Live Updates: Israel Bombs Security Sites Amid Questions Over Iran’s Leadership

Iranian officials are deliberating over who will replace Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader killed in the U.S.-Israeli assault. Fears of the war’s economic toll sent Asian markets lower. Current time inTel Aviv1:58 p.m. March 4Tehran3:28 p.m. March 4LiveUpdated March 4, 2026, 6:50 a.m. ETLive Updates: Israel Bombs Security Sites Amid Questions Over Iran’s LeadershipIranian officials are deliberating over who will replace Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the supreme leader killed in the U.S.-Israeli assault. Fears of the war’s economic toll sent Asian markets lower.Share full articleTehranAn Iranian flag at a diplomatic police station that was targeted by American-Israeli airstrikes.Arash Khamooshi for The New York TimesTehranSmoke rising in the south east of the Iranian capital.The Associated PressBeirut, LebanonSmoke rising after an Israeli airstrike in the suburbs of Beirut. Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesNorthern IsraelIsraeli tanks near the Israel-Lebanon border.Ariel Schalit/Associated PressIranSmoke rising after a strike west of Iran’s capital.Arash Khamooshi for The New York TimesTehranThe remains of a police station in a photograph taken during a government media tour on Tuesday.Arash Khamooshi for The New York TimesBeirut, LebanonDamage from Israeli strikes on the southern suburbs of Lebanon’s capital. AFPKuwait City, KuwaitMourners of a military member who was killed by an Iranian strike.Yasser Al-Zayyat/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesFujairah, United Arab EmiratesA fire following an explosion in the Fujairah industrial zone.Fadel Senna/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesTehranA guard looking at the Gandhi Hospital after it was hit by an airstrike.Arash Khamooshi for The New York TimesTehran The Golestan Palace, damaged by a nearby strike, in a photograph taken on a government media tour on Tuesday.Arash Khamooshi for The New York TimesMinab, IranA handout image released by the Iranian foreign media department of graves for the victims of a strike on an elementary school.Iranian Foreign Media Department, via ReutersTehranWorkers cleaning up the rubble after U.S.-Israeli airstrikes hit a police station.Arash Khamooshi for The New York TimesBeirut, LebanonDisplaced women taking refuge at a school.Diego Ibarra Sanchez for The New York TimesRishpon, IsraelPeople entering a shelter as sirens warn of incoming Iranian missiles.Avishag Shaar-Yashuv for The New York TimesBeit Shemesh, IsraelA funeral for two people killed on Sunday by a missile strike.Amit Elkayam for The New York Times PinnedUpdated March 4, 2026, 6:37 a.m. ETAaron BoxermanFarnaz Fassihi and Yan ZhuangHere’s the latest.The Israeli military on Wednesday bombarded sites affiliated with Iran’s repressive security apparatus — which has long preserved the Islamic Republic’s grip on power — as uncertainty hung over the direction of the Iranian leadership and the next steps in the U.S.-Israeli assault.All sides were closely watching for the outcome of deliberations by top Iranian officials over the replacement for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader assassinated by Israel in the bombing campaign’s opening blow on Saturday.President Trump has acknowledged the possibility that Iran’s next ruler could be “as bad as” Ayatollah Khamenei. Iran’s leaders are leaning toward anointing his son, Mojtaba Khamenei, a hard-liner who would likely carry on his father’s legacy, according to three Iranian officials familiar with the deliberations. Israel’s defense minister vowed that if the next supreme leader followed Ayatollah Khamenei’s ideology, he would become “an unequivocal target for elimination.”Israeli forces took aim at command centers of the powerful state Basij paramilitary on Wednesday, after striking Iran’s police stations, detention centers and intelligence offices alongside U.S. forces. Analysts say the goal may be to weaken the Iranian government’s ability to crack down on any future protest wave and encourage Iranians to rise against their leaders, one of Mr. Trump’s avowed goals.Asian stocks fell precipitously, and average U.S. gas prices jumped by nine cents to $3.20 on Wednesday as the war with Iran continued to roil global markets. Investors fear that a prolonged conflict could send energy costs surging as shipping through the Persian Gulf stalls and drone attacks target energy infrastructure.Fighting went on across the region; Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Kuwait all announced new Iranian attacks on Wednesday. The U.S. Central Command said Tuesday evening that the U.S. military was conducting “24/7 strikes into Iran from seabed to space and cyberspace.”In Lebanon, Israel ramped up its escalation against Hezbollah, the Iran-backed Lebanese militia, which fired a rocket barrage at Israel on Monday, igniting a new front in the fighting.The Israeli military issued an “urgent warning” to the residents of a large swathe of southern Lebanon on Wednesday, urging them to evacuate to the north of the Litani River. Avichay Adraee, an Israeli military spokesman, wrote on social media that “any movement south may put your life in danger.”An airstrike hit a hotel in the upscale Baabda suburb of Beirut, less tha