A U.S. submarine has sunk an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean, sharply escalating a conflict that is spreading across the Middle East as Washington and Israel intensify strikes on Iran’s military leadership, missile systems and symbols of state power.

The strike came as Iranian authorities postponed the mourning ceremony for slain Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who was killed at the outset of the war. State television said the scale and tempo of bombardment made it impossible to hold the event safely. Millions had attended the 1989 funeral of his predecessor, Ruhollah Khomeini, underscoring the symbolic weight of the moment.

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The United States and Israel launched coordinated operations on Saturday, targeting Iran’s missile arsenal, Revolutionary Guard facilities and elements of its disputed nuclear program. While officials in both countries have signaled that degrading — and possibly toppling — Iran’s leadership is an objective, public messaging has shifted repeatedly, leaving uncertainty over the ultimate scope and duration of the campaign.

Expanding battlefield across the region

President Donald Trump praised U.S. forces on Wednesday, saying they were “doing very well on the war front, to put it mildly.” Republican senators later voted down a resolution that sought to halt the war under congressional war powers, signaling strong party backing for the operation despite growing casualties.

Iran has retaliated with waves of missiles and drones targeting Israel and Gulf states, including Bahrain and Kuwait. Turkey said NATO air defenses intercepted a ballistic missile launched from Iran before it crossed into Turkish airspace, a sign of how widely the conflict’s shockwaves are being felt.

Israel has also exchanged fire with the Iranian-backed Hezbollah movement in Lebanon. Israeli strikes pounded suburbs of Beirut, while Hezbollah launched rockets toward northern Israel. Air raid sirens sounded in Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet, as regional militaries scrambled to respond to incoming projectiles.

The war has killed more than 1,000 people in Iran, over 70 in Lebanon and at least 11 in Israel, according to officials in those countries. Six U.S. service members have also died in attacks linked to Iranian retaliation.

Uncertain timeline for U.S. operations

At a Pentagon briefing, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth declined to offer a definitive timeline for the campaign. “You can say four weeks, but it could be six. It could be eight. It could be three,” he said. “We set the pace and the tempo.”

Adm. Brad Cooper, the top U.S. commander in the Middle East, said American forces had significantly degraded Iran’s air defenses and destroyed ballistic missiles, launchers and drones. Israeli officials said the number of launches from Iran had declined in recent days, allowing authorities to ease some restrictions. Workplaces in Israel were set to reopen if shelters were nearby, though schools remain closed and air-raid sirens continue to sound in parts of the country.

Energy routes and global markets in the crosshairs

Iran’s Revolutionary Guard issued one of its strongest warnings yet, saying continued strikes would result in “the complete destruction of the region’s military and economic infrastructure.”

That threat appeared to materialize in the Strait of Hormuz, where a Maltese-flagged container ship was struck by two missiles, sparking a fire before its 24 crew members were rescued. The narrow waterway handles roughly a fifth of global oil shipments, and tanker traffic has fallen sharply since the conflict began, according to shipping data.

Oil prices have surged and global stock markets have been rattled amid fears that prolonged disruption could choke energy supplies and slow the world economy. International airlines have diverted flights, and hundreds of thousands of travelers remain stranded across the region.

Leadership vacuum in Tehran

Inside Iran, clerics are racing to choose a successor to Khamenei, marking only the second leadership transition since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Potential candidates range from hard-line conservatives committed to confrontation with the West to figures advocating limited diplomatic engagement. The uncertainty has fueled concerns about internal instability at a time of intense external pressure.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz warned that any future Iranian leader who continues to threaten Israel or the United States “will be a target for elimination,” underscoring the high stakes of the succession process.

With casualties mounting, energy markets in turmoil and no clear end date in sight, the sinking of the Iranian warship signals a new and potentially more dangerous phase of a conflict that now stretches from the Indian Ocean to the eastern Mediterranean.

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  Adapted by ASEAN Now · Source · 04.03 2026

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Now you can bomb schools and kill kids, bomb buildings with the supreme leader and shoot drones out to the sky..up to you.

But when you sink a Navy ship and kills sailors,,that pisses me off.

11 minutes ago, ASEAN NOW News said:

U.S. submarine has sunk an Iranian warship

Looking at the video, it was nearly a 'near mis', only hitting the rear of the boat.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I'd assume they would shoot for mid ship.

More practice needed fella's.

33 minutes ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

Looking at the video, it was nearly a 'near mis', only hitting the rear of the boat.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I'd assume they would shoot for mid ship.

More practice needed fella's.

Not if it is an acoustic torpedo which aims for the noisiest part of the ship-the propellors!

1 minute ago, scottiejohn said:

Not if it is an acoustic torpedo which aims for the noisiest part of the ship-the propellors!

Thanks, good point

Here's the released footage.

51 minutes ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

Looking at the video, it was nearly a 'near mis', only hitting the rear of the boat.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I'd assume they would shoot for mid ship.

More practice needed fella's.

Ship is now finished. I'd call that a successful hit. looks like there was also a substantial fire onboard before the strike (possible previous hit by torpedo or air strike maybe?) and if you look you can actually see the ship get split with the entire stern section being broken off.

55 minutes ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

Looking at the video, it was nearly a 'near mis', only hitting the rear of the boat.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I'd assume they would shoot for mid ship.

More practice needed fella's.

Yes they need to engage with British crews who had no problems when HMS Conqueror blasting the General Belgrano amidships

Mind you its only our quality fighting vessels these days !!

6 minutes ago, dinsdale said:

Ship is now finished. I'd call that a successful hit.

I would call it murder.

Send in the Enola Gay.

1 hour ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

Looking at the video, it was nearly a 'near mis', only hitting the rear of the boat.

Maybe I'm wrong, but I'd assume they would shoot for mid ship.

More practice needed fella's.

Aiming at the stern disables it making it a sitting duck for further attacks

The US know what they are doing

Great to see someone with a pair holding Iran to account. Starmer the coward can keep simping for the Muslim vote

3 minutes ago, EastBayRay said:

Aiming at the stern disables it making it a sitting duck for further attacks

The US know what they are doing

Great to see someone with a pair holding Iran to account. Starmer the coward can keep simping for the Muslim vote

Thanks the aiming comment.

I agree regarding Starmer, I got the most hostile replies regarding a negative comment I said yesterday regarding Starmer.

Lots of Wokes and lefties here.

7 minutes ago, SAFETY FIRST said:

Thanks the aiming comment.

I agree regarding Starmer, I got the most hostile replies regarding a negative comment I said yesterday regarding Starmer.

Lots of Wokes and lefties here.

Yeah starmer is perfectly happy to see the people of Iran subjugated, terrorized even killed by their leaders if it means the greens don’t steal too many Muslim votes from him back home

The guy has no morality no backbone no courage no principles he’s disgusting selling out the Brit’s for a few years of power and freebies

Just now, EastBayRay said:

Yeah starmer is perfectly happy to see the people of Iran subjugated, terrorized even killed by their leaders if it means the greens don’t steal too many Muslim votes from him back home

The guy has no morality no backbone no courage no principles he’s disgusting selling out the Brit’s for a few years of power and freebies

So, you were a big fan of Blair's Iraq war then?

9 minutes ago, brewsterbudgen said:

So, you were a big fan of Blair's Iraq war then?

No that was based on lies about wmd. Evil lies

The persecution of Iranian people is very real and Trump is doing the right thing

No surprise starmer supports the Iranian leaders not the subjugated people. he likes to terrorize the Brit’s as well. Authoritarian despots support each other and starmer can’t upset the Muslims in uk as well

The real Brit’s don’t deserve his tyranny

11 minutes ago, EastBayRay said:

No that was based on lies about wmd. Evil lies

The persecution of Iranian people is very real and Trump is doing the right thing

No surprise starmer supports the Iranian leaders not the subjugated people. he likes to terrorize the Brit’s as well. Authoritarian despots support each other and starmer can’t upset the Muslims in uk as well

The real Brit’s don’t deserve his tyranny

The "real Brits" will get a chance to vote in a new government in 2029.

Iran should set a priority to disable the US war ships.

Sinking a US carrier would be an enormous victory and face loss for

war criminal Trump.

Interesting analysis of the hit here.

26 minutes ago, EastBayRay said:

No that was based on lies about wmd. Evil lies

This conflict is based on lies too. Trump said there was an imminent threat, it was a lie. rubio stated the truth, USA went in because Israel was going in anyway. Got to keep their loads and masters in Israel happy.

1 hour ago, koolkarl said:

Send in the Enola Gay.

In this case the US did some naval manoeuvres in the dark. Your suggestion would mean Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark.

It is a war, no chocolate cheap cookies will be offered. This is what mercenaries (military is for protecting people, not killing them) get for their crime against people who want no religion government and true election.

God bless America.

38 minutes ago, FlorC said:

Iran should set a priority to disable the US war ships.

Sinking a US carrier would be an enormous victory and face loss for

war criminal Trump.

Iran has targetted carrier USS Lincoln as their prize scalp. Iran hit the carrier with 4 cruise missiles when the carrier was 300 km from their coastline. Conflicting reports whether the carrier was hit. The carrier has since moved out of the cruse missile range or maybe for repairs. If Iran was to take down a carrier, it will inflict lots of casualties and will have a major impact that will shape the outcome of the war.

Did they not blast the sailors in the water as they do in the Caribbean? Double standards here methinks.

2 hours ago, JBChiangRai said:

I would call it murder.

And what would you call shooting protesters in the back of the head?

1 hour ago, EastBayRay said:

1 hour ago, brewsterbudgen said:

So, you were a big fan of Blair's Iraq war then?

No that was based on lies about wmd. Evil lies

From what I have seen from Trump's press communications, this one isn't different.

1 hour ago, FlorC said:

Iran should set a priority to disable the US war ships.

Sinking a US carrier would be an enormous victory and face loss for

war criminal Trump.

Wow Flor, you have always been defending Trump in the past. Have you seen the light?

The War President and his truly ridiculous SEC DEF seem to be desperate to prove their manhood, as it's very likely they are both facing extreme levels of impotency, and feeling rather dangerous levels of self-loathing. So by projecting their power on to the world stage and providing the world with misery, suffering, and economic upheaval, they're able to perhaps lift themselves out of their own darkness through the Fog of War.

19 minutes ago, dinsdale said:

And what would you call shooting protesters in the back of the head?

Also murder. The same as shooting a lady through her car side window.

For war mongers among you the ship was part of a show and tell gathering in Sri Lanka organized long ago and was not part of any operation relating to current war. Way to go USA blowing things up because you can. Little strategic planning just wild wild west stuff. How about focusing on getting millions of your citizens safely back home. Oops they didn’t expect Iran to blow up all their assets in the region. What’s scary is once they run out interceptors the aircraft carriers will be sunk putting thousands of lives in harms way.

1 hour ago, EastBayRay said:

No that was based on lies about wmd. Evil lies

The persecution of Iranian people is very real and Trump is doing the right thing

No surprise starmer supports the Iranian leaders not the subjugated people. he likes to terrorize the Brit’s as well. Authoritarian despots support each other and starmer can’t upset the Muslims in uk as well

The real Brit’s don’t deserve his tyranny

Yes, the war against Iraq was based on lies about WMD but, as @JBChiangRai points out, Trump's reason for attacking Iran is that it presents an imminent threat to the US which is itself a lie.

The persecution of the Iraqi people under Saddam was also very real.

What's the difference between the two situations?

You clearly know very little about the UK.