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Opening summary
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the US-Israel war on Iran as the conflict continues to expand as it enters its second week.
Donald Trump has declared that he would only accept Tehran’s “unconditional surrender” and Israel has traded fresh attacks with Iran and Lebanon.
The US president’s comments on social media on Friday came hours after Iran’s president announced that unnamed countries had begun mediation efforts, briefly raising the possibility, however faint, of a diplomatic resolution.
If you are just catching up on the latest, here is a summary of what you need to know.
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US defence secretary Pete Hegseth said US firepower was “about to surge dramatically” against Iran, while the Israeli military said it was moving to a new phase of its offensive.
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Explosions could be heard in Israel on Friday as its defences activated to shoot down incoming Iranian fire.
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The United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia all reported fresh drone and missile attacks.
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Israel expanded the war in Lebanon, pounding Beirut on Friday after ordering an unprecedented evacuation of the city’s southern suburbs.
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Israel launched a new wave of attacks on Iran, saying 50 of its warplanes had hit a bunker still being used by Iran’s leadership beneath slain supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s destroyed Tehran compound.
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Mehrabad airport in Tehran had been struck early on Saturday, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.
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Russia has been sharing intelligence with Iran about US targets in the region, according to news reports. In response US defence secretary Pete Hegseth said the US was “not concerned” and was “tracking everything” and factoring it into battle plans.
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The US military said it struck more than 3,000 targets during the first week of the Iran war. The Israeli military claimed to have destroyed 80% of Iran’s air-defence systems and disabled more than 60% of its missile launchers.
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European and US stock indexes tumbled on Friday amid concerns Trump’s demand for Iran’s surrender could complicate any quick end to the conflict.
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Oil prices hit their highest prices in years with the critical shipping lane of the strait of Hormuz effectively closed down.
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Trump said he must have a say in selecting Iran’s new supreme leader. Iran’s UN ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani later said the new leadership would be chosen “without any foreign interference”.
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At least 1,332 people have been killed in Iran since the US-Israel first launched strikes on 28 February, Iravani said, citing the Iranian Red Crescent Society.
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The Lebanese health ministry has reported 123 people killed and 683 wounded after Israeli attacks. About 300,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon in the past four days, according to the Norwegian Refugee Council.
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Iranian attacks have killed 11 people in Israel since the war started, and at least six US service members have been killed.
With news agencies
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There are many unintended consequences of the US-Israel war on Iran – among the latest is that families and supporters of Americans detained in Iran say their loved ones face new dangers.
Those risks include becoming unintended casualties of the US-Israeli bombardment or victims of retaliation from Iran’s repressive regime.
“For Americans imprisoned in Iran, this is about as terrifying a moment as it gets,” said Siamak Namazi, an Iranian American who was detained for nearly eight years before being released as part of a deal with the US in 2023.
What these families are facing now is days of war with no clear end in sight.
The US government would not confirm how many Americans are being held in Iran, but the James W Foley Legacy Foundation, a hostage advocacy organisation, said there were six and that they faced “unprecedented danger” because of the conflict.
New images are emerging from across the Middle East this morning, with some showing damage to residential areas in the Iranian capital of Tehran, air raids in Lebanon, protests against the war in Yemen, and a growing number of displaced people as they seek refuge from the escalating war.
Oil prices surge as war rages
Crude oil prices have jumped on mounting fears about oil supply disruption during the Middle East war.
The international benchmark oil contract, Brent North Sea crude, surged to $92.69 per barrel on Friday, up 8.5% for the day and nearly 30% for the week after Donald Trump said that only the “unconditional surrender” of Iran would end the Middle East war.
The main US contract, West Texas Intermediate, soared more than 12% to over $90 per barrel, topping off the biggest weekly gain on record, AFP is reporting.
Maritime traffic has all but dried up through the strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s crude oil and liquefied natural gas supplies run.
Hezbollah says clash with Israel on Lebanon-Syria border
Clashes erupted as Israeli forces attempted a landing operation along the Lebanon-Syria border, with Hezbollah saying its fighters were involved, Lebanese official media reported on Saturday.
The state-run National News Agency (NNA), citing the Lebanese health ministry, said Israeli strikes on Nabi Sheet killed at least three people and wounded 16 others.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military.
If confirmed, the latest reported raid would be the deepest Israeli forces have reached inside Lebanon since special unit troops apprehended Hezbollah operative Imad Amhaz from the northern city of Batroun in November 2024, reports Agence France-Presse.
The NNA said clashes were taking place “on the eastern mountain range along the Lebanese-Syrian border ... to repel Israeli landing attempts”.
It gave the location as Nabi Sheet, in the eastern Baalbek district where Hezbollah holds sway.
The Iran-backed militant group said in a statement that its forces had “observed the infiltration of four Israeli enemy army helicopters from the Syrian direction”.
After landing, advancing troops “were engaged by a group” of Hezbollah fighters as they reached the Nabi Sheet cemetery, Hezbollah said, noting the use of light and medium weapons.
Blasts heard in Dubai and Manama
Explosions have been heard in Dubai and Manama on Saturday.
Two blasts were heard in Dubai and one in Manama, Bahrain’s capital, where a warning siren sounded, AFP has just reported.
Bahrain’s interior ministry posted on X:
Citizens and residents are urged to remain calm and head to the nearest safe place.
The blasts came as Iran has continued its retaliatory strikes against Gulf countries that host US forces.
Dubai authorities earlier reportedly said that a “minor incident” that resulted from the fall of debris after an interception had been contained.
Blast in Jerusalem after missile alert – report
An explosion was heard in Jerusalem on Saturday after air raid sirens warned of an incoming Iranian missile attack, AFP is reporting.
The Israeli military said earlier that air defences were “operating to intercept the threat”, before giving the all-clear.
A blast has been reported in Jerusalem after an Iranian missile alert.
We’ll bring you more on this as it comes to hand.
US approves $151m arms sale to Israel
The US state department has approved the sale of $151.8m worth of munitions to Israel on Friday amid the escalating Middle East war.
The sale of 12,000 requested 1,000-pound (470km) bomb bodies was approved by the state department’s bureau of political-military affairs, according to a press release on Friday.
“The proposed sale will improve Israel’s capability to meet current and future threats, strengthen its homeland defense, and serve as a deterrent to regional threats,” the bureau said in a statement cited by the AFP news agency.
Opening summary
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of the US-Israel war on Iran as the conflict continues to expand as it enters its second week.
Donald Trump has declared that he would only accept Tehran’s “unconditional surrender” and Israel has traded fresh attacks with Iran and Lebanon.
The US president’s comments on social media on Friday came hours after Iran’s president announced that unnamed countries had begun mediation efforts, briefly raising the possibility, however faint, of a diplomatic resolution.
If you are just catching up on the latest, here is a summary of what you need to know.
-
US defence secretary Pete Hegseth said US firepower was “about to surge dramatically” against Iran, while the Israeli military said it was moving to a new phase of its offensive.
-
Explosions could be heard in Israel on Friday as its defences activated to shoot down incoming Iranian fire.
-
The United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia all reported fresh drone and missile attacks.
-
Israel expanded the war in Lebanon, pounding Beirut on Friday after ordering an unprecedented evacuation of the city’s southern suburbs.
-
Israel launched a new wave of attacks on Iran, saying 50 of its warplanes had hit a bunker still being used by Iran’s leadership beneath slain supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s destroyed Tehran compound.
-
Mehrabad airport in Tehran had been struck early on Saturday, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency reported.
-
Russia has been sharing intelligence with Iran about US targets in the region, according to news reports. In response US defence secretary Pete Hegseth said the US was “not concerned” and was “tracking everything” and factoring it into battle plans.
-
The US military said it struck more than 3,000 targets during the first week of the Iran war. The Israeli military claimed to have destroyed 80% of Iran’s air-defence systems and disabled more than 60% of its missile launchers.
-
European and US stock indexes tumbled on Friday amid concerns Trump’s demand for Iran’s surrender could complicate any quick end to the conflict.
-
Oil prices hit their highest prices in years with the critical shipping lane of the strait of Hormuz effectively closed down.
-
Trump said he must have a say in selecting Iran’s new supreme leader. Iran’s UN ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani later said the new leadership would be chosen “without any foreign interference”.
-
At least 1,332 people have been killed in Iran since the US-Israel first launched strikes on 28 February, Iravani said, citing the Iranian Red Crescent Society.
-
The Lebanese health ministry has reported 123 people killed and 683 wounded after Israeli attacks. About 300,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon in the past four days, according to the Norwegian Refugee Council.
-
Iranian attacks have killed 11 people in Israel since the war started, and at least six US service members have been killed.
With news agencies
