Morning Digest: Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei dead;Flights to remain out of West Asia airspace, and more

Morning Digest covers Trump's claims about Khamenei's death, escalating Iran-Israel tensions, and other significant global news.

Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei died following a major attack by Israel and the United States, Iranian state media confirmed early on Sunday (March 1, 2026). President Donald Trump previously announced the death, saying it gave Iranians their “greatest chance” to “take back” their country.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had targeted the Israeli Defence Ministry and military bases among other targets with a fresh wave of strikes late on Saturday (February 28, 2026).“The Israeli army naval base in Haifa Port, the regime’s warship dock in Haifa, the Ramat David air base, the regime’s Ministry of War in the Hakeryat area, the Beit Shams military-industrial complex and the Ishtod military industrial complex are among the targets during the third and fourth waves,” the Guards said in a statement on Telegram

India on Saturday (February 28, 2026) issued a series of advisories for citizens as a regional conflict started with the U.S.-Israel attack on Iran and the subsequent Iranian retaliation that hit several military and commercial hubs in the Gulf states. The Ministry of External Affairs, in a statement, called upon all sides to resort to “dialogue and diplomacy” and said “safety of civilians” should be prioritised.

With tensions escalating across West Asia, large swathes of its airspace became a no-go zone forcing global and Indian airlines to cancel flights to the region and reroute several others to avoid the affected corridors on Saturday (February 28, 2026). India’s aviation safety regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) too issued an urgent safety advisory valid until March 2 for all airlines to avoid 11 countries in the region comprising Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain, Qatar and Oman.

The Air Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) on Saturday (February 28, 2026) released its preliminary report into the crash that claimed the life of former Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar and four others, recommending tighter regulatory oversight of operations at smaller airfields, including Baramati; urgent upgrades to deficient landing and meteorological infrastructure; and a comprehensive review of the licensing of such airstrips.

As the Union Food Ministry decided to temporarily discontinue the process of rice fortification “until a more effective mechanism for delivery of nutrients to beneficiaries is identified”, activists who had challenged the scheme in the Supreme Court welcomed the move and said fortification is not a scientific method to curb anaemia.