Emily Wither
Reporting from Van on the Turkey-Iran border

Turkey has deployed six F-16 fighter jets and air defence systems to Northern Cyprus, to help bolster the security of the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, the Turkish Defence Ministry has announced.

Turkey, a Nato member, has been keen to remain a neutral party in this war - maintaining close ties with what remains of the regime inside Iran, and US President Donald Trump.

Over the weekend, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer there may still be ways to create the conditions for dialogue with Iran.

• Turkish troops have occupied Cyprus's northern third since invading in 1974. Turkey is the only country that recognises the Turkish Cypriot state, and has criticised European deployments to Cyprus - warning it could pull the island into the conflict

Image source, Reuters

Nick Edser
Business reporter

London’s FTSE 100 share index has dropped 1.4% in the first couple of minutes of trade, as investors react to the surge in oil prices.

Earlier, stock markets in Asia fell sharply, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 index closing down by more than 5%.

In South Korea, the Kospi index sank by more than 8% at one point, triggering a 20-minute halt to trading. The so-called circuit breaker is a mechanism designed to curb panic selling. The Kospi eventually closed down 6%.

Abu Dhabi authorities say one person suffered minor injuries, and another had moderate injuries, after debris fell in two locations.

This happened after air defence systems intercepted incoming threats, according to the Abu Dhabi Media Office.

Earlier, the UAE Ministry of Defence said it responded to missile and drone threats from Iran.

Image source, Reuters

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Bahrain's state-owned energy company Bapco says it has declared force majeure, after its operations were disrupted by war in the Middle East and a recent attack on its refinery.

Declaring force majeure allows a company to be excused from contractual obligations when an extraordinary event happens that is beyond its control.

As we've been reporting, the benchmark oil price earlier passed $100, as attacks across the region reduce supply - and make transporting oil to market much harder and more expensive.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has just issued an urgent warning to people in Lebanon, including in the southern suburbs of Beirut.

Spokesperson Avichay Adraee says that in the coming hours, IDF will "act forcefully against the terrorist infrastructure belonging to the Al-Qard Al-Hassan Association".

Israel says AQAH finances Hezbollah’s military activities - something the group denies. AQAH says it only provides small, interest-free loans to ordinary Lebanese people.

Image source, EPA

Tinshui Yeung
Live reporter

Good morning from London. Here’s what you need to know if you're just waking up:

• The price of crude oil rose above $100 (£75) a barrel for the first time since 2022 - Donald Trump says it’s a "very small price to pay" for world peace
• UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves will join an emergency meeting of G7 finance ministers this afternoon to discuss the economic impact of the war, including oil prices. South Korea has capped petrol prices for the first time in 30 years
• Iran's Assembly of Experts has chosen Mojtaba Khamenei to replace his father, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as the country's new supreme leader
• Explosions continue to be heard across Gulf states, with at least 32 injured in Bahrain during an Iranian drone attack, state media says

• The Israel Defense Forces says it carried out a further "wave of strikes" against Iran overnight, targeting missile sites and other regime "infrastructure" - it says it carried out "approximately 3,400 strikes" on Iran last week

• In an overnight Iranian strike on Israel, a woman was hit by flying debris and suffered moderate injuries, according to Israel's emergency service
• A seventh US service member has died in the war - they were injured in Saudi Arabia on 1 March

Petrol cost likely to rise as oil price surgespublished at 06:37 GMT 9 March

06:37 GMT 9 March

Faisal Islam
Economics editor

Image source, Reuters

Last week, the markets had been relatively relaxed about the seeming nightmare scenario for millions of barrels of crude and liquefied gas to be trapped in the Gulf, with tankers unable or unwilling to transit the Strait of Hormuz.

But the escalations over the weekend, alongside scenes of destruction of energy infrastructure both in Iran and across the Gulf, saw the markets take rapid fright.

The question now is where does this go? Some analysts argue that if the shutdown in the Strait lasts until the end of March, record oil prices above $150 a barrel could occur.

The existing rise is likely to further increase petrol prices, and important derivative products such as jet fuel and vital precursors for fertilisers.

The physical supplies from the Gulf are mainly consumed in Asia. Already, however, there are signs that Asian consumers are bidding up prices for US gas, with some tankers originally heading for Europe turning around in the mid Atlantic.

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent

UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves will participate in an emergency meeting of G7 finance ministers this afternoon to discuss the economic impact of the US-Israel war with Iran, including the rising price of oil.

The meeting will take place virtually and will be chaired by France, who currently hold the rotating G7 presidency. It will begin at 13:30 UK time.

Image source, Anadolu via Getty Images

As we've been reporting, the benchmark oil price passed $100 a barrel earlier for the first time since 2022, although has dipped slightly under since then.

Now, the Financial Times reports that G7 finance ministers will hold an emergency meeting on Monday to discuss a possible joint release of oil reserves to tackle the surge in prices.

The oil reserves are co-ordinated by the International Energy Agency (IEA), with 32 members of the group holding strategic reserves as part of a collective emergency system designed for oil price crises.

Three G7 countries, including the US, have so far expressed their support for a possible joint release, according people familiar with the talks, the FT reports.

Ian Tang
BBC Monitoring

Image source, Charly Triballeau via Getty Images

The Chinese government's special envoy for Middle East affairs Zhai Jun has visited Saudi Arabia as part of his mediation of the US-Israel war with Iran, saying Beijing is willing to work with Riyadh to make "unremitting efforts to maintain peace and stability in the Gulf region".

Zhai, who described China as a "good friend and partner of Saudi Arabia", is holding talks with Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Secretary General Jasem al-Budaiwi.

In the meeting with Prince Faisal, external on Monday, Zhai expressed "deep concern over the current tensions in the region" and said that the sovereignty, security, and territorial integrity of the Gulf states should not be violated and "any attack on innocent civilians and non-military targets should be condemned".

Zhai also reiterated Beijing's call of "an immediate stop to military operations".

Barbara Plett Usher
Reporting from Doha

Bahrain is reporting the highest number of casualties in a single strike on the Gulf states since the war began.

Its Health Ministry says the drone attack injured 32 civilians, including four children, the youngest of whom is two months old

At least 10 people have been killed across the Gulf so far, most of them security personnel or foreign workers. Qatar, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia also reported new attacks overnight.

Riyadh said it intercepted and destroyed two waves of drones heading towards a major oilfield. An earlier drone strike hit the US embassy and the State Department has now ordered non-essential government employees to leave the country.

Officials in Iran have warned that they could broaden attacks on regional infrastructure if Israeli and US strikes on their own facilities continued.

Image source, Getty Images

Donald Trump is "not happy" with Iran's appointment of Mojtaba Khamenei as its new supreme leader, according to a programme on Fox News.

Anchor Brian Kilmeade says he spoke to the president after the announcement, who told him: "I am not happy."

Kilmeade did not provide further details of the conversation and Trump has yet to comment publicly.

In a sign of how soaring energy prices are impacting major economies in Asia, South Korea says authorities will cap domestic fuel prices for the first time in nearly 30 years.

Speaking at an emergency cabinet meeting, President Lee Jae Myung said the government would “swiftly and decisively implement” a maximum price system on petroleum products.

The country is heavily reliant on imports for almost all of its energy, raw materials and agricultural products.

US President Donald Trump says a decision on when to end the war with Iran will be a "mutual" one he will make with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to a report by the Times of Israel.

Trump, who was speaking in a phone interview, said the pair had "been talking", adding that he would "make a decision at the right time".

Asked whether Israel could continue the war against Iran if the US decided to stop its strikes, Trump declined to entertain the possibility, adding: "I don't think its going to be necessary".

When asked about Mojtaba Khamenei being named as the country's new supreme leader, Trump also declined to comment, saying: "We'll see what happens".

Trump has previously made his opposition to Mojtaba known, saying: "Khamenei's son is unacceptable to me".

Peter Hoskins
Business reporter, Singapore

Image source, Andalou via Getty Images

Global oil prices have continued to soar above $100 (£75.11) a barrel as the escalating US-Israeli war with Iran fuels fears of prolonged disruption to shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.

By mid morning in Asia, Brent crude was almost 24% higher at $114.74, while Nymex light sweet was up by more than 26% at $114.78.

About a fifth of the world's oil supply is usually shipped through the Strait of Hormuz. But traffic through the narrow passage has all but halted since the war started a week ago.

Major disruption to energy supplies from the region threatens to push up prices for consumers and businesses around the world.

• Read more on this story here

Ghoncheh Habibiazad
Senior reporter, BBC Persian

Image source, Getty Images

A little earlier I asked three residents of the capital, Tehran, all men in their 30s, how they feel about the appointment of Mojtaba Khamenei as the supreme leader of Iran.

It is very difficult to get in touch with people inside Iran amid the internet outage, but some are able to connect momentarily. I have kept the details as vague as possible to protect their identities.

“Even the thinnest of chances for a change are no more within the system. The assembly could not select anyone else to be this close to the former leader. So everything will remain much the same, they don’t even need to change their chants to support the name”, one man said.

“He’s vengeful. They have killed his father and he won’t let go. If he can’t get revenge from the US, he will get his revenge from us ordinary people. I hope that Israel and the US will target him”, said another man.

“This means that nothing is going to change. It’s the same path, even worse. Anyhow, I don’t think that the situation will continue. I don’t think that he will last”, said the third person.

Nick Marsh
Asia Business Reporter, Singapore

South Korea's stock market operator has issued a circuit breaker on the country's main stock exchange, after its main index, the Kospi, dropped by 8%.

The Korea Exchange ordered a 20 minute pause starting at 10:31 local time (01:31 GMT).

It did the same last Wednesday when the Kospi plunged by more than 12%. The circuit breaker is automatically triggered when it moves by 8% or more.

Earlier in the day, the KRX activated what's known as a sell-side sidecar, suspending sales for five minutes. It's triggered when the KOSPI 200 Futures index moves 5% or more for at least one minute.

South Korea is major importer of Middle Eastern natural gas, as well as oil.

In Asian trade this morning, crude oil jumped well above $100 a barrel, in response to the escalating conflict in the Middle East and the prolonged de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

At least 32 people were injured in Bahrain after an Iranian drone attack near the capital, according to a report by the state owned Bahrain News Agency.

The report, which quoted the Ministry of Health, said that all those injured were Bahraini citizens - including a 17-year-old girl who suffered severe head and eye injuries. The youngest person injured was a two-month-old.

Of those injured, four were "serious cases", the report added, which included children that required surgery.

Explosions were heard in Bahrain and Kuwait, according to a post by Iranian state broadcaster IRIB on its Telegram channel.

In an earlier post, IRIB said sirens had been heard in Bahrain, but did not provide any further detail.

Seperately, AFP journalists said they had heard "several explosions" in the Qatari capital of Doha on Monday, as Qatar's defence ministry said its forces had intercepted a missile attack in the early hours of the morning.