War with Iran enters fourth day as more countries are drawn in

0:00Good morning. President Trump lays out his case for war. An Iranian regime armed with long-range missiles and nuclear weapons would be an intolerable threat to the Middle East but also to the American people. We'll bring you the latest. And the Wall Street Journal explores what's driving the Pentagon's strategy. An NPR looks at how Iranians on the ground are reacting. It's Tuesday, March 3rd. I'm Cecilia Lay and this is Apple News Today. As the war with Iran enters its fourth day, the scale of the conflict has intensified and spread, pulling in more countries, bringing more casualties and raising many more questions. One day saw a new wave of strikes on both sides and fighting that spread across the Middle

1:00East. Israel shook southern bay route with retaliatory strikes aimed at Hezbollah and Lebanon yesterday after they had sent rockets into Israel. Iranian strikes, meanwhile, were reported in the United Arab Emirates and the U.S. Embassy in Saudi Arabia was hit by drones. Beyond Israel, eight countries in the Middle East have now reported strikes by Iran. The State Department warned U.S. citizens still in large parts of the Middle East to quote, depart now. Meanwhile, the death toll rose on all sides. AP reported 11 Israeli deaths while over 500 people in Iran had been killed so far, according to the Iranian Red Crescent Society. And six American service members have now died following Iranian strikes at a military base in Kuwait. Three more ejected safely after Kuwaiti air defenses mistakenly shot down U.S. jets. Yesterday, the Trump administration shared details on its war aims in rationale.

2:01Speaking from the White House, Trump indicated that the conflict would go on for as long as necessary. Our objectives are clear first. We're destroying Iran's missile capabilities and you see that happening on an hourly basis and their capacity to produce brand new ones and pretty good ones they make. Second, we're annihilating their navy. We've knocked out already 10 ships. They're at the bottom of the sea. Third, we're ensuring that the world's number one sponsor of terror can never obtain a nuclear weapon. Meanwhile, Secretary of State Marco Rubio briefed lawmakers on Monday that the strikes were intended to address an imminent threat from Iran. He also told reporters that the U.S. had gone to war in anticipation of an Israeli attack. 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 and perhaps even hire those killed. And then we would all be here

3:05answering questions about why we knew that in day and night. Rubio echoed the president's message about the days ahead warning that quote, the hardest hits are yet to come. But his classified briefing left Democratic minority leader Chuck Schumer unimpressed. He said it had raised more questions than answers. On the Senate floor, Schumer said that Trump had launched a conflict without a plan. This is a war of choice, not necessity. And regardless of whether you're a Democrat or Republican or an independent, or even if you don't pay attention to politics, there's one thing almost everyone agrees on. We are sick and tired of endless wars in the Middle East. Speaking to CNN, Iran's deputy foreign minister, Majdi Takht Ravanchi, said the U.S. had betrayed diplomacy and defended their decision to target nearby Middle East countries. We informed our neighbors that if the America or Israel engages in animosity against Iran, definitely we will be in self-defense mode and we will target the American assets, the

4:10American military bases in the region, wherever they are located. The conflict now risks causing spikes to the global energy market. Iran has threatened to fire at any tankers looking to cross the strait of Harmuz, a critical choke point for oil traders. And across the Gulf, hundreds of thousands of people hoping to flee the region have been left stranded as airports grounded flights. Yesterday, Dubai's airport, the world's busiest for international travel, began resuming a limited number of flights after three days of closure. As the administration signals a willingness to step up its campaign, others raised concerns about starting a conflict without a clear end. The kind of war that Trump has long campaigned against. Speaking yesterday at a press briefing, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth dismissed those looking to make historical comparisons. This is not a so-called regime change war, but the regime sure did change and the world

5:16is better off for it. The mission of Operation Epic Fury is laser-focused. Destroy Iranian offensive missiles, destroy Iranian missile production, destroy their navy and other security infrastructure, and they will never have nuclear weapons. This is not a rack. This is not endless. I was there for both. To get a sense of what the Pentagon strategy might be, we spoke to Alex Ward, a national security reporter with the Wall Street Journal. It's pretty clear they're flying this plane as they're building it. Ward explained that Trump had demonstrated again that the U.S. military was capable of carrying out extraordinary operations abroad, but that his longer term goals for Iran were less clear. It is a war that is removed to the leadership of Iran. By definition, there has been a regime change. The question is, does it exist in some sort of other mode or does it get pushed out or do protesters go back out there and the U.S. gets deeper in? We don't know, and frankly, it doesn't seem like the president does either. At the get-go, we've had multiple

6:17shifting rationales for war, and since it's begun, we've had multiple shifting rationales of what they're aiming to achieve. So there's just nothing normal or consistent about what's going on here. Ward reports that the war's length would depend on the objectives. If it's about dismantling all of Iran's missile capabilities, that might mean a shorter campaign, potentially similar in scope to the U.S. Israeli strikes last year. But if it's about a regime change, inspiring an entirely new form of government would be a much longer and far more difficult undertaking, especially if the security apparatus remains intact and the opposition lacks unity or military force. Ward says predicting a timeline might be futile in either scenario. I would not be surprised at this war under the next 24 hours with a deal of some sort. I would not be surprised at this war extended for four to five weeks. I would not be surprised at this war grew into a global quagmire. Like anything and everything is possible. And granted, I mean, even with the best laid plans, that would probably still be true. But there are no plans, best or otherwise, in this case.

7:19About a week ago, Ward reported that Dan Cain, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had offered Trump some pretty serious warnings about an attack on Iran. General Cain was said to have cautioned that the U.S. could face munitions shortfalls, troop casualties, and a lack of support from allies. But in a rare on-camera briefing yesterday, General Cain described the operation as historic in scope. This is not a single overnight operation. The military objectives that Sencom and the Joint Force have been tasked with will take some time to achieve. And in some cases will be difficult and gritty work. We expect to take additional losses. And as always, we will work to minimize U.S. losses. But as the secretary said, this is major combat operations. How those living in Iran respond to the strikes could shape where this conflict is heading.

8:21Trump has urged Iranians to see this as an opportunity to take over the country, but it's incredibly difficult to get an aggregate picture for how people might respond in the coming days. Jane Arraf is an international correspondent for NPR and spoke to us from Jordan. There have been scattered celebrations across the country after Hamani around spiritual leader was killed. But at the same time, there are still a lot of people who support the regime. And we saw that with what seemed to be very large crowds gathering to mourn the death of Ayatollah Ali after he was killed in airstrikes on Saturday. Arraf stress that Iran is a vast and complicated place with huge restrictions. There's been almost a total internet blackout since the attacks began. And in the last violent crackdown, the regime killed thousands to suppress dissent. But she did manage to make contact with a few people there who shared a feeling of surprise, even with the military buildup these past few weeks. In Iran, the government isn't going to say take shelter or stock up on food. There might be a

9:26war coming that just doesn't happen. So for that reason, a lot of people were saying that they were shocked that it happened then. They thought maybe it might happen, but maybe in a few days, a few weeks, but it was all quite sudden. Arraf said that even if protesters wanted to follow Trump's urging, it's far from clear how it would happen or who in a scattered opposition would lead the effort. Certainly, they're not in any position to overthrow the government now. There's no clear successor to the Iranian regime. Iranian opposition groups are very divided. They don't have a lot of support within Iran. And this is the thing that most countries that are now in the middle of this have been afraid of. That if there is regime change that's broad about through US military means that it will continue to be chaos and have an extremely destabilizing effect on the entire region. One person that is pitching himself to lead Iran,

10:27at least for the time being, is Reza Pallavi. He is the son of Iran's last shot and has been living in exile in the US since the 1979 revolution that deposed his father. He spoke to 60 minutes on Sunday. Millions of Iranians inside Iran and that side of Iran are calling my name. They recognize in me the person uniquely placed to play a role of transitional leadership. Not running for office because that's not what I'm doing, but to be a bridge to that destiny. In reality, it's unknown how easily Pallavi could unite in opposition divided across ideological and ethnic lines. After the death of the Ayatollah, Iran's constitution granted power to a 3% panel until a new Supreme Leader is declared. And finally, a few other stories were following. Texas voters head to the polls today for two unusually competitive primary races for the US Senate.

11:28Four-term Republican Senator John Cornyn is facing a primary challenge from state attorney general Ken Paxton and Representative Wesley Hunt. Political observers say the race has national implications if Cornyn is ousted. It could give Democrats a rare opening in the red state. A University of Texas poll last month showed that Paxton, a Maga loyalist, is leading Cornyn slightly despite Cornyn and other groups spending $69 million on ads, making it one of the priciest primaries on record. On the Democratic side, Representative Jasmine Crockett and State Representative James Tolerico are facing off for their party's nomination, a showdown that's being watched closely as a test case of how Democrats can win in the upcoming midterms. The last time a Democrat held a Senate seat in Texas was in 1993. Video of depositions given last week by former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton were released by the House Oversight Committee yesterday. The Clintons were deposed near their home in Chapacua, New York, in the committee's investigation into Jeffrey

12:32Epstein. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has maintained she never met Epstein or knew of his crimes. She struck a defiant tone in more than six hours of questioning. If the majority was serious, it would not waste time on fishing expeditions. There is too much to be done. What is being held back? Who is being protected? And why the cover-up? Meanwhile, former President Clinton acknowledged a business relationship with Epstein, but denied any wrongdoing. He also defended his wife and questioned the way the committee had treated her. I do think you should be talking to me. I think you should have called me. I did take those blind trips with him. And you have a right to ask those questions. President Clinton said he hoped the video of his testimony would compel the Justice Department to release the remaining Epstein files. The Clintons are the highest profile figures to testify publicly about Epstein. The couple gave their depositions after being threatened with contempt of Congress. You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app. And if you're

13:37already listening in the News app right now, we've got a narrated article coming up next. The New Yorker reports on the trial of Gisele Pellico, the woman at the center of France's largest rape trial. Her bravery brought over 50 men to justice because fractures inside her own family. If you're listening in the podcast app, follow Apple News Plus Narrated to find that story. And I'll be back with the news tomorrow.