Image source, Reuters

A short while ago, Donald Trump posted on social media to repeat his criticism of Nato allies, saying they have "done absolutely nothing to help with" the situation in Iran.

He says the US "needs nothing from Nato", but added this "very important point in time" should never be forgotten.

While Trump has said some countries are willing to help escort ships through the strait, he has yet to publicly identify them.

On 15 March, Trump warned Nato of a "very bad future" if allies did not help open the strait in an interview with the Financial Times.

Speaking at the White House last week, Trump said he had been informed by most Nato allies that they do not want to get involved in the war, a conflict some of them view as illegal.

He posted on social media the same day: "Because of the fact that we have had such Military Success, we no longer 'need,' or desire, the NATO Countries’ assistance — WE NEVER DID!"

Trump then lashed out at Nato again, calling alliance members "cowards" for not wanting "to help open" the Strait of Hormuz, which he described as a "simple military manoeuvre".

Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte has previously said allies were discussing how to handle the strait's effective closure.

Earlier we reported that two people had died in Abu Dhabi after debris fell from an intercepted ballistic missile.

Local officials have now issued an update, saying the two people were of Pakistani and Indian nationality.

The three people injured in the incident were of Emirati, Jordanian, and Indian nationality, the Abu Dhabi Media Office says in a statement.

Ghoncheh Habibiazad
Senior reporter, BBC Persian

A source in east Tehran says they can hear air defences above the Iranian city, but no explosions yet.

Iranian outlets report that air defence has been activated in east Tehran.

As we've been reporting, Israel says it has killed the Iranian naval commander "directly responsible" for blocking almost all cargo traffic through the Strait of Hormuz - Iran is yet to comment.

The waterway has become a central focus of the conflict, here's an overview:

Video shows projectile fired towards fighter jet over Iranpublished at 11:23 GMT 26 March

11:23 GMT 26 March

Image source, X

By Jake Horton and Emma Pengelly

BBC Verify has verified three videos showing what appears to be an attempt to shoot down a fighter jet near the Iranian city of Chabahar on the coast of the Gulf of Oman.

In the footage a projectile is seen heading towards the jet. It is not immediately clear whether the munition struck the aircraft or exploded before making contact.

On Wednesday Iran's state-run English-language news channel Press TV said the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps "successfully targeted" a US F-18 fighter jet.

In response, US Central Command said "no US fighter aircraft have been shot down by Iran". We've contacted experts to ask if the visual evidence available shows whether there was a direct hit or if any damage was caused to the aircraft.

In a follow up social media post, Trump has now branded Iran's negotiators as "very different" and "strange".

He says they are "begging" the US for a deal, adding that their military has been "obliterated" and there is "zero chance of a comeback".

"Yet they publicly state that they are only 'looking at our proposal.' WRONG!!!" he writes on Truth Social.

"They better get serious soon, before it is too late, because once that happens, there is NO TURNING BACK, and it won’t be pretty!" he adds.

For context: On Wednesday, Iran's Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, said the country has “no intention of negotiating for now". He said messages had been “conveyed via friendly countries”, but these exchanges were “neither dialogue nor negotiation, nor anything of the sort”.

Ghoncheh Habibiazad
Senior reporter, BBC Persian

Image source, Tasnim

Alireza Tangsiri was appointed as the commander of the Navy of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in 2018. Previously he had served as the deputy commander of the IRGC navy from 2010.

An X account attributed to him has been active since 10 March this year, with Iranian outlets quoting from the posts on it. In the posts, he has posted several times about the Strait of Hormuz. The account had said that "no vessel associated with the aggressors against Iran has the right to pass through".

Tangsiri is an outspoken commander, having made several statements against the US and Israel in the past.

Back in 2019 he had threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz if Iran's oil exports were disrupted.

Tangsiri was sanctioned by the US Treasury along with other IRGC commanders in 2019 after Iran shot down a US surveillance drone near the strait.

Israel says it has killed Tangsiri - Iran has not yet commented.

US President Donald Trump has posted on social media to again criticise Nato countries and say the US does not need its help with the war in Iran.

He says: "NATO NATIONS HAVE DONE ABSOLUTELY NOTHING TO HELP WITH THE LUNATIC NATION, NOW MILITARILY DECIMATED, OF IRAN. THE U.S.A. NEEDS NOTHING FROM NATO, BUT 'NEVER FORGET' THIS VERY IMPORTANT POINT IN TIME!"

Israel says it has killed the commander of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC)’s Navy, Alireza Tangsiri.

Defence Minister Israel Katz says Tangsiri was "directly responsible for the terrorist act of bombing and blocking the Strait of Hormuz", and has been "blown up".

He adds that a number of other "senior Navy command officials" have also been killed.

Iran has not yet commented.

Kuwait's army has released footage of thick black smoke rising at Kuwait International Airport the day after a drone attack struck a fuel tank.

There were no casualties in the strike, but our South Asia correspondent writes that the incident was a reminder that major infrastructure is still at risk in the Gulf.

Kuwait's defence minister visited the airport on Thursday morning to assess the site, Kuwait's army says in a post on X, alongside images of his visit.

Image source, Kuwait Army

Jemma Crew
Business reporter

The UK is forecast to experience weaker growth and higher inflation due to the impact of the war in the Middle East, according to the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

It means this year the UK is expected to have the second-highest inflation rate among the G7 group of advanced economies - at 4%, the OECD says.

The body has also downgraded forecasts for many of the world's biggest economies due to the US-Israel war with Iran.

It adds that the the reduction of oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz is "raising costs, weighing on demand and adding to inflationary pressures".

Read more from the OECD's assessment here.

Gabriela Pomeroy
Live reporter

Image source, Lana Halabi

As airstrikes continue across Lebanon, Lana Halabi, owner of the Halabi Bookshop in Beirut, says her shop is closing earlier than usual.

"Bombing starts in the evening, and some of our staff had to leave their homes in areas under evacuation order."

"But people are still buying books," she tells me in a conversation on Wednesday.

Halabi says it's hard to run a business during wartime when schools aren’t always open and she has to take care of her toddler. One recent night "the warplanes were so low it felt like they were right outside my window".

But Halabi wants to keep the shop open.

"Some of our customers lost their homes but they still want books," Halabi says. "We try to recommend books that can help them forget about the war - novels and also politics books to help them understand what’s happening."

Image source, NetBlocks

A government-imposed digital blackout in Iran has entered its 27th day, according to internet monitoring group NetBlocks.

NetBlocks says in its daily update that Iran has been isolated from the global internet for 624 hours and that "rights monitors, independent media and the public are sidelined as access is granted only to those on a state-approved whitelist".

Despite the internet blackout, which began on 28 February when the US and Israel began strikes, the BBC has been able to speak to some Iranians about the war.

Earlier, a young Iranian man told the BBC of his fears of being made to do military service, and about how he recently lost a close friend in an air strike.

Ghoncheh Habibiazad
Senior reporter, BBC Persian

Iranian outlets have reported that the parliament (Majlis) is seeking to approve a law to levy tolls for passage through the Strait of Hormuz.

The head of the parliament’s construction committee has said that a "draft has been prepared but has not reached the stage of a full bill" and the aim is, they say, to "provide security for vessels passing".

It hasn’t been specified yet how much the possible tolls are going to be.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said last night in a televised interview on state TV that Iran has so far accepted requests of vessels passing by countries such as "China, Russia, Pakistan, Iraq, and India".

He said Hormuz from Iran’s perspective "is not completely closed but closed to enemies".

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

More now from Defence Secretary John Healey, who has been speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

On the Strait of Hormuz, he says the UK is helping bring nations together and "create options that are beyond the military".

Asked if he knows what the US is planning to do to end the war, he says: "The plans are being developed. There isn't the granular detail at the moment."

He says what is important at this stage is a commitment from many countries saying they are ready to contribute to options that could lead to the strait being opened to more shipping.

"You have got a president, the US and Iran now having conversations, which have got to be welcome. Because if we are going to bring back shipping to the strait, if we are going to bring back stability to the region, then we have got to have a path to end this conflict," he says.

The Israeli military says it has detected further missiles fired from Iran towards its territory - the sixth time in the past four hours it has reported incoming strikes.

Earlier, Israel's emergency services said six people were transferred to hospital after a missile was launched towards the centre of the country.

As our previous post said, US-Israeli strikes on Iran, and Israeli strikes on Lebanon, are continuing. Meanwhile, apparent attacks from Iran are also being reported across the region:

• Two people were killed by falling debris from an intercepted missile in Abu Dhabi in the UAE - our correspondent Azadeh Moshiri sent this analysis from Dubai
• Earlier, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait said their respective air defence systems intercepted drones - the UAE attributed those attacks to Iran, while Saudi Arabia and Kuwait did not say where the drones came from
• Bahrain ordered residents to shelter in the early hours of Thursday and announced there was a fire because of "Iranian aggression"
• In Israel, six people were taken to hospital after an attack on the city of Kafr Qasim

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Reuters

Donald Trump says talks about ending the war continue - while the Iranians insist negotiations are not taking place. What's more clear is that attacks across the region are still ongoing.

In Iran, Israel announced early on Thursday that it launched a "wide-scale" wave of strikes against the city of Isfahan and "several" other areas.

The United States Central Command reported overnight that aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln is continuing to launch operations against military targets inside Iran.

In Lebanon, the state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported late on Wednesday that two people had been killed and eight others injured by Israeli strikes on Harouf, in southern Lebanon.

In the early hours of Thursday the health ministry announced that a further eight had been injured after strike on the nearby town of Arabsalim, reports NNA.

UK Defence Secretary John Healey now tells the BBC the UK is working to protect British people in the Middle East, as well as bases and allies.

He says British pilots have racked up over 1,000 hours protecting allies and British interests in the region.

On Russia, he says it has been providing training to Iran on types of drones and electronic warfare.

"Putin wants us to be distracted from what he is doing elsewhere. We won't let him," he says.

UK Defence Secretary John Healey has been speaking to our colleagues on BBC Breakfast. He says there is an "axis of aggression" between Russia and Iran.

He announces that the latest defence intelligence shows that, ahead of the conflict in the Middle East, Russia was sharing intelligence and providing training to Iran.

He adds that the "hidden hand of Putin" is in Iran.