Lorna Gordon
BBC correspondent in Dubai

Within the last few minutes a number of explosions have been heard in Dubai.

The authorities here say their air defence systems are currently responding to a missile threat.

As this attack started we, and everyone else in Dubai, received official alerts on our phones warning us to seek shelter and remain in a safe location.

The alerts which are also sent out in other Gulf states happen more at night than during the day. The authorities here in the UAE say most of the attacks are intercepted.

Dubai authorities say a fire on the oil tanker Al Salmi is under control after a drone strike early this morning.

Here's what we know

• Dubai authorities reported early this morning the Kuwaiti flagged tanker was targeted by a drone, in what the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation described as "a brutal Iranian air strike"
• The tanker Al Salmi was anchored off Dubai Port and fully loaded at the time of the strike, which caused a fire onboard
• While there was some damage to the ship, all 24 crew members are safe and uninjured, Dubai authorities said
• Local firefighters brought the blaze under control after a few hours, and authorities confirmed there was no oil leak as a result of the strike

...and what we don't

• While Iranian media has reported on the strike it does not say who it was carried out by, and Iranian authorities do not yet appear to have acknowledged the attack
• We are yet to see any images or footage of the damaged ship. It's worth noting that under the UAE's cyber-crime laws, photographing, sharing or posting images of sites where missiles or drones have struck is not allowed

Iran is currently striking the United Arab Emirates with missiles and drones, the country's defence ministry says.

In a post on X, it adds that sounds heard across the country are the sounds of interceptions with both ballistic and cruise missiles, and drones.

Image source, Reuters

When will the war end?

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the US-Israel war with Iran is "definitely beyond the halfway point", but he later clarified that was in terms of missions, not time.

Netanyahu added that the war had killed "thousands" of members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and that his country and the US were "close to finishing the arms industry" – wiping out…entire plants and the nuclear programme itself".

Strikes continue across the region

A new wave of strikes have been launched at Tehran, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says, hours after the military identified missiles launched from Iran towards Israel.

Strikes have also continued across the Gulf, including in Dubai where authorities say an oil tanker was set on fire following an Iranian drone strike.

Iranian plan to impose Strait of Hormuz tolls

A parliamentary committee in Iran has approved plans to impose tolls on traffic in the strait, according to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC)-affiliated Fars news agency.

It adds that, under the plans, US and Israeli ships, and other countries that have participated in sanctions against Iran would be barred from moving through the strait.

Rubio says strait will 'reopen one way or another'

Trump, according to the Wall Street Journal, told aides he is willing to end the military campaign against Iran even if the Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed.

Asked for a response, the White House referred to comments made by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio - that the Strait of Hormuz will "reopen one way or another".

In Dubai, a fire broke out after shrapnel fell from a projectile interception shortly before 04:00 local time. Four people were injured in the incident, which happened near to an abandoned house in the Al Badia area, according to the Dubai Media Office.

Meanwhile, a tanker fully loaded with two million barrels of oil was docked in Dubai when it was set on fire after an Iranian drone strike, according to authorities.

In the UAE city of Sharjah, authorities said late last night a drone had targeted the administrative building of the Thuraya Telecommunications Company, adding that no injuries were recorded.

In Saudi Arabia, six houses were damaged by debris from a downed drone but no one was injured, the country's civil defence authority said in a statement.

Kuwait's army has also said on X earlier this morning it is intercepting drone and missile attacks over its territory.

The Israeli military says it has launched a new wave of strikes in the Iranian capital, Tehran.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says the strikes targeted the "infrastructure of the Iranian terror regime".

Authorities in Dubai have confirmed no oil leaked from a tanker set on fire after an Iranian drone strike.

As we reported earlier, the Al Salmi tanker was fully loaded with two million barrels of oil and was docked in Dubai on its way to China, when it was hit in a drone attack and a fire broke out.

The Dubai media office has since confirmed that response teams have "successfully contained the incident involving the Kuwaiti oil tanker in Dubai waters, with no oil leakage and no injuries reported".

Osmond Chia
Business reporter

Image source, Getty Images

Korean Air, South Korea's national carrier, says it is taking emergency action to buffer the impact of soaring jet fuel prices and the economic fallout of the Iran war.

The airline's vice chairman Woo Ki-hong told staff members in an internal memo seen by the BBC that energy prices have more than doubled what is set in the carrier's business plan, resulting in a "growing monthly fuel cost burden".

The organisation will take "internal cost-reduction measures" from April to manage its finances to ensure the airline's stability, a Korean Air spokesperson said on Tuesday.

The average price of jet fuel rose to nearly $200 (£151.45) a barrel on 20 March, more than double what it was in February, according to the latest International Air Transport Association figures.

Crude oil is trading more than 50% higher than before the start of the war, sending jet fuel prices soaring.

Read more here.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says four soldiers were killed and two were injured on Monday, in a new statement published to Telegram.

According to the statement, Capt Noam Madmoni, 22, Staff Sgt Ben Cohen, 21, and Staff Sgt Maxsim Entis, 22, died during combat in south Lebanon.

Two people have also been evacuated to hospital - one soldier was classed as "severely injured", and a reservist was deemed "moderately injured".

The IDF adds that a fourth soldier was killed in the same incident, but his name has not yet been cleared for publication.

Yolande Knell
Middle East correspondent, in Jerusalem

Image source, Reuters

With energy prices soaring, the question of when the Iran war will end is a pressing one.

But speaking to the US channel, Newsmax, Benjamin Netanyahu declined to give a timeline for achieving Israel’s war goals.

After one month, he said the war was "definitely beyond the halfway point" but later clarified he meant in terms of missions, not time.

The Israeli prime minister said the war had killed "thousands" of members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and that his country and the US were "close to finishing the arms industry" – "wiping out… entire plants and the nuclear programme itself".

The Israeli leader again said that regime change was not the goal, but he voiced confidence that the Islamic Republic would "collapse internally".

Power was cut in parts of Tehran early on Tuesday, according to Iranian media.

Tasnim news agency said that power had mostly been restored after being disrupted due to falling shrapnel hitting a substation.

It comes as AFP reports explosions were heard in Iran's capital city.

Image source, Reuters

We reported earlier that Donald Trump has told aides he is willing to end the military campaign against Iran even if the Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed, according to the Wall Street Journal.

We've now had a response from the White House, referring us to comments made by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to Al Jazeera.

Rubio told the broadcaster that the Strait of Hormuz will "reopen one way or another".

He said that once the US has achieved its objectives, and if Iran continues to block the strait, "then they will have to face real consequences, not just from the United States, but from regional countries and from the world".

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says it has identified missiles launched from Iran towards Israel, and that air defence systems are currently operating to "intercept the threat".

An alert has been sent to members of the public, who have been told to enter a "protected space" and remain there until further notice.

Aluminium prices have risen close to their highest in four years after airstrikes on two major Middle Eastern producers over the weekend.

On Monday, the price of aluminium - a metal used in electronics, packaging, construction work and vehicles - on the London Metal Exchange rose by more than 3% at $3,401 (£2,572.35) a metric ton.

The region’s top producer, Emirates Global Aluminium (EGA), said it sustained "significant damage" at its Abu Dhabi site, while Aluminium Bahrain said it was assessing the extent of damage to its facility.

The metal's prices crossed $4,000 a tonne in March 2022 after Russia, a major aluminium producer, invaded Ukraine.

Image source, Getty Images

A Pentagon spokesman has strongly denied a report in the Financial Times that a broker for US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth had attempted to make a "big investment" in military-related companies in the weeks leading up to the Iran war.

"Neither Secretary Hegseth nor any of his representatives approached BlackRock about any such investment," said Sean Parnell, the Pentagon's chief spokesman.

"This is yet another baseless, dishonest smear designed to mislead the public," Parnell wrote on X, demanding an immediate retraction of the claims.

The Financial Times' report was published on Monday, citing anonymous sources.

Hegseth has been a leading figure in the war effort and has frequently led press briefings advocating for the attack on Iran.

Image source, Getty Images

A fire aboard a giant oil tanker that Kuwait says was hit by an Iranian airstrike has been extinguished, Dubai authorities say.

The tanker Al Salmi was docked in Dubai, fully loaded with two million barrels of oil from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, when it was hit with what local authorities described as a drone attack.

In what the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation described as "a brutal Iranian airstrike", there was some damage to the ship and initial fear of an oil spill, but all 24 crew members were reported safe and uninjured.

Dubai authorities sent firefighters to the scene and after a few hours they brought the blaze under control.

The tanker was on its way to Qingdao, China, according to Reuters.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Donald Trump has told aides he is willing to end the military campaign against Iran even if the Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed.

Citing administration officials, the paper reports that the US president and his aides assessed that a mission to force open the key maritime passage would push the conflict beyond his timeline of four to six weeks.

Instead, he is reportedly considering bringing the current fighting to an end, having severely damaged Iran's navy and missile stocks, and will continue to pressure Iran diplomatically to reopen the flow of trade.

The BBC has contacted the White House for comment.

Osmond Chia
Business reporter

Oil prices continued to climb in early trade in Asia on Tuesday.

The price of US-traded oil jumped by 3% to nearly $106 (£80.52) a barrel.

US oil prices closed Monday's trading session above $100 a barrel for the first time since the war on Iran started on 28 February. Its also the highest price of US oil since July 2022.

Brent crude - the global benchmark for oil prices - rose to $115 after gaining by more than 2% on Tuesday.

US President Donald Trump has continued to threaten strikes on Iran's infrastructure if a deal is not reached soon.

The Israeli military says it is investigating two incidents in which UN soldiers "were harmed".

It comes after the UN said three peacekeepers working with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) were killed in the south of the country.

"The incidents are being thoroughly reviewed in order to clarify the circumstances and determine whether they resulted from Hezbollah activity or from IDF activity," the Israel Defense Forces says in a statement on Telegram.

"It should be noted these incidents occurred in an active combat area. Therefore, it should not be assumed that incidents in which UNIFIL soldiers were harmed were caused by the IDF."

Kuwait says Iran has hit one of its giant crude oil tankers that is docked at a Dubai port.

The Kuwait Petroleum Corporation described the incident as "a brutal Iranian airstrike" and reported there was some damage to the ship but no casualties.

The tanker Al Salmi was fully loaded at the time of the strike, which caused a fire onboard.

Dubai authorities said the attack involved a drone and firefighting efforts continued.

All 24 crew members are safe and uninjured, they said.

Initially Kuwait warned of a possible oil spill after the attack, but the UK maritime monitor says: "No environmental impact has been reported".

Reuters reported that the Al Salmi was loaded with two million barrels of oil from Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, according to data from Lloyd's and TankerTrackers. Lloyd's listed the destination as Qingdao, China.

Separately, Kuwait's military said its air defences are responding to "hostile missile and drone attacks", according to the Kuwait News Agency.