TEHRAN DAILY - 5 MARCH 2026
Assembly of Experts Convenes Thursday to Announce Mojtaba Khamenei as Successor Amid IRGC Retaliation Expansion and Azeri Spillover
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Iran Strikes Azerbaijan Airport in First Cross-Border Attack on Northern Neighbor
Azerbaijan's foreign ministry confirms Iranian drones struck passenger terminal at Nakhchivan airport injuring two people, marking first spillover of Iran war into northern neighbor as conflict expands beyond Gulf region.
IRGC Claims Strikes on 20 US Military Sites Across Gulf States
Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps announces attacks on 20 American military targets across Kuwait, Bahrain and UAE, while also claiming to hit US oil tanker in Persian Gulf and set it on fire.
Assembly of Experts Set to Name Mojtaba Khamenei as Supreme Leader Amid Dissent
Iran International reports Assembly of Experts will hold emergency session Thursday to formally announce Mojtaba Khamenei as new Supreme Leader despite opposition from some members warning against hereditary leadership.
Pentagon Prepares for Iran War to Last Until September as Conflict Expands
US Central Command requests additional military intelligence officers as Pentagon planning now stretches into autumn, with war originally expected to last weeks now potentially lasting months according to Politico.
DRIVING THE DAY
SUMMARY: Iran's Assembly of Experts will hold an emergency session on 5 March to formally announce Mojtaba KHAMENEI as the next Supreme Leader despite internal opposition warning against hereditary succession, according to Iran International sources who note the IRGC is driving the accelerated timeline. The regime's retaliatory campaign expanded beyond the Gulf on 5 March when Iranian drones struck the passenger terminal of Nakhchivan International Airport in Azerbaijan—marking the first spillover into Iran's northern neighbor and prompting Baku to lodge a formal protest after two civilians were injured. The IRGC announced on 5 March that it had struck twenty U.S. military sites across Kuwait, Bahrain, and the UAE in what Press TV described as the 17th wave of Operation True Promise 4, while separately claiming to have set ablaze a U.S. oil tanker in the Persian Gulf—though the Pentagon has not verified these claims and announced Wednesday that U.S. forces have struck or sunk over twenty Iranian ships since 28 February. Turkey summoned Iran's ambassador after NATO intercepted an Iranian ballistic missile headed toward Turkish airspace via Iraq and Syria on 4 March, with Ankara's Foreign Minister FIDAN revealing that Turkish mediation efforts failed because Tehran refused multilateral talks and misunderstood domestic U.S. political pressure on President TRUMP. Qatar categorically rejected Foreign Minister ARAGHCHI's claim that Iranian strikes targeted only U.S. assets rather than Qatari infrastructure, reflecting mounting Gulf state alarm as the death toll reached 926 according to Iran's Health Ministry. END SUMMARY.
