Iran Strikes Back as Mideast Conflict Widens

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Luke Vargas (0:33)

Iran strikes back, following the killing of its supreme leader. We'll get the latest as conflict spreads across the Middle East.

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Combat operations continue at this time in full force, and they will continue until all of our objectives are achieved.

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Plus, we'll take a look at the economic impact as fighting sends oil prices surging and upends global supply chains. It's Monday, March 2nd. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal, and here is the AM Edition of What's News. The top headlines and business stories moving your world today.

48 hours after launching major combat operations against Iran, the US and Israel are keeping up the fight. We report that they have collectively struck more than 2,000 targets inside Iran. And speaking last night, President Trump pledged to push on, saying the US would avenge the death of three American troops killed over the weekend.

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We grieve for the true American patriots who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation, even as we continue the righteous mission for which they gave their lives.

Luke Vargas (1:41)

Meanwhile, the US is far from alone in coming under fire as Israel, a number of Gulf states, and even the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, home to a British military base, find themselves on the receiving end of Iranian counterattacks. Here to make sense of what's going on is Wall Street Journal Middle East editor Andrew Dowell. Drew, 2,000 targets struck within Iran. Do we know what those are? Can we start to sort through what has actually been achieved here? How are we measuring progress in this campaign?

Andrew Dowell (2:10)

It's difficult from the outside to measure that progress just because the goals that he's set are pretty expansive and difficult to track. So the administration's made clear they want to make sure that Iran doesn't ever get a nuclear weapon. They've also talked about limiting their production of ballistic missiles and even made clear that they want the people of Iran to rise up and overthrow the regime. So the US and Israel went hard at Iran's leadership at the beginning of the conflict. They've killed Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and a number of other top military and political figures. They've hit missile sites around the country. They've claimed to have sunk a number of Iranian naval ships.

And they've been pounding away with sort of increasing profite on the structures of the regime's control, namely like DRGC and other security services, facilities that are needed to keep the population in line.

Luke Vargas (3:02)

Drew, we should probably add that in addition to those targets, the Associated Press is reporting that according to the Iranian Red Crescent Society, these attacks from the US and Israel so far have killed 555 people in Iran. We don't know how many of those are members of the military versus civilians, but that's a factor here as well. Let's talk now about how Iran is fighting back. We have seen attacks using drones and missiles against military bases, but also civilian facilities, hotels, airports, and these attacks occurring in places like Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and now affecting hundreds of thousands of civilians who are all getting caught up in this.

Andrew Dowell (3:39)

Yeah, Iran had made clear going into this that if they were attacked even in a small way that they would immediately regionalize the conflict, and they're delivering on that. The UAE in particular has come under a heavy bombardment. Last night, they were saying some maybe 700 drones and missiles have been fired at the UAE in just the first 36 hours of conflict. Dozens to hundreds more have been fired at Kuwait, at Bahrain. Even Oman got hit a couple of times and then as far away as Cyprus. And it seems clear from the types of targeting that it's not just military targets. The US does have military bases in a lot of these places. But yeah, they're also aiming at cultural symbols like the Borj Al-Adab building in Dubai, the Palm in Dubai, and hotels and other economic infrastructure elsewhere. So it's an enormous problem for the Gulf, honestly. These countries, particularly the UAE, have built themselves as an oasis, calm in the middle of a very turbulent and violent Middle East. The UAE is a commercial hub for the world. Dubai is a massively international city. The airport is the busiest one in the world for international travelers, second busiest in the world, period. And it's been hit. And the overwhelming percentage of the population is expatriate. So there's a real risk to these countries that people's opinions could change, their reputation could change, and they could start being seen like a lot of the Middle East is a place to be avoided as opposed to one to flock to and bring money to.