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Iran executes Khamenei’s plan to spread regional war
Iranian forces have launched a plan devised by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Iran’s top commanders to sow chaos across the Middle East, create upheaval in global markets and raise the stakes in the hope of pressuring the US and Israel to halt their attack. A regime insider told the FT that the supreme leader - who was killed in the first wave of strikes on Tehran on Saturday - and his lieutenants began working on a “detailed” plan after Israel’s devastating 12-day war against the republic last June. This plan included attacks on energy facilities and strikes that would cause disruptions to air travel in the region, he said. “We had no choice but to escalate and start a big fire so everyone would see,” the regime insider said. “When our red lines were crossed in violation of all international laws, we could no longer adhere to the rules of the game.” The plan has been implemented despite Khamenei’s death and that of at least half a dozen top Iranian military and intelligence officials, including the defence minister and head of the elite Revolutionary Guards, in the US’s and Israel’s massive bombardment. Financial Times, March 3

US embassy in Riyadh hit by Iranian drones as Israeli troops enter southern Lebanon
Iranian drones hit the US embassy in Riyadh as Tehran continued to launch waves of retaliatory strikes at the Gulf and Israel, while Israeli soldiers began operating in southern Lebanon on the fourth day of an increasingly regional war in the Middle East. The drone attack on the US embassy in Riyadh caused a minor fire, prompting the diplomatic mission to tell Americans to distance themselves from the compound. The attack followed an earlier Iranian drone strike on the US embassy in Kuwait, as Iran continued to target US bases, facilities and personnel in Arab Gulf states. The pro-Iran group Hezbollah also continued to target Israel, saying it launched two missile salvoes overnight targeting military bases in northern Israel. In response, Israel continued to carry out strikes and issue evacuation orders for villages in south Lebanon, virtually emptying out the country south of the Litani River and turning the southern suburbs of Beirut into a ghost town. The Guardian, March 3

‘To be free, we have to be feared,’ Macron says in keynote nuclear speech
France will increase its nuclear warheads for the first time in decades, French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Monday, saying that “to be free, we have to be feared”. Macron delivered the update on the country’s nuclear strategy in a keynote speech from the military base hosting the nation's ballistic missile submarines. Macron said France was entering a new phase in its nuclear deterrence strategy, one that would complement Nato's nuclear mission and he invited European allies to participate in nuclear deterrence exercises. "What I'd like is for Europeans to regain control of their own destiny," Macron said. France is poised to increase its nuclear warheads for the first time in decades. Macron emphasised that the country's nuclear power would be in the service of peace. However, he warned of the country's capacity to potentially draw on its significant nuclear arsenal in a way "that no country, no power, however strong, could recover". France 24, March 2

Trump’s ambassador to UK rebukes head of medicines watchdog over drug pricing
Donald Trump’s ambassador to the UK summoned the head of England’s medicines watchdog to rebuke him over his resistance to higher drug prices. Ambassador Warren Stephens called in Jonathan Benger, chief executive of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, to criticise Britain’s “anti-growth policies” and express displeasure at his defence of the UK cost control system, according to people briefed on the meeting. US diplomats are said to have been angered by an interview with the FT in January in which Benger warned that giving in to Trump’s demands for higher drug payments by weakening the role of Nice would be a “huge backwards step”. The US administration is pushing for further increases in the amount the NHS pays for medicines after Starmer last year agreed to raise spending on new drugs by 25 per cent to avoid tariffs threatened by Trump. The leaders of some of the world’s biggest pharmaceutical companies will tell the prime minister at a virtual meeting scheduled for Wednesday that Britain needs further policy changes to raise spending by more than already announced if they are to increase investment in the UK. Financial Times, March 3

UK ministers to ban violent and degrading pornography online
Ministers will ban online pornography depicting violent and degrading acts such as rape and incest, The Times understands. Websites will be held to the same standard as pornographic videos sold in sex shops and will be forced to remove illegal, harmful or abusive content. Ministers are expected to “accept as a point of principle” that the same rules which apply offline must also apply online and will set out plans in the Lords on Monday. It will commit the government to coming up with a plan on how to regulate the sites within six months. Currently the British Board of Film Classification is responsible for checking and licensing pornographic videos sold in sex shops - but has no responsibility for online material. Bringing the two into line was one of several recommendations made by a task force set up to investigate so-called “extreme porn”, which has become increasingly prevalent online. The Times, March 2

Rembrandt painting worth millions rediscovered after 65 years
A long lost painting by Rembrandt has been rediscovered and authenticated by experts, after its whereabouts were unknown for decades. Rembrandt's Vision of Zacharias in the Temple, from 1633, was excluded from a list of the Dutch master's works in 1960 and disappeared after being sold to a private collector the following year. But it resurfaced when its owners presented it for tests at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, which undertook a two-year examination. BBC news, March 2

US ‘warplanes downed in Kuwait’ as Iran conflict escalates
“Several US warplanes” have crashed in Kuwait, according to the Gulf state’s ministry of defence. The confirmation came after video footage showed what appeared to be a F-15 fighter jet crashing close to a military airbase where there was an American presence in Kuwait. “Several US warplanes crashed this morning. Confirming that all crew members survived,” a defence ministry spokesman said, adding that the cause was under investigation. “Authorities immediately initiated search and rescue operations, evacuating the crews and transporting them to a hospital for medical evaluation and treatment. He noted that their condition is stable,” they added. The Times, March 2

Analysis: Lebanon pulled into widening conflict
There is now a new front in a war that is spreading across the Middle East. Last night Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shia militia group that has been backed by Iran to the tune of billions of dollars, fired missiles at the Israeli city of Haifa. Israel responded with a wide-ranging air assault. Hezbollah’s stronghold in the southern suburbs of Beirut was targeted as well as areas close to the city’s airport. In the south of the country, Israel has told people in more than 50 Lebanese villages to evacuate, with strikes there too. Hezbollah is no longer the force it was after being pummelled by Israel in the war 18 months ago. But with strong ideological, religious and financial ties to Iran, it was almost inevitable the group would be pulled into a conflict in which almost every country in the Middle East is now embroiled. BBC news, March 2

Oil and gas prices soar and stocks slide as Middle East conflict escalates
Oil and gas prices surged and global stocks fell on Monday as the widening conflict in the Middle East disrupted energy supplies from the region and threatened to hit the global economy. In a marked escalation from the weekend, one of Saudi Arabia’s largest oil refineries was attacked by drones, forcing a shutdown. Analysts warned the escalating conflict could now spread to energy infrastructure across the Gulf, potentially causing a prolonged rise in oil prices. In the first trading session since the US and Israel launched air strikes against Iran on Saturday, Brent crude, the international benchmark, soared as much as 13 per cent in early trading. It later fell back to trade 8 per cent higher. Worries about a disruption to liquefied natural gas exports from Qatar also saw European gas prices jump 24 per cent. Gold rose and global stocks fell, with the Stoxx Europe 600, Europe’s benchmark index, down 1.3 per cent, led by declines in airlines and hotel groups. Financial Times, March 2

Keir Starmer will let US use UK bases for attacks on Iranian missile sites
The US has been granted permission to use British military bases to launch attacks on Iranian missile storage depots and launchers, Sir Keir Starmer announced on Sunday. London has given approval for RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire and the joint UK-US military base of Diego Garcia in the Chagos Islands to be used by Washington, according to British officials. The UK prime minister said the move was “in line with international law”, as it underscored the “collective self-defence of longstanding friends and allies”, and would help safeguard British lives and interests. Gulf nations had urged London to do more to protect the region, he added. An hour after his statement, an unmanned attack drone hit the runway at RAF Akrotiri, Britain’s military base in Cyprus, UK foreign secretary Yvette Cooper confirmed on Monday. UK officials are still investigating the timing and location of the drone’s launch but believe it was airborne before Starmer’s announcement. There were no casualties. Financial Times, March 2

Belgium, France seize Russian 'shadow fleet' tanker in the North Sea
Belgium's special forces boarded and seized an oil tanker allegedly belonging to what has been dubbed the "shadow fleet" Russia uses to circumvent Western sanctions over the war in Ukraine, the government said on Sunday. Deputy Prime Minister Maxime Prévot said the vessel was intercepted in the North Sea during an overnight operation. "Today, a vessel from Russia's shadow fleet was intercepted in the North Sea," Prévot wrote on X, thanking Belgian special forces for their "exceptional professionalism and courage". Belgian Defence Minister Theo Francken said the intercepted tanker was "being escorted to the port of Zeebrugge, where it will be seized". A Belgian official ‌said the seized vessel is named Ethera and is on the European Union's ​sanctions list. France 24, March 1

Refugee status to be temporary as Shabana Mahmood rips up rules on UK asylum
Shabana Mahmood has ripped up the government’s asylum rules so that from Monday every refugee will be told that their status is temporary and will last just 30 months … The home secretary said that claimants whose countries are deemed to be safe by the UK government will from now on be expected to return. The announcement comes despite pleas from some Labour MPs, peers and affiliated unions this weekend for Keir Starmer’s government to shift towards progressive policies after the party came third in Thursday’s Gorton and Denton byelection. The changes include plans to double to 10 years the amount of time some foreign nationals must wait before they can settle in the UK. The Guardian, March 1