Iran's intelligence ministry and state broadcaster. The Israeli authorities also said that they are now focusing on targeting Iran's missiles and launchers.
Iranian missile strikes on Israel have significantly decreased. Israel says Iran may be rationing munitions gearing up for a long war.
An official in the region who spoke on condition of anonymity tells NPR Israel thinks it can achieve its war goals in two weeks total. Israeli officials say they want to create the conditions for Iranians to topple their government.
In Iran's southern city of Minab, a mass funeral was held for 165 people – most of them young girls – killed in an attack on a girls school Saturday. Many of the bodies had been buried under rubble. The U.S. military has said it was looking into reports of missiles hitting the school.
Some in the large crowd attending the funeral chanted "Death to America," "Death to Israel" and "No surrender."
Iran's state media announced Tuesday that at least 787 people had been killed in attacks on 153 cities.
Eleven have been killed in Israel since the start of the conflict, according to Israeli officials.
- Daniel Estrin and Jane Arraf
Iran says it closed the Strait of Hormuz
Iran continued to threaten ships near the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway vital to Gulf oil exports.
"The Strait of Hormuz is closed. Anyone who wants to pass, our devotee heroes in the IRGC navy and the army will set those ships on fire," security official Brig. Gen. Ebrahim Jabbari, said Monday. "Don't come to this region."
In a sign of the vast repercussions of the war, Japan's Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi told an Iranian envoy that Iran must reopen the waterway.
Global natural gas supplies greatly reduced
In addition to the effect of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz on oil supplies, about 20% of the world's liquified natural gas, or LNG, is shipped through the Strait. On land, Iranian strikes hit Ras Laffan, the world's largest LNG export plant in Qatar. State-owned QatarEnergy says it has shut down LNG production.
Many countries are somewhat insulated from the disruptions in oil flows because they have oil in strategic reserves. But natural gas is a different story, says Anne-Sophie Corbeau, a global research scholar at the Columbia University's Center on Global Energy Policy. Gas storage levels are particularly low because it's the end of winter.
" This is absolutely massive," Corbeau says. "It's going to impact everybody who is importing LNG."
Oil prices have risen since trading opened Monday, and so have natural gas prices in Asia and Europe. Energy experts say that higher gas prices and reduced LNG flows out of the Persian Gulf is highly profitable for LNG exporters elsewhere, including in Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia and the U.S. The U.S. is the biggest exporter of LNG and is set to open a new LNG terminal in Texas soon.
— Julia Simon
Jane Arraf contributed from Amman, Jordan. Daniel Estrin contributed from Tel Aviv, Israel. Ayana Archie contributed from Washington. Julia Simon contributed from San Francisco.
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