Live. Iran fires its biggest barrage on Qatar, targets UAE in latest missile and drone strikes

Israel’s top general has said that the country’s military had degraded most of Iran’s air defences and specifically hit sites used to launch missiles toward Israel.

Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, the army’s chief of the General Staff, said Israel’s air force had destroyed 80% of Iran’s air defenses and 60% of its missile launchers but noted “the threat has not yet been removed. Every missile is lethal and poses a danger.”

“We are now moving to the next phase of the operation. In this phase, we will further dismantle the regime and its military capabilities. We have additional surprises ahead that I do not intend to disclose,” Zamir said.

Ukraine’s President Volodymr Zelenskyy said on Thursday that he had received a US request for support against Iranian drones in the Middle East.

Zelenskyy said he gave an order for equipment to be provided along with Ukrainian experts, but did not offer further details.

He added in a social media post that, “Ukraine helps partners who help our security and the protection of our people’s lives.”

US President Donald Trump has said he would support by Iranian Kurdish fighters into Iran, in support of the US-Israeli war against the Islamic Republic.

« I think it’s wonderful that they want to do that, I’d be all for it, » Trump said in an interview with Reuters on Thursday, but declined to say if the United States would provide air cover to Kurdish forces.

Since the US and Israel declared war on Iran on Saturday, Tehran has been striking Iranian Kurdish groups based in the autonomous Iraqi Kurdistan. Iranian authorities accuse the groups of serving Western and Israeli interests.

Several Iranian Kurdish groups back fighting for greater autonomy within Iran, angering the Islamic republic but also many opponents, including monarchists who insist on territorial integrity.

While Kurds have historically had less friction with the Iranian state than their brethren in Iraq, Turkey and Syria, Iranian Kurds form some of Iran’s rare armed and organised opposition groups. Experts say they could potentially help special forces infiltrate and destabilize Iran.

The US State Department closed its Kuwait embassy on Thursday evening.

“While there have been no reported injuries to US personnel, the safety of Americans abroad remains the highest priority of the US Department of State,” it said in a statement.

Shortly before the announcement, the department said that Secretary of State Marco Rubio had called the Kuwaiti foreign minister to express condolences for the deaths of at least two Kuwaiti troops in Iranian retaliatory strikes.

Although numerous US embassies and consulates in the Middle East have closed to the public since the war began, only the consulate in Karachi, Pakistan, had suspended operations.

A member of Iran’s Parliamentary National Security Commission and former member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) threatened Iranian parents with a shoot-to-kill order aired on state TV, Thursday.

He warned parents that if they did not keep their “ignorant and unaware” children in check, and instead allowed them to align with the « enemy » — referring to Israel — they would be punished with death.

“We do not want your child to be killed, because your child is ignorant and unaware », Velayatmadar said during an interview aired on a program broadcast by Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB). 

The Air France plane chartered by the French government to pick up French citizens stranded in the United Arab Emirates had to U-turn on Thursday evening due to nearby missile strikes, France’s Transport Minister Philippe Tabarot stated on X.

Tabarot did not say where the missiles were fired from or what they were targeting.

 »This situation testifies to the instability in the region and the complexity of repatriation operations,’’ added Tabarot.

Air France informed The Associated Press in a written statement that the plane was not carrying any passengers. Some 400,000 French people are in the Middle East, according to France’s government, which started evacuation flights earlier this week.

Kuwait activated its air defence systems on Thursday evening, shooting down incoming missiles, according to the Kuwaiti Army’s Chief of Staff.

The oil-rich country, which houses the US’s Ali al-Salem Air Base, has been targeted by Iranian strikes since the onset of the Iran war.

On Sunday, six American soldiers were killed during an Iranian drone strike. Three further individuals — which include two Kuwaiti soldiers — have also been killed, according to Kuwait’s authorities.

French President Emmanuel Macron has said that « everything » must be done to prevent Lebanon « from once again being drawn into war », urging both Israel and Hezbollah to halt their military operations.

« I spoke today with Lebanon’s highest authorities in order to establish a plan to bring an end to the military operations currently being carried out by Hezbollah and Israel on either side of the border, » Macron wrote on X in English.

« At this moment of great danger, I call on the Israeli Prime Minister not to expand the war to Lebanon », while calling on « Iranian leaders » to also avoid drawing Lebanon further « into a war that is not its own. »

Emirates airline, the largest airline in Middle East, said on Thursday that it has restored a limited schedule of flights in and out of Dubai.

The carrier said it would continue to update its operations as it monitored developments, but urged customers to not travel to the airport unless their flights were confirmed.

Nearly 25,000 of the roughly 44,000 flights scheduled to fly in and out of the Middle East between Saturday and Thursday have been cancelled, according to data from aviation analytics firm Cirium.

Meanwhile, Israel’s Ben-Gurion Airport continued a phased reopening.

Tel Aviv-based airline El Al said that it started “proactively assigning” customers who are currently abroad to recovery flights back to Israel, but noted that its outbound flights were still not operating.

At least 102 people have been killed in Lebanon following the onset of the latest conflict between Israel and the Hezbollah militant group, according to Lebanon’s health ministry. A further 638 have reportedly been wounded.

The latest conflict between the two sides was sparked by Hezbollah firing rockets into northern Israel early Sunday, leading Israel to respond by striking southern Lebanon and Beirut’s suburbs.

More than 80,000 people have been displaced from their homes, according to figures from the Lebanese Ministry of Social Affairs.

On Thursday, state-owned Iranian newspaper named « Iran » reported bombings at a police station and a gym in Tehran, as residents shuttled to food shops, pharmacies and gas stations to buy supplies and fill their tanks.

Mohammad-Sadegh Motamedian, Tehran’s governor, urged citizens to avoid stockpiling necessities to keep markets calm.

Although metro stations were less crowded than usual in Iran’s capital, train services continued to run. Authorities said they were equipping dozens of underground metro stations to serve as bomb shelters, as they did during Israel and Iran’s 12-day conflict last June.

Funerals for members of Iran’s security forces were also held across the country. On Wednesday, hardliners gathered in town squares and intersections to mourn and express support for the theocracy, while blasting religious songs from their cars.

Iranian army soldiers carry the coffin of Brig. Gen. Bahram Azami, who was killed during the United States’ and Israel’s military campaign, during his funeral in Ardabil, Iran, Thursday, March 5, 2026 – Associated Press

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday he should have a role in picking Iran’s next leader after the killing of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, whose son he said he found unacceptable.

« Khamenei’s son is a lightweight. I have to be involved in the appointment, like with Delcy, » Trump told Axios in an interview, drawing a comparison to Venezuela, where interim President Delcy Rodriguez has cooperated with him under threat of violence after the US captured Nicolas Maduro in early January.

Following the death of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes on Saturday, tensions over who will be the Islamic Republic’s next leader are coming to light amid a highly confidential process that remains under way.

Rumours have long swirled that Mojtaba Khamenei — the son of late Khameini and a figure close to the all-powerful Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) — could be next in line.

Commenting on the possibility that Mojtaba Khamenei could come to power, Hamid Rasaee, a member of Iran’s parliament and hardline cleric, said that the former ayatollah’s son had advised his father and acted as an “overseer of many of the country’s affairs.”

A former minister aligned with Iran’s reformists, Abbas Akhoundi, warned against “a diversionary and toxic debate” over the succession. “The stench of the power struggle in wartime is nauseating,” Akhoundi wrote on X on Wednesday.

The body responsible for choosing Khamenei’s replacement, the Assembly of Experts, had its building in Qom hit in US-Israeli strikes on Tuesday.

Bahrain’s interior ministry said one of its facilities in an industrial zone housing an oil refinery was attacked on Thursday, as witnesses told international media they saw smoke rising from the area.

« One facility in Maameer was targeted, and the relevant authorities are handling the incident, » the statement said. The interior ministry said authorities contained a fire that broke out in the facility and that there were no casualties.

Air raid sirens sounded across Bahrain earlier Thursday, with residents urged to seek shelter.

L’Observatoire de l’Europe journalists on the ground are now reporting that alerts have gone off in Dubai, shortly after Abu Dhabi found itself under Iranian missile fire on Thursday evening.

UAE officials have earlier stated that air defence was responding to the missile threat.

Staff in a number of Western embassies in Saudia Arabia’s capital Riyadh were told to take shelter on Thursday, with a witnesses reporting to international media that the diplomatic quarter of the Saudi capital had been closed off.

Saudi officials announced they have intercepted three cruise missiles and several drones today, near the city of Al-Kharj, located southeast of Riyadh.

« Three cruise missiles were intercepted and destroyed outside the city of Al-Kharj, » the Saudi defence ministry posted on X.

L’Observatoire de l’Europe journalists are now reporting that multiple explosions have been heard in Abu Dhabi, which has come under significant fire from Iranian missiles on Thursday evening.

Images from the scene show a blaze and a plume of smoke in the waterfront neighbourhood of Al Zeina.

UAE officials have said air defence was responding to a missile threat. No information on damage or casualties is available at the moment.

The maritime sector on Thursday said it had designated the Straits of Hormuz, the Gulf of Oman and the Gulf as a « warlike operations area » owing to the Iran war.

The upgrade from a « high risk area designation » by unions and maritime employers on Monday « reflects the continuing and heightened threat to seafarers and vessels operating in the region », they said in a joint statement.

The United Kingdom said on Thursday it was « temporarily » withdrawing some staff and their dependents from its Bahrain embassy as Iran presses on with its retaliation campaign in the Gulf.

« Due to the ongoing security situation, the UK has taken the precautionary step of temporarily withdrawing some embassy staff » and their families, the government said in a statement on Instagram.

« Our embassy continues to operate, » it said, adding that « the situation is serious and we do not expect it to end in the coming days ».

NATO stands by the assertion that a ballistic missile launched from Iran was targeting Turkey before being shot down, an alliance spokesperson said Thursday.

Asked whether the missile was deliberately targeted at locations in Turkey, spokesman Martin O’Donnell replied « yes » and referred to the alliance’s formal response to the incident on Wednesday.

In an initial statement, NATO spokesperson Allison Hart said the alliance condemns « Iran’s targeting » of Turkey.

O’Donnell declined to provide further details on the missile’s target, citing security concerns.

« I will refrain from revealing any additional information that could impact security or force protection, » he said.

Earlier Thursday, Turkey’s defence ministry said NATO’s defence systems had intercepted and neutralised « a ballistic missile fired from Iran and detected heading towards Turkey » but added no further detail.

The United Kingdom is sending four additional Typhoon jets to Qatar amid the widening Iran war, Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced on Thursday.

The fighter planes will join an existing UK squadron in the Gulf state, a key energy provider, « to strengthen our defensive operations in Qatar and across the region, » Starmer told a news conference.

Iran launched its biggest retaliatory strike against Qatar earlier on Thursday, with its barrage lasting around an hour and a half, L’Observatoire de l’Europe journalists in Doha reported. All projectiles were intercepted by Qatari air defences.

Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, the son of the last shah toppled in Iran’s 1979 Islamic revolution, has said that whoever the Tehran regime chooses as late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s successor will be illegitimate.

Pahlavi, who has lived in exile in the United States for nearly five decades, took to social media to declare that « victory » was « near » following the death of Khamenei in joint US-Israeli strikes on Tehran on Saturday, which sparked the Iran war.

« Any attempt to appoint a successor for him is pre-destined to fail. Whomever is introduced… will lack legitimacy and will be considered an accomplice to the bloody record of this regime and its criminal leaders, » Pahlavi said.

Mojtaba Khamenei, the son of Ali Khamenei, is among the leading contenders to become the next ayatollah, but his appointment is not guaranteed.

Iran’s army reported that it had launched a drone attack on a US site in the Iraqi Kurdistan city of Erbil, following a similar announcement earlier on Thursday, it was attacking US assets in Kuwait. 

« The headquarters of the American aggressor forces in Erbil, Iraq, was attacked by the army’s ground forces’ attack drones, » the army said in a statement broadcast by state-run TV. 

Iraq is one of multiple countries in the region that Iran has consistently attacked in its retaliatory attacks since Saturday.

Earlier on Thursday, Tehran also announced it had launched an attack on Kurdish forces in Iraq, following reports that Iranian Kurdish militias in northern Iraq were preparing to engage Iran’s army in a potential cross-border military operation.

US military support aircraft have been authorised to use a French military base, France’s military said on Thursday, adding it had obtained « full guarantees » that the planes would not be used to strike Iran.

« US aircraft providing operational support (not combat aircraft) have been accepted at the Istres air base in France, » the French general staff said.

« Given the context, France has required that the assets involved in no way take part in the operations conducted by the United States in Iran, but strictly in support of the defence of our partners in the region. It has obtained full guarantees to that effect, » a military statement added.

On Tuesday, France announced the deployment of the Charles de Gaulle — the only nuclear-powered aircraft carrier outside the US fleet — to the eastern Mediterranean.

The vessel was deployed with 20 Rafale fighter jets and two E-2C Hawkeye airborne early warning aircraft, which will help secure regional airspace, according to France 24. The 42,500-tonne carrier measures 261 metres in length and is powered by two K15 nuclear reactors.

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The Lebanese government has said it will ban any activity by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), a key backer of militant group Hezbollah, and seek to deport its members from Lebanon.

Information Minister Paul Morcos said the country’s cabinet had decided to « prevent any activity » that members of the Iran Guards « may carry out from Lebanese territory… and to have them detained by the competent judiciary to deport them ».

He added that Iranians would now require a visa to enter Lebanon.

Foreign affairs ministers from the European Union and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) renewed their call for Iran to immediately cease its attacks on other countries in the region, as well as for more diplomatic engagements.

In a joint statement released after a virtual meeting this morning, the EU and GCC states branded Iran’s attacks against its neighbours as « inexcusable » and « unjustifiable ».

They reaffirmed their commitment to regional stability, to the safety of civilians and to « dialogue and diplomacy » as means to resolve the crisis.

They also agreed to « joint diplomatic efforts » to bring about « a lasting solution to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon, to cease production and proliferation of ballistic missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles and any technologies that threaten the security of the region and beyond, as well as to refrain from destabilising activities in the region and in Europe, and ultimately allow the Iranian people to determine their future. »

Azerbaijan President Ilham Aliyev said that the country’s army was brought to « full combat readiness » after the Iranian drone strike on Nakhchivan International Airport, in what Aliyev said was an « act of terror » by Tehran.

“Today, Iran committed an act of terror against the territory of Azerbaijan, against the state of Azerbaijan. The Iranian state fired unmanned aerial vehicles on the territory of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, » Aliyev said during a meeting of the Security Council.

“Iranian officials must provide an explanation to the Azerbaijani side, an apology must be offered, and those who committed this terrorist act must be held criminally liable,” he emphasised.

« The people of Azerbaijan should be assured that any hostile force will face our ‘Iron Fist,' » Aliyev concluded.

Iran has denied the drones that struck the airport in Nakhchivan and fell near a school in the village of Shakarabad, injuring two, were launched from its positions.

The EU’s Emergency and Response Coordination Centre (ERCC) supported six repatriation flights from the Middle East on Wednesday and Thursday, the European Commission has said.

« Additional repatriation flights under the Mechanism are planned in the coming days, as an increasing number of EU member states have activated it, » the EU executive said in a statement.

Ten member states have so far activated the civil protection mechanism for this. These are Belgium, Bulgaria, Czechia, France, Italy, Cyprus, Luxembourg, Romania, Slovakia and Austria.

The Commission pays part of the costs for the repatriation lights. If a member state offers 30% of the seats on one of its flights to citizens of other member states, it can have 75% of the flight cost reimbursed by the EU.

The Commission can also book flights via the rescEU mechanism if no Member State can support a country requesting evacuation of its citizens. In that case, the Commission can cover 100% of the costs.

France’s Emannuel Macron spoke to Italy’s Giorgia Meloni and Greece’s Kyriakos Mitsotakis to coordinate the military capabilities they’re sending to Cyprus, a source close to the French President said.

The three leaders also agreed to « work together to guarantee freedom of navigation in the Red Sea », the source also said.

France, Italy and Greece all participate in Operation Aspides, which aims to secure passage for commercial vessels in the Red Sea, with the first two also taking part in counter-piracy Operation Atalanta off the Horn of Africa.

Iran’s military said on Thursday that it had launched a drone attack against a US military site in Kuwait.

« Drone units of the armed force’s navy targeted a site of the US forces Camp Udairi in Kuwait using combat drones, » the army said in a statement broadcast by state-run TV.

Camp Buehring, formerly known as Udairi, is a major US military facility in northwestern Kuwait.

Kuwait has been under daily retaliatory attacks by Tehran since the outbreak of the Iran war on Saturday.

An 11-year-old Iranian national was killed by shrapnel from one of its strikes on Wednesday, Kuwaiti authorities said.

The US embassy there has been closed indefinitely due to attacks earlier this week.

A Pakistani man accused of plotting to kill US politicians including President Donald Trump said Wednesday he was pressured by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) to devise the murder-for-hire scheme, according to US media.

Asif Raza Merchant, 47, was charged in September 2024 with seeking to hire a hitman to assassinate unidentified US politicians. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The IRGC have previously sought to kill top US officials, such as Trump, following the death of one of their commanders, Qasem Soleimani in a US strike in 2020.

During his trial on Wednesday, Merchant testified that he was forced into the plot to protect his family in Tehran, from the IRGC, adding that he thought he would get caught before anyone was killed, multiple media outlets reported.

He said he was never ordered to kill a specific person but noted his Iranian contact had mentioned three people in connection with the plot: Trump, former president Joe Biden and former UN ambassador Nikki Haley.

« My family was under threat, and I had to do this, » Merchant told the court through an Urdu interpreter, according to the Washington Post.

US officials previously said Merchant had « close ties to Iran » and described his alleged plot as « straight out of the Iranian regime’s playbook. »

He was arrested after reportedly trying to hire hitmen that turned out to be undercover FBI agents.

We are now receiving further updates from L’Observatoire de l’Europe journalists in Doha about the largest series of interception blasts above the city so far, with massive blasts sending shockwaves through the downtown West Bay area.

The barrage lasted for about an hour and a half, with large explosions every few minutes and plumes of smoke above the high-rise buildings as Qatar successfully intercepted all incoming Iranian missiles.

Residents found cover under awnings and canopies and inside buildings to shelter from debris, and the national emergency system alerts sounded on mobiles, urging people to shelter immediately.

This has been the longest and largest wave of Iranian missiles into Doha so far since the Iran war erupted on Saturday.

The attack comes hours after Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi called the prime minister and foreign minister of Qatar, Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani, for the first time since the start of the war, a day after Qatar said there has been no contact with Tehran since Saturday.

In the call, the Iranian FM said that Iran’s missile strikes were directed at US interests and were not intended to target the Gulf state.

Qatar’s prime minister denied the claims saying the evidence on the ground showed otherwise, that the strikes are a « flagrant violation » of Qatar’s sovereignty and of international law and that they reflect « an escalatory approach » rather than a genuine desire for de-escalation or resolution, accusing Tehran of seeking to harm its neighbors and draw them into a war « that is not theirs ».

He also said such attacks could not go unanswered, citing the country’s inherent right to self-defence under Article 51 of the UN Charter.

Italy will send air-defence assistance to Gulf countries hit by Iran’s retaliatory strikes, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Thursday.

In an interview with RTL 102.5 radio, Meloni said « Italy, like the UK, France and Germany, intends to send help to the Gulf countries. »

« We are clearly talking about defence, air defence, not just because they are friendly nations but because there are tens of thousands of Italians in that area and around 2,000 Italian soldiers that we must protect, » she added. « And the Gulf is vital for energy supplies for Italy and Europe. »

Separately, Defence Minister Guido Crosetto told parliament on Thursday that Italy would, along with France, Spain, and the Netherlands, send naval assets to defend EU member Cyprus « in coming days ».

Crosetto, while also addressing parliament, specified that the assistance sent to Gulf nations would be « air defence, anti‑drone and anti‑missile systems ».

Asked about Washington’s threat to impose a « trade embargo » on Spain, Kallas reiterated that trade is an EU competence and that the deal struck last year « applies to all member states ».

« We hope that the United States also respects this agreement, » she said.

US President Donald Trump threatened a « trade embargo » against Spain on Tuesday after the southern European country refused to allow the US access to some of its military bases to conduct operations in the Middle East.

Madrid has been the most vocal critic of the US-Israeli operations in Iran, arguing that they go against international law.

The diplomatic spat continued on Wednesday when Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares issued a statement denying Spain was backing Washington’s campaign, moments after White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Madrid had come round and agreed to help the US.

« There has to be room for diplomacy here to really get out of this cycle of escalation, » Kaja Kallas also said, adding that « it’s clear wars really end in diplomacy ».

Kallas said that Gulf countries are « worried about civil war inside Iran » and the repercussions this could have on the wider region.

« Nobody can tell how does it really go, but the risks are clearly there, » she said.

EU’s Kallas also told reporters that what is unfolding in the Middle East is having a « clear impact on the war in Ukraine » because some capabilities, such as drone interceptors and other air defence systems, that are needed in Ukraine are « now moving » to the region.

« There is also an issue of oil price, » she said, as higher prices « actually benefit Russia to fund its war ».

« That’s why we have to really push through the maritime services ban, that we can really curtail the shadow fleet and the revenues that Russia has to fund this war, » she said.

The maritime services ban is part of the 20th package of sanctions against Russia the EU is trying to push through but that has been on hold for weeks due to a veto by Hungary and Slovakia over an energy dispute with Ukraine. The two EU countries accuse Kyiv of withholding oil transit through the Druzhba pipeline that links them to Russia, a claim Ukraine has rejected.

Europe is « coordinating » to boost maritime security in the Strait of Hormuz and keep those trade routes open, EU’s Kaja Kallas also said.

Iran claimed on Tuesday that it has complete control over the Strait of Hormuz following multiple attacks on vessels. The Strait is a key oil trading route, with a fifth of the world’s oil supplies travelling through it.

Energy prices started jumping in response to strikes in the Middle East, which have affected oil and gas facilities.

« We have two missions, we have Operation Atalanta and Aspides that are in the region, but of course, right now, they are not in the Strait of Hormuz, » Kallas told reporters. « The European naval assets are really coordinating to have the protection of also Strait of Hormuz so that we have we have the trade routes. »

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday evening that Paris is trying to put together a coalition to secure the Strait. US President Donald Trump has also said that the US is looking at ways to ensure the passage of ships and that they are insured. It is unclear if these two initiatives are coordinating.

Italy and Spain will send naval assets to protect Cyprus after a drone strike on a British base on the Mediterranean island, the defence ministries of the two southern European countries said on Thursday.

Spain will send its most advanced frigate, the Cristobal Colon, which will join French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle and Greek navy ships to « offer protection and aerial defence » and « support any evacuation of civilians, » the Spanish ministry said in a statement.

The 27-member bloc’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas just told reporters ahead of a virtual meeting with foreign affairs ministers from the EU and Gulf countries that « our first priority is also the safety of our citizens that are currently in the region ».

« We are organising the response and we are organising our people out of the region, » she said.

She said the EU is « calling for stability » and that the meeting today aimed to see « what we can do together ».

France has allowed US aircraft on some of its bases in the Middle East during the conflict opposing the United States and Israel with Iran, the French military said Thursday.

« As part of our relations with the United States, the presence of their aircraft has been temporarily authorised on our bases » in the region, a spokeswoman for the military general staff said.

« These aircraft contribute to the protection of our partners in the Gulf. »

L’Observatoire de l’Europe journalists have told us that multiple explosions were heard in the skies above Doha in another attack on Qatar’s capital on Thursday.

Multiple videos show plumes of smoke after Qatar’s air defences intercepted the attack. The barrage — the biggest of the war so far — subsided after an hour and a half, L’Observatoire de l’Europe journalists say. There is no news of possible damage or casualties at this time.

Qatar has been targeted by Iranian projectiles on a daily basis as part of Tehran’s retaliatory attacks since the start of the Iran war on Saturday.

Watch L’Observatoire de l’Europe’ journalist Aadel Haleem’s live report from Doha below:

A second Iranian warship was heading towards Sri Lanka’s territorial waters Thursday, a day after a US submarine destroyed an Iranian frigate, Sri Lankan authorities said.

Media minister Nalinda Jayatissa said the second Iranian warship was just outside Sri Lankan waters, but gave no further details.

President Anura Kumara Dissanayake was meeting top officials Thursday to discuss a response to an Iranian request to enter the safety of the island’s waters, official sources said.

They said the vessel was carrying more than 100 crew and that it too could be targeted the same way a sister vessel was sunk by a US submarine just off Sri Lanka’s southern coast on Wednesday.

Iran’s frigate Iris Dena was sunk by a torpedo, US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth confirmed on Wednesday. At least 87 sailors were killed, while Sri Lankan authorities said 32 rescued sailors were still receiving medical care.

Three Iranian drones have targeted the passenger terminal of the international airport in Azerbaijan’s Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan authorities told L’Observatoire de l’Europe.

Videos from the scene show a drone flying towards the airport, damage to its main terminal and emergency crews on site.

In another video seen by L’Observatoire de l’Europe, a drone is seen hitting the airport with a large explosion and a cloud of smoke appearing following the strike.

It is unclear whether there were any casualties at this time. Nakhchivan is in close proximity to the Iranian-Azerbaijani border.

The first two repatriation flights bringing home Israelis stranded abroad by the Middle East war landed in Tel Aviv on Thursday, the transport ministry said.

The flights landed at Ben Gurion Airport on Thursday morning. Transport Minister Miri Regev said: « We are doing everything possible to bring every Israeli home safely. »

Tehran said on Thursday it had hit Iraq-based Kurdish groups, as the US reportedly seeks to arm Iranian Kurdish guerillas to infiltrate Iran.

The strikes which killed a member of an exiled Iranian Kurdish group, according to a representative, followed a warning from Iranian officials.

« Separatist groups should not think that a breeze has blown and try to take action, » said Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council.

« We will not tolerate them in any way. »

Iranian state television said Iran had struck a US oil tanker in the Gulf with a missile on Thursday, the latest Iranian attack on the energy industry in the region.

The ship « was hit by a missile in the north of the Persian Gulf » and « is currently on fire », Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said in a statement reported by state television.

The incident, which has not been independently confirmed, came as the Guards said they had « full control » of the Strait of Hormuz, which connects the Gulf to the Indian Ocean and is a vital oil and gas transit route.