Day: March 5, 2026
The figure includes at least 100,000 people estimated to have fled Tehran in recent days, more than 84,000 forced from their homes in Lebanon and roughly 118,000 people in Afghanistan and Pakistan, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
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Despite mass internal migration in Iran, “there has so far been no major increase in cross-border movements from Iran linked to recent events”, the agency said.
Meanwhile, over 30,000 people, mostly Syrians but also some Lebanese, have crossed into Syria from Lebanon.
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Zero oil tankers transited the critical waterway on Wednesday, News.Az reports, citing CNN.
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That’s down from three oil and chemical tankers that went through the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday.
By comparison, 65 oil and chemical vessels went through the Strait of Hormuz on February 27, the final day before the war started and vessels started getting attacked and insurers dropped maritime coverage.
“You’re seeing the strait get bottled up. It’s hard for vessels to get in or out,” an oil industry official told CNN today.
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Ilham Aliyev, Azerbaijan’s president, said Iran committed an act of terror when a drone struck an Azerbaijani airport on Thursday. Iran denies responsibility for the attack. File Photo by Nathan Howard/UPI | License Photo
March 5 (UPI) — Drones struck a passenger terminal at Azerbaijan’s Nakhchivan International Airport on Thursday, while Iran denies involvement in the attacks.
Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its president are blaming Tehran for the attacks, which injured at least two people at the airport terminal. A second drone fell near a school in the village of Shakarabad in the district of Nakchivan.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev called the incident an “act of terror.”
“Today, Iran committed an act of terror against the territory of Azerbaijan, against the state of Azerbaijan,” he said during a meeting with the Azerbaijani Security Council. “The Iranian state fired unmanned aerial vehicles on the territory of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic.”
Azerbaijan neighbors Iran to the northwest. The Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic is part of the country but is not geographically connected to it, separated by the southern region of Armenia.
“Iranian officials must provide an explanation to the Azerbaijani side, an apology must be offered and those who committed this terrorist act must be held criminally liable,” Aliyev added.
Nakhchivan was a key part of a peace deal signed last year between Armenia and Azerbaijan, brokered by the United States. The deal granted the United States the right to develop a trade route between Azerbaijan and its territory in Nakhchivan, passing through southern Armenia.
Deputy Foreign Minister of Iran Kazem Gharibabadi denied that Iran targeted Azerbaijan.
“We do not target our neighboring countries,” Gharibabadi told Iran’s state news agency. “Iran’s policy is only to strike the military bases of its enemies.”
Iran has launched counterattacks against the United States and Israel following initial strikes by the two countries’ militaries. The scope of attacks have continued to widen across the Middle East in recent days.
On Wednesday, NATO air defense units posted in the Mediterranean Sea downed an Iranian missile headed toward Turkey’s airspace. Turkey neighbors Nakhchivan and Armenia to the west.
Israel has meanwhile widened its targets to include Hezbollah sites in Lebanon.
An Iranian flag stands amid the destruction in Enghelab Square following the attacks carried out by the United States and Israel on Tehran, Iran, on March 4, 2026. Photo by Nahal Farzaneh/UPI | License Photo
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- Aliyev vows attacks on Azerbaijan ‘will face our Iron Fist’ after Iran drone strike Euronews.com
- Azerbaijan says Iran struck its territory, as war spills over border BBC
- Azerbaijan’s President Aliyev vows retaliation after ‘terrorist’ drone strike blamed on Iran France 24
- Aliyev Calls Iran Drone Strike In Azerbaijan’s Nakhchivan Region ‘Act Of Terror’ Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
- Azerbaijan vows retaliation after Iran’s ‘terrorist’ drone strikes Le Monde.fr
- Erdoğan condemns drone attack in call with Azerbaijan’s Aliyev | Daily Sabah Daily Sabah
- Azerbaijan vows retaliation after Iran’s ‘terrorist’ strikes Arab News
- UAE President condemns Iran attack on Azerbaijan in call with Ilham Aliyev thenationalnews.com
- Aliyev mobilises army following Iranian drone attack on Azerbaijan OC Media
Categories
Explosion hits Dubai – VIDEO
Footage shared by the portal Clash Report shows an explosion rocking a part of the city, News.Az reports.
Meanwhile in Dubai, UAE. pic.twitter.com/22EhYpaPe7
— Clash Report (@clashreport) March 5, 2026
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Buildings housing similar radar systems were also hit at two locations in the United Arab Emirates, CNN analysis shows, although it is unclear if the equipment was damaged, News.Az reports.
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The radar system for an American THAAD missile battery in Jordan was struck and apparently destroyed in the first days of the US-Israeli strikes on Iran, a satellite image taken on Monday shows. It was at the Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan, over 500 miles from Iran.
The radar is a critical element for the high-end missile interceptor system, which is used to engage and destroy ballistic missiles as they fly toward their target. According to a 2025 Missile Defense Agency Budget, it costs just shy of half-a-billion dollars.
Damaging the radar does not make the THAAD system completely inoperable, experts say, as there are other assets and configurations, but it certainly degrades capability and flexibility.
A Pentagon spokesperson told CNN: “Due to operations security we are not going to comment on the status of specific capabilities in the region.”
The UAE said in a statement that they remained fully prepared and ready to address any threats.
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“We have decided for security reasons to temporarily close our embassy in Tehran, and move the personnel to Baku,” Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani tells journalists at the Senate, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
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His spokesman confirms the closure to AFP but stresses Italy “has not broken off diplomatic relations.”
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“The Shield of the Americas” is a new US security initiative focused on the Western Hemisphere that President Trump plans to formally announce at a summit this weekend in Doral, Florida.
President Donald Trump announced on March 5 that he is removing Kristi Noem from her role as Secretary of Homeland Security and will nominate Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma to replace her, effective March 31, 2026.
In a Truth Social post, Trump wrote that Noem “has served us well, and has had numerous and spectacular results (especially on the Border!)” and that she will now become the “Special Envoy for The Shield of the Americas,” a position tied to the new Western Hemisphere security initiative.
This marks the first Cabinet secretary to be removed during Trump’s second term, though Trump has positioned Noem as a leader of this new regional strategy rather than leaving the administration entirely.
What is ‘The Shield of the Americas’?
“The Shield of the Americas” is a new US security initiative focused on the Western Hemisphere that President Trump plans to formally announce at a summit this weekend in Doral, Florida with leaders from more than a dozen Latin American countries.
The initiative, which Trump described in his announcement as aimed at strengthening regional cooperation on safety and security, represents a broader push by the administration to expand US diplomatic and strategic efforts across North, Central, and South America.
Trump has tied the initiative to issues such as combatting organized crime, strengthening border security, coordinating on migration challenges, and confronting shared threats in the hemisphere.
The summit this Saturday will bring together heads of state and government officials from nations including Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, and others for discussions on these topics.
Noem, speaking in Nashville ahead of the summit, confirmed she will attend and indicated Trump will unveil “a big agreement” at the meeting outlining “how we’re going to go after cartels and drug trafficking in the entire Western Hemisphere.” Her comments underscore that the new role is intended to focus on multinational cooperation against transnational crime and insecurity.
Noem’s reaction to her ouster
After Trump’s announcement, Noem took to X (formerly Twitter) thanking the president for her new assignment, writing:
“Thank you @POTUS Trump for appointing me as the Special Envoy for the Shield of the Americas.”
She added that she is looking forward to working with administration officials “to dismantle cartels that have poured drugs into our nation and killed our children and grandchildren.”
Noem also touted accomplishments from her time at DHS, saying the department “delivered the MOST secure border in American history” and that the Federal Emergency Management Agency had “delivered disaster relief at a 100% faster rate.”
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