In Washington, the US Senate failed to pass a measure that would have blocked President Donald Trump from continuing his war against Tehran, as five days of non-stop airstrikes have killed hundreds of Iranians and six US soldiers, and is spreading to various parts of the region.
China will send its special envoy on Middle Eastern issues to the region to help de-escalate tensions, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Wednesday.
The conflict ignited on Saturday with US-Israeli attacks on Iran that killed Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Since, the US and Israel have carried out hundreds of devastating and deadly airtsrikes against military, economic, and civilaian infrastructures in Tehran and across the country.
Iran's official IRNA news agency said 1,230 military personnel and civilians have been killed since the war began, including tens of primary school girls.
It has spread rapidly since, snarling global shipping and energy markets, and sowing panic and chaos in Gulf nations.
Since Saturday, Iran carried out hundreds of drone and missile attacks on US bases and other economic targets, icluding seaports, ports, and oil refineries in neighbouring Arab States.
In Lebanon, more homes and buildings werereduced to rubble and plumes of black smokes drifting over Beirut after Israeli strikes on Dahiyeh, Beqaa Valley, and southern Lebanon, killing and wounding hundreds of civilians and displacing tens of thousands.
In tandem, the Israeli occupation army pushed thousands of its soldiers deeper into southern lebanese territories to capture more land.
Earlier Thursday, Tehran said it had hit Iraq-based Kurdish groups, as the United States reportedly seeks to arm Iranian Kurdish guerillas to infiltrate Iran.
"Separatist groups should not think that a breeze has blown and try to take action," said Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council.
Australia deployed two military aircraft to the theatre while Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney said he could not rule out his armed forces taking part in hostilities.
The war has also threatened to drag in NATO member Turkey after a missile launched from Iran was destroyed by NATO air defences as it headed towards its airspace.
While a Turkish official said the missile appeared to have been aimed at a British base in Cyprus, Turkey summoned the Iranian ambassador over the incident.
The conflict even reached the coast of Sri Lanka, where a US submarine sank an Iranian warship, Washington's first torpedoing of a vessel since World War II.
The strike killed at least 87 people, Sri Lankan officials said, with 61 remaining missing. Thirty-two sailors were rescued, many wounded, said Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath.
00:45 The US House of Representatives on Thursday rejected an effort to curb Donald Trump's authority to wage war against Iran, as the president faces fierce criticism over launching the conflict without seeking approval from Congress.
Lawmakers voted down a bipartisan resolution led by Republican Thomas Massie and Democrat Ro Khanna that would have required Trump to obtain congressional authorization before continuing military operations against Tehran.
The measure fell short by 212 votes to 219, a day after the Senate rejected a similar effort 50 to 47, underscoring Congress's limited appetite, particularly among Republicans, for confronting the White House in the early days of the conflict.
Even if it had passed both chambers, Trump would have been able to veto the legislation, a step that would have required two-thirds majorities in both chambers to override, an almost impossible threshold in the current Congress.
The conflict has claimed American lives: six US servicemembers were killed in a strike on a US base in Kuwait, intensifying pressure on lawmakers to weigh in on a war that Congress has not explicitly authorized.
Democrats, who are expected to push for further votes, argue the administration has offered shifting explanations for the campaign and has failed to demonstrate that Iran posed an imminent threat requiring immediate military action.
00:30 Kuwait's Ministry of Defence said on Friday that 67 personnel from the Kuwaiti Armed Forces were injured "amid recent security developments," according to a briefing by the Government Communication Centre in the country.
Saud Al-Atwan, the defence ministry's official spokesman, said the injured personnel are receiving medical treatment and that their conditions are stable. Two cases remain under medical observation, he added.
The reported injuries among soldiers in the Kuwaiti army come amid hundreds of devastating drone and ballistic attacks by Tehran on US bases as well as military and economic infrastructure in Kuwait and other Arab Gulf countries since the start of the US/Israeli war on Iran on Saturday.
The military spokesman also said Kuwaiti defence systems have so far detected and dealt with 212 ballistic missiles and 394 drones launched in attacks targeting the country's airspace during the past days.
Earlier in the evening, the Kuwaiti Army stated that Kuwait Air Defence systems are intercepting missile and drone attacks detected in the country’s airspace.
The loud noises heard in various areas around the country are resulting from Kuwait Air Defence systems’ interception of the missile and drone attacks, the army noted.
23:55 "I call on all parties to uphold international law, protect health facilities, health workers and patients. Peace is the best medicine. Only the brave choose peace," said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the World Health Organization, in a video post on X.
The post comes as the Middle East is engulfed in a American/Israeli war on Iran that has triggered Iranian attacks on neighbouring Arab states before the Israeli army launched massive airstrikes on Lebanon, leaving the region on the brink of a humanitarian and environmental disaster.
23:45 In a post on X, US Senator Bernie Sanders, Democrat, Vermont, an outspoken critic of the US/Israeli war on Iran, said it was "tragic" that a US president would be doing the bidding of an "extremist" Israeli leader who killed tens of thousands in the Gaza war.
23:30 CNN's Frederik Pleitgen encounters more checkpoints than usual and armed personnel on the road to Iran's capital, but sees no signs of panic. Shops are open and stocked, and gas appears readily available with no long lines. CNN is operating in Iran only with government permission.
23:15 Iran’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Alireza Enayati, says his country appreciates Saudi Arabia’s pledge not to allow its airspace or territory to be used during the ongoing war with the US and Israel.
“We appreciate what we have repeatedly heard from Saudi Arabia – that it does not allow its airspace, waters, or territory to be used against the Islamic Republic of Iran,” he told AFP.
23:00 Israeli and US forces are conducting extensive operational coordination during the ongoing military campaign against Iran, with thousands of daily communications between the two sides, according to military and intelligence sources cited by Asharq News.
The sources said Israeli and American commanders are holding between 4,000 and 5,000 coordination calls each day to manage operations across the Iranian theatre. Leaked details about the operational structure indicate that the battlefield has been geographically and operationally divided between the two militaries.
Under the reported arrangement, Israel is focusing its air operations in central and western Iran, targeting ballistic missile systems and facilities linked to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Meanwhile, United States forces are carrying out operations in southern and central Iran, with full responsibility for actions directed against Iranian naval forces.
Since Saturday, the American/Israeli bombing campaign has caused widespread damage to Iranian military and civilian infrastructure, killing more than 1,230 and wounding hundreds, including tens of children.
Six US soldiers were killed in combat.
22:30 Iraqi media reported that an unidentified drone was shot down over the city of Suran in the Kurdistan Region, according to Al Jazeera’s breaking news feed. The circumstances surrounding the drone and its origin remain unclear.
22:10 Israeli media reported a direct hit following a recent rocket attack on northern Israel, Al Jazeera said. Authorities are assessing the impact of the strike and any casualties in the affected areas.
Rocket trails are seen in the sky above the Israeli coastal city of Netanya during a barrage of Iranian missile attacks. AFP
21:55 The United States House is preparing to vote Thursday on a war powers resolution to halt President Donald Trump's attack on Iran, a sign of unease in Congress over the rapidly widening conflict that is reordering US priorities at home and abroad.
It's the second vote in as many days, after the Senate defeated a similar measure along party lines. Lawmakers are confronting the sudden reality of representing the American people in wartime, and all that entails, with lives lost, dollars spent, and alliances tested by a president's unilateral decision to go to war with Iran.
The tally in the House is expected to be tight, but the outcome will provide a clarifying snapshot of political support, or opposition, to the US-Israel military war on Iran and Trump's rationale for bypassing Congress, which alone has the power to declare war.
At the Capitol, the conflict has quickly carried echoes of the long wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and many Sept. 11-era veterans now serve in Congress.
“Donald Trump is not a king, and if he believes the war with Iran is in our national interest, then he must come to Congress and make the case," said Rep. Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
21:45 The United States Department of State announced the suspension of operations at the US Embassy in Kuwait City, citing security concerns amid the escalating regional situation.
In a statement, the department said, “Today, the Department of State announced the suspension of operations at the US Embassy in Kuwait City.” It added that while there have been no casualties among diplomatic staff, “there have been no reported injuries to U.S. personnel,” stressing that “the safety of Americans abroad remains the highest priority of the U.S. Department of State.”
The department also reiterated that the travel advisory for Kuwait remains at Level 3, urging Americans to reconsider travel to the country. “The Travel Advisory for Kuwait remains at a Level 3: Reconsider Travel,” the statement said, advising citizens to review updated guidance and country information on the State Department’s official travel website.
The statement urged US nationals currently in Kuwait to leave the country if possible. “U.S. citizens in Kuwait should depart the country, if they can do so safely, using commercial or other available transportation options,” it said, adding that those unable to leave should “shelter in place.”
Smoke rises from a reported Iranian strike in the area where the US Embassy is located in Kuwait City. AFP
21:30 Hezbollah said it targeted a gathering of Israeli occupation soldiers in Kfar Yuval on Thursday evening. In a statement, the Lebanese resistance group said its fighters fired a rocket-propelled grenade at Israeli forces at about 18:05 GMT (8:05pm local time). Hezbollah said the attack on the Israeli soldiers was carried out in response to continued Israeli aggression against Lebanon.
Meanwhile, Israel’s military chief Eyal Zamir said he had ordered troops to expand the area under Israeli occupation in southern Lebanon as fighting with Hezbollah intensifies. Speaking during a televised press conference, Zamir said Israeli forces are “striking with force, on the front line and deeper in Lebanon,” adding that he had instructed troops “to move forward and deepen the line of control along the border, while establishing positions at key points in southern Lebanon.”
21:20 Yariv Levin, the Israeli minister of interior, confirmed that Tel Aviv had intended to carry out what he described as a "preemptive strike" against Hezbollah before the group launched three rockets against Israel on Monday, but the Lebanese group attacked first.
According to Israeli Channel 12, the decision was discussed during a meeting of Israel’s political-security cabinet, where intelligence agencies warned that Hezbollah was expected to join the confrontation in the coming hours. Ministers debated whether to wait and respond if attacks were carried out or to launch a preemptive strike to neutralize the threat in advance.
Officials said the cabinet ultimately approved a preemptive strike, but Hezbollah launched rockets toward northern Israel at about 1:04am, with one projectile intercepted and two falling in open areas.
The Lebanese resistance group later claimed responsibility for the attack and also launched drones toward the north.
Earlier, Hezbollah deployed its elite fighters to southern Lebanon to confront advancing Israeli occupation troops, according to Lebanese sources cited by Reuters. The fighters belong to Hezbollah’s Radwan force, a special operations unit tasked with blocking Israeli armoured advances in the border region.
Fire blazes erupt from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted Beirut’s southern suburbs, the Haret Hreik neighbourhood. AFP
20:55 Iranian FM Abbas Aragchi said his country has prepared for the war and is ready for a US/Israeli ground invasion.
20:45 The Kuwaiti Army said in its latest statement that the country’s air defences are currently engaging incoming missile and drone attacks. In Statement No. 13, the army noted that the audible sounds reported across various areas of Kuwait are “the result of the interception of missile and drone attacks by the air defences.”
The statement emphasized that the armed forces are actively responding to the aerial threats to protect the country’s airspace.
20:15 An Iranian military spokesman said Iranian forces had fired at the US aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN-72) after it approached Iran’s maritime boundaries. The statement was attributed to a spokesperson for Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters and was reported by the Quds News Network.
File Photo: Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72), Photo courtesy of US Third Fleet.
20:00 The Foreign Ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council and the European Union held an extraordinary meeting to discuss the escalation in the Middle East and “Iran's inexcusable attacks against the GCC countries,” according to a joint statement released after the session.
The ministers “strongly condemned the unjustifiable Iranian attacks against the GCC countries which threaten regional and global security” and called on Iran to “cease its attacks immediately.” The statement reaffirmed the European Union’s “solidarity with the countries of the GCC” and emphasized the ministers’ “commitment to regional stability” and the protection of civilians, along with “full respect of international law, international humanitarian law and the obligation to abide by the principles of the United Nations Charter.”
A large fire and plume of smoke is visible after, according to the authorities, debris from an Iranian intercepted drone hit the Fujairah oil facility, in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates. AP
19:30 Bahrain authorities said a fire at the country’s main oil refinery, sparked by an Iranian missile strike, has been fully contained.
The blaze occurred at a unit of the Bapco Energies facility on the island of Sitra, according to a statement from the National Communication Centre.
Officials reported no injuries and said refinery operations were continuing, while an assessment of the damage was underway.
The refinery, located on Sitra’s east coast south of the capital Manama, is operated by Bahrain’s state oil company Bapco.
18:30 Hezbollah has deployed elite fighters to southern Lebanon to confront advancing Israeli occupation troops, according to Lebanese sources cited by Reuters.
The fighters belong to Hezbollah’s Radwan force, a special operations unit tasked with blocking Israeli armoured advances in the border region.
Sources familiar with the deployments said the fighters had been ordered to join the battle in several areas where Israeli occupation forces were reportedly pushed forward on Wednesday, including the town of Khiyam.
The deployment came after Israel launched massive strikes on Dahiyeh, the Bekaa Valley, and southern Lebanon in the past four days, killing and wounding hundreds of Lebanese civilians.
Radwan fighters had previously withdrawn from the area between the Litani River and the Israeli border per the terms of a US-brokered ceasefire that ended the 2024 war between Israel and Lebanon.
Israel has violated the ceasefire deal, launching hundreds of airstrikes across the country, killing at least 500 Lebanese, and refusing to withdraw from southern Lebanon.
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Tibnit. AFP
17:30 Iran’s health ministry said four healthcare workers have been killed and 28 others wounded since the outbreak of the ongoing war, according to statements carried by Al Jazeera.
The ministry said the casualties occurred amid continued US and Israeli strikes, which it said have affected medical personnel operating in emergency and frontline response roles.
In addition to the casualties, the ministry reported damage to at least 11 hospitals, emergency centres, and ambulances as a result of the attacks. Officials said the strikes have disrupted parts of the country’s medical response infrastructure, raising concerns over the ability of healthcare facilities and emergency services to respond to growing humanitarian needs.
17:00 The Israeli occupation army has issued an evacuation order for all of the residents in Dahiyeh in southern Beirut, who are estimated to be between 300,000 and 700,000.
The Israeli new threats to the civilian population come amid massive airstrikes against Dahiyeh, southern Lebanon, and the Bekaa Valley in the past four days and nights that killed 77 and wounded 527, and forced at least 88,000 people to flee their homes.
16:30 In remarks to Al Arabiya, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said Iran had been subjected to what he described as an illegal attack by the United States and Israel and was acting in self-defence.
Baqaei said Iran “has no enmity or hostility” toward neighbouring countries and has no intention of targeting them.
The spokesman said Iran’s armed forces are “precisely targeting” US bases across the region while respecting the sovereignty of neighbouring states.
He added that Tehran has extended a “hand of friendship” to neighbouring countries and other Islamic states, emphasizing that its actions are defensive in nature.
Baqaei said Iran considers its response to fall within the framework of the right to self-defence under the United Nations Charter, citing Article 51 of the charter.
He said the measures follow attacks launched by the United States and Israel on 28 February, which Iranian authorities say resulted in the killing of several senior figures and civilians, including Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei.
A general view of the aftermath of the Israeli-US strike on homes in Tehran, Iran. Photos courtesy of Quds news.
16:00 The Iranian Tasnim NewsAgency reported that an American two-seat, multi-role strike fighter, an F-15E Strike Eagle, was successfully targeted by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard's Aerospace Force’s new air defence systems in the early hours of Wednesday and crashed along the southwestern borders of Iran.
15:30 A steady stream of Iranians was crossing the border into Turkey on Thursday after the frontier was closed for much of the day before. Most already had links to Turkey.
Elyar Akbari, a 22-year-old from Tabriz, Iran, is a student in Turkey’s western city of Izmir. He cut a visit home short due to the war, but his family stayed behind.
“I don’t believe that Iranians will leave their country,” he said. “Only students or people who already work in Turkey will come for now.”
Kadir Ozel, 40, a Turkish citizen living in Tabriz with his family, crossed to drop off his children, who will stay with their grandmother and uncle in Ankara.
“They were very scared. But I have to go back for work,” he said.
14:40 The Lebanese government said it would ban any activity by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and seek to deport its members from Lebanon.
Information Minister Paul Morcos said the country's cabinet had decided to "prevent any activity" that members of the Iranian Guards "may carry out from Lebanese territory... and to have them detained by the competent judiciary to deport them."
He added that Iranians would now require a visa to enter Lebanon.
Meanwhile, residents of Beirut's southern suburbs fled en masse on Thursday afternoon after an evacuation warning from the Israeli army covering an area home to hundreds of thousands of people.
Massive traffic jams formed on the outskirts of the southern suburbs, which are a strong base for Hezbollah, leaving people unable to evacuate quickly.
14:35 Iran's armed forces denied having launched 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, which also blamed Israel.
"Such actions by the Zionist regime, aimed at disrupting relations between Muslim countries in various ways, are not unprecedented."
14:30 Iran's military said that it had launched a drone attack against a US military site in Kuwait.
"Drone units of the armed force's navy targeted a site of the US forces Camp Udairi in Kuwait using combat drones," the army said in a statement broadcast by state TV.
Camp Buehring, formerly known as Udairi, is a major US military facility in northwestern Kuwait.
14:20 Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had targeted Israel's Ben Gurion airport and an air force base in the area.
"The heavy Khorramshahr-4 missiles carrying one-tonne warheads were launched at dawn today ... toward the heart of Tel Aviv, Ben Gurion airport and the base of the Israeli air force's 27th squadron located at the airport," the Guards said in a statement carried by Tasnim news agency.
14:18 The number of people killed in Lebanon since Israel ramped up its large military offensive on the country on Monday has risen to 77, with 527 people wounded, the Lebanese health ministry said.
On Wednesday, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) and Lebanese officials said 84,000 people have been internally displaced within Lebanon.
14:10 The death toll from the ongoing US-Israeli war on Iran has reached at least 1,230 people, an Iranian government agency said.
13:00 France has allowed US aircraft on some of its bases in the Middle East after US-Israeli strikes on Iran triggered regional conflict, the French military said.
"As part of our relations with the United States, the presence of their aircraft has been temporarily authorized on our bases" in the region, a spokeswoman for the military general staff 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.
President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday said US-Israel military operations in Iran since Saturday had been conducted "outside international law."
But he placed primary blame on the Islamic Republic for the conflict that has since spread to other parts of the Middle East.
Britain's Prime Minister 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."
File Photo: American F-15 fighter jet. Photo: AFP
12:50 Falling debris from an intercepted drone injured six people in the Emirati capital Abu Dhabi, the UAE's media office said.
"Authorities in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi responded to an incident involving falling debris at two locations in the ICAD 2 area, following the successful interception of a drone by air defences.
The incident resulted in six minor to moderate injuries to Pakistani and Nepalese nationals," Abu Dhabi media office said in a statement.
12:40 Iran has not requested military aid from its ally Russia since Israel and the United States began striking the country last week, the Kremlin said.
"In this case, there have been no requests from the Iranian side," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in a daily briefing call.
12:30 Iran’s parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said in a post on X that the United States had suffered “painful damage” from what he described as Iran’s “targeted and effective strikes,” adding that Washington had “no exit plan,” as reported by Reuters.
He said US officials privately acknowledged the situation while publicly making statements aimed at “managing the markets,” and warned that Iran would continue pursuing the “aggressor” until it was punished.
12:15 Italy, Spain, France, and the Netherlands will send naval assets to protect Cyprus in the coming days, Rome's Defence Minister Guido Crosetto told parliament on Thursday, as reported by Reuters.
12:10 Iran's army said it had carried out drone strikes in Israel, including a radar site.
The strikes hit "targets in Tel Aviv as well as Meron radar base" in Israel's north, the army said as quoted by state TV.
11:30 Azerbaijan’s Foreign Ministry accused Iran of carrying out a drone attack on its exclave of Nakhchivan.
The ministry said in a statement that one drone crashed near the airport in Nakhchivan, and another one near a school.
Two civilians were injured, the ministry said.
Azerbaijan “strongly condemns this incident,” the Foreign Ministry said in the statement, adding it “reserves the right to take necessary retaliatory measures.”
The ministry said it summoned the Iranian ambassador to protest.
“Such actions contradict the norms and principles of international law and contribute to increased tension in the region,” it said.
Tehran has not claimed any drone attack on Azerbaijan.
11:00 Britain's Defence Minister John Healey is headed to Cyprus, media reports said, following a drone strike on a UK air base on the Mediterranean island.
Healey would arrive later Thursday, the BBC and the PA news agency reported.
The visit comes after the runway of the Royal Air Force (RAF) base at Akrotiri came under attack by an unmanned drone on Monday.
10:50 China will send its special envoy on Middle Eastern issues to the region to help de-escalate tensions, a Foreign Ministry spokesperson said.
Zhai Jun will travel to the Middle East “in the near future and make active efforts to help de-escalate tensions,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said during a regular briefing in Beijing.
10:40 A second Iranian warship was heading towards Sri Lanka's territorial waters, a day after a US submarine destroyed an Iranian frigate, killing at least 87 sailors, a minister told parliament.
Media minister Nalinda Jayatissa said the second Iranian warship was just outside Sri Lankan waters, but gave no further details.
President Anura Kumara Dissanayake was meeting top officials on Thursday to discuss a response to an Iranian request to enter the safety of the island's waters, official sources said.
10:35 Australia is deploying six crisis response teams and has already sent unspecified military assets near conflict areas in the Middle East to help bring stranded Australians home, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.
Officials from the foreign affairs and trade department are “working around the clock” to handle surging consular requests, Albanese told Parliament.
10:30 Italy will send air-defence assistance to Gulf countries hit by Iranian strikes launched in retaliation for US-Israeli attacks on Iran.
"Italy, like the UK, France and Germany, intends to send aid to the Gulf countries," Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni told RTL 102.5 radio.
"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 Italian soldiers that we must protect," she added.
"And the Gulf is vital for energy supplies for Italy and Europe."
Meanwhile, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said that he couldn't rule out his country's military participation in the escalating war in the Middle East.
10:22 The Israeli military said it identified a fresh round of missiles launched from Iran.
Early Thursday, Iran launched several rounds of missiles at Israel, triggering alerts in several areas and explosions heard in Jerusalem, but there were no immediate reports of casualties.
In contrast, local media in Iran reported a series of blasts in Tehran and its western outskirts.
Vehicles drive along an expressway against the backdrop of smoke rising after a strike on the Iranian capital of Tehran on March 5, 2026. AFP
10:15 Iranian state television said Iran had struck a US oil tanker in the Gulf with a missile.
The ship "was hit by a missile in the north of the Persian Gulf" and "is currently on fire", Iran's Revolutionary Guards said in a statement reported by state television.
The incident, which has not been independently confirmed, came as the Guards said they had "full control" of the Strait of Hormuz, which connects the Gulf to the Indian Ocean and is a vital oil and gas transit route.
The Texas Voyager oil tanker sits anchored off the coast of Chevron's El Segundo Refinery in El Segundo, California. AFP
9:49 Israeli strikes killed six people in two southern Lebanese villages, Lebanese state media reported.
The mayor of a village in the Nabatieh region and his wife were killed in one strike, the National News Agency reported, adding that in a nearby village, a strike killed two children and their parents.
Lebanese state media reported that an Israeli drone strike killed a Hamas official.
The NNA said that 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.
9:44 Explosions echoed over the Qatari capital Doha and Bahrain's Manama, AFP journalists reported.
8:39 Iranian Foreign Minister Abas Araghchi accused the United States of committing an atrocity by sinking an Iranian navy ship off Sri Lanka and warned it would "bitterly regret" the precedent set.
"The US has perpetrated an atrocity at sea, 2,000 miles away from Iran's shores. Frigate Dena, a guest of India's Navy carrying almost 130 sailors, was struck in international waters without warning," he posted on X.
"Mark my words: The US will come to bitterly regret the precedent it has set," he added.
8:15 Iran said it had targeted the headquarters of Kurdish forces in Iraqi Kurdistan, according to Iranian state media, following 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.
08:00 A tanker was hit by a "large explosion" in waters off Kuwait, causing an oil spill, the British maritime security agency UKMTO said.
Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards have said they had "complete control" of the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial chokepoint into the Gulf and one of the world's most vital shipping routes for energy.
"The Master of a tanker at anchor reports witnessing and hearing a large explosion on the port side, then seeing a small craft leave the vicinity off the Gulf state's Mubarak Al-Kabeer area, UKMTO posted on X.
"There is oil in the water coming from a cargo tank, which could have some environmental impact."
Kuwait's interior ministry said the blast happened "outside Kuwaiti territorial waters," at least 60 kilometres (37 miles) from Mubarak Al-Kabeer Port.
Chinese shipping giant Cosco, which operates one of the world's biggest oil tanker fleets, announced it was suspending services to and from Gulf countries from Wednesday, including Kuwait.
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