Live | West Asia crisis: MEA establishes control room to assist Indians; 800 killed in Iran

The Iranian warship IRIS Dena, which was torpedoed by the US and sunk on Wednesday (March 4), was reportedly returning home from India when it was attacked.

The frigate had been in India to participate in the MILAN 2026 multinational naval exercise and the International Fleet Review (IFR) hosted by the Indian Navy in Visakhapatnam. It began its homeward journey following the conclusion of these events, which ended in late February.

The ship was transiting via a standard westward route in international waters when it was struck by a US Navy submarine approximately 40 nautical miles south of Galle, Sri Lanka.

Reports indicate at least 80 sailors may have been killed, with over 100–150 still missing. The Sri Lankan Navy rescued 32 crew members from the water and transported them to local hospitals.

“Today, an Iranian naval vessel—returning from the Milan 2026 International Fleet Review, where it had been invited by India—was sunk by a US submarine at the edge of Indian waters near Sri Lanka. Does India have no influence left in its own neighbourhood? Or has that space also been quietly ceded to Washington and Tel Aviv,” Congress leader Pawan Khera wrote on X.

Equity investors became poorer by Rs 16.32 lakh crore in the two-day fall in the stock market after the conflict involving the US, Israel and Iran escalated significantly.

On Wednesday (March 4), the 30-share BSE Sensex tumbled 1,122.66 points or 1.40 per cent to settle at 79,116.19. During the day, it crashed 1,795.65 points or 2.23 per cent to 78,443.20. The BSE benchmark has lost 2,171 points or 2.67 per cent amid the onset of hostilities between Iran and the US-Israel since February 28.

The market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies eroded by Rs 16,32,428.12 crore to Rs 4,47,18,243.15 crore (USD 4.85 trillion) since Friday last week.

From the Sensex pack, Tata Steel tanked 6.76 per cent, followed by Larsen & Toubro (4.53 per cent). Bajaj Finance, UltraTech Cement, NTPC, InterGlobe Aviation, Bajaj Finserv and Hindustan Unilever were also among the laggards.

Bharti Airtel, Infosys and Tech Mahindra were the gainers.

The BSE smallcap select index tumbled 2.42 per cent and midcap select index dropped 2.10 per cent.

Among sectoral indices, metal plunged 4 per cent, BSE PSU Bank (3.50 per cent), industrials (3.29 per cent), realty (3.16 per cent), commodities (3.12 per cent), capital goods (2.64 per cent), power (2.59 per cent), services (2.25 per cent) and energy (2.23 per cent).

A total of 3,245 stocks declined, while 1,053 advanced and 135 remained unchanged on the BSE.

A missile launched from Iran and heading towards Turkiye through Iraq and Syria has reportedly been destroyed by NATO air defence systems.

“A ballistic munition launched from Iran, which was detected passing through Iraqi and Syrian airspace and heading towards Turkish airspace, was engaged in a timely manner by NATO air and missile defence assets stationed in the eastern Mediterranean and rendered inactive,” news agency AFP quoted the Turkiye defence ministry as saying.

Israel has reportedly issued an evacuation warning for residents of southern Lebanon, a vast region.

Israel attacked Lebanon after the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group attacked Israel in response to the assassination of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on February 28.

The death toll in Iran from the ongoing war with the United States and Israel has reached at least 1,045 people, an Iranian government agency said on Wednesday.

Iran's Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs offered the toll, saying it represented the number of bodies so far identified and prepared for burial.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Wednesday he regretted that the Iran war was an extreme example of a rupturing world order in which countries increasingly act without respect for international norms and laws.

Carney was speaking at the Lowy Institute, a Sydney-based international policy think tank, during the Australian leg of a trade-focused, three-nation visit that began in India. He will address the Australian Parliament on Thursday before flying to Japan on Friday.

“Geo-strategically, hegemons are increasingly acting without constraint or respect for international norms or laws, while others bear the consequences. Now the extremes of this disruption are being played out in real time in the Middle East,” Carney said.

Carney built on themes that he laid out at the World Economic Forum in January in Davos, Switzerland, in a speech that garnered widespread attention. He argued the world order was undergoing a rupture and the old norms of the rules-based order were being erased.

Canada supported efforts to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and from threatening international peace and security, Carney said.

“We are actively taking on the world as it is, not passively waiting for a world we wish to be. But we also take this position with some regret because the current conflict is another example of the failure of the international order,” he said.

Despite decades of UN efforts, “Iran's nuclear threat remains, and now the United States and Israel have acted without engaging the UN or consulting with allies including Canada,” he added.

Whether the US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran broke international law was "a judgment for others to make,” he said.

The ceramic industry in Gujarat's Morbi faces a potential shutdown in the next few days as gas supplies from the Gulf region remain disrupted due to the ongoing war-like situation involving Israel, the United States and Iran, industry representatives said on Wednesday.

The ceramic industry relies heavily on propane or natural gas for its operations, particularly for firing kilns and drying processes.

President of the Morbi Ceramic Manufacturers Association (Vitrified Tiles Division), Manoj Arvadiya, said petroleum and gas shipments coming from the Gulf countries have been impacted, with consignments stuck at the Strait of Hormuz, which is under Iran's control.

"Gas is the main fuel for the Morbi ceramic industry. Due to the current situation at the Strait of Hormuz, the gas supply for the Morbi ceramic industry has stopped," he said.

Companies using propane gas have a maximum stock of only three to four days, he said. Regarding CNG supplied by Gujarat Gas Ltd, he said the estimated available stock will last about one week.

"If the war situation persists, then in the coming week or 10 days, we will face a situation where the entire ceramic industry will have to suspend operations. This is the possibility we foresee," he added.

A man from Telangana suffered minor injuries following an attack linked to Iran near Abu Dhabi International Airport, his parents said on Wednesday.

N Rajeswara Rao, a native of Pothireddypalle village in Rajanna Sircilla district who works in the housekeeping section at the airport, informed his parents that he and several others escaped with minor injuries.

Rao’s parents urged the Indian government to take steps to ensure their son’s safe return.

A group of passengers who arrived at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, said they did not face any difficulties due to the prevailing situation in the Gulf region.

Pilgrims who had travelled to Madina expressed satisfaction with the facilities and arrangements.

Benchmark stock indices Sensex and Nifty closed more than 1 per cent lower on Wednesday, in tandem with a weak trend in Asian markets as the conflict in West Asia intensified, driving oil prices higher.

Falling for the fourth straight session, the 30-share BSE Sensex tumbled 1,122.66 points or 1.40 per cent to settle at 79,116.19. During the day, it crashed 1,795.65 points or 2.23 per cent to 78,443.20 but recovered some of the losses in the second half of the session.

The 50-share NSE Nifty dived 385.20 points or 1.55 per cent to end at 24,480.50, marking its third straight session of losses and logging the lowest closing level in the past six months. During the day, it dropped 560.3 points or 2.25 per cent to 24,305.40.