By Gram Slattery and Erin Banco

March 1 (Reuters) - Following the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday, many senior U.S. officials remain skeptical that the U.S. and Israeli military operation against the Islamic Republic will lead to a regime change in the near term.

Before and after the start of the attack, U.S. officials, including U.S. President Donald Trump, had suggested that toppling the nation's repressive governing system was one of several U.S. goals, in addition to crippling Iran's ballistic missile and nuclear programs.

By Laila Bassam, Yomna Ehab and Nayera Abdallah

March 2 (Reuters) - Israeli military said on Monday it was striking targets of the Iran-backed Hezbollah militants across Lebanon, after the group launched missiles and drones towards Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.

The projectiles launched by the Lebanese militant group were the first since the start of U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran.

By Renju Jose

SYDNEY, March 2 (Reuters) - Australia said on Monday it would not take part in any military operations in Iran, ruling out deploying troops to the Middle East if the conflict escalates, as Israel launched fresh strikes on Tehran and Iran responded with more missile attacks.

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei was killed in an attack on Saturday, while the United States reported its first casualties in the war as U.S. President Donald Trump hinted the conflict could last for four more weeks.

Israel bombarded Lebanon on Monday, expanding conflict across the region after the massive Israel-US attack on Iran that President Donald Trump launched to topple Tehran's ruling clerics.

Israeli forces pounded targets across Lebanon including Beirut, after Hezbollah, the Tehran-backed armed Shiite Muslim movement fired rockets towards Israel in retaliation for the killing of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

"Large-scale strikes" were also ongoing in the heart of Tehran, Israeli forces said, as the US military widened its targets across Iran on Sunday.

MOSCOW, March 1 - About 500 Russian nationals are readying for evacuation from Iran via Azerbaijan, the Russian embassy in Baku said on Sunday.

"We would like to express our gratitude to the Azerbaijani side for their assistance, including for the prompt consideration of issues related to the issuance of border crossing permits," it said on its Telegram channel.

A source close to the Azerbaijani government said 192 individuals had been evacuated from Iran to Azerbaijan over 38 hours, including 82 Azerbaijani nationals.

March 1 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Sunday that his country has accepted a U.S. request to use British bases for defensive strikes against Iranian missiles in storage depots or launchers.

"The United States has requested permission to use British bases for that specific and limited defensive purpose. We have taken the decision to accept this request to prevent Iran firing missiles across the region," he said in a video message on X.

WASHINGTON, March 1 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump warned on Sunday that combat operations in Iran were continuing and would carry on until all of Washington's objectives are achieved.

Trump confirmed in a video posted on Truth Social that three U.S. service members had been killed and said there would likely be more casualties, vowing to avenge the deaths of Americans.

"Combat operations continue at this time in full force, and they will continue until all of our objectives are achieved. We have very strong objectives," Trump said.

March 1 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump suggested the conflict with Iran could go on for the next four weeks, the Daily Mail newspaper reported on Sunday.

"It's always been a four-week process. We figured it will be four weeks or so. It's always been about a four-week process so - as strong as it is, it's a big country, it'll take four weeks - or less," the British newspaper quoted Trump as saying.

Trump told the newspaper he remained open to more talks with the Iranians, but did not say if that would happen "soon."

Dubai has been transformed into a major global economic hub through diversification in sectors such as transportation, finance and tourism, to reduce its dependency on fossil fuels.

The emirate, along with several Middle Eastern cities such as Doha and Manama, was hit on Sunday morning by a series of explosions, the day after attacks by Iran in the Gulf in response to US-Israeli strikes that killed the Islamic republic's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

March 1 (Reuters) - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Sunday that the changes in Iran brought about by U.S. and Israeli strikes should be "used properly" to benefit the country's people who had withstood violence from their authorities.

Zelenskiy, speaking in his nightly video address, said Iran's authorities had killed "tens of thousands of people in the last couple of months alone," referring to a crackdown on protests.