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The U.S. closed its embassies in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Lebanon. Drones hit the U.S. embassies in the two Gulf countries Tuesday. The embassy in Beirut cited 鈥渙ngoing regional tensions.鈥� The embassy in Bahrain had also closed Sunday as Iran widened its retaliatory attacks. The U.S. State Department has advised that Americans depart 鈥渘ow鈥� via commercial transportation from 14 countries in the Middle East. It ordered nonessential staff members and their families to evacuate Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. There are limited commercial options, as many flights across the region have been canceled.
Our coverage: Initial Iran strikes over, what strategy will define the next US moves?

France, Greece, and Britain moved to defend Cyprus. After an Iranian-made drone hit Britain鈥檚 Akrotiri air base in Cyprus on Sunday, the three countries pledged to send reinforcements. Britain will send one destroyer; France will send antimissile and anti-drone systems, as well as an aircraft carrier; and Greece sent four F-16 fighter jets and two warships. Cyprus, an island nation in the Mediterranean divided into the Republic of Cyprus and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (recognized only by Turkey), has very limited military strength. It has been a full member of the European Union since 2004.

Kristi Noem faced sharp criticism from Congress. The U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security got pushback Tuesday from Democrats and some Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee at a Capitol Hill hearing about her department鈥檚 aggressive immigration enforcement campaign. Ms. Noem stood by her previous assertion that two U.S. citizens shot and killed by federal agents in Minnesota were domestic terrorists. Republican Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina called for Ms. Noem鈥檚 resignation, and threatened to block legislation from reaching the Senate floor pending answers.

Voters went to the polls Tuesday in Texas鈥� U.S. Senate race. State Rep. James Talarico topped Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett in the closely watched Democratic primary. He鈥檒l face the winner of a May runoff for the Republican nomination between Texas Sen. John Cornyn and Attorney General Ken Paxton. Messrs. Cornyn and Paxton were the top finishers in a three-way contest Tuesday with Rep. Wesley Hunt. No GOP candidate hit the 50% vote threshold needed to win outright. Texas, along with North Carolina and Arkansas, on Tuesday kicked off midterm elections with control of Congress at stake. 鈥� The Associated Press

Nepalis are set to vote in a key election. Millions of Nepalis are preparing to vote in a high-stakes parliamentary election shaped by last year鈥檚 youth-led uprising. The government has declared a three-day public holiday so people can travel home to vote. Nepal鈥檚 election commission says more than a million names have been added to the voter rolls since 2022. Analysts say young and first-time voters now demand accountability. 鈥� The Associated Press

The U.S. sanctioned the Rwandan military and senior officials. It accused them of supporting the March 23 (M23) movement, which is responsible for human rights abuses in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The penalties come months after a U.S.-brokered peace deal between Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame, though fighting has continued and more than 7 million people have been displaced, according to the U.N. agency for refugees. A Rwandan government spokesperson said the sanctions 鈥渕isrepresent the reality and distort the facts of the conflict鈥� in eastern Congo.

鈥� Compiled by Monitor writers around the world

For many opponents of Iran鈥檚 regime, news of the supreme leader鈥檚 death at the start of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran brought elation. But, says a Tehran student who risked his life in protests, there are concerns that the job of regime change is incomplete.

Beyond the missile strikes and counterattacks are deeper considerations, from the aspirations of the Iranian people to the staying power of the regime nearly a half-century after it came to power in the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

This map, updated with data from Monday, March 2, shows confirmed and reported strikes by the United States and Israel in Iran and retaliatory missile, rocket, and drone attacks carried out by Iran and its allies.

The U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran are sending political ripples through Congress beyond whether members back the action. Republicans are using the potential of retaliation from Iran as leverage against Democrats, who want immigration enforcement reforms before voting to fund the Department of Homeland Security.

In times of war, heightened security at home is fundamental. Yet, with a shutdown currently affecting the TSA, workers tasked with safeguarding air travel will be without pay 鈥� and perhaps staying home or seeking other jobs.

China is engaged in a huge nuclear weapons expansion, growing the size and capabilities of its arsenal. At a time when the will to curb nuclear proliferation is waning, this could unleash a new wave of nuclear arms competition.

This week, French President Emmanuel Macron put his leadership legacy on the line, by explicitly offering to share the country鈥檚 nuclear defenses with key European allies. Speaking at the home port of France鈥檚 nuclear missile fleet in Brittany on Monday, Mr. Macron declared plans to increase France鈥檚 nuclear warhead stockpile (currently about 290) as well as place some of those in partner countries.

His offer marks 鈥渢he most important revision to France鈥檚 nuclear doctrine in a generation,鈥� the Financial Times wrote, calling it 鈥渋ndispensable for Europe鈥檚 defence.鈥�

Since the days of Charles de Gaulle, who doubted the United States鈥� commitment to defend Europe from a Soviet nuclear attack, France has held to an independent stance on pursuing its own nuclear weapons development. 鈥淲ould you trade New York for Paris?鈥� General de Gaulle famously demanded of President John F. Kennedy in 1961.

Mr. Macron鈥檚 move is likely to bolster Europe鈥檚 military position at a critical time. But it also points to an opportunity to forge new and more enduring approaches to safeguarding the sovereignty and security of nations and individuals 鈥� means that go beyond the military might of missiles.

International laws and norms governing global relations are being severely jolted. Russia鈥檚 war in Ukraine, on Europe鈥檚 eastern flank, has entered its fifth year; the continent is confronting U.S. trade and geopolitical pressures; the U.S. and Israel have launched an air war against Iran. The New START arms control treaty between the U.S. and Russia expired just a month ago, even as China is rapidly growing its own nuclear arsenal, as the Monitor reported on Tuesday.

It is in this context that eight European nations will participate in France鈥檚 鈥渄eterrence鈥� plan. They include Europe鈥檚 only other nuclear power, Britain; its largest economy, Germany; Scandinavian countries; Greece; and Poland, which shares a long border with Ukraine.

Some of these countries have previously supported nuclear nonproliferation and even disarmament. Now, however, as an analyst wrote in Foreign Policy magazine last March, nations wishing 鈥渢o forge new nuclear arms control agreements will need to be nuclear powers themselves. If Europe wants to promote nuclear arms control, it paradoxically needs to go nuclear first.鈥�

In the current geopolitical context, this view carries some weight. But, it is also worth recalling that Europe is fortified with a long tradition of democratic values and institutions. The demand on its governments and citizens is to maintain and adapt these core principles and foundations to help forge a new world order.