Trump set to reject continuity leader
Trump said he would refuse to accept any new Iranian leader who resumed the policies of Ayatollah Khamenei, who was killed in an airstrike on Saturday.
That would only force America back to war “in five years”, Trump said, when: “We want someone that will bring harmony and peace to Iran.”
Attempts to install a new leader were delayed as the US-Israeli bombardments intensified and the building in Qom where a group was working on the appointment was struck. Mojtaba Khamenei, the ayatollah’s son, has emerged as a front runner.
Trump: Khamenei’s son is a lightweight
Trump said that efforts to put Motjaba Khamenei in power were pointless. “They are wasting their time. Khamenei’s son is a lightweight,” he said. “I have to be involved in the appointment, like with Delcy [Rodriguez] in Venezuela.”
Profile: Mojtaba Khamenei
The son of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in an airstrike on Saturday, has emerged as the frontrunner to be named as his successor.
Mojtaba Khamenei
MORTEZA NIKOUBAZL/NURPHOTO/GETTY IMAGES
Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, holds the same hardline views as his father and is the clear choice among the clerical assembly, despite controversy over a dynastic succession going against the original principles of the Islamic Revolution.
The younger Khamenei’s candidacy has been pushed by the powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guard, built by the late supreme leader, suggesting the surviving regime is promoting securitarianism over clerical authority.
• Read in full: Who is Mojtaba Khamenei? Son of supreme leader is set to succeed him
Trump ‘needs to be involved in choosing Iran’s new leader’
President Trump says he needs to be personally involved in selecting Iran’s next leader — just as he was in Venezuela.
Trump, in an interview with Axios, an American news website, said he considered Mojtaba Khamenei to be weak, and an unacceptable option.
Oil refinery zone in Bahrain attacked
Bahrain’s interior ministry has said one of its facilities in an industrial zone housing an oil refinery has been attacked.
“One facility in Maameer was targeted, and the relevant authorities are handling the incident,” the ministry said. Witnesses saw smoke rising in the area.
Israeli strikes ‘kill 102’ in Lebanon
The number of people who have died in Lebanon as a result of Israeli strikes has risen to 102, the Lebanese health ministry has said.
A further 638 people have been wounded since Monday.
US should reach negotiated settlement with Iran, Starmer says
Sir Keir Starmer has called on President Trump to “de-escalate” the conflict in the Middle East and negotiate with Iran.
“The long-standing British position is that the best way forward for the regime and the world is a negotiated settlement with Iran where they give up their nuclear ambitions,” he said.
Asked how long the conflict would last, Starmer replied: “I can’t give you a time base for this. My strong view is we need to de-escalate and ultimately this will have to be a matter of negotiation for some of the core issues.”
Trump has ruled out negotiating with the Iranian regime and warned that it is “too late” for Tehran.
Hezbollah stronghold ‘faces devastation’
A southern Beirut suburb that is a Hezbollah stronghold faces devastation similar to that in Gaza, Bezalel Smotrich, Israel’s hard-right finance minister, has said. The Israeli military has told residents to leave.
“Very soon Dahiyeh will resemble Khan Yunis,” Smotrich said. Khan Yunis, a city in southern Gaza, was badly damaged by Israeli bombardments during the two-year war with Hamas.
“Hezbollah made a mistake, and it will pay a heavy price. We are striking at the head of the octopus in Iran, and at the same time we will sever Hezbollah’s arm,” Smotrich said in a video statement. He was visiting the northern Israeli border.
Earlier, Israel’s military issued an “urgent warning” to residents of Beirut’s southern suburbs, telling them to leave in order to save their lives.
Thousands of cruise passengers stuck in the Gulf
The UN’s International Maritime Organisation says some 20,000 seafarers and 15,000 cruise ship passengers are stuck in the Gulf because of the Middle East war.
Since the conflict erupted on Saturday, the IMO has recorded seven incidents involving ships in the region that have resulted in two deaths and another seven people wounded.
“Beyond the economic impact of these alarming attacks, it is a humanitarian issue. No attack on innocent seafarers is ever justified,” shipping regulator secretary general Arsenio Dominguez said.
“I reiterate my call for all shipping companies to exercise maximum caution when operating in the affected region,” he added.
Iran has effectively shut down the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s crude and considerable supplies of liquefied natural gas travel.
Healthcare staff killed in Iran attack, WHO says
The World Health Organisation says it has verified 13 attacks on health infrastructure in Iran since the launch of the US-Israeli bombing campaign.
Four healthcare workers had been killed in the attacks, and 25 others injured, said the WHO.
“WHO has verified 13 attacks on health care in Iran and one in Lebanon,” director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a press conference.
Another WHO official at the same briefing added that four ambulances were also affected and that hospitals and other health sites suffered minor damage due to strikes nearby.
No request to use British bases until Saturday
Sir Keir Starmer has insisted that the first request for the US to use British bases came on Saturday afternoon.
Responding to questions from reporters, he said on Friday last week there was “no concrete decision to be made”.
The request came in “late in the afternoon” on Saturday. “We then, as you would have expected, went through the details with the US over the next day, and ultimately reached a decision on Sunday, which I announced then on Sunday evening, about eight or nine o’clock.”
Starmer added later that he last spoke to President Trump on Saturday.
• Keir Starmer approval rating 2026: the opinion polls tracked
Special relationship ‘in operation right now’
The special relationship is “in operation right now”, Sir Keir Starmer said.
The UK is working with the Americans in deployment from their bases, to protect Americans and Britons in joint bases, and sharing intelligence “on a 24/7 basis in the usual way”, he said.
He added: “Clearly it is for the president to take decisions that he considers in the national interest for the US. I respect that.”
Conflict could continue ‘for some time’
This conflict could continue “for some time”, the prime minister warned.
Sir Keir Starmer told the public: “Your government is resolute in our response at home and abroad. We will do everything we can to safeguard the national interest.”
PM says we were ready to protect our people
“Our number one priority is protecting our people,” Sir Keir Starmer has insisted.
The prime minister said that “long before” US and Israeli action last weekend the UK had “already deployed additional military capabilities to the region to defend our interests”.
Throughout January and February the UK moved defence assets to Cyprus and Qatar “to ensure a heightened state of readiness”, he said.
After the strikes on Saturday the UK “immediately put those jets into the sky on a mission to protect our people and our allies in the region”.
I stand by decision not to join strikes, says PM
Sir Keir Starmer said he “stands by” his decision not to join US and Israeli strikes on Iran over the weekend.
He said the “long-standing British position” is in favour of a “negotiated settlement with Iran where they give up their nuclear ambitions”.
“That’s why I took the decision that the UK would not join the initial strikes on Iran by the US and Israel. And that decision was deliberate, it was in the national interest, and I stand by it.”
But when Iran began attacking countries around the Gulf and “the situation changed” and the UK got involved, he said.
‘We will not stop until our people are safe’
More than 4,000 people have returned to the UK on commercial flights from the UAE, the prime minster has said.
A further seven flights are due to leave today and the first chartered flight from Oman took off “moments ago”, he said.
More than 140,000 people have now registered their presence in the region, Starmer said.
“This is a huge undertaking, one of the biggest operations of its kind, many times bigger than the evacuation of Afghanistan,” he added. “We will not stop until our people are safe.”
More British fighter jets going into conflict zone
Four additional Typhoon jets are being sent to Qatar to join the squadron already there, Sir Keir Starmer announced.
People are worried sick, says Starmer
Sir Keir Starmer has begun addressing the nation, saying his focus in on providing “calm and level-headed leadership”.
The prime minister acknowledged that people are “worried sick”.
People “hardly believe that yet again we are seeing missiles and drones falling and civilians in the firing line,” he said.
“My focus is on providing calm and level-headed leadership in the national interest,” he said. “And it means having the strength to stand firm by our values and our principles no matter the pressure to do otherwise.”
Azerbaijan accuses Iran of ‘terrorism’
The Azerbaijani president, Ilham Aliyev, accused Iran of “terrorism” and threatened retaliation after drone attacks wounded four people.
Tehran denied the allegation and blamed Israel, Azerbaijan’s ally, of trying to stage a provocation.
The midday attacks involved at least four drones that crossed from Iran into Azerbaijan’s exclave of Nakhichevan bordering Iran, Baku said.
“Today a terrorist act was carried out from the Iranian side against the territory of Azerbaijan,” Aliyev told a hastily convened security council meeting.
Azerbaijan’s military “have been instructed to prepare and carry out retaliatory measures … placed on mobilisation level number one, and must be ready to conduct any operation,” he said.
“Those dishonourable people who committed this terrorist act against us will regret it. Let them not test our strength… This stain will never be erased from their dirty and ugly face,” he added.
Four people were hospitalised with “traumatic brain injuries,” Sahib Abuzarov, head of emergency services at a hospital in Nakhchivan said later.
First chartered flight finally takes off from Oman
The government’s first charter repatriation flight from Muscat to London has taken off from the Omani capital.
It departed at 1.36pm GMT having been cancelled last night because of a technical issue at the airport.
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Enable cookiesAllow cookies onceWho are the Iranian opposition?
President Trump included an appeal to the Iranian people when he announced sweeping strikes on the Islamic Republic’s leadership over the weekend. “The hour of your freedom is at hand,” he declared. “When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take.”
But which Iranians was he addressing?
In Iran, organised political opposition was all but wiped out during a crackdown in 2009. Today’s protest movement is a diffuse network that, provided the internet is not blocked, is organised through social media.
• Read in full: Who are the Iranian opposition and can they take on the regime?
UK confident about gas supplies, Miliband says
The government is confident in “our security of supply” of gas, the energy secretary has said.
Addressing the Commons on Thursday, Ed Miliband said: “In the days since the conflict began, we’ve seen Iran target energy production and export infrastructure across the Gulf.
“Traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, through which around 20 per cent of global oil and LNG is shipped, has declined very significantly, and the Iranian regime has issued reckless and unjustified threats to all ships using it.”
He added: “I’ve been in touch with National Gas and Neso [National Energy System Operator], who are confident about our security of supply [of gas].
“On oil, we hold substantial emergency commercial stocks and stand ready to work with the International Energy Agency to support the stability of oil markets if needed.”
Iranian state TV hacked with shah’s son video
Iranian state television was hacked on Thursday, airing a video of Reza Pahlavi, the exiled son of Iran’s last shah who has emerged as a significant opposition figure.
“A heavy burden of destiny rests upon the shoulders of us all. And we, together, will walk this path until final victory. Long live Iran,” he said.
A 25-year-old woman in Tehran told AFP that those Iranians opposed to the government were not yet able to take to the streets while the country was under attack, but had made their feelings clear by posting online videos celebrating the death of the supreme leader, Ayatollah Khamenei.
“If Mojtaba [his son] takes over, he will be killed as well, so we are not concerned about it,” she said.
RAF ‘shooting down drones over Qatar’
RAF forces have been “actively disrupting” threats in the Middle East, MPs have been told.
The Foreign Office minister, Hamish Falconer, said: “I can confirm to the House that we have been actively disrupting threats over the last few days.
“That includes the RAF Typhoon squadron, jointly with Qatar, which has been shooting down drones over Qatar, RAF F-35B Lightnings shooting down uncrewed aerial systems over Jordan, and British counter-uncrewed aerial systems teams neutralising drones in Iraqi airspace heading towards coalition forces.
“Britain will take active action to defend our people, our interests and of course our friends and partners in the region.”
Save your lives and evacuate, Israel tells Beirut residents
Israel’s military has issued an “urgent warning” to residents of Beirut’s southern suburbs, telling them to evacuate in order to save their lives.
“Residents of the neighbourhoods of Bourj el-Barajneh and Hadath move east toward Mount Lebanon on the Beirut–Damascus road. Residents of the neighborhoods of Haret Hreik and Shiyyah move north toward Tripoli on the Beirut–Tripoli road, and also east toward Mount Lebanon via the Metn Expressway,” army spokesman Col. Avichay Adraee told Lebanese citizens.
“Save your lives and evacuate your homes immediately,” he added.
US attacks clearly breached international law, says Italy
The decision by the United States and Israel to launch attacks on Iran was clearly in breach of international law, Italy’s defence minister Guido Crosetto said.
It was the strongest criticism to date from Italy’s right-wing administration, which has sought to establish close ties with President Trump since he took office last year.
The decision to launch the strikes at the weekend “of course fell outside, needless to say, the rules of international law”, Crosetto told the lower house of parliament.
He said that Italy was being forced to respond to a conflict that the US and Israel had initiated without warning their allies and partners.
“It is a war that was started without anyone in the world knowing. One in which we, like the rest of the world, find ourselves having to manage [the consequences],” Crosetto, who is a member of the prime minister Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party, said.
Italy has said it will send air defence aid to Gulf countries and naval assets to Cyprus to help with protection against Iranian strikes.
Death toll reaches 1,230, says Iran
Iran’s death toll from US and Israeli airstrikes has risen to 1,230, according to officials in Tehran.
The state-run Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs said that the “number of martyrs from the aggressive military attack carried out by criminal America and the usurping Israeli regime against the Islamic homeland had reached 1,230 as of March 5”, according to Iran’s official IRNA news agency.
Iran warship had been taking part in naval exercise
The Iranian warship sunk by an American submarine near Sri Lanka had participated in naval exercises hosted by India before heading into international waters on on its way home, Delhi has said.
India’s navy and defence ministry said that the IRIS Dena had participated in the international fleet review, organised by the Indian navy in the port of Visakhapatnam last month. The ministry said 74 countries had joined the events.
The US Department of War released video showing a US submarine sinking the Iranian warship IRIS Dena in the Indian Ocean
AFP/GETTY IMAGES
The Iranian warship appeared in a February 17 X post by the Indian navy about the exercises. Another image showed several of its crew members posing on deck with the Iranian flag in the background.
Abbas Araghchi, Iran’s foreign affairs minister, stressed that the frigate had been “a guest” of India’s navy. The Indian government has not yet publicly commented on the incident.
Medvedev: Nato is ‘nuts’ for backing offensive
Russia’s former president, Dmitry Medvedev, has lashed out on X, calling Nato “nuts” and “idiots” for its backing of the war in Iran.
“First, the US kills Iran’s leader and starts a war in the Middle East. Next, Nato idiots led by Trump’s servile ‘sonny’ Rutte mull invoking Article 5. How about nominating Potus for the Nobel Peace Prize for starting a major war, eh? Orwell was right: war is peace!” he wrote.
Medvedev has often lashed out on social media during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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Enable cookiesAllow cookies onceIran denies it was behind Azerbaijan drone attacks 
A drone struck an airport building in Azerbaijan’s exclave of Nakhchivan
Iran has denied launching a drone attack on Azerbaijan after Baku said at least two Iranian drones hit the country, wounding two people.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran… denies its armed forces launched a drone toward the Republic of Azerbaijan,” the general staff of the armed forces said in a statement, according to state TV.
“Such actions by the Zionist regime, aimed at disrupting relations between Muslim countries in various ways, are not unprecedented.”
Two drones fell into Azerbaijan on Thursday, the latest signs of a broadening regional conflict that began with US-Israeli strikes on Tehran last week.
Nato ‘supports US and Israeli offensive’
The Nato secretary general, Mark Rutte, has claimed the military bloc supports the US and Israel in its strikes against Iran as the country was “close to becoming a threat to Europe as well”.
Rutte added that the shooting down of a ballistic missile headed for Turkey by Nato air defences does not provide immediate reason to trigger the alliance’s Article 5 mutual defence clause.
“Nobody’s talking about Article 5,” Rutte told Reuters. “The most important thing is that our adversaries have seen yesterday that Nato is so strong and so vigilant, and even more vigilant, if possible, since Saturday.”
First repatriation flights land in Israel
The first two flights bringing home Israelis stranded abroad by the Middle East war landed in Tel Aviv on Thursday.
The repatriation flights landed at Ben Gurion airport, which remains closed for commercial traffic.
A first flight operated by the Israeli national carrier El Al arrived from Athens, and a second operated by Israir arrived from Rome, the transport ministry announced. Each carried 170 passengers.
The transport minister, Miri Regev, had said earlier in the week that Israel’s airspace would “gradually” reopen overnight between Wednesday and Thursday.
It nevertheless remains closed to commercial traffic. Israel shut its airspace to civilian flights on Saturday.
UK has been humiliated, Farage says
Britain finds itself “humiliated”, with its reputation “frankly going down the drain”, Nigel Farage has said.
The Reform UK leader said Sir Keir Starmer was “incapable of making a decision”, describing him as “a follower and not a leader”.
“If there was one big justifiable reason why we should have supported the Americans and supported the Israelis on day one: if this war stops Iran from getting a nuclear bomb, it will have been worth it,” Farage told a Reform rally.
“What did our prime minister do? He said to the Americans ‘you cannot use military bases in the United Kingdom and you can’t use Diego Garcia’.
“Then he says ‘we will put fighter jets in the sky in a defensive capacity’. And now we learn that Ed Miliband led the sort of left-wing revolt in cabinet and we find ourselves humiliated.
“What was for centuries the greatest naval nation on Earth is now unable, for up to a fortnight, to send a Type 45 to Cyprus to defend British sovereign territory.”
Iranian women footballers ‘salute under duress’
Iranian players salute before their match against Australia on Thursday
ALBERT PEREZ/GETTY IMAGES
Iran’s women footballers appeared to sing their national anthem and give a military salute under duress in Australia on Thursday night as they played their latest match in the Women’s Asian Cup.
The Iranian team’s actions were in stark contrast to their opening Women’s Asian Cup game against South Korea when players remained silent when the Iranian national anthem played.
The players were celebrated for their “act of resistance” which was seen as a silent protest against the Islamic Republic regime. But Iran’s players did not repeat that action before Thursday night’s match on the Gold Coast.
“In the first match with South Korea they didn’t do it, but now with all the pressure and media spreading the news around the world, it’s completely obvious the regime pushed them not just to sing the anthem but do the military salute,” Alireza Mohebbi, a correspondent for Iran International TV told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
‘Bombing all the way’: terror in the queues to flee Iran
Even those who thought they had seen it all before said they had seen nothing like it. Iran is a country used to suffering. Older generations lived through the bombing and gassing of the war with Iraq in the 1980s.
In recent years there have been sanctions, economic chaos and military action in the name of the Axis of Resistance which took countless young Iranian lives.
But what the world’s two most sophisticated air forces, those of America and Israel, could achieve when working in concert was yet to be fully demonstrated.
• ‘There was bombing all the way’: terror in the desperate queues to flee Iran
Iran is exporting war, EU foreign affairs chief says
Iran is trying to plunge the Middle East into war, Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, warned ahead of a meeting with Gulf states this morning.
The talks aim to help countries in the region protect themselves from Iranian drone strikes and to keep trade, especially in oil and gas, moving via the Strait of Hormuz.
“Iran is exporting the war, trying to expand it to as many countries as they can, to sow chaos,” she said.
“We are extremely worried and that’s why also European naval assets have been sent to the region because the security of the Strait of Hormuz and the trade routes is extremely important. We are trying to keep these trade routes open.”
‘We are thankful to Mr Trump and Mr Netanyahu’
“We are happy Khamenei is dead,” one of those who took part in demonstrations against the Iranian regime in Tehran has said, but warned there was now a “fear” of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps in the streets.
The woman, going by the name Roszita to protect her identity, told Times Radio: “Now and then you see a bunch of people with no formal dress or clothing who have guns, Kalashnikovs, whatever, and they can shoot you if they feel they want to.”
“We are thankful to Mr Trump and Mr Netanyahu and all the guys who are fighting for us,” she added.
“We don’t want Iran to be torn apart; we won’t let it. We are all together in this, we are supporting the USA, we are supporting Israel to fight this regime, and they’re supporting us.”
Iranians are being ‘brutally slaughtered’, regime says
Iran says its citizens are “being brutally slaughtered” by the US and Israel and accused both countries of deliberately targeting civilian areas.
Yesterday, Tehran said the death toll had passed 1,000 following the launch of airstrikes by the US and Israel.
“Our people are being brutally slaughtered as the aggressors deliberately target civilian areas and any location they believe will inflict the maximum possible suffering and loss of life,” said foreign ministry spokesman, Esmaeil Baqaei, on X.
France authorises US aircraft at its Middle East bases
France has allowed US aircraft at some of its bases in the Middle East after US-Israeli strikes on Iran triggered regional conflict, the French military has said.
“As part of our relations with the United States, the presence of their aircraft has been temporarily authorised on our bases” in the region, a spokeswoman for the military told AFP.
“These aircraft contribute to the protection of our partners in the Gulf.”
France has an airbase in the United Arab Emirates and aircraft stationed in Jordan, as well as an airbase just outside the region in Djibouti.
Sir Keir Starmer initially refused to allow the Americans to use UK air bases. But he later agreed to a US request to use two British military bases for a “specific and limited defensive purpose”.
Fleeing Pakistanis describe massive explosions in Tehran 
Damage in Tehran on Thursday
MAJID SAEEDI/GETTY IMAGES
Pakistanis fleeing Iran described massive explosions and missile strikes across Tehran, which were so powerful they shook the ground and engulfed buildings in fire.
“I was in the classroom when a powerful explosion rocked our university building,” Hareem Zahra, 23, a student at the Tehran University of Engineering, told Reuters after crossing Pakistan’s border with Iran.
“We saw thick smoke coming from many buildings on fire,” she said, adding Tehran was under attack until the moment she left.
Nearly 1,000 Pakistanis have fled Iran since the war started out of a total 35,000 living in the country, Mudassir Tipu, Pakistan’s ambassador to Tehran, said.
Six hurt after drone intercepted in UAE
Six people have been injured by debris from an intercepted drone in Abu Dhabi, the media office in the emirate announced.
Those hurt were from Pakistan and Nepal and their injuries were minor, officials said.
Can Trump get tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz again?
On Monday evening, the shipping industry was told by the US navy that there was no immediate prospect of military escorts to get marine traffic flowing through the Strait of Hormuz. By Tuesday night, President Trump appeared to have made a nonsense of that guidance. “If necessary, the United States Navy will begin escorting tankers through the Strait of Hormuz,” he pledged.
In a post on his Truth Social site, Trump also said that “effective immediately’’ he had “ordered the United States Development Finance Corporation to provide, at a very reasonable price, political risk insurance and guarantees for the financial security of all maritime trade, especially energy, travelling through the Gulf”.
Following Trump’s proclamation, there was scepticism and confusion about both the insurance and escort promises, which are intended to ease a logjam in the strait, a 21-mile waterway that is vital to global trade, particularly oil and gas.
On Thursday, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards claimed they have hit a US tanker in the northern Gulf and the vessel was on fire.
• Read in full: Can Trump get tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz again?
How long can Iran attack Israel?
Will the US and its allies run out of air defence ammunition first or will Iran first deplete its arsenal of missiles and drones? This is the question, based on arithmetic, that insiders say will determine the outcome of the war.
The Gulf states, Israel and the US have all insisted they have enough interceptor missiles to last them a long time. Privately, however, assessments are less optimistic.
Iran also cannot sustain the war indefinitely. Since Saturday, it has fired at least 540 missiles at the Gulf countries, and a similar number at Israel. Iran has launched more than 1,000 drones.
• Read in full: What weapons does Iran have and how long can it attack Israel?
Red Crescent: 174 Iranian cities bombed
The Red Crescent Society of Iran says American and Israeli forces have struck 174 cities across the country.
It also said it had recorded at least 1,332 attacks so far in 636 locations and that residential areas had been hit in a number of cities.
Airlines hit by surge in price of jet fuel
Airlines are facing a fuel cost crisis because of the conflict in the Middle East and the soaring price of kerosene.
The price of jet fuel in European markets has surged to a three-and-a-half-year peak, the highest since the shortages of the pandemic.
Crucially for the European airline industry, the price of kerosene for aircraft has significantly decoupled from the price of a barrel of crude oil, which has risen more than 10 per cent this week to about $78.60 a barrel and is 20 per cent higher than it was a fortnight ago.
• Read in full: Airlines hit by jet fuel surge as Iran conflict disrupts supply
Kurdistan ‘must not play any part in conflict
Kurdistan “must not become part of any conflict”, one of its leaders has said.
“We reiterate that the Kurdistan region, as always, must remain a key factor in peace and stability and must not become part of any conflict or military escalation that harms the lives and security of our fellow citizens,” Nechirvan Barzani, president of the Kurdistan region of Iraq, said in a statement commemorating the 35th anniversary of the 1991 Kurdish uprising.
Barzani’s comments come as the AP news agency reported that Kurdish Iranian dissident groups were preparing for a potential cross-border military operation in Iran.
Earlier, Iran said it had targeted the headquarters of Kurdish forces in Iraqi Kurdistan with three missiles, following strikes on Kurdish regions in both Iran and Iraq.
Iran ‘has not requested military aid from Russia’
Iran has not requested military aid from its ally Russia since Israel and the United States began striking the country last week, the Kremlin has said.
“In this case, there have been no requests from the Iranian side,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in a daily briefing call.
Healey told ‘you’re a friend’ in Cyprus meeting 
John Healey holds talks with his Cypriot opposite number in Nicosia on Thursday
LEON NEAL/GETTY IMAGES
John Healey has held a meeting with his defence counterpart, Vasilis Palmas, who has told him “you are a friend” amid tensions over the UK’s defence of the region.
The defence secretary is on the island to “emphasise firm UK commitments to Cyprus security as well as the base”, a Whitehall source said, after criticism the UK was not doing enough.
The Times is with him as he speaks to British troops in Cyprus about their involvement in defending RAF Akrotiri from attacks. A Type 45 destroyer will set sail for the island next week but critics said it has taken too long to send it.
Qatar scrambles to intercept missile
A plume of smoke rises over buildings in Doha on Thursday
MAHMUD HAMS/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Qatar’s defence ministry has confrimed its military was working to intercept an incoming missile as loud blasts reverberated across Doha and smoke was seen over the city.
“The Ministry of Defence of [the] State of Qatar announces that State of Qatar has been subjected to a missile attack,” it said in a statement. “Air defence systems are intercepting the missile attack,” it added.
Spain sends warship to Cyprus
Spain will send its most advanced frigate to protect Cyprus after a drone strike on a British base on the Mediterranean island sucked it into the Middle East war, the defence ministry has said.
The Cristobal Colon will join French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle and Greek navy ships to “offer protection and aerial defence” and “support any evacuation of civilians”, the ministry said in a statement.
The frigate is expected to arrive on Tuesday.
Madrid has been deeply critical of the war, calling it a “disaster”.
• Pedro Sánchez says no to ‘disastrous’ war after Trump threatens Spain
Azerbaijan in ‘strong protest’ to Iran over drone
Azerbaijan accuses Iran of firing two drones at its territory
Azerbaijan has summoned the Iranian envoy after at least two people were wounded in drone hits on an airport and near a school.
The attacks around midday involved at least two drones that crossed from Iran into Azerbaijan’s exclave of Nakhchivan, which borders Iran and is separated from mainland Azerbaijan by Armenia, according to a foreign ministry statement.
“One drone fell on the terminal building of Nakhchivan airport, while another drone fell near a school building in the village of Shekerabad,” the ministry said, damaging the airport and wounding two civilians.
The ministry said it had summoned Iranian envoy in Baku to express “strong protest” over the attack, which “contradicts the norms and principles of international law and contributes to rising tensions in the region.
Iran has long expressed concern that Israel — a close ally of Azerbaijan and a key arms supplier — could use Azerbaijani territory to stage attacks.
Explosions heard in Qatari capital
Multiple explosions have been heard over the Qatari capital of Doha.
Gulf countries have been targeted by repeated waves of Iranian drone and missile attacks in retaliation for the massive US-Israeli air campaign.
AFP and Reuters journalists in Doha described Thursday’s blasts as some of the most intense since Iran began targeting the Gulf state on Saturday. A column of black smoke was seen on the Doha horizon.
The targeting of Qatar on Thursday came hours after the country’s prime minister lambasted Iran’s foreign minister during a call, in the first high-level contact between the two countries since the Islamic republic launched its missile and drone campaign.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani accused Iran of seeking to “harm its neighbours and drag them into a war that is not theirs” on the call with Iran’s Abbas Araghchi, according to a statement by Qatar’s foreign ministry.
Explosions were also heard in Bahrain’s capital Manama on Thursday.
Iranian ayatollah: Trump’s blood must be shed
Iranian state television aired a message Thursday from an ayatollah calling for the “shedding of Trump’s blood”.
The message came from Ayatollah Abdollah Javadi Amoli and represented one of the few clerical statements coming from Iran as it faces a combined airstrike campaign from Israel and the United States.
“We are now on the verge of a great test and we must be careful to fully preserve this unity, to fully preserve this alliance,” he said in the statement.
He called for “the shedding of Zionist blood, the shedding of Trump’s blood.”
“The Imam of the time says, ‘Fight the oppressive America, his blood is on my shoulders,’” the ayatollah added.
The US secretary of war, Pete Hegseth, claimed yesterday that it had foiled an Iranian plot to assassinate the President Trump.
Badenoch: Allies thinks we’ve abandoned them
Kemi Badenoch has said the UK should take offensive action against Iran after UK bases were attacked.
The Tory leader said it was “extraordinary” that Britain’s allies in the Gulf feel abandoned.
She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I think that we should look at what our allies in the region are saying. Even if we’re not talking about Iran, Cyprus feels that we have not been helpful. It is extraordinary that Bahrain and Kuwait in the UAE are publicly criticising us…
“They think that we’re abandoning them.”
She continued: “If your principle is, we will only wait until we are attacked rather than dealing with imminent threats properly, then we will be in a lot of trouble.”
Pro and anti-regime protests in Manchester 
A protester holds a photo of the late ayatollah and a demonstration in favour of the Iranian regime
CHRISTOPHER FURLONG/GETTY IMAGES
CHRISTOPHER FURLONG/GETTY IMAGES
Pro and anti-Iranian regime demonstrators faced off in central Manchester last night.
It began with a candlelit vigil commemorating the late supreme leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei, organised by The Friends of Manchester Islamic Centre. Attendees waved the flags of Iran and Palestine and photos of the ayatollah.
Soon after, a counter-demonstration gathered, with protesters appearing to celebrate the ayatollah’s death. Some carried photos of Reza Pahlavi, the exile opposition leader and son of the last shah of Iran, and the pre-1979 revolution flag of Iran.
Other protesters backed the US-Israeli offensive
CHRISTOPHER FURLONG/GETTY IMAGES
Iran drone hits Azerbaijan territory
A drone launched from Iran struck an airport building in Azerbaijan’s exclave of Nakhchivan, as the war in the Middle East widens further.
Two drones crossed from Iran on Wednesday before one of them crashed into Nakhchivan’s airport, the Azerbaijani news outlet Report said.
Footage published on social media appeared to show smoke rising from the airport. Azerbaijan heavily relies on Israel as a military supplier including anti-missile systems.
Israel accounted for roughly 69 per cent of its major arms imports between 2016 and 2020 totaling billions of dollars.
The Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic is a landlocked exclave bordered by Armenia to the east and north, Iran to the southwest and Turkey to the west.
Australians on board US submarine which sunk Iranian ship
The moment the Iranian frigate was hit by a US torpedo
AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Two Australian sailors were aboard the US submarine that sank an Iranian warship off the coast of Sri Lanka on Wednesday.
The Australians were on the US nuclear-powered submarine as part of the AUKUS training rotation, according to reporting by Australia’s 9News.
“There are long-standing arrangements relating to third country deployments to ensure Australian interests are managed appropriately,” a Australian official told the channel.
This year, as many as 100 Australians will be embedded on US submarines as part of the AUKUS rotation programme.
Britons suffered panic attacks at Oman airport
Britons stranded in Oman after their repatriation flight was delayed last night were having panic attacks at the airport, according to the relative of a family waiting to be evacuated.
Their son, daughter-in-law and infant granddaughter were left waiting for six hours in the Omani capital Muscat for a chartered flight to the UK that was supposed to depart at 7pm yesterday but never took off owing to problems with the check-in system, said the relative, who did not want to be named.
They told The Times: “People were having panic attacks and everyone was highly stressed.
“There seemed to be no one from the embassy visible present to take control of the situation.”
This morning, the situation seemed more organised and embassy staff were on the ground to help travellers to the airport for the flight, which is expected to leave today, the relative said.
The flight is due to leave Oman at noon UK time today.
Scots stuck in Dubai return home safely
FTSE 100 edges lower after rally
European markets opened lower as the Middle East conflict enters its sixth day and China reduced its 2026 growth target to 4.5–5 per cent.
The FTSE 100 dipped 0.3 per cent, mirroring losses on the Continent following yesterday’s rally.
Oil remains above $80 per barrel on scepticism about President Trump’s plan to provide government-backed “political risk insurance” for shipping. The dollar continued to strengthen, and safe-haven buying pushed gold to $5,152.86 an ounce.
In contrast, Asian markets rebounded from yesterday’s sell-off. Despite the overnight recovery, regional volatility persists as the geopolitical crisis in the Strait of Hormuz continues to weigh on global sentiment.
UK not weak in Middle East, minister insists
Britain has not acted weakly or failed to adequately defend allies in the Middle East, a minister has said.
Asked about the claims, Alex Norris told Times Radio: “The evidence from the work we have been able to do in the last week shows that’s not right.”
He was positive about the UK’s role, saying the government was seeking to “augment” its presence by deploying HMS Dragon, a warship which will eventually sail to Cyprus to protect RAF Akrotiri.
Norris later told BBC Breakfast: “Here, we’ve moved quickly. We will continue to work with our partners in the region in our collective self-defence.”
How close is Iran to building a nuclear weapon?
President Trump justified his attack by saying he could not allow Iran ever to develop a nuclear weapon.
But after America joined Israel in bombing the country in June last year, he claimed to have “obliterated” its nuclear weapons programme.
On Monday Iran said that targets of the latest attacks had included its Natanz nuclear facility, south of Tehran. There were also explosions heard from the vicinity of nuclear facilities in the city of Isfahan.
• Read in full: How close is Iran to building a nuclear weapon?
Stranded in Dubai? Your travel rights amid conflict
Smoke caused by an Iranian strike rises behind an Emirates plane at Dubai International Airport
AP PHOTO/ALTAF QADRI
The ongoing conflict in the Middle East has triggered widespread travel disruption, with more than 10,000 flights cancelled as of Wednesday according to aviation analytics company Cirium, affecting hundreds of thousands of passengers.
Airspace closures in the major transit hubs of Dubai and Doha mean the impact is also being felt further afield, including in southeast Asia and Australia.
With the situation unlikely to improve soon, here’s what you need to know if you have an upcoming trip to the Middle East or beyond — and what your rights are if you’re stuck.
• Read in full: Stranded in Dubai or flight delayed? Your travel rights amid Middle East conflict
‘Orwellian’ crackdown on Iranian internet
Iran’s internet is “around one per cent of ordinary levels”, with a communication blackout sparked by the war with Israel and the United States entering a fifth day, monitor Netblocks said.
“Iran’s internet blackout has now exceeded 120 hours with connectivity still flatlining around one percent of ordinary levels,” Netblocks said on X.
“Meanwhile, an increasingly Orwellian environment is emerging as telcos threaten users who try to connect to the global internet with legal action.”
Drone that hit RAF Akrotiri ‘took off from Beirut’
Cyprus says that the drone that hit RAF Akrotiri on the island took off from the Lebanese capital, Beirut.
A Cypriot official confirmed Thursday the drone that damaged a hangar at the base overnight on Monday had taken off from the Lebanese capital.
Two more drones detected at noon on Monday were intercepted by British warplanes that took off from RAF Akrotiri.
There have been several false alarms regarding drone sightings since those initial strikes.
Italy to provide send air defence to Gulf
Italy will send air defence assistance to Gulf countries hit by Iranian strikes in retaliation for US-Israeli attacks, the prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, has announced.
“Italy, like the UK, France and Germany, intends to send aid to the Gulf countries. We are clearly talking about defence, air defence, not just because they are friendly nations but because there are tens of thousands of Italians in that area and around 2,000 soldiers that we must protect,” she told RTL 102.5 radio.
“And the Gulf is vital for supplies.”
Ministers blames ‘operational reasons’ for flight failure
“Operational reasons” on the ground in Oman prevented an overnight chartered plane from leaving the Middle East, a minister has said.
Asked why the repatriation flight did not leave as planned, Home Office minister, Alex Norris, told BBC Breakfast: “Well, there are operational reasons that can happen in circumstances where these things are being stood up quickly. I know that’s stressful for those people — that’s why there’s support on the ground.
“We made sure we got them hotel rooms for the night as well and we are facilitating and rebooking today’s flight.
“We hope that they do, and there’s multiple flights after it as well.”
Second Iranian warship heads for Sri Lanka
A second Iranian warship is heading towards Sri Lanka’s territorial waters, a day after a US submarine destroyed an Iranian frigate, a Sri Lankan minister told parliament.
Media minister Nalinda Jayatissa said the second Iranian warship was just outside Sri Lankan waters, but gave no further details. Official sources said the vessel was carrying more than 100 crew.
Jayatissa said Sri Lanka was looking at how to “safeguard lives”.
Commander of Tehran-backed militia killed
The Tehran-backed Iraqi group Kataeb Hezbollah said one of its commanders was killed in a strike in southern Iraq on Wednesday.
Ahmad al-Hamidawi, the secretary-general of the armed faction, mourned in a statement on Thursday the loss of a “great commander”, Ali Hussein al-Freiji, who had joined the group more over 20-years-ago.
The strike hit a vehicle near the group’s main base, killing three in what sources from the faction told AFP was a “Zionist-US strike”.
Healey in Cyprus to defuse tensions
John Healey is greeted by his Cypriot counterpart, Vasilis Palmas
LEON NEAL/GETTY IMAGES
John Healey has flown to Cyprus to defuse tensions with the government of Nicosia after it attacked the UK for failing to protect the island.
The defence secretary will meet with his counterpart and other officials amid criticism over the UK’s handling of the conflict.
It comes after the High Commissioner of Cyprus to the UK said Cypriots were “disappointed” in the actions of the UK to defend its RAF base on Cyprus, which was hit by a drone on Sunday.
‘Technical issues’ stopped Oman plane from flying
The government charter plane from Oman did not take off because of technical issues, The Times has been told.
It is understood there were problems with the internet at Muscat airport in Oman which have severely delayed the flight.
Sources say the flight will depart later today.
Iran ‘hits US tanker in the Gulf’
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps claim they have hit a US tanker in the northern part of the Gulf and the vessel is on fire.
The IIRG said in state media that, in time of war, passage through the Strait of Hormuz will be under the control of the Islamic Republic.
Earlier, the Iranian foreign minister said the US would “bitterly regret” its attack on a Iranian frigate off the coast of Sri Lanka, killing at least 87 sailors.
US tells Israel: Keep going to the end
The Israeli defence minister, Israel Katz, said his US counterpart, Pete Hegseth, has assured him of Washington’s firm backing for their joint military campaign against Iran.
“The secretary of defence said: ‘Keep going to the end — we are with you,’” Katz said, referring to an overnight conversation between the two, according to a statement issued by the Israeli minister’s office on Thursday.
Yesterday, Hegseth said that the operation could last several weeks, but that America would decide.
“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.”
‘Total shambles’ as plane fails to take off
The first chartered plane set to leave the Middle East to bring Britons home did not take off, according to Sky News.
The plane was due to depart Oman’s capital of Muscat at 11pm local time (7pm GMT time) on Wednesday.
One passenger described the situation on the ground as a “total shambles” in comments to Sky.
“[The] check-in process took about four hours due to technical issues. We then got taken to the plane on a bus but had to stay on it for about one-and-a-half hours.
“No consular staff were present airside. They just left us. People started getting very agitated, banging windows, panic attacks.
“There are dozens and dozens of vulnerable people, young children and families.”
US ‘committed an atrocity at sea’
Iran’s foreign minister has said the US committed an “atrocity at sea” in striking the Iranian frigate Dena.
A US submarine struck the Iranian vessel off Sri Lanka’s southern coast, thousands of miles from the Gulf.
Abbas Araghchi wrote on X: “Frigate Dena, a guest of India’s Navy carrying almost 130 sailors, was struck in international waters without warning. Mark my words: The US will come to bitterly regret [the] precedent it has set.”
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Anthony Albanese, the prime minister of Australia, said “military assets” had been deployed to the Middle East as part of a contingency plan.
“I thank those Australians going into a dangerous situation in order to help their fellow Australians,” Albanese said on Thursday.
The Australian leader did not give further details about the nature of the assets.
Local outlet SBS News reported two military planes were deployed, a Royal Australian Air Force C-17A Globemaster heavy transport aircraft and a KC-30A Multi-Role Tanker Transport.
Israeli drone strike kills senior Hamas official
An Israeli strike on a Palestinian refugee camp has reportedly killed a Hamas official, the first since US-Israeli strikes on Iran triggered regional war.
Lebanese state media said Wassim Atallah al-Ali and his wife were killed when an “enemy drone targeted their home” in Beddawi, a Palestinian refugee camp near Tripoli, in a pre-dawn strike, the National News Agency (NNA) reported, describing the man as a senior Hamas official.
Iran strikes Kurdish headquarters in Iraq
Iran said it had targeted the headquarters of Kurdish forces on Thursday after strikes on Kurdish regions in both Iran and Iraq.
“We targeted the headquarters of Kurdish groups opposed to the revolution in Iraqi Kurdistan with three missiles,” Iran’s official IRNA news agency posted on Telegram, quoting a military statement.
Kurdish officials in the northern region of Iraq have denied reports that its forces have begun a ground invasion of neighbouring Iran, but are Kurdish-Iranian dissident groups are preparing for a potential cross-border military operation in Iran.
In pictures: US action against Iran
Long-range precision strike missiles used in combat
CENTCOM/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
The landing of an E-2D Hawkeye on the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R Ford
REUTERS
A Tomahawk missile is launched from the USS Delbert D Black
REUTERS
100 hours of Operation Epic Fury
The US released a video about the first “100 hours” of Operation Epic Fury, with clipped footage of operations in the Middle East and narration outlining its achievements.
Central Command’s clip described the campaign as “the most lethal, most complex, and most precise aerial operation in history”.
A narrator said: “Our military in the Middle East is undertaking an unprecedented operation to eliminate Iran’s ability to threaten Americans, as they’ve been doing for nearly half a century. We didn’t start this war, but under President Trump, we are finishing it.”
It also said the US would completely eliminate the Iranian navy.
President Trump, featured in the footage, said: “Combat operations continue at this time in full force, and they will continue until all of our objectives are achieved.”
‘Israeli strike kills three in Lebanon’
A fire rages in Tyre following Israeli airstrikes
KAWNAT HAJU/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
An overnight Israeli drone strike targeted a vehicle on a coastal highway in southern Lebanon, killing three people, Lebanon’s state news agency said.
The highway connects the city of Tyre to Naqoura, a border town near Israel.
On Wednesday, the Israeli military warned residents to move north of the Litani River, which serves as a key buffer line with villages south of it lying closest to the Israeli border.
The number of people killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon in the four days since the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah reignited has risen to more than 70, with more than 430 people wounded, Lebanon’s Health Ministry said on Wednesday.
Will the US put boots on the ground?
The White House said on Wednesday that it would not definitively rule out putting American boots on the ground in the Middle East.
Karoline Leavitt, the press secretary, said that leaders in the past had taken options off the table “without having a full understanding of how things could develop”.
When asked on Wednesday about the possibility in Iran, she said: “It’s not part of the current plan, but I’m not going to remove an option for the president that is on the table.”
Karoline Leavitt
SHUTTERSTOCK
Travellers return from Middle East
People who were stranded in Dubai arrive in Sofia, Bulgaria
SPASIYANA SERGIEVA/REUTERS
A family reunites at Changi Airport in Singapore
EDGAR SU/REUTERS
‘Large explosion’ off coast of Kuwait
A “large explosion” has hit a tanker off the coast of Kuwait, according to the UK Maritime Trade Operations.
“There is oil in the water coming from a cargo tank which could have some environmental impact, the vessel has taken on water, there are no fires reported and the crew are safe and well,” the maritime security agency said.
A small craft was seen leaving the vicinity of the tanker, according to the statement.
First charter flight evacuates Americans
On Wednesday, the US flew its first charter flight from the Middle East, the State Department said, after 17,500 Americans were estimated to have left the region on their own.
“Additional flights will be surged across the region,” it said in a statement, asking Americans in Israel, the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia to sign up online.
The department has faced criticism from travellers and lawmakers for not providing quicker paths out of the region, despite the US and Israel starting the war with a joint attack on Iran on Saturday.
Unexploded Iranian projectile lands in Syria
Shepherd boys inspect the unexploded Iranian-made projectile
AP/BADERKHAN AHMAD
It landed in an open field on the outskirts of Qamishli, eastern Syria
SEVKET AKCA/ANADOLU/GETTY IMAGES
Pentagon names two US soldiers killed in Kuwait
The last two identities of the six US soldiers killed in a Kuwait attack were released on Wednesday by the Pentagon, and they are from California and Iowa.
The soldiers identified were Chief Warrant Officer Three Robert Marzan, 54, of Sacramento and Major Jeffrey O’Brien, 45, of Indianola, Iowa.
The Pentagon said Marzan was at the scene when a drone strike hit the command centre in Kuwait and is “believed to be the individual who perished at the scene”. A medical examiner will officially confirm identification.
Four soldiers were previously identified by the Pentagon on Tuesday. They died on Sunday when a drone hit the centre in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait.
From left to right: Nicole Amor, Declan Coady, Cody Khork, Noah Tietjens and Jeffrey O’Brien
AFP
Qatar evacuates residents near US embassy
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.
Iran has launched attacks at the US embassy in Saudi Arabia, in the capital Riyadh, and at the US consulate in Dubai.
Israeli forces have launched at least two strikes against Beirut’s southern suburbs after issuing evacuation orders earlier on Wednesday.
Officials advised people to leave the area around a building in Haret Hreik.
No casualties have been reported yet.
Israel: We’ve wiped out Iran’s cyber HQ
The IDF said on Wednesday that it had destroyed Iran’s cyber warfare headquarters.
It said a “wide-scale strike” had targeted military sites on the eastern edge of Tehran, allegedly housing the base of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).
Israeli forces said the IRGC’s “cyber and electronic headquarters” and its “Intelligence Directorate” were part of the targets hit in the strike.
It is unclear to what extent the sites have been damaged or whether there were any casualties. Iran remains under an almost complete internet blackout.
Saudi Arabia targeted with more missiles
Saudi Arabia said it intercepted three cruise missiles fired by Iran in the latest attack on the Gulf kingdom on Wednesday night.
The Saudi defence ministry said the missiles had been destroyed outside al-Kharj, south of Riyadh. There was no immediate report of damage or casualties.
On Wednesday the UK Foreign Office said it now advised against all but essential travel to two regions, the kingdom’s Eastern Province and Riyadh Province, near the capital.
Senate votes down measure to curtail Trump
A war powers resolution put forward by Democrats to end the strikes on Iran without congressional approval has been voted down in the Senate.
Fifty-three senators voted against the measure, and 47 voted for it. The vote fell mostly along party lines, though the Republican Senator Rand Paul voted in favour and the Democratic Senator John Fetterman voted against.
On Tuesday, after a closed congressional briefing on the ongoing strikes, Fetterman said of the vote: “I’m not afraid of my base to just say, ‘You know what? This was overall a good thing’”.
Chuck Schumer, the Democratic Senate minority leader, said: “Today every senator — every single one — will pick a side.
“Do you stand with the American people who are exhausted with forever wars in the Middle East or stand with Donald Trump and Pete Hegseth as they bumble us headfirst into another war?”
Kurds deny reports of Iran invasion
An official in the Kurdish region of Iraq has denied reports that its forces have begun a ground invasion of neighbouring Iran.
Earlier, Kurdish officials told the Associated Press that Kurdish-Iranian dissident groups based in northern Iraq are preparing for a potential cross-border military operation in Iran.
Aziz Ahmad, deputy chief of staff to Masrour Barzani, the prime minister of the Kurdish region, responded on social media to a reporter who claimed that the operation had already begun.
“Not a single Iraqi Kurd has crossed the border,” Ahmed said on X. “This is patently false.”
Israel issues evacuation warnings in Lebanon
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) issued another evacuation warning for a building in Beirut before an airstrike against what it said was a Hezbollah site.
“You are located near facilities and interests affiliated with Hezbollah, against which the IDF will operate forcefully in the near term,” Colonel Avichay Adraee, a military spokesman, posted on X in Arabic. He attached a map showing a building in Beirut’s southern suburbs, which are alleged to be a Hezbollah stronghold.
“For your safety and the safety of your family members, you must evacuate this building and the adjacent ones immediately and move at least 300 metres away from them,” he said.
Earlier Lebanon’s health ministry said three people were killed in two Israeli strikes on vehicles on the airport highway near Beirut.
The US torpedoed an Iranian warship off Sri Lanka on Wednesday — the first such sinking by the American navy since the Second World War.
A submarine in the Indian Ocean launched the torpedo against the Iranian frigate, killing at least 87, Sri Lankan officials said.
Pete Hegseth, the US war secretary, said more American bombers and fighter jets were arriving in the Middle East and promised to continue attacking Iran “without mercy. We have only just begun to fight.”
‘People of Iran are not Trump’s priority’
Yassamin Ansari, an Iranian-American Democratic Representative, told the House on Wednesday that freedom for the people of Iran was not Trump’s priority.
Addressing efforts to reign in Trump’s powers, she condemned attempts to justify the war. “Every few hours, the administration jumps to a new justification or objective for this war, but never is a democratic transition and self-determination for Iranians a part of the discussion,” she said. “This was echoed last night by senior administration officials at the briefing to members of Congress.”
Ansari said the war powers resolution vote, expected to be held in Congress on Thursday, was about “the legitimacy of our democracy and of our constitution. That is why I will be voting yes on the war powers resolution.”
President Trump said attacks were launched on Iran because: “If we didn’t hit within two weeks they would have had a nuclear weapon. When crazy people have nuclear weapons, bad things happen.”
He said the US was in a “very strong position” against Iran as the campaign continues into its fifth day. “We’re in very good shape … it’s a great display of military strength,” he said.
Then Trump, who was hosting a round table event at the White House on Wednesday, turned to a “historic signing” that he said would keep everyday bills down for Americans. He was referring to the ratepayer protection pledge, an agreement with major tech companies to manage electricity costs.