Jessica Parker
Reporting from Cyprus

As Jonathan Beale reported earlier, a British warship is expected to head to the eastern Mediterranean next week, after a British base in Cyprus came under attack.

Here on the island, people didn’t expect to find themselves in focus over a sudden, escalating war in the Middle East. But the drone strike on RAF Akrotiri has left people - Cypriot and British alike - feeling exposed.

We’ve met taxi drivers who refuse to go to the Akrotiri peninsula, while British families, who’ve had to leave RAF Akrotiri (or ‘Aki’ as it’s known) are waiting to hear if and when it will be safe to go back.

For now, they are living in temporary accommodation.

It’s also fair to say that not everyone in Cyprus is alarmed - daily life largely goes on. But this is an island on alert.

Image source, Reuters

Air dominance gives US freedom to deploy larger bomberspublished at 16:00 GMT 4 March

16:00 GMT 4 March

Chris Partridge
BBC News weapons analyst

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's claim that "more and larger waves are coming" tallies with an earlier assessment given by Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of US Central Command which controls American operations in the Middle East.

"Our B-2 bombers and B-1 bombers have executed uncontested surgical strikes against multiple missile facilities deep inside Iran," he said.

"And then just last night a B-52 bomber force struck ballistic missile and command & control posts."

So with Iran’s air defences now seemingly completely down, and its air force redundant, the need for stealth aircraft reduces.

This means larger bombers - specifically the B-52 with its greater payload - can strike more targets deeper into Iranian territory with impunity.

Iran has responded with more than 500 ballistic missile attacks, Cooper said.

We don’t know the exact number Tehran has - but a senior US General in 2022 put it at more than 3,000 - and that excludes the country’s cruise missile capability.

New satellite imagery shows extensive damage in Tehranpublished at 15:49 GMT 4 March

15:49 GMT 4 March

By Paul Brown

BBC Verify has reviewed satellite imagery from Tehran showing extensive damage to key buildings across the Iranian capital.

The imagery, captured by intelligence firm Vantor, shows strikes have been carried out on government facilities such as the intelligence ministry and presidential complex, which has a large plume of smoke visible rising from it.

There are also signs of extensive damage to the Islamic Republic Revolutionary Guard's headquarters in the north of the city, where several buildings have been flattened or damaged.

As well as government and military sites, the imagery also shows damage in the vicinity of Gandhi hospital in northern Tehran, where a crater is visible and a large transmission tower appears to have collapsed.

On Monday we verified video showing the apparent evacuation of children from the hospital, with considerable damage evident to the building's main facade.

Orla Guerin
Senior international correspondent, northern Iraq

Image source, Matthew Goddard/BBC

Iran is stepping up its attacks on Kurdish Iranian opposition groups at their bases in northern Iraq - amid speculation that Donald Trump wants these groups to join the fight inside Iran.

We have been to the scene of attacks at bases belonging to two separate opposition groups.

One base was hit by an Iranian ballistic missile at around 11:00 local time, injuring four Kurdish Peshmerga fighters. One died later from his injuries.

At the scene the missile had gouged a hole in the ground. One building had been crushed, and we saw rubble and twisted metal strewn over a wide area.

At another base - of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (KDPI) - we saw the charred aftermath of a double drone strike yesterday, which we were told injured one civilian.

A senior political leader of the KDPI told us he believed that the Kurds would be fighting in Iran soon, but did not give an exact timeline. He would not comment on reports that President Donald Trump has spoken to the KDPI leader in recent days.

A fighter called Hassan, 25, armed with an AK 47, said he was eager to go to Iran to fight for freedom and for his nation.

"We are closer than ever," he told us.

Image source, Matthew Goddard/BBC

James Waterhouse
Reporting from the Turkey-Iran border

Image source, Maarten Lernout/BBC

The Iranian flag at the Razi border crossing in Iran, into Turkey, has been replaced with a black one.

This is presumably to mark the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Image source, Maarten Lernout/BBC

Image source, Reuters

We're seeing photos of people near an Iranian missile, which has fallen in Qamishli, a city in north-eastern Syria, near Turkey, according to the Turkish defence ministry.

It's not known exactly when the missile came down. But earlier, Turkey said Nato air defences shot down an Iranian missile heading to their air space.

Image source, Reuters

Azadeh Moshiri
South Asia correspondent

It’s difficult to reach anyone in Iran right now amid internet blackouts, but one resident in his forties managed to send messages today.

Amir is not his real name - he has asked us to conceal his identity as he fears reprisals from the Islamic regime for speaking to media.

The moment he heard the bombing in Tehran, he fled the capital. He tells me he feels hopeful for the future, because until now he felt “locked under Khamenei’s rule”.

“But I fear a longtime war which destroys Iran’s infrastructure," he says.

Amir says younger Iranians he’s spoken to the last few days are worried about the Islamic regime surviving the war. “They fear the aftermath should they live again under the mullahs' rule. It feels unimaginable for them and I understand that feeling”.

He adds: “They want a revolution”.

His older friends have other concerns and hope the war ends soon. “They earn money, they’re responsible for their families. They hope for change, but they’re afraid of a long war.”

The Pentagon has released footage of the moment a US torpedo struck an Iranian naval ship in the Indian Ocean.

Earlier, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said the US sank "an Iranian warship that thought it was safe in international waters".

It's thought around 180 people were on board the Iris Dena - 32 have been rescued, and Sri Lankan authorities tell the BBC 80 bodies have been found so far.

The Israeli Air Force says it has dropped more than 5,000 munitions on Iran since the beginning of the conflict on Saturday.

In an update posted on social media, it says its particular emphasis is on the Tehran area.

Meanwhile, the Israel Defense Forces says it identified missiles launched from Iran towards Israel a short while ago.

In a post on X, it adds that defence systems are operating to intercept the threat. The public was subject to a shelter notice, but this has now been lifted.

Hegseth wrong to say 'first torpedo sinking since WW2'published at 14:57 GMT 4 March

14:57 GMT 4 March

By Tom Edgington

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told reporters that a US submarine sank an Iranian warship in the Indian Ocean with a torpedo.

He claimed it represented “the first sinking of an enemy ship by a torpedo since World War Two”.

If confirmed, it would be the first time since 1945 that an American submarine has sunk an enemy ship this way.

However, there have been occasions where other nations have sunk enemy ships with torpedoes.

During the Falklands War in 1982, Argentina's only cruiser - the General Belgrano - sank in the South Atlantic after being struck by two torpedoes fired by a British nuclear-powered submarine.

Another sinking occurred in 1971, after Indian frigate INS Khukri was torpedoed by a Pakistan submarine, external.

Image source, PA Media

The bodies of 80 people on board the Iranian ship that was sunk in the Indian Ocean have been found, Defence Ministry Secretary Air Vice Marshal Sampath Thuyyakontha tells BBC Sinhala.

Daniel Bush
Washington correspondent

US allies hoping for a quick end to the war with Iran will be dismayed by the latest update on Operation Epic Fury from senior administration and military officials.

The war is “far from over,” Gen Dan Caine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters on Wednesday at a briefing alongside Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth.

Caine didn’t lay out a specific timeline for exactly how long the military campaign might continue. But he also said that the US planned to strike “progressively deeper into Iranian territory”.

The comments followed statements from President Donald Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier this week that the US has not delivered its hardest blow to the Iranian regime.

The president and other advisers have offered a wide range of reasons for attacking Iran. But they have consistently signaled the war won’t be short, and their updates this week suggest nothing has changed.

What the administration hasn’t addressed is how a protracted conflict will impact the rest of the region — and its potential political fallout back home.

Polls show the war is broadly unpopular in the US. The longer it continues, the more damaging it might be to the White House and Republicans heading into the midterm elections.

Strait of Hormuz traffic down by around 90%, data showspublished at 14:22 GMT 4 March

14:22 GMT 4 March

By Kayleen Devlin and Joshua Cheetham

Ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz is continuing to reduce, with many gas and oil tankers reluctant to risk coming under Iranian attack while transiting the vital waterway.

Claire Jungman, from energy intelligence company Vortexa, says an average of 24 tankers a day transited the waterway between January and the war breaking out.

Maritime intelligence firm Kpler has told BBC Verify that vessel movements through the strait dropped by around 90% between 2 and 3 March, compared with the average for 21 to 27 Feb.

The sharp decline comes as major maritime insurers have pulled back or cancelled the war-risk coverage for ships operating in the Gulf, making passage through the narrow strait - which carries roughly a fifth of the world’s traded oil - significantly more hazardous.

In the past 24 hours, BBC Verify has identified at least two cargo vessels whose tracking data indicates they travelled east to west through the Strait of Hormuz into the Gulf.

Recently, the signal of onboard trackers for a number of vessels - including one flagged to India - have disappeared or have shown evidence of being jammed.

Image source, MarineTraffic

Image source, US pool

We've just heard from the US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine.

Speaking from the Pentagon in Virginia, they gave an update on the US operation against Iran.

• Hegseth said the US military had sunk "an Iranian warship" in the Indian Ocean, with a torpedo. He didn't name the ship, but it follows earlier confirmation from the Sri Lankan navy that it rescued 32 people after a distress call from the Iranian Iris Dena, with around 140 people on board currently missing
• The Iranian regime "are toast", declared Hegseth, who said that the US was "winning, decisively, devastatingly and without mercy"
• He suggested more military action was imminent, stating that "more and larger waves are coming" - this was echoed by Caine who announced that the military would "now begin to expand inland, striking progressively deeper into Iranian territory"
• Hegseth also says Iran tried "to kill" Donald Trump, telling reporters that the US "hunted down and killed" the "leader of the unit who attempted to assassinate" the president

• Asked about the bombing of a girls school in Minab in Iran, Hegseth said that the US was "investigating" and refused to be drawn on if there was intelligence about which country's munition had hit the school

Jonathan Beale
Defence correspondent

We can now bring you new lines on the UK response to the US-Israeli war with Iran, via western officials.

• HMS Dragon, a UK warship, is expected to sail from Portsmouth next week. It has just come out of maintenance and was earmarked to carry out a different mission before yesterday's decision to send her to the eastern Mediterranean
• Dragon is currently being loaded with ammunition in Portsmouth but is not expected to sail towards Cyprus this week
• Two Royal Navy Wildcat helicopters, armed with Martlet missiles capable of shooting down drones, are expected to arrive in Cyprus separately and sooner
• British military experts have been sent to the Middle East region to provide allies with advice on air defences. The experts have knowledge and experience gained from the war in Ukraine
• Officials would not say in which countries, but said multiple nations in the region had made requests for the assistance
• Western officials say the Shahed-type drone which landed in RAF Akrotiri earlier this week was not fired from Iran. Officials would not say where the missile originated from
• The US Air Force has not yet carried out any bombing missions from British bases, following the prime minister's decision to give purely defensive missions a green light
• A western official said, so far, US bombers have not used Diego Garcia or RAF Fairford - but said the UK was ready to accept them. The official said he expected them to arrive within the next few days
• Western officials say they are starting see a decline in Iranian missiles fired. One official assessed that Iran may have several more days of stocks - based on its current firing rates. But officials also said a recent drop in strike rates may signal that Iran is trying to preserve its stockpiles

Image source, Reuters

We're beginning to get more details of the Iranian navy ship that sank off the coast of Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka's deputy foreign minister tells local TV that at least 80 people were killed after the strike in the Indian Ocean, Reuters news agency reports.

A spokesperson from Sri Lanka's navy earlier said, according to the documentation of the ship, 180 are believed to have been on board.

Earlier, Sri Lanka's navy confirmed that it rescued 32 people after it received a distress call from Iranian navy ship "Iris Dena".

If Sri Lanka's deputy foreign minister's and the navy spokesperson's figures are correct, that leaves around 68 people unaccounted for.

We're continuing to bring you lines from the US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who has just finished speaking to reporters at the Pentagon, alongside US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Dan Caine.

"Iran tried to kill President Trump", Hegseth said, and "President Trump got the last laugh".

He said that on Tuesday, the US "hunted down and killed" the "leader of the unit who attempted to assassinate President Trump".

In 2024, the US government brought charges against an Afghan national in connection with an alleged Iranian plot to assassinate Trump before he was elected that year.

The Department of Justice alleged that Farhad Shakeri, then 51, was tasked with "providing a plan" to kill Trump.

The US government said then that Shakeri was believed to be in Iran.

In a criminal complaint filed in Manhattan court, prosecutors alleged that an official in Iran’s Revolutionary Guard directed Shakeri in September to devise a plan to surveil and kill Trump.

Hegseth is asked by the BBC's State Department correspondent Tom Bateman if there is any more information he can give on the bombing of a girls school in Minab, which Iran says has killed at least 153 people including many children.

"All I can say is that we're investigating that," says Hegseth.

"We of course never target civilian targets but we're taking a look and investigating that."

Pressed by Bateman on if there's any clarity on whose munition it was that struck the school, Hegseth replies that "we're investigating".

Image source, Pool

Hesgeth praises Israel and says their part in the war is being executed with "unmatched skill and iron determination".

He says fighting alongside such a capable ally is a "breath of fresh air".

Hegseth claims this is "bold action" from President Trump putting "America first".

"Four days in, we have just begun the fight," he says.

Tom Bateman
US State Department correspondent, reporting from the Pentagon

This is a chest-thumping, openly belligerent statement by Hegseth.

His intention is to try to project the image of an overwhelming American military force - along with Israel - that is reducing the entire Iranian military to nothing.

We will "control Iran and will control it soon" says Hegseth of the US and Israeli combat force. He says they’ll have total aerial superiority within days.

Characteristically, he's going for the toughest rhetoric imaginable to try, it seems, to suggest the only option for Iran is to surrender or for the emergence of leadership who will submit to Trump's will.