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As the US-Iran war rumbles on, Keir Starmer will be spending his days dashing in and out of lots of important meetings, including Cobra (which actually stands for ‘cabinet office briefing rooms’ – the origins of the ‘A’ remains a bit of a mystery).

Iranian missiles might be testing Nato air defences in Turkey to target crucial radar base Ragip Soylu on Tue, 03/10/2026 - 11:21 Nato deploys advanced model of Patriots to guard Kurecik radar base after ballistic missiles downed entering Turkish airspace An US-made MIM-104 Patriot surface-to-air missile is launched during a live fire exercise at the Chiupeng missile base in Taiwan on 20 August 2024 (Sam Yeh/AFP) Off Iranian missiles may have been testing Turkish airspace over the past week to target a crucial Nato radar base in Malatya, Middle East Eye understands. An Iranian ballistic missile that was heading toward Turkish airspace last week was intercepted by Nato air defence systems near the southern city of Hatay, flying nearly 100 km east of Turkey’s Incirlik air base, which previously hosted US military troops. A second Iranian missile heading toward Turkey on Tuesday was also shot down by Nato systems via US destroyers, which used the RIM-161 Standard Missile-3 (SM-3). The missile was reportedly determined to be targeting Incirlik, according to open-source reports. Nato analysis suggests the Iranian missiles were fired from east of Tehran toward Turkey. Hursit Dingil, a Turkish expert on Iran’s military capabilities at the Ankara-based Centre for Area Studies, told MEE that open-source, data-based military scenarios suggest the missiles might have been launched from the Revolutionary Guard’s Damghan missile base, which has underground facilities in Semnan province. MEE could not independently verify those details. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Iran's leadership this week denied responsibility, saying the incidents could have been false-flag attacks by Israel intended to trigger a crisis between the two neighbours. However, after carefully reviewing the issue on Tuesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan called his counterpart Abbas Araghchi, telling him that firing ballistic missiles into Turkey was unacceptable, according to sources in his ministry. Some Turkish sources based in Ankara believe Iran’s decentralised command structure, especially after the killing of dozens of high-ranking Iranian officials, might be resulting in these sporadic attacks. Araghchi earlier this month claimed that some missile command centres “were isolated”. However, other Ankara insiders believe the missiles fired from Iran toward Turkey were actually testing Nato air defence systems for another purpose: assessing how to target the Kurecik radar base in Malatya, southeastern Turkey. An illustration showing "Engage on Remote" system (Ian Williams/CSIS) (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Nato’s decision to deploy a new batch of Patriot missile defence systems to Malatya on Tuesday strengthens this view. The radar base, part of the European Phased Adaptive Approach (EPAA), hosts a TPY-2 X-band radar tasked with tracking Iranian missiles bound for Europe. It has been described as the keystone of Nato’s entire air defence architecture. “Without it, the capability of the Aegis Ashore sites to defend Europe becomes crucially degraded,” a 2019 report by Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) on the system said. The radar enables Nato to intercept missiles above Earth's atmosphere. The CSIS report states that if the TPY-2 radar in Turkey were to fail, Nato would lose early tracking information on incoming Iranian missiles, leaving the European continent without proper coverage. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); The radar is part of a broader tactic called “engage on remote”, which utilises satellites, a sensor positioned closer to the enemy missile’s launch point, and intercept systems based in Europe and the eastern Mediterranean. “Due to its position, it would be very difficult for a Europe-bound ballistic missile fired from Iran to avoid the TPY-2’s field of view,” the report said. “A TPY-2 is a very high-resolution sensor, producing data that command and control systems can use to determine the type, speed, course, and possible destination of the threat missile.” Arda Mevlutoglu, a prominent independent Turkish defence expert, told MEE that Iran had been targeting other radars in the Gulf, making it plausible that Tehran could target Kurecik as well. The Wall Street Journal reported that Iran struck radar, communications, and air defence systems in Qatar, the UAE, Jordan, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia, including the AN/FPS-132 radar at Qatar’s al-Udeid base and a TPY-2 radar attached to a Thaad battery in Jordan. An illustration showing Nato's the European Phased Adaptive Approach (EPAA) missile defence system (Ian Williams/CSIS) Although Turkey has hosted Spanish-owned Patriot missile systems in the south of the country since 2015, the PAC-2 model is considered insufficient for intercepting Iranian ballistic missiles. The new Patriot systems deployed to Malatya have reportedly been moved from Nato’s Ramstein base in Germany. These are PAC-3 models, capable of intercepting Iranian missiles. Gursel Tokmakoglu, a retired chief of air force intelligence, told MEE that the systems would cover eastern Turkey and the eastern Mediterranean and would be integrated into Nato assets in the region, allowing them to autonomously intercept Iranian missiles. A source familiar with the issue said that US destroyers tasked with intercepting ballistic missile threats toward Turkey were more effective in the eastern Mediterranean, and the Patriot systems would extend coverage to the remaining areas of the country. War on Iran Ankara News Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19 Update Date Override 0

TEHRAN, Mar. 10 (MNA) – In a phone call with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi stressed that the missiles directed toward Turkish airspace "did not originate from Iran."

Trump: Vance ‘maybe less enthusiastic’ at start of Iran war  The Hill

Iran war: 4 big questions that help clarify the future of the Middle East  The Conversation

Oil Pulls Back Sharply But Hormuz Disruptions Limit Further Declines  WSJ

APTOPIX Iran US Military Deaths Casualty Return  The Killeen Daily Herald

Russia the only ‘winner’ of US-Israel war on Iran: EU Council president  Al Jazeera

Antonio Costa says Russia benefits from soaring global energy prices and attention being diverted from war in Ukraine.

Britain working with allies to support shipping through Strait of Hormuz  Reuters

‘Beware lest you be the ones to vanish’: Iran's Larijani hits back after Trump threat Rayhan Uddin on Tue, 03/10/2026 - 11:59 Security chief warns US after Trump vowed to hit Iran 'twenty times harder' if Hormuz strait remains closed Ali Larijani, senior adviser to Iran’s supreme leader, delivers a statement after meeting with Lebanon’s parliament speaker in Beirut on 15 November 2024 (AFP) Off Ali Larijani, the head of the Iranian National Security Council, has issued a strong warning to Donald Trump, after the US president threatened “death, fire and fury” on Iran.  Trump posted on Truth Social late on Monday, threatening to strike Iran hard if it continued to keep the Strait of Hormuz closed.  “They will be hit by the United States of America TWENTY TIMES HARDER than they have been hit thus far,” he wrote.  Trump said the US would take out targets that would “make it virtually impossible for Iran to ever be built back, as a Nation, again”.  “Death, Fire, and Fury will reign upon them – But I hope, and pray, that it does not happen!” he said, adding that it would be a gift to China and nations dependent on the strait.  (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Larijani responded on X, in both Persian and Arabic.  He wrote: “The Ashura-loving Iranian people do not fear your hollow threats; for those greater than you have failed to erase it… “So beware lest you be the ones to vanish.” The Strait of Hormuz is a narrow maritime channel, around 33km at its narrowest point, between the Musandam peninsula in Oman and Iran. It is described as the most significant oil chokepoint in the world, with around a fifth of global oil output passing through it, and a third of global liquified natural gas (LNG).  Roughly 20 million barrels of oil pass through the strait every day, of which around 14 million barrels are crude oil and six million are petroleum products.  (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); Much of Asia receives gas and oil from hydrocarbon-rich countries in the Gulf via the strait. South Korea receives around 70 percent of its crude oil from the Middle East, while Japan imports around 90 percent from the region, and India around 50 percent.  Asian market indices tumbled on Monday, largely driven by the closure of the waterway.  Larijani reiterated on Monday that the strait would continue to be closed by Iran if the US and Israel continued their attacks on the country.  Responding to a news post on X about France sending two frigates to the Red Sea to reopen the waterway, the security chief said: “It is unlikely that any security can be achieved in the Strait of Hormuz amid the fires ignited by the United States and Israel in the region.” “Especially if that is by the design of parties that were not far removed from supporting this war and contributing to its fanning,” he added.  War on Iran News Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19 Update Date Override 0

Five players from the Iranian women’s football team have been granted asylum in Australia following their Asian Cup exit

DOHA, March 10 (Reuters) - Qatar wants to strengthen its defence partnership with the United States in the wake of Iranian air strikes on Qatari territory, the foreign ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday, even as it sees the existing deal as an important deterrent. Iran launched missile and drone attacks on its oil-producing Gulf neighbours after U.S.-Israeli strikes that killed its top leaders. The conflict disrupted output in the region and sent oil prices surging.

WASHINGTON, March 10 (Reuters) - The top U.S. general said on Tuesday that the United States was carrying out strikes against Iranian mine-laying vessels. The war has effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz, a chokepoint for global oil and liquefied natural gas transport, leaving tankers unable to sail for more than a week and forcing producers to halt pumping as storage fills. "(U.S. Central Command) continues today to hunt and strike mine-laying vessels and mine storage facilities," General Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters.

WASHINGTON, March 10 (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Tuesday would be the most intense day of strikes against Iran in the campaign so far. Speaking with reporters, Hegseth said Tuesday would bring the most fighter jets and bombers against Iran. (Reporting by Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali, Susan Heavey, Katharine Jackson, editing by Michelle Nichols)

By Michael Holden LONDON, March 10 (Reuters) - A former member of Syria's Air Force Intelligence attended a British court hearing via videolink on Tuesday charged with crimes against humanity and torture relating to the suppression of pro-democracy demonstrations in Damascus in 2011. Salem Michel Al-Salem, 58, who now lives in Britain, appeared virtually at the hearing at London's Westminster Magistrates' Court from his home. He was wearing a breathing apparatus mask and the court was told he suffered from degenerative motor neurone disease.

Shots fired at US consulate in Toronto, police say MEE staff on Tue, 03/10/2026 - 12:18 Toronto police reported gunfire directed at the building but said no one was wounded Off Shots were fired at the US consulate in Toronto in the early hours of Tuesday, the city's police are reporting. Toronto police said in a post on X that officers responded to reports that someone had fired at the building around 5:30am. They added that officers who arrived at the scene found evidence of "firearm discharge", but reported that no one had been wounded. Television images showed what appear to be two bullet holes in the buildings glass doors. In a subsequent post, the police said they were currently investigating the incident but had no information regarding the suspect and their motives. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); The reports come after an impovised device exploded in Norway at the US embassy in Oslo on Sunday. Police are still searching for a suspect, and considering a possible link with US-Israeli war on Iran. This is a developing story... Iran-Israel tensions News Post Date Override 0 Update Date Mon, 05/04/2020 - 21:19 Update Date Override 0

Trump says Iran war is ‘very complete, pretty much’ as economic toll rises | First Thing  The Guardian

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Rescuers search rubble and aid injured in Tehran’s Resalat neighbourhood after a reported Israeli strike.