Summary
This blog is closing now. Our live coverage is continuing here.
Here is a summary of the day so far:
Iran’s police chief Ahmad-Reza Radan has warned Iranians on state TV that anyone who takes to the streets “at the enemy’s request” will be “confronted as an enemy, not a protester”. Radan said security forces are stationed in the streets “day and night”.
Lebanese health authorities said Israel’s raids on the southern town of Qana, in the Tyre district, on Wednesday have killed five people and wounded five others.
The Israeli military said it had begun an “additional wave” of strikes on targets in Tehran. It followed the IDF saying earlier that it had struck key command centres of the Iranian armed forces in Tehran and Tabriz.
It comes as Iran’s UN ambassador accused the US and Israel of deliberately targeting civilians – saying that almost 10,000 civilian sites have been hit in the country, including about 8,000 residential homes, and the death toll has reached more than 1,300 people. Amir Saeid Iravani said “populated residential areas” and “critical civilian infrastructure” had been hit in attacks he described as “horrific crimes”.
Donald Trump said the US has hit and “completely destroyed” 10 inactive mine-laying vessels, warning that more would follow. US Central Command added that it “eliminated” 16 Iranian mine-laying vessels near the strait of Hormuz. The updates came shortly after the US president initially said there had been “no reports” of Iran placing mines in the strait, but warned that if it had, they must be moved “IMMEDIATELY” or Iran would face military consequences “at a level never seen before”. US officials earlier told CBS News that Iran may be preparing to deploy naval mines in the strait to further disrupt the crucial shipping lane. According to CNN, a few dozen mines have been laid in recent days.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that the US Navy has not escorted an oil tanker through the strait of Hormuz, after the US energy secretary Chris Wright said it had happened in a swiftly deleted X post. Leavitt also said that the US military is “drawing up additional options” to keep strait open.
Leavitt also said that the US and Israel’s war won’t end until Iran’s “complete and unconditional surrender” and when Trump decides his objectives have been met and determines that Iran does not pose a direct threat. She told reporters that the US military is “making tremendous strides towards achieving our military objectives”, and is now moving to “dismantle Iran’s missile production infrastructure”.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration is reportedly considering the deployment of special forces into Iran to secure its stockpile of highly enriched uranium (HEU), which experts say could be used to make at least 10 nuclear warheads. The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has told Congress that “people are going to have to go and get it”. Here’s our story.
The United States reportedly asked Israel to halt strikes on Iran’s energy infrastructure, marking the first time the US has reined in its ally since they went to war 11 days ago. It comes after an Israeli bombing of fuel storage facilities blanketed Tehran - a city home to some 10 million people - in toxic black smoke and acid rain over the weekend, raising urgent health warnings for ordinary Iranians.
Israel is set to expand its defence budget by almost 40 billion shekels (US$13bn) to fund the war in Iran, according to a finance ministry official, who wished to remain anonymous, Bloomberg reports. The defence budget will be expanded by 28bn shekels, with an additional 10 billion put aside as reserves for possible military needs, the offical said.
A total of seven members of the Iranian women’s football team have now been granted humanitarian visas in Australia, home affairs minister Tony Burke has confirmed. An additional two women had sought asylum before the rest of the Iranian team departed Sydney on a flight to Malaysia on Tuesday night, one player and one support member, Burke told a press conference on Wednesday morning.
Russia denied sharing intelligence with Iran on US military assets in the Middle East, Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff said. It follows reports on Friday that Moscow was providing Tehran with targeting information that included locations and movements of US warships and aircraft in the region. “Yesterday on the call with the president, the Russians said that they have not been sharing,” Witkoff said when asked if Washington thought Moscow had shared intelligence about the location of US military assets with Tehran. “We can take them at their word. But they did say that. And yesterday morning, independently, Jared [Kushner] and I had a call with [Kremlin aide Yuri] Ushakov who reiterated the same.”
Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi dismissed repeated claims from the Trump administration that Iran was planning a preemptive or preventive strike against the US or its military forces as “a sheer and utter lie”. “The sole purpose of that lie is to justify Operation Epic Mistake, a misadventure engineered by Israel and paid for by ordinary Americans,” Araghchi said in a post on X – riffing on the US’s name for the military operation, Operation Epic Fury.
Approximately 140 US service members have been wounded since the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran, according to the Pentagon, eight of them severely.
North Korea respects Iran's choice of new supreme leader - state media
North Korea supports Iran’s choice of new leader and has condemned the US and Israel of undermining regional peace, an unnamed foreign ministry official told the official Korean Central News Agency.
We respect the rights and choice of the Iranian people to elect their supreme leader.
Mojtaba Khamenei, the second son of the late Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has been chosen as his successor.
The official also said the US and Israel are “destroying the regional peace and security foundations and escalating instability worldwide”, and violating Iran’s political and territorial integrity.
Such actions “deserve worldwide criticism and rejection as they can never be tolerated,” they said.
Members of Iranian women's football team touch down in Malaysia
Members of the squad arrived in Kuala Lumpur on a flight from Sydney early on Wednesday morning after Australia granted some of their teammates humanitarian visas.
Seven players sought asylum over safety concerns on their return home for not singing the national anthem at their opening game in Australia 10 days ago.
As the Guardian’s Ben Doherty writes:
On state-run television, the response was furious invective, and the message was clear: “I must emphasise that traitors during wartime should be dealt with more severely,” host Mohammad Reza Shahbazi said.
Before leaving the Gold Coast on Tuesday, all members of the Iranian playing squad were interviewed by federal police and offered the opportunity to stay in Australia on humanitarian visas.
Most chose to return home, citing a desire to see their families amid the deepening, calamitous conflict in their homeland.
Five killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon - health ministry
Lebanese health authorities said Israel’s raids on the southern town of Qana, in the Tyre district, on Wednesday have killed five people and wounded five others.
Three others were reported killed in strikes a night earlier in Hennawiyeh, including a rescuer who went to assist the two victims prior to them being killed, while another strike on Zalaya killed one person, the health ministry said.
As of Tuesday, 759,300 people had been registered as displaced, officials said.
The Israeli military said it had begun a wave of new strikes “against Hezbollah infrastructure” in the area.
Saudi Arabia said on Wednesday it had intercepted seven ballistic missiles in separate attacks targeting an air base and its eastern region.
“Six ballistic missiles launched towards Prince Sultan Air Base intercepted and destroyed,” the Saudi defence ministry posted on X, adding in a separate post that it had intercepted another ballistic missile launched “towards the eastern region”.
Protesters will be treated as 'enemies' - Iran's police chief
Iran’s police chief Ahmad-Reza Radan has warned Iranians on state TV that anyone who takes to the streets “at the enemy’s request” will be “confronted as an enemy, not a protester”.
We will do to them what we do to enemies. We will treat them the way we treat enemies.
All of our men have their fingers on the trigger and are ready to defend their revolution, to support their people and their homeland.
Radan said security forces are stationed in the streets “day and night”.
Both Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu have called on Iranians to take to the streets and overthrow their regime in recent weeks.
Iran has brutally cracked down on protesters involved in a wave of anti-establishment demonstrations since late December. The US-based Human Rights Activists News Agency said it had confirmed the killing of at least 7,000 people, including children and people not involved in the protests, during that period.
Two more in Iranian football team granted visas in Australia
A total of seven members of the Iranian women’s football team have now been granted humanitarian visas in Australia, home affairs minister Tony Burke has confirmed.
An additional two women had sought asylum before the rest of the Iranian team departed Sydney on a flight to Malaysia on Tuesday night, one player and one support member, Burke told a press conference on Wednesday morning.
He said the pair were offered humanitarian visas, and both took up the offer. The visas were processed overnight.
I made them the same offer that I had made the five players the night before, and that was that if they wanted to receive a humanitarian visa for Australia, which would have a pathway to a permanent visa.
I had the paperwork ready to execute that immediately. They both said that they did. I signed off on that.
The pair join five teammates whose humanitarian visas were confirmed by the Albanese government on Tuesday morning.
Read more here:
US lawmakers alarmed Trump may deploy ground forces in Iran
Democratic US senators are worried Trump could put ‘boots on the ground’ in Iran, which they believe could put the US at risk.
Speaking to CNN on Tuesday, Democratic senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire said a series of closed-door briefings from Trump aides have left them with more questions than answers, especially about the cost and expected duration of the war, and whether US forces would be sent into Tehran.
We know that Russia is already helping with intel, providing that to Iran, and that there’s an axis with Russia and China, Iran and North Korea that puts at greater risk the United States and our national security.
Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut told reporters after a classified briefing from administration officials to the Senate Armed Services Committee the US “seemed to be on a path toward deploying American troops on the ground in Iran to accomplish any of the potential objectives here”.
The American people deserve to know much more than this administration has told them about the cost of the war, the danger to our sons and daughters in uniform and the potential for further escalation and widening of this war.
The Trump administration is reportedly considering the deployment of special forces into Iran to secure its stockpile of highly enriched uranium (HEU), which experts say could be used to make at least 10 nuclear warheads.
Read more here:
Israel to expand Iran war budget by $13b - reports
Israel is set to expand its defence budget by almost 40 billion shekels (US$13b) to fund the war in Iran, according to a finance ministry official, who wished to remain anonymous, Bloomberg reports.
The defence budget will be expanded by 28 billion shekels, with an additional 10 billion put aside as reserves for possible military needs, the offical said.
The budget represents about 2% of its gross domestic product and is part of a revised 2026 budget that will be debated and possibly voted on late Tuesday by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cabinet.
It will then need a sign-off from parliament by the end of the month.
In a recorded video statement late Tuesday, Netanyahu said the war was “costing lots of money”.
Therefore, we are in need of a special budget including tens of billions of shekels to boost defence expenditure.
Pentagon estimates US used more than $5bn worth of munitions in first two days of Iran war - reports
Multiple outlets are reporting that the US military used $5.6bn in munitions during the first two days of strikes against Iran, according to an assessment the Pentagon provided to congressional committees on Monday.
Members of Congress, who may soon have to approve additional funding for the war, have expressed concern about how quickly the conflict is burning through US military stocks - including long-range precision guided munitions that were used heavily in the first few days of the war - at a time when the defense industry was already struggling to keep up with demand.
There are also concerns that the US and its allies are expending a significant number of air defense munitions to shoot down incoming Iranian ballistic missiles and drones, of which Tehran has a large arsenal.
Indeed Donald Trump met with leading US weapons manufacturers at the White House on Friday – and said they had agreed to “quadruple Production of ‘Exquisite Class’ Weaponry” - as the Pentagon worked to replenish supplies.
His administration has not provided a public assessment of the cost of the conflict it launched on 28 February alongside Israel.
Lawmakers have clamored for more information, including public testimony from officials about issues including how the conflict might affect the US military’s readiness to defend the country.
Arizona Democratic senator Mark Kelly told CNN that senators would continue to ask briefers behind closed doors today about the per-day cost of the conflict to the US.
Several congressional aides have told Reuters and CNN that they expect the White House to soon submit a request to Congress for additional funding to produce more munitions for the war. Per Reuters, some officials have said the request could be for $50bn, but others have said that estimate seems low.
Russian consulate in Iran's Isfahan damaged in strikes, spokeswoman says
Russia’s consulate in the Iranian city of Isfahan was damaged in shelling earlier this week, Russia’s foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Tuesday.
An attack on a diplomatic representation was a “blatant violation” of international conventions and all sides should observe the “inviolability of diplomatic sites”, she said.
“On March 8, in the Iranian city of Isfahan, as a result of an attack on the governor’s administration of the province of the same name located nearby, the Russian consulate was damaged,” Zakharova said in a statement on the ministry’s website.
“Windows were shattered in the office building and residential apartments, and several employees were thrown by the blast wave. Fortunately, there were no casualties or serious injuries.”
Vladimir Putin discussed the conflict with Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian on Tuesday, the Kremlin said. Putin has called for a halt to all hostilities.
The day so far
The Israeli military said it had begun an “additional wave” of strikes on targets in Tehran. It followed the IDF saying earlier that it had struck key command centres of the Iranian armed forces in Tehran and Tabriz.
It comes as Iran’s UN ambassador accused the US and Israel of deliberately targeting civilians – saying that almost 10,000 civilian sites have been hit in the country, including about 8,000 residential homes, and the death toll has reached more than 1,300 people. Amir Saeid Iravani said “populated residential areas” and “critical civilian infrastructure” had been hit in attacks he described as “horrific crimes”.
Donald Trump said the US has hit and “completely destroyed” 10 inactive mine-laying vessels, warning that more would follow. US Central Command added that it “eliminated” 16 Iranian mine-laying vessels near the strait of Hormuz. The updates came shortly after the US president initially said there had been “no reports” of Iran placing mines in the strait, but warned that if it had, they must be moved “IMMEDIATELY” or Iran would face military consequences “at a level never seen before”. US officials earlier told CBS News that Iran may be preparing to deploy naval mines in the strait to further disrupt the crucial shipping lane. According to CNN, a few dozen mines have been laid in recent days.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that the US Navy has not escorted an oil tanker through the strait of Hormuz, after the US energy secretary Chris Wright said it had happened in a swiftly deleted X post. Leavitt also said that the US military is “drawing up additional options” to keep strait open.
Leavitt also said that the US and Israel’s war won’t end until Iran’s “complete and unconditional surrender” and when Trump decides his objectives have been met and determines that Iran does not pose a direct threat. She told reporters that the US military is “making tremendous strides towards achieving our military objectives”, and is now moving to “dismantle Iran’s missile production infrastructure”.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration is reportedly considering the deployment of special forces into Iran to secure its stockpile of highly enriched uranium (HEU), which experts say could be used to make at least 10 nuclear warheads. The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has told Congress that “people are going to have to go and get it”. Here’s our story.
The United States reportedly asked Israel to halt strikes on Iran’s energy infrastructure, marking the first time the US has reined in its ally since they went to war 11 days ago. It comes after an Israeli bombing of fuel storage facilities blanketed Tehran - a city home to some 10 million people - in toxic black smoke and acid rain over the weekend, raising urgent health warnings for ordinary Iranians.
Russia denied sharing intelligence with Iran on US military assets in the Middle East, Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff said. It follows reports on Friday that Moscow was providing Tehran with targeting information that included locations and movements of US warships and aircraft in the region. “Yesterday on the call with the president, the Russians said that they have not been sharing,” Witkoff said when asked if Washington thought Moscow had shared intelligence about the location of US military assets with Tehran. “We can take them at their word. But they did say that. And yesterday morning, independently, Jared [Kushner] and I had a call with [Kremlin aide Yuri] Ushakov who reiterated the same.”
Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi dismissed repeated claims from the Trump administration that Iran was planning a preemptive or preventive strike against the US or its military forces as “a sheer and utter lie”. “The sole purpose of that lie is to justify Operation Epic Mistake, a misadventure engineered by Israel and paid for by ordinary Americans,” Araghchi said in a post on X – riffing on the US’s name for the military operation, Operation Epic Fury.
Approximately 140 US service members have been wounded since the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran, according to the Pentagon, eight of them severely.
US destroys 16 Iranian mine-laying vessels near strait of Hormuz, military says
Further to Trump’s comments earlier, US Central Command has said in a post on X that it “eliminated” 16 Iranian mine-laying vessels near the strait of Hormuz on Tuesday.
Updated
Israeli military launches fresh strikes on Iran
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in the last hour that it had begun an “additional wave” of strikes on targets in Tehran.
In a post on its Farsi page on X, the IDF said:
The Israeli Defense Forces have now launched a massive wave of attacks against the infrastructure of the Iranian terrorist regime in Tehran.
It comes after the Israeli military said earlier today that it had struck key command centres of the Iranian armed forces in Tehran and Tabriz.
Al Jazeera reported that explosions were heard in Tehran shortly after the latest IDF announcement.
Updated
The satellite imaging company that journalists had used to conduct investigations of US responsibility for bombing a girls’ school in Iran in the first day of attacks on the country has announced it will delay its imagery from the region.
American satellite company Planet, which provides high resolution satellite data to the New York Times, BBC and other organisations, said it would put a two-week delay on publishing images taken of the Middle East.
Journalists had used the service to verify claims made by both sides in the conflict in the Persian Gulf, but notably to track attacks on hospitals, ports and other civilian infrastructure.
Wim Zwijnenburg, who monitors environmental harms arising from conflict, said the delay would seriously impact his work.
It’s really put a lot of constraints on many of us who are trying to follow what’s happening.
It makes it difficult to do proper assessments and now we have to rely on Sentinel 1 and Sentinel 2 data, and that’s much coarser.
Updated
Iran UN ambassador says death toll is over 1,300 and nearly 10,000 civilian sites have been hit
Iran’s UN ambassador earlier accused the US and Israel of deliberately targeting civilians – saying that almost 10,000 civilian sites have been hit in the country, including about 8,000 residential homes, and the death toll has reached more than 1,300 people.
Amir Saeid Iravani said “populated residential areas” and “critical civilian infrastructure” had been hit in attacks he described as “horrific crimes”.
He said 9,669 civilian sites had been destroyed, including nearly 8,000 residential homes, along with commercial centers, medical and pharmaceutical facilities, and schools and educational institutions.
Iravani also said there were heavy strikes on fuel storage facilities in Tehran and other cities on the nights of 5 and 7 March, which released large quantities of hazardous and toxic pollutants into the atmosphere, increasing the risk of respiratory harm and environmental contamination. (You can ready our story below).
Medical centers in Tehran have been placed on high alert and residents have been advised to stay indoors, he said.
Zelenskyy says Ukrainian drone experts heading to the Gulf
Volodymyr Zelenskyy said earlier that his military experts are on their way to the Gulf nations to share their expertise on intercepting and shooting down drones.
In a post on X, the Ukrainian president said:
Ukraine has the greatest experience in the world in countering attack drones, and without our experience it will be very difficult for the Gulf region, the entire Middle East, and partners in Europe and America to build strong protection.
The United States and its allies in the Middle East have been seeking Ukraine’s expertise in countering Iran’s Shahed drones, which have been used in Russia’s full-scale invasion for the last four years.
Zelenskyy said on Monday he had dispatched interceptor drones and operators to protect US bases in Jordan last week, one of 11 countries that had asked Kyiv for help.
“Those now seeking Ukraine’s help must continue to assist our own defence – first and foremost, our air defence,” he said.
Updated
Trump says US destroyed 10 'inactive mine laying vessels'
In a swift turn of events, Donald Trump has said that the US has hit and “completely destroyed” 10 inactive mine-laying vessels, warning that more would follow.
It comes not long after the US president initially said there had been “no reports” of Iran placing mines in the strait, but warned that if Iran had placed mines in the crucial waterway, they must be moved “IMMEDIATELY” or Iran would face military consequences “at a level never seen before”.
US officials earlier told CBS News that Iran may be preparing to deploy naval mines in the strait to further disrupt the crucial shipping lane. According to CNN, a few dozen mines have been laid in recent days.
Updated
Iran says claims that it was planning to strike US or US forces 'a sheer and utter lie'
Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi has dismissed repeated claims from the Trump administration that Iran was planning a preemptive or preventive strike against the US or its military forces as “a sheer and utter lie”.
In a post on X, Araghchi – riffing on the US’s name for the military operation, Operation Epic Fury – added:
The sole purpose of that lie is to justify Operation Epic Mistake, a misadventure engineered by Israel and paid for by ordinary Americans.
Updated
Around 140 US service members wounded since start of US-Israeli war on Iran, Pentagon says
Approximately 140 US service members have been wounded since the start of “Operation Epic Fury”, according to chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell.
The vast majority of these injuries have been minor, and 108 service members have already returned to duty. Eight service members remain listed as severely injured and are receiving the highest level of medical care.
Updated
The Trump administration is reportedly considering the deployment of special forces into Iran to secure its stockpile of highly enriched uranium (HEU), which experts say could be used to make at least 10 nuclear warheads.
Preventing Iran from acquiring a bomb is one of Trump’s stated war aims, and the 440kg HEU stockpile represents the greatest nuclear threat as it could be turned into weapons-grade uranium relatively easily. The US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has told Congress that “people are going to have to go and get it”.
Rubio did not go into greater detail, but there have been US and Israeli reports on discussions between the two countries on how such a mission might be carried out by special forces from either or both militaries. But nuclear experts say the complexity and risk involved would be considerable.
Rafael Grossi, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said on Monday that the UN watchdog body believed that 200kg of Iran’s HEU stockpile was in deep tunnels at its nuclear complex outside the city of Isfahan. He added that there was another “amount” of HEU in another nuclear centre at Natanz, where Iranians have constructed a new fortified and deeply buried facility called Kuh-e Kolang Gaz La, known to western analysts as Pickaxe Mountain.
Trump warns Iran about placing mines in strait of Hormuz
Donald Trump has said there are “no reports” of Iran placing mines in the strait of Hormuz, and warned that if Iran has placed mines in the key waterway off its coast, they must be moved “IMMEDIATELY” or Iran will face military consequences “at a level never seen before”.
US officials earlier told CBS News that Iran may be preparing to deploy naval mines in the strait to further disrupt the crucial shipping lane.
Trump wrote on Truth Social:
If Iran has put out any mines in the Hormuz Strait, and we have no reports of them doing so, we want them removed, IMMEDIATELY! If for any reason mines were placed, and they are not removed forthwith, the Military consequences to Iran will be at a level never seen before. If, on the other hand, they remove what may have been placed, it will be a giant step in the right direction!”
Updated
Tehran residents say the Iranian capital has endured what they described as its worst night of aerial bombardment, as the US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, followed Donald Trump’s suggestion on Monday the war could soon be over with a warning of more strikes to come, writes William Christou in Beirut, Deepa Parent and Hannah Ellis-Petersen in Dubai.
“We are under heavy bombardment and I can hear back-to-back explosions. The place they hit has caught fire. It’s not clear where it exploded, but the buildings are shaking,” Niloufar, who lives in east Tehran said early on Tuesday, speaking under a pseudonym for security reasons. “They are destroying Iran,” they added, saying there were low-flying jets above.
Israel, which launched an air campaign against Iran with the US on 28 February, on Tuesday said it had hit a weapons development facility among a wave of strikes.
Other residents told the Guardian of rolling blackouts, and that much of Iran’s communications were down.
The World Health Organization has urged Iranians to stay inside, saying “black rain” falling after strikes on oil facilities could cause respiratory problems.
One Tehran resident described the city as “the last stop before hell”.
At least 1,245 civilians have been killed, including 194 children, by the US-Israeli war on Iran, according to the US-based Human Rights Activists in Iran group.
Israel will allocate a special budget of tens of billions of shekels for extra defence spending to finance the air war with Iran, prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and finance minister Bezalel Smotrich said in a joint statement.
Smotrich said the cabinet was meeting on Tuesday night to approve the special war budget.
“This is not an expense, it’s an investment,” he said.
US asks Israel to stop strikes on Iran's energy infrastructure - report
The United States has asked Israel to halt strikes on Iran’s energy infrastructure, Axios reports, citing three sources familiar with the matter, marking the first time the US has reined in its ally since they went to war 11 days ago.
Washington sent the message at a senior political level and to IDF chief of staff Eyal Zamir, Axios reports, citing an Israeli official.
Per Axios’s report, the Trump administration gave three reasons for the request, including a goal to cooperate with Iran’s oil sector after the war (as Trump has done with Venezuela); fears that the strikes would harm the Iranian public; and concerns that it could trigger massive Iranian retaliatory attacks on energy infrastructure across Gulf states.
It comes after an Israeli bombing of fuel storage facilities blanketed Tehran - a city home to some 10 million people - in toxic black smoke and acid rain over the weekend, raising urgent health warnings for ordinary Iranians.
Iran has appealed to to the United Nations to condemn the US and Israel for a “manifest environmental crime”.
Updated
Karoline Leavitt also claimed that Americans will see oil and gas prices “drop rapidly” once the US military’s national security objectives are “fully achieved” in Iran.
The recent increase in oil and gas prices is temporary, and this operation will result in lower gas prices in the long term.
Updated
Asked how long the US-Israeli war on Iran will last, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt echoed Donald Trump’s comments that the operation is ahead of schedule, but added that the war will not end until Iran’s “complete and unconditional surrender, whether they say it or not”.
Trump will be the one to determine when Iran does not pose a direct threat, she added.
US Navy has not escorted a vessel through strait of Hormuz, White House confirms
Karoline Leavitt was also just asked why Trump’s energy secretary earlier claimed that the US Navy had escorted an oil tanker through the strait of Hormuz “to ensure oil remains flowing to global markets”, before deleting the X post a few minutes later.
She replied:
I know the post was taken down pretty quickly, and I can confirm that the US Navy has not escorted a tanker or a vessel at this time, though of course that’s an option the president has said he will absolutely utilize if and when necessary at the appropriate time.
Updated
US military 'drawing up additional options' to keep strait of Hormuz open, says White House
Karoline Leavitt said that Donald Trump is committed to allowing the free flow of oil through the strait of Hormuz, and reiterated that the US president has offered for the navy “to escort tankers when necessary”.
“The US military is drawing up additional options following the president’s directive to continue keeping the strait of Hormuz open,” Leavitt said.
I will not broadcast what those options look like, but just know the president is not afraid to use them.
White House says US military moving to 'dismantle Iran's missile production infrastructure'
At the White House briefing, Donald Trump’s press secretary Karoline Leavitt has told reporters that the United States is “making tremendous strides towards achieving our military objectives”.
More than 5,000 enemy targets have been struck so far.
Iran’s ballistic missile attacks are down more than 90%, and their drone attacks are down by approximately 85%.
She said the US military is now moving to “dismantle Iran’s missile production infrastructure”.
Our incredible B-2 bombers recently dropped dozens of 2,000-pound penetrator bombs on deeply buried missile sites.
Updated
New Iranian missiles launched at Israel, IDF says
The IDF has warned that missiles headed for its borders were launched by Iran a short time ago.
The Israeli military said it’s working to intercept the threat, and is notifying people through mobile phone alerts in the areas that may be affected.
Upon receiving an alert, the public is instructed to enter a protected space and remain there until further notice.
Israeli media reports that sirens have sounded in parts of central Israel, shortly after the warning of incoming missiles from Iran.
IRGC denies US warship escorted tanker through strait of Hormuz
And a spokesperson for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps has also denied the claim made in a now-deleted post by the US energy secretary that a US warship escorted a tanker through the strait of Hormuz without incident.
“None of the US warships during the war even dared to approach the Sea of Oman, the Persian Gulf, and the strait of Hormuz”, the spokesperson said, as quoted by Al Jazeera.
Updated
Further to that last post, a US official has clarified to Reuters that the US military has not escorted any ships through the strait of Hormuz so far, after US energy secretary Chris Wright deleted an X post that had said the US Navy had escorted an oil tanker through the strait.
US energy secretary deletes post about Navy escorting vessel through strait of Hormuz
An update to a post from a few moments ago, US energy secretary Chris Wright has deleted a post on X which had said the US Navy had successfully escorted an oil tanker through the strait of Hormuz “to ensure oil remains flowing to global markets”.
It’s unclear why he deleted the post.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt is due to brief reporters shortly, on day 11 of the US-Israeli war on Iran. I’ll bring you any relevant lines here.
Russia told Trump it isn't sharing US military asset intel with Iran, says US special envoy
Russia has denied sharing intelligence with Iran on US military assets in the Middle East, Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff said on Tuesday.
Speaking to CNBC, Witkoff said the denial came during a phone call that Donald Trump had with Russian president Vladimir Putin on Monday, as well as in a separate call that he held earlier that day with Jared Kushner and Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov.
Trump didn’t divulge any details about his call with Putin yesterday, saying only that it was “very good” and that the Russian president “wants to be helpful on Iran”. On the Russian side, Ushakov said the conversation was “frank” and “business-like”.
It follows reports on Friday that Moscow was providing Tehran with targeting information that included locations and movements of US warships and aircraft in the region.
“Yesterday on the call with the president, the Russians said that they have not been sharing,” Witkoff said when asked if Washington thought Moscow had shared intelligence about the location of US military assets with Tehran.
He went on: “We can take them at their word. But they did say that. And yesterday morning, independently, Jared and I had a call with Ushakov who reiterated the same.”
He added: “That’s a better question for the intel people, but let’s hope that they’re not sharing.”
Updated
US energy secretary Chris Wright on Tuesday said the US Navy escorted an oil tanker through the strait of Hormuz, in what was understood to be the first such operation since the launch of the US-Israel war on Iran.
Oil was already down on Tuesday, but dropped past 15% after the announcement of the US escort.
“The US Navy successfully escorted an oil tanker through the Strait of Hormuz to ensure oil remains flowing to global markets,” Wright posted on social media, as fighting raged in a war that has roiled oil markets and brought many shipments of the commodity to a standstill.
Cardinal Robert W McElroy, the archbishop of Washington, has said that the US-Israeli war with Iran is “not morally legitimate”, going further than the pope has done in his more moderate appeals for an end to the war.
In an interview with the Catholic Standard this week, McElroy said “the criterion of just cause is not met because our country was not responding to an existing or imminent and objectively verifiable attack by Iran.”
“As Pope Benedict declared categorically, Catholic teaching does not support preventative war, ie a war justified by speculation about events in the future,” he said. “If preventative war were to be accepted morally, then all limits to the cause for going to war would be put in extreme jeopardy.”
McElroy also argued that the conflict fails the “criterion of right intention” arguing that in his opinion, “one of the most worrying elements of these first days of the war in Iran is that our goals and intentions are absolutely unclear, ranging from the destruction of Iran’s conventional and nuclear weapons potential to the overthrow of its regime to the establishment of a democratic government to unconditional surrender,” he said. “You cannot satisfy the just war tradition’s criterion of right intention if you do not have a clear intention.”
He added that “our current war effort does not meet Catholic just war teaching because it is far from clear that the benefits of this war will outweigh the harm which will be done.”
The Iran war has thrown global oil and gas flows into chaos and the prospect of Donald Trump easing US sanctions on Russian oil to fill the gap is causing a nightmare for the EU.
The European Council president, António Costa, who represents the EU’s leaders, said on Tuesday the only winner from the ongoing conflict would be Vladimir Putin, who could step into the gap created by the throttling of Gulf supplies.
So how are Brussels and individual member states reacting to a crisis that in just 24 hours sent the oil price to almost $120 a barrel, before swinging back to nearer $90?
Donald Trump has held an astonishing press conference in which he said the war in Iran was ‘very complete’ and could end ‘very soon’, but also claimed that the US had not ‘won enough’.
The US president is under growing pressure over the economic toll from the conflict, but his words were met with defiance from Tehran. So is the war any closer to ending and has Trump underestimated the resilience of the Iranian regime?
Lucy Hough speaks to the Guardian columnist Nesrine Malik…
Iranian army says it has targeted a military and an intelligence site in Israel
The Iranian army said on Tuesday it had targeted a military and an intelligence site in Israel, as the warring sides pressed attacks for an 11th day.
“The army, using attack drones, struck a military centre in Haifa and the reception centre for spy satellites,” it said in a statement.
The military centre “plays a key role in arms production and is of major strategic importance for strengthening the enemy’s combat capabilities”, added the statement carried by Tasnim news agency.
Updated
US special envoy Steve Witkoff, a top adviser to president Donald Trump, said in a CNBC interview on Tuesday that he probably will travel to Israel next week to coordinate on Iran war plans.
UK's HMS Dragon headed for eastern Mediterranean to bolster Cyprus defence
Britain’s HMS Dragon has left Portsmouth naval base headed for the eastern Mediterranean to protect Cyprus, PA reported.
The Type 45 destroyer is due is being sent to the eastern Mediterranean to help protect RAF bases on island, in a bid to prevent further drone or missile attacks by Iran and its proxies.
On Monday, the UK defence secretary John Healey told MPs the warship would sail from Portsmouth “in the next couple of days”.
It comes amid reports that landing ship RFA Lyme Bay is being prepared for a potential deployment to the region as well.
Updated
In Britain, Jeremy Corbyn’s new left-wing start-up party has called for the lifting of “punitive sanctions” that are hurting Iranians, in a move which it said went further than the position of its rivals, the Green party.
In a moment of agreement following months of bitter internal divisions, Your Party said on Tuesday that a statement on Iran had been unanimously agreed by its Central Executive Committee (CEC), which included both Corbyn and Zarah Sultana.
The statement called on the government to halt the use of British military bases to attack Iran, adding that a claim that only defensive operations are being launched from UK bases had been “exposed as a sham” by a comment from the US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth, who said that British bases are being used for a “dramatic surge” in attacks.
“More than a thousand civilians are reported to have already been killed by US-Israeli bombing in Iran - including more than a hundred girls who were killed when their primary school in the Iranian town of Minab was obliterated,” it added.
“Ordinary Iranians now being bombed are already suffering from economic sanctions, which should be lifted to provide relief.”
After he won a comprehensive victory to become the de facto leader of the leftwing startup party, last month, party sources said Corbyn will seek to rebuild bridges with pro-Gaza communities “alienated” by Labour, and also work with the Greens.
Ukrainian military experts are due this week in Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, president Volodymyr Zelenskyy told journalists on Tuesday, where they will share expertise on downing Iranian drones.
“The first three countries to which we sent them, according to our agreements, are Qatar, the Emirates, and Saudi Arabia,” Zelenskyy said in an audio message sent to reporters, including AFP.
Iran’s parliamentary speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf warned on Tuesday that any attack on the Islamic republic’s infrastructure would result in a tit-for-tat response.
“The enemy should know that whatever they do, undoubtedly it will have a proportionate and immediate response,” Ghalibaf wrote on X, more than a week into the Middle East war that began with US-Israeli strikes on Iran.
“We today go with the rule of ’an eye for an eye’, without compromise, without exception,” he said. “If they start a war on infrastructure, we will undoubtedly target infrastructure.”
Denmark and the Netherlands announced Tuesday that they are relocating their respective embassy staff in Tehran to Azerbaijan.
The move follows Spain, Austria and Italy, which are among the countries to have temporarily closed and relocate their embassies to Baku in recent days as the US-Israel war on Iran continues.
“Due to the growing security risks for our employees, it has been decided to temporarily transfer the activities of the Dutch embassy in Iran to Baku, Azerbaijan,” Dutch foreign minister Tom Berendsen said on X.
“If the security situation allows, we will decide when and in what form our embassy in Iran can resume its activities in Tehran,” he added.
Iran’s intelligence ministry announced on Tuesday the arrests of 30 people accused of spying, including one foreigner, on the 11th day of the Middle East war.
The foreigner, whose nationality was not revealed, “was spying on behalf of two Persian Gulf countries in the name of the American-Zionist enemy” and was arrested in northeastern Iran, the ministry said in a statement published by the judiciary’s Mizan Online news portal.
On Tuesday, the United Arab Emirates reported intercepting another eight missiles and 26 drones over their territory as Iran continued its barrage of the Gulf state. But as the war dragged into its eleventh day, life in the UAE’s biggest and flashiest city of Dubai had mostly returned to normal.
Though emptied of thousands of tourists who initially fled in fear, people still flocked to the beaches, malls and rooftop bars in their droves. Commercial flights also restarted as the country’s airspace tentatively reopened, even as UAE’s leaders condemned the ongoing “blatant Iranian aggression”.
Many of the 4 million residents of the desert metropolis appeared quite unfazed by the ongoing conflict, deeming it low risk to their lives. So far, six people across the UAE have died from falling missile debris, but the country’s defence systems have mostly proved effective and there’s been no substantial damage to Dubai’s lofty skyline.
“They say it’s a war but it’s caused no problem for us, we don’t really see it at all,” said Nader Farid, 30, who moved from Egypt to Dubai five months ago to work in real estate, as he sat on the beach.
“The first day was scary when they warned about incoming missiles. But now it’s been more than a week and life here just goes on, only business is a bit slower. I’m from Egypt, I know that nowhere is safe from war. But this one does not feel bad. We are very protected here.”
Stranded holidaymakers such as Trish Patton, 62, from Glasgow, said she and her partner had been stuck in Dubai for nine days waiting for a flight home. They had been due to fly back the day the war broke out.
“It’s been very surreal and very scary at times,” she said. “Especially when we got the alerts on our phones, saying there may be missiles in your area, it’s pretty terrifying. On the first day it started, there were three drones right above us and we heard the explosions of them being shot down.”
After a week of trying, the couple finally had a flight back to Glasgow on Wednesday. “I’m happy to have survived and I’ll be even happier to be home,” said Patton. “I hope for everyone’s sake this war is over soon.”
Updated
Here are some images coming out of Lebanon today:
Iran accuses US and Israel of 'manifest environmental crime'
Iran has appealed to the UN to condemn the US and Israel for a “manifest environmental crime” over the bombing of fuel storage facilities in Tehran and other cities over the weekend.
The attacks led to the falling of acid rain across Tehran, as well as the spreading of clouds of smoke so thick they blocked out the sun and caused respiratory problems and skin irritation to residents.
In a letter passed Monday to senior officials at the UN, including secretary general Antonio Guterres, Saeed Iravani, Iran’s UN ambassador, said the explosions had “released large quantities of hazardous compounds including hydrocarbons, sulphur, and nitrogen oxides” creating “severe air pollution and serious health risks”. Subsequent rainfall led to the “dispersion and deposition of these pollutants through highly acidic precipitation”.
“Such developments may result in severe respiratory harm to the population and extensive environmental degradation, including the contamination of water resources and damage to ecosystems and living organisms.”
In response, all medical in Tehran province had been placed on high alert, while Iran’s environment department had advised residents to remain indoors, Iravani said.
“These attacks constitute a clear violation of international obligations arising under multilateral environmental agreements, including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Convention on Biological Diversity, which underscore States’ responsibility to protect the global environment and to refrain from actions that may cause widespread environmental harm.
“The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran calls upon the United Nations and its relevant bodies to urgently address these developments and to undertake appropriate measures, including condemning environmentally destructive acts and pursuing accountability for those responsible for this manifest environmental crime.”
The Israeli military have launched a warning strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs in Lebanon, the state-run National News Agency reports.
The strike comes after the Israeli military warned that it will be targeting Hezbollah infrastructure in the area of Tyre and Sidon on the western coast of southern Lebanon, and that it would be operating in the area south of the Litani river, about 74 kilometres (46 miles) south of the capital. The IDF reiterated its earlier evacuation orders and urged those in the area to leave.
UNHCR: More than 100,000 displaced in one day in Lebanon
More than 100,000 people in Lebanon have registered as displaced on the government platform in the past day, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said Tuesday.
More than 667,000 people total have registered as displaced since the country was pulled into the US-Israeli war on Iran when the Iran-backed Hezbollah launched missiles into Israel and the Israeli military struck back, the UNHCR said.
“During a visit yesterday to a shelter in Beirut, I met a woman in her 90s who had lost 11 members of her family during the 2024 attacks,” Karolina Lindholm Billing, the UNHCR representative in Lebanon, said in a statement. “She is now displaced again, staying in the same school that was turned into a shelter. Stories like hers illustrate the fear, uncertainty and repeated trauma families are facing.”
The airstrikes have resulted in urgent movement into Syria, Lindholm Billing said, with Syrian authorities reporting that more than 78,000 Syrians have entered Syria from Lebanon since the airstrikes began, some of whom were Syrian refugees who ha planned on returning in the coming months but were forced to do so soon because of the conflict. More than 7,700 Lebanese joined them in entering Syria, Lindholm Billin said.
The United Arab Emirates’ air defences intercepted eight missiles and 26 drones on Tuesday, the UAE defence ministry said on X. A ninth missile fell into the sea while nine more drones fell into the country’s territory.
In total, UAE air defences have identified 262 ballistic missiles, eight cruise missiles and 1,475 drones heading toward UAE territory, the UAE defence ministry said.
These attacks killed six people and injured 122.
The day so far
US defence secretary Pete Hegseth said attacks on Iran will ramp up Tuesday with the heaviest strikes since Washington launched the war 10 days ago. “Today will be yet again our most intense day of strikes inside Iran,” Hegseth told a news conference at the Pentagon.
Israel’s military announced it had begun a fresh wave of attacks on Tehran as it reiterated evacuation orders for parts of southern Lebanon, where Israel has extended its campaign against the Iran-backed militia Hezbollah.
Meanwhile, Iran launched new attacks at Gulf countries on Tuesday. Incoming missile sirens sounded early in the morning in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates and in Bahrain, and Saudi Arabia said it had destroyed two drones. Kuwait’s National Guard said it had shot down six drones.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they would not allow “one litre of oil” to be shipped from the Middle East if US-Israeli attacks continued. Trump responded by saying the US would hit Iran “20 times harder” if it blocked tanker traffic through the strait of Hormuz, which handles a fifth of the world’s oil supply.
But oil prices fell and stocks rebounded after US president Donald Trump said the war with Iran would end “very soon’. On Monday, the US president also suggested that while he was not yet declaring the US mission accomplished, the war was “very complete, pretty much”. “We’ve already won in many ways, but we haven’t won enough,” he said.
Trump also said that the US would waive oil-related sanctions on “some countries” to ease the shortage, after speaking with Russian president Vladimir Putin.
On Tuesday, Trump told Fox News that it’s possible that his administration could begin peace talks with Iran once again but it depends on the terms – and he noted that he “sort of” doesn’t need to talk to them anymore. Meanwhile, Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, told PBS News Hour in an interview aired Monday that “I don’t think the question of talking with Americans or negotiation with Americans once again would be on the table, because we have a very bitter experience of talking with Americans”.
Updated
An Israeli ground invasion of Lebanon would be a “tremendous” mistake, Spanish foreign minister Jose Manuel Albares warned on Tuesday.
Albares, who also said Madrid demanded Lebanese militia Hezbollah cease its rocket launches toward Israel, announced Spain would send humanitarian aid worth 9 million euros ($10.5 million) to Beirut.
Hegseth says the aftermath of the conflict is “going to be in America’s interests” and says it “will not live under a nuclear blackmail” from Iran.
It comes shortly after the defence secretary reiterated president Donald Trump’s claim that if Iran does anything to prevent the flow of oil in the strait of Hormuz, it will be hit “twenty times as hard”.
That concludes the press conference.
Asked what measures the Pentagon is taking to minimise loss of civilian life in Iran, Hegseth says “no nation takes more precautions to ensure there is never targeting of civilians than the USA”.
“Where things happen that need to be investigated, we will investigate,” he says. “Open-source is not the way to determine what did or did not happen.”
He goes on to paint Iran as a regime that targets civilians and says it has moved military infrastructure into civilian areas.
Asked about the Iranian government’s assertion that is is prepared for a “long war” and America’s ability to defend its personnel, Hegseth says the US is giving every possible resource to its troops on the frontline to ensure they are “properly defended”.
Updated
Hegseth: Iran made a 'big mistake' targeting its neighbours
General Caine says US forces are able to move around with “relative impunity” but acknowledges “there is always a risk”.
Commenting on Iran’s attacks on fellow Gulf states, Hegseth says:
Big mistake by the Iranian regime in attacking it’s neighbours, right away … flailing recklessly.
He says it demonstrates a miscalculation of the Iranian regime by pushing other countries into supporting the US campaign.
Hegseth says the new leader of Iran “would be wise to heed the words of our president not to pursue nuclear weapons”.
He was asked by a reporter if he can comment on the new supreme leader’s status amid reports he had been injured but Hegseth says he cannot talk about that.
“This is not endless, this is not protracted,” Hegseth says. “It’s not for me to posit whether it’s the beginning, middle or the end – that’s up to him [president Trump].”
Caine says the US forces’ work continues and that it will “continue to be difficult” and concludes that the sacrifice of those who have died “will be felt forever”.
Hegseth adds that no other nation in the world would be capable of carrying out the campaign that the US is right now.
Asked about the degradation of Iran’s military capability, Hegseth says that there is strong evidence of its ballistic missile and drones being degraded.
Hegseth says today will be the ‘most intense day of strikes’ in war against Iran as US intensifies attacks
Hegseth adds that today will be “the most intense day of strikes”, while Iran has fired its lowest number of weapons in the past 24 hours.
General Dan Caine opens his remarks by paying tribute to the American servicemen who have died as a result of Trump’s war on Iran.
Updating on the progress in the conflict, he says the joint force remains focussed on its three main objectives – destroying missiles and drone capability before it can threaten American interests, strike and degrade the Iranian navy and prevent the regime from being able to attack the US and its partners “for years to come”.
Caine adds:
Ballistic missile attacks continue to trend downwards, down 90% from when we started.
He adds that the US is striking Iranian mine-laying missiles. The general says “this is gritty and tireless work” and expresses his pride in the performance of the joint force throughout the campaign.
Updated
Hegseth: US is 'winning' its war with Iran
Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, kicks off by saying Operation Epic Fury “hits home” because of his own experiences in the Iraq war.
He says the Iranians are “racing towards a nuclear bomb” and says US president Donald Trump “will never allow it”.
Hegseth says the mullahs know that their military is being “systematically degraded” and that Iran “stands alone and is badly losing”.
By contrast, he says, America is “winning” and is executing its objectives to destroy its missiles, its navy and “permanently deny Iran nuclear weapons forever”.
He adds:
We will not relent until the enemy is totally and entirely defeated.
He says “this is not 2003 and it is not endless nation-building” in an attempt to put daylight between this bombing campaign and the US’s previous forays into Middle Eastern conflict.
US defence secretary Pete Hegseth and general Dan Caine, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, are scheduled to begin momentarily a briefing at the Pentagon on the US-Israeli war on Iran.
Stay tuned for updates.
Trump says it’s possible he could talk to Iran
We’re getting lines today Fox News, the US president’s favourite broadcaster, that when pressed in an interview on whether he’d be open to talk to the Iranians, Donald Trump said that it could be possible but it depends on the terms.
But he immediately put a dampener on that outcome, noting that he “sort of” doesn’t need to talk to them anymore, according to Bloomberg who saw Trumps comments.
It’s worth noting here that Iran has not spoken to the US directly since 2018, when the former supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei banned such talks. The previous round of peace negotiations were conducted through intermediaries in Oman and Switzerland.
Earlier, Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, played down the idea of talks. “I don’t think the question of talking with Americans or negotiation with Americans once again would be on the table, because we have a very bitter experience of talking with Americans,” he told PBS News Hour in an interview that aired Monday.
“We negotiated with them last year, in last June, and they attacked us in the middle of negotiations. And again this year, they tried to convince us that this time is different. They promised us that they don’t have any intention to attack us…but, again, after three rounds of negotiation, and after the American team in the negotiation said itself that we made a big progress, still they decided to attack us. So I don’t think talking with Americans anymore would be on our agenda anymore.”
Updated
Here are some images coming out of Lebanon, which was hit with a fresh wave of Israeli airstrikes targeting Al-Qard Al-Hassan, the US-sanctioned financial organisation that Israel has accused of financing the Iran-backed Hezbollah.
The Israeli military has announced that it has begun another fresh wave of strikes on Tehran.
Bombing of Iran’s oil infrastructure to have major environmental fallout, experts warn
Israel’s bombing of Iran’s oil infrastructure will have major long-term environmental repercussions, experts have warned, as monitors admitted they were struggling to keep track of the environmental disasters arising from the widening war.
Even as Iranians filled the streets to mark the appointment of a new supreme leader, the Shahran oil depot north-east of Tehran and the Shahr-e fuel depot to its south continued to burn on Monday, two days after they were bombed by Israeli warplanes.
In the immediate aftermath of the attacks, Iran’s environmental agency and the Iranian Red Crescent Society had warned Tehran residents to stay at home, warning the toxic chemicals spread by airstrikes on five fossil fuel installations around the city could lead to acid rain and damage the skin and lungs.
On Monday, the head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said: “Damage to petroleum facilities in Iran risks contaminating food, water and air – hazards that can have severe health impacts especially on children, older people, and people with pre-existing medical conditions.”
Iran to EU: 'spare the hypocrisy'
A spokesperson for Iran’s foreign ministry on Tuesday had harsh words for Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission.
In response to von der Leyen’s remarks that the “people of Iran deserve freedom, dignity, and the right to decide their own future”, Esmaeil Baqaei posted on X: “Please spare the hypocrisy”.
“You’ve made a career out of standing on the wrong side of history — green-lighting occupation, genocide, and atrocities, and now laundering U.S./Israeli crime of aggression and war crimes against Iranians,” Baqaei wrote.
Baqaei continued: “Where was your voice when more than 165 innocent IRANIAN little angels were massacred in the city of Minab? Why don’t you say anything when hospitals, historical sites, oil facilities, diplomatic police headquarter, firefighting stations and residential neighborhoods are wickedly targeted?
“Silence in the face of lawlessness and atrocity is nothing less than complicity.”
Updated
A UK government minister has said she expects police to take “robust action” against those expressing support for the Iranian regime ahead of a pro-Palestinian rally in London this weekend.
Sarah Sackman was speaking in advance of the annual annual Al Quds Day march in London on Sunday, which is organised by the Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC).
The body says that the event has taken place peacefully for the past 40 years and will attempt to highlight the ongoing plight of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.
However, previous events have included participants waving the flag of the Iran-backed Lebanese group, Hezbollah, which is banned in the UK as a terrorist organisation. Rhetoric including chants calling for death to America and Israel have also been highlighted in the past.
The Courts minister, Sarah Sackman, told LBC radio on Tuesday: “Those expressing support for the malign regime in Iran and the IRGC and its proxies have no place in our society.”
“They shouldn’t be on the streets of London calling for hate and hostility against this country. That’s thoroughly anti-British and I expect the police and the Home Secretary to take the necessary action against those people.”
On Times Radio, she said: “I’m clear that hate marches like the Al Quds march has no place in British society and the authorities and the police should take the enforcement action needed against these marches.”
The Metropolitan Police has said it has not ruled out a range of options ahead of the march, including seeking the imposition of an outright ban on the rally this weekend.
Minab school bombing: what evidence is there that the US was responsible?
The bombing of a primary school in Minab on 28 February killed scores of people, most of them seven- to 12-year-old girls. The strike is the worst mass killing of the US and Israel’s war on Iran so far – and has been described by Unesco as a “grave violation” of international law.
On Saturday, the US president, Donald Trump, declared that Iran was responsible for the school bombing. “In my opinion, based on what I’ve seen, that was done by Iran … they’re very inaccurate, as you know, with their munitions. They have no accuracy whatsoever. It was done by Iran.”
The president presented no evidence for his claim. His assertion has not been repeated by spokespeople for the US military, who have said only that they are “investigating” the bombing.
But a growing body of evidence indicates that the strike on the Shajareh Tayyebeh primary school was carried out by the US. Here is what we know – and why it points to the US being responsible.
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Iran: 'This is not our war. This is not our choice. This war is imposed on us'
Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign minister, said that with the appointment of Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of the late ayatollah, as Iran’s new supreme leader, the US and Israel have failed in their goal for a regime change.
In an interview with PBS News Hour that aired Monday night, Araghchi said that he did not think that US and Israel have a realistic endgame and are now just sowing chaos.
“They thought that, in a matter of two or three days, they can go for a regime change, they can go for a rapid, clean victory, but they failed…they failed to achieve their goals at the beginning, and now, after 10 days, I think they are aimless,” Araghchi said.
When asked about the widespread disruptions the conflict has caused in the delivery of oil, which in turn is causing volatility across markets worldwide, Araghchi maintained that the spike in oil prices was not Iran’s fault.
“This is not our plan,” Araghchi said. “The oil production, the transportation of oil has been slowed down or stopped not because of us, because of the attacks and aggression made by Israelis and Americans against us. So they have made the whole region insecure. And this is why the tankers, the ships are scared to pass through the strait of Hormuz.
He continued “We have not closed that strait. We have not – we are not preventing them to navigate in that strait. But this is the result of the aggression by Israelis and Americans, which has made the whole region insecure, unstable.”
When anchor Amna Nawaz pushed Araghchi on the issue, pointing out that the Irani military had conducted airstrikes on multiple oil facilities in other nations – and that a spokesperson for Iran’s Revolutionary Guards had said: “If you can tolerate oil at more than $200 per barrel, continue this game” – Araghchi maintained that “what we are doing is only defending ourselves”.
“We are facing an act of aggression, which is absolutely illegal. And what we are doing is the act of self-defense, which is legal and legitimate. Well, we have already warned everybody in the region that, if the US attacks us, since we cannot reach the American soil, we have to attack their bases in the region, their facilities, their installations, their assets.
“And as a result, the war would be spread into the whole region. So this is the consequences, the consequence of the U.S. aggression against us. We are not responsible for that.”
Netanyahu: Israeli military offensive against Iran is 'not done yet'
In comments made during a visit to the National Health Command Centre on Monday night, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel’s war on Iran is ‘not done yet’, AFP reports.
“Our aspiration is to bring the Iranian people to cast off the yoke of tyranny; ultimately, it depends on them. But there is no doubt that with the actions taken so far, we are breaking their bones – and we are not done yet,” Netanyahu said.
Israeli military warns of imminent attacks on Tyre, Sidon area of Lebanon
The Israeli military has issued a warning that its forces will be targeting Hezbollah infrastructure in the area of Tyre and Sidon on the western coast of southern Lebanon.
Earlier, the Israeli military warned that it would also be operating in the area south of the Litani river, about 74 kilometres (46 miles) south of the capital of Beirut.
Avichay Adraee, a spokesman for the Israeli military, reiterated earlier evacuation orders and urged residents in all those areas to leave.
France and allies preparing 'purely defensive' mission to reopen Hormuz, Macron says
French president Emmanual Macron has used a visit to Cyprus to announce that France and its allies are preparing “a purely defensive, purely support mission” to reopen the strait of Hormuz, where dozens of ships have been stranded since the start of the war.
On a one-day trip to the eastern Mediterranean island – the EU’s nearest member state to the Middle East – he said the mission would start “as soon as possible after the most intense phase of the conflict is over”.
Greece’s shipping minister has described the situation in the strait as “alarming”, saying numerous tankers have found themselves stuck in the key waterway since the US and Israeli airstrikes against Iran began. Around a fifth of the world’s oil supplies pass through the strait every day.
“It is essential for international trade, but also for the flow of gas and oil, which must be able to leave this region once again,” Macron told reporters.
The French leader also pledged that the European Union would do everything possible to stand by Cyprus where several EU nations have rushed to deploy warships and fighter jets following a drone strike against a British base on the island.
More on that here:
Updated
In the last 24 hours, 191 people in Israel were admitted into hospitals for injuries related to the US-Israeli war on Iran, the Israeli ministry of health said.
One person was admitted with a critical injury and three with severe injuries, the ministry of health said. Two people had moderate injuries and 172 had what mild injuries, while 10 were admitted for anxiety and three for medical assessment.
In total, 2,339 people have been admitted to hospitals for injuries since the start of the conflict, the ministry of health said, 95 of whom remain hospitalised.
Summary
If you’re just tuning in to our live coverage of the US-Israeli war on Iran, here’s a recap of the latest key developments. It’s 10.30am in Tehran, 9am in Beirut and Tel Aviv and 3am in Washington DC.
Donald Trump said the war was “very complete, pretty much” and ahead of schedule. But the US president also suggested as it enters its 11th day that he was not yet declaring the US mission accomplished, saying: “We’ve already won in many ways, but we haven’t won enough.”
Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi said his country was prepared to continue missile attacks for as long as necessary and that talks with the US were no longer on the agenda.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they would not allow “one litre of oil” to be shipped from the Middle East if US-Israeli attacks continued. Trump responded by saying the US would hit Iran “20 times harder” if it blocked tanker traffic through the strait of Hormuz, which handles a fifth of the world’s oil supply.
Oil prices tumbled from four-year highs and global shares rallied after Trump suggested the Iran war could end “very soon”.
Israel’s military said it had launched new attacks in central Iran and struck the Lebanese capital of Beirut, where Israel has extended its campaign against the Iran-backed militia Hezbollah.
Four fighters from the Iran-backed Kataeb Imam Ali group were killed on Tuesday in airstrikes blamed on the US in northern Iraq, the armed faction said.
Trump said the US would waive oil-related sanctions on “some countries” to ease the shortage, after speaking with Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Tehran was choked in black smoke after an oil refinery was hit, an escalation in strikes on Iran’s domestic energy supplies.
Turkey said Nato air defences had shot down a ballistic missile that was fired from Iran and entered Turkish airspace.
In Australia, the government said five Iranian women’s football team players had been granted humanitarian visas after they sought asylum fearing persecution in Iran.
At least 1,332 Iranian civilians have been killed and thousands wounded since the US and Israel began attacking on 28 February, according to Iran’s UN ambassador.
With agencies
Updated
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards say they have targeted a US base in Iraq’s Kurdistan region.
“The headquarters of the invading US army in Al-Harir Air Base in the Kurdistan region was targeted with five missiles,” the Guards said in a statement on Telegram on Tuesday, cited by AFP.
Iran launched new attacks at Gulf countries on Tuesday as it kept up retaliatory strikes amid the US-Israeli air assault.
Incoming missile sirens sounded early in the morning in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates and in Bahrain.
Saudi Arabia said it had destroyed two drones over its oil-rich eastern region, the AP also reported.
Kuwait’s National Guard said it had shot down six drones.
In addition to firing missiles and drones at Israel and at US bases in the region, Iran has also been targeting energy infrastructure – which, combined with its grip on the strait of Hormuz, has sent oil prices soaring.
Investor hopes for a swift resolution to the Middle East conflict propelled Australian shares higher today, with the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 finishing the day up 1.1% and recovering about $35bn in value after yesterday’s $90bn plunge.
Oil prices surged to a four-year high early in the week before coming back down below $US90 a barrel after Donald Trump suggested the Iran conflict would end soon, sending global stock markets higher.
Equity markets have been pulled up and down by the Middle East given energy disruptions and increased oil costs contribute to global inflation by elevating costs across nearly all goods and services.
The ASX was expected to rise more than 2% today, according to overnight futures pricing, but the rebound proved weaker than forecast amid lingering investor concerns.
Four Iran-backed fighters killed in US strikes in Iraq, says group
Four fighters from the Iran-backed Kataeb Imam Ali group were killed on Tuesday in airstrikes blamed on the US in northern Iraq, the armed faction announced.
The group said its fighters were killed in an “American aggression” on their position in the Debs district in Kirkuk province, the AFP news agency reports.
Amnesty International Australia has raised urgent concerns for the safety of members of the Iran women’s football team and is calling on Australian authorities to ensure all players have been clearly informed of their right to seek protection in Australia.
“The Iranian women’s football team face serious risks to their safety if they return to Iran. We stress that they have the right to seek protection and safety in Australia and must have an opportunity to exercise that right”, said Zaki Haidari, Strategic Campaigner at Amnesty International Australia.
Five members of the team have been granted humanitarian visas to stay in Australia after telling Australian government officials they did not wish to return to Iran.
It is unclear whether other players, or members of the travelling party, will also seek to stay in Australia. The group has travelled to the Gold Coast airport, and it is expected they will leave Australia tonight.
Iran says it will continue missile attacks as long as necessary
Iran’s foreign minister has said his country is prepared to continue attacks for as long as necessary.
Abbas Araghchi also ruled out talks with the US after Donald Trump said the war with Iran would be over “very soon”.
Araghchi made the comments to the US broadcaster PBS News on Tuesday, cited by AFP.
He said Iran was prepared to continue missile attacks and that negotiations with the US were no longer on the agenda.
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Syria accuses Hezbollah of firing into its territory
Syria has said Hezbollah fired artillery shells into its territory from Lebanon overnight, state media reported on Tuesday.
Syrian army officials said artillery shells fired from Lebanon landed near the town of Serghaya, west of Damascus, reported the state news agency Sana, cited by AFP.
The army accused Hezbollah of targeting Syrian army positions, telling Sana it observed Hezbollah reinforcements at the Syrian-Lebanese border.
“The Syrian Arab army will not tolerate any aggression targeting Syria,” the army said in a statement to Sana.
Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war last week when Hezbollah attacked Israel in response to the killing of then Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during US-Israeli strikes.
Hezbollah and Israeli forces have clashed in eastern Lebanon in recent days, while Israeli forces have carried out strikes across Lebanon.
Lebanese president Joseph Aoun accused Hezbollah of working to “collapse” the state, while the head of the group’s parliamentary bloc said it had “no other option... than the option of resistance”.
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Lebanese state media is saying that Israeli strikes on southern and eastern Lebanon overnight hit the towns of Almajadel, Shaqra and Srifa.
Strikes had also taken place in the Bekaa Valley, said the National News Agency, cited by Agence France-Presse.
The strikes come as Israel has extended its campaign of air attacks around Lebanon, including Beirut, to target the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.
Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed 486 people since 2 March, according to the country’s health ministry.
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Israeli strikes have hit south and east Lebanon, state media is reporting.
The United Arab Emirates, meanwhile, says it has intercepted a missile and drone attack from Iran.
We’ll bring you more on these soon.
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More on the Iranian women’s football team: the Australian government’s announcement that it had granted humanitarian visas to five members came hours after Donald Trump posted about the team’s plight on social media
Advocates are expecting more of the players to seek asylum amid a frantic but “delicate” effort to inform the entire squad of their rights.
Home affairs minister Tony Burke said the group given protection broke out in a spontaneous chant of “Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, oi, oi, oi” to celebrate receiving their Australian papers.
Here’s vision of his comments and more on the situation:
Protesters try to block bus as Iranian women’s football team departs Australian hotel
Australia’s government confirmed earlier today that it has offered humanitarian visas to five Iranian football players who have been in the country for the Asian Cup.
Now protesters have briefly blocked a bus taking Iranian women’s football team members out of their hotel on Australia’s Gold Coast.
Andrew Messenger reports:
The group of a few dozen physically sat in front of the vehicle to block it. They chanted “save our girls” as the vehicle attempted to make its exit. Protesters say they believe the bus is heading to the Gold Coast airport.
A group of Queensland police officers moved them on.
The bus is now leaving.
The Guardian saw at least one of the football players through the window in tears.
A protester who was inside the Gold Coast hotel where the Iranian football players were staying said they saw one of the players being walked onto the bus by a minder who appeared to be holding her wrist.
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Opening summary
Hello and welcome to our continuing coverage of the US-Israeli war on Iran and wider Middle East crisis. Here are the major developments.
Donald Trump described the Iran war as a “short-term excursion” and said it would end “very soon”, as the assault continued in its second week. He said the war was “very complete, pretty much” and ahead of schedule, a significant shift from his previous suggestions it could last several weeks. But the US president also indicated he was not yet declaring the US mission accomplished, saying: “We’ve already won in many ways, but we haven’t won enough.” The operation would only end once Tehran no longer had any capacity of weaponry against the US, Israel or any US allies in the region for a long time, he added later. Here’s our report, plus analysis on what our global affairs correspondent Andrew Roth called a vague and contradictory press conference by the president.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards has said Tehran will not allow “one litre of oil” to be exported from the region if US-Israeli attacks continue. Trump then threatened to hit the Islamic republic far harder if it stopped the flow of oil in the vital strait of Hormuz. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said in a statement that it would “determine the end of the war”, after Trump earlier said the conflict would end “soon”.
Oil prices surged by 20% to a four-year high before coming back down below $90 a barrel after Trump’s suggestion the war would end soon. Iran earlier mocked the US over the rocketing oil price, branding its campaign “Operation Epic Mistake”.
Trump twice declined to say whether or not Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei had a target on his back, saying only that he was “disappointed” and thought he was “going to lead to just more of the same problem for the country”. It came after a day of Trump being dismissive of the late ayatollah’s son – saying his selection was a “big mistake” – and reiterating that Trump still wants to be involved in the selection of a leader. Israel, meanwhile, has openly vowed to target the new supreme leader.
Large crowds took to the streets in Tehran in a defiant show of support for Khamenei.
Israel launched its second wave of strikes today against Tehran. The Israeli military claimed it had started a broad wave of strikes against “terror targets” in the Iranian capital, but it has been hitting critical energy and fuel infrastructure that serves ordinary Iranians.
Israel also pressed its offensive against Hezbollah with raids in southern Lebanon and airstrikes in Beirut. Israeli attacks on Lebanon have killed 486 people, including at least 83 children, since 2 March, Lebanese state news reported, citing the country’s health ministry. At least 600,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon, sparking fears of a humanitarian catastrophe.
Fresh Iranian missile and drone attacks also targeted Israel, US bases across the Middle East and energy infrastructure in the Gulf.
British Typhoon jets intercepted drones heading towards Jordan and Bahrain, the UK’s Ministry of Defence said.
Turkey said Nato defences shot down a ballistic missile in its airspace, the second intercepted missile from Iran in a week.
Five female Iranian footballers have been granted humanitarian visas by Australia following an appeal from Trump to prime minister Anthony Albanese. Our story is here.
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