General
Live. Israel carries out strikes in Lebanon and Tehran fires at Gulf states as Iran war enters day 12
The IDF says it has carried out several attacks across Lebanon, including the capital Beirut, early on Wednesday targeting Hezbollah infrastructure. Qatar, Saudi Arabia and other states in the Gulf have reported drone attacks on the 12th day of the war, which have been intercepted.
Welcome to our live coverage of the war in Iran, which now enters day 12 since US and Israeli forces launched the opening salvo on 28 February.
Washington says it has destroyed 16 Iranian mine-laying vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, a key waterway for international energy supplies, through which roughly a fifth of global oil exports flow.
The attacks come after senior Iranian lawmakers threatened to block the waterway and not allow “even a litre” of crude to pass through, as the war continues to destabilise global energy markets and rattle prices.
Israel says it has carried out attacks early on Wednesday against what it says are Iran-backed Hezbollah targets in neighbouring Lebanon. Meanwhile, several Gulf states including Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait have reported interceptions of Iranian drones on Wednesday.
Follow our live blog for the latest updates from our journalists in the region and worldwide.
Tankers believed linked to Iran getting through Strait of Hormuz
Some tankers, believed linked to Iran, are continuing to get through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf.
Some of the ships getting through are so-called “dark” transits, meaning they aren’t turning on their Automatic Identification System (AIS) tracks, which show where vessels are. Vessels carrying sanctioned Iranian crude often turn off their AIS trackers.
Security firm Neptune P2P Group said on Wednesday that seven ships had passed through the strait since 8 March. Of those, five were linked to Iranian-associated shipping, it said.
The commodity-tracking firm, Kpler, said Iran has restarted crude exports through its Jask oil terminal on the Gulf of Oman. The firm said a tanker was loaded with roughly 2 million barrels at Jask on 7 March.
8:29 GMT+1
Qatar issues warning of possible attack
Qatar issued a warning to the public early on Wednesday morning of possible Iranian attacks.
Explosions were heard as aerial interceptions were seen taking place in the skies above the capital, Doha, after Iran fired barrages of drones targeting several Gulf Arab nations early on Wednesday.
8:27 GMT+1
Qatar says it can’t mediate while under attack
Doha says it won’t serve as a mediator for Iran as it remains under attack from Tehran.
Qatar’s Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulaziz al-Khulaifi made the statement to the state-funded Al Jazeera network in an interview which aired on Wednesday.
He noted both Qatar and Oman had been attacked even though they worked to “build bridges between Iran and the West.”
“We will not be able to fulfil that role under attack, and that’s something the Iranians need to understand,” al-Khulaifi said. “The regional countries are not an enemy of Iran, and the Iranians are not understanding that idea.”
8:22 GMT+1
Russia says consulate in Isfahan damaged
Russia said its consulate in Isfahan was damaged in airstrikes targeting the central Iranian city.
The state-run Tass news agency quoted Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova saying there were “no casualties or serious injuries” in the strike on Sunday, which targeted the nearby governor’s office in the city.
“Windows were shattered in the office building and residential apartments, and several employees were thrown back by the blast wave. Fortunately, there were no casualties or serious injuries,” Zakharova said.
8:17 GMT+1
Israeli strike hits building in central Beirut early on Wednesday
Videos are circulating online and are being broadcast by local Lebanese news channels from an apparent strike site in the densely populated Aicha Bakkar neighbourhood in the centre of the capital, Beirut.
The intense strikes show two floors of a multi-storey building engulfed in flames.
The attack came without warning. There were no immediate reports concerning who was targeted or the number and extent of casualties.
The structure that was hit is several buildings away from Dar al-Fatwa, the country’s highest Sunni Muslim religious authority.
The strike was in an area far from Beirut’s southern suburbs, where the Israeli military had issued evacuation warnings earlier, announcing intentions to operate against what it says are Hezbollah positions in the area.
On Tuesday, Israeli attacks targeted several buildings in the southern cities of Tyre and Sidon, destroying branches of al Qard al-Hassan, an institution Israel says serves as the Iran-backed group’s financial arm.
At least seven people were killed in those attacks, spiking the death toll in Lebanon from Israeli attacks to over 400.
8:11 GMT+1
Saudi Arabia and Kuwait intercept Iranian drones
Saudi Arabia’s Defence Ministry said early on Wednesday it destroyed five drones heading toward the kingdom’s vast Shaybah oil field in the Empty Quarter desert.
It added that it intercepted and destroyed two drones in the Eastern Province.
Meanwhile, Kuwait said it downed eight drones over the tiny, oil-rich nation.
8:10 GMT+1
Container ship hit off coast of UAE in Strait of Hormuz
A projectile hit a container ship early Wednesday morning off the coast of the United Arab Emirates in the Strait of Hormuz, according to the British military.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre issued the warning, saying the attack happened off Ras al-Khaimah, the UAE’s northernmost emirate on the strait.
The centre said the “extent of the damage is currently unknown but under investigation by the crew.”
Ships have effectively halted movement through the strait, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all oil and natural gas traded passes.
8:08 GMT+1
US targets Iranian mine-laying vessels amid threats of blocking crucial Strait of Hormuz
The US said it took out more than a dozen mine-laying Iranian vessels on Tuesday, after Tehran vowed to block the region’s oil exports, saying it would not allow “even a single litre” to be shipped to its enemies through the chokehold Strait of Hormuz.
In a post late on Tuesday on Truth Social, US President Donald Trump, who had earlier warned Iran of intense consequences “at a level never seen before”, said Washington has taken pre-emptive measures to respond to the threat Tehran had levelled.
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US says it destroyed Iranian mine-laying vessels near Strait of Hormuz
Washington says it has destroyed 16 Iranian mine-laying vessels near the Strait of Hormuz, after Tehran threatened to not allow oil to pass through the waterwa…