Iran-US struggle newest: Tehran launches ‘most intense’ barrage of missiles since begin of battle
Iran has launched what its state media called the “most intense and heaviest” barrage since the start of the conflict, AFP reported.
Israel said it had tracked missiles being fired from Iran, while Saudi Arabia said it intercepted and destroyed two drones heading towards an oil field. Air raid sirens were also sounded in Bahrain, which hosts the headquarters of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet.
Earlier, US president Donald Trump threatened Iran with a military response “at a level never seen before” after the US said it destroyed more than a dozen Iranian mines laid in the Strait of Hormuz.
US Central Command said it had eliminated 16 Iranian mine-laying vessels in the key shipping route, through which around one-fifth of the world’s crude oil passes.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the consequences for Iran will be “at a level never seen before” if no action is taken to remove any remaining mines.
Iran’s new leader ‘safe’ despite injuries, president says
Iran has said that new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei is “safe and sound” despite sustaining injuries in the conflict.
President Yousef Pezeshkian writes on Telegram: “I heard news that Mr Mojtaba Khamenei had been injured. I have asked some friends who had connections. They told me that, thank God, he is safe and sound.”
State TV reported that Khamenei was injured in the war, but did not specify his injury.
Recap: Developments overnight as war enters 12th day
Good morning.
Here are the latest developments as the Iran crisis enters its 12th day.
On the ground
Israel continued to pound Tehran and Beirut overnight, after targeting ‘command centres’ in Tehran and Tabriz earlier on Tuesday. Iran, meanwhile, struck sites in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, saying it was launching the “most intense” strikes of the war.
Iran’s police chief threatened to treat protesters as ‘enemies’ as the US and Israel called on the Iranian public to take to the streets.
US under pressure
The US, also under pressure over rising oil prices, told Israel to stop attacking energy sites, according to Axios. The US also claimed to have destroyed over a dozen mine-laying ships in the Strait of Hormuz.
The Pentagon said that it would release a report into the strike that hit a girls’ school in Minab on the first day of the war, killing around 165 people. A timeline was unclear.
UK responds to conflict
B1 bombers were seen taking off from RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire after HMS Dragon set sail. The UK also banned a pro-Iran march planned for the weekend over ‘extreme tensions’.
War escalates into global conflict
Finally, Steve Witkoff said that Russian officials told Donald Trump they did not share intelligence with Iran, after Trump dismissed concerns about the Kremlin aiding Tehran in hitting US targets. Ukraine’s Zelensky said military experts were going to the Gulf to help partners, as the war expanded.
Watch: Hegseth boasts about ‘crushing the enemy’ in Iran and promises war will not be a repeat of Iraq
Watch: Moment US forces hit Iranian naval vessels near the Strait of Hormuz
Four injured as drones fall around Dubai Airport
Four people were injured when two drones fell in the vicinity of Dubai Airport, the country’s media office reported early on Wednesday.
Air traffic is continuing as usual, they added.
Cargo ship on fire after strike in Strait of Hormuz
A cargo ship has caught fire after being hit by an unknown projectile in the Strait of Hormuz, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre, run by the British military, said. Iran has not claimed the attack but has been targeting vessels in and around the strait since the start of the war.
The strike is the latest blow to shipping through the narrow waterway, through which about a fifth of the world’s oil flows from the Persian Gulf to the Indian Ocean. Iran has effectively halted cargo traffic there since the US-Israeli war began.
Carrier hit by projectile near Dubai
A bulk carrier was hit by an unknown projectile 50 nautical miles northwest of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on Wednesday, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO).
The crew are reported safe and well, and authorities are investigating, UKMTO said.
IDF says Beirut strikes targeted Hezbollah weapons stores and command centres
The Israeli military said it has completed a fresh wave of strikes on Dahieh, Beirut, targeting Hezbollah command centres and facilities where the group stored weapons.
The military said it also struck a Hezbollah command centre near Tyre in southern Lebanon yesterday.
Earlier, Lebanese state media said Israeli strikes hit a residential building, with photos showing several floors destroyed.
The IDF said it took steps to reduce civilian casualties, including advance warnings, precision munitions and aerial surveillance.
The military said it was operating “with determination” against Hezbollah following what it described as the group’s decision to “deliberately attack Israel on behalf of the Iranian regime,” adding that it “will not tolerate any harm to the residents of the State of Israel.”
Photos: Building destroyed in Beirut after Israeli strike
A building in Beirut has been badly damaged after it was hit this morning in an Israeli airstrike.
State media reported that the seventh and eighth floors of the apartment building were destroyed, as were nearby cars.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) said that “the enemy targeted an apartment in the Aisha Bakkar area” in central Beirut, a densely populated neighbourhood close to one of the city’s biggest shopping malls.
AFPTV’s live broadcast showed the sound of an airstrike followed by a fireball erupting in an apartment within a multi-story residential building.
Sri Lanka orders bodies of 84 Iranian sailors be handed to Tehran’s embassy
A Sri Lankan court has ordered that the bodies of 84 sailors killed in an attack on an Iranian warship off the island’s coast last week be handed over to Iran’s embassy, local media reported.
The warship, IRIS Dena, was hit by a torpedo from a US submarine in the Indian Ocean while returning from a naval exercise organised by India, amid the US-Israeli war on Iran.
Source: independent.co.uk
