On a US late-night television show Saturday, the host played a clip from 2011 of a businessman warning that president Barack Obama "will start a war with Iran because he has absolutely no ability to negotiate."
That businessman was Donald Trump. Fast-forward 15 years and Trump, now in his own second term as president, ordered huge military strikes on Iran when talks with Tehran brought no breakthrough.
By Lili Bayer and Andrew Gray
BRUSSELS, March 1 (Reuters) - The European Union's 27 nations on Sunday called for "maximum restraint" and full respect for international law in the Iran conflict, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said.
"We call for maximum restraint, protection of civilians and full respect of international law, including the principles of the United Nations Charter, and international humanitarian law," said a statement issued by Kallas on behalf of all EU members.
France, Germany and the UK said Sunday they were ready to defend their interests and those of its allies in the Gulf if necessary by taking "defensive action" against Iran.
The three countries' leaders were "appalled by the indiscriminate and disproportionate missile attacks launched by Iran against countries in the region, including those who were not involved in initial US and Israeli military operations", said the joint statement.
By Samia Nakhoul, Parisa Hafezi and Emily Rose
DUBAI, March 1 (Reuters) - The assassination of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has plunged the Islamic Republic into its most perilous crisis since the 1979 revolution - confronting it with war on its own territory, an unresolved succession, and mounting internal strain.
DUBAI, March 1 (Reuters) - Israeli strikes hit a hospital in Tehran’s Gandhi Street area, two witnesses told Reuters on Sunday, saying the hospital was badly damaged and patients were being taken out.
(Reporting by Parisa HafeziEditing by Peter Graff)
By Doina Chiacu
March 1 (Reuters) - The United States has yet to spell out a "day-after" strategy for Iran following joint U.S.-Israeli strikes that killed much of the country's leadership, lawmakers from both major political parties said on Sunday.
Ilana Malka doesn't know if her three great-nephews are alive after an Iranian missile struck a shelter in her city of Beit Shemesh, in central Israel, leaving a crater in the ground and a void in the community.
The building that housed the shelter was blown to bits by the hit, sending chunks of concrete large enough to destroy cars 50 metres (yards) away.
The missile hit the public protection centre while its door was still open to allow people in, Malka and other residents said, killing at least 9, injuring 46, and leaving 11 missing, according to the police.
At least 17 people were killed Sunday across Pakistan as protesters outraged over the death of Iran's supreme leader took to the streets, with some attempting to storm US diplomatic buildings.
In the Pakistani megacity of Karachi, an AFP journalist witnessed hundreds of pro-Iranian protesters trying to enter the US consulate, prompting clashes with police.
At least 10 people had died and over 70 were injured as of Sunday evening, the office of the Karachi police surgeon said.
Earlier, a hospital toll seen by AFP listed nine people as having died from gunshot wounds.
The killing of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the ongoing US-Israeli bombing campaign have ushered in a period of uncertainty for the country's leadership.
At the beginning of the air campaign, US President Donald Trump urged Iranians to seize power once it was over, having voiced support for mass protests against the clerical leadership that peaked in January before a deadly crackdown.
- Continuity for now -
By Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali
WASHINGTON, March 1 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Sunday that the U.S. military was sinking Iran's Navy, having destroyed nine Iranian warships so far and "going after the rest."
Trump made the announcement in a social media post as the Pentagon intensified its bombings of Iran's military, deploying B-2 stealth bombers from the U.S. to strike at hardened, underground Iranian missile facilities with 2,000-lb bombs.
U.S. strikes also pummeled Iran's naval headquarters, largely destroying it, Trump said.
