Image source, US Central Command

There have been no reports of US casualties or injuries following retaliatory strikes by Iran, according to US Central Command (Centcom), a sub-section of the US military whose coverage area include the Middle East and large parts of Asia.

"Centcom forces successfully defended against hundreds of Iranian missile and drone attacks," it says in a statement. "Damage to US installations was minimal and has not impacted operations."

Iran launched airstrikes targeting Israel and neighbouring countries that host US military installations.

The US used "low-cost one-way attack drones for the first time in combat," the statement adds.

Tinshui Yeung
Live page editor

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has just said that there's growing signs that Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is "gone".

It's not clear exactly what he means.

BBC Verify obtained satellite imagery taken over Tehran this morning which shows significant damage to part of the compound of Leadership House - Khamenei's office in the Iranian capital.

We haven't heard from the supreme leader today, and there's no confirmation yet on whether he's dead or alive.

The closest we've heard about him was during an NBC News interview with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, who said the leader was "alive" as far as he was aware.

We'll bring you any updates as soon as we have them.

Image source, EPA

Netanyahu discusses the attack on the Tehran compound of Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, which we reported on earlier.

There are growing signs "this dictator" is "gone", Netanyahu says.

The Israeli prime minister ends his remarks by calling on the citizens of Israel to listen to safety advice from the country's Home Front Command after suggesting the operation against Iran will continue "as long as necessary".

Netanyahu addresses the Iranian people, saying the strikes will help them "unshackle themselves from tyranny".

He says they have a "once in a generation chance" to overthrow the Iranian regime.

"Take to the streets en masse" and "get the job done", he says.

It is "high time you come together" and "unite for a historic mission", he says.

Image source, GPO

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is speaking now.

Press watch live to follow along at the top of the page. We'll also bring you text updates.

Qatar condemns Iran after missile seen falling on streetpublished at 18:52 GMT 28 February

18:52 GMT 28 February

By Merlyn Thomas and Joshua Cheetham

Verified footage shows a missile appearing to fall uncontrollably, external, possibly after being intercepted, in a residential area of Qatar.

The person filming can be heard saying, "Move to the side, run!" The camera then pans to show dozens of people running away and screaming as the missile falls.

A huge fireball erupts as the missile hits the ground and a dark black plume of smoke follows as people continue running.

The man then briefly turns the camera and says, "it’s just in front of my room" before saying "may God protect us".

Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued a statement, external strongly condemning "the targeting of Qatari territory with Iranian ballistic missiles" and said it considers it "a flagrant violation of its national sovereignty, a direct infringement on its security and territorial integrity" and an "unacceptable escalation".

Iranian officials say at least 85 people have died after an airstrike hit a girls’ school in Minab. That’s according to the semi-official Mehr News Agency, which is quoting a Minab prosecutor.

Earlier, officials said 53 people had been killed. An official also said the school was "targeted by three missile attacks" today.

The BBC has not been able to independently verify this - international news organisations are often refused visas to Iran which severely limits their ability to gather information there.

Ghoncheh Habibiazad
Senior reporter, BBC Persian

Three members of Iran’s paramilitary Basij, a subordinate force under the command of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), have been killed in the West Azerbaijan province, according to the semi-official Mehr News Agency.

The report, citing the PR of the Basij forces in Shahin Dezh, a city in West Azerbaijan, identifies them as “Salim Emami,” “Omid Hasanpour,” and “Eslam Tamjid.”

Blaming Israel and the US for the attack that led to their deaths, the report states that their funerals will take place tomorrow.

Daniel Bush
Washington Correspondent

Vice President JD Vance was in the Situation Room at the White House last night monitoring the US attack on Iran, according to a source familiar with the matter who asked not to be named.

Vance was joined by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Energy Secretary Chris Wright. The group was dialled into a conference line with President Trump and his national security team, who were monitoring the strikes from the president's Florida estate Mar-a-Lago, the source says.

The new detail helps fill in the picture on the administration's planning and execution of Operation Epic Fury, as senior officials in Washington and Florida followed the air strikes unfolding in real time in Iran.

Trump has not spoken further on the strikes after delivering brief remarks earlier announcing that the operation was underway.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement that Trump "monitored the situation overnight at Mar a Lago".

A little earlier, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) put out an urgent alert on its Farsi page on X, warning "all personnel" in an industrial zone in Iran's Isfahan region to "immediately evacuate".

A translation of the post says: "In a few minutes, the Israeli army will attack military infrastructures in this zone".

Residents of Mazraeh, a village in the province, were told to stay inside their homes until the morning, and to avoid approaching the industrial zone after the attack.

Isfahan is home to important nuclear and military-industrial facilities.

Kwasi Gyamfi Asiedu
US reporter

Image source, Getty Images

• Israel and the US carried out airstrikes on Iran in the early hours of Saturday morning. Several key locations have been targeted including the compound of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei
• Over 200 people have been killed in Iran, according to the Iranian Red Crescent

• Iran has retaliated with airstrikes of its own targeting Israeli cities and several neighbouring countries where US forces are stationed. Several airlines have halted flights to the region
• Iranian airstrikes have been reported in Bahrain, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Iraq, and more
• At least four people were injured in an incident at a luxury hotel in Dubai and a civilian was killed by falling debris in Abu Dhabi after a strike "involving Iranian ballistic missiles"
• In an overnight address to the nation, Trump confirmed "major combat operations" and said the US launched strikes to eliminate Iran's missile programme and its navy

• Trump called on the Iranian people to "take over your government" adding that "the hour of your freedom is at hand"
• World leaders have raised serious concerns about the outbreak of conflict and called for a return to diplomatic efforts. The UN Security Council is set to hold an emergency meeting in the coming hours
• In the US, Democrats, along with some Republicans, have called for the Trump administration to seek congressional approval to launch these kinds of attacks

Attack on Iran on entirely different scalepublished at 18:03 GMT 28 February

18:03 GMT 28 February

Sarah Smith
North America editor

Image source, Getty Images

This attack on Iran was launched by the same Donald Trump who promised American voters “no new foreign wars” and railed against previous American attempts at regime change – in Iraq and Afghanistan.

President Trump’s appetite for foreign military intervention has increased since his bombing campaign against Iran last year and the capture of Venezuela’s president last month. No Americans were killed in either of those limited actions.

The attack on Iran is on an entirely different scale. And he is warning of the likelihood of American casualties as a result of this operation, even if the plan seems to be to remove the regime in Tehran without putting American boots on the ground.

Many of his own supporters may feel that this is not what they voted for.

American presidents usually rely on vote in Congress to give them the authority to launch this kind of military offensive. Donald Trump did not consult them.

And the president did not use a more traditional television address to the nation to explain why he felt the need to take action. Instead, he used a short video posted on social media at 02:30 in the morning to inform the American people that he had launched a massive attack against Iran.

Image source, ISNA/WANA/Reuters

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says approximately 200 fighter jets completed "the largest ever military flyover in the history of the Israeli Air Force" earlier today.

Writing on the messaging app Telegram, the IDF says the jets "completed an extensive attack against the missile array and the defense systems of the Iranian terror regime in western and central Iran".

Jets dropped "hundreds of munitions targeting approximately 500 objectives", it adds. It claims to have "severely degraded the offensive capabilities of the Iranian regime".

"The IAF continues to operate in Iran," it adds.

• In the last hour we've seen reports of fresh explosions in Tehran

Ghoncheh Habibiazad
Senior reporter, BBC Persian

Iranian Red Crescent spokesperson Mojtaba Khaledi says that so far 201 have been killed in today's attacks on the country, Iranian outlets reported.

Khaledi says that 747 have been injured, adding that 24 provinces out of Iran's 31 have been hit.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmail Baghaei says he's "not in a position to confirm" whether members of Iran's senior leadership targeted by the US and Israel are unharmed.

Earlier, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told NBC News that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is “alive” as far as he is aware but Iran “may have lost one or two commanders”.

Following reports that Khamenei's offices and residences were targeted, BBC News chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet presses Baghaei to confirm or deny the reports.

"I can tell you that many places, many targets were hit across the country," Baghaei says, claiming more than 150 girls were killed and maimed.

• Iran's state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) earlier reported that dozens of people had been killed in a strike on a girls' school in the country's Hormozgan province

Put to him that it was understood the school was near an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps base, he replies: "That's simply a way of normalising atrocity and atrocious crime."

Other Arab countries have also reportedly been struck by Iran. Baghaei says the US had used those countries to launch aggressive strikes against Iran, adding "we value our friends".

"We are not attacking any country in the region, we have no problem with our Arab neighbours. The only thing we are doing is to conduct an act of self-defence on those [US] bases," he says.

A witness tells BBC Persian a fresh explosion has been heard in western Tehran this evening.

News agency AFP reports its journalists have heard "a series of fresh blasts" in the capital. The agency earlier said the Iranian Fars news agency was reporting that two neighbourhoods in the southern Iranian city of Bushehr - home to a nuclear power plant - were "targeted by missiles".

Iran's state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) is also reporting on new explosions in Tehran.

While the source is not immediately known, it comes after the US and Israel launched joint strikes on Iran earlier, prompting retaliatory strikes from Tehran on targets across the Middle East.

In the last few minutes, the Israeli Air Force has also posted on X, saying it has "launched another airstrike and is attacking missile launch sites and defense systems in central Iran".

Image source, Reuters

After US and Israeli strikes on Iran, apparent Iranian retaliation has been seen across the Middle East - mainly on places that have US military bases, or that are allies of the US:

• In Dubai in the UAE, an explosion was seen at the Fairmont The Palm hotel. Dubai authorities said four people were injured after "an incident occurred in a building in the Palm Jumeirah area"
• The UAE defence ministry also said it intercepted a new wave of Iranian missiles and drones, after it earlier said the country has been subjected to a "blatant attack involving Iranian ballistic missiles"
• In Doha, Qatar, explosions were seen apparently targeting the al Udeid air base, the largest American military base in the region
• A US Navy base in Bahrain was "subjected to a missile attack", according to a statement quoted by the state-run Bahrain News Agency
• Explosions were heard in Kuwait, and the local news agency Kuna said that a drone targeting the international airport caused "minor injuries to several employees" with "limited" damage to a terminal

• Reuters has reported that US air defences shot down a drone over a US military base near Erbil, Iraq
• Jordan - which borders Israel - says that its armed forces shot down two ballistic missiles and that debris fell in various locations
• Israel has also reported a wave of Iranian missiles, with sirens sounding across the country. The Israeli military says Iran seeks to "terrorise civilians and destroy neighborhoods"

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Travelling with the president

Those of us traveling with President Trump this weekend still have not received any word of when, or if, we will hear from him today.

For now, we know that Trump is at his estate in Mar-a-Lago, from where he spoke to Prime Minister Netanyahu earlier and from where he is monitoring the situation in the Middle East.

While I've been pressing the White House for updates, my phone has been constantly buzzing with updates from Dubai, where I lived and worked for nearly six years.

Even longtime expats are finding today's scenes hard to believe: the opulent Palm Jumeirah on fire and drones reportedly striking not far from Sheikh Zayed Road, the city's main thoroughfare.

On the one hand, this is something that Emirati authorities would consider a worst-case scenario. The emirate has long positioned itself as an island of stability for people - and their money - in an often-troubled region.

Much more than Abu Dhabi, Dubai sees itself as perhaps the prime tourist destination in the Gulf, if not the whole Middle East, as well as a crucial travel hub for those going elsewhere.

On the other hand, the emirate has long known that a war with Iran was possible. UAE forces directly fought Iranian proxies in Yemen, and both Dubai and Abu Dhabi have significant US military presence most of the time. The port of Jebel Ali, not far from Dubai's iconic marina, is a frequent stop for US naval vessels in the Gulf.

With that in mind, the UAE's small but highly sophisticated military has invested heavily in aircraft and air defence systems, which have been put on alert in the past, such as after the 2020 US strike that killed IRGC commander Qassen Soleimani.

Explosion at Dubai hotel captured in phone footagepublished at 16:51 GMT 28 February

16:51 GMT 28 February

By Merlyn Thomas and Paul Brown

Verified footage shows the moment the entrance of the Fairmont hotel in Dubai is hit., external

Footage filmed from a building opposite the hotel shows the moment of impact followed by an explosion.

The person filming appears to fall to the floor and moves away from the balcony as a large orange fireball erupts.

Other verified videos shows large smoke plumes rising above the five-star hotel.

Additional footage, filmed from a slow-moving vehicle, shows a large fire burning in front of the hotel on the Palm Jumeirah, Dubai’s man-made archipelago known for its luxury hotels.

Ghoncheh Habibiazad
Senior reporter, BBC Persian

Tasnim News Agency, an outlet affiliated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC, external), reports that the strategic Hormuz Strait - located in the south of Iran between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman - will be closed.

Tasnim quotes "sources" saying that ships are receiving messages from the IRGC saying that no ship is permitted to go through the Strait.

The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) also says they have received multiple reports, external that vessels had received warnings of a closure of the Hormuz Strait.

The Strait is considered to be one of the world’s most significant maritime trade routes and a crucial chokepoint for oil transit. Approximately one fifth of the world’s oil and gas passes through it.