PARIS, France, March 3, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - Loud blasts rocked Tehran on 
Tuesday even as Iran hit industrial and diplomatic targets across the Middle 
East and threatened to open "the gates of hell" on the United States and 
Israel.

The conflict, started on Saturday with US-Israeli strikes on Iran, showed no 
sign of abating as it entered its fourth day.

Here are the latest developments:

- Israel targets Iran missile production -

Israel's military said it struck Iranian industrial sites used to produce 
weapons, "particularly ballistic missiles".

- Tehran airport hit -

Tehran's Mehrabad airport -- located inside the capital and which mainly 
handles domestic flights -- was targeted by strikes, according to the Mehr 
news agency.

- Stocks slip, oil rises -

Wall Street stocks tumbled on opening, joining a global sell-off, while oil 
prices soared as the war disrupted supplies, with the crucial Strait of 
Hormuz effectively closed and energy infrastructure across the region hit.

The Brent North Sea crude contract, the international benchmark, jumped to 
$85.12 a barrel, its highest level since July 2024.

Gold and silver prices fell sharply as traders piled into bets on energy and 
the US dollar.

- 'Large scale' blasts in Tehran -

Loud explosions rocked Tehran, AFP journalists heard, with Israel's military 
later saying it had launched a new "large scale" wave of strikes on the 
capital "targeting the Iranian terror regime's infrastructure in Tehran".

Iranian media said central Tehran was struck, as well as the religious city 
of Qom to the south, where the building used by the official body that select 
Iran's new supreme leader was hit.

- 'Too late' for talks -
US President Donald Trump said that it was "too late" for talks with Iran, 
writing on his Truth Social platform that Iran's "air defense, Air Force, 
Navy, and Leadership is gone"

"They want to talk. I said 'Too Late!'" Trump said -- two days after saying 
he had agreed to talks.

- Reported Israeli and Iranian tolls -

Israeli authorities said at least 12 people were wounded in the latest salvo 
of missiles fired from Iran, including in Tel Aviv and in several sites in 
central Israel.

Earlier, the Iranian Red Crescent said that more than 780 people have been 
killed nationwide in Iran since the conflict began. AFP was not in a position 
to verify the figure.

- Strikes on Beirut -

Israeli air strikes hit Beirut's southern suburbs, an area where Hezbollah 
holds sway, with Lebanon's state news agency reporting "extensive damage to 
buildings".

Hezbollah said it targeted a military facility in Israel in response, using 
rockets to hit the Maayan Baruch site.

- Iran appeals to UN Security Council -

Iran urged the United Nations Security Council to do its "duty" and take 
action to stop the war. "It can certainly act, because there is no obstacle 
to its action except its own will," said foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil 
Baqaei.

- Iran threatens foes -

Iran's Revolutionary Guards warned of more intense attacks on US forces and 
Israel, with a spokesman telling state TV: "The gates of hell will open more 
and more."

- Israel wants Lebanon 'buffer' -

Israel ordered its forces to take control of more positions inside Lebanon to 
create a buffer zone.

In response, the Lebanese army pulled back some of its forces after Iran-
backed Hezbollah attacked Israeli bases.

- Iran nuclear site damaged -

The UN nuclear watchdog said the key Iranian nuclear site of Natanz suffered 
"recent damage", a day after Tehran said the underground uranium enrichment 
plant was attacked.

"No radiological consequence expected," the International Atomic Energy 
Agency (IAEA) said in a post on X.