🚨 🇺🇸 US Embassy staff leaves Mideast amid strikes

💬 "On March 3, 2026, the Department of State authorized non-emergency U.S. government employees and U.S. government employee family members to leave Saudi Arabia due to safety risks," the Embassy said.

A similar statement was issued earlier by the US Embassy in Oman and in Cyprus

👉 The Trump administration also issued security updates for Americans in the Middle East.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🗣Silence of world media on deaths of schoolgirls in Iran defies description - MFA

None of those who carried out the deadly attack on a school in Iran and none of those who identified with the authors of the strike admitted the wrongness of what they had done, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

"The grief is indescribable. They just do not describe it. The indescribability of this grief defies description in every sense of the word. This is monstrous," she stressed.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🚨 US–Israeli strikes on Iran: Latest updates

🔸 The farewell ceremony for the late Supreme Leader of Iran Ayatollah Khamenei will begintoday and last for three days, authorities state.

🔸 Explosions were heard overnight in Tehran, Isfahan, and other cities across Iran, while Iran launched a series of retaliatory strikes on Israeli territory.

🔸 Following Iran’s passage ban in the Strait of Hormuz, the movement of oil, commercial, and fishing vessels through the strait has been halted, IRGC Navy official Mohammad Akbarzadeh said. Over 10 oil tankers have reportedly been struck in the area.

🔸 Iran says that in the course of the 17th wave of Operation True Promise 4, enemy casualties have exceeded 680, including both killed and wounded, according to intelligence and field observations.

🔸 The Pentagon confirmed the destruction of 17 Iranian warships and hundreds of ballistic missile launchers.

🔸 The head of US Central Command stated that 50,000 troops and 200 fighter jets are involved in the operation against Iran.

🔸 The IDF attacked the southern suburbs of Beirut.

🔸 Lebanese Hezbollah launched rockets at a base in Haifa.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🚨 🇺🇸 US threatens to launch ground operation in Iran – Sen. Blumenthal

💬 “I am more fearful than ever after this briefing that we may be putting boots on the ground” in Iran, Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal told reporters, referencing a closed-door White House meeting.

He voiced consternation about White House officials being at odds over the goals of Operation Epic Fury, “whether it is destroying the nuclear capacity of Iran or simply the missiles or regime change or stopping terrorist activities.”

👉 Blumenthal urged the Trump administration to have briefings not just for members of Congress, but for the American public as well.

The US–Israeli strikes on Iran earlier sparked a wave of nationwide protests in some 50 cities across America, including New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, with thousands of demonstrators chanting “hands off Iran” and “No war” on the Islamic Republic.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🚨🇷🇺 Russia on death of schoolgirls in Iran's Minab: Silence on deaths of children in Iran raises alarm

The alarming silence regarding the deaths of children shows the need to speak out, express sympathy, and hold those responsible accountable, Russian FM spox Maria Zakharova said.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🚨BREAKING: American jet shot down by Iranian air defenses near Tehran, according to Israel’s Yedioth Ahronoth

No official confirmation from the Pentagon or Iran yet.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🚨Nuclear deterrence remains the cornerstone of global security - Kremlin

The negotiations on strategic stability should include the participation of Europe's nuclear powers, the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

His other statements:

🟠 European countries have not asked Russia to resume or increase energy supplies in light of Iran escalation

🟠 Hungary and Slovakia, which buy Russian oil, are facing blackmail from Ukraine

🟠 Putin is meeting with the Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto at the Kremlin later on Wednesday

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🚨🇷🇺 Russia slams unprovoked US and Israeli attacks on Iran as ‘lawless’

🔊 The new war in the Middle East is about US and Israeli aggression – and their actions violate international law, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

📹LIVE NOW: Putin addresses annual extended meeting of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia 🇷🇺

👉Watch live in our Telegram

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🚨🇷🇺 Russia strongly condemns shameless assassination of Iran's Khamenei – Zakharova

🔊 The international community must properly assess the US–Israeli aggression against Iran, and Russia condemns it as an "escapade," Foreign Ministry spox Maria Zakharova said

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🚨 'Russia is making active efforts to stabilize the situation in the region' - MFA Spox Maria Zakharova comments to Sputnik on Mideast escalation

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🚨🇷🇺💥 RUSSIAN MOD UPDATE: HUGE GAINS AND DEVASTATING UKRAINIAN LOSSES

🟠 Russian forces wiped out militants from Ukraine’s Kraken nationalist formation

🟠 Russian air and missile firepower obliterated long-range UAV pre-flight preparation and launch sites 

🟠 Air defense superiority: nine guided aerial bombs and 204 UAVs were shot down by Russian air defense systems over the past 24 hours

🟠 Ukrainian losses: around 1,150 troops killed or wounded

Read about the origins of Russia's special military op HERE

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🇮🇷🇧🇾 Khamenei was a humanist focused on protecting his people and his state - Belarus President Lukashenko

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt

🚨🇺🇸🇮🇷 The US torpedoes Iranian Navy frigate off the coast of Sri Lanka

At least 80 people were killed as a result of the attack on Tuesday, Sri Lankan authorities said.

📌Subscribe to @SputnikInt