Iran strikes targets across Middle East after Trump indicated talks had advanced
The Israeli military announced Wednesday that it had struck two naval cruise missile production facilities operating under Iran's Defense Ministry in Tehran.
An explosion near Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran on March 7, 2026.
Iran launched a fresh barrage of missiles at countries across the Middle East on Wednesday, hours after President Donald Trump signaled tentative progress in diplomatic efforts to end the war.
The conflict that began Feb. 28 with U.S. and Israeli strikes against Iran has spread rapidly across the Middle East, causing a sharp drop in global energy markets.
Iran launched a barrage of "precision-guided" missiles and drones against Israel and bases hosting US forces in Kuwait, Jordan and Bahrain, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard said early Wednesday.
AFP images captured the trails of rockets streaking across the skies over Netanya, an Israeli coastal city, while anti-aircraft sirens blared across much of the country's central region.
Israel claims to have attacked two naval missile production facilities in Tehran
The Israeli military announced Wednesday that it had attacked two naval cruise missile production facilities operating under Iran's Defense Ministry in Tehran.
"In recent days, the Israeli air force acting on IDF intelligence struck two key naval cruise missile production sites in Tehran," the military said.
According to the statement, the facilities were used to "develop and manufacture long-range naval cruise missiles capable of rapidly destroying targets at sea and on land."
The strikes "represent another step in deepening the damage done to the regime's military production infrastructure", the military added.
The Strait of Hormuz
As the warring sides traded attacks, attention remained focused on the strategic Strait of Hormuz, the key route through which one-fifth of the world's crude oil flows.
In a message released by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), Tehran assured safe passage through the strait to"non-hostile vessels."
However, the IMO cited a statement by Iran's Foreign Ministry stating that passage would not be granted to vessels belonging to "the aggressor parties, namely the United States and the Israeli regime."
"A very big gift."
Israel also announced it would launch new missile strikes against the "infrastructure of the Iranian terrorist regime."
"The sounds, the explosions, the missiles -- they are part of our daily life now," a 35-year-old woman in Tehran told AFP by telephone.
Attack on a fuel tank
Drones struck a fuel tank at Kuwait's international airport, triggering a fireball, while authorities in Jordan reported shrapnel falling near the capital Amman and air raid alerts were activated in Bahrain.
LATEST
