Jack Fenwick
Political correspondent

British troops at a base in Iraq have come under attack from Iranian drones, BBC News understands.

There were no British casualties in the attack, but some US troops were injured.

The Western base in Erbil, northern Iraq, is controlled by the US but often houses other coalition forces, including British troops.

A British presence has been deployed to the region in recent weeks to take down Iranian drones.

It’s understood that two Iranian drones headed for the base were destroyed with surface-to-air missiles overnight on Wednesday.

An unknown number of projectiles did hit the base, resulting in injuries to US troops, but they are not thought to be serious.

• Earlier, Defence Secretary John Healey confirmed that British forces had intercepted an attack over the US base.

Alice Cuddy
Reporting from central Beirut

Israeli strikes just hit a building less than 500m away from our location in central Beirut.

It followed an Israeli military warning that it would be targeting a building, which it described as being "a facility belonging to the terrorist group Hezbollah".

A warning hit came before the building was struck, sending a plume of grey smoke over the city.

More strikes followed, shaking the windows of the building where we're reporting from.

The IDF issued a warning to residents in Beirut, telling them to evacuate immediately. It specifically warns those in the Bachura neighbourhood.

IDF spokesperson Avichay Adraee posted a map on X with a building near to University Saint Joseph highlighted. He said to those in the building: "You are located near a facility affiliated with the terrorist Hezbollah, which the Israel Defense Forces will act against."

"To ensure your safety and the safety of your family members, you must immediately evacuate the specified building and those adjacent to it, and stay away from them by a distance of at least 300 meters," he added.

Image source, Reuters

In a post shared on Telegram a couple of minutes ago, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says it has carried out a wave of strikes on Beirut.

We're also seeing new images of smoke rising over the city.

Image source, Reuters

US President Donald Trump says Iran's football team is "welcome" to attend this year's World Cup, but adds he doesn't "believe it is appropriate" for them to compete.

In a social media post, Trump says this is "for their own life and safety".

Iran are scheduled to play three group matches in the tournament, which is being held in the United States, Canada and Mexico and gets under way on 11 June.

The team is due to face New Zealand and Belgium in Los Angeles on 15 and 21 June respectively, and Egypt in Seattle on 26 June.

The county's minister of sports and youth Ahmad Donyamali cast the team's participation into doubt when he said on Tuesday: "Given that this corrupt government has assassinated our leader, under no circumstances do we have the appropriate conditions to participate in the World Cup.

"Our boys are not safe, and conditions for participation do not exist."

But, Fifa President Gianni Infantino - a close friend of Trump - said on Wednesday that he had spoken with the president who he said told him Iran was "welcome" to take part in the tournament.

Jonathan Beale
Defence correspondent

More now from Defence Secretary John Healey, who says British forces stationed in Erbil, Iraq shot down two drones overnight, though some did impact and there has been reports of a number of US casualties.

Healey is speaking during a visit to the UK’s military headquarters in Northwood, north-west London, where he has received a briefing on the latest situation on the Middle East.

He was told there is a “definitive link” between Iran and Russia in the way attack drones are being used.

Healey later tells reporters that Iranian drone attacks have the hallmark of the way Russia is attacking Ukraine, adding: “No one will be surprised to believe that Putin’s hidden hand is behind some of the Iranian tactics."

The defence secretary says Putin was the “one world leader” benefiting from the war because of higher oil prices, which he says help the Russian president with a fresh supply of funds for his brutal war in Ukraine.

Jonathan Beale
Defence correspondent

UK Defence Secretary John Healey said he’s been discussing the situation in the Strait of Hormuz with military planners and allies.

He said reports had become clearer that Iran “may have been mining” the Strait.

Healey added the UK still had some “autonomous de-mining assets” in the region.

However, the only Royal Navy mine-hunting ship that was stationed in Bahrain, HMS Middleton, recently returned to Portsmouth for planned maintenance.

Healey said that de-mining any waters was “extremely difficult”. He explained the fastest way of re-opening the Strait of Hormuz was through “de-escalation” in the conflict.

Asked whether Royal Navy warships could be involved in escorting tankers in the region, Healey replied that any potential action in the future would have to be done in close co-ordination with allies because it was a shared international concern.

The Royal Navy Destroyer, HMS Dragon, is currently sailing towards Cyprus with the specific mission of defending the island and the UK base there.

Verified videos show oil tanks on fire at Bahrain airportpublished at 14:43 GMT 12 March

14:43 GMT 12 March

By Peter Mwai

We’ve verified video showing a dark plume of smoke rising from the main airport in Bahrain following a reported Iranian drone strike overnight.

The drone is reported to have hit fuel storage tanks at the airport, causing a huge fire.

We matched the buildings seen in the footage with satellite imagery to confirm it was filmed from the north of the airport, and the smoke lines up with the location of the fuel tanks.

Bahrain’s ministry of interior says the fire in the Muharraq governorate - an area that includes the airport - has now been contained.

Residents were told last night to remain at home “as a precaution” but have been told they no longer need to.

Ghoncheh Habibiazad
Senior reporter, BBC Persian

Image source, Getty Images

The fact that Mojtaba Khamenei has not yet been seen on state media has led to widespread speculation on social media, particularly among the Iranian diaspora, about whether Iran’s new supreme leader has been injured, or even whether he is still alive.

What we know so far is limited.

Iran’s state TV news channel has referred to him as a “veteran of the Ramadan war”, without providing any further confirmation as to whether he has been injured. Reuters has reported that he was “lightly injured”, citing an unnamed Iranian official.

In addition to his father, the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Mojtaba Khamenei’s mother and wife were also killed in the US-Israeli strikes.

We have yet to see him in public, or in videos or photographs on state media, even though it has now been almost four days since he became Iran’s third supreme leader on 8 March.

Iran’s supreme leader is elected indirectly by the Assembly of Experts, a constitutional body consisting of 88 members responsible for both the election and supervision of the supreme leader.

One thing that caught my attention in Mojtaba Khamenei’s first message was his claim that he learned he had become the supreme leader of Iran via the country’s state TV channel.

"I learned about the result of the vote of the esteemed Assembly of Experts at the same time as you and through the Islamic Republic’s television,” Khamenei said in his message, which was read aloud a presenter.

Nick Beake
Europe correspondent reporting from Dubai

Iran is hitting out in many directions to try to damage sectors crucial to the West, targeting oil, shipping and banking. Dubai is one of the places in the firing line.

A drone came down near the international financial district earlier. It didn’t injure anyone, but has provided a symbol for how business and banking here is being impacted by the war.

Tehran says it will hit western banks in retaliation for US-Israeli attacks on Iranian banking.

Citibank has said it is temporarily shutting most of its branches in the United Arab Emirates, with staff now working remotely. Other banks and businesses across the region have taken similar measures already.

There was no alert in Dubai when this morning’s drone flew through - an indication of how some incoming Iranian fire can pass under the radar.

Donald Trump has claimed repeatedly that he’s on the verge of victory but Iran is inflicting pain - financial and otherwise - on the US and its Gulf allies, which find themselves engulfed in a war he started.

Image source, Reuters

Around the same time as the supreme leader's statement was broadcast by Iran, we also heard from Donald Trump, who writes on social media that the US stands to profit from soaring global energy prices.

He says on his Truth Social platform: "The United States is the largest Oil Producer in the World, by far, so when oil prices go up, we make a lot of money.

"BUT, of far greater interest and importance to me, as President, is stoping [sic] an evil Empire, Iran, from having Nuclear Weapons, and destroying the Middle East and, indeed, the World. I won’t ever let that happen!"

Image source, Getty Images

In the last few minutes, a statement purportedly from Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei, who has not been seen in public since succeeding his father, has been read out on state-controlled television.

It includes a vow to continue blocking the Strait of Hormuz and says the regime will "avenge the blood" of those killed in US and Israeli attacks.

Three more civilian cargo ships were attacked in the Gulf earlier, while oil prices hit almost $100 a barrel.

One person was killed on a US-owned tanker off the coast of Iraq, which was reported to have been hit by an unmanned speed boat carrying explosives. Photos show the extent of the damage. Another tanker was attacked while heading to an Iraqi port. Both ships reported fires on board.

A Chinese vessel was struck by an unidentified projectile near the Strait of Hormuz. All crew members have been evacuated

Separately, Iran has continued missile attacks against neighbours including Bahrain, Oman, Dubai and Qatar.

Inside Iran, people living in Tehran have told the BBC that the war is taking a physical toll on their health, while the BBC's chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet writes that the US and Israeli forces are zeroing in on Iran's national infrastructure and security forces.

Elsewhere, US military officials have told Congress the first week of the war cost $11.3bn.

Ghoncheh Habibiazad
Senior reporter, BBC Persian

Mojtaba Khamenei was named as Iran's new supreme leader on 8 March.

He’s the successor to his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed on the first day of the war with the US and Iran, on 28 February.

Since his appointment, he has not been spotted on state TV, and his message was read aloud by the presenter.

Mojtaba is the second son of Ali Khamenei and, although he had long been regarded as one of the frontrunners to succeed him, he has kept a low profile and has been seen as exercising influence from behind the scenes.

In addition to his father, Mojtaba Khamenei’s mother and wife were also killed in the US-Israeli strikes.

Iran's state TV news channel has referred to him as a “veteran of the Ramadan war”, without giving any further confirmation as to whether he has been injured.

Reuters has reported that he was “lightly injured”, according to an unnamed Iranian official.

Mojtaba Khamenei says Iran will not hesitate to "avenge the blood of Iranians" who have been killed.

He says this is especially true in the case in Minab, where a US strike near a school killed 168 people, including around 110 children.

Iran says the school was hit by a US missile. US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth told the BBC's Tom Bateman last week that they are investigating.

The message from Iran's new leader Mojtaba Khamenei is being read by a presenter on Iranian state TV.

In comments translated by BBC Persian, Khamenei says that the "lever of blocking the Strait of Hormuz" should still be used by Iran.

He then says that Iran has a policy of "friendship" with neighbouring countries, but advised them to close American bases, which he says Iran will continue to target.

A statement from Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is currently being read out on state television. It is the first we have heard from the new leader, after he was selected to succeed his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Our colleagues on BBC Persian are listening. We'll bring you the key lines as soon as we get them.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says it has detected Iranian missiles being launched towards its territory.

"The IDF has identified that a short time ago, missiles were launched from Iran toward the territory of the State of Israel. Defense systems are operating to intercept the threat," the IDF says in a statement.

Ghoncheh Habibiazad
Senior reporter, BBC Persian

As the war goes on, some Iranians I've been talking to tell me that the anxiety they have experienced is having physical effects on their bodies.

It’s still very difficult to contact those inside the country, but some manage to connect to the internet momentarily.

“I have been on my period for 10 days straight now. I wanted to go out today but heard the explosions and stayed at home in my bed," says a woman in her 20s currently in Tehran.

"My sleep gets disrupted by explosions, so I usually wake up tired. I sometimes walk around the house."

One man in his 30s says: "I don’t have anything called a routine anymore. I can’t go cycling or running outside.

"Yesterday I finished a one kilometre run inside my flat, just swinging from the bedroom to the hall and the kitchen. I also have back pain from sitting at home all day."

Another man in Tehran, also in his 30s, tells me: “My stomach has been messed up. I have diarrhoea and vomiting. Every time they hit, I get a headache, which happens quite frequently."

The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) have issued an "urgent warning" to those in the southern suburbs of Beirut to evacuate immediately.

In a post on X, Arab media spokesperson Avichai Adraee says the warning applies to the neighbourhoods of Haret Hreik, Ghobeiri, Laylaki, Hadath, Burj al-Barajneh, Tahwitat al-Ghadir, and Chiyah.

He writes: "The IDF reiterates that Hezbollah's terrorist activities compel the IDF to act against it forcefully. The IDF does not intend to harm you."

He tells residents to not return to these neighbourhoods "until further notice".

Satellite imagery 'shows bunker-buster damage' at Iran nuclear-linked sitepublished at 12:48 GMT 12 March

12:48 GMT 12 March

By Alex Murray

New satellite imagery has revealed damage at one of Iran’s major weapons facilities.

The imagery - from US firm Vantor - was captured on Wednesday and shows the Taleghan 2 site at Parchin, which has been previously linked to Iran’s nuclear programme by the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The facility was previously targeted by Israeli air strikes in October 2024 which appeared to have destroyed one building which has since been rebuilt.

According to US think tank the Institute for Science (Isis), the new imagery shows “three large bunker-buster penetration holes entering the top of the facility”.

Isis added the damaged area is where a “suspected high explosive containment vessel suitable for nuclear weapons development-related testing may have been”.

In 2016 the IAEA found evidence of uranium particles at the site, external raising questions about whether there had been nuclear activity there.