Chapter 1: What triggered Iran's response to U.S. and Israeli strikes?
Iran strikes back following the killing of its supreme leader. We'll get the latest as conflict spreads across the Middle East.
Combat operations continue at this time in full force and they will continue until all of our objectives are achieved.
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 U.S.
and Israel are keeping up the fight. We report that they have collectively struck more than 2,000 targets inside Iran.
Chapter 2: How are U.S. and Israeli military operations impacting Iran?
And speaking last night, President Trump pledged to push on, saying the U.S. would avenge the death of three American troops killed over the weekend.
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.
Meanwhile, the U.S. 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?
Chapter 3: What are the implications of Iran's counterattacks on Gulf states?
How are we measuring progress in this campaign?
It's difficult from the outside to measure that progress just because the goals that he'd 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 make clear that they want the people of Iran to rise up and overthrow the regime. So the U.S. 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.
Chapter 4: How is the killing of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei affecting Iran's leadership?
They've claimed to have sunk a number of Iranian naval ships, and they've been pounding away with sort of increasing ferocity on the structures of the regime's control, namely like IRGC and other security services facilities that are needed to keep the population in line.
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 U.S. 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 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.
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.
Chapter 5: What is the economic impact of the ongoing conflict on oil prices?
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 and 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 U.S.
does have military bases in a lot of these places. But yeah, they're also aiming at cultural symbols like the Borj Al Arab 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.
Chapter 6: How are global supply chains being affected by the conflict?
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. An 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 as a place to be avoided as opposed to one to flock to and bring money to.
You indicated earlier the intention here, bringing the fight to these countries, maybe an effort on Iran's part to draw this to a close. But at least our chief foreign correspondent, Yaroslav Trofimov, reporting sort of overnight, perhaps it could have the opposite effect, kind of deepening the resolve of these countries to fight back against Iran, maybe put this nuisance to bed once and for all.
Is that possible?
Yeah, I think he's definitely on to something there.
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Chapter 7: What are the potential consequences of closing the Strait of Hormuz?
You know, now that Iran has shown a willingness to attack the Gulf and now that Iran has shown a willingness to do that, even though the Gulf publicly denied the U.S.
access to its bases and airspace in order to conduct the attack, they're very likely thinking now that this is a threat that they can't live with and that will pose an existential threat to their own economies and economic plans if it persists.
A lot to watch. And that's not all of it, because we finally have to mention there is now a battle rapidly escalating between Iran's proxy in Lebanon, Hezbollah, and Israel. A very fragile ceasefire had been in place between those two sides dating back to the end of 2024. And now it seems the lid is fully come off and fighting, picking up very rapidly there.
Yeah, that's right. I mean, the ceasefire has existed, but it's only really been a ceasefire in name and it's been pretty one-sided. Israel's military has attacked Hezbollah targets or what they've said is Hezbollah targets in Lebanon more than a thousand times. During that period, the Lebanese army has been working to disarm Hezbollah with limited success.
Chapter 8: How is the conflict influencing political changes within Iran?
And Israel has been sort of waiting for a chance to go back in and finish the job and Hezbollah just gave them one. So Hezbollah as a group aligned with Iran is under a lot of pressure. internally to react, especially to the killing of Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, and they have, but they've opened themselves up now to a pretty significant attack by Israel.
Andrew Dowell is The Wall Street Journal's Middle East editor. I have a feeling we'll be back on with you as the week progresses. Drew, thank you so much for the update. Thanks. Well, away from the battlefield, this conflict is also leading to major political changes in Iran. Journal correspondent Suna Rasmussen has been monitoring who in the Iranian leadership has been taken out by these U.S.
and Israeli strikes. And he joins me now with more. Sooner the Ayatollah is dead. The killing of the Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Saturday, definitely dealing a blow to Iran's ruling structure. And yet I think a lot of people are asking at this point if this is actually changing anything. What can you say? How is the Iranian establishment reacting here?
I think it would be a bit cavalier to say that the killing of Khamenei doesn't change anything. But the Iranian system has been built to sort of not rely on one person, even if that person like Khamenei, like the supreme leader, has the final say on all matters of national security.
He always surrounded himself with a lot of advisors and relegated decision-making to a lot of people around him, military commanders, but also political, civilian officials, and probably in preparation for something like this.
I mean, are we seeing signs that this is proceeding in an orderly fashion or are there, I don't know, indications of some sort of destabilizing power vacuum that someone else might try to sweep into?
Yeah, actually, it's happening according to the Constitution in what I guess you would call an orderly fashion considering the circumstances. The first step is to form a three-man council, and that council consists of the president, the head of the judiciary, and then a member of what's known as the guardian council, which is a powerful clerical council.
That has been formed, and they are now sort of the interim leadership council. Then what's known as the assembly of experts will select a new supreme leader. How long that's going to take, we don't know.
I mean, we've seen the CIA had assessed that a hardliner could take power in the Ayatollah's absence. I mean, is it safe to say we're not seeing regime change per se? The regime is just finding someone new to take the place of the Ayatollah?
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