The strikes \u2013 which killed a member from an exiled Iranian Kurdish group, according to a representative \u2013 came after a warning from Iranian officials.<\/p>\n
\u201cSeparatist groups should not think that a breeze has blown and try to take action,\u201d said the secretary of Iran\u2019s Supreme National Security Council, Ali Larijani, quoted by the AFP news agency.<\/p>\n
double quotation markWe will not tolerate them in any way.<\/p>\n
Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a001.40 EST<\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n Show key events only<\/p>\n Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature<\/p>\n Hegseth tells Israel defence minister to ‘continue to the end’ – report<\/p>\n Israel\u2019s defence minister, Israel Katz, said the US defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, told him to \u201ccontinue to the end, we are with you\u201d, according to a statement by his office.<\/p>\n Katz expressed his condolences over the deaths of US soldiers in the Iran<\/a> conflict, and thanked Hegseth and US president Donald Trump for their \u201cgreat support for Israel\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThe cooperation between president Trump and prime minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu against Iran is changing regional and global history,\u201d the statement from the Israeli defence minister\u2019s office said, according to the Times of Israel.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Interim summary<\/p>\n In case you\u2019re just joining us, here\u2019s an overview of the latest news in the US-Israel war with Iran as the conflict entered its sixth day on Thursday and continues to expand across the Middle East and beyond.<\/p>\n Iran launched a wave of missiles at Israel early on Thursday, sending millions of residents into bomb shelters, just hours after moves to halt the US air assault were blocked in Washington.<\/p>\n The Israeli military said it was beginning a new widespread wave of attacks in Tehran. Israel also said it carried out strikes on Beirut targeting Hezbollah on Thursday while Lebanese state media reported an Israeli drone strike killed a Hamas official.<\/p>\n A man stands near a damaged building after Israeli strikes on Beirut\u2019s southern suburbs. Photograph: Ahmad Al Kerdi\/Reuters<\/p>\n Republican senators in Washington voted against a motion aimed at stopping the US air campaign and requiring that military action be authorised by Congress.<\/p>\n Nato air defences destroyed an Iranian ballistic missile fired towards Turkey \u2013 the first time Turkey has been drawn into the conflict. But Iran armed forces later denied firing any missile towards Turkey\u2019s territory and said it respected the country\u2019s sovereignty.<\/p>\n A US submarine sank an Iranian warship off Sri Lanka on Wednesday, killing at least 80 people.<\/p>\n Iran said it had targeted Kurdish groups in Iraq and warned \u201cseparatist groups\u201d against action in the widening war.<\/p>\n Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of Iran\u2019s slain supreme leader, emerged as a frontrunner to succeed him, suggesting Tehran was not about to buckle to pressure from the US and Israel\u2019s military campaign that has killed hundreds and convulsed global markets.<\/p>\n The war continued to paralyse shipping through the strait of Hormuz, choking off vital Middle East oil and gas flows, with oil prices rising on Thursday. The US navy would escort oil tankers through the strait of Hormuz \u201cas soon as it can\u201d but was focused on the conflict for now, US energy secretary Chris Wright said on Fox News.<\/p>\n Repatriation flights departed the Middle East on Wednesday as governments rushed to bring home tens of thousands of citizens stranded by the war. A British flight to repatriate UK nationals did not take off as scheduled from Oman and was rescheduled for later on Thursday, Sky News reported.<\/p>\n Plans were in doubt for a funeral for Iran\u2019s slain supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, killed by Israeli forces on Saturday. The body had been expected to lie in state in a Tehran mosque from Wednesday evening but Iran said three days of farewell ceremonies had been indefinitely postponed and no funeral date had been announced. Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a002.16 EST<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s foreign minister has said the US will \u201cbitterly regret\u201d sinking an Iranian warship<\/a> off the coast of Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n Abas Araghchi posted on X<\/a>:<\/p>\n double quotation markThe U.S. has perpetrated an atrocity at sea, 2,000 miles away from Iran\u2019s shores.<\/p>\n Frigate Dena, a guest of India\u2019s Navy carrying almost 130 sailors, was struck in international waters without warning.<\/p>\n Mark my words: The U.S. will come to bitterly regret precedent it has set.<\/p>\n US defence secretary Pete Hegseth earlier confirmed that a US submarine sunk the Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean, saying the ship \u201cthought it was safe in international waters\u201d.<\/p>\n He said:<\/p>\n double quotation markInstead it was sunk by a torpedo, a quiet death \u2013 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.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Hamas official reportedly killed in Israeli strikes on Beirut<\/p>\n Israel has said it carried out strikes on Beirut targeting Hezbollah on Thursday while Lebanese state media reported an Israeli drone strike killed a Hamas official.<\/p>\n Lebanon\u2019s state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported several strikes early in the day, including two in the Hezbollah stronghold of south Beirut, where smoke was seen rising.<\/p>\n Israel\u2019s military, which earlier told residents to leave the suburbs where the strikes were reported, said its forces hit several \u201ccommand centres\u201d of the Iran-backed militant group in the city. There were no immediate reports of casualties, an Agence France-Presse report said.<\/p>\n City workers with supporters of Hezbollah remove a burned vehicle from a street along the highway leading to Beirut international airport after it was hit by an Israeli strike on Wednesday. Photograph: Wael Hamzeh\/EPA<\/p>\n The NNA said a pre-dawn Israeli drone strike hit an apartment in Beddawi, a Palestinian refugee camp near Tripoli, killing senior Hamas official Wassim Atallah al-Ali and his wife.<\/p>\n This is the first reported targeted killing of a Hamas official since the regional war began on Saturday.<\/p>\n The report noted that Ali\u2019s brother, also a Hamas official from Beddawi, was killed in an Israeli airstrike during the war triggered by Hamas\u2019s 2023 attack on Israel.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Iran claims strikes on Kurds in Iraq<\/p>\n Iran says it has targeted Kurdish groups in Iraq and warned \u201cseparatist groups\u201d against action in the widening war.<\/p>\n Tehran said on Thursday it had hit Iraq-based Kurdish groups \u201copposed to the revolution\u201d, as reports said the US was looking to arm Kurdish militias<\/a> to infiltrate Iran.<\/p>\n The strikes \u2013 which killed a member from an exiled Iranian Kurdish group, according to a representative \u2013 came after a warning from Iranian officials.<\/p>\n \u201cSeparatist groups should not think that a breeze has blown and try to take action,\u201d said the secretary of Iran\u2019s Supreme National Security Council, Ali Larijani, quoted by the AFP news agency.<\/p>\n double quotation markWe will not tolerate them in any way.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a001.40 EST<\/p>\n Iran\u2019s armed forces respect Turkey\u2019s sovereignty and deny firing any missile towards its territory, they were reported as saying in a statement carried by state media on Thursday.<\/p>\n Turkey\u2019s defence ministry said on Wednesday that a ballistic missile fired from Iran toward Turkish airspace after passing Syria and Iraq was destroyed by Nato air and missile defence systems over the eastern Mediterranean.<\/p>\n Share<\/a> Australia\u2019s government has deployed military assets as part of contingency planning to assist Australians stranded in the Middle East.<\/p>\n As the conflict sparked by American and Israeli strikes on Iran spreads around the region, the government is planning contingencies to help tens of thousands of Australian citizens and permanent residents.<\/p>\n While the government is urging Australians to take up commercial options to get home, the defence department has launched Operation Beech, part of the consular effort to provide assistance.<\/p>\n A Royal Australian Air Force C-17A Globemaster heavy transport aircraft and KC-30A multi-role tanker transport have been deployed today as a precautionary measure.<\/p>\n File shot of a KC-30A aircraft taking off from an Australian air base. Photograph: CPL Brett Sherriff\/\u00a9 Commonwealth of Australia, Department of Defence<\/p>\n The government will not discuss further specifics like their destination for operational security reasons.<\/p>\n As many as 24,000 Australians are stuck in the United Arab Emirates alone. Some commercial flights to Australia have already started to resume.<\/p>\n The New Zealand government announced on Thursday it would send two defence force aircraft to repatriate its citizens from the region.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a001.11 EST<\/p>\n Israel launches fresh attack wave on Tehran \u2013 report<\/p>\n The Israeli military has reportedly said it is beginning a new widespread wave of attacks in Tehran.<\/p>\n We\u2019ll bring you more on this soon.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Warning war could disrupt semiconductor production<\/p>\n The US-Israel war with Iran could disrupt supplies of key semiconductor manufacturing materials, a South Korean ruling party lawmaker said on Thursday.<\/p>\n South Korea\u2019s chip industry \u2013 which supplies around two-thirds of global memory chips \u2013 was also concerned that a prolonged conflict in Iran<\/a> would lead to higher energy costs and prices, Kim Young-bae said after meeting executives from companies such as Samsung Electronics and trade groups.<\/p>\n \u201cOfficials raised a possibility that semiconductor production could be disrupted if some of these key materials cannot be sourced from the Middle East,\u201d he said at a press briefing cited by Reuters. He added that South Korean firms sourced some key chip-making materials such as helium from the Middle East.<\/p>\n Helium is essential for heat management during semiconductor production and it has no viable alternatives currently. It is only produced in a handful of countries, with Qatar and the US among the leading players in the industry.<\/p>\n The caution comes as chipmakers grapple with severe supply bottlenecks due to surging chip demand from AI data centre operators that has tightened supplies to many other industries including smartphones, laptops and automobiles.<\/p>\n South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix said it had sufficient helium inventory and did not expect disruption to its procurement. Samsung declined to comment.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a000.57 EST<\/p>\n With most of the region\u2019s airspace closed, tens of thousands of travellers have been left stranded by the conflict.<\/p>\n Airlines in the Middle East have been brought to a virtual standstill this week. Emirates and Etihad Airways are now operating a limited number of services from Dubai and Abu Dhabi.<\/p>\n An Emirates plane arrives in Frankfurt from Dubai on Wednesday Photograph: Kai Pfaffenbach\/Reuters<\/p>\n Qatar Airways, based in Doha, has just put out a statement reiterating that its operations remained \u201ctemporarily suspended\u201d due to the closure of Qatari airspace, but announcing a handful of relief flights.<\/p>\n double quotation markQatar Airways will start operating a limited number relief flights from 05 March to support passengers who are stranded due to the current situation across the region.<\/p>\n This included flights from Muscat to London Heathrow, Berlin, Copenhagen, Madrid, Rome and Amsterdam, and a flight from Riyadh to Frankfurt. Passengers would be contacted directly if assigned seats on these services, it said.<\/p>\n The airline is promising a further update on Friday.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a000.59 EST<\/p>\n British warship to depart for Cyprus next week \u2013 officials<\/p>\n A UK warship due to be sent to Cyprus amid the US-Israeli war with Iran will not set sail from Britain until next week, western officials have been cited by the AFP news agency as saying.<\/p>\n Prime minister Keir Starmer announced on Tuesday that he was deploying HMS Dragon \u2013 a Type 45 defence destroyer \u2013 to aid Britain\u2019s \u201cdefensive operations\u201d in the region. He also said he was sending two Wildcat helicopters with counter-drone capabilities.<\/p>\n The announcement came after several drone attacks from Iran targeted UK allies in the Middle East and after the UK Royal Air Force base Akrotiri was struck<\/a> overnight from Sunday to Monday.<\/p>\n Opposition legislators have accused the government of being too slow to deploy additional resources after the war started on Saturday, with no British warship in the region.<\/p>\n HMS Dragon was being resupplied with ammunition and would sail next week, the officials told reporters in London on Wednesday.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve had to change weapon systems on it, finish welding, get it up and running, and get it sailing as fast as possible,\u201d defence minister Al Carns told Sky News.<\/p>\n Its voyage to the eastern Mediterranean is expected to take several days.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a000.03 EST<\/p>\n US says charter flight repatriating Americans from Middle East<\/p>\n A US government charter flight was bringing Americans to the US from the Middle East and additional flights were being arranged for locations across the region, the US State Department has said.<\/p>\n The agency on Wednesday provided no details on the number of passengers aboard the flight, the countries they were leaving or the departure and arrival times of the flight, Reuters is reporting.<\/p>\n Since US and Israeli forces launched initial strikes on Iran on Saturday, more than 17,500 Americans have safely returned to the US from the Middle East, including about 8,500 on Tuesday, the state department said. Many more had left the Middle East to other countries in Europe and Asia since Saturday, the department said.<\/p>\n On Monday the state department urged Americans across 14 countries in the Middle East to immediately depart the region using \u201cavailable commercial transportation\u201d. But many US citizens face challenges due to global air travel disruptions caused by the war.<\/p>\n The situation prompted sharp criticism from some US lawmakers, who accused the state department of inadequate planning and late warnings.<\/p>\n The department responded by saying it was \u201cfacilitating charter flights\u201d from the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Jordan for US citizens in need of such assistance.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a023.50 EST<\/p>\n Here are some of the latest images coming out of the Middle East amid the US-Israeli war with Iran.<\/p>\n Iranian volunteers gather in front of a police facility destroyed during in the US-Israeli campaign. Photograph: Morteza Nikoubazl\/NurPhoto\/ShutterstockA projectile streaks over the Tel Aviv skyline on Wednesday amid Iranian reprisal attacks on Israel. Photograph: Erik Marmor\/Getty ImagesPeople stand next to an Iranian missile after it fell near Qamishli international airport in Syria. Photograph: Orhan Qereman\/ReutersSmoke rises from the site of an Israeli strike targeting an area in Beirut\u2019s southern neighbourhood on Thursday. Photograph: Hassan Ammar\/APPeople inspect damage at a building following air defences\u2019 interception of a projectile or drone over a residential neighbourhood in Arbil, the capital of Iraq\u2019s northern autonomous Kurdish region. Photograph: Safin Hamid\/AFP\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a023.32 EST<\/p>\n Opening summary<\/p>\n Hello and welcome to our continuing live coverage of the US-Israeli war on Iran.<\/p>\n Canadian prime minister Mark Carney said on Thursday that he couldn\u2019t rule out his country\u2019s military participation in the escalating war in the Middle East.<\/p>\n \u201cOne can never categorically rule out participation,\u201d he said alongside his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese in Canberra. \u201cWe will stand by our allies,\u201d added Carney, who had said the US-Israeli strikes on Iran<\/a> were \u201cinconsistent with international law\u201d.<\/p>\n Iran launched a fresh round of missiles at Israel early on Thursday, according to the Israeli military and Tehran\u2019s state media, as the war entered its sixth day. The launches triggered alerts in several areas including Tel Aviv. There were no immediate reports of casualties.<\/p>\n Here are the other main developments:<\/p>\n An airstrike hit the Hezbollah stronghold of south Beirut early on Thursday, after Israel had issued a warning to residents. Elsewhere, three people were killed in a pair of Israeli strikes on vehicles along Beirut\u2019s airport highway, Lebanon\u2019s health ministry said. Israel has urged people to leave the section of Lebanon south of the Litani river \u2013 an area of hundreds of square kilometres \u2013 as the army was \u201ccompelled to take military action\u201d.<\/p>\n Smoke rises after an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut\u2019s southern suburbs, on Thursday. Photograph: Hassan Ammar\/AP<\/p>\n A US submarine torpedoed and sank an Iranian warship<\/a> off the coast of Sri Lanka as the effects of the war in the Middle East spread to yet another country. The IRIS Dena frigate had been on a friendly visit to India when it was hit. Eighty-seven bodies had been collected, a Sri Lankan navy official said.<\/p>\n Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s office said Israel and the US had made \u201chistoric gains\u201d in their war against Iran. A spokesperson for the prime minister also claimed the attack was needed as Iran was using \u201cnew underground bunkers\u201d to rebuild its atomic bomb program.<\/p>\n Donald Trump hailed the US performance in the war, saying Iran\u2019s leaders were rapidly being killed, and vowed to push on. \u201cWe\u2019re doing well on the war front, to put it mildly. Somebody said on a scale of 10, where would you rate it? I said about a 15.\u201d<\/p>\n A ballistic missile launched from Iran and heading towards Turkish airspace via Iraq and Syria was destroyed by Nato air defense systems, Turkish officials said.<\/p>\n US defence secretary Pete Hegseth offered few details and was evasive when asked about the deadly strike on a girls\u2019 school in Iran<\/a>, saying only that the US was \u201cinvestigating\u201d the incident. Iranian officials say the attack on Saturday killed at least 165 students<\/a><\/p>\n Intense waves of airstrikes have hit dozens of military positions, frontier posts and police stations along northern parts of Iran\u2019s border with Iraq in what appears to be preparation by US and Israel for a new front in their war<\/a>. A US official said the US was ready to provide air support if Kurdish peshmerga fighters crossed the border from northern Iraq.<\/p>\n A tanker at anchor off Kuwait reported seeing a large explosion on its port side and was taking on water, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations said. The master observed a small craft leaving the area after the explosion, which occurred 30 nautical miles (56 km) south-east of Kuwait\u2019s Mubarak Al Kabeer port in the Gulf, it said.<\/p>\n Spain doubled down on its opposition to Washington\u2019s use of its bases against Iran after Trump\u2019s threats of trade reprisals. The White House said Madrid had now agreed to cooperate, but Spanish foreign minister Jose Manuel Albares said its stance on \u201cbases, on the war in the Middle East, on the bombardment of Iran, has not changed at all\u201d.<\/p>\n Governments around the world are rushing to organise the return of their citizens from the Middle East and air traffic seems to be picking up slightly as travel across the region remains heavily disrupted by the crisis.<\/p>\n The Omani navy rescued 24 crew members of a container ship struck by missiles in the strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n Stay with us for the latest news.<\/p>\n
With news agencies<\/p>\n![\"Tom](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Tom_McIlroy.png\")
Tom McIlroy<\/p>\n