A U.S. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle on 16 July 2020.
Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images
The U.S. was searching for the crew of an American fighter jet Friday after it was downed in Iran, a U.S. official told MS NOW.
It isn’t clear if the plane was shot down or went down for another reason, MS NOW said. The jet was an F-15, which has two crew members, and the whereabouts of the servicemembers was unknown, according to MS NOW.
The Pentagon and U.S. Central Command didn’t immediately comment.
The New York Times said Iran shot down the fighter jet, citing U.S. and Israeli officials and Iranian state media, though MS NOW said it hadn’t independently verified the reporting.
It appeared to be the first known loss of a U.S. jet in the country since the war in Iran started in late February.
The downing of the jet comes at a delicate time, when the U.S. has showed few signs of slowing its assault on Iran and reports of potential peace talks did not yield a breakthrough. The death toll from the conflict is nearing 5,100 across the Middle East, according to MS NOW.
The war has now gone on for more than a month, suffocating tanker traffic through the critical Strait of Hormuz and threatening supplies of crude oil, fertilizer and other key commodities.
President Donald Trump claimed in a social media post Friday that the U.S. could “easily” open the strait, “TAKE THE OIL, & MAKE A FORTUNE.”
Trump also threatened late Thursday to escalate attacks on Iranian infrastructure. He said the U.S. “hasn’t even started destroying what’s left in Iran,” citing bridges and electric power plants.
In remarks Wednesday, Trump said the U.S. would attack Iran “back to the Stone Ages.”
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SpaceX headquarters is shown in Hawthorne, California, U.S. June 5, 2025.
Daniel Cole | Reuters
Elon Musk’s SpaceX has confidentially filed for an IPO with the Securities and Exchange Commission, sources told CNBC’s David Faber, bringing Elon Musk’s rocket company one step closer to what’s expected to be a record public offering.
Bloomberg was first to report on SpaceX’s confidential filing, citing people familiar with the matter, and adding that the company could seek a valuation of $1.75 trillion, with a listing around June.
Founded by Musk in 2002 to develop and operate reusable rockets, SpaceX has turned into NASA’s biggest launch partner after the agency ended its space shuttle program in 2011. The company merged with Musk’s xAI in February, creating a combined entity that he valued at the time at $1.25 trillion.
When SpaceX eventually lists, Musk will become the first person to helm two separate trillion-dollar publicly traded companies. Musk is the world’s richest person, with a net worth of close to $840 billion, according to Forbes. Tesla, which Musk has counted on for the vast majority of his liquid wealth, has a market cap of around $1.4 trillion.
A confidential filing allows companies to submit their financials to the SEC for regulatory review before revealing them to the public and prospective investors. SpaceX will have to release a public filing at least 15 days before its IPO road show.
While SpaceX still has numerous hurdles to clear to reach the public market, the offering — assuming it does happen — will be packed with superlatives. With the company reportedly looking to raise up to $75 billion, it would be more than three times the size of the biggest U.S. IPO to date. China’s Alibaba raised $22 billion in 2014, putting it ahead of Visa, which raised close to $18 billion in 2008.
SpaceX has received over $24.4 billion from its work with the federal government since 2008, according to FedScout, which researches federal spending and government contracts. That includes contracts from NASA, the Air Force and Space Force, among others agencies.
Reena Aggarwal, a professor of finance at Georgetown and an IPO expert, said that even with all hype around Musk and SpaceX, the company still needs a receptive public market. Stocks have been volatile of late due largely to the U.S.-Iran war and spiking oil prices. The Nasdaq is coming off its steepest weekly drop in nearly a year.
“You can have a great company, with great fundamentals and a lot of investor interest — and an IPO can still flop if the markets have turned south, if there’s too much volatility in the market,” Aggarwal said. Hopefully the current geopolitical situations will have cooled down by June and there will be less uncertainty.”
President Donald Trump speaks alongside entertainer Kid Rock before signing an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House on March 31, 2025.
Andrew Harnik | Getty Images
The U.S. Army is investigating the apparent flyby of that military branch’s Apache helicopters over the weekend at the Nashville, Tennessee, home of singer Kid Rock, a prominent supporter of President Donald Trump, an Army spokesman said Monday.
On Saturday, Kid Rock posted videos on his X account showing two helicopters hovering and flying close to his home, as he pointed at them, pumped his fist in appreciation and saluted while standing next to a pool, a miniature Statue of Liberty and a sign above his head that said, “Southern White House.”
“This is a level of respect that s— for brains Governor of California will never know,” the singer wrote in one post, referring to Gov. Gavin Newsom, a staunch Democratic critic of Trump. “God Bless America and all those who have made the ultimate sacrifice to defend her.”
Read more CNBC politics coverage
“The Army is aware of a video circulating online that appears to show AH 64 Apache helicopters operating in the vicinity of a private residence in the Nashville area,” Army Spokesman Maj. Montrell Russell said in an emailed statement to CNBC.
“Army aviators must adhere to strict safety standards, professionalism, and established flight regulations. An administrative review is underway to assess the mission and verify compliance with regulations and airspace requirements,” Russell said.
The spokesman added, “Appropriate action will be taken if any violations are found. Until the review is complete, there will be no further comment.”
The X posts by Kid Rock were made on the same day as anti-Trump “No Kings” demonstrations were held around the United States.
Newsom’s X account in February mocked Kid Rock for a video showing him and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. working out together shirtless.
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United Airlines aircraft at Denver International Airport, Aug. 4, 2023.
Antonio Perez | Chicago Tribune | Tribune News Service | Getty Images
LOS ANGELES — United Airlines‘ formula for higher profits: fewer but better seats.
The country’s second-most profitable carrier after Delta Air Lines on Tuesday unveiled new cabin designs, including on some of its smallest planes, that feature more premium seating options and fewer in standard coach.
The differences in airfare for those seats can be vast. For example, a flight between United’s hub at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey and San Francisco in the first week of May is going for $423 in standard coach and $5,556 in the carrier’s top-tier Polaris class on a Boeing 757.
Even with the spike in fuel prices, United’s executives have said in recent weeks that demand remains strong, noting that premium-travel demand has outshined the main cabin.
“The main cabin is also improving, and we’ve seen very strong demand across the board for United in Q1, but premium did lead the way yet again in the quarter, and continues to do so,” Andrew Nocella, United’s chief commercial officer, told reporters last week.
United plans to introduce a subfleet of narrow-body Airbus A321neo jets dubbed the “Coastliner” for transcontinental flights that will have 20 Polaris seats, which can recline into beds. Each Polaris seat will have aisle access.
Those jets will also have 12 premium economy seats and 36 extra-legroom seats on board, with the rest regular economy. United said it removed three seats from the plane’s standard configuration to install a snack bar at the back of the plane.
Current layouts of the plane don’t have premium economy, but they do have 57 extra-legroom seats and 123 seats in standard economy, along with 20 that are first-class recliners, not the lie-flat Polaris seats.
United said the first Coastliners will begin flying this summer and it will have 40 of them by the start of 2028.
The airline also announced its configuration for its longer-range Airbus A321XLR aircraft, which will replace some older Boeing 757s. That layout also includes the 20 Polaris suites, 12 premium economy seats and 34 in extra-legroom. The plane will debut this summer, and United said it could operate on some of its existing routes to Spain, France, Portugal and Brazil.
Read more about airlines’ race to win over big spenders
United will also add a seven-seat first-class cabin to its Bombardier CRJ-200 jets for a total of 41 seats on board, compared with the current 51-seat layout, which has only one cabin.
The first class cabin (front) inside a United Airlines Express CRJ-450, a redesigned CRJ-200 regional jet featuring a new cabin design, is displayed during a media event showcasing the airline’s new premium “Elevated” aircraft interior at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in Los Angeles, California on March 24, 2026.
Patrick T. Fallon | AFP | Getty Images
The changes are part of an ongoing trend for airlines, which are dedicating more of the scarce real estate on planes to premium seats, as the growth from those higher-end options outpaces sales from regular economy.
Last year, United unveiled an upgraded Polaris suite for long-haul flights on its Boeing 787 Dreamliners that includes the “Polaris Studio,” which is larger than previous models and has 27-inch 4K screens as well as an ottoman for guests.
United’s chief rival, Delta, has said it expects premium revenue to overtake main cabin sales this year. That carrier said last month that starting in May, the first of seven of its new Airbus A321neo jets will have 44 seats in first class, more than double the 20 it usually has.
The demand has been so high for plush new suites and other premium seats that the supply chain can’t keep up. The bottlenecks have even delayed delivery of aircraft, CNBC has reported.
Delta said the big first-class cabin on the A321neo is a medium-term measure, “intended to be in service for a limited time as Delta awaits delivery of flatbed suites that will ultimately be installed on these aircraft.”
Meanwhile, United has been eyeing lie-flat seats for some of its newer narrow-body jets for years.
CEO Scott Kirby told reporters in August 2018 that the carrier was planning to offer lie-flat seats on new Boeing 737 Max 10 aircraft, though that plane still hasn’t been certified and is years behind schedule.
Other airlines are also adding higher-end seats.
JetBlue Airways, which was a pioneer in offering lie-flat seats and suites on its narrow-body Airbus fleet, plans to offer a less elaborate domestic first-class cabin later this year. Southwest Airlines recently debuted extra-legroom seats on its fleet of Boeing 737s, ending its decades of standard seating throughout its cabin.
Budget carriers Spirit Airlines and Frontier Airlines are also planning to add roomier seats.
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Travelers wait in line at a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) checkpoint at William P. Hobby Airport in Houston, Texas, US, on Monday, March 9, 2026.
Mark Felix | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The surge in fuel prices since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran nearly two weeks ago is already driving up airfare. Consumers’ appetite for travel this year will dictate just how much.
Cathay Pacific on Thursday said it would roughly double fuel surcharges on tickets starting March 18.
Earlier this week, Australia’s Qantas said it israising fares to help cover its costs, Scandinavian Airlines said the “unusually rapid and substantial increase” in fuel prompted it to raise prices, and Air New Zealand pulled its financial outlook “until fuel markets and operating conditions stabilise,” adding that it has made “initial fare adjustments.”
“If the conflict leads to continued elevated jet fuel costs, the airline may need to take further pricing action and adjust its network and schedule as required,” Air New Zealand said.
U.S. airline CEOs and other executives will update investors on Tuesday at the J.P. Morgan Industrials Conference in Washington, D.C.
Analysts expect an earnings hit at least in the first quarter if not the first half of the year, though the impact will depend on how long higher fuel prices last.
“We think a hit to 1Q EPS appears almost certain at this point,” UBS airline analysts Atul Maheswari and Thomas Wadewitz wrote in a note last week.
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said last week on the sidelines of an event at Harvard University that higher fares were likely on the way because of the surge in fuel prices.
Kirby said travel demand is still strong, however. Two other senior airline executives at U.S. carriers, speaking on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak to media, also said travel demand has held up. If those trends persist, it could give airlines more pricing power, but that will depend on the war’s duration.
“Airlines never met a higher fare they didn’t want,” said Scott Keyes, founder of flight deal company Going, previously known as Scott’s Cheap Flights.
So what should consumers do?
Keyes said travelers can’t lose by booking early, as long as they’re not buying restrictive basic economy tickets. That way, customers can try to exchange or cancel their tickets and buy cheaper ones if airfare ends up falling.
“If you book a $500 summer flight today, and two weeks from now the price drops to $350, you can call up the airline and get the $150 difference back as a credit. Heads you win; tails the airlines lose,” he said.
Read more about the Middle East conflict’s travel impact
Fuel costs
Jet fuel is airlines’ biggest cost after labor, accounting for about a fifth or more of expenses, depending on the airline.
United alone spent $11.4 billion last year on fuel, at an average price of $2.44 a gallon, according to a securities filing. U.S. jet fuel on Wednesday was going for $3.78 a gallon, according to Platts.
Jefferies airline analyst Sheila Kahyaoglu said in a note Thursday that she expects “the most acute financial impact to airlines from surging oil prices to be in the next 30-90 days as airlines have been booking yields for close-in flights assuming a much lower fuel price and carriers cannot retroactively raise fares.”
She said Delta Air Lines and United, which produce most U.S. airline profits, are better positioned than other carriers because of their high-end demand. Risks to demand, particularly for more price-sensitive customers, include the recent jump in gasoline prices.
Jet fuel has more than doubled in some regions since the first U.S.–Israel attacks on Iran on Feb. 28.
Oil prices surged to roughly four-year highs after the initial strikes. Energy prices have swung wildly since then as traders assess just how long the war — and all the logistics headaches — could last.
U.S. jet fuel prices were up more than 60% from before the attacks to a peak last week, according to pricing data assessed by Platts. Jet fuel can rise by a greater degree than crude because it includes the price of processing and ever-more difficult and costly transportation from oil fields to refineries to airplane fuel tanks.
On Feb. 27, the day before the before the attacks, the cost to fill the fuel tanks of a Boeing 737-800 would have would have been about $17,000 based on average prices in New York, Houston, Chicago and Los Angeles, compiled by Argus. Less than a week later, on March 5, it would have cost more than $27,000, based on Argus prices. On Tuesday, after oil prices fell following President Donald Trump’s comment that the Iran war could end “very soon,” it would have cost around $23,000.
Line Service Technician Austin Beadles refuels a plane using a Federal Aviation Administration approved unleaded aviation fuel at Sheltair at Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport in Broomfield on Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. Sheltair, a fixed-base operator, will offer the Swift UL94 unleaded aviation alternative gas to pilots. (Photo by Matthew Jonas/MediaNews Group/Boulder Daily Camera via Getty Images)
Matthew Jonas | Boulder Daily Camera | MediaNews Group | Getty Images
After prior fuel price surges, airlines started making customers pay for bags — or charging them more. Even seemingly minor changes in weight can save airlines hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars, a year in fuel. United in 2018 changed to a lighter paper stock for its in-flight magazine. In 2014, American Airlines said it would switch to digital manuals for flight attendants, following changes for pilots. It said at the time that it would save $650,000 in fuel a year.
All about capacity
High fuel prices don’t automatically mean higher fares. The ongoing strong demand for travel is a key factor and so is capacity, or the amount that carriers fly.
If airlines raise fares and passengers balk, then capacity will likely go down in the form of fewer frequencies on a route or broader cuts, in more severe cases.
“Airlines love to say fuel is expensive so you have to pay more. What they’re doing is they’re setting the expectation,” said Courtney Miller, founder of Visual Approach Analytics, an airline industry advisory firm. “They price to prevent empty seats.”
If fuel prices come down, “they’re not suddenly saying ‘We’re making too much money,'” Miller added. “But they are likely to add another flight.”
Capacity, especially to and from the Middle East, is constrained because of airspace closures and other stop-and-start flights. More than 46,000 flights have been canceled to and from the region since the Feb. 28 attacks began, aviation data firm Cirium said.
Those constraints are driving up fares as well as demand, as United’s Kirby said, from regions where customers are looking for alterative routes.
Airspace closures are also requiring airlines to take longer, more fuel-guzzling routes, but many have strong demand, too.
Qantas, for example, told CNBC that its flight from Perth, Australia, to London is temporarily stopping in Singapore to refuel, allowing it to pick up another 60 customers, and that its Perth-London and Perth-Paris routes are more than 90% full this month, 15 percentage points higher than normal for this time of year.
Finnair said the increased demand for travel to Asia from Helsinki has pushed up its prices by 15% on average.
“The impact of higher fuel prices will be reflected in market fares with a delay, as airlines typically hedge at least part of their fuel purchases,” it said.
Airlines have been grappling with airspace closures for years, including from on-and-off conflict in the Middle East and since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, that have left a large swath of airspace out of use for many carriers.
‘You can’t dry up an airport’
Most U.S. airlines no longer hedge fuel costs, or lock in prices using futures and other securities. Southwest Airlines was one of the last holdouts, and it quit last year. A spokesman for the Dallas-based airline told CNBC that Southwest currently has “no plans” to resume hedging.
That leaves U.S. carriers more susceptible to price swings.
Travelers at William P. Hobby Airport in Houston, Texas, US, on Monday, March 9, 2026.
Mark Felix | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Kirby said there would likely be an impact to United’s first-quarter results and to the second quarter if the war — and blockage of the Strait of Hormuz, a key shipping channel — persists. However, he said demand was increasing sharply from regions that have been affected by the thousands of flight cancellations and airspace closures in the Middle East.
Because of airlines’ upbeat outlooks on demand to start the year, “the environment is conducive for passing along fare increases. Further, should jet fuel stay higher for longer, it should help push off-peak capacity lower,” supporting unit revenues, UBS analysts said.
Rick Joswick, who heads of near-term oil research and analytics at S&P Global Energy, told CNBC that “demand for jet fuel is inelastic. You cannot shortchange an airport. If the cost of jet fuel goes up, it’s not like the plane will choose not to fly that day.
“You can’t dry up an airport,” he said.
Read more CNBC airline news
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U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the media next to White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 11, 2026.
Brian Snyder | Reuters
President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he’s not worried about Iran executing a terror attack within the United States in retaliation for the ongoing war by the U.S. and Israel.
“No, I don’t,” Trump told a reporter outside the White House when asked if he feared such a domestic attack.
Trump also touted progress in the war against Iran, which is in its 11th day, before departing for a trip to Kentucky and Ohio.
“Right now, they’ve lost their Navy, their Air Force. They have no anti-aircraft apparatus at all,” the president said. “Their leaders are gone, and we could do a lot worse.”
Trump said the U.S. military is “leaving certain things” in Iran, which could be destroyed by the afternoon, if need be, and “they literally would never be able to build that country back.”
He said the U.S. military had destroyed about 16 of Iran’s mine-layers.
Asked if Iran had mined the Strait of Hormuz, which is the world’s most sensitive choke point for oil shipments, Trump said, “We don’t think so.”
Trump, referring to the CEOs of major oil companies, said, “I think they should” send tankers through the narrow strait, which has remained effectively closed because of the war.
A spokesman for Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned Monday that tankers passing through the strait “must be very careful.”
The Strait of Hormuz, which lies off the southern coast of Iran, connects the Persian Gulf to the Arabian Sea.
The insurance giant Chubb said Wednesday that it will serve as lead underwriter for a U.S.-government-led program to provide insurance to ships passing through the strait.
Read more U.S.-Iran war news
Trump on Wednesday brushed off a question about a report by The New York Times, which said that “newly released video adds to the evidence that an American missile likely hit an Iranian elementary school where 175 people, many of them children, were reported killed.”
The president again criticized the leadership of Spain for not helping the U.S. war effort.
“We may cut off trade with Spain,” said Trump, who has a penchant for using tariffs and other retaliatory trade practices as leverage against other countries.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has incurred Trump’s wrath for barring the U.S. military from using two bases in Andalusia to launch strikes on Iran.
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, in an X post on Wednesday, wrote that in conversations with “the presidents of the governments of Russia and Pakistan, while announcing the Islamic Republic’s commitment to peace and tranquility in the region, I emphasized that the only way to end the war that began with the warmongering of the Zionist regime and America is the acceptance of Iran’s indisputable rights, payment of reparations, and a firm international obligation to prevent their aggression from recurring.”
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A Shahed-136 drone is displayed at a rally in western Tehran, Iran, on February 11, 2026.
Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images
In the aftermath of the Israeli-U.S. strikes on Iran, American allies in the Persian Gulf are hearing a sound that Ukrainian soldiers have long come to dread: the foreboding hum of the Shahed-136 ‘kamikaze’ drone.
Originating from Iran, the Shahed has already become a fixture of modern warfare, with Tehran’s strategic partner, Russia, utilizing the technology in its years-long invasion of Ukraine.
Now, the drones — the most advanced of which is the long-ranged Shahed-136 — have become central to Iran’s retaliation strategy against the U.S. and its regional allies, with thousands unleashed so far.
At first glance, the Shahed is unremarkable compared with cutting-edge weapon technologies, with one analyst referring to it as “the poor man’s cruise missile.”
But while American allies have managed to intercept the vast majority of incoming drones with the help of U.S.-provided defense systems such as the ‘Patriot’ missiles, many Shaheds still managed to hit their targets.
The United Arab Emirates Ministry of Defence said on Tuesday that out of 941 Iranian drones detected since the start of the Iran war, 65 fell within its territory, damaging ports, airports, hotels and data centers.
The Shahed‑136, among other unmanned aerial systems, has allowed states like Russia and Iran a cheap way to impose disproportionate costs.
Patrycja Bazylczyk
Analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studie
Analysts say the key to their effectiveness lies in the numbers. The drones are relatively cheap and easy to mass-produce, especially compared to the sophisticated systems used to defend against them.
Those factors make the drone ideal for swarming and overburdening aerial defenses, with each drone intercepted also representing a more valuable defense asset expended.
“The Shahed‑136, among other unmanned aerial systems, has allowed states like Russia and Iran a cheap way to impose disproportionate costs,” said Patrycja Bazylczyk, analyst with the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington DC.
“They force adversaries to waste expensive interceptors on low‑cost drones, project power, and create a steady psychological burden on civilian populations.”
The cost imbalance
U.S. government reports describe the Shahed-136 as a one-way attack unmanned aerial vehicle produced by Iranian entities tied to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Compared with ballistic missiles, the drones fly low and slow, deliver a relatively modest payload, and are limited to mostly fixed targets, said Behnam Ben Taleblu, senior director of the Iran program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told CNBC.
Public estimates suggest Shahed drones can cost between $20,000 and $50,000 apiece. Ballistic and cruise missiles, by contrast, can cost millions of dollars each.
In that sense, the Shahed and its equivalents “basically serve as ‘the poor man’s cruise missile’ offering a way to strike and harass adversaries “on the cheap,” said Taleblu.
For Iran, which faces both international sanctions and limitations on acquiring advanced weapons, that cost advantage is significant.
This cost discrepancy raises a serious issue for Iran’s enemies: Air defense systems have finite numbers of defense missiles, with each target intercepted representing a valuable asset expended.
Pimary technical data from the U.S. Army’s ODIN database and Iranian military disclosures describe the Shahed-136 as about 3.5 metres long with a 2.5-metre wingspan.
Sergei Supinsky | Afp | Getty Images
Thus, in a war of attrition, the drones could be used by Tehran to wear down air defenses, opening them up to more damaging attacks, analysts say.
“The logic is to expend drones early while preserving ballistic missiles for the long haul,” said CSIS’s Bazylczyk.
She added that Iran’s ability to sustain mass‑drone use will depend on its stockpiles, how well it can protect or restore its supply chain, and whether the U.S. and Israel can meaningfully disrupt the flow of components or production sites.
The U.S. has long sought to disrupt Iran’s production of the Shahed-136, and recently imposed new sanctions targeting suspected component suppliers across Turkey and the UAE.
However, Russia’s production of Shahed drones shows that such systems can be manufactured at scale during wartime and amid targeted sanctions.
U.S. officials claim Iran had launched over 2,000 drones in the conflict as of Wednesday. However, the country is understood to have large stockpiles and may be capable of producing hundreds more each week, military experts reportedly told The National newspaper.
“Gulf countries are at risk of depleting their interceptors unless they are more prudent about when it fires those interceptors,” said Joze Pelayo, a Middle East security analyst with the think tank Atlantic Council.
“The depletion is not imminent, but it remains an urgent issue,” he said, noting. However, attacks on multiple fronts by Iranian allies such as Hezbollah and the Houthis could put stockpiles at risk of being depleted within days, he added.
A new staple of the modern battlefield?
The Shahed‑136 was first unveiled around 2021 and gained global attention after Russia began deploying the Iranian-supplied weapons during its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The Kremlin has since received thousands of the drones and begun producing them based on Iranian designs, highlighting their reproducible and scalable design.
Some analysts have suggested that Iran has drawn from Russia’s extensive battlefield experience with the drones, including modifications such as anti-jamming antennas, electronic warfare-resistant navigation, and new warheads.
Those warheads typically carry 30 kg to 50 kg of explosives and can pack a punch, particularly when used in large swarms, with advanced versions capable of a range of up to 1,200 miles.
Michael Connell, a Middle East specialist at the Center for Naval Analyses, said that the Shahed-136 has proven so effective that the U.S. has reverse-engineered it and deployed its own version on the battlefield against Iranian targets.
In its Iran attacks over the weekend, the U.S. Central Command confirmed that it had used such low-cost one-way attack drones modeled after the Shahed for the first time in combat.
With drones becoming a fixture of the modern battlefield, methods for dealing with them are also evolving.
According to Taleblu from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Ukraine has found some success in downing drones with fighter jet cannon fire, a more sustainable deterrent than missile interceptors.
Ukraine also recently pioneered the development of cheaper mass-produced interceptors, which Kyiv claims can stop the Shahed.
Gulf states are also expected to adopt more sustainable approaches. The Pentagon and at least one Gulf government are reportedly in talks to buy the cheaper Ukrainian-made interceptors.
Meanwhile, Qatar’s Ministry of Defense says it is also using its air force jets to intercept Iranian attacks, including Shahed drones, alongside ground-based air defenses.
Electronic warfare targeting the Shahed’s GPS, as well as short-range missiles and directed-energy systems such as Israel’s Iron Beam, are also significantly cheaper to operate than traditional interceptors.
Still, analysts say Gulf states currently lack fast, high-volume anti-drone capabilities. Developing and deploying such systems will likely take years, said Atlantic Council’s Pelayo.
“Countries in the Gulf hosting U.S. bases, such as Bahrain, Kuwait, and the UAE, benefit from an extended ability to repel drone attacks through the American-operated system, but it is still not enough against mass and sustained attacks.”
A passenger Mohd Umardaraz from Bijnor Uttar Pradesh stranded at Terminal-3 Delhi airport after his flight for Kuwait is cancelled due to airspace restrictions over Iran and parts of the Middle East on March 1, 2026 in New Delhi, India.
Arvind Yadav | Hindustan Times | Getty Images
The first Emirates flight out of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran took off Monday night bound for Mumbai, India, flight data showed, hours after the airline got the green light from local authorities to resume a “limited number” of flights.
It’s a sign of how airlines are preparing to restart service to the region after thousands of flight cancellations.
Emirates flight EK500 departed at 9:12 p.m. local time, according to Flightradar24, a flight-tracking site. The flight was operated on an Airbus A380, the world’s biggest passenger plane.
Separately, Israeli airline El Al said Monday that it’s considering chartering private jets to bring stranded Israeli citizens home.
The announcements mark a potential improvement after air travel ground to a halt in a large swath of the Middle East over the weekend following the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran and subsequent retaliatory strikes.
The attacks shut airspace over a large part of the region, stranding hundreds of thousands of customers around the world and leading to thousands of canceled flights, including those who weren’t flying to and from the area since aircraft couldn’t transit those zones. Dubai is one of the busiest air travel hubs in the world.
The airport authority that owns and manages airports in Dubai said a small number of flights would be permitted to operate from Dubai International and Dubai World Central – Al Maktoum International, but advised travelers to check with their airlines.
For its part, Emirates said it will start operating a “limited number of flights” Monday night and urged customers not to go to the airport unless notified by the airline.
“We are accommodating customers with earlier bookings as a priority,” it said in a post on X. “All other flights remain suspended until further notice,” it said.
El Al said it is considering hiring KlasJet planes to take passengers from European airports to Aqaba, over southern border in Jordan, for customers of the airline. It previously considered flying in and out of Taba, Egypt, but later Monday said that plan was scrapped “due to the lack of approval from the security authorities in Israel.”
Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways said Monday that all commercial flights to and from the city are suspended until afternoon local time on Wednesday, though it could operating some cargo and repatriation flights “subject to strict operational and safety protocols.”
Stranded passengers wait at the Velana International Airport in Male on March 1, 2026 after the cancellation of several flights destined for the Middle East.
Mohamed Afrah | Afp | Getty Images
Travelers are stranded as far away as Australia, Brazil and the Maldives after the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Iran this weekend. With airspace in the region still closed, getting home could be a challenge at least several days.
Here’s what to know:
Why are flights disrupted?
Around 3,000 flights have been cancelled since the conflict in Iran began Saturday and subsequent attacks by Iran continue to impact other parts of the region, according to aviation-data firm Cirium.
Airspace was closed over a large swath of the Middle East, suspending flights to and from Dubai International Airport, one of the busiest hubs in the world, Tel Aviv, and Doha, Qatar. More than 40 flights were forced to divert early Saturday morning after the attack prompted airspace closures in the region.
That means customers connecting through major hubs in the region are also affected, with vacationers, business travelers, and other flyers stranded around the world.
When will travelers be able to get home?
That remains unclear. As of 11:30 a.m. ET, regional airspace closures continue to affect flights. Airlines will have to reposition their aircraft, which are spread out around the world.
For example, the Airbus A380s, the largest passenger airplanes in the world, that Etihad operates are located in several cities, including London, Paris, Toronto and Singapore. Four are on the ground at its base in Abu Dhabi, Flightradar24 said Sunday. However, Etihad was starting to reposition aircraft at its Abu Dhabi hub, should airspace reopen.
Read more about military conflicts’ impact on commercial flights
Qatar Airways has one A380 at its Doha base, while others are in Sydney, Bangkok and elsewhere.
Israeli airline El Al paused ticket sales and said its priority over the coming weeks will be to ensure ticket-holding travelers can return home.
Airlines have all issued waivers for affected destinations.
Major carriers are also likely to add extra flights once airspace reopens to accommodate the surge in demand.
The State Department didn’t immediately comment on its plans, but special flights were added around the world to get travelers home when the Covid-19 pandemic began in 2020.
Will travel insurance help?
Standard travel insurance policies generally don’t cover events that have already happened or developed, whether it’s a military strike or a hurricane. Travelers would need to have purchased a more expensive option called “cancel anytime” insurance that allows them to do just that.
—CNBC’s Contessa Brewer contributed to this article.
U.S. President Donald Trump stops to speak to the media as he departs on Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House on Feb. 27, 2026 in Washington, DC.
Andrew Harnik | Getty Images
President Donald Trump on Friday said that “I’d love not to use” the U.S. military to attack Iran, “but sometimes you have to.”
But Trump also said, “We haven’t made a final decision” on whether to attack Iran.
“We’ll see what happens,” he said. “We’re talking later today. We’ll have some additional talks today.”
Trump’s comment to reporters outside the White House came after he expressed frustration at Iran’s refusal to comply with American demands to curb its nuclear program.
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“We’re not thrilled with the way they’re negotiating,” Trump said. “They cannot have nuclear weapons.”
“I’m not happy that they’re not willing to give us what we have to have,” Trump said, referring to that condition.
Asked by a reporter if there could be a long, drawn-out conflict in the Middle East if the United States attacks Iran, Trump said, “I guess you could say there’s always a risk.”
“It’d be wonderful if they negotiate, really, in good conscience, good faith,” he said. “They are not getting there so far.”
Omani Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi, who has been mediating negotiations between the U.S. and Iran, met in Washington, D.C., with Vice President JD Vance and other American officials in a bid to avoid war.
A statement issued by Oman’s government after the meeting put a positive spin on those talks that was not reflected in Trump’s blunt comments.
“The meeting examined the indirect US-Iran negotiations sponsored by the Sultanate of Oman, alongside the diplomatic endeavours seeking to culminate in a just and enduring agreement concerning the nuclear file and to guarantee the peaceful character of Iran’s nuclear energy program,” Oman’s government said.
“I am grateful for their engagement and look forward to further and decisive progress in the coming days,” al-Busaidi said in a post on X. “Peace is within our reach.”
During an interview with MS Now, when asked if there was a chance of the United States attacking Iran overnight, al-Busaidi said, “I can’t answer that question, because I don’t know.”
“I think President Trump is sincerely passionate for a deal,” al-Busaidi said. “He wants to have a deal. He wants to have a diplomatic solution, and this is what we are trying to do.”
But Trump, in a speech later Friday afternoon in Corpus Christi, Texas, said of Iran, “We have a very big decision.”
“We have a country that’s been 47 years blowing people’s legs off, arms off,” Trump said. They’ve been knocking out ships, killing people, lots of people, not only Americans, lots of people.”
Trump said he wanted to “make a deal that’s meaningful.”
“I’d rather do it the peaceful way,” Trump said, while calling Iran’s government “very difficult people, dangerous people, very difficult people.”
The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem earlier Friday authorized non-emergency U.S. government personnel and their family members to leave Israel “due to safety risks.”
Also Friday, the massive American aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald Ford, arrived off Israel’s coast.
Also on Friday, the State Department said that Secretary of State Marco Rubio would visit Israel on Monday and Tuesday to discuss Iran and other regional issues.