LISBON, March 4 (Reuters) - Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro defended his decision to let the United States use the Lajes airbase on Portugal's Azores Islands during the Iran bombing campaign, a position at odds with that of neighbour Spain which refused such requests.

A longstanding agreement with the United States allows Washington to use the base without prior authorisation during peacetime, but required Portugal to give approval once hostilities began.

By Lucy Craymer, Raghed Waked and Alessandro Parodi

DUBAI, March 4 (Reuters) - Stranded passengers in the Gulf states are waiting for one thing: a phone call confirming their flight home will depart.

Even then, few celebrate until the plane has taken off and cleared Emirati airspace.

"There was just this eerie feeling on the plane. Everyone was just dead quiet. No one really spoke," said Zoe Jackson, who was on one of the first flights out of Dubai on Tuesday.

By Michael Georgy

DUBAI, March 4 (Reuters) - Ayatollah Alireza Arafi has emerged as a central figure in Iran’s power structure at a moment of unprecedented turmoil, propelled into a leadership role from the ranks of top clerics after the killing of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Once known largely as a scholar‑administrator, the hardline cleric is now one of three senior officials entrusted with steering the state through its most volatile period since the 1979 revolution.

WARSAW, March 4 (Reuters) - Iran's government is making a strong case for its demise by indiscriminately attacking its neighbours, EU's top diplomat Kaja Kallas told reporters on Wednesday.

"Iran's strategy is to sow chaos and set the region on fire," Kallas said.

Turkey said earlier on Wednesday thatNATO air defences destroyed an Iranian ballistic missile headed into Turkish airspace.

Terrified travellers fleeing war in Iran for the safety of neighbouring countries have described the extent of US and Israeli air strikes around the country, which have pummelled many regional cities as well as the capital Tehran.

AFP spoke to Iranians as well as foreign students and traders at border crossings in Pakistan and Turkey, and was able to interview others trying to flee by phone or text messages despite widespread communication problems.

DOHA, March 4 (Reuters) - Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told his Qatari counterpart Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani that Iranian missile attacks were directed at U.S. interests and not at Qatar.

Qatar's top diplomat "categorically rejected" that claim and called for an immediate halt to Iran’s attacks, the Qatari Foreign Ministry said on X.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman said his country would confront any aggression with its "right to self-defence," stressing that Doha has always been inclined towards dialogue and diplomacy conducted in good faith.

A UK warship due to be sent to Cyprus amid the US and Israel's war with Iran will not set sail from Britain until next week, Western officials said Wednesday.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced on Tuesday that he was deploying HMS Dragon, a Type 45 defence destroyer to aid Britain's "defensive operations" in the region.

Starmer also said he was sending two Wildcat helicopters with counter-drone capabilities.

By Tuvan Gumrukcu

ANKARA, March 4 (Reuters) - Turkey said that NATO air defences destroyed an Iranian ballistic missile headed into Turkish airspace on Wednesday, marking the first time the alliance member has been drawn into the Middle East conflict and raising the possibility of a major expansion involving its bloc allies.

By Anna Hirtenstein, Andrew Mills and Jonathan Saul

March 4 (Reuters) - Iranian drone attacks could disrupt the Strait of Hormuz for months, but how long the Islamic Republic could sustain its missile barrage is less clear, according to intelligence sources and military analysts.

The US Senate on Wednesday rejected a resolution aimed at curbing President Donald Trump's authority to continue military strikes on Iran, in a narrow congressional show of support for a conflict launched without explicit approval from lawmakers.

The bipartisan measure, introduced by Democrat Tim Kaine and Republican Rand Paul, would have required the withdrawal of US forces from hostilities against Iran unless Congress authorizes the campaign.