March 5, 2026
A fresh wave of strikes and escalating naval incidents marked another volatile day in the widening conflict between Israel, Iran and their respective allies, as countries raced to repatriate citizens from the Middle East.
Iran and Israel traded attacks early Thursday. Iranian state media said Tehran and other cities experienced explosions after Israeli forces launched strikes “across Tehran,” while Israel reported incoming missile attacks and air raid sirens in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. The Israeli military said it had begun a large-scale wave of strikes against Iranian infrastructure. Iran also said additional strikes targeted US bases.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi publicly condemned a recent US action at sea, saying Washington “will come to bitterly regret (the) precedent it has set” after a US submarine sank the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena off Sri Lanka’s southern coast. Iran said the vessel carried almost 130 sailors and was in international waters; Sri Lanka’s navy rescued around 30 sailors after the ship issued a distress call.
Sri Lankan authorities reported a second Iranian vessel was seeking to enter Sri Lankan waters, carrying more than 100 crew, prompting presidential-level discussions about whether to allow a port call. The development raised concerns the conflict could spread to the Indian subcontinent.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said it had attacked a US oil tanker in the northern Persian Gulf, reporting the vessel was hit by a missile and on fire; the claim has not been independently confirmed. The UK’s maritime security centre had earlier reported an attack on an unidentified tanker off Kuwait. Separately, a tanker anchored 30 nautical miles southeast of Kuwait’s Mubarak Al Kabeer reported a large explosion and took on water; oil was seen in the water and a small craft was observed leaving the scene. At least nine vessels have been struck in Gulf waters since the conflict escalated, and thousands of ships are delayed in ports near the Strait of Hormuz.
The fallout has prompted a surge of repatriation and evacuation flights. Israel reopened Ben Gurion Airport to a limited number of civilian flights to bring home nationals, and two repatriation planes landed in Tel Aviv on Thursday morning. Israel said it would allow one passenger flight per hour in the first 24 hours, with roughly 5,000 people on board initially.
Germany’s first government-chartered repatriation flight departed Muscat, Oman, and landed in Frankfurt early Thursday. The Lufthansa Airbus A340 carried passengers selected by the German government, with priority given to vulnerable people. Another German evacuation flight, chartered by the government, landed in Frankfurt after departing Muscat. German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said the flights prioritized pregnant women, children and the sick.
Other countries mobilizing evacuations include the UK, Russia, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Belgium and the United States. The UK expected the first government-chartered flight from Oman to arrive on Thursday, with more scheduled; some commercial flights had already repatriated Britons. Russia transported more than 100 citizens overland from Iran into Azerbaijan before flying them to Moscow. France said several repatriation flights had landed in Paris, with more planned to assist roughly 400,000 French nationals in the affected region.
Belgium reported ground evacuations by bus to neighbouring countries and planned onward travel via Saudi Arabia, Oman and Egypt. New Zealand ordered two C-130 Hercules aircraft to the region to move citizens to safer locations for onward commercial travel. Australian and Canadian leaders called for broader de-escalation while insisting Iran must be prevented from obtaining nuclear weapons; both emphasized the need to stop the spread of hostilities beyond the immediate belligerents.
Qatar evacuated residents living near the US embassy in Doha as a temporary precaution after Al-Udeid Air Base — the region’s largest US installation — was struck earlier in the week. US embassies in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have also closed after being targeted by Iranian strikes.
On the diplomatic front, Iran postponed a funeral for its late leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, killed in earlier US and Israeli strikes. In Washington, Senate Republicans rejected a measure to halt US military action against Iran, even as several voiced concerns about the lack of a clear exit strategy.
The war’s disruption of maritime traffic is acute. More than 3,000 vessels are stuck in Gulf ports waiting to transit the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran has effectively blocked with threats and attacks. UN agencies have not yet recorded a major surge of refugees leaving Iran, though an estimated 100,000 people have fled Tehran internally.
As skies and seas remain contested, governments continue to coordinate repatriation efforts that combine military and commercial aircraft, selective evacuations by road and sea, and flights focused on the most vulnerable. Officials warn the situation is fluid and that further escalations could force changes to evacuation plans and widen the geographic scope of the conflict.
