Israeli military says it struck a compound in Iran operated to develop capabilities for nuclear weapons
The Israeli military said that it has struck a compound in Iran that it said aimed to develop “necessary capabilities” for nuclear weapons, without providing any evidence for the assertion.
I’ll bring you more on this as we get it.
Key events
33m ago
UAE says it was exposed to over 1,000 attacks from Iran
1h ago
Fire near US embassy in Dubai
1h ago
Trump says US Navy to escort tankers through Strait of Hormuz ‘if necessary’
2h ago
France sending only aircraft carrier to Mediterranean and further defences to Cyprus, Macron says
2h ago
British F-35 jets shoot down drones over Jordan, Iraq and Qatar
2h ago
Israeli military says it struck a compound in Iran operated to develop capabilities for nuclear weapons
2h ago
US military says it has hit more than 1,700 targets since beginning of operation against Iran
3h ago
Israel says it killed commander of Iran’s Quds Force in Lebanon
3h ago
The day so far
4h ago
Trump says he is ‘not happy’ with UK and ‘cuts off’ all trade with Spain over Iran
4h ago
Trump insists Israel did not force US hand and repeats claim Iran was going to attack first
6h ago
IDF claims to have struck building housing Iran’s Assembly of Experts – report
7h ago
IDF announces more strikes on Tehran
8h ago
Tens of thousands of people left stranded in the Middle East as conflict complicates routes home
8h ago
UK considering sending warship to Cyprus to defend RAF airbase
8h ago
Interim summary
9h ago
UAE air defences tallied 186 missiles, 812 drones launched toward country since start of conflict
9h ago
Drone crashes near Salalah port in Oman
9h ago
Amid soaring energy prices, QatarEnergy to halt production of some downstream products
10h ago
Iran’s women’s team decline to sing national anthem before Asian Cup tie
10h ago
At least 30,000 displaced in Lebanon, UN says
11h ago
IAEA confirms damage to Iran’s Natanz nuclear site
11h ago
Iranian Red Crescent updates death toll to 787
12h ago
Albanese working with UAE over Australians stranded because of flight disruptions
12h ago
State media: Oman port targeted in suspected drone strike
12h ago
Israel accuses Spanish prime minister of being on wrong side of history
13h ago
Trump criticises Starmer, laments US-UK relationship in interview with The Sun
13h ago
IDF positions soldiers in southern Lebanon
14h ago
Israel’s Iran war brings new Gaza siege that threatens hunger crisis
14h ago
Interim summary
14h ago
US orders ‘non-emergency’ staff to leave Qatar and Kuwait
15h ago
US orders ‘non-emergency’ staff to leave Bahrain, Jordan and Iraq
16h ago
Iran claims attack on US air base in Bahrain
16h ago
US claims to have destroyed Iranian Revolutionary Guards’ command facilities
16h ago
Opening summary
Show key events only
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Three paramedics have been killed and six were wounded in Lebanon’s Tyre district as they were recovering victims after an airstrike, according to the World Health Organisation’s office in Lebanon.
The WHO said health workers “must never be targeted”.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has given more details on a drone striking a car park adjacent to the U.S. consulate in Dubai.
He said: “As I came in, I also saw the media reports about Dubai’s consulate. The last update I had with seconds before getting before these cameras was that a drone unfortunately struck a parking lot adjacent to the to the Chancery building, and then set off a fire in that place.”
“All personnel are accounted for. As you’re aware, we began drawing down personnel from our diplomatic facilities in advance of this,” Rubio added.
He said: “But our embassies and our diplomatic facilities are under direct attack from a terroristic regime”.
ShareUAE says it was exposed to over 1,000 attacks from Iran
The UAE’s foreign ministry said it has been exposed to over 1,000 attacks from Iran since it launched retaliatory strikes in the region in response to US-Israeli strikes.
It added it did not allow its territory to be used in any attack on Iran and it has not taken any decision to change its defensive stance towards the attacks, Reuters reports.
Updated at 15.57 EST
Israel’s UN envoy Danny Danon told reporters the Lebanese government should act now against Hezbollah to prevent further escalation.
Danon added more than a year since the UN security council reaffirmed that Hezbollah must disarm and withdraw from south Lebanon, “it has done the exact opposite.”
He added: “We expect the Lebanese Government to restrain Hezbollah. Take control, act now to prevent further escalation.”
Updated at 16.03 EST
Fire near US embassy in Dubai
Authorities have put out a limited fire in the vicinity of the US consulate in Dubai due to a drone strike and no injuries were reported, Dubai’s media office said.
Smoke was seen rising from an area near the consulate, two witnesses told Reuters.
Updated at 15.56 EST
Trump says US Navy to escort tankers through Strait of Hormuz ‘if necessary’
Donald Trump has said the US Navy will begin escorting tankers through the strait of Hormuz as soon as possible “if necessary”.
In a post on Truth Social, the US president also said he had ordered the United States Development Finance Corporation to provide insurance and guarantees for the financial security of all maritime trade, including oil tankers, traveling through the Gulf region.
Iran closed the strait of Hormuz, one of the world’s most critical shipping routes, last night, and threatened to attack any ship that tries to pass through, causing oil prices to soar.
Sustained disruption of shipping traffic in the strait, through which roughly 15% of the world’s oil and 20% of its liquefied natural gas passes, poses significant risk to the global economy.
Updated at 14.52 EST
France sending only aircraft carrier to Mediterranean and further defences to Cyprus, Macron says
Angelique Chrisafis
in Paris
The French president Emmanuel Macron said in a televised address to the nation that he has ordered the French aircraft carrier, the Charles de Gaulle, its air assets and its frigate escort to set sail for the Mediterranean.
He said France has defence agreements with Qatar, Kuwait and the UAE and must show solidarity, but he said any action by France was “strictly defensive”.
France must support its allies in the region and show it was a partner to be trusted, Macron said, adding that French anti-air systems and air radars had been deployed and would continue to be so.
France would also send defence systems to Cyprus and a frigate which would arrive off the coast of Cyprus tonight, the president said.
Updated at 14.37 EST
British F-35 jets shoot down drones over Jordan, Iraq and Qatar
The UK’s Ministry of Defence said earlier that British F-35 jets had shot down hostile drones over Jordan, Iraq and Qatar.
UK forces are “actively defending partners across the region as part of co-ordinated defensive action”, the MoD said in a statement on its website
It said this was the first time an RAF F-35 has destroyed a target on operations.
double quotation markRAF F-35B jets shot down drones over Jordan – the first time an RAF F-35 has destroyed a target on operations – supported by Typhoon jets and a Voyager tanker aircraft. A British counter-drone unit neutralised drones in Iraqi airspace heading towards Coalition forces, whilst an RAF Typhoon operating with the joint UK-Qatar 12 Squadron shot down an Iranian one-way attack drone directed at Qatar using an air-to-air missile on Monday.
Updated at 14.20 EST
Israeli military says it struck a compound in Iran operated to develop capabilities for nuclear weapons
The Israeli military said that it has struck a compound in Iran that it said aimed to develop “necessary capabilities” for nuclear weapons, without providing any evidence for the assertion.
I’ll bring you more on this as we get it.
ShareUS military says it has hit more than 1,700 targets since beginning of operation against Iran
The US military has hit more than 1,700 targets in Iran since it began its operations in the country on Saturday, according to an update from the US Central Command.
The targets hit include missile sites, navy ships, submarines and control centres, it said.
Centcom added that the US used aircraft – including multiple fighter jets – as well as missile systems and ships to carry out the attacks.
Centcom is prioritising “locations that pose an imminent threat”, it said.
ShareIsrael says it killed commander of Iran’s Quds Force in Lebanon
The Israeli military said it has killed the commander of Iran’s Quds Force in Lebanon, Daoud Ali Zadeh, in a strike on Tehran.
The Quds force is the unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in charge of foreign operations.
Iran has not yet commented on the IDF claim.
Updated at 14.11 EST
The US embassy in Beirut is closing until further notice “due to ongoing regional tensions”.
In a post on X, the embassy said regular and emergency consular appointments have been cancelled. “We will communicate when the Embassy returns to normal operations,” it added.
ShareThe day so far
Donald Trump has claimed Iran was going to attack before he did, walking back his secretary of state Marco Rubio’s assertion that Israel triggered the war. “I think they were going to attack first, and I didn’t want that to happen. So, if anything, I might have forced Israel’s hand,” Trump told reporters as he met German chancellor Friedrich Merz at the White House.
Trump said that the US and Israel are hitting Iran “where it is much more appropriate” adding, “everything has been knocked out”. This comes after the worst mass casualty of the strikes so far, which was on a girls’ elementary school in southern Iran. The devastating attack killed at least 168 people (our visual guide is here). Iran, Trump said, “have no navy, it’s been knocked out, they have no air force, it’s been knocked out, they have no air detection, that’s been knocked out … Just about everything has been knocked out.”
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.”
It came as Trump said the United States would cut off all trade with Spain after the country refused to let the US military use its bases for missions linked to strikes on Iran. “Spain has been terrible,” Trump told reporters, adding that he had told Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to “cut off all dealings” with Spain. “We’re going to cut off all trade with Spain. We don’t want anything to do with Spain,” he added.
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 launched further strikes in Tehran and Beirut, saying it was targeting Iranian military sites and the Iran-backed group Hezbollah, as its troops intensify their incursion into Lebanon. Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 52 people and displaced at least 30,000 in Lebanon.
Israel also struck the building of Iran’s assembly of experts, which is responsible for electing Iran’s next supreme leader. Iranian news agencies confirmed that attack and said there were no casualties (the building wasn’t in use at the time).
Iran continues to retaliate by striking US targets and allies, prompting the US to close embassies in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Lebanon and warn Americans to leave more than a dozen countries in the region (many are scrambling to do so, and we have a story on that here).
Updated at 13.49 EST
France will deploy anti-missile and anti-drone systems to Cyprus, the Mediterranean island’s government said, following a drone attack on a British base.
After four Greek F-16 fighter jets arrived on the island and two Greek frigates set sail for Cypriot waters, government spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis said Cyprus had secured additional backing from key EU partners.
“France’s assistance has been finalised and concerns a frigate equipped with anti-ballistic and anti-drone systems,” he said.
Saeed Shah
Fear, defiance, and quiet celebration intermingled in Tehran with everyday chores, locals said, as Iran’s capital continued to be rocked by American and Israeli airstrikes.
Residents said that many had moved to the countryside or were trying to do so, believing that it was safer away from military targets. In Tehran, military and police installations were located in residential areas. There were rumours that security forces were moving into schools and mosques.
Reza, a carpenter who did not want to give his full name, said over the phone that vital public services like hospitals were open, but schools were closed. More security forces and their vehicles were visible on the streets, he said.
“The situation in Tehran is very tense, people are scared, and everyone is trying to stay home,” said Reza. “People are gripped by huge fear about more airstrikes.”
Amid an internet blackout, people were struggling to figure out how much of Iranian media reports about airstrikes at home and the country’s successes in hitting Israel and other nations was true. Some said that they were surprised how strong Iran’s military appeared to be, targeting many nations simultaneously and managing to keep up the barrage.
The streets of Tehran were quiet, but grocery shops and even restaurants were open. When there were airstrikes, people rushed to the roofs of their buildings to see what was hit.
The Guardian spoke to residents among the few in Tehran who had internet access over encrypted services, and reached others on their landlines.
Oman’s foreign minister reaffirmed on Tuesday his country’s call for an immediate ceasefire in the conflict between Iran and the US and Israel and a return to responsible regional diplomacy.
“There are off-ramps available, let’s use them,” Badr Albusaidi said in a post on X.
The Gulf country had been mediating talks between Iran and the United States before the Israeli and US airstrikes began on Saturday.
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Damien Gayle
Israel and the US’s war on Iran is just days old, yet it is already unfolding as an environmental catastrophe that will reverberate across the region for years to come.
As the death toll mounts, so too is the devastation from oil spills from damaged supertankers, heavy metal contamination from bombed military sites and leaks of volatile chemicals from damaged fossil energy infrastructure.
A rapid environmental assessment by researchers from the Conflict and Environment Observatory (Ceobs) identified 120 individual incidents of environmental harm in the first 72 hours following the surprise attack on Iran on Saturday night.
“Three days in and we’re already seeing pollution incidents that are placing people and ecosystems at risk of acute and chronic harm, as well as trends that could lead to substantial environmental harm as the war continues,” Ceobs’s report says.
Researchers from Ceobs searched social and mass media for incidents before undertaking a verification and remote environmental assessment of each.
The most commonly reported targets were military facilities, with the US and Israel attacking missile bases, airfields, weapons depots and military production facilities across Iran, and Iran’s retaliation focusing on US air and naval bases in Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and the UAE. Israel has also carried out dozens of attacks on alleged weapons depots and launch sites in Lebanon.
Attacks on military facilities risk generating pollution from fuels, oils, heavy metals, energetic compounds and PFAS, with fires burning at such sites likely to release toxic contaminants such as dioxins and furans, Ceobs said.
Attacks on missile sites, which the US had identified as a main objective of its assault on Iran, were particularly concerning, according to the report, which noted that “some liquid propellants — such as unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine and inhibited red fuming nitric acid used in SCUD-type systems — are highly toxic and have posed serious management and disposal challenges in other conflict settings”.
As a site of major fossil fuel production, the Persian gulf is already beset with multiple related pollution problems, which the outbreak of war in the region can only exacerbate. Along with extensive damage to Iran’s navy and port facilities, five oil tankers – the MKD Vyom, the Stena Imperative, the Skylight, the Ocean Electra and the Hercules Star – have been hit so far during the conflict, however whether they have begun spilling oil is not yet known.
A drone strike at Saudi Arabia’s Ras Tanurah oil refinery is just one of a number of attacks on facilities for producing, refining, storing and exporting oil. The attack triggered a large fire and smoke plume, Ceobs said: “Such plumes can contain particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide and toxic organic compounds — including PAHs and potentially dioxins — posing health risks to downwind communities.”
As well as the local effects on the environment of the Persian gulf, the war will have consequences for the global environment through changes in greenhouse gas emissions, Ceobs notes.
“Attacks on oil and gas sites will release methane, carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses, but the curtailment of production … does not necessarily reduce emissions.
“Instead energy price signals can lead to short term substitution, as well as more complex downstream energy supply changes over longer timeframes.”