After the Iranian women's soccer team declined to sing along with their country's national anthem at an AFC Asian Cup game, an Iranian state TV presenter denounced them as "wartime traitors." Fearing for their safety if they returned to Iran, five of the players reportedly left their training camp in Australia on March 9 to seek asylum there, while their teammates are also still in Australia.
Rubio Says Iran 'Worst Offender' In Hostage-Taking
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has pointed to a new US policy aimed at deterring what Washington calls “hostage diplomacy.”
Speaking at the State Department during events marking US Hostage and Wrongful Detainee Day on March 9, Rubio said Iran has long used hostage-taking as a diplomatic tool.
“When it comes to hostage taking, there has been no worse offender in the world than the clerical regime in Tehran,” he said.
On February 27, the US formally designated Iran as a State Sponsor of Wrongful Detention (SSWD) -- the first country placed on the blacklist under a new law targeting governments that detain foreign nationals for political leverage.
The designation allows the US government to deploy a range of measures -- including sanctions and travel restrictions -- aimed at pressuring Tehran to release detainees.
The March 9 ceremony in Washington also marked the anniversary of the disappearance of former FBI agent Robert Levinson, who vanished in Iran in 2007.
Christopher Raia, deputy director of the FBI, said evidence now suggests Levinson likely died while in captivity in Iran. “Our evidence suggests that Bob died in captivity in Iran,” Raia said, calling him the longest-held American hostage in US history.
Raia said investigators continue to pursue leads and released posters last year identifying individuals believed responsible for Levinson’s kidnapping, detention, and probable death. “The urgency to uncover the facts of Bob’s disappearance has never been greater,” he said.
UN Human Rights Official Calls For 'Thorough Investigation' Into Strike On Girls' School
Nada Al‑Nashif, the UN deputy high commissioner for human rights, called on March 9 for an “prompt, impartial, and thorough investigation” into a deadly strike on a primary school in the city of Minab.
Speaking at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Al-Nashif also cited the Iranian Red Crescent Society as saying that more than 65 schools across Iran had been “damaged or destroyed" since the start of the US-Israeli attacks on February 28
On the first day of those attacks on Iran, local officials in the southern Hormozgan Province said a girls’ school had also been hit, killing dozens of students.
The governor of Minab county updated the death toll on March 8 to 165 killed and 96 wounded.
Several investigative reports now suggest the school was struck because it was located next to a base belonging to the naval forces of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps.
Trump Suggests Iran War Could End Soon
U.S. President Donald Trump has suggested the war with Iran could end soon, claiming US forces had largely dismantled Tehran’s military capabilities after 10 days of strikes.
“I think the war is very complete, pretty much. They have no navy, no communications, they’ve got no Air Force,” a CBS News reporter wrote on X on March 9, citing comments from Trump. The president also warned Iran against further escalation, saying the country had already “shot everything they have to shoot.”
Trump made the remarks as he sharply criticized the selection of Mojtaba Khamenei to replace his late father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as Iran’s supreme leader. Trump told one media outlet he was “not happy” with the decision and told another that Tehran had made “a big mistake.”
In separate interviews, Trump said the United States was “very far” ahead of an initial four-to-five-week timeline for the war and suggested he had a different candidate in mind for Iran’s leadership, though he declined to name anyone.
Iran announced early on March 9 that a group of senior clerics had chosen Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, as the country’s new supreme leader. Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps quickly pledged support for him.
Read our full news report here.
Iranian Peace Prize Winner Says She Does Not Support Attacks On Iran After Khamenei's Death
Shirin Ebadi, the first Iranian winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, said in a message published on her official Telegram channel that now that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been killed, she no longer supports the continuation of military attacks on Iran.
Referring to the killings that followed a new wave of protests in Iran on January 8–9, Ebadi wrote: “Under no circumstances could the people stop these killings. Therefore calling on the international community to implement the principle of ‘Responsibility to Protect’ was a human-rights action.”
Explaining the principle of “Responsibility to Protect,” she said it requires governments to prevent the killing of their citizens and allows other states to intervene if they fail to do so or are responsible for the violence.
She added that the elimination of the Iranian leader and senior military figures "can be justified under the principle of ‘Responsibility to Protect,’ but anything beyond that constitutes aggression against the country and must be condemned."
At the end of her message, Ebadi also wrote: “While condemning the military attack by the United States and Israel on Iran and considering it illegitimate after the death of Ali Khamenei, I must remind that this was a war imposed on the people of Iran by the misguided foreign policy of the Islamic republic.”
Trump Indicates Australia Will Grant Asylum To Iranian Women’s Soccer Players
Five members of Iran's women's national soccer team have reportedly been granted asylum in Australia after leaving their team hotel during the Women’s Asian Cup, fearing reprisals if they return home.
The team's players had drawn attention earlier by not singing the country's national anthem during the tournament, prompting accusations of treason from state media and raising fears for their safety.
US President Donald Trump seemed to suggest in a social media post that the players had been granted asylum, praising Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and saying some athletes were “being taken care of,” though others felt compelled to return because of threats to their families.
Australian authorities are said to have placed the five players under police protection while their asylum claims are being processed.
EU Leaders Condemn Iran's 'Indiscriminate Attacks' On Regional Countries
European Council President Antonio Costa and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen have condemned what they called Iran’s “unacceptable attacks” on countries in the Middle East during a video conference with regional leaders to discuss the war involving Iran.
Leaders from Jordan, Egypt, Bahrain, Lebanon, Syria, Turkey, Armenia, Iraq, Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Oman joined the talks, which addressed the strikes and their impact on regional and global energy security.
In a joint statement, the EU leaders said they “condemned the indiscriminate attacks by Iran in the strongest terms” and expressed “full solidarity with the people of the region.”
They also reaffirmed support for EU naval missions, including Operation Aspides and Operation Atalanta, aimed at protecting key waterways and supply chains, while voicing concern over civilian displacement in Lebanon.
Additionally, they thanked leaders in the region "for their assistance and support in repatriating tens of thousands of European citizens who were stranded in their countries when the war started."
Iranian Official Says Historic Sites Damaged In Israeli Attack On Isfahan
The deputy head of cultural heritage for Iran’s Isfahan Province said that several of the city’s most famous historic buildings have been damaged in attacks carried out by Israel.
Speaking to the reformist Sharq newspaper, Ruhollah Seyedoleskari claimed the strikes on March 9 damaged the Chehel Sotoun Palace, one of Isfahan’s most prominent monuments and part of a UNESCO-listed complex of Persian gardens.
He added that the Rakibkhaneh building, a Safavid-era royal stables complex dating back to the early 17th century, as well as Ashraf Hall and Timurid Hall, dating to the 14th–15th-century Timurid period, were also damaged. Windows at the nearby Ali Qapu Palace overlooking Isfahan’s Naqsh-e Jahan Square – also a UNESCO World Heritage Site -- were reportedly shattered as well.
The Israeli military earlier said Tehran, Isfahan, and southern Iran were among its targets on March 9. It appears the Isfahan governor’s office complex may have been the main target of the strikes there.
Last week, Golestan Palace in central Tehran, a UNESCO World Heritage site largely dating to the Qajar era, when a royal dynasty ruled Iran from 1789 until 1925, was also damaged in air strikes.
Rubio Says Iran Wants To 'Hold The World Hostage'
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has accused Iran of trying to “hold the world hostage” through retaliatory strikes across the Middle East, saying US military operations aimed at curbing Tehran’s capabilities were progressing as planned.
Rubio was speaking at an event on March 9 honoring wrongfully detained Americans, including Robert Levinson, a former FBI agent who disappeared in Iran in 2007 and who US officials believe died in Iranian custody.
Macron Orders Naval Deployment To Protect Shipping Routes
France will deploy about a dozen naval vessels, including the aircraft carrier group built around the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, to the eastern Mediterranean, Red Sea, and possibly the Strait of Hormuz to support allies and protect shipping as tensions rise in the Middle East, President Emmanuel Macron said on March 9.
Speaking in Paphos in western Cyprus alongside Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Macron said the deployment would remain “strictly defensive, standing alongside all countries attacked by Iran in its retaliation." He also said the move was intended "to ensure our credibility, and to contribute to regional de-escalation. "
"Ultimately, we aim to guarantee freedom of navigation and maritime security," Macron added.
Europe has been largely sidelined in the escalating confrontation involving the United States, Israel and Iran, but growing threats to regional shipping and surging oil prices have increased pressure on European governments to protect maritime routes.