Iran Calls for 'Trump's Blood'         03/05 06:21

   Iran launched a new wave of attacks Thursday at Israel, American bases and 
countries around the region, threatening that the United States would "bitterly 
regret" torpedoing an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean and calling for 
"Trump's blood," while Israel said it hit multiple targets in Iran.

   DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- Iran launched a new wave of attacks 
Thursday at Israel, American bases and countries around the region, threatening 
that the United States would "bitterly regret" torpedoing an Iranian warship in 
the Indian Ocean and calling for "Trump's blood," while Israel said it hit 
multiple targets in Iran.

   Israel announced multiple incoming missile attacks and air sirens sounded in 
Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Iranian state television said additional strikes also 
targeted U.S. bases.

   The Israeli military said it had hit 80 targets in Lebanon linked to the 
Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group over the past 24 hours and that a wave 
of strikes on Iran had hit long range ballistic missile launch sites and other 
targets.

   Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi accused the U.S. Navy of committing 
an "an atrocity at sea" for sinking the Iranian frigate IRIS Dena in the Indian 
Ocean, which killed at least 87 Iranian sailors.

   "Mark my words: The U.S. will come to bitterly regret (the) precedent it has 
set," he said on social media.

   Ayatollah Abdollah Javadi Amoli, in one of the few clerical statements so 
far from Iran, later called on state television for the shedding of both 
Israeli and "Trump's blood."

   "Fight the oppressive America, his blood is on my shoulders,'" he said in a 
rare call for violence from an ayatollah, one of the highest ranks within the 
clergy of Shiite Islam.

   The U.S. and Israel launched the war Saturday, targeting Iran's leadership 
and killing Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as well as hitting 
its missile arsenal and nuclear facilities. Leaders have suggested toppling the 
government is a goal, but the exact aims and timelines have repeatedly shifted, 
signaling an open-ended conflict.

   The war has killed more than 1,200 people in Iran, more than 70 in Lebanon 
and around a dozen in Israel, according to officials in those countries. It has 
disrupted the supply of the world's oil and gas, snarled international shipping 
and stranded hundreds of thousands of travelers in the Middle East.

   Threats expanding across the Middle East

   A drone crashed Thursday near the airport in Nakhchivan, an Azerbaijan 
exclave bordering the north of Iran that is separated from the rest of the 
country by Armenia. Another drone fell near a school and two civilians were 
injured, Azerbaijan's Foreign Ministry said.

   Iran has not acknowledged targeting Azerbaijan, but its attacks since the 
start of the war have spread erratically and involved regional countries and 
beyond.

   In Abu Dhabi, six people were wounded when a drone was shot down near the Al 
Dhafra Air Base, which hosts U.S. forces, and shrapnel fell to the ground, 
authorities said.

   Qatar evacuated residents near the U.S. Embassy in Doha as a temporary 
precaution Thursday and later reported a missile attack on the city. Saudi 
Arabia said it destroyed a drone in its province bordering Jordan.

   A tanker apparently came under attack off the coast of Kuwait early 
Thursday, expanding the area where commercial shipping was in danger, according 
to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Center run by the British 
military. It said there was an explosion but did not offfer a cause. Iran in 
the past has attacked ships by attaching limpet mines to them.

   Prior attacks since fighting began Saturday have happened in the Gulf of 
Oman and the Strait of Hormuz, which connects it to the Persian Gulf and 
through which about a fifth of the world's oil is shipped.

   U.S. stocks rebounded Wednesday after oil prices stopped spiking and reports 
gave encouraging updates on the American economy. But oil prices resumed their 
ascent early Thursday and Brent crude, the international standard, is now up 
some 15% from the start of the conflict as Iranian attacks have disrupted 
traffic through the strait.

   Iranian warship sunk on way home from multinational exercises

   The Iranian ship sunk by the U.S. Navy was on its way back from 
participating in a February exercise hosted by the Indian navy. The U.S. Navy 
also participated in the same exercise with a P-8A Poseidon aircraft, which is 
employed for anti-submarine and anti-surface warfare as well as surveillance 
and reconnaissance.

   Sri Lankan authorities said 32 crew members were rescued, while its navy 
recovered 87 bodies.

   Araghchi said it had been carrying "almost 130" crew.

   U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed Wednesday that an American 
submarine had sunk the ship with a torpedo.

   Sri Lanka's media minister and government spokesman, Nalinda Jayatissa, told 
parliament Thursday that another Iranian ship had arrived in its waters. 
Jayatissa did not provide further details about the ship or the number of 
people on board.

   Israel says it hits more Hezbollah targets in Lebanon

   U.S. and Israeli military officials say launches from Iran have declined as 
their attacks have taken out ballistic missiles, launchers and drones. Israel's 
Homefront Command announced it was easing restrictions that closed workplaces 
nationwide, which could reopen Thursday if there is a shelter nearby. Schools 
would remain closed.

   Still, explosions sounded early Thursday in Israel, which said its defensive 
systems were moving to intercept at least three waves of Iranian missiles.

   At least 1,230 people have been killed in Iran, the country's Foundation of 
Martyrs and Veterans Affairs said Thursday. Eleven people have died in Israel. 
Six U.S. troops have been killed, including a major whose identity was released 
Wednesday.

   Among the 80 targets in Lebanon that the Israel military said it hit over 
the past 24 hours were "several command centers" used by Hezbollah in Beirut. 
It showed video footage of a building being hit, but provided no further 
details.

   Another eight people were killed in Lebanon, including two in a building 
struck by the Israeli military in the Beddawi refugee camp in the coastal city 
of Tripoli on Thursday and three on a coastal highway, authorities said. The 
Israeli military did not immediately say who it targeted in the strikes.

   In two near-simultaneous Israeli drone strikes in Beirut's southern suburbs 
late Wednesday, two vehicles were hit, killing three people and wounding six, 
the health ministry said. The Israeli military said it targeted a Hezbollah 
member, adding that further details would follow.