This blog is closing now but you can continue to follow live news and updates from the US-Israel war on Iran, and the wider Middle East crisis, in our new live blog here.
Thank you for reading.
Updated
Israel says no casualties reported after Iran missile launches
Iran launched several rounds of missiles at Israel early on Thursday, the Israeli military said, triggering alerts in several areas and explosions heard in Jerusalem.
There were no immediate reports of casualties, the AFP report said.
After a lull of more than seven hours, Israel’s military issued three separate alerts warning of Iranian missile fire in under two hours.
Iran’s state broadcaster IRIB also reported the launches.
Explosions were heard in Jerusalem after the third reported launch.
But Israel’s emergency services, the Magen David Adom, said it had received no reports of casualties after early Thursday’s rocket fire, and the military had cleared people to leave their shelters.
On Wednesday, the military’s Home Front Command had said it would ease some war-related restrictions effective midday Thursday, citing a decline in the number of missiles fired by Iran.
Updated
The Pentagon has released the names of the final two of the six soldiers who were killed during a recent drone strike in Kuwait.
The two soldiers were identified as Chief Warrant Officer Robert Marzan, 54, and Maj Jeffrey O’Brien, 45. They were from Sacramento, California, and Indianola, Iowa, respectively.
They were killed on Sunday, the day after the US and Israel launched strikes against Iran. Their names were released by the US Department of Defence on Wednesday.
O’Brien had earned several awards and decorations during his time in service, the defence department said.
The US army reserve said it would investigate the incident that led to their deaths and those of Capt Cody Khork, 35; Sgt Nicole Amor, 39; Sgt Declan Coady, 20; and Sgt Noah Tietjens, 42, who were identified on Tuesday.
The Pentagon said Marzan was at the scene when a drone strike hit the command centre in Kuwait and was “believed to be the individual who perished at the scene”. A medical examiner would confirm identification.
See the full story here:
Israel keeps up Lebanon strikes as ground forces advance
Israeli attacks on Lebanon have entered a fourth day after Israeli forces pushed into several border towns and conducted air strikes targeting Hezbollah.
AFPTV footage showed smoke rising after a strike hit the Iran-backed militant group’s stronghold of southern Beirut early on Thursday.
Israel’s military earlier told residents to leave the suburb where the strike hit, warning it was about to attack a target it said was linked to Hezbollah.
Agence France-Presse also reports that in Israel’s north near the border, repeated air raid alerts sent residents to shelters in several locations, with no immediate reports of impact or casualties.
Hezbollah’s leader vowed on Wednesday to keep up its fight against Israel and step up attacks, saying the group had targeted Israeli positions as far as Tel Aviv in at least 15 attacks.
“We are facing aggression... our choice is to confront it until the ultimate sacrifice, and we will not surrender,” Naim Qassem declared in his first speech since the latest fighting broke out. “For us this is an existential defence.”
Updated
Carney doesn't rule out Canada participating in war
Mark Carney won’t rule out Canadian participation in military action but has made a distinction between offence and defence.
Responding to a question on whether he would rule out Canada participating in US military action in Iran if the conflict continued to spread, the prime minister said it couldn’t be ruled out and that Canada would stand by its allies, and always defend Canadians.
He said at the joint press conference with Australia’s prime minister:
One can never categorically rule out participation. We will stand by our allies, but it makes sense there’s a distinction between the offensive actions that were taken and are being taken by the United States and Israel, that were taken by them without consultation with Canada, with other allies, and we’re not party to those actions, but we will always defend Canadians. We will always stand by and defend our allies when called.\
Updated
Circling back to Canadian and Australian prime ministers Mark Carney and Anthony Albanese, the leaders were asked how concerned they were about the escalation of war, and whether they were concerned about the actions of the US navy, after Carney called for a de-escalation of conflict.
Albanese said the world wanted to see a de-escalation, for Iran to stop its attacks over an increasing number of countries. He also said Australia wanted to see the “objectives” of the strikes by the US and Israel achieved.
We’re seeing Gulf states that have not been involved attacked across the board, including the attacks on civilian and tourist areas as well. We also want to see the objectives achieved. I want to see the possibility of Iran getting a nuclear weapon removed once and for all. And I also want to see a removal of the ongoing threat that has been there for such a long period of time of Iran endangering peace and security and stability, not just in its own region but here in Australia.
At the leaders’ joint press conference in the Australian capital, Carney said he associated himself with Albanese’s remarks, and pointed to the brutality of the Iranian regime, which had killed “scores of Canadians”.
Carney said he wanted to see de-escalation but also that it had to come after those outcomes were achieved.
We want to see a broader de-escalation of these hostilities with a broader group of countries than just the direct belligerence involved. We recognise, we stress, that cannot be achieved unless we’re in a position that Iran’s ability to acquire a nuclear weapon, develop a nuclear weapon, and to export terrorism is ended. So that process must lead to those outcomes.
Updated
Iranian bombers 'two minutes' from striking US air base before being downed – report
Iranian bomber aircraft came within minutes of striking the largest military base housing US troops in the Middle East before Qatari planes shot them down in their first aerial combat mission, according to a CNN report citing two sources briefed on the operation.
On Monday morning Iran’s Revolutionary Guard dispatched two Soviet-era Su-24 tactical bombers towards al-Udeid air base – which typically houses 10,000 US service members – and Ras Laffan, a key natural gas processing facility and a bedrock of the Qatari economy, the report said.
It continued:
The Iranian jets were “two minutes” away from their targets, one of the sources said. A second source told CNN that the planes were visually identified and photographed “carrying bombs and guided munitions.”
The Qataris issued a warning over radio but received no response from the jets, which had switched to a flying altitude of 80 feet [24 metres] to evade radar detection, the second source said.
Due to “time constraints” and “based on the available evidence”, the aircraft were “classified as hostile”, the second source added. Qatar then dispatched its warplanes, and a Qatari F-15 fighter engaged the Iranian jets in “aerial combat” before downing them, the second source added.
The Iranian planes crashed into Qatar’s territorial waters, the report said, and a Qatari foreign ministry spokesperson said a search was under way for the crews.
US general Dan Caine, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, acknowledged the incident on Wednesday without specifying the Iranian bombers’ target, it said.
Mark Carney has also said that Canada “aspires” for a ceasefire in Iran but that attacks on civilians must stop first.
At a press conference with Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese at Parliament House in Canberra, the leaders were asked if they would call for a ceasefire.
Carney said the government “aspires” for one but that it was not yet the time for it.
To see a situation where all the parties in this conflict must recognise the necessity to avoid attacks on civilians and on civil infrastructure, that is not given this stage.
Albanese gave a similar answer and added that there needed to be a “de-escalation of hostilities. Right now we have a spreading of hostilities.”
Updated
Canadian prime minister Mark Carney has said he supports the strikes on Iran “with some regret” as they represent an extreme example of a rupturing world order.
“Geostrategically, hegemons are increasingly acting without constraint or respect for international norms or laws, while others bear the consequences. Now the extremes of this disruption are being played out in real time in the Middle East,” Carney said in Sydney at the Lowy Institute thinktank during the Australian leg of a trade-focused, three-nation visit.
He also stressed that Canada was not apprised beforehand of the US-Israeli strikes, the Associated Press reports, in his first remarks since the war broke out on Saturday.
“We were not informed in advance, we were not asked to participate,” Carney told reporters travelling with him.
Prima-facie, it appears that these actions are inconsistent with international law.
Whether the US and Israeli airstrikes broke international law was “a judgment for others to make”, he said.
Canada supported efforts to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and from threatening international peace and security, Carney said.
Updated
Qatar evacuates residents near US embassy in Doha
Qatar is evacuating residents living in the vicinity of the US embassy in Doha as a “temporary precautionary measure”, the Gulf country’s interior ministry said early on Thursday.
“Suitable accommodation has been provided for them as part of necessary preventive measures,” the ministry said in a statement quoted by Reuters.
Iran has launched retaliatory attacks across the Gulf region – targeting US military bases, embassies and civilian infrastructure – in response to the US and Israel’s huge campaign of airstrikes.
Thirteen people, seven of them civilians, have been killed in countries around the Gulf since the war began.
Updated
Israel says it is working to intercept Iranian missiles
Israel’s military said air defences were responding to missiles launched from Iran on Thursday, the first such report in over seven hours, triggering alerts in several areas including Tel Aviv.
The military said in a statement it had “identified missiles launched from Iran toward the territory of the state of Israel. Defensive systems are operating to intercept the threat”, the AFP news agency is reporting.
More than 2,000 Canadians have requested assistance from the Canadian government to leave the Middle East amid the widening conflict, a Canadian official said.
Half of those inquiries came from Canadians in the United Arab Emirates, 200 from Qatar and 160 from Lebanon, the official said on Wednesday.
The Canadian government was working to secure seats on commercial flights out of some cities in the region, Reuters quoted the official as saying, including 75 that were made available on Wednesday and more expected in the coming days.
Saudi Arabia’s defence ministry is saying it has intercepted and destroyed three missiles outside Al-Kharj city.
The city is south-east of the Saudi capital, Riyadh.
Updated
US Senate rejects attempt to curb Trump's Iran war powers
Senate Republicans have voted down a bid to require Donald Trump to receive Congress’s permission before continuing the war with Iran.
Their vote bats aside concerns from Democrats that the campaign is illegal and risks plunging the US into a prolonged conflict.
The 47-53 vote on a war powers resolution introduced by Virginia Democrat Tim Kaine broke largely along party lines.
The measure would have forced an end to the US air and naval campaign against Iran and require Trump to go to Congress before re-entering the war.
Before the vote on Wednesday, Democratic senator Chris Murphy said the resolution was necessary to prevent Trump from repeating in Iran the follies of previous US presidents in Afghanistan, Libya and elsewhere.
Oil price rises almost 2% in early Asian trade
The price of oil rose nearly 2% in early Asian trade on Thursday off the back of persistent worries about supplies because of the Middle East conflict.
About 11.10pm GMT, West Texas Intermediate – having closed barely changed on Wednesday at $74.66 per barrel – was up 1.86% at $76.05 a barrel.
Brent North Sea Crude, which ended the previous day flat at $81.40 a barrel, was not being traded, Agence France-Presse is reporting.
The US and Israeli war on Iran has effectively closed shipping through the strait of Hormuz. A fifth of the world’s seaborne crude oil travels through the waterway as well as considerable volumes of liquefied natural gas.
Updated
Top military officials told lawmakers in a closed-door briefing on Tuesday that the US was rapidly depleting its supply of defensive missile interceptors to shoot down Iranian attack drones, even as the Trump administration has publicly dismissed those concerns.
The officials, including the chair of the joint chiefs of staff, Gen Dan Caine, said Iran had been deploying its drones in a way designed to force the US to use its sophisticated Patriot and Thaad interceptors while holding its own hi-tech supersonic and ballistic missiles in reserve.
As a result, officials said, the US was racing to destroy as many of Iran’s drone and missile launch sites as quickly as possible – before it has to begin prioritising which incoming targets to intercept, according to two people who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive details.
A spokesperson for the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for the joint chiefs of staff declined to comment due to operations security.
In retaliation against US strikes, Iran has been launching thousands of one-way Shahed drones at American military installations and assets in the region. By flying slow and low to the ground, the drones are better able to evade conventional air defences than ballistic missiles.
Updated
New Zealand sends military planes for Middle East evacuations
New Zealand has ordered two military aircraft to the Middle East in preparation for evacuations of its citizens from the region.
Foreign minister Winston Peters urged New Zealanders to “shelter in place” and leave the region if it was safe to do so.
He said on Thursday that Wellington would deploy “consular staff and two defence force planes to the region so that they can be ready when conditions allow to assist with any civilian evacuation operations”.
Speaking while on a tour of South America, Peters added:
We cannot be sure when and how any civilian evacuation operations might be possible, but we want to be ready if and when conditions on the ground make them possible.
The report from Agence France-Presse also quoted Peters as saying the C-130 Hercules planes would ferry people out of danger to a safe country where they could use a commercial carrier to get home.
He said more than 3,000 New Zealanders were registered as living in the Middle East, with 23 in Iran and 62 in Israel.
He said New Zealand may also evacuate other nationalities.
If they’ve got any remote reason to be on our plane, we’ll grab them.
Neighbouring Australia has said it has 115,000 citizens in the region.
Countries have rushed to evacuate their citizens from the Middle East this week after the US-Israeli strikes on Iran that sparked a regional war.
This is Adam Fulton picking up our live coverage – stay with us for the latest developments
Updated
Where we are today
The White House pushed back against questions on US involvement in the Iran school bombing. Press secretary Karoline Leavitt batted down a question from a reporter about the US involvement in a strike on an Iranian girls’ elementary school, which killed 175 people. The press secretary did not accept US responsibility for the attack, and noted that the Pentagon is investigating the strike.
During the White House press briefing on Wednesday, Leavitt said that Spain had agreed to cooperate with US operations in the Middle East. But, shortly after, Spain’s foreign minister, Jose Manuel Albares, said that the Spanish government’s position “on the war in the Middle East, the bombings in Iran, and the use of our bases has not changed one iota”.
Leavitt also did not rule out the possibility of US troops on the ground in Iran. “They’re not part of the plan for this operation at this time,” Leavitt said. “But I certainly will never take away military options on behalf of the president of the United States … and he wisely does not do the same for himself.”
As Trump kicked things off for his roundtable event with tech companies today, he noted that those in the room “probably want to speak about war” rather than energy costs linked to the rapid build-out of datacenters across the country. “We’re doing very well on the war front,” he said.
Emirates airline has said that all scheduled Emirates flights to and from Dubai remain suspended until 11.59pm UAE time on 7 March, due to airspace closures across the region.
Reports came in that Kurdish Iranian militias had launched a ground offensive in north-western Iran. Shortly after, Iran’s Tasnim news agency denied those reports. The deputy chief of staff to the prime minister of Kurdistan region of Iraq said that “not a single Iraqi Kurd has crossed the border”.
The US state department urged US citizens currently in Iraq to leave the country as soon as possible. The department’s consular affairs official X account wrote on Wednesday that “US citizens in Iraq are strongly encouraged to depart as soon as they are safely able to do so, and shelter in place until such time as conditions are safe to depart.”
Updated
Intense waves of airstrikes have hit dozens of military positions, frontier posts and police stations along northern parts of Iran’s border with Iraq in what appears to be preparation by US and Israel for a new front in their war.
A US official with knowledge of the discussions between Washington and Kurdish officials said the US was ready to provide air support if Kurdish peshmerga fighters crossed the border from northern Iraq. A spokesperson for Israel’s military said the air force had been “heavily operating in western Iran to degrade Iranian capabilities there and to open up a way to Tehran and create freedom of operations there”.
Both Axios and Fox News, citing a US official, on Wednesday reported that the militias had begun their offensive inside Iran. There was no official confirmation or any immediate detail about how many fighters were involved or where they were operating from.
Read more:
Updated
'Not a single Iraqi Kurd has crossed the border,' says deputy chief of staff to prime minister of Kurdistan region of Iraq
Iran’s Tasnim news agency also says its reporters in three border provinces deny earlier reports of armed Kurdish militants crossing into Iran from Iraq.
Aziz Ahmad, the deputy chief of staff to the prime minister of the Kurdistan region of Iraq, also denied the reports. “Not a single Iraqi Kurd has crossed the border. This is patently false,” he wrote in response to the report from Fox News.
The Axios correspondent who had reported the offensive posted this update after deleting the initial post: “There are conflicting reports regarding what is currently happening in northwestern Iran near the border with Iraq. It is unclear whether a ground offensive by the Iranian-Kurdish militias has already begun or may be launched in the coming hours. A senior official in one of the Iranian-Kurdish factions denied to me that a ground offensive has started.”
Updated
An Iranian official said the country has not sent any messages to the US, in response to an earlier Axios report, Iran’s Tasnim news agency said.
Earlier on Wednesday, Axios reported the Iranians had sent messages to the US over the last few days but the US did not respond, citing an American official and a second source.
“No message has been sent from Iran to the US, nor will any response be given to US messages. Iran’s armed forces have prepared themselves for a long war,” the official, who was not named, was quoted as saying by Tasnim.
Updated
US citizens urged to leave Iraq as soon as possible, state department says
The US state department is urging US citizens currently in Iraq to leave the country as soon as possible.
The department’s consular affairs official X account wrote on Wednesday that “US citizens in Iraq are strongly encouraged to depart as soon as they are safely able to do so, and shelter in place until such time as conditions are safe to depart. Have a supply of food, water, medications, and other essential items.”
Updated
Reports claim that Kurdish Iranian militias have launched a ground offensive in north-western Iran
Reports are coming in that Kurdish Iranian militias have launched a ground offensive in north-western Iran.
Israeli news television channel i24News says a US official has confirmed the offensive in Iran. A correspondent for Axios also reported confirmation from a senior American official, and a correspondent for Fox News wrote on X that “thousands” of Iraqi Kurds have launched a ground offensive in Iran according to a US official source.
Updated
Kurdish Iranian dissident groups based in northern Iraq are preparing for a potential cross-border military operation in Iran, and the US has asked Iraqi Kurds to support them, Kurdish officials told the Associated Press.
Kurdish party leaders have also discussed the Iran crisis with Trump, according to Iraqi Kurdish officials. One official says Trump has asked them to open the border and back the groups militarily.
The Kurdish groups are widely seen as the most well-organized segment of the fragmented Iranian opposition and are believed to have thousands of trained fighters. Their entry into the war could pose a significant challenge to the embattled authorities in Tehran and could also risk pulling Iraq further into the conflict.
Asked about reports that the Trump administration was considering arming Iranian Kurdish groups, the US defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, told reporters Wednesday: “None of our objectives are premised on the support or the arming of any particular force. So, what other entities may be doing, we’re aware of, but our objectives aren’t centered on that.”
Updated
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has offered to help other countries in their fight against Iranian drones and missiles.
“I held a meeting to discuss developments in the situation in the Middle East and the Gulf region, and we discussed the challenges facing Ukraine and our partners, as well as our potential to contribute to protecting lives and preventing the expansion of war and helping to stabilize global markets,” he wrote on X on Wednesday.
Zelensky said that military and intelligence officials would “present options for assisting the relevant countries and to provide aid in a way that does not weaken our own defense here in Ukraine”.
He added: “Our army has the necessary capabilities for that. And Ukrainian experts will work on the ground, and the teams have already begun coordinating in this regard. And we are ready to contribute to protecting lives, protecting civilians, and supporting real efforts to achieve stability and restore security, including resuming safe navigation in the region.”
Ukraine has much experience fending off drones, as Russia has frequently deployed one-way attack drones, which detonate on impact, since the start of its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Updated
The state department has said that the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, spoke with Hakan Fidan, the foreign minister of Turkey, on Wednesday about the recent developments in Iran and throughout the Middle East.
“The secretary told the foreign minister that attacks on Turkey’s sovereign territory were unacceptable and pledged full support from the United States,” the press release reads. “Both leaders reiterated the continued strength of the bilateral relationship.”
Updated
All scheduled Emirates flights to and from Dubai remain suspended until 7 March, says airline
Emirates airline has said that all scheduled Emirates flights to and from Dubai remain suspended until 11:59pm UAE time on 7 March, due to airspace closures across the region.
“Emirates continues to operate a limited flight schedule” they said. “We are accommodating customers with earlier bookings as a priority on these limited flights. Customers transiting in Dubai will only be accepted for travel if their connecting flight is operating.”
Updated
The Dubai international airport has announced that “most flights remain suspended” and advised people not to come to the airport unless their airline has confirmed their departure time.
“Guests without a confirmed flight may not be able to access the terminals” it said in a statement on social media. “Please contact your airline directly for the latest updates on your flight.”
Updated
'We're doing very well on the war front,' Donald Trump says
As Donald Trump kicked things off for his roundtable event with tech companies today, he noted that those in the room “probably want to speak about war” rather than energy costs linked to the rapid build-out of datacenters across the country.
“We’re doing very well on the war front,” the president added. “If we didn’t do it first, they would have done it to Israel … If we didn’t hit within two weeks, they would have had a nuclear weapon.”
He added that the ongoing military action against Iran is depleting the regime’s leadership. “Everybody that seems to want to be a leader, they end up dead,” the president said.
Updated
The Israeli military has said that it has launched a new wave of strikes on Tehran.
The Associated Press is reporting that the Israeli military says the strikes on the Iranian capital are targeting “military infrastructure”.
Updated
White House spokesperson refuses to rule out US boots on the ground but says 'they're not part of the plan'
During today’s White House press briefing, Karoline Leavitt did not rule out the possibility of US troops on the ground in Iran.
“They’re not part of the plan for this operation at this time,” Leavitt said. “But I certainly will never take away military options on behalf of the president of the United States … and he wisely does not do the same for himself.”
She noted that “many leaders in the past” have taken options off the table “without having a full understanding of how things could develop”.
The question mark around American troops on the ground is in stark contrast to Donald Trump’s campaign, which focused on not embroiling the US in foreign conflicts.
Updated
More details have emerged about four of the American service members who were killed in an unmanned aircraft system attack in the Shuaiba port in Kuwait on Sunday, the first known US fatalities since the US and Israel launched its military campaign against Iran on Saturday.
The US Department of Defense identified the US soldiers on Tuesday evening as Capt Cody A Khork, 35; Sgt first class Nicole M Amor, 39; Sgt Declan J Coady, 20; and Sgt first class Noah L Tietjens, 42.
Read about the four US service members here:
Donald Trump and the French president, Emmanuel Macron, spoke on Wednesday about US military operations in its conflict with Iran, a source close to Macron told Reuters.
Macron also raised in the call the issue of Lebanon, which has been drawn into the spillover of the crisis, the French source said, according to Reuters.
Updated
Spain 'has agreed to cooperate' with US after Trump ire, says White House
During the White House press briefing on Wednesday, Karoline Leavitt said that Spain had agreed to cooperate with US operations in the Middle East.
“With respect to Spain, I think they heard the president’s message yesterday loud and clear,” the White House press secretary said. “And it’s my understanding over the past several hours, they’ve agreed to cooperate with the US military. And so I know that the US military is coordinating with their counterparts in Spain.”
But, shortly after, Spain’s foreign minister, Jose Manuel Albares, said that the Spanish government’s position “on the war in the Middle East the bombings in Iran, and the use of our bases has not changed one iota”.
“She may be the White House press secretary, but I’m the foreign minister of Spain, and I’m telling her that our position hasn’t changed at all” he added.
A government spokesperson added: “It is not true. We categorically deny any change it. Spain’s position has not changed.”
Updated
A number of reporters at the White House press briefing today have asked the press secretary whether the administration should have done more, in advance of the weekend strikes, to evacuate more Americans in the Middle East.
The press secretary insisted that there were plans in place, and listed several travel advisories shared by state department in recent weeks. On Monday, Mora Namdar, the US assistant secretary of state for consular affairs, issued an advisory on Monday, urging Americans to “DEPART NOW” from more than a dozen countries, citing “serious safety risks”. However, major airlines have canceled flights to and from the region since Saturday, and several airports paused flights and scaled back operations, leaving thousands stranded.
“We gave notices to leave immediately the countries where these Americans were,” Leavitt said today, despite reports of Americans calling the state department hotline as recently as Tuesday evening and being told they couldn’t receive help to evacuate.
Leavitt said that 17,500 Americans have safely returned home from the Middle East, with more than 8,500 American citizens returning home on Tuesday. She also repeated that US citizens in the Middle East looking to return home should register with the state department to be provided with travel options.
Updated
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, said that he spoke with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, on Wednesday, as well as the Lebanese president, Joseph Aoun, and prime minister, Nawaf Salam, to discuss the situation in Lebanon.
“I reaffirmed the need for Hezbollah to immediately cease its attacks against Israel and beyond,” Macron said in a statement on X. “This strategy of escalation constitutes a major error that endangers the entire region.”
“Similarly, I called on the Israeli Prime Minister to preserve Lebanon’s territorial integrity and to refrain from a ground offensive,” he added. “It is important for the parties to return to the ceasefire agreement.”
Updated
White House pushes back against questions on US involvement in Iran school bombing
Karoline Leavitt batted down a question from a reporter about the US involvement in a strike on an Iranian girls’ elementary school, which killed 175 people.
The press secretary did not accept US responsibility for the attack, and noted that the Pentagon is investigating the strike (as Pete Hegseth noted earlier).
“I would just tell you very strongly, the United States of America does not target civilians, unlike the rogue Iranian regime,” Leavitt said. “I would caution you from pointing the finger at the United States of America when it comes to targeting civilians, because that’s not something that these armed forces do.”
Updated
The Dubai media office has said that Dubai authorities “confirm that sounds heard in various areas across the emirate were the result of successful air defense interception operations, with no injuries reported”.
They added that “relevant teams continue to closely monitor developments and are taking all necessary measures to ensure the safety of everyone”.
Updated
At the press briefing on Wednesday, Karoline Leavitt said that Donald Trump plans to attend the ‘dignified transfer’ of the bodies of the six US service members who have been killed since the war with Iran began.
“We grieve for these American patriots and their families as we continue the righteous mission for which they gave their lives. President Trump intends to attend the dignified transfer of these American heroes to stand in grief alongside their families,” she said. “I understand the Department of War is working on scheduling this transfer, and we will provide updates at the appropriate time.”
Updated
Sri Lankan authorities have said that they recovered 87 bodies and rescued 32 people after a US torpedo sank an Iranian warship off the coast of Sri Lanka.
The Associated Press reported that Sri Lankan navy spokesperson Commander Buddhika Sampath said that “we found people floating on the water” and that the 32 people rescued were admitted to a hospital.
Updated
The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, is currently holding a press briefing for reporters, and in her opening remarks, she praised Donald Trump and touted the success of Operation Epic Fury.
“President Trump is holding these monsters accountable and permanently extinguishing their nuclear ambitions,” Leavitt told reporters at the White House. “Future generations of Americans will look to this moment as the moment where the specter of a nuclear armed Iran ended at the beginning of Operation Epic Fury launched last weekend.”
Leavitt also repeated comments by the defense secretary just hours ago that the US has significantly degraded the Iranian navy.
“So far, we have destroyed more than 20 Iranian ships, including their top submarine, last night using a torpedo,” she said. “It’s safe to say that thus far, operation, Epic Fury has been a resounding success.”
Updated
In a recent statement, the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, has said “we are well on our way to achieving the objectives of #EpicFury”.
“Destroy their missile launchers” he said. “Destroy their missile factories. Destroy their Navy. So they can never hide behind these things to develop a nuclear weapon.”
Updated
US Central Command has said that US forces have “struck or sunk to the bottom of the ocean” more than 20 Iranian ships.
“Last night, CENTCOM added a Soleimani-class warship to the list,” it said in a statement on Wednesday.
In another statement on Wednesday, US Central Command said that “US forces continue to aggressively hunt and destroy Iranian missile launchers with precision”.
Updated
Lebanon’s health ministry said on Wednesday that the death toll from Israeli strikes in Lebanon has risen to 72 people, the Associated Press is reporting.
Lebanese officials added that 437 people have been wounded and more than 83,000 people have been displaced.
Updated
Since 28 February, more than 17,500 American citizens have returned to the United States from the Middle East, according to the US assistant secretary of state for global public affairs.
In a statement on Wednesday, the assistant secretary, Dylan Johnson, also said that more than 8,500 American citizens returned to the US on Tuesday.
“Many more Americans have left the Middle East to other countries in Europe and Asia, and others have safely departed the Middle East but are still in transit back to the US,” he said. “Through the state department 24/7 taskforce, we have assisted nearly 6,500 Americans abroad, including offering security guidance and travel assistance.”
He added: “The US state department will continue to actively assist any American citizen abroad, who wishes to depart the Middle East, to do so.”
Updated
The US embassy in Baghdad has issued a statement urging US citizens to leave Iraq “as soon as circumstances permit and to remain at their places of residence until conditions are safe for departure”.
In a statement on Wednesday, the US embassy in Baghdad added: “Please ensure you have an adequate stockpile of food, water, medications, and other essential supplies.”
Updated
Five ships in the Arabian Gulf have been targeted in the last 24 hours, according to the UK maritime trade operation which provides verified security alerts to the shipping industry.
Two oil tankers off Fujairah reported unknown projectiles with slight damage to a funnel and steel plating with another container shop passing through the straits of Hormuz was also hit.
Two others reported explosions close to the ship, one off Oman and the other west of Dubai.
Today so far
US defence secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed that a US submarine sank an Iranian warship off the coast of Sri Lanka, marking the first US attack on Iranian forces outside of the Middle East. More than 80 people were killed.
In a press briefing at the Pentagon, Hegseth declared that “America is winning” and suggested that in under a week the US and Israel “will have complete control of Iranian skies”. Hegseth said the US is able to continue the military action against Iran “for as long as we need to”, saying Iran “can no longer shoot the volume of missiles they once did”.
Hegseth also said that the leader of the Iranian covert unit that planned to assassinate Trump in 2024 had been killed in the strikes.
Dan Caine, the chair of the joint chiefs of staff, who also spoke at the briefing, said more than 20 Iranian naval vessels have been destroyed, and that the US has “effectively neutralised Iran’s major naval presence”.
Hegseth said that the US is investigating the deadly strike on a girls’ school in Iran that killed a reported 168 people on Saturday, but provided no further detail. “All I can say is that we’re investigating, and that we, of course, never target civilian targets,” Hegseth said.
The US and Israel’s airstrikes against Iran continued, with the Israeli military announcing a “broad wave of strikes” against Tehran’s security forces. In turn, Iran upped its retaliatory strikes against Israel and US targets across the region, with Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar and Kuwait all announcing Iranian attacks today.
Lebanon’s health ministry said on Wednesday that Israeli strikes on two towns south of Beirut killed six people and wounded eight. Aramoun and Saadiyat are both towns outside Hezbollah’s traditional strongholds. Meanwhile, the Israeli military issued an “urgent warning” to residents of a large swathe of southern Lebanon urging them to evacuate to the north of the Litani River. At least 30,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon, according to the UN, after heavy Israeli airstrikes.
Clerics in Iran said they were close to choosing a successor to the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to state media. It has been widely suggested that his second son, Mojtaba Khamenei, could replace him.
The funeral ceremony for Khamenei that was supposed to take place on Wednesday night in Tehran has been postponed. State media, citing officials, reported that the funeral was delayed to allow time for expanded infrastructure because of “overwhelming demand”. No timeframe was given as to when the funeral would take place.
The death toll in Iran has reached 1,045, according to Iranian officials. Iran’s foundation of martyrs and veteran affairs said the death toll represented the number of bodies that had been identified and prepared for burial, state media reported.
Cost of living fears rise in UK as oil and gas prices spike with Iran conflict
Oil and gas prices have spiked worldwide after Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz, Qatar paused some of its LNG production and energy infrastructure in the Gulf remains at risk of drone strikes.
This has sparked cost of living fears, including in the UK where energy bills are particularly at risk from international gas prices, as we rely so much on imported gas to heat our homes.
UK energy secretary Ed Miliband has in recent days met key figures including Qatari and Saudi energy ministers and the International Energy Agency.
He just said in a statement that the conflict means the UK needs to reduce its dependence on oil and gas markets. Some commentators and other political figures including Donald Trump have in recent days said that the potential fossil fuel crisis means Miliband’s decision to ban new exploration licences in the North Sea is a folly. But he has today doubled down on his choices.
Miliband said: “Conflict in the Middle East is yet another reminder that the only route to energy security and sovereignty for the UK is to get off our dependence on fossil fuel markets, whose prices we do not control, and onto clean homegrown power we do.
“The Tories and Reform have opposed our clean energy mission at every turn. They have learned nothing from their own failures during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which landed us with the biggest cost of living crisis in generations due to our exposure to fossil fuels.”
He said the North Sea “will continue to play an important role in our energy mix for decades to come, but new exploration licenses won’t take a penny off bills”.
“This Labour government has secured record investment in new nuclear and renewables, after the Conservatives failed to build the clean energy we need,” Miliband said. “Our opponents want to ‘wage war’ on the very thing that would bring down bills, costing billions in investment.”
He continued: “Global events show how foolish and dangerous their strategy is – making the UK more dependent on markets we don’t control.”
Was it legal for the US to sink an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean?
The US strike on an Iranian warship, which killed more than 80 crew members, is illegal, according to Wes Bryant, a former U.S. Air Force Special Operations targeting expert and former chief of civilian harm assessments at the Pentagon.
The Iris Dena, a warship displacing around 1,500 tonnes bearing Iranian missiles, was reportedly transiting home after participating in training exercises hosted by the Indian navy at the time of the strike, according to Indian press. India had convened naval assets from 74 countries for a March exercise.
“Was that warship actively posing a threat or participating in hostiles?” asked Bryant. “You cannot say that this warship was an imminent threat to anyone. By targeting it, is the Trump administration saying that the imminent threat is all of Iran’s government and military?”
“If so, that’s an incredibly dangerous example of military overreach,” Bryant said.
Bigger picture, lawyers have said that the US operations against Iran are patently illegal, and several have raised concerns about the broader conflict that US aggression has kicked off.
“I’m holding Trump responsible, not just for US military strikes, but for the foreseeable consequences of launching these attacks,” said Brian Finucane, a former state department lawyer. “It was not only foreseeable, but it was also widely predicted that Iran would respond… That’s why aggression is a crime under international law. ”
Updated
From petrol to groceries: how Middle East crisis is driving up prices
The conflict in the Middle East has disrupted global supply chains and triggered price rises across a range of categories, prompting accusations of price gouging and warnings of worse to come if the conflict persists.
Here we take a look at the impact so far.
Updated
Iranian president tells neighbouring countries that Iran respects their sovereignty
Masoud Pezeshkian, Iran’s president, posted a message on X to the leaders of Iran’s neighbouring countries that Iran respects their countries’ sovereignties.
Pezeshkian said that Iran had strived to avoid war but the attack from the US and Israel left them no choice but to defend themselves.
أصحاب الجلالة، رؤساء الدول الصديقة والجارة، سعينا معكم وعبر الدبلوماسية لتجنّب الحرب، لكن العدوان العسكري الأمريكي-الصهيوني لم يترك لنا خياراً سوى الدفاع عن أنفسنا. نحترم سيادتكم، ونؤمن بأن أمن المنطقة واستقرارها يجب أن يتحقق بجهود دولها مجتمعة.
— Masoud Pezeshkian (@drpezeshkian) March 4, 2026
Iran’s neighbouring countries have spent the conflict intercepting missiles and drones, with a few getting past their air defences and hitting targets. The United Arab Emirates said it has been exposed to more than 1,000 attacks Iran since the conflict began, with a drone causing a small fire near the US embassy in Dubai yesterday. Three people have been killed.
The US embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia was hit by a drone strike, as well as a port in Oman.
Updated
Here are some images of the conflict in the Middle East coming out over the wires:
The Pentagon has released a video that officials say shows the US strike on Iris Dena, an Iranian warship off the south coast of Sri Lanka.
More than 80 people were killed in the attack, which marks the first US attack on Iranian forces outside of the Middle East.
BBC Verify is reporting that a comment made by defence secretary Pete Hegseth during today’s briefing was incorrect.
Hegseth said that yesterday’s attack on an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean marked “the first sinking of an enemy ship by a torpedo since World War II”.
In 1971, a Pakistani submarine torpedoed an Indian frigate and during the Falklands War in 1982, a British submarine sunk Argentina’s only cruiser, BBC Verify reports.
Dan Caine, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, appears to clarify Hegseth’s statement later in the same briefing when he said that yesterday’s attack was the first time since 1945 that an American submarine sunk an enemy combatant ship.
More than 80 people were killed in yesterday’s strike, which took place off the coast of Sri Lanka.
Read more here:
Israeli air force says it has dropped 5,000 bombs on Iran in current military campaign
The Israeli air force claimed to have dropped 5,000 bombs on Iran in its current military operation, which began on Saturday.
In a statement posted on X, it said: “Israeli air force fighter jets continue to deepen their air superiority throughout Iran, with an emphasis on the Tehran area."
Accompanying the message was a video, which the Israeli military said was footage of a missile strike on an Iranian air defence system in Tehran.
At least 80 people killed after US submarine torpedoes Iran warship, officials say
The Sri Lankan deputy foreign minister, Arun Hemachandra, said at least 80 people were killed after a US submarine attacked an Iranian warship off the southern coast of Sri Lanka.
Foreign minister Vijitha Herath said 180 people were on board the Iris Dena, one of Iran’s newest warships, when it issued a distress call at dawn about 25 miles south of the southern port of Galle. Sri Lankan authorities have launched a search and rescue mission to find other survivors.
The Iranian ship had taken part in a naval exercise held in the Bay of Bengal from 18 February to 25 February and was heading back to Iran from an east Indian port when it came under attack, the AP news agency reported. The ‘Milan’ naval exercise hosted by India listed an Iranian ship named ‘Irins Dena’ has having taken part in the drill, according to its website.
We have heard from Eva Kipnis, a UK professor of marketing who is stranded in Dubai by ongoing military action.
Kipnis flew out to the University of Bradford’s Dubai hub last Wednesday to teach professionals from across the region who are studying for an executive MBA.
Within 48 hours of her arrival, she found herself stranded in a high‑rise hotel, living through missile alerts, cancelled flights, and long nights sheltering in the hotel’s underground car park.
“It’s not the most impacted part of the city,” said Kipnis, who is director of the university’s doctoral college. “But when they issue a Dubai‑wide alert, you move. You listen.”
When the first alarms went off, her phone lit up with a government warning and she made the now‑familiar descent 20 floors down concrete stairwells to the underground car park.
“I’ve got a little ‘go‑bag’ now,” she said. “A mat for the stairs, some nuts and chocolate, water. You just prepare.”
She was meant to fly home on Monday but her flight was cancelled. “Of course there is anxiety,” she said. “I worry about my family. My parents, my husband, my children. And know they’re incredibly worried about me.”
Her family has experience of being in a war zone. “My brother and his family were in Kyiv when Russia launched the full-scale invasion of Ukraine,” she explained. “I helped bring them to the UK on the Ukraine family visa. It feels like we’ve swapped places.”
In Dubai, while some hotel guests chose to sunbathe by the pool, Kipnis has continued teaching, moving her lectures online. “I’m amazed by the resilience of our students,” she said.
“Those who could join came online and stayed all day. It felt surreal to talk about brands and marketing... but at the same time it was topical. We spoke about the British brand of keep calm and carry on. It helped create a sense of normality.”
A spokesperson from the Bradford university said it was extending support to all affected students, including doctoral research students.
Updated
Key points from Pentagon briefing
US defence secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed that a US submarine sunk an Iranian warship in the Indian ocean as he declared that the Iranian navy “rests at the bottom of the Persian Gulf” and that it was “ineffective, decimated, destroyed”.
He declared that “America is winning” and suggested that in under a week the US and Israel “will have complete control of Iranian skies, uncontested airspace”.
The leader of the Iranian covert unit that planned to assassinate Trump in 2024 had been killed in the strikes, Hegseth said.
Dan Caine, the chair of the joint chiefs of staff, who also spoke at the briefing, said more than 20 Iranian naval vessels have been destroyed, and that the US has “effectively neutralised Iran’s major naval presence”.
Hegseth said the US is able to continue the military action against Iran “for as long as we need to”, saying Iran “can no longer shoot the volume of missiles they once did”.
The Pentagon continued to deny responsibility for a strike on a girls’ school in Iran on Saturday that killed a reported 168 people. “All I can say is that we’re investigating, and that we, of course, never target civilian targets,” Hegseth said.
Two Israeli soldiers were injured when they came under anti-tank fire in southern Lebanon, the IDF said.
They are believed to be the first Israeli personnel to be injured since fighting escalated between Israeli soldiers and Hezbollah militants on Monday.
“Earlier today, two IDF soldiers were moderately injured as a result of an anti-tank fire toward IDF troops operating in southern Lebanon,” the Israeli military said in a statement.
China and Russia are ‘non-factors’ in Iran war, says Hegseth
“I don’t have a message for them, and they’re not really a factor here, and our issue is not with them,” Hegseth said of Russia and China, both of whom have longstanding diplomatic and trade ties with Iran, while Moscow has military links to Tehran.
The US defence secretary said the US focus on ending what he called “the nuclear ambitions of Iran”.
Both Russia and China have criticised the US-Israeli strikes on Iran, with Moscow saying it had seen no evidence that Tehran was developing nuclear weapons while Beijing called for an immediate halt to the attacks.
Hegseth: Iran cannot outlast us
Hegseth finished the briefing by declaring that “we set the tone and the tempo of this fight” but would not say how much longer the conflict would continue.
“The only limits we have on this is President Trump’s desire to achieve specific effects on behalf of the American people,” he said. “We could say four weeks, but it could be six, it could be eight, it could be three. Ultimately, we set the pace and the tempo.”
He added: “When we say the throttle is going up, the throttle is going up and it’s going to stay on high.”
Hegseth says Iran can no longer shoot volume of missiles as before
Hegseth noted that the US is able to continue the military action against Iran for as long as it needs.
“The enemy can no longer shoot the volume of missiles they once did – not even close,” he said. “We can sustain this fight easily for as long as we need to.”
US is investigating deadly strike on Shajareh Tayyebeh school girls school in southern Iran, Hegseth says
When asked, defence secretary Pete Hegseth said that the US was investigating the deadly strike on the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls school in Minab, but provided no further details.
“All I can say is we’re investigating that,” Hegseth said. “We, of course, never target civilian targets, but we’re taking a look and investigating that.”
According to Iranian state media, up to 168 people were killed by the strike and 95 injured – figures that the Guardian has not been able to verify.
Read more about the strike here:
US has 'effectively neutralised' Iran's naval presence, Caine says
Dan Caine, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, has taken to the podium to provide more details about the conflict with Iran.
He supported the statements made earlier by defence secretary Pete Hegseth about the Iranian navy. “To date, we’ve hit over 2,000 targets. We destroyed more than 20 Iranian naval vessels in addition to the frigate outside of the area,” Caine said adding that the US has “effectively neutralised Iran’s major naval presence and theatre out there”.
“For the first time since 1945, a United States Navy fast-attack submarine has sunk an enemy combatant ship…This is an incredible demonstration of America’s global reach. To hunt, find and kill an out of area deployer is something only the United States can use with this kind of skill,” Caine said.
Read more about the Iranian warship:
Updated
Hegseth: We have only just begun to fight
Hegseth finished his remarks by praising Israel as a “steadfast partner” and “capable ally”.
“To our steadfast partner, Israel: your mission is being executed with unmatched skill and iron determination. Fighting shoulder to shoulder with such a capable ally is a true force multiplier and a breath of fresh air. We salute your courage and your contribution,” Hegseth said.
“We have only just begun to fight. America fights to win and in Operation Epic Fury, we are.”
Person charged with attempted assassination of Trump killed, Hegseth said
Killed in the strikes on Iran is the person who led a plot to assassinate Donald Trump, Pentagon secretary Pete Hegseth confirmed on Wednesday morning.
“The leader of the unit who attempted to assassinate President Trump has been hunted down and killed,” Hegseth said at a Pentagon briefing.
The plot dates back to 2024, when federal prosecutors under the Biden administration charged 51-year-old Iranian national Farhad Shakeri and two New York men with running a murder-for-hire operation on behalf of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps. The aim, the department of justice said at the time, was revenge for Trump’s killing of Iranian general Qasem Soleimani in 2020.
Shakeri had been personally directed by an IRGC official to assassinate Trump during the presidential campaign, prosecutors said.
Hegseth confirms sinking of Iranian warship
Hegseth confirmed that a US submarine sunk an Iranian warship in the Indian ocean as he declared that the Iranian navy “rests at the bottom of the Persian Gulf” and that it was “ineffective, decimated, destroyed…pick your adjective, it is no more.”
He said that on Tuesday, an American submarine in the Indian ocean “sunk an Iranian war ship that thought it was safe in international waters.”
“Instead it was sunk by a torpedo, a quiet death – the first sinking of an enemy ship by a torpedo since World War II. Like in that war, back when we were still the war department, we are fighting to win.”
Rules of engagement designed to "unleash American power", Hegseth says.
“We’re playing for keeps,” Hegseth said. “Our war fighters have maximum authorities granted personally by the president and yours truly. Our rules of engagement are bold, precise and designed to unleash American power, not shackle it.
He continued: “This was never meant to be a fair fight and it is not a fair fight. We are punching them while they’re down, which is exactly how it should be.”
Hegseth: US and Israel will have 'complete' control of Iranian skies in 'under a week'
Hegseth continued his remarks by saying that in under a week, the “two most powerful air forces in the world” – the US and Israel – “will have complete control of Iranian skies, uncontested air space.”
“We will fly all day, all night, day and night, finding, fixing and finishing the missiles and defence industrial base of the Iranian military,” Hegseth said.
“Finding and fixing their leaders and their military leaders. Flying over Tehran, flying over Iran, flying over their capital, flying over the IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps), Iranian leaders looking up and seeing only US and Israeli air power. Every minute of every day until we decide it’s over. And Iran will be able to do nothing about it.”
Updated
Summary of developments so far
The US and Israel’s strikes against Iran continue, with the Israeli military announcing a “broad wave of strikes” against Tehran’s security forces.
A new in the fighting has opened in Lebanon, where the Israeli military says it is targeting Hezbollah strongholds south of the country. It issued an “urgent warning” to residents of a large swathe of southern Lebanon urging them to evacuate to the north of the Litani River.
Iran has upped its retaliatory strikes against Israel and US targets across the region. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar and Kuwait all announced Iranian attacks today.
Nearly 150 people could be missing after an Iranian warship sank off the coast of Sri Lanka. Authorities said 32 people were rescued while they search for other survivors. It was not immediately clear what happened or how many people were on board the 180-crew frigate Iris Dena.
Clerics in Iran say they are close to choosing a successor to supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to state media. It is widely suggested that his second son, Mojtaba Khamenei, could replace him.
The funeral ceremony for Khamenei that was supposed to take place tonight in Tehran has been postponed. State media, citing officials, reported that the funeral was delayed to allow time for expanded infrastructure due to “overwhelming demand”. No timeframe was given of when the funeral will take place.
The death toll in Iran has reached 1,045 people, according to Iranian officials. Iran’s foundation of martyrs and veteran affairs said the death toll represented the number of bodies that have been identified and prepared for burial, state media reported.
Turkish authorities said a missile launched from Iran and headed towards Turkey’s air space was shot down by Nato air defence systems. The Turkish defence ministry said there were no casualties or injuries in the incident.
Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez has hit back at Donald Trump after he made scathing comments over Spain’s position that joint military bases could not be used for attacks on Iran.“The position of the government of Spain can be summed up in four words: no to war [no a la guerra],” Sanchez said in a televised address.
'America is winning' in Iran conflict, Hegseth says
Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, has taken to the podium at the Pentagon to provide an update on the conflict.
“I stand before you today with one unmistakable message about Operation Epic Fury,” Hegseth said. “America is winning. Decisively, devastatingly and without mercy.”
Updated
IDF launch fresh attacks in southern Lebanon as people urged to flee north
The IDF just announced that it has begun “a wave of attacks in southern Lebanon”.
In an earlier statement, the IDF said it targeted underground weapons depots and headquarters in Beirut belonging to Hezbollah.
“The IDF attacked in Beirut over the past 24 hours, completing another wave of attacks against infrastructure of the terrorist organisation Hezbollah,” it said in a post on social media.
It comes as the Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee warned people in southern Lebanon to move north.
In a message posted on social media, he said:
For your safety, you must evacuate your homes immediately. Anyone who is near Hezbollah operatives, facilities, or weapons is putting their life at risk.
Any house used by Hezbollah for military purposes may be targeted. To the residents of southern Lebanon, you must head immediately north of the Litani river. For your safety, you must evacuate your homes immediately and move north beyond the Litani river.
Nato condemns Iran's targeting of Turkey
Nato has condemned Iran’s targeting of Turkey after reports that a missile launched from Iran and heading towards Turkish airspace was shot down by Nato air defence systems.
Nato spokesperson Allison Hart said:
We condemn Iran’s targeting of Turkey. Nato stands firmly with all allies, including Turkey, as Iran continues its indiscriminate attacks across the region. Our deterrence and defence posture remains strong across all domains, including when it comes to air and missile defence.
Here is the Turkish defence ministry statement in full following reports that an Iranian missile was downed as it hurtled toward Turkey’s airspace.
The ministry said:
A ballistic missile, launched from Iran and detected heading towards Turkish airspace after crossing Iraqi and Syrian airspace, was timely engaged and neutralised by Nato air and missile defence elements deployed in the eastern Mediterranean.
It has been determined that the ordnance that fell in Dörtyol district of Hatay province belonged to an air defence munition that intercepted the threat in the air. There were no casualties or injuries in the incident.
Our resolve and capacity to ensure the security of our country and citizens are at the highest level. While Turkey supports regional stability and peace, it is capable of ensuring the security of its territory and citizens, regardless of who or where the threat comes from. Every step taken to defend our territory and airspace will be taken resolutely and without hesitation. We remind you that we reserve the right to respond to any hostile attitude towards our country.
We urge all parties to refrain from actions that would further spread the conflict in the region. In this context, we will continue to consult with Nato and our other allies.
Updated
Iran death toll reaches 1,045, officials say
The death toll in Iran from the current war with Israel and the US has reached 1,045 people, according to Iranian officials.
Iran’s foundation of martyrs and veteran affairs said the death toll represented the number of bodies that have been identified and prepared for burial, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.
Updated
A missile launched from Iran toward Turkish airspace was destroyed by Nato defence systems, Turkish officials said.
In a statement, the Turkish defence ministry said:
A ballistic munition launched from Iran, which was detected passing through Iraqi and Syrian airspace and heading towards Turkish airspace, was engaged in a timely manner by Nato air and missile defence assets stationed in the eastern Mediterranean and rendered inactive.
Nearly 150 missing after Iranian warship sinks near Sri Lanka - report
Nearly 150 people are potentially missing after an Iranian warship sank near Sri Lankan waters, according to reports.
The Sri Lankan navy rescued 32 people from the the 180-crew frigate Iris Dena after it reportedly issued a distress call this morning 25 miles south of the southern port of Galle, Sri Lanka’s foreign minister, Vijitha Herath, said.
A defence official told AFP news agency that rescuers were “keeping up a search, but we don’t know yet what happened to the rest of the crew”.
It remains unclear how many people were on board the vessel, or what caused it to sink.
Updated
Who is Mojtaba Khamenei? The son of late supreme leader Khamenei seen as potential successor
Mojtaba Khamenei, the second son of the assassinated Ali Khamenei, is being heavily tipped to succeed his father as supreme leader of Iran, pitching a hardliner into the task of steering the Islamic republic through the most turbulent period in its 48-year history – and a powerful signal that it at present has no intention of changing course.
No official confirmation has been given, and the announcement may be delayed until after the funeral of Ali Khamenei. The son is believed to have been the choice of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), and the Israeli defence minister, Gideon Saar, has warned he will be assassinated.
Rigid in his anti-western views, he is not the candidate that Donald Trump would have wanted. Marco Rubio, the US secretary of state said on Tuesday Iran was run “religious fanatic lunatics”, and Khamenei’s appointment is hardly likely to dispel that opinion.
The choice of supreme leader is made by the 88-strong assembly of experts who, in this case, were picking from a field of six possible candidates. His election would be a powerful if unsurprising symbol that the government is not looking seek to accommodate with America.
There has been speculation stretching back more than a decade that Khamenei would be his father’s successor, and that grew when Ebrahim Raisi, the elected president and favourite of Ali Khamenei, was killed in a helicopter crash.
Mojtaba Khamenei was born in 1969 and studied theology after graduating from high school. At the age of 17, he went to serve in the Iran-Iraq war, but it was not until the late 1990s that he came to be recognised as a public figure in his own right.
After the landslide defeat of Khamenei’s preferred candidate, Ali Akbar Nategh Nouri, in the 1997 presidential election, where he won only 25% of the final vote, various conservative Iranian groups realised the need to make changes to their structures and Mojtaba Khamenei was central to that project.
He was also seen as instrumental by reformists in suppressing the protests in 2009 following allegations that the presidential election had been rigged, with his name chanted in the streets as one of those responsible. Mostafa Tajzadeh, a senior member of Iran’s reformist parties who was imprisoned after the vote, alleged that his and his wife Fakhr al-Sadat Mohtashamipour’s legal case was under the direct supervision of Mojtaba Khamenei.
In 2022, he was given the title of Ayatollah – essential to his promotion - and by then he was a regular figure by his father’s side at political meetings, as well as playing an influential role in the Islamic Republic’s Broadcasting Corporation, the government’s official media outlet that is often criticised for churning out dull political propaganda many Iranians reject in favour of overseas satellite channels. He has also played a central in the administration of his father’s substantial financial empire.
His closest political allies are Ahmad Vahidi, the newly appointed IRGC commander Hossein Taeb a former head of the Intelligence Organisation (IRGC-IO), and Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the current speaker of the parliament .
His rumoured appointment and its hereditary nature has long been resisted by reformists. Mir Hossein Mousavi, referring to the long history of rumours about Mojtaba Khamenei succeeding his father as leader, wrote in 2022 : “News of this conspiracy have been heard for thirteen years. If they are not truly pursuing it, why don’t they deny such an intention once and for all?”
The assembly of experts in response denounced “meaninglessness of doubts” insisting it would only select “the most qualified and the most suitable”.
Israel on Tuesday struck the building in Qom, one of Shia Islam’s main seats of power, where the assembly was scheduled, but the building was empty, according to IRGC-affiliated media.
Updated
Iran state funeral for Khamenei postponed - report
Iran’s Tasnim news agency has reported that the funeral ceremony for supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei that was supposed to take place tonight in Tehran has been postponed.
The news agency published a statement from the Islamic propagation coordination council of Tehran province, which said the funeral was delayed to allow time for expanded infrastructure due to “overwhelming demand”.
The statement read:
The Tehran Grand Mosque was scheduled to host our dear people from tonight for a farewell to the pure body of the martyred cleric and our great Imam, but due to the overwhelming demand from across the country and the widespread desire of the people for a grand attendance at this ceremony, as well as the need to provide the necessary infrastructure, the event has been postponed.
Given the high volume of requests to attend this ceremony and the need to prepare adequate facilities to host the people, it was decided that the event would be held at a more suitable time.
UN 'deeply disturbed' by reports of Iran school strike that killed 160 children
A UN body said it was “deeply disturbed” by the deaths of children during the war in the Middle East, after the bombing of a girls’ school in southern Iran.
More than 160 children were reported killed after the Shajareh Tayyebeh girls’ school in Minab was hit on Saturday, the first day of the US-Israeli attacks against Iran.
The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child said: “This is a reminder that children are among the most vulnerable in armed conflicts, and must never be treated as collateral damage.”
US secretary of state Marco Rubio said on Monday that the country’s forces “would not deliberately target a school”, while Israel commented that it would investigate the incident.
Donald Trump ‘really does not care’ if Iran play at World Cup 2026
Donald Trump has said he does not care whether Iran participates in this summer’s World Cup, which is being jointly hosted by the US, Mexico and Canada.
“I really don’t care. I think Iran is a very badly defeated country. They’re running on fumes,” Trump told Politico.
Iran was the only nation missing from a Fifa planning summit for World Cup participants held this week in Atlanta, deepening questions over whether the country’s team will compete on US soil this summer amid an escalating regional war.
Read the full report here:
Updated
The EU has hit back at Donald Trump’s threats to halt all trade with Spain over its decision not to allow the US use its military bases for Iran bombing missions.
The EU said it expected the US president to “honour” its bloc-wide tariff deal concluded last year but hinted at the possibility of retaliatory measures if Trump did isolate Spain in a revenge move.
“The Commission will ensure that the interests of the European Union are fully protected. We stand in full solidarity with all Member States and all its citizens and, through our common trade policy, stand ready to act if necessary to safeguard EU interests,” said trade spokesperson Olof Gill
“Trade between the European Union and the United States is deeply integrated and mutually beneficial.
“Safeguarding this relationship, particularly at a time of global disruption, is more important than ever and clearly in the interest of both sides.
“The EU and the United States concluded a major trade deal last year. The European Commission expects the United States to fully honour the commitments” undertaken in the joint statement of last August.
The EU is continuing to honour its part of that deal, allow many US goods into the bloc tariff free, even though the US supreme court ruled Trump’s 15% tariffs on EU goods were illegal.
Tell us: how have you been affected by the latest events in the Middle East?
The conflict in the Middle East has continued to escalate, with Israel announcing it had launched a “broad wave of strikes” against Tehran while it continues to bombard Lebanon.
Iran has continued to fire retaliatory strikes against Israel and US targets in the region, prompting major airlines to cancel flights that has left thousands of people stranded.
If you’re living or working in the region and have been impacted by the US-Israel conflict with Iran, we would like to hear from you.
For more details on how to contact the Guardian, click here:
Our pictures team have put together before and after satellite images of some of the sites targeted by US-Israeli strikes in Tehran.
IRGC HQ
National Defence University
Islamic Revolutionary Court
Updated
Canadian prime minister Mark Carney has softened his support for US and Israeli strikes on Iran, saying while he welcomes end of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s regime - “the principal source of instability and terror in the region” - he does not believe the attacks on Iran were legal, and they represent “another example of the failure of the international order”.
Carney is visiting Australia, where he will address parliament - partly on a trade mission, but also to help build cooperation between so-called middle powers. Carney has spoken previously about ‘variable geometry’ - the building of a variety of international coalitions to address specific issues.
Speaking at the Lowy Institute in Sydney, Carney’s position on the strikes on Iran was tempered from his initial forthright support.
“Canada supports the United States acting to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon,” he said on Saturday.
On Wednesday night in Sydney, he said the Iranian regime and its proxies had murdered hundreds of Canadians over years, and “caused untold suffering for millions of people in the Middle East and beyond”.
He said Canada stood with the people of Iran in their struggle against the regime’s oppression, and “supported the imperative of neutralising this grave global threat”.
“But we also take this position with some regret, because the current conflict is another example of the failure of the international order, despite decades of UN Security Council resolutions, the work of the International Atomic Energy Agency in a succession of sanctions and diplomatic frameworks, Iran’s nuclear threat remains, and now United States and Israel have acted without engaging the UN or consulting with allies, including Canada.
“The question is: where to from here? Given we have a rapidly spreading conflict and growing threats to civilian life across the region, Canada reaffirms that international law binds all belligerents.”
Carney said the US and Israeli strikes appeared to be unlawful, in that they were not made with Security Council support, or in the face of imminent threat.
“The action that was taken, we weren’t consulted on it. There was not a process, a broader process for it. It would appear, prima facie... to be inconsistent with international law.”
An oil tanker was hit last night east of Fujairah, in UAE, the UK maritime trade operations centre has said in an alert to shippers.
“The tanker experienced a loud blast and debris from an unknown projectile was found on deck,” UKTMO said.
The organisation which verifies and corroborates security issues in the gulf said there was “no major damage” and no environmental implications with the funnel sustaining the damage.
The Strait of Hormuz remains open but trade has dropped 80%.
EU sees no immediate effect of Iran conflict on gas supply security - report
The EU said it does not see any immediate effect from the conflict in Iran on the security of natural gas supply, officials told Reuters news agency.
No response measures are currently planned at national or EU level, the officials added.
Saudi Arabia says it intercepted a drone attack on Saudi Aramco’s Ras Tanura, which houses its largest domestic refinery on the Persian Gulf coast.
In brief statements posted online, the Saudi defence ministry said: “Attempted attack on Ras Tanura refinery.
“Initial estimates indicate that the attack was carried out by a drone and did not result in any damage.”
Reuters new agency, citing sources, reported that the refinery was struck by an unknown projectile.
On Monday, some operations were halted at the refinery after a drone attack caused a fire at the complex.
Updated
South Africa is willing to mediate in the war in the Middle East, the country’s president Cyril Ramaphosa told reporters on the sidelines of an energy conference in Cape Town.
“South Africa is always ready to play a contributing role, either in mediation or whatever. And if a gap opens or if we are asked, we always live up to our obligations,” Ramaphosa said, in comments broadcast on local TV station Newzroom Afrika.
“If the opportunity were to open, we would talk and say: there must be a ceasefire. Dialogue is always the best way of ending conflict and then ending the war. And we want this war to come to an end immediately.”
South Africa maintains relationships with countries the US has deemed enemies, including Venezuela, Iran and Russia, the latter a legacy of Soviet support for the African National Congress party’s fight against apartheid.
Earlier this year, Iran took part in a joint naval exercise in South African waters, something Ramaphosa said had happened against his instruction that they not be allowed to participate. The US embassy in Pretoria criticised South Africa at the time, accusing it of “cozying up to Iran”.
Ramaphosa had previously criticised what his office labelled “international law violations”, without specifying which party to the conflict it was referring to.
“Anticipatory self-defence is not permitted under international law and self-defence cannot be based on assumption or anticipation,” a statement released by the presidency on Saturday said.
Hezbollah says it targeted Israel's major aerospace and aviation company
Hezbollah says it launched a wave of drone strikes against the headquarters of Israel Aerospace Industries in central Israel.
The group said it fired “a swarm of attack drones” against the state-owned Israeli defence and aerospace company “in response to the criminal Israeli aggression that targeted dozens of Lebanese cities and towns”, the AFP news agency reported.
No further details were provided and there was no immediate comment from Israel.
Iran close to choosing new supreme leader - report
Reuters news agency has reported that Iran is close to choosing a new supreme leader, quoting Ahmad Khatami, a member of the Iranian assembly of experts which is tasked with finding a new leader.
“The Supreme Leader will be identified in the closest opportunity, we are close to a conclusion, however the situation in the country is a war situation,” Khatami is quoted as saying on state TV.
Khamenei did not officially declare who would succeed him, but his second son, Mojtaba Khamenei, is among a handful of clerics tipped as likely successors, but it remains unclear where they are, or if they are alive.
Pictures: Aftermath of US-Israeli strikes in Tehran
Senior Khamenei aide says Iran won’t negotiate with US
Mohammad Mokhbar, a senior adviser to the late Iranian supreme leader Khamenei, said that his country does not trust the US and does not intend to conduct any negotiations with Washington.
“We have no confidence in the Americans, and we have no intention of holding any negotiations with the United States,'” he said in televised comments to state TV, according to various reports.
He reportedly pointed out that Iran could “continue the war no matter how long it lasts, just as it did during the eight years of war with Iraq”.
Trump 'betrayed diplomacy and Americans who elected him', says Iran foreign minister
The Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi, who headed the Iranian delegation during nuclear talks with US officials before this recent bout of fighting began, said Trump has ‘“betrayed diplomacy” by launching attacks in the middle of negotiations.
In a post on X, he said:
When complex nuclear negotiations are treated like a real estate transaction, and when big lies cloud realities, unrealistic expectations can never be met.
The outcome? Bombing the negotiation table out of spite.
Mr Trump betrayed diplomacy and Americans who elected him.
Updated
IDF says Israeli F-35 fighter jet shot down manned Iranian warplane in Tehran
The IDF said an Israeli F-35 fighter jet shot down a manned Iranian warplane in Tehran.
In a brief statement on social media, the Israeli military claimed to have shot down the Iranian air force’s YAK-130 fighter jet.
“This is the first shootdown in history of a manned fighter aircraft by an F-35 “Adir” fighter jet,” the IDF said.
There was no immediate comment from Iran.
Spain's position is 'no to war', says Sanchez
The Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez has hit back at Donald Trump after he made scathing comments over Spain’s position that joint military bases could not be used for attacks on Iran.
“The position of the government of Spain can be summed up in four words: no to war [no a la guerra],” he said in a televised address, a day after Trump threatened to sever all trade with Spain.
“We will not be complicit in something that is harmful to the world and contrary to our values and interests, simply out of fear of retaliation.”
The US president railed against Spain yesterday, saying Madrid was “very uncooperative” and acted like a “terrible” ally, and threatened that the US is “going to cut off all trade” with the country.
My colleague, Jakub Krupa, has more on Sanchez’s comments today over on the Europe liveblog, which you can find here:
Israel-US strikes on Iran appear ‘inconsistent with international law’, says Canadian PM
Canada’s prime minister Mark Carney said the US-Israeli strikes on Iran “would appear, prima facie... to be inconsistent with international law”.
That is despite initially supporting the strikes on Saturday, which he now says he did so “with regret”.
Speaking to reporters in Sydney, where he is on an official visit, he said: “We were not informed in advance, we were not asked to participate.
“Prima facie, it appears that these actions are inconsistent with international law.”
He continued: “We support efforts to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and to prevent its regime from further threatening international peace and security.
“Because Canada is taking the world as it is, not passively waiting for a world we wish to be.
“We do, however, take this position with regret because the current conflict is another example of the failure of the international order.”
Summary of developments so far
Israel said it had launched a “broad wave of strikes” against government targets in Tehran, including the presidential office. A loud blast was reported in the north-east of Tehran this morning, as explosions rocked Iranian cities for a fourth night.
Israel’s bombardment of Lebanon continues, with strikes reported in the southern Beirut suburb of Dahiyeh, seen as a support base for the militant group Hezbollah.
Iran continues to launch retaliatory strikes, with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) saying it fired about 40 missiles at US and Israeli targets.
A funeral ceremony is to be held in Tehran for supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to state media. Supporters of the late Khamenei, who was killed in the US-Israeli strikes on Saturday, will gather at the prayer hall of the Grand Mosalla of Tehran tonight at 10pm (6.30pm GMT) to begin a three-day commemoration ceremony.
Khamenei’s son, Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, has emerged as the frontrunner to replace his father as Iran’s supreme leader, the New York Times has reported, citing Iranian officials. Israeli defence minister Israel Katz said his military will attempt to kill any Iranian leader appointed to succeed Khamenei.
Global oil and gas prices have spiked as the war has halted energy exports from the Middle East. Iran has attacked ships and energy facilities, closing navigation in the Gulf and forcing production stoppages from Qatar to Iraq.
The conflict has caused turbulence on global markets. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 continued to fall on Wednesday, and was down about 3.9% during early trading. In Seoul, the Kospi – which dropped 7.2% on Tuesday – fell by a further 8.1% before trading was suspended on Wednesday. But Wall Street looks set to open only marginally lower in New York, according to pre-market trading data.
The US navy could begin escorting oil tankers through the strait of Hormuz if necessary, President Donald Trump said on Tuesday, in one of the administration’s most aggressive steps yet to attempt to contain soaring energy prices sparked by the war.
The US military has claimed that the number of strikes carried out on Saturday in the first 24 hours of its war on Iran was nearly double that of the “shock-and-awe” strikes on Iraq in 2003, and that nearly 2,000 targets had been hit so far in Iran. Cooper also said the US was also sinking “all of the Iranian navy” and had already destroyed 17 Iranian ships.
Lebanon’s health ministry said on Wednesday that Israeli strikes on two towns south of Beirut killed six people and wounded eight. Aramoun and Saadiyat are both towns outside Hezbollah’s traditional strongholds. At least 30,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon, according to the UN, after heavy Israeli airstrikes.
Updated
Loud explosion in Tehran - report
News agencies are reporting a loud blast in eastern Tehran.
We will bring you more details as we get them.
Dozens rescued from sinking Iranian warship near Sri Lanka
Reuters reported that the Sri Lankan military rescued at least 30 people on board a sinking Iranian ship today near Sri Lankan waters, according to officials.
The Sri Lankan navy dispatched a rescue mission after a distress call from the Iranian ship, a defence ministry spokesperson said.
Sri Lankan foreign minister Vijitha Herath told parliament that the injured sailors from the 180-crew vessel were taken to a hospital in the south of the country. He did not give further details, including what caused the ship to sink, but said Sri Lanka would take appropriate action.
According to local reports, the ship was the Iris Dena, a frigate in the Iranian navy. It had reportedly sent out a distress call off the coast of Galle in the southern part of the country.
Israel threatens to assassinate Ali Khamenei's replacement
Israel’s defence minister Israel Katz threatened on X on Wednesday to assassinate any Iranian leader picked to succeed supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in US-Israeli strikes on Tehran.
Any leader selected by the Iranian terror regime to continue leading the plan for Israel’s destruction, threatening the United States, the free world and countries in the region, and suppressing the Iranian people, will be a certain target for assassination, no matter his name or where he hides.”
India is facing a highly precarious situation for its energy security if the Strait of Hormuz – the world’s most critical oil shipping chokepoint – remains closed amidst the escalating Middle East crisis.
India, a country of more than 1.4bn people, imports about 88% of its required crude oil to meet its vast energy requirements. Around 40% of that comes from the Middle East, through the Strait of Hormuz, a narrow but vital maritime corridor linking the Persian Gulf with the Gulf of Oman.
Oil traffic through the Strait of Hormuz halted since the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran last week. In retaliation, Iran’s Islamic Revolution Guards Corps claimed control of the shipping corridor and warned that any vessel attempting to transit the passage could face missiles or drone strikes.
According to industry analyst Kpler, India currently has around 100 million barrels of commercial crude oil stocks left, covering roughly 40 to 45 days of its requirements.
Over the past few months, punitive tariffs and sanctions from US president Trump had pushed India to move away from its reliance on discounted Russian oil, over accusations it was funding Putin’s aggressions in Ukraine. However the ongoing turbulence in the Middle East, which is driving up crude oil prices, could send India back to Moscow to ensure its energy security needs are met.
On Tuesday, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak told a state-run tv channel that India had signalled “renewed interest” in importing larger volumes of Russian crude oil following the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Indian officials have not officially commented but government sources told Reuters that India was “scouting for alternatives” of both crude oil and natural gas and that they were “reasonably confident that if one source closes, another window will open”.
The situation is even tricker for India’s natural gas needs, which are largely reliant on Abu Dhabi and Qatar. Facing strikes from Iran, both countries have halted production and exports. This week, Indian companies began reducing gas supplies to some industrial customers as they face an impending shortfall.
Here are some early images from the newswires of the Israeli airstrikes in Dahiyeh, a southern suburb of Beirut, seen as a support base for the militant group Hezbollah.
The US Senate is headed towards a vote Wednesday on president Donald Trump’s decision to embark on a war against Iran, an extraordinary test in Congress for a conflict that has rapidly spread across the Middle East with no clear US exit strategy.
The legislation, known as a war powers resolution, gives lawmakers an opportunity to demand congressional approval before any further attacks are carried out. The Senate resolution and a similar bill being voted on in the House later this week face unlikely paths through the Republican-controlled Congress and would almost certainly be vetoed by Trump even if they were to pass.
Iran Guards say launched more than 40 missiles at US, Israeli targets
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said Wednesday they had launched about 40 missiles at US and Israeli targets on the fifth day of war in the Middle East.
“Several hours ago, the 17th wave of operation Honest Promise 4 was conducted with the launch of 40 missiles by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps’ aerospace forces, towards American and Zionist targets,” a statement read on state TV said, without giving further details.
Iranians to bid farewell to late Supreme Leader Khamenei in Tehran
Iranians are to bid farewell to late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in a ceremony on Wednesday at 10pm (1830 GMT) at Tehran’s Imam Khomeini prayer ground, state media reported.
The ceremony will last for three days and the funeral procession will be announced when it is finalised, it said.
Updated
Differences are emerging between the governments of Israel and the US, even as they conduct a joint war against Iran.
At the outset of the bombing campaign on Saturday, both Trump and Netanyahu said regime change was the goal. But in remarks at the White House on Monday, two days after Israeli air strikes killed Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and much of his leadership, Trump did not mention overthrowing Iran’s government as his top priority, Reuters points out.
The US goal, he said, was to destroy Iran’s missiles and navy, and to stop it from obtaining a nuclear weapon. His Pentagon chief Pete Hegseth said at a press conference that same day that the operation was not a “so-called regime-change war.”
Netanyahu, by contrast, has called on Iran’s citizens to take to the streets and overthrow their rulers as recently as Monday night. “We’re going to create the conditions, first, for the Iranian people to get control of their destiny,” he told Fox News.
The US and Israel’s joint war in Iran has already upended travel across the Middle East, stranding tens of thousands of people. And the future is anything but certain.
Experts stress that flights scheduled in the coming days and weeks could continue to see disruptions, causing ripple effects globally. Many carriers have been forced to either cancel flights or shift to longer routes. That’s straining operating costs and ticket prices, both of which could become more expensive if airlines have to pay more for fuel the longer the war drags on.
Experts recommend postponing unnecessary travel if possible, checking refund or insurance policies and, most importantly, monitoring safety advisories.
UK government charter flight for British nationals in Oman
A government charter flight will be available on Wednesday evening for British nationals wanting to leave Oman amid the conflict in the region.
The Foreign Office said the flight will depart the country’s capital, Muscat, at 7pm and is available for British nationals, their partners and children under 18 with a valid travel document.
According to the Foreign Office, priority for the evacuation flight will be given to the most vulnerable and they will contact British nationals in Oman. The department asked people not to travel to Muscat International Airport in Oman unless they are contacted by officials, while dependents who are not British nationals will require a valid visa or permission to enter or remain granted for more than three months.
The US state department has given its non-emergency personnel and their families in Saudi Arabia and Oman permission to leave, the US embassies in both Gulf states said Tuesday, as Iran launches retaliatory strikes in response to US-Israeli air raid.
Updated
Missiles launched from Iran early Wednesday triggered air raid sirens across large parts of Israel, with the military saying it was “operating to intercept the threat”.
The order to seek shelter covered Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and other areas across the country. It was lifted after several minutes, with no immediate reports of any direct impact.
Israel’s emergency medical service Magen David Adom said it had received no reports of casualties.
Conflicting claims over the strait of Hormuz
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said Wednesday they control the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route for oil and gas, and any vessels seeking to pass through the waterway risk damage from missiles or stray drones, Agence France-Presse reports.
“Currently, the Strait of Hormuz is under the complete control of the Islamic Republic’s Navy,” said Guards Navy official Mohammad Akbarzadeh in a statement issued on Fars news agency.
However, Admiral Brad Cooper of US Central Command contradicted Iran’s claim, saying just hours earlier that the US was sinking “all of the Iranian navy” and had already destroyed 17 Iranian ships.
“For decades the Iranian regime has harassed international shipping. Today there is not a single Iranian ship underway in the Arabian gulf, Strait of Hormuz or Gulf of Oman,” he said.
The US navy could begin escorting oil tankers through the strait of Hormuz if necessary, President Donald Trump said on Tuesday, in one of the administration’s most aggressive steps yet to attempt to contain soaring energy prices sparked by the war.
In his briefing, Admiral Cooper also said that the number of strikes carried out on Saturday in the first 24 hours of its war on Iran was nearly double that of the “shock-and-awe” strikes on Iraq in 2003, and that nearly 2,000 targets had been hit so far in Iran.
Updated
Global markets roiled by conflict
Global markets tumbled further on Wednesday despite Donald Trump’s offer to have the US navy escort tankers through the strait of Hormuz and the US military’s claim that there is “not a single Iranian ship underway” in the crucial waterway.
The Middle East conflict has crippled the strait which was in effect closed by Iran after strikes by the US and Israel this weekend, raising fears of a sustained energy supply crisis that reverberated around the world.
As Asian stock markets came under fresh pressure on Wednesday, trading in Seoul was suspended as South Korea’s benchmark Kospi share index fell by as much as 11.3%, before pulling back to trade down 7.7%. Japan’s Nikkei 225 fell 3.9% in Tokyo.
The Guardian’s Callum Jones looks at how the markets have been roiled.
Updated
Lebanese state media said that four people were killed and six more were wounded in an Israeli strike on a building in Baalbek in eastern Lebanon on Wednesday.
“The initial toll is four killed and six wounded, and work is underway to rescue families from under the rubble,” Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said.
US president Donald Trump said “someone from within” Iran’s government might be best suited to take power once the US-Israeli war on the country ends.
His remarks came four days into a war that has killed hundreds, nearly all of them in Iran, as well as many of the country’s top leaders, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
As we enter into the fifth day of a conflict that has ramifications across the Middle East, here is a handy explainer of what we know so far.
The Saudi defence ministry said two cruise missiles were intercepted Wednesday over an area south of the capital Riyadh, and state media reported a separate drone attack was thwarted.
“Two cruise missiles were intercepted and destroyed in Al-Kharj” district, a defence ministry statement said. The official Saudi Press Agency cited a ministry spokesman as saying “nine drones were intercepted and destroyed immediately upon entering the Kingdom’s airspace”. The statements did not say who may be behind the attacks.
Explosions sounded in Iran’s capital city on Wednesday as its war with the US and Israel entered a fifth day after earlier strikes on an Iranian nuclear site and retaliatory strikes by the Islamic Republic across the Gulf region.
Iranian state television reported explosions around Tehran as dawn broke. Meanwhile, Israel said its air defenses were activated due to incoming missile fire from Iran.
Five days into a war that US president Donald Trump suggested would last several weeks or longer, nearly 800 people have been killed in Iran, including some Trump said he had considered as possible future leaders of the country.
Explosions also hit Lebanon, where Israel said it is retaliating against Hezbollah militants. Lebanon’s state-run media reported that at least four people were killed in an Israeli strike that hit a residential complex in the city of Baalbeck.
South Korea’s stock exchange has halted trading as the nation’s two major indexes plunged on uncertainty sparked by turmoil in the Middle East.
The Korean Stock Exchange called a temporary trading halt after the Kospi and Kosdaq each plunged more than 8% in Seoul morning trade.
In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 continued to fall on Wednesday, and was down about 1.7% during early trading. But Wall Street looks set to open only marginally lower in New York, according to pre-market trading data.
Worries over the widening war with Iran have hammered most world markets. Higher oil prices and how much they might worsen inflation are among the central fears for investors.
With all eyes still on the Strait of Hormuz - one of the most important arteries for global trade, which has been in effect closed by Iran - oil prices remain in focus, after Donald Trump suggested the US could begin escorting tankers.
Lebanese state media are reporting that an Israeli strike hit a hotel in the Beirut suburb of Hazmieh on Wednesday morning.
The state-run National News Agency said that “an Israeli airstrike targeted a hotel in Hazmieh” adding that “ambulances were dispatched to the scene”.
The Guardian is unable to confirm the report. Israeli has been launching strikes around Beirut in the last few hours, with Lebanon’s health ministry saying at least 6 people had been killed in the most recent wave.
The UK foreign office has said that British nationals, their partners and children under 18 are eligible to travel on a chartered flight from Muscat on Wednesday, as long as they have a valid travel document.
The foreign office said priority will be given to the most vulnerable and they will contact British nationals in Oman. Anyone who registered their presence in the United Arab Emirates and are now in Oman is asked to register for a place on a flight.
They asked people not to travel to Muscat International Airport in Oman unless they are contacted by officials.
Around 130,000 Britons have registered their presence in the Middle East with the Foreign Office amid evacuation planning.
Six killed in Israeli strikes south of Beirut
Israeli strikes on two towns south of Beirut have killed six people and wounded eight, Lebanon’s health ministry has announced.
In a statement, the ministry said that “the Israeli enemy’s attacks on the areas of Aramoun and Saadiyat” killed six people and wounded eight others “in a preliminary toll”.
Aramoun and Saadiyat are both towns outside Hezbollah’s traditional strongholds, according to the AFP news agency.
The regional war sparked by the US and Israel’s attack on Iran spread into Lebanon on Monday after Hezbollah – who have long been aligned with Tehran – launched drones and rockets at Israel.
Israeli strikes have killed more than 50 people in Lebanon, according to the government, while the United Nations said that more than 30,000 people have been displaced.
Opening summary
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the Middle East crisis as it enters day five.
The US military has claimed that the number of strikes carried out on Saturday in the first 24 hours of its war on Iran was nearly double that of the “shock-and-awe” strikes on Iraq in 2003, and that nearly 2,000 targets had been hit so far in Iran.
Admiral Brad Cooper of US Central Command did not give a figure for the number of strikes carried out in the first 24 hours of the war, or stipulate whether he was including the Israeli strikes.
He said the attacks were carried out “as part of the largest firepower buildup in the region in a generation”.
Cooper also said the US was also sinking “all of the Iranian navy” and had already destroyed 17 Iranian ships. “For decades the Iranian regime has harassed international shipping. Today there is not a single Iranian ship underway in the Arabian gulf, Strait of Hormuz or Gulf of Oman.”
The US navy could begin escorting oil tankers through the strait of Hormuz if necessary, President Donald Trump said on Tuesday, in one of the administration’s most aggressive steps yet to attempt to contain soaring energy prices sparked by the war.
Here is a summary of other recent developments:
Donald Trump has attempted to counter a simmering anti-Israel backlash in Congress and among his own Maga supporters by denying suggestions that he had been forced into attacking Iran because Israel had already decided to do so. Asked whether Israel had pushed him into launching military action, Trump told reporters: “No. I might have forced their hand.”
The Iranian Red Crescent Society said at least 787 people had been killed since the conflict began. The worst mass casualty event of the US-Israeli military assault so far has been the direct strike on a girls’ elementary school in Minab on Saturday, which killed up to 168 people. You get a sense of the devastation through our visual guide, here.
Israel said it has launched a ‘broad wave’ of strikes on Iran that were targeting launch sites, defense systems, and additional Iranian infrastructure.
Global oil and gas prices have spiked as the US-Israeli war on Iran has halted energy exports from the Middle East, with Tehran attacking ships and energy facilities, closing navigation in the Gulf and forcing production stoppages from Qatar to Iraq.
The conflict has caused turbulence on global markets. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 continued to fall on Wednesday, and was down about 1.7% during early trading. In Seoul, the Kospi - which dropped 7.2% on Tuesday - fell by a further 3.1% at the open. But Wall Street looks set to open flat in New York, according to pre-market trading data.
At least 30,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon, according to the United Nations, following heavy Israeli airstrikes in the country.
Trump also said he was upset with British prime minister Keir Starmer, who has not joined the US-Israeli attack on Iran but did let US forces use UK bases. “I’m not happy with the UK,” the US president said. “It’s taken three, four days for us to work out where we can land,” Trump said. Referring to Starmer, he added: “This is not Winston Churchill that we’re dealing with.”
Canadian prime minister Mark Carney called on Wednesday for the rapid de-escalation of the conflict unleashed by US-Israeli strikes on Iran, urging all parties to respect the international rules of engagement.
We will bring you latest as soon as we get it.
