It’s an intense time of political polarization in the United States. With wars taking place across the Middle East and Arab World, many Jewish and Muslim Americans are feeling those tensions especially strong.
Reports of antisemitism and islamophobia are on the rise, including a recent attack on Temple Israel in West Bloomfield by a man who had family members killed in an Israeli airstrike on Lebanon.
Interfaith groups that include Jewish, Muslim and Christian community leaders are present in metro Detroit and the United States, but how effective are they? How do you talk about hard things during tense, divisive times?
Ben Ginsburg is part of an organization with a response to those questions. He’s the communications director for NewGround, which is a Muslim-Jewish interfaith group in Los Angeles. He spoke with Sam Corey on The Metro about how to have difficult conversations in divisive times.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on demand.
One-of-a-kind podcasts from WDET bring you engaging conversations, news you need to know and stories you love to hear. Keep the conversations coming. Please make a gift today.
There’s a phone call that some people in metro Detroit are dreading right now, one where you find out the place you came from doesn’t exist anymore.
Abbas Alawieh got that call recently. His 91-year-old grandmother’s home in Lebanon was destroyed by the Israeli military. She is displaced, among hundreds of thousands of Lebanese civilians with nowhere to go. This is not the first time his family has been through this.
When Alawieh was 15, visiting his grandmother in Lebanon, war broke out with Israel. He spent days in a basement while American-made bombs fell around him. It changed the course of his life and put him on a political path.
Alawieh grew up in Dearborn. He co-founded the Uncommitted movement that mobilized more than 100,000 Michigan voters in the 2024 Democratic primary.
He is now a candidate for Michigan State Senate in District 2, which covers Dearborn, Dearborn Heights, and parts of Downriver. But he did not sit down with The Metro’s Robyn Vincent to talk about his campaign. The Metro invited him because he is experiencing what other families across metro Detroit are living right now — watching war destroy the people and places they love from an American living room.
Hear the full conversation using the media player above.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on demand.
One-of-a-kind podcasts from WDET bring you engaging conversations, news you need to know and stories you love to hear. Keep the conversations coming. Please make a gift today.
Israel says it is attacking the Iranian regime and Hezbollah in Lebanon to remove existentialthreats from the region.
In the midst of all this, a man drove a truck into Temple Israel in West Bloomfield. The attacker killed himself before he hurt anyone at the synagogue besides one security officer. He was grieving family that had been killed in Lebanon by Israel.
How are metro Detroit Jews processing this moment? And, what do conversations about domestic and foreign politics look like at this time?
Aaron Bergman is a rabbi at Adat Shalom, a synagogue in Farmington Hills. He spoke about all this with producer Sam Corey.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on demand.
One-of-a-kind podcasts from WDET bring you engaging conversations, news you need to know and stories you love to hear. Keep the conversations coming. Please make a gift today.
As missiles and drones curtail energy production across the Persian Gulf, analysts warn that water, not oil, may be the resource most at risk in the energy-rich but arid region.
On Sunday, Bahrain accused Iran of damaging one of its desalination plants. Earlier, Iran said a U.S. airstrike had damaged an Iranian plant.
Hundreds of desalination plants sit along the Persian Gulf coast, putting individual systems that supply water to millions within range of Iranian missile or drone strikes. Without them, major cities could not sustain their current populations.
In Kuwait, about 90% of drinking water comes from desalination, along with roughly 86% in Oman and about 70% in Saudi Arabia. The technology removes salt from seawater — most commonly by pushing it through ultrafine membranes in a process known as reverse osmosis — to produce the freshwater that sustains cities, hotels, industry and some agriculture across one of the world’s driest regions.
For people living outside the Middle East, the main concern of the Iran war has been the impact on energy prices. The Gulf produces about a third of the world’s crude exports and energy revenues underpin national economies. Fighting has already halted tanker traffic through key shipping routes and disrupted port activity, forcing some producers to curb exports as storage tanks fill.
But the infrastructure that keeps Gulf cities supplied with drinking water may be equally vulnerable.
“Everyone thinks of Saudi Arabia and their neighbors as petrostates. But I call them saltwater kingdoms. They’re human-made fossil-fueled water superpowers,” said Michael Christopher Low, director of the Middle East Center at the University of Utah. “It’s both a monumental achievement of the 20th century and a certain kind of vulnerability.”
Early signs of risk
The war that began Feb. 28 with U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran has already brought fighting close to key desalination infrastructure. On March 2, Iranian strikes on Dubai’s Jebel Ali port landed some 12 miles from one of the world’s largest desalination plants, which produces much of the city’s drinking water.
Damage also was reported at the Fujairah F1 power and water complex in the United Arab Emirates, and at Kuwait’s Doha West desalination plant. The damage at the two facilities appeared to have resulted from nearby port attacks or debris from intercepted drones.
On Sunday, Bahrain accused Iran of indiscriminately attacking civilian targets and damaging one of its desalination plants, though it didn’t say supplies have gone offline. The island nation, home to the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet, has been among the countries targeted by Iranian drones and missiles.
Earlier, Iran said a U.S. airstrike damaged an Iranian desalination plant. Abbas Araghchi, the country’s foreign minister, said the strike on Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz had cut into the water supply for 30 villages. He warned that in doing so “the U.S. set this precedent, not Iran.”
Many Gulf desalination plants are physically integrated with power stations as co‑generation facilities, meaning attacks on electrical infrastructure could also hinder water production. Even where plants are connected to national grids with backup supply routes, disruptions can cascade across interconnected systems, said David Michel, senior fellow for water security at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
“It’s an asymmetrical tactic,” he said. “Iran doesn’t have the same capacity to strike back at the United States and Israel. But it does have this possibility to impose costs on the Gulf countries to push them to intervene or call for a cessation of hostilities.”
Desalination plants have multiple stages — intake systems, treatment facilities, energy supplies — and damage to any part of that chain can interrupt production, according to Ed Cullinane, Middle East editor at Global Water Intelligence, a publisher serving the water industry.
“None of these assets are any more protected than any of the municipal areas that are currently being hit by ballistic missiles or drones,” Cullinane said.
A long-standing concern
Gulf governments and U.S. officials have long recognized the risks these systems pose for regional stability: if major desalination plants were knocked offline, some cities could lose most of their drinking water within days. A 2010 CIA analysis warned attacks on desalination facilities could trigger national crises in several Gulf states, and prolonged outages could last months if critical equipment were destroyed.
More than 90% of the Gulf’s desalinated water comes from just 56 plants, the report stated, and “each of these critical plants is extremely vulnerable to sabotage or military action.”
A leaked 2008 U.S. diplomatic cable warned the Saudi capital of Riyadh “would have to evacuate within a week” if either the Jubail desalination plant on the Gulf coast or its pipelines or associated power infrastructure were seriously damaged.
Saudi Arabia has since invested in pipeline networks, storage reservoirs and other redundancies designed to cushion short-term disruptions, as has the UAE. But smaller states such as Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait have fewer backup supplies.
Climate change could threaten water plants
As warming oceans increase the likelihood and intensity of cyclones in the Arabian Sea and raise the chances of landfall on the Arabian Peninsula, storm surge and extreme rainfall could overwhelm drainage systems and damage coastal desalination.
The plants themselves contribute to the problem. Desalination is energy-intensive, with plants worldwide producing between 500 and 850 million tons of carbon emissions annually, approaching the roughly 880 million tons emitted by the entire global aviation industry.
The byproduct of desalination, highly concentrated brine, is typically discharged back into the ocean, where it can harm seafloor habitats and coral reefs, while intake systems can trap and kill fish larvae, plankton and other organisms at the base of the marine food web.
As climate change intensifies droughts, disrupts rainfall patterns and fuels wildfires, desalination is expected to expand in many parts of the world.
The threat is not hypothetical
During Iraq’s 1990-1991 invasion of Kuwait and the subsequent Gulf War, Iraqi forces sabotaged power stations and desalination facilities as they retreated, said the University of Utah’s Low. At the same time, millions of barrels of crude oil were deliberately released into the Persian Gulf, creating one of the largest oil spills in history.
The massive slick threatened to contaminate seawater intake pipes used by desalination plants across the region. Workers rushed to deploy protective booms around the intake valves of major facilities.
The destruction left Kuwait largely without fresh water and dependent on emergency water imports. Full recovery took years.
More recently, Yemen’s Houthi rebels have targeted Saudi desalination facilities amid regional tensions.
The incidents underscore a broader erosion of long-standing norms against attacking civilian infrastructure, Michel said, noting conflicts in Ukraine, Gaza and Iraq.
International humanitarian law, including provisions of the Geneva Conventions, prohibit targeting civilian infrastructure indispensable to the survival of the population, including drinking water facilities.
The potential for harmful cyberattacks on water infrastructure is a growing concern. In 2023 and 2024, U.S. officials blamed Iran-aligned groups for hacking into several American water utilities.
Iran’s own water supply at risk
After a fifth year of extreme drought, water levels in Tehran’s five reservoirs plunged to some 10% of their capacity, prompting President Masoud Pezeshkian to warn the capital may have to be evacuated.
Unlike many Gulf states that rely heavily on desalination, Iran still gets most of its water from rivers, reservoirs and depleted underground aquifers. The country operates a relatively small number of desalination plants, supplying only a fraction of national demand.
Iran is racing to expand desalination along its southern coast and pump some of the water inland, but infrastructure constraints, energy costs and international sanctions have sharply limited scalability.
“They were already thinking of evacuating the capital last summer,” Cullinane of Global Water Intelligence said. “I don’t dare to wonder what it’s going to be like this summer under sustained fire, with an ongoing economic catastrophe and a serious water crisis.”
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Follow Annika Hammerschlag on Instagram @ahammergram.
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The Associated Press receives support from the Walton Family Foundation for coverage of water and environmental policy. The AP is solely responsible for all content. For all of AP’s environmental coverage, visit https://apnews.com/hub/climate-and-environment
An incoming projectile explodes over the water as Israel issues a nationwide alert following its strikes on Iran, in Haifa Bay, northern Israel, Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
By JJon Gambrell, Sam Metz, and Kareem Chehayeb THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Bahrain accused Iran of striking a desalination plant on Sunday, raising fears that civilian infrastructure may become fair game in the war, as Iran’s president vowed to expand the country’s attacks on American targets across the region in the face of intense U.S. and Israeli airstrikes.
A late-night Israeli strike on an oil facility engulfed parts of Iran’s capital, Tehran, in smoke on Sunday, while Israel renewed attacks in Lebanon. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to press ahead with the nine-day-old campaign, which has rippled across the region and appears to have no end in sight.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian threatened Sunday to step up attacks on American targets across the Middle East. He appeared to backtrack from conciliatory comments toward his Gulf neighbors on Saturday. Those comments, in which he apologized for attacks on their soil, were quickly contradicted by Iranian hard-liners.
In Lebanon, intensifying Israeli strikes pushed the death toll higher as several hundred thousand people were displaced and Israel targeted the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah. And in central Israel, three people were injured in a Sunday afternoon strike.
The war, which Israel and the United States launched with airstrikes on Feb. 28, has so far killed at least 1,230 people in Iran, at least 397 in Lebanon and at least 11 in Israel, according to officials. Six U.S. troops have also been killed.
The conflict has rattled global markets, disrupted air travel and left Iran’s leadership weakened by several thousand Israeli and American airstrikes.
Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, the speaker of Iran’s parliament, said on Sunday that the war’s effect on the oil industry would continue to spiral, warning it could soon become harder to both produce and sell oil.
Some regional producers, including in Iraq, have already curbed output amid dangers in the Strait of Hormuz.
Iran’s president toughens tone
“When we are attacked, we have no choice but to respond. The more pressure they impose on us, the stronger our response will naturally be,” Pezeshkian said in video comments Sunday. “Our Iran, our country, will not bow easily in the face of bullying, oppression or aggression — and it never has.”
The remarks came a day after Pezeshkian said Iran regretted regional concerns caused by Iranian strikes and urged neighboring states not to take part in U.S. and Israeli attacks against Iran.
While multiple Gulf states reported intercepting more incoming missiles and drones from Iran, Pezeshkian said the country wasn’t looking to battle them and accused the U.S. of trying to pit countries against one another.
Iranian hard-liners quickly contradicted those remarks. Judiciary chief Gholam Hossein Mohseni-Ejei wrote on X: “The geography of some countries in the region — both overtly and covertly — is in the hands of the enemy, and those points are used against our country in acts of aggression. Intense attacks on these targets will continue.”
Mohseni-Ejei and Pezeshkian are part of a three-member leadership council that has overseen Iran since an earlier strike killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Pezeshkian’s remarks Sunday reinforced pledges that Iran would not surrender despite U.S. and Israeli threats, with Trump and Netanyahu saying their aim remains the replacement of Iran’s leaders.
“We’re not looking to settle,” Trump told reporters Saturday aboard Air Force One. “They’d like to settle. We’re not looking to settle.”
Desalination and oil facilities attacked
The Gulf nations of Bahrain, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, reported additional Iranian missiles launched toward them on Sunday, including several that hit new categories of civilian infrastructure.
The United Arab Emirates said that Iran launched more than 100 missiles and drones in new barrages. Only four drones fell at unnamed locations, the country’s defense ministry said.
Bahrain accused Iran of indiscriminately attacking civilian targets and damaging one of its desalination plants, though its electricity and water authority said supplies remained online. The island nation, home to the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet, has been among the countries targeted by Iranian drones and missiles. Attacks have hit hotels, ports and residential towers and killed at least one person.
The desalination plant strike came after Iran said a U.S. airstrike damaged an Iranian desalination plant. Abbas Araghchi, the country’s foreign minister, said the strike on Qeshm Island in the Strait of Hormuz had cut into the water supply for 30 villages. He warned that in doing so “the U.S. set this precedent, not Iran.”
Neither U.S. Central Command and Israel’s military had immediate comment on the plant.
Desalination plants supply water to millions of residents in the region, raising new fears of risks in multiple parched desert nations.
Iran also said on Sunday that overnight strikes from Israel hit four oil storage tankers and a petroleum transfer terminal, killing four people. Witnesses in Tehran said the smoke was so thick from a fire that engulfed the north Tehran oil depot that it felt as if the sun had not risen.
The Iranian Red Crescent Society said on Sunday that about 10,000 civilian structures across the country had been damaged, including homes, schools and medical facilities. It warned Tehran residents to take precautions against toxic air pollution and the risk of acid rain after Israeli strikes set fires at oil depots in the area.
Iran maintains sufficient fuel, Veys Karami, Managing Director of the National Iranian Oil Products Distribution Company, told Iran’s state-run news agency. Israel’s military said on Saturday that the targeted oil depots were being used by Iran’s military.
More strikes hit Lebanon
Israel renewed its assault early Sunday on parts of Lebanon, where health officials reported at least 394 people have been killed in the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.
Health Minister Rakan Nassereddine said on Sunday that 83 children and 82 women were among those killed. The Israeli military has ordered large swaths of the country to evacuate. Lebanese officials have reported more than 400,000 displaced during an offensive that Israel’s military has said is aimed at stamping out Iran-supported forces there.
In Beirut, sheltering families crammed into schools, slept in cars or in open areas near the Mediterranean Sea, where some burned firewood to keep warm while awaiting basic supplies. The government says it’s soon repurposing in a large sports stadium to shelter thousands more.
Israel’s renewed offensive began last week after Hezbollah launched rockets toward northern Israel during the opening days of the war. The subsequent strikes have been the most intense since a November 2024 ceasefire.
Israel withdrew from most of southern Lebanon at that time but continued near-daily strikes, primarily in southern Lebanon, saying that Hezbollah had been trying to rebuild its positions there. Hezbollah said last week that after more than a year of abiding by a ceasefire as Israel’s strikes continued on Lebanon, its patience has ended, leaving it with no option but to fight.
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Metz reported from Ramallah, West Bank, and Chehayeb from Beirut. Associated Press journalists Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, Samy Magdy in Cairo and Aamer Madhani in Doral, Florida, contributed reporting.
Two women from the Iranian Red Crescent Society stand as a thick plume of smoke from a U.S.-Israeli strike on an oil storage facility late Saturday rises in the sky in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
All of the above are part of the Trump administration’s shifting rationale for pummeling Iran and killing its leader without first seeking the buy-in of Congress and U.S. allies. There’s more that’s unclear about the widening war launched by the president and Board of Peace leader — including an exit strategy, a timeline and who President Donald Trump wants to take control of Iran from what he calls the “sick people” who run it now.
What makes the latest U.S.-Iran conflict different from a series of others is that the Trump administration’s own officials do not appear to be clear or uniform on the important questions at hand: Why and why now?
“It’s the standard practice to agree on the rationale before you start and then stick to delivering a consistent messaging,” said David Schenker, a former Trump administration official who is now a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. “But that’s a challenge for this administration.”
By Wednesday, the White House was describing the Republican president’s decision to launch Operation Epic Fury as a consideration of past Iranian threats to the U.S. “and the president’s feeling, based on fact, that Iran does pose an imminent and direct threat to the United States of America.” Analysts say that’s unclear.
Here’s a curated selection of the Trump administration’s explanations over the last week as the U.S.-Israel conflict with Iran expanded into a war.
FILE – Secretary of State Marco Rubio, left, speaks next to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth during a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at the NATO summit of heads of state and government in The Hague, Netherlands, June 25, 2025. (Brendan Smialowski/Pool Photo via AP, file)
FILE – Boys stand on a launcher of an Iranian domestically-built missile during an annual rally marking 1979 Islamic Revolution at the Azadi (Freedom) sq. in Tehran, Iran, Feb. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, file)
FILE – The Iranian national flag flies during a special session of an IAEA Board of Governors meeting in Vienna, Austria, March 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Heinz-Peter Bader, file)
FILE – A Qadr H long-range ballistic surface-to-surface missile is fired by Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard during a maneuver in an undisclosed location in Iran, March 9, 2016. (AP Photo/Omid Vahabzadeh, File)
President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in the Oval Office at the White House, Tuesday, March 3, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
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FILE – Secretary of State Marco Rubio, left, speaks next to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth during a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte at the NATO summit of heads of state and government in The Hague, Netherlands, June 25, 2025. (Brendan Smialowski/Pool Photo via AP, file)
WHAT THEY SAID after the U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran last summer:
— “THE NUCLEAR SITES IN IRAN ARE COMPLETELY DESTROYED!” — Trump in a June 24, 2025, post on Truth Social.
WHAT THEY SAID after a reported intelligence analysis suggested Iran’s nuclear program had only been set back a few months:
— “That is a false story, and it’s one that really shouldn’t be re-reported.” — Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a June 25, 2025, interview with Politico.
— “If we didn’t do what we’re doing right now, you would have had a nuclear war and they would have taken out many countries because, you know what? They’re sick people.” — Trump on Tuesday at the White House.
THE BACKGROUND:
Iran has long insisted its program is peaceful, but the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog and Western nations say Tehran had an organized nuclear weapons program up until 2003.
The current state of the program remains a mystery as officials have not allowed the International Atomic Energy Agency access to the nuclear facilities that were bombed since June. That is according to a confidential report by the watchdog circulated to member states and seen Feb. 27 by The Associated Press.
Iran is legally obliged to cooperate with the IAEA under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, but it suspended all cooperation after the war with Israel.
Iran’s ballistic missiles
WHAT THEY SAID:
— “Iran possesses a very large number of ballistic missiles, particularly short-range ballistic missiles, that threaten the United States and our bases in the region, and our partners in the region, and all of our bases in the UAE, Qatar and Bahrain.” — Rubio to reporters on Feb. 25.
— “The regime already had missiles capable of hitting Europe and our bases — both local and overseas — and would soon have had missiles capable of reaching our beautiful America.” — Trump during a Medal of Honor ceremony at the White House on Monday.
— Iran “was building powerful missiles and drones to create a conventional shield for their nuclear blackmail ambitions.” — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth during the Monday Pentagon briefing.
THE BACKGROUND:
Iran hasn’t acknowledged that it is seeking to build intercontinental ballistic missiles. The country currently has a self-imposed limit on its ballistic missile program, limiting their range to 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles). That puts all of the Mideast and some of Eastern Europe in range.
Trump administration officials told congressional staffers in private briefings on Sunday that U.S. intelligence did not suggest Iran was preparing to launch a preemptive strike against the U.S. The administration officials instead acknowledged there was a more general threat from Iran and proxy forces.
“There’s been a lot of reporting that the assessments from the intelligence and military didn’t suggest that there was going to be an Iranian first strike,” said Naysan Rafati, senior Iran analyst at the Washington-based International Crisis Group. “My sense has been that opportunity is at least as much of a significant factor as threats, certainly.”
Israel’s role
WHAT THEY SAID:
— “We knew that there was going to be an Israeli action. And we knew that if we didn’t preemptively go after (Iran) before they launched those attacks, we would suffer higher casualties.” — Rubio to reporters on Monday.
— “Israel was determined to act in its own defense here, with or without American support.” — House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters. If that happened, he added, “exquisite intelligence” by the U.S. indicated that Iran would retaliate against American assets. “If we had waited, the consequences of inaction on our part could have been devastating,” he said.
— “No,” Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday, when asked if Israel had forced his hand on attacking Iran. “If anything, I might have forced Israel’s hand.”
THE BACKGROUND:
There is no sign that Israel was forced into cooperating with the U.S. in the strike.
An Israeli military official, on customary condition of anonymity, on Wednesday described lockstep planning between the U.S. and Israel. Three weeks before the strikes, Israel understood that the operation was pointing toward another confrontation with Iran and sent a team to the Pentagon, the official said. On Friday, the Israeli army deliberately suggested that the military was standing down for the weekend, releasing photos suggesting that staffers and senior commanders were heading home for Shabbat dinner.
The shared information allowed the strikes to be carried out hours later in a surprise daylight attack, people familiar with the operation told the AP over the weekend. The eventual barrage of U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran came so quickly that they were nearly simultaneous — with three strikes in three locations hitting within a minute — killing Khamenei and some 40 senior figures, another Israeli military official said Sunday.
During the strikes, the U.S. and Israeli war rooms were synchronized in real time to allow for quick adjustments, the first Israeli military official said Wednesday.
In a televised address, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that Israel had carried out the strikes “in full cooperation” with the U.S.
Trump has been both for and against regime change in Iran. Now what?
WHAT THEY SAID:
— “If Iran shoots and violently kills peaceful protesters, which is their custom, the United States of America will come to their rescue. We are locked and loaded and ready to go.” — Trump on Truth Social on Jan. 2.
— “When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take.” — Trump to Iranians on Truth Social just after the first strikes.
— “This is not a so-called regime change war. But the regime sure did change, and the world is better off for it.” — Hegseth at the Pentagon on Monday.
And in Iran, the CIA in 1953 helped engineer a coup that toppled Iran’s democratically elected leader and gave near-absolute power to Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. But as with the shah, who was overthrown in Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, regime change rarely goes as planned.
That’s in part because it’s fundamentally out of Trump’s complete control, as he acknowledged Tuesday.
“Most of the people we had in mind are dead,” he told reporters. “Now we have another group. They may be dead also based on reports. So, I guess you have a third wave coming, and pretty soon we’re not going to know anybody.”
Josef Federman and Julia Frankel in Jerusalem contributed to this report from Jerusalem.
President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in the Oval Office at the White House, Tuesday, March 3, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Children living through the latest war in the Middle East or seeing images of the conflict may need help making sense of events that many adults find unnerving. Exposure to war, even if it is indirect, can affect how kids think, feel and behave, according to mental health experts.
Child psychologists and development specialists encourage parents to check in with their children, make time for age-appropriate conversations and to correct misinformation without going into excessive detail.
“Sometimes adults think if they don’t talk about something that is difficult, than it doesn’t exist. But we know that’s not the reality in children’s lives,” said Rebecca Smith, the global head of child protection at Save the Children, an international aid and advocacy organization. “Ignoring or avoiding the topic of conflict can lead to children feeling lost, alone and scared. … It is essential to have open and honest conversations with children to help them process what is happening.”
Below are suggestions for having conversations with children about war and its impacts.
Create a safe space, then listen and validate feelings
Experts recommend starting with what a child might know about what is happening in Ukraine, Gaza, Iran, Israel, Sudan or other parts of the world before attempting to address any feelings of fear, sadness, anger or anxiety.
Some children may not know that fighting has escalated between the United States and Israel on one side and Iran and its proxies on the other. Other kids may be more aware than their families realize and suppress their emotions. Children visiting or living in Middle Eastern countries directly impacted will have seen weapons light up the sky and may know people killed or have to leave their homes.
“For some children where missiles are now visible in the skies, this might be an entirely new and terrifying experience,” Smith said. “When events like this happen, they disrupt a child and family’s sense of safety. What once felt stable and secure may suddenly feel uncertain.”
To help children work through their emotions, the trusted adults in their lives also need to take care of themselves, according to experts. Guidance from the National Child Traumatic Stress Network says adults sharing their own feelings with children can be an opportunity to convey personal beliefs and values about how to treat others. The key is to not assume what children might be thinking or feeling.
If children do not want to talk or are not ready, experts suggest adults remain patient and tell children they are there for them.
“It is necessary to respect child’s ability to refuse communication, their ability not to talk or not to tell about something. Because they can have their own feelings, their own states, which they might not want to share,” child psychologist Nataliia Sosnovenko said, speaking in Ukrainian. Sosnovenko works with Voices of Children, a Ukrainian organization that provides psychological support and documents children’s experiences in the country during the yearslong war with Russia.
Some children might share what they have seen or heard, how they feel or ask questions when given an opportunity. Experts say this is when adults should validate their feelings and address what’s happening honestly while taking their ages and maturity levels into account.
Let their age guide the conversation
The American Psychological Association recommends giving kids basic, age-appropriate information about war and conflict, and addressing any upsetting images, headlines or conversations they were exposed to without going into details that might make them unnecessarily anxious. But ultimately, parents know their children best, experts say.
Families who have loved ones in the region may need to take the extra time to discuss the safety of their relatives and friends, and the difficulty of uncertainty. Families in the region themselves may need to have a plan in place for what to do if they become separated. Experts with Save the Children say to keep it simple and to practice the plan calmly.
Depending on how young, some children can understand the idea that two countries are fighting. But young children living abroad may not be able to distinguish between what they see on screens and what is happening nearby. For children in the U.S., the Iran war can seem much closer than it is if they are frequently seeing images on TV or social media, meaning they may need additional reassurance they are safe from danger.
Older children are likely to understand war and its consequences, which means they might be more concerned and have more questions, the American Psychological Association says. Adults may want to consider focusing on what is within their control and giving children some agency, such as supporting humanitarian efforts, staying informed and addressing misinformation.
UNICEF, the United Nations agency that provides humanitarian aid and long-term support to children worldwide, says it is OK to not have all the answers.
In Lebanon, some families have sought refuge since Saturday in a brick school building. Nora Ingdal, Save the Children’s Lebanon Country Director, says children there are asking several questions about the reason for conflict and when things might return to normal.
“This one daughter was clinging to her mother and looking up to her mom and asking, ‘Mom, why are they fighting? Why are they attacking us?’ The mother looks at me, but has no answer. Then she’s asking, ‘When are we gonna go home?’ Again, the mom looked at me,” Ingdal said. “I said to her, ‘It’s all right to say that you don’t know, you cannot guarantee anything, but I’m here with you.’”
Limit unnecessary exposure and use this as a teaching opportunity
While some global agencies say children should be aware of what is happening in the world, experts say adults still have a responsibility to keep youngsters safe and limit unnecessary exposure.
Parents are encouraged to pay attention to how exposed children are to the news. The younger the child, the less exposure they should have, according to the National Child Traumatic Stress Network.
Some agencies recommend switching off the news entirely or limiting conversations about distressing events with other adults if children can hear. Others recommend using the opportunity to educate children on the importance of news, understanding where to find accurate facts and how to identify when something is not true or deceiving.
Save the Children says caregivers can model responsible digital behavior, encourage kids not to spread harmful or graphic information and remind them to think twice before sharing content that is possibly inaccurate or emotionally triggering.
It is important for caregivers of children living in conflict zones to remember that some kids do not know a time before war and do not have the ability to disconnect from what is happening around them, Sosnovenko said. That’s where professional help might support conversations and education.
“During the war, the types of people who come to us have changed,” she said. “Thanks to the fact that the psychological culture of the population is improving, people began to understand that therapy is important. These days, help of a psychologist is needed by most people and children as well.”
AP journalist Illia Novikov in Kyiv, Ukraine, contributed to this story.
Children hold a sign protesting war against Iran during an antiwar demonstration at Dealey Plaza in downtown Dallas, Sunday, March 1, 2026. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
Iran has retaliated, launching military strikes across the region.
There is no clear path to peace. Neither Israel nor America have signaled that either have much interest in creating stability or democracy in Iran.
Yesterday, we spoke with a Middle East scholar about what’s happening in Iran, and some of the different perspectives of the 92 million people living there. But there are a lot more voices to consider. What do folks from the diaspora who live in our region make of the situation?
Layla Saatchi is an assistant Professor of Teaching at Wayne State University. She spoke with The Metro‘s Robyn Vincent.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on demand.
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Saeed Khan, associate professor of Near Eastern Studies at Wayne State University, specializes in the politics and history of the Middle East. He joined Robyn Vincent to discuss the history the U.S. tends to ignore and the costs of reducing Iranians to a single story.
Hear the full conversation using the media player above.
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By STEPHEN GROVES, LISA MASCARO and MARY CLARE JALONICK
WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. Senate is headed toward a vote Wednesday on President Donald Trump’s decision to embark on a war against Iran, an extraordinary test in Congress for a conflict that has rapidly spread across the Middle East with no clear U.S. exit strategy.
The legislation, known as a war powers resolution, gives lawmakers an opportunity to demand congressional approval before any further attacks are carried out. The Senate resolution and a similar bill being voted on in the House later this week face unlikely paths through the Republican-controlled Congress and would almost certainly be vetoed by Trump even if they were to pass.
Nonetheless, the votes marked a weighty moment for lawmakers. Their decisions on the five-day-old war — which Trump entered without congressional approval — could determine the fates of U.S. military members, countless other lives and the future of the region.
“Wars without clear objectives do not remain small. They get bigger, bloodier, longer and more expensive,” said Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer at a news conference Tuesday. “This is not a necessary war. It’s a war of choice.”
Trump administration scrambles for congressional support
After launching a surprise attack against Iran on Saturday, Trump has scrambled to win support for a conflict that Americans of all political persuasions were already wary of entering. Trump administration officials have been a frequent presence on Capitol Hill this week as they try to reassure lawmakers that they have the situation under control.
“We are not going to put American troops in harm’s way,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters in a raucous news conference at the Capitol Tuesday.
Trump has also not ruled out deploying U.S. ground troops. He has said he is hoping to end the bombing campaign within a few weeks, but his goals for the war have shifted from regime change to stopping Iran from developing nuclear capabilities to crippling its navy and missile programs.
“I think they are achieving great success with what they’ve done so far,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Tuesday, adding that what happens next in the country will be “largely up to the Iranian people.”
Almost all Republican senators were readying to vote Wednesday against the war powers resolution to halt military action, but a number still expressed hesitation at the idea of deploying troops on the ground in Iran.
“I don’t think the American people want to see troops on the ground,” said Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., as he exited a classified briefing Tuesday. He added that Trump administration officials “left open that possibility,” but it wasn’t an option they were emphasizing.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., center, joined at left by Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., the GOP whip, speaks to reporters at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., center, and Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., left, arrive to speak with reporters at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, March 3, 2026. Kaine is leading an effort to advance a swift vote on a war powers resolution that would restrain President Donald Trump’s military attack on Iran. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to reporters as he arrives for an intelligence briefing with top lawmakers on Iran, at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, Mar. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth arrives for a briefing for lawmakers on Iran at a secure room in the basement of the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., speaks to reporters during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
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Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., center, joined at left by Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., the GOP whip, speaks to reporters at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
The votes in Congress this week represented potentially consequential markers of just where lawmakers stand on the war as they look ahead to midterm elections and the consequences of the conflict.
“Nobody gets to hide and give the president an easy pass or an end-run around the Constitution,” said Sen. Tim Kaine, the Virginia Democrat leading the war powers resolution. “Everybody’s got to declare whether they’re for this war or against it.”
Republican leaders have successfully, though narrowly, defeated a series of war powers resolutions pertaining to several other conflicts that Trump has entered or threatened to enter. This one, however, is different.
Unlike Trump’s military campaigns against alleged drug boats or even Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, the attack on Iran represents an open-ended conflict that is already ricocheting across the region. For Republicans who are used to operating in a political party dominated by Trump and his promises of keeping the U.S. out of foreign entanglements, the moment represented a bit of whiplash.
“War is ugly, it always has been ugly, but we’re taking out a regime that has been trying to attack us for quite some time,” said Sen. Markwayne Mullin, an Oklahoma Republican.
Meanwhile, Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican who has long pushed Trump to engage overseas, argued that the widening conflict represented an opportunity for Arab and European countries to join in the fight against Iran and the militant groups it supports.
“I don’t mind people being on record as to whether or not they think this is a good idea,” he told reporters, but also argued that too much power over the military was ceded to Congress in the War Powers Act, which mandates that presidents must withdraw troops from a conflict within 90 days if there is no congressional authorization.
House vote looms
On the other side of the Capitol, House leaders were also readying for an intense debate over the war followed by a vote Thursday.
“I do believe we have the votes to defeat it, I certainly hope we do,” House Speaker Mike Johnson said after an all-member briefing on Tuesday night.
Meanwhile, House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries said he expected a strong showing from Democrats in favor of the war powers resolution.
As lawmakers emerged from a closed-door briefing Tuesday night, Rep. Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, implored the Trump administration to “come to Congress” and speak directly to the American people about the rationale for the war.
His voice filled with emotion as he said, “Our young men and women’s lives are on the line.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., arrives to speak with reporters at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
MADRID (AP) — Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez again criticized the U.S. and Israel’s military actions in Iran, standing firm on Wednesday against trade threats from Washington and warning that the war in the Middle East risked “playing Russian roulette” with millions of lives.
“We are not going to be complicit in something that is bad for the world and is also contrary to our values and interests, just out of fear of reprisals from someone,” Sánchez said in a televised address.
President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to end U.S. trade with Spain because of Spain’s refusal to allow the U.S. to use joint military bases in the country in its attacks on Iran.
Sánchez has called the U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran an “unjustifiable” and “dangerous” military intervention.
It’s not clear how Trump would cut off trade with Spain, which is a member of the European Union. The EU negotiates trade on behalf of all its 27 member states.
On Wednesday, Sánchez expressed concern that the attacks on Iran could lead to another costly military quagmire in the Middle East, similar to the past American interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“In short, the position of the government of Spain can be summarized in four words,” Sánchez said. “No to the war.”
The EU said Wednesday it would protect its interests and work to stabilize its trade relationship with the U.S, with which it struck a trade deal last year after months of economic uncertainty over Trump’s tariff blitz.
“We stand in full solidarity with all member states and all its citizens and, through our common trade policy, stand ready to act if necessary to safeguard EU interests,” said European Commission spokesperson Olof Gill.
After Spain denied U.S. use of its bases, Trump on Tuesday said “we could use their base if we want,” referencing the Rota and Morón installations in southern Spain that the U.S. and Spain share, but which remain under Spanish command. “We could just fly in and use it,” Trump said. “Nobody’s going to tell us not to use it, but we don’t have to.”
Tuesday’s threats from Washington were just the latest instance of the U.S. president wielding the threat of tariffs or trade embargoes as punishment. The U.S. Supreme Court last month struck down Trump’s far-reaching global tariffs, saying emergency powers do not allow the president to unilaterally impose sweeping tariffs.
However, Trump maintains that the court allows him to instead impose full-scale embargoes on other nations of his choosing.
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez speaks during a panel discussion at the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
Spain has not had any direct contact with the U.S. since Trump’s criticisms, Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo said Wednesday.
“I want to send a message of calm,” Cuerpo told Spanish radio station Cadena Ser. “Beyond those comments (by Trump), there have not been any more moves (by the U.S.).”
Spain’s main business groups expressed concerns over the U.S. trade threat, calling the U.S. a “key partner from an economic and political standpoint.”
“We trust that our trade relations will ultimately not be affected in any way,” the Spanish business chambers CEOE, CEPYME and ATA said Tuesday.
Last year, Spain’s central bank issued a report that concluded Europe’s fourth-largest economy was relatively cushioned compared to the EU average when it came to exposure to tariffs by Trump.
Spain’s exports and imports with the U.S. accounted for 4.4% of GDP, the Bank of Spain said, while trade with the U.S. for the EU as a whole was 10.1%.
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez speaks during a panel discussion at the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
Exports of Spanish goods to the U.S. accounted for 1% of Spain’s GDP, or $18.6 billion, making it Spain’s sixth largest export market for goods, the bank concluded. The Southern European nation’s main exports to the U.S. include pharmaceutical products, olive oil refined gas and electrical transformers, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity.
Spain’s position on the Iran conflict is the latest flare-up in its relationship with the Trump administration.
Spain was an outspoken critic of Israel’s war in Gaza and attracted Trump’s ire last year when it backed out of NATO’s pledge to increase defense spending by members to 5% of GDP. At the time, Spain said it could meet its estimated defense needs by spending less — just 2.1% of its GDP — a move that Trump roundly criticized and also threatened with tariffs in response.
Wilson reported from Barcelona. Associated Press journalist Sam McNeil in Brussels contributed to this report.
Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez speaks during a panel discussion at the Munich Security Conference in Munich, Germany, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Michael Probst)
By Hannah Fingerhut, Konstantin Toropin, and Rebecca Boone THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor was just days away from returning home to her husband and two children when a drone strike at a command center in Kuwait killed her and five other U.S. service members.
“She was almost home,” her husband, Joey Amor, said from their home in White Bear Lake, Minnesota, on Tuesday. “You don’t go to Kuwait thinking something’s going to happen, and for her to be one of the first – it hurts.”
Amor was one of four U.S. soldiers killed in the Iran war on Sunday and identified Tuesday by the Pentagon; two soldiers haven’t yet been publicly identified. The members of the Army Reserve worked in logistics and kept troops supplied with food and equipment.
They died just one day after the U.S. and Israel launched its military campaign against Iran. Iran responded by launching missiles and drones against Israel and several Gulf Arab states that host U.S. armed forces.
Those killed also included Capt. Cody Khork, 35, of Winter Haven, Florida; Sgt. 1st Class Noah Tietjens, 42, of Bellevue, Nebraska; and Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, lowa, who was posthumously promoted from specialist. No other names were released.
“These men and women all bravely volunteered to defend our country, and their sacrifice will never be forgotten,” Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll said.
All were assigned to the 103rd Sustainment Command, which provides food, fuel, water and ammunition, transport equipment and supplies.
“Sadly, there will likely be more, before it ends. That’s the way it is,” President Donald Trump said of deaths.
One of the youngest in his class
Coady had just told his father last week that he had been recommended for a promotion from specialist to sergeant, a rank he received posthumously.
He was one of the youngest people in his class but seemed to impress his instructors, his father Andrew Coady said Tuesday.
“He was very good at what he did,” he said.
Coady trained as an information technology specialist with the Army Reserves and was studying cybersecurity at Drake University in Des Moines. He was taking online classes while in Kuwait and wanted to become an officer.
“I still don’t fully think it’s real,” his sister Keira Coady said. “I just remember all of our conversations about what he was going to do when he came back.”
A mother of two who loved gardening
Amor, 39, was an avid gardener who enjoyed making salsa from the peppers and tomatoes in her garden with her son, a senior in high school. She also enjoyed rollerblading and bicycling with her fourth-grade daughter.
A week before the drone attack, Amor was moved off-base to a shipping container-style building that had no defenses, Joey Amor said.
“They were dispersing because they were in fear that the base they were on was going to get attacked and they felt it was safer in smaller groups in separate places,” he said.
He last spoke to her about two hours before she was killed. He said she was working long shifts and they had been messaging about her tripping and falling the night before.
“She just never responded in the morning,” he said.
A calling to serve his country
Khork was very patriotic and drawn from a young age to serving the U.S., his family said in a statement Tuesday.
He enlisted in the Army Reserve and joined Florida Southern College’s ROTC program.
“That commitment helped shape the course of his life and reflected the deep sense of duty that was always at the core of who he was,” said his mother, Donna Burhans, father, James Khork, and stepmother, Stacey Khork, in a statement.
Khork also loved history and had a degree in political science.
His family described him as “the life of the party, known for his infectious spirit, generous heart, and deep care for those who served alongside him and for everyone blessed to know him.”
One of Khork’s friends, Abbas Jaffer, posted on Facebook on Monday that he had lost the best person he had ever known.
“My best friend, best man, and brother gave his life defending our country overseas,” Jaffer said. Khork and Jaffer had been friends for more than 16 years.
A loving father and husband
Tietjens lived with his family in the Washington Terrace mobile home park in the Omaha suburb of Bellevue, Nebraska. He was married with a son, according to a Facebook page.
Tietjens earned a black belt in Philippine Combatives and Taekwondo and was “an instructor who gave his time, discipline, and leadership to others,” the Philippine Martial Arts Alliance said in a Facebook post.
On the mat and as a soldier, “he carried the same values: honor, discipline, service, and commitment to others,” the organization said.
Nebraska Gov. Gov. Pillen paid tribute to the family Tuesday.
“Noah stepped up to serve and defend the American people from foreign enemies around the world — a sacrifice we must never forget,” he wrote.
“We are holding the Tietjens family close in our hearts during this unbelievably difficult time and will keep them in our prayers,” he said.
___
Boone contributed from Boise, Idaho, and Toropin from Washington. Associated Press reporters Sarah Raza in Sioux Falls, South Dakota; Ed White in Detroit; Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska; David Fischer in Miami and Hallie Golden in Seattle contributed to this report.
Keira Coady talks about her brother, Sgt. Declan Coady, 20, of West Des Moines, Iowa, outside her home, Tuesday, March 3, 2026, in West Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. and Israel’s joint war in Iran has already upended travel across the Middle East, stranding tens of thousands of people. And the future is anything but certain.
Experts stress that flights scheduled in the coming days and weeks could continue to see disruptions — causing ripple effects globally, especially as the war widens with retaliatory strikes in the Gulf states. Beyond the Middle East, airports in the Gulf serve as critical hubs connecting travelers going to Europe, Africa and Asia.
Amid airspace closures across the region, many carriers have been forced to either cancel flights or shift to longer routes. That’s straining operating costs and ticket prices, both of which could become more expensive if airlines have to pay more for fuel the longer the war drags on. In the near future, experts recommend postponing unnecessary travel if possible, checking refund or insurance policies and, most importantly, monitoring safety advisories.
“This is not a normal delay story. This is a conflict zone airspace story,” said Hassan Shahidi, president and CEO of the Flight Safety Foundation — stressing that halted traffic and guidance from carriers, airports and governments may shift each day, if not by the hour. “Travelers should absolutely expect uncertainty.”
Here’s what travelers should know about upcoming trips.
Monitor advisories and other safety information
Since the U.S. and Israel launched attacks over the weekend, retaliatory strikes and other developments have unfolded rapidly. Iran says hundreds of people have been killed in the country. For travelers across the region, experts stress the importance of following safety guidance and updates from government officials.
A handful of governments have also issued travel advisories and emergency evacuation orders. The U.S. State Department on Monday urged all U.S. citizens to immediately leave Iran and Israel, as well as Qatar, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, the Palestinian territories, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen using any available commercial transportation — and Secretary of State Marco Rubio pleaded for the media to publicize ways to help Americans evacuate. Meanwhile, countries like China, Italy, France and Germany moved to organize evacuation efforts for their citizens.
Experts like Shahidi say travelers should monitor these travel advisories from governments and embassies to make sure they have the latest information. And because so many people are still stranded amid swaths of cancellations and airspace closures, he added that it’s wise to reconsider or rebook upcoming trips, if possible.
“If travel is optional, consider postponing it,” Shahidi said. “But if it’s necessary, then make sure that you get refundable or changeable fares.”
Travelers should also monitor updates from airports and airlines. Long-haul carriers Etihad Airways and Emirates, based in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, along with Doha-based Qatar Airways all temporarily suspended certain routes — citing airspace closures and safety requirements.
Read the fine print of refunds and insurance
Many airlines are taking refund requests or offering free rebooking — but such options are often limited to specific dates or routes, so it’s important for travelers to check carriers’ individual websites for more information. For future trips, buying refundable tickets now may provide more flexibility.
Beyond what individual airlines can offer, some may also be seeking travel insurance. But it’s important to read the fine print, particularly the exclusions listed under specific policies.
“Acts of war and civil unrest are typically excluded because they’re unpredictable,” said Suzanne Morrow, CEO of travel insurance agency InsureMyTrip. Consumers could still buy coverage for delays, she added, but travel insurance is “designed to make you whole,” and if an airline does everything to rebook you or offers a refund, you may not have an added claim.
Christina Tunnah, of World Nomads Travel Insurance, reiterates that the majority of her firm’s policies excludes coverage for losses resulting from acts of war, although someone might be able to get compensation in certain scenarios — such as if they purchase a “cancel for any reason” plan. Still, the traveler would have to cancel within a certain time frame.
Tunnah adds that once an event is known, it’s unlikely to be covered. So if a consumer has not already purchased traveler insurance, many insurers may have added restrictions to impacted destinations.
Brace for longer flights and higher ticket prices
Beyond cancellations, many carriers are now taking longer routes to avoid closed airspace. Shahidi noted that includes not only closures stemming from this current war but also previous conflicts worldwide.
Navigating these different conflict zones has become increasingly difficult for airlines, because longer routes can be more expensive. It’s industry standard for carriers to pay “overflight fees” when flying through other countries’ airspace — which there could be more of now. And, of course, longer flights need more fuel.
“Those costs will be passed on to the passengers,” explained Bryan Terry, managing director at Alton Aviation Consultancy. If the conflict continues, he said, travelers should “anticipate that some carriers will likely impose fuel surcharges” or increase existing fees.
Passengers have already reported seeing sky-high ticket prices. Experts say those immediate hikes more likely reflect supply and demand as thousands of flights were canceled in recent days. But the costs of those longer routes — paired with oil prices that have already spiked since the U.S. and Israel launched their attacks — could trickle down to consumers further ahead.
The price of crude oil is a key component for jet fuel, which accounted for about 30% of airlines’ operating costs as of 2024, according to research from the International Air Transport Association.
Many routes within the next week are completely sold out or have exorbitant prices for last remaining seats. The market currently shows those costs, while still elevated, are lower for trips booked further out, Terry notes — but, again, if the war drags on or worsens, “those conditions could change at a moment’s notice.”
A traveler checks departure times as many flights are cancelled at Beirut Rafik Hariri International Airport in Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026, as many airlines canceled flights due to the conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
WASHINGTON (AP) — An operations center targeted by an Iranian drone strike that killed six American soldiers on Sunday was located in the heart of a civilian port in Kuwait, miles away from the main Army base, according to satellite images and a U.S. official.
The husband of one of the slain soldiers, who was part of a supply and logistics unit based in Iowa, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the hub was a shipping container-style building and had no defenses.
The development, reported earlier by CNN and CBS News, raises questions about the safety precautions that the U.S. military had in place as it, along with Israel, launched an attack on Iran, which has responded with retaliatory strikes against several countries in the region, including Kuwait. President Donald Trump and top defense leaders say more American casualties are likely.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Monday that the six soldiers were killed in a “tactical operations center” when a projectile made its way past air defenses. A day later, the Pentagon confirmed it was a drone strike in Port Shuaiba when announcing the names of four of the soldiers who were slain.
A satellite image taken Monday and reviewed by the AP showed the main building in the complex destroyed, with a trail of black smoke rising from it. It is located in the heart of Port Shuaiba, a working seaport and industrial area just south of Kuwait City. The U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a matter under active investigation, confirmed the image depicted the location of Sunday’s attack.
This image provided by Planet Labs PBC shows showing a Tactical Operations Center at Port Shuaiba, Kuwait, on Monday, March 2, 2026, where U.S. service members were killed Sunday, March 1, 2026, in an Iranian strike. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)
The Army base, Camp Arifjan, is more than 10 miles to the south. The operations center was just a little over a mile from some of the piers where merchant ships would offload cargo containers and was surrounded by oil storage tanks, refineries and a power plant.
Joey Amor, husband of Sgt. 1st Class Nicole Amor, said his wife was moved off-base to what he described as a shipping container-style building a week before the Iranian strike. The 39-year-old from White Bear Lake, Minnesota, was one of the soldiers killed in the attack.
“They were dispersing because they were in fear that the base they were on was going to get attacked, and they felt it was safer in smaller groups in separated places,” he said.
This undated photo provided by Joey Amor shows Nicole Amor, left, and Joey Amor smiling for a photo. (Joey Amor via AP)
After news reports about the operations center emerged, chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said on social media that the “secure facility was fortified with 6-foot walls.” He said the military has “the most extensive Air Defense umbrella in the world over the Middle East right now and control of the skies is increasing with every wave of airpower.”
Parnell’s office did not respond to questions about what role the walls would have played in defending against a drone attack or what air defenses were present in range of the command center at the port.
Capt. Tim Hawkins, a spokesman for U.S. Central Command, said “it would be inappropriate to comment given the incident is under investigation.”
Boone reported from Boise, Idaho. Associated Press writer Michael Biesecker contributed to this report.
This image provided by Planet Labs PBC shows a Tactical Operations Center at Port Shuaiba, Kuwait, June 26, 2025. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)
TEL AVIV, Israel, WASHINGTON, D.C., and AMMAN, Jordan — Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed after the U.S. and Israel launched an attack on Saturday against Iran as part of a major military campaign intended to topple the Islamic regime, President Trump said.
Trump said that other Iranian leaders were also killed.
“He was unable to avoid our Intelligence and Highly Sophisticated Tracking Systems and, working closely with Israel, there was not a thing he, or the other leaders that have been killed along with him, could do,” Trump posted on Truth Social. He added, “The heavy and pinpoint bombing, however, will continue, uninterrupted throughout the week or, as long as necessary to achieve our objective of PEACE THROUGHOUT THE MIDDLE EAST AND, INDEED, THE WORLD!”
Khamenei was killed by an Israeli strike, a person briefed on the strike told NPR. The NPR source requested anonymity because they are not authorized to speak publicly. Trump did not confirm that the strike was carried out by Israel.
Iran has not confirmed the death of Khamenei or other leaders.
The wave of airstrikes began after sunrise in Iran, with huge explosions ringing out in the capital Tehran. Videos showed large plumes of thick smoke.
Iran’s Foreign Ministry called the attack a “gross violation” of its national sovereignty. A statement said the airstrikes hit both military and civilian targets.
The Iranian Red Crescent Society relief group said more than 200 people were killed in strikes across Iran.
“They have hit many targets around me and we hear fighter jets and missiles exploding,” said a resident in western Tehran reached by phone before communications were cut in Iran. Like other Iranian residents interviewed by NPR, they did not want to use their names for fear of arrest. “People were panicking and trying to get to their homes. Children are running out of school.”
Iranian state media said one of the airstrikes hit a girls’ primary school in southern Iran, killing at least 85 children, according to the local prosecutors office. The prosecutors said more girls were still buried under the rubble. Saturday is the start of the Iranian school and work week. NPR is asking Israeli officials for comment on the report a school was hit.
Capt. Tim Hawkins, a spokesperson for U.S. Central Command, told NPR on Saturday it was aware of reports about civilians being harmed.
“We take these reports seriously and are looking into them,” Hawkins said. “The protection of civilians is of utmost importance, and we will continue to take all precautions available to minimize the risk of unintended harm. Unlike Iran, we have never — and will never — target civilians.”
Iran responded with missile and drone launches of its own, spreading the conflict to the wider region. Air raid sirens wailed in Israel as it came under attack. Several countries in the Gulf also reported Iranian strikes, including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Kuwait. The Jordanian government, which also hosts major U.S. military bases, reported it downed 49 drones and ballistic missiles threatening its territory.
“Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime, a vicious group of very hard, terrible people,” Trump said in an eight-minute video posted on Truth Social.
Source: Donald J. Trump via Truth Social
Tense lead-up to the strikes
The joint U.S.-Israeli attack — called “Epic Fury” by the Pentagon and “Roaring Lion” by Israel — came after weeks of escalating tensions and a major U.S. military buildup in the region. The U.S. had said it was trying to negotiate a deal with Iran to limit its nuclear program, holding the most recent round of talks on Thursday in Geneva. But Trump said those efforts had failed.
In the run-up to the military strike, analysts speculated on whether Trump might choose a brief, limited attack — as he has done previously in Iran and many other cases over the past year — or if he would opt for a more expansive operation. The initial impression — and the president’s own words — pointed to a large-scale, open-ended bombardment.
“We are going to destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground. It will be totally, again, obliterated,” Trump said, adding, “We’re going to annihilate their navy.”
The president claims Iran was rebuilding its nuclear program ahead of the attack — Trump had often said the program was “totally obliterated” in the U.S. and Israeli attacks last June.
Trump also told the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps to surrender: “Lay down your arms. You will be treated fairly with total immunity, or you will face certain death.”
The International Atomic Energy Agency, which monitored Iran’s program for years, as well as other nuclear experts, have said there’s no evidence that Iran has resumed the enrichment of uranium, the centerpiece of the program.
Prior to launching the attack, Trump said he preferred a negotiated deal, but would also welcome regime change. Otherwise, he offered little insight into his ultimate goal in Iran.
But in his video, he made clear that he wants Iran’s religious leadership, which has ruled for 47 years, to fall.
Speaking directly to the Iranian people, he told them to take shelter for now, while bombing is taking place. Then, he added, “When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will be, probably, your only chance for generations.”
However, the Iranian security forces brutally suppressed mass street protests last month. The U.S.-based Human Rights Activist News Agency says more than 7,000 people were killed. Trump has put the death toll at 32,000 without citing his source.
A Tehran resident reached by NPR said Saturday that internal security forces were flooding the streets in some residential neighborhoods.
“Many of them are on the streets on motorbikes, showing off their guns,” she said. “They want to create fear.”
There’s no sign the U.S. will send ground troops into Iran, and military analysts say it will be extremely difficult to topple the government with air power alone.
Therefore, it’s impossible to say whether Iran’s leadership might be vulnerable to a domestic uprising, or if it would be able to crush protests as it did earlier this year.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Saturday condemned the strikes by the U.S. and Israel, as well as the retaliatory strikes by Iran.
“We are witnessing a grave threat to international peace and security. Military action carries the risk of igniting a chain of events that no one can control in the most volatile region of the world,” Guterres said during an emergency UN Security Council meeting. “Let me be clear: There is no viable alternative to the peaceful settlement of international disputes. Lasting peace can only be achieved through peaceful means, including genuine dialogue and negotiations.”
Hundreds of targets struck
Israel’s military said it completed its biggest air force operation in the country’s history, with about 200 fighter jets hitting about 500 targets in western and central Iran, including aerial defense systems and missile launchers, expanding Israel’s aerial superiority over Iran.
An Israeli military official told reporters that the U.S. and Israeli militaries spent months building up an extensive bank of targets in Iran and were looking for the right moment to strike when senior Iranian officials would meet. The official said three separate gatherings of senior officials were struck simultaneously Saturday morning. The official said several central government figures were killed, without identifying them.
Hours before Trump announced the supreme leader’s death, NPR was told by a person briefed on the strikes that Israel’s assessment was that Supreme Leader Khamenei was hit, and later, from another source with knowledge of the strikes, that he was killed by an Israeli strike.
That account conflicts with what Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had earlier told NBC News — that Khamenei and Iran’s president were still alive “as far as I know,” as were other top officials.
The military said the operation was conducted with “full synchronization and coordination” between the Israeli and U.S. militaries.
Prime Minister Netanyahu said the goal of the joint U.S.-Israeli attack is to “remove the existential threat posed by the terrorist regime in Iran.”
“Our joint action will create the conditions for the brave Iranian people to take their destiny into their own hands,” Netanyahu said in a video.
A person briefed on the operation told NPR it was expected to last a few days, with Israel’s military focusing on targeting Iran’s missile program.
Israel has closed its airspace to all passenger flights, and civil defense protocols have been activated. Regional military forces remain on high alert.
A 48-hour state of emergency was declared nationwide. Air raid sirens sounded across Israel, with authorities warning civilians to enter bomb shelters.
Trails of smoke streaked the sky above Tel Aviv as Israeli interception systems fired at incoming missiles. A hospital in central Israel began moving operations to an underground fortified compound.
In the Gulf, several countries offered details on Iranian attacks.
Bahrain’s government said an Iranian airstrike hit the U.S. naval base that is home to the U.S. Fifth Fleet.
The United Arab Emirates, another U.S. ally, said it intercepted Iranian missiles. It said shrapnel from one of the missiles killed a national of an unspecified Asian country in Abu Dhabi.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Saturday afternoon that the president has spoken with leaders of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.
NPR’s Michele Kelemencontributed to this report. Aya Batrawy contributed reporting from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Rebecca Rosman contributed from Paris.
Michigan’s lawmakers are beginning to issue public statements following President Donald Trump’s acknowledgment that the United States is risking American lives in military action involving Iran.
So far, U.S. Sen. Gary Peters and U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib have shared their reactions. Additional responses are expected.
Sen. Gary Peters: “Our Constitution requires this check for a reason”
In a Facebook post, Sen. Gary Peters said the president is “risking American lives by dragging us into another ‘war’ in the Middle East, without Congress’ approval.”
Peters wrote that the Constitution requires congressional authorization “for a reason” and said the American people “don’t want to send their sons and daughters to another unjustified forever war across the world.”
WDET’s Russ McNamara interviewed Peters on Sunday, March 1, following the attack.
Listen: Sen. Gary Peters on the U.S.-Israel attack on Iran
Sen. Peters emphasized the the unclear goals of the operation in the long term and critiqued Republicans in congress for failing to question the president and exercise their checks on his power. He also stated that potentially starting another war in the Middle East goes against the will and priorities of the American people, and that it will likely further international tensions and distrust of the U.S. among allies.
“Thisisnotasimpledecisiontomake.Ithassignificantconsequences,includingfortheIranianpeople.Soitisonethatcannotbetakenlightly,andwhyyouneedtohaveafulldiscussionaboutwhatyourgoalsareandwhatyouhopetoaccomplish,” said Peters. “Andareyouactuallyadvancingglobalstability,orareyoumakingthingsmoreunstable?
Sen. Peters also shared concern for how vital personnel to counter terrorism have been used to bolster Immigration and Customs Enforcement, leaving gaps in U.S. security.
Peters’ team said he plans to support the Iran War Powers Resolution that is expected to go in front of congress this week. He voted in favor of Tim Kaine’s War Powers Resolution when the Trump administration launched strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities last June.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib: “The American people do not want a war with Iran”
In a statement released from Detroit, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib said, “The American people do not want a war with Iran.”
Tlaib criticized what she called the Trump administration’s “illegal war of aggression on Iran,” saying it has “already killed dozens of children” and risks igniting “a catastrophic regional war.”
She said Congress “must stop the bloodshed by immediately reconvening to exert its war powers.”
Tlaib also said Iran is “a bad actor” and that the United States must ensure the country never produces nuclear weapons. She referenced a prior diplomatic agreement on nuclear proliferation, saying President Trump withdrew from it during his first term “without a plan for what comes next.”
Tlaib called on the administration to immediately brief Congress on the strikes, including its next steps, end goal and strategy, to ensure the action “protects, not weakens, our homeland security.”
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TEL AVIV — The U.S. and Israel have launched strikes against Iran with the goal of toppling the regime, President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday.
Iran retaliated by launching missiles at Israel and a U.S. naval base in Bahrain. An Iranian official said all Israeli and U.S. interests in the region were now considered legitimate targets.
The joint U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran comes after weeks of escalating tensions and a major U.S. military buildup in the region, as the U.S. and Iran tried to negotiate a deal to limit Iran’s nuclear program. Trump said those efforts had failed.
“Bombs will be dropping everywhere,” President Trump said, addressing Iranians in a video posted to his Truth Social account. “When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take. This will be, probably, your only chance for generations.”
The Israeli military said in a statement its fighter jets were striking “dozens of military targets” in Iran with “full synchronization and coordination” between the Israeli and U.S. militaries following months of joint planning.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the goal of the joint U.S.-Israeli attack is to “remove the existential threat posed by the terrorist regime in Iran.”
“Our joint action will create the conditions for the brave Iranian people to take their destiny into their own hands,” Netanyahu said in a video.
A person briefed on the operation told NPR it was expected to last a few days, with Israel’s military focusing on targeting Iran’s missile program.
“We are going to destroy their missiles and raze their missile industry to the ground,” Trump said.
Israel has closed its airspace to all passenger flights, and civil defense protocols have been activated. Regional military forces remain on high alert.
A 48-hour state of emergency has been declared nationwide. Air raid sirens have been sounding across Israel, with authorities warning civilians to enter bomb shelters.
Trails of smoke streaked the sky above Tel Aviv as Israeli interception systems fired at incoming missiles. A hospital in central Israel began moving operations to an underground fortified compound.
“Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime, a vicious group of very hard, terrible people. It’s menacing activities directly endanger the United States, our troops, our bases overseas and our allies throughout the world,” Trump said.
Trump said the U.S. had “sought repeatedly to make a deal” but Iran “rejected every opportunity to renounce their nuclear ambitions.”
Trump told the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps to “lay down your arms… or you will face certain death.”
Iranian government media reported rocket fire in parts of the capital, Tehran. State television has broadcast footage showing smoke rising after a blast in the city. The extent of the damage and potential casualties has not yet been confirmed.
The strike follows weeks of speculation about potential military action against Iran, particularly amid a significant U.S. military buildup in the Middle East.
But here’s what most coverage misses: the millions of Iranians who want this regime gone don’t agree on what should come next.
Saeed Khan, Associate Professor of Near Eastern Studies and Global Studies at Wayne State University and a research fellow at the Center for the Study of Citizenship, joined Robyn Vincent on The Metro to break down why what happens inside Iran matters far beyond its borders.
Hear the full conversation using the media player above.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on demand.
WDET strives to make our journalism accessible to everyone. As a public media institution, we maintain our journalistic integrity through independent support from readers like you. If you value WDET as your source of news, music and conversation, please make a gift today.
There’s a lot of fear and uncertainty in Iran right now.
Protestors have faced a violent reaction from Iran’s political leaders, resulting in the death of thousands of Iranians. But the demonstrations, nonetheless, have continued — and not just in Iran.
This past weekend, the Iranian diaspora and others — amounting to hundreds of thousands of people around the world — protested the Iranian government.
The demonstrations occurred in Germany and Los Angeles and Toronto and across the river, in Windsor.
One of the people participating the ongoing protests is Mahshid Soleimani. She’s a PhD student at the University of Windsor and a leader of an Iranian student group on campus. She spoke about her perspective, as part of the Iranian diaspora, with The Metro‘s Robyn Vincent.
Listen to The Metro weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon ET on 101.9 FM and streaming on demand.
One-of-a-kind podcasts from WDET bring you engaging conversations, news you need to know and stories you love to hear. Keep the conversations coming. Please make a gift today.
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