ISTANBUL

Here’s a rundown of all the news you need to start your Friday, including NATO announcing that its ballistic missile defense posture will remain at a heightened level due to threats from Iran, Russia reporting a prisoner swap with Ukraine involving 200 servicemen from each side with another exchange planned, and US President Donald Trump saying he expects to have a personal say in choosing Iran’s next supreme leader while dismissing Mojtaba Khamenei as an unacceptable successor.

TOP STORIES

• NATO's ballistic missile defense posture to remain at 'heightened level' due to threat from Iran

NATO's Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) announced that its ballistic missile defense posture will remain at a "heightened level" until Iran's retaliatory attacks across the region subside.

"I can confirm that yesterday, in addition to NATO's successful intercept of a ballistic missile from Iran that targeted Türkiye, which that nation was the first to announce, NATO increased its Alliance-wide ballistic missile defense posture," Martin L. O'Donnell, the spokesperson for SHAPE, said in a statement.

O'Donnell noted that the action was taken by the commander of NATO's Air Command, "who further recommended that NATO's ballistic missile defense posture remain at this heightened level until the threat from Iran's continued indiscriminate attacks across the region subsides."

• Russia reports prisoner swap with Ukraine

Russia said it conducted a prisoner swap with Ukraine involving 200 servicemen from each side.

“200 Russian servicemen have been returned from territory controlled by the Kyiv regime. In exchange, 200 Ukrainian Armed Forces prisoners of war have been handed over,” the country’s Defense Ministry said, according to state media outlets including the newswire RIA Novosti.

According to a statement by the Russian Foreign Ministry, the exchange was made possible “thanks to the humanitarian mediation of the United Arab Emirates and the United States.”

“All Russian servicemen who returned home are receiving the necessary medical and psychological assistance,” the statement said.

It added that a second exchange of 300 for 300 is scheduled for Friday.

• Trump demands say in picking Iran's next supreme leader, calls Khamenei's son 'unacceptable': Report

US President Donald Trump said he expects to have a personal say in choosing Iran’s next leader, comparing it to his role in selecting Venezuela’s post-Maduro leadership.

"I have to be involved in the appointment, like with Delcy (Rodriguez) in Venezuela," Trump told Axios, dismissing Mojtaba Khamenei — the son of slain Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and a reported frontrunner to succeed him — as "a lightweight."

Trump made clear that he would not accept a successor who continued the late supreme leader's policies, warning that this would drag the US back to war "in five years."

"We want someone that will bring harmony and peace to Iran," he said in a phone interview.

NEWS IN BRIEF

• The president of Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) said the region will not be part of ongoing regional conflicts and will continue supporting diplomatic efforts to reduce tensions.
• Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said Iraq will not permit any “threats to arise” from its territory against Iran and condemned US and Israeli strikes on the country.
• Senior German lawmaker Norbert Roettgen has warned against arming Kurdish groups for potential ground operations in Iran, saying such an action could trigger civil war and undermine Western interests.
• US President Donald Trump said that Sen. Markwayne Mullin will replace Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
• Russia's Investigative Committee announced that former First Deputy Defense Minister Ruslan Tsalikov was detained as part of an investigation into a criminal case concerning the creation of a criminal organization.
• US Sen. Bernie Sanders slammed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, accusing him of pushing the US toward war with Iran.
• At least 102 people have been killed in ongoing Israeli attacks in Lebanon since Monday, the country’s Health Ministry said.
• The US has suspended operations at its embassy in Kuwait City amid ongoing strikes on Iran and retaliatory attacks across the Gulf, the State Department announced.
• Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the country is prepared to confront a potential ground invasion by the US.
• Nearly 20,000 American citizens have safely returned to the US from the Middle East since Feb. 28, the State Department said.
• The UN refugee agency said intensifying hostilities across the Middle East have triggered "significant population movement" as more than 330,000 people have been forcibly displaced, mostly within their own countries.
• British Prime Minister Keir Starmer defended his decision not to join the US-Israeli attack on Iran, saying the best solution to the issue is "a negotiated settlement with Iran, where they give up their nuclear ambitions."
• Australia and Canada’s prime ministers called for de-escalation in the Middle East amid the ongoing US-Israeli offensive on Iran along with Tehran's retaliatory attacks.
• Iran's permanent mission to the UN dismissed claims that Tehran closed the Strait of Hormuz as "baseless and absurd," asserting that the US has "endangered maritime security."
• An Indian Air Force fighter aircraft went missing in the northeastern state of Assam, according to a statement.
• A cell of the ISIS (Daesh) terrorist group preparing to carry out sabotage attacks in Syria’s capital Damascus was dismantled and three terrorists were captured following leads by Türkiye’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT).
• A spokesperson for the European Commission told Anadolu that if the US president "unfairly" targeted Spanish imports with additional tariffs or other discriminatory trade measures, it would represent a "very serious escalation" in transatlantic ties and prompt a "strong and swift" response from the EU.
• One of the goals of the US-Israeli attacks against Iran is to create discord between the Islamic republic and the Arab countries of the region, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
• Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev accused Iran of committing a “terrorist act” following a drone strike in the country’s autonomous Nakhchivan exclave which injured four people.
• Türkiye criticized attempts to undermine the demilitarized status of the Aegean islands, calling them “unserious, unfortunate and ill-timed.”

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

• Global trade reroutes to Cape of Good Hope while traffic in Strait of Hormuz plunges 90%

Commercial shipping traffic through the Strait of Hormuz fell 90% amid escalating conflicts in the Middle East, forcing global maritime trade to reroute around the Cape of Good Hope, located at the southern tip of the Cape Peninsula, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) south of Cape Town in South Africa.

After Tehran's closure of the critical energy and oil waterway in response to joint US-Israeli attacks on Iran, the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) Center raised the security risk in the transport corridor to critical, prompting insurers to immediately cancel war coverage policies for vessels in the region.

Only four ships transited through the strait on March 3, marking a 90% drop versus the previous seven-day average, according to real-time tracking data from Windward.

The strait historically handled an average of 138 vessels per day.

• Strait of Hormuz closure likely temporary, Fitch says

Fitch Ratings said the closure of the Strait of Hormuz is likely to be temporary and its impact on global oil prices will remain limited.

The rating agency stated that the global oil market oversupply serves as a buffer against geopolitical risks, capping potential price spikes despite the strategic waterway's effective closure.

Existing global oil market oversupply creates a buffer that would limit the geopolitical risk premium typically associated with supply disruption concerns, according to the report.

Fitch predicts the ongoing conflict in the region will last less than a month, assuming that disruptions to shipping and energy infrastructure will be brief.

• 24 US states sue Trump administration over new global tariffs

New York Attorney General Letitia James and attorneys general from 23 other US states filed a lawsuit seeking to block President Donald Trump’s latest global tariff policy.

The lawsuit came days after the Supreme Court invalidated a previous round of duties introduced by the administration.

The suit asked the US Court of International Trade to declare the new tariffs unlawful and to order refunds for states and businesses that have already paid the penalties.

The legal challenge followed a landmark Supreme Court ruling last month that struck down most of Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs introduced last year. The court found that the administration improperly relied on the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to justify imposing the duties.