Iran launches wave of missiles at Israel; US Republicans block measure to halt US air campaign

The US-Iran war has widened sharply, with a US submarine sinking an Iranian warship off Sri Lanka. Read more at straitstimes.com.

DUBAI/JERUSALEM/ANKARA - Iran launched a wave of missiles at Israel early on March 5, sending millions of residents into bomb shelters as the US-Israel war with Iran entered its sixth day and just hours after moves to halt the US air assault were blocked in Washington.

Republican senators in Washington voted against a motion aimed at stopping the air campaign and requiring that military action be authorised by Congress, leaving President Donald Trump's power to direct the war largely unbound, as the conflict continues to widen across the Middle East and beyond.

The US Senate voted 53 to 47 not to advance the resolution, largely along party lines, with all but one Republican voting against the procedural motion and all but one Democrat supporting it.

The US-Iran war has widened sharply, with a US submarine sinking an Iranian warship off Sri Lanka on March 4, killing at least 80 people, and NATO air defences destroying an Iranian ballistic missile fired towards Turkey.

The escalation came as the powerful son of Iran's slain supreme leader emerged as a front runner to succeed him, suggesting Tehran was not about to buckle to pressure from the United States and Israel's military campaign that has killed hundreds and convulsed global markets.

The missile incident is the first time that Turkey – which borders Iran and has NATO's second-largest military – has been drawn into the conflict, but US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said there was no sense that it would trigger the Atlantic alliance's collective-defence clause.