Reuters World News - UPDATE – The Iran war: NATO, warship torpedoed and Khamenei’s son

Episode Date: March 4, 2026

*This podcast has been updated for the latest news on the US-Israeli war with details of the U.S. sinking an Iranian warship off Sri Lanka’s coast, and NATO downing an Iranian missile headed into Turkish airspace.  Ayatollah Ali Khamanei’s son Mojtaba has survived U.S. and Israeli strikes and is seen as a possible successor to his father. The Pentagon identifies the first U.S. soldiers killed in the Iran war. Hezbollah faces an uncertain future in Lebanon after its Shi’ite support base grows weary of being dragged into the Iran crisis. Plus, the most expensive Senate primary in history heads to a runoff in Texas.  Listen to the Morning Bid podcast ⁠⁠here⁠⁠. Sign up for the Reuters Econ World newsletter ⁠⁠here⁠⁠. Listen to the Reuters Econ World podcast ⁠⁠here⁠⁠. Visit the Thomson Reuters Privacy Statement for information on our privacy and data protection practices. You may also visit megaphone.fm/adchoices to opt out of targeted advertising. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hi, I'm Kim Vinal in Wonganui, New Zealand. And I'm Tara Oaks in Liverpool. It's Wednesday, March 4th. Today, the U.S. Israeli war with Iran enters a new more dangerous phase, with NATO defences destroying an Iranian missile as it headed into Turkish airspace, and the U.S. sinking an Iranian warship off Sri Lanka's coast. As Israel pounds Lebanon, will Hezbollah survive? And primary season is underway with a hotly contested Texas Senate seat heading to a runoff.

This is Reuters World News, bringing you everything you need to know from the front lines in 10 minutes, seven days a week. War in the Middle East is spreading. Turkey says NATO shot down an Iranian missile heading into its airspace. Video from Ilhas News Agency shows a crane. lifting the debris of the air defense system out of the water in Turkey's southern Hatay province. It was unclear what the missile's intended target was, but a NATO spokesperson said the defence bloc condemned Iran's targeting of Turkey. An attack on Turkey, a NATO member, would mark a major escalation and risks drawing the alliance into the war. Defense Secretary Pete Hexseth

played down that risk to reporters, saying he didn't expect NATO's mutual defense clause would be triggered by the incident. We're aware of that particular engagement, although no sense that it would trigger anything like Article 5. No. At that press conference at the Pentagon, Hexat said the U.S. was just getting started on its war in Iran. First, we are only four days into this. Metrics are shifting, dust is settling, and more forces.

are arriving. It's very early. And as President Trump has said, we will take all the time we need to make sure that we succeed. He made the remarks after the U.S. sunk an Iranian warship of a coast of Sri Lanka, the strike triggering a Sri Lanka Navy rescue operation for dozens of Iranian sailors. Here's hegg Seth again. An American submarine sunk an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters. Instead, it was sunk by a torpedo, quiet death. The first sinking of an enemy ship by a torpedo since World War II. And in Iran, Mujahabha Khamenei, the son of late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has survived U.S. and Israeli assaults so far.

And he's favored to succeed his father. That's according to two Iranian sources. 55-year-old Mujahibah is one of the most influential figures in the Iranian. clerical establishment, and he's known as a hardliner with deep ties to the Revolutionary Guards. Tehran says a new supreme leader will be chosen soon. Meanwhile, plans are in flux for the funeral of Ayatollah Ali Hamenei. His body was due to lie in state in a Tehran mosque from this evening, but state media says this plan has been postponed.

The Pentagon has identified four US soldiers killed in a drone strike in Kuwait. the first American casualties named in the escalating war with Iran. They were army reservists from an Iowa-based logistics unit. The youngest, 20-year-old Sergeant Declan Cody, had only enlisted in 2023. The Trump administration is warning lawmakers to expect more casualties. It comes amid criticism from some of a lack of unity on the messaging around the operation, from the U.S. On Monday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio suggested that an adamant Israel effectively forced Washington into the operation. We knew that there was going to be an Israeli

action. We knew that that would precipitate an attack against American forces. And we knew that if we didn't preemptively go after them before they launched those attacks, we would suffer higher casualties. But on Tuesday, Trump said that wasn't the case at all. based on the way the negotiation was going, I think they were going to attack first. And I didn't want that to happen. So if anything, I might have forced Israel's hand. Our State Department reporter Simon Lewis has been tracking the administration's messaging. These messaging wrinkles in the last few days have kind of shown is that a lot of planning went into the strikes themselves, into targeting, into getting all these U.S. forces in the region.

What doesn't seem to have been planned out is firstly the messaging of how we're going to sell this to the American people. And we're also seeing there's not much planning on how to prepare US citizens and US embassies and those kind of things in the region. It does seem like a lot of planning went into the strikes themselves and the targeting and the kind of kinetic aspect of this. But it would seem that there's been less thought, less planning has gone into what happens after. Rubio has since said that the administration did not strike Iran because of Israel, saying, quote, this had to happen anyway. While we're in the US, we'll go to Texas, where US Senator John Cornyn and Texas Attorney General, Ken Paxton, are set to square off in a high-stakes runoff for the state's

Republican nomination for the Senate. It pits a long-time member of the party's establishment against an insurgent hardliner as the midterm elections kicked off. Neither was able to get past the 50% threshold necessary to win outright in Tuesday's voting, meaning the most expensive Senate primary in history will extend into May. Whoever wins will face state lawmaker James Telerico and in North Carolina, I'm humbled and excited to accept the Democratic nomination to become North Carolina's next United States Senator. Former Democratic Governor Roy Cooper, after winning his party's nomination for an open Senate seat, a race Democrats say they must win to have any chance of taking control of the chamber.

Cooper will face Republican Michael Watley in November. To Ecuador now, where U.S. and Ecuadorian forces, have launched joint operations to combat drug trafficking. That's according to the U.S. Southern Command. Details are sparse. The Ecuadorian Defense Ministry says details of the operation are classified. As the U.S.-Israel conflict widens, an Israeli strike on a residential building in Lebanon's Beqar Valley

has killed at least four people. It comes after Iran-backed Hezbollah fired drones and missiles, at Israel to avenge the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamini. Since then, Israeli troops have pushed further into the country, beyond the positions they already held. Maya Jabali in Beirut has more on how and why the conflict expanded to Lebanon after Hezbollah's move. It actually took so many people by surprise that we've actually heard some voices express anger and frustration, even within Hezbollah's traditional base of,

support because they really thought that for once Lebanon would steer clear of the regional melee. So actually we heard from Shiite Lebanese that they were completely floored, they were completely stunned, and that they were dismayed, that this has once again opened up a new wave of displacement of Shiites from Lebanon, southern suburbs, from the south. Maya says there's a high-stakes attempt to rein in Hezbollah. Lebanese government has really adopted and pushed for this policy of a complete disarmament. What has happened this week, what was new on Monday, is that cabinet voted to consider any Hezbollah military or security activities to be illegal.

So this was another step that appeared to deepen this confrontation between the government and Hezbollah. And Maya says there are implications for Hezbollah longer term. I mean, on Lebanese news channels all day, that was essentially the main subject that everybody was talking about was this idea that this new decision to enter into. into the war raging across the Middle East, has left the party further isolated, has confused its supporters,

have left them wondering what their fate is if they're going to be continually joining wars that weren't a Lebanese, that wasn't a Lebanese war to begin with. And Trump says the US Navy could begin escorting oil tankers through the Strait of Hormuz as the war sends energy prices sharply higher.

The move comes as shipping through the strait remains effectively close, after Iranian attacks on vessels brought tanker traffic almost to a standstill. For more on how all of this is impacting global markets, listen to our sister podcast MorningBid. It is available wherever you get your podcasts. For more on any of the stories from today, check out Reuters.com or the Reuters app. Don't forget to follow us on your favourite podcast player. If you're listening on a smart speaker, just ask for the latest news.

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