Live. UN Security Council demands Iran halt attacks on Gulf states, saying they breach international law

A senior military adviser to Iran’s Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei lashed out against US President Donald Trump in remarks to state television on Wednesday, as their countries wage a war that has engulfed the Middle East.

« Trump is the most corrupt and stupid American president, » Yahya Rahim Safavi said. « He is Satan himself. »

He also reiterated Iran’s longstanding threats to eradicate Israel, which is fighting the Islamic republic alongside the United States.

Lebanon’s Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah said on Wednesday night that it had launched dozens of rockets at northern Israel as part of a new operation, as Israel carried out fresh strikes on southern Beirut.

Hezbollah in a statement said that « in response to the criminal aggression against dozens of Lebanese cities and towns and Beirut’s southern suburbs », its fighters targeted sites in northern Israel « with dozens of rockets. » 

A series of heavy strikes hit south Beirut on Wednesday evening, international reporters and state media said, as the Israeli army said it had launched fresh attacks on the area, where Hezbollah holds sway.

Correspondents reported hearing the sound of blasts across the city, while the state-run National News Agency reported at least « six heavy strikes » on the southern suburbs.

The US embassy in Baghdad warned on Wednesday that Iran and Tehran-backed Iraqi armed groups may target US-owned oil facilities in Iraq.

« Iran and Iran-aligned terrorist militias may be planning to target US-owned oil and energy infrastructure in Iraq, » the embassy said on X.

Several oil fields and facilities in Iraq have been hit by drones since the Middle East war began.

Some 2,733 of these “trajectories” came from Israel along with 323 air attacks, while 1,387 came from Lebanon, United Nations peacekeeping chief Jean-Pierre Lacroix told the UN Security Council.

Each of those approximately 4,120 firings from both Israel and Hezbollah could represent multiple projectiles, he added.

Lacroix noted several incidents jeopardising the safety and security of UNIFIL positions and peacekeepers, including serious injuries to a Ghanaian soldier.

Air riad alerts are sounding again in Dubai, L’Observatoire de l’Europe reporters in the city say.

More details to follow.

Iran’s sports and youth minister said it’s “not possible” for the country to take part in the World Cup after the United States killed the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, at the beginning of the ongoing war.

Iran was expected to take part in the World Cup that will be held across North America in June, but Iranian Sports and Youth Minister Ahmad Donyamali told state television that his country’s players are not safe in the US.

“Due to the wicked acts they have done against Iran, they have imposed two wars on us over just eight or nine months and have killed and martyred thousands of our people, definitely it’s not possible for us to take part in the World Cup,” he said.

The US is hosting the tournament with Canada and Mexico from 11 June-19 July. 

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday promised « great safety » for oil tankers passing through the Strait of Hormuz, as Tehran tightened its chokehold on the vital sea passage amid the US-Israeli war with Tehran.

« I think you’re going to see great safety and it’s going to be very, very quickly, » Trump told reporters at the White House when asked how he was going to ensure security in the crucial waterway for the global oil trade.

Lebanon said on Wednesday that the death toll in 10 days of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah during the Middle East war had reached 634, while more than 800,000 people have registered as displaced.

In updated figures, Health Minister Rakan Nassereddine told a press conference that the death toll included 91 children, while more than 1,500 people have been wounded.

Social Affairs Minister Haneen Sayed said the number of displaced people who registered their names on a website affiliated with the ministry had reached some 816,000, including around 126,000 staying in collective shelters.

Norwegian police said on Wednesday that three brothers had been arrested on suspicion of a « terrorist bombing » over a weekend explosion at the US embassy in Oslo.

Police prosecutor Christian Hatlo told a press conference the brothers, who were Norwegian citizens of Iraqi origin, had been arrested in Oslo.

« We are still working from several hypotheses. One of them is whether this is an order from a government entity » because of the target, Hatlo said.

He added that police were not ruling out further arrests.

The European Union has given Lebanon €100 million in humanitarian support, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a call with the country’s president.

“Yesterday, we delivered over 40 tonnes of supplies and we plan to organise more humanitarian flights,” she said in a post on social media, without providing details on the aid.

The EU is tracking a potential migration crisis in Lebanon and Iran because of the war, and has scrambled to safety return European citizens from the Middle East.

Drone attacks on EU-member Cyprus, an island in the Eastern Mediterranean, have drawn statements of support and collective defence from across Europe.

Iran’s armed forces threatened on Wednesday to target regional ports if its own facilities were attacked during the war with Israel and the United States, state TV reported.

« If our ports and docks are threatened, all ports and docks in the region will be our legitimate targets, » state television quoting an armed forces spokesman as saying, without naming him.

It comes after the US military warned Iranians that it considers civilian ports in the Strait of Hormuz to be legitimate targets, alleging the Tehran government was using the facilities for military operations.

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Wednesday he has « no confirmation » that Iran is using sea mines in the Strait of Hormuz.

« I have no confirmation of this, either from partner services or from our own services, » Macron said, after the United States said it had destroyed Iranian mine-laying boats near the strategic waterway through which one-fifth of the world’s oil passes.

An Iran-linked hacking group claimed responsibility on Wednesday for a sweeping cyberattack on US medical technology giant Stryker, saying it had wiped more than 200,000 systems and extracted 50 terabytes of data in retaliation for military strikes on Iran.

« Our major cyber operation has been executed with complete success, » Handala said in a statement, describing the attack as retaliation for what it called « the brutal attack on the Minab school » and for « ongoing cyber assaults against the infrastructure of the Axis of Resistance. »

The outages began shortly after 0500 CET on Wednesday.

Remote Windows devices, including laptops and mobile phones connected to Stryker’s networks, were remotely wiped.

Ukrainian anti-drone experts have begun working in three Gulf states targeted by Iranian attacks, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Wednesday.

Kyiv has sought to leverage its expertise in downing Russian drones to help the Gulf nations, which are being attacked with the same Iranian-designed Shahed drones that Russia fires on Ukraine.

« Three of our teams have gone – strong teams of experts, military personnel, engineers, different people. Today the military are already communicating and already working, » Zelensky told reporters.

His spokesperson confirmed that the three countries were Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

Kyiv uses a mix of cheap drone interceptors, electronic jamming tools and anti-aircraft guns to down Russian drones.

Ukraine has proposed swapping its interceptors for the expensive air defence missiles that the Gulf is currently using to down Iranian drones.

UN political chief Rosemary DiCarlo urged stronger international support for Lebanon and its armed forces after the government banned Hezbollah’s military activities and ordered the group to hand over its weapons.

At an emergency Security Council meeting, DiCarlo said the UN is pressing to end the current conflict in Lebanon that was sparked by Hezbollah’s attacks on Israel after the killing of Iran’s supreme leader.

She warned the violence has “largely erased the progress” since a November 2024 ceasefire and is fuelling fears of sectarian tensions in Lebanon.

The United States was responsible for a Tomahawk missile strike on an Iranian girls’ school because of a targeting mistake, The New York Times reported on Wednesday.

The newspaper, citing US officials, said the investigation into the 28 February strike was ongoing but preliminary findings were that the United States was responsible.

The US military was conducting strikes on an adjacent Iranian base of which the school building was formerly a part and target coordinates were set using outdated data, it said.

President Donald Trump suggested earlier this week that Iran itself may have been responsible but later said he could « live with » whatever the investigation reveals.

Iran has said the strike on the elementary school in the southern city of Minab killed more than 150 people.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said she couldn’t comment as “the investigation is still ongoing,” while President Donald Trump said only, “I don’t know about it.”

Germany has evacuated staff from its consulate in Erbil in northern Iraq, a foreign ministry source said on Wednesday, following similar moves in Baghdad and Tehran amid the Middle East war.

« In view of the risk assessment on the ground, Foreign Minister (Johann) Wadephul has decided to take further measures to protect our personnel in Iraq, » the source said.

« The staff of the consulate in Erbil have been temporarily relocated from Iraq. »

The foreign ministry had already reported that staff from its embassy in Tehran were being relocated to an undisclosed location.

The United States on Wednesday warned Iranians that it considers civilian ports in the Strait of Hormuz to be legitimate targets, alleging the Tehran government was using the facilities for military operations.

« Civilian ports used for military purposes lose protected status and become legitimate military targets under international law, » the US military said in a statement.

It urged « civilians in Iran to immediately avoid all port facilities where Iranian naval forces are operating.

« Iranian dockworkers, administrative personnel, and commercial vessel crews should avoid Iranian naval vessels and military equipment. »

The International Energy Agency agreed on Wednesday to release the largest volume of emergency oil reserves in its history.

The Paris-based organisation said it will make 400 million barrels of oil available from its members’ emergency reserves. That’s more than twice the 182.7 million barrels released in 2022 by the IEA’s 32 member countries in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

These countries currently hold over 1.2 billion barrels of public emergency oil stocks and 600 million barrels of industry stocks under government obligation.

The United Nations aid chief warned on Wednesday that the Middle East war was impacting aid routes and urged « exemptions » so humanitarian supplies could get through.

The war in the Middle East has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, while fuel supply disruptions are sending freight rates soaring.

UN aid chief Tom Fletcher warned that the escalating war and the impact on the strait was having « a direct impact on our humanitarian supplies, including going to areas of key need in sub-Saharan Africa. »

« I’m worried that further escalation will damage other supply routes, » he told reporters in Geneva, warning that this was happening as the war « drives up the prices and…drives more people into greater need. »

« So we’re appealing to all the parties to try and secure those routes, including the Strait of Hormuz for our humanitarian traffic… so we can reach anyone, anywhere, on the basis of greatest need, and not on the basis of politics. »

France’s President Emmanuel Macron, whose country is current president of the Group of Seven advanced economies, urged other G7 leaders on Wednesday to act to restore navigation in the Strait of Hormuz « as soon as possible. »

Addressing a video conference of the group’s leaders, he said it was important to coordinate « to make sure that freedom of navigation is clearly restored in all the states as soon as possible » after the Middle East war brought traffic in the key shipping route to a standstill.

Macron said it was necessary to « engage with third parties to avoid any type of export restrictions for oil and gas ».

Admiral Brad Cooper, commander of US Central Command, said that as a result of the US strikes, including one on a “large ballistic missile manufacturing facility,” Iran’s ballistic missile and drone attacks have “dropped drastically.”

The targets have included more than 60 ships, he said in a video posted to social media Wednesday.

Cooper also confirmed that the military was using “advanced AI tools” to “sift through vast amounts of data in seconds.”

He said these tools are enabling leaders to make smarter decisions faster but stressed that “humans will always make final decisions on what to shoot and what not to shoot and when to shoot.”

Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, said Israel prefers diplomacy and talks with the Lebanese government will continue, “but now they have to choose to actually confront Hezbollah — they have to stop Hezbollah.”

“They have to choose — either they confront Hezbollah or they let us do it,” he said. “There is no other option.”

Danon was asked by UN reporters ahead of an emergency meeting of the Security Council meeting on Lebanon how long its military operation would last.

“As long as there will be a threat against us, we will operate,” he replied.

Lebanon’s cash-strapped military, backed by the US and other governments, has been deploying in recent months across southern Lebanon where Hezbollah has a strong military presence, but it’s unclear if they are able or willing to disarm the Iran-backed militant group.

Switzerland said on Wednesday it was temporarily closing its embassy in Tehran due to the Middle East war but maintaining an « open line » of communication between the United States and Iran.

The foreign ministry in Bern said that in view of the increasing security risk, it had « decided to temporarily close” the embassy.

Ambassador Olivier Bangerter and the remaining five other Swiss staff members left Iran by land earlier on Wednesday and will return to Tehran once the situation allows.

« As part of its good offices, Switzerland will continue to maintain an open line of communication between the United States and Iran, in consultation with the two countries, » the ministry  said in a statement.

Both the United States and Iran were informed of the temporary closure of the embassy and the departure of its Swiss staff.

« Switzerland will continue to be available to channel communications that the parties consider useful, » the statement added.

US President Donald Trump signaled again on Wednesday there could be a swift ending to the war on Iran, saying there is little left in the country for US forces to attack.

There is « practically nothing left to target » and the war will end « soon, » Trump was quoted as saying in an interview with Axios. « Any time I want it to end, it will end. »

Trump has given repeated mixed messages about the timing and aims of the war but on Monday he said the ending could come « soon. »

Accusations that the White House launched the war without preparing for consequences, including Iranian disruption of oil tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, are putting the 79-year-old Republican under political pressure.

Speculation is also mounting that Trump may seek a quick exit in an attempt to save his party from further damage ahead of November midterm elections for control of Congress.

However, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday that « this operation will continue without any time limit, as long as necessary, until we achieve all the objectives. »

And Iran says it is ready to fight back.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards warned on Wednesday of a long « war of attrition, » as the conflict with the United States and Israel presses on for a 12th day.

« They (the enemies) must consider the possibility that they will be engaged in a long-term war of attrition that will destroy the entire American economy and the world economy and will cause all of its military capabilities to be eroded to the point of destruction, » Ali Fadavi, advisor to the Guards’ Commander-in-Chief, told state television.

Drones struck fuel tanks at Oman’s Salalah port on Wednesday, state media reported, as Iran continues to target Gulf infrastructure in retaliation for US-Israeli attacks.

« A security source reported that several drones were shot down, while others struck fuel tanks at the port of Salalah, » the Oman News Agency said, adding that no casualties were reported.

Private maritime security company Vanguard Tech reported the suspension of the port’s operations after the attack on its southern section.

The head of Iran’s Football Federation raised doubts about whether the country will take part in the World Cup that will be held across North America in June, after several members of the Iranian women’s football team sought asylum in Australia.

Mehdi Taj told Iranian state media in an interview broadcast on Tuesday that members of the women’s side were coerced into staying in Australia and accused US President Donald Trump of interfering, referring to the soccer players as “hostages.”

Iran is scheduled to play its first match against New Zealand on 16 June in Los Angeles.

“If the outlook for the World Cup is like this, no reasonable person would accept to send their national team to such a place,” he said.

The 2026 World Cup takes place in the United States, Canada and Mexico and runs from 11 June-19 July.

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Wednesday they had struck a Liberia-flagged vessel, which they claimed was Israeli-owned, as well as a Thai bulk carrier in the Strait of Hormuz after they ignored warnings to stop.

« The Israeli-owned Express Rome ship, flying the Liberian flag, and the container ship Mayuree Naree, were hit by Iranian projectiles and stopped after ignoring the warnings of the IRGC naval forces, » the Guards said in a statement carried by Iran’s ISNA news agency.

Guards navy commander Alireza Tangsiri said in a post on X that « any vessel intending to pass must get permission from Iran. »

A series of loud blasts were heard on Wednesday across the Iranian capital, a journalist with the AFP news agency said, on the 12th day of war with Israel and the United States.

It was not immediately clear what was targeted but plumes of smoke were seen rising from a location in eastern Tehran, the journalist said.

More to follow.

Iran has arrested 81 people who have posted information on social media the authorities deem unacceptable during wartime, Iran’s state TV reported.

“Since we are at war, we will act like it, those in social media who cause tension for the public mind will be considered the enemy and will be treated as such,” Ahmad Reza Radan, the commander-in-chief of the Islamic Republic’s security forces, said on state TV late on Tuesday.

He said the people who post critical things or repost things connected to Iran’s enemies will face lengthy prison sentences and possibly executions.

Several other countries in the Middle East have also instituted similar bans.

Romania’s top defence body approved a request from the United States on Wednesday to increase its troop presence and use of the NATO country’s air bases to facilitate its ongoing military operations in Iran and the Middle East.

President Nicușor Dan said after a meeting of the Supreme Council of National Defence, which was convened to discuss the impact of the Middle East conflict, that the agreement would allow for the temporary deployment of troops and military equipment for refuelling planes and defensive equipment such as satellite communication and monitoring equipment.

Germany and Austria say they are releasing parts of their oil reserves following an International Energy Agency request for its members to release 400 million barrels to help temper energy price spikes due to the Iran war.

The largest-ever previous collective release of emergency stocks by IEA member countries was 182.7 million barrels, in the wake of the energy shock prompted by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Germany’s economy minister said on Wednesday the country would release parts of its oil reserves following a request by the IEA to its member states on Tuesday evening “to release oil reserves amounting to 400 million barrels, which is a good 54 million tons.”

Nearly 20,000 French nationals have been repatriated from the Middle East since the war erupted on 28 February, government spokeswoman Maud Bregeon said on Wednesday.

Evacuation efforts are ongoing as some 400,000 French citizens lived in or were visiting countries in the Gulf and Middle East when the war between Iran, the United States and Israel broke out.

The government facilitated the return of 2,000 citizens via state-chartered flights, while an additional 17,000 returned on commercial routes between the Middle East and France that resumed at the government’s request, Bregeon told reporters after a cabinet meeting.

« This means that just under 20,000 people have returned to French soil at the time of speaking, » she added.

France’s foreign minister said Tuesday an additional nine chartered flights would be scheduled by the end the week.

The Israeli military sounded alarms across Israel after detecting missiles launched from Iran.

More details to follow.

Iran unleashed an intense wave of strikes across the Gulf region on Wednesday morning, while continuing its stranglehold of the Strait of Hormuz, in an intense attacking upsurge signalling that the war continues unabated, despite US President Donald Trump’s statements on Tuesday night that the intervention was « pretty much » completed.

Jane Witherspoon and Peter Barabas have the full report below.

Iran’s military said on Wednesday any ships belonging to the United States, Israel or their allies passing through the strategic Strait of Hormuz could be targeted.

« Any vessel whose oil cargo or the vessel itself belongs to the United States…or their hostile allies will be considered legitimate targets, » said the military’s central operational command, Khatam Al-Anbiya, in a statement carried by state TV.

It reiterated that Iran’s armed forces « will not allow a single litre of oil to transit » through the strait.

Israeli defence minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday that the joint bombing campaign with the US against Iran would go on « as long as necessary, » insisting the strikes had inflicted heavy casualties on Tehran’s forces.

« This operation will continue without any time limit, as long as necessary, until we achieve all the objectives and decide the outcome of the campaign, » he said, adding that the Iranian leadership was fleeing « like mice into tunnels. »

The US Embassy in Baghdad urged American citizens on Wednesday to leave Iraq, citing the risk of attacks and kidnappings.

“There have been attacks against US citizens and US interests in Iraq, and Americans face risk of kidnapping,” the statement said.

“American businesses, hotels frequented by foreigners, and other facilities in Iraq, including those with US ties, have been attacked.”

Since the US and Israel attacked Iran, triggering the ongoing war in the Middle East, Iran and Iran-backed Iraqi militias have launched dozens of missile and drone attacks on US bases and diplomatic facilities, energy and communications sites in Iraq, particularly in the semi-autonomous northern Kurdish region.

Egypt’s Foreign Minister has called for Iran to stop its attacks on Arab countries and warned that it should avoid “comprehensive chaos” in the Middle East.

Badr Abdelatty’s comments on Wednesday came in a phone call with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, according to the Egyptian foreign ministry.

The EU has approved new sanctions on 19 Iranian officials and entities, its foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Wednesday, citing « serious human rights violations » in connection to Tehran’s deadly crackdown on mass protests.

« As the Iran war continues, the EU will protect its interests and pursue those responsible for domestic repression, » Kallas said, announcing the measures agreed by EU member states.

« It also sends a message to Tehran that Iran’s future cannot be built on repression. »

Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Wednesday they had targeted several US bases in Kuwait and Bahrain during the war with the United States and Israel.

« Key infrastructure at the US base at Mina Salman port, the nerve centre of the US Fifth Fleet…was hit by Iranian missiles and drones, » the Guards said on their website Sepah News, referring to US installations in Bahrain.

« At the same time Camp Patriot (in Kuwait), including equipment hangars, accommodation and assembly centres for American soldiers at the Mohammed Al-Ahmad and Ali Al-Salem naval bases, also suffered heavy losses, » they said, adding that they also attacked the Camp Buehring base in Kuwait.

China’s government said its efforts in the Iran war have been focused on “diplomatic mediation,” hoping to help ease tensions, and that it is in communication with all parties, “including parties to the conflict.”

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said on Wednesday that Foreign Minister Wang Yi has been holding phone conversations with different counterparts and that the special envoy to the region, Zhai Jun, is currently traveling across several countries.

“As a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council and a sincere friend of Middle Eastern countries, China will not stop its efforts for peace, nor will it cease its voice in upholding fairness and justice,” he added.

L’Observatoire de l’Europe journalists in Dubai are reporting fighter jets shooting down two Iranian ballistic missiles over the city in vicinity of the Palm Jumeirah.

Oman said Wednesday that it shot down an Iranian drone and another crashed into the sea near its port at Duqm.

The state-run Oman News Agency, quoting an anonymous security official, made the announcement. It said there were no human or material losses in Wednesday’s drone attack.

Duqm has been a key resupply point for the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln and its strike group amid the war.

Pope Leo XIV is praying for peace in Iran, Lebanon and the Middle East at large, saying he hopes prayers may “be a comfort to those who suffer and a seed of hope for the future.”

Speaking at the end of his weekly general audience, the pope recalled that the funeral of a Maronite priest killed in southern Lebanon was taking place on Wednesday.

He said the Reverend Pierre El Raii, who was killed on Monday as he tried to rescue a wounded parishioner, was a true pastor.

“May the Lord grant that his shed blood be a seed of peace for beloved Lebanon,” he said.

The Vatican is particularly concerned about how the war is affecting Lebanon, a Muslim-majority country where about a third of the population is Christian.

Iran accused the United States and Israel of striking a maritime ambulance boat at an island in the strategic Strait of Hormuz, local media reported on Wednesday.

« Following the…attacks this afternoon, a maritime ambulance stationed at the dock of Hormuz Island was hit by missiles, » Mehr news agency reported, showing footage of the boat on fire.

It said the vessel transports emergency patients from the island to Bandar Abbas in Iran’s southern Hormozgan province. Other media carried similar reports.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Wednesday that the war in the Middle East must be stopped before it “sets the entire region on fire.”

“If diplomacy is given a chance, it is indeed possible to achieve (peace),” Erdoğan said in a speech to his ruling party’s legislators.

He said Turkey was pressing ahead with efforts to bring the parties back to the negotiating table.

Lebanon’s health ministry said on Wednesday that the death toll since the latest round of Israel-Hezbollah fighting began on 2 March has risen to 570.

The ministry added that 1,444 people have been wounded since then. The ministry said the dead included 86 children and 45 women.

Dutch airline KLM announced on Wednesday it had cancelled all flights to Dubai until 28 March for safety reasons because of the war in the region.

« Due to ongoing unrest in the Middle East, KLM has decided to cancel all flights to Dubai up to and including March 28, » a company statement said.

« The safety of our passengers and crew is always our top priority, » it added.

« We understand that this decision has a significant impact on our travellers and are doing everything possible to keep them well informed. »

The airline has been working with the Dutch foreign ministry on the evacuation of its citizens stuck in the region.

A Thai bulk carrier travelling in the crucial Strait of Hormuz was attacked Wednesday, with 20 crew members rescued so far, the Thai navy said.

It was not immediately clear whether the incident was one of three commercial ships that the UK Maritime Trade Operations centre earlier said had been hit in the Gulf on Wednesday.

Photos shared by the Royal Thai Navy showed heavy black smoke billowing from the hull and superstructure of the Thai-registered Mayuree Naree, with life rafts floating in the water.

The vessel « was attacked while transiting the Strait of Hormuz » after departing Khalifa port in the United Arab Emirates, the navy said in a statement.

« The specific details and cause of the attack are currently under investigation, » it added.

The Omani navy had rescued 20 sailors and « efforts are currently underway to rescue the remaining three crew members », it said.

Iran has launched strikes against its oil-exporting neighbours, threatening shipping in the Strait of Hormuz and plunging the global energy economy into crisis.

Ship-tracking websites showed the Mayuree Naree just off the Omani coast in the Strait of Hormuz, moving slowly at little more than one knot.

The carrier is 178 metres long and displaces 30,000 tonnes, they said, adding it was on its way to Kandla in India.

Israel’s military said Wednesday it had engaged in a new « wide-scale wave of strikes » across Iran, as well as Hezbollah in neighbouring Lebanon.

The fresh strikes are targeting what the Israeli army said was « Iranian terror regime infrastructure ».

The IDF also said Wednesday that Iran has been using « densely populated civilian areas » to launch its missile and drone attacks on the region, intentionally putting ordinary people in peril.

“These actions deliberately and directly put Iranian civilians in danger, both when the launchers are used and when they are destroyed by the Israeli Air Force,” IDF Persian-language spokesperson Lt Col Kamal Penhasi said.

“Once again we ask you, citizens of Iran, for your personal safety, to stay away from the missile launchers,” Lt Col Penhasi added.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, a close ally of US President Donald Trump, said the joint US, Israeli attacks on Iran, which started on 28 February, violate international law.

The Italian premier, in an address to the Senate on Wednesday, described a broader international crisis “in which threats are becoming increasingly terrifying and unilateral interventions outside the confines of international law are multiplying.”

She said the “the American and Israeli intervention against the Iranian regime” should be understood as part of that broader crisis.

Explosions heard over West Bay in the heart of the Qatari capital as the country’s air defences work to intercept incoming Iranian drone attacks, L’Observatoire de l’Europe journalists reported.

Authorities sent alarms to residents minutes prior, warning of possible incoming attacks.

Earlier on Wednesday, explosions were heard and interceptions were seen in the skies above the capital Doha, as Iranian missiles and drones continue to target Gulf states in response to US-Israeli attacks. 

Lebanon’s Health Ministry says an Israeli airstrike on an apartment building in central Beirut early on Wednesday wounded four people.

The strike came without warning and it was not immediately clear who was the target of the attack on an apartment in Beirut’s Aicha Bakkar neighbourhood.

The strike was the second in central Beirut in less than a week.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says the war in Iran has already cost the 27-nation bloc’s citizens around €3 billion in energy imports, warning that Europe must resist the temptation to buy Russian oil and gas again.

“Gas prices have risen by 50% and oil prices have risen by 27%. If you translate that into euros — the 10 days of war have already cost European taxpayers an additional 3 billion euros in fossil fuel imports,” said the EU’s top official.

“That is the price of our dependency,” she told EU lawmakers in Strasbourg, France, noting the price of European renewables and nuclear energy has remained steady.

Von der Leyen rejected calls for Brussels to return to buying Russian energy, which the bloc has stopped doing since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his full-scale invasion of neighbouring Ukraine in February 2022.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that a Ukrainian delegation is headed to Gulf countries.

The delegation, which includes military specialists and led by Defence Council secretary and chief negotiator Rustem Umerov, will help strengthen defences as tensions rise following Iranian attacks.

In a nightly video address, Zelenskyy said Ukrainian specialists could help protect lives and stabilise the situation in the region, after Iranian attacks in response to US-Israeli strikes spiralled the broader region, particularly Gulf Arab states.

Zelenskyy added that it is impossible to predict how long the crisis will last but stressed that protecting lives and restoring stability is urgently needed, including for Ukraine.

Lebanon’s minister of social affairs says Israeli attacks across the country, which claim to target Hezbollah positions and infrastructure, have displaced at least 780,000 people in the country so far.

Haneen Sayed told reporters after meeting President Joseph Aoun on Wednesday morning that 120,000 displaced people are staying in state-provided shelters around the country.

She added that they discussed the challenges of the response and the humanitarian aid arriving to support the displaced.

Sayed says a European Union plane carrying aid arrived on Tuesday with aid that will be distributed in shelters. Additional aid shipments from Jordan, France and other countries are expected to arrive in Lebanon in the coming days.

A joint Iranian military command said on Wednesday that banks and financial institutions are now targets in the Middle East.

The Khatam al-Anbiya Headquarters issued a statement identifying the targets.

It came after Iranian media outlets reported that staff at a bank in the capital, Tehran, had been killed in US-Israeli airstrikes.

The threat would put at risk particularly Dubai, which is home to many international financial institutions, as well as Saudi Arabia and the island kingdom of Bahrain.

Authorities in Dubai have confirmed that four foreign nationals were injured as Iranian drones fell “in the vicinity of Dubai International Airport” on Wednesday morning, just before 11 am local time.

Two Ghanian and one Bangladeshi nationals sustained minor injuries in the attacks, while an Indian citizen suffered “moderate injuries”.

The Dubai Media Office, which issues statement on behalf of the city-state’s government, said in a post on X that air traffic “is operating as normal” for the time being. 

Energy ministers of the G7 said on Wednesday they « stand ready » to take « all necessary measures » in coordination with the International Energy Agency (IEA) to tackle the rise in crude oil prices, which have spiked due to the war in Iran.

After a virtual meeting on Tuesday with the IEA’s executive director, the ministers said in a statement: « G7 members will carefully consider the recommendations issued during these discussions. We agreed to stand ready to take all necessary measures in coordination with IEA Members. »

US media outlets, citing officials familiar with the matter, reported that the IEA had proposed its largest ever release of oil reserves to counter soaring crude prices.

Another ship came under attack in the Persian Gulf on Wednesday, the British military said.

A bulk carrier was hit by a projectile off a distance from the United Arab Emirates, the British military’s United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre said.

“There is no report of any environmental impact,” said the centre. “The crew are reported safe and well.”

It was the third attack reported on Wednesday.

Iran’s new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei is « safe and sound » despite reports of an injury during the war with Israel and the United States, said the son of the Iranian president on Wednesday.

« 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, » said Yousef Pezeshkian, who is also a government adviser, in a post on his Telegram channel.

State television had called Khamenei a « wounded veteran of the Ramadan war » but never specified his injury, leading many to speculate over his health.

Mojtaba Khamenei, 56, is the son of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Mojtaba Khamenei long has been a secretive figure within Iran. His father and wife were both killed in US-Israeli airstrike on 28 February that started the war. The younger Khamenei’s mother was also later killed in separate attacks on 2 March.

Khamenei has not been seen since, nor has he given any statement since becoming supreme leader on Monday.

He is believed to have close ties with Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard Corps, and holds even more hardline views than his late father.

US President Donald Trump has criticised his appointment, warning Tehran that any leader appointed without consulting Washington “won’t last long”.

Some tankers, believed linked to Iran, are continuing to get through the Strait of Hormuz, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf.

Some of the ships getting through are so-called “dark” transits, meaning they aren’t turning on their Automatic Identification System (AIS) tracks, which show where vessels are. Vessels carrying sanctioned Iranian crude often turn off their AIS trackers.

Security firm Neptune P2P Group said on Wednesday that seven ships had passed through the strait since 8 March. Of those, five were linked to Iranian-associated shipping, it said.

The commodity-tracking firm, Kpler, said Iran has restarted crude exports through its Jask oil terminal on the Gulf of Oman. The firm said a tanker was loaded with roughly 2 million barrels at Jask on 7 March.

Qatar issued a warning to the public early on Wednesday morning of possible Iranian attacks.

Explosions were heard as aerial interceptions were seen taking place in the skies above the capital, Doha, after Iran fired barrages of drones targeting several Gulf Arab nations early on Wednesday. 

Doha says it won’t serve as a mediator for Iran as it remains under attack from Tehran.

Qatar’s Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulaziz al-Khulaifi made the statement to the state-funded Al Jazeera network in an interview which aired on Wednesday.

He noted both Qatar and Oman had been attacked even though they worked to “build bridges between Iran and the West.”

“We will not be able to fulfil that role under attack, and that’s something the Iranians need to understand,” al-Khulaifi said. « The regional countries are not an enemy of Iran, and the Iranians are not understanding that idea.”

Russia said its consulate in Isfahan was damaged in airstrikes targeting the central Iranian city.

The state-run Tass news agency quoted Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova saying there were “no casualties or serious injuries” in the strike on Sunday, which targeted the nearby governor’s office in the city.

“Windows were shattered in the office building and residential apartments, and several employees were thrown back by the blast wave. Fortunately, there were no casualties or serious injuries,” Zakharova said.

Videos are circulating online and are being broadcast by local Lebanese news channels from an apparent strike site in the densely populated Aicha Bakkar neighbourhood in the centre of the capital, Beirut.

The intense strikes show two floors of a multi-storey building engulfed in flames.

The attack came without warning. There were no immediate reports concerning who was targeted or the number and extent of casualties.

The structure that was hit is several buildings away from Dar al-Fatwa, the country’s highest Sunni Muslim religious authority.

The strike was in an area far from Beirut’s southern suburbs, where the Israeli military had issued evacuation warnings earlier, announcing intentions to operate against what it says are Hezbollah positions in the area.

On Tuesday, Israeli attacks targeted several buildings in the southern cities of Tyre and Sidon, destroying branches of al Qard al-Hassan, an institution Israel says serves as the Iran-backed group’s financial arm.

At least seven people were killed in those attacks, spiking the death toll in Lebanon from Israeli attacks to over 400.

Saudi Arabia’s Defence Ministry said early on Wednesday it destroyed five drones heading toward the kingdom’s vast Shaybah oil field in the Empty Quarter desert.

It added that it intercepted and destroyed two drones in the Eastern Province.

Meanwhile, Kuwait said it downed eight drones over the tiny, oil-rich nation.

A projectile hit a container ship early Wednesday morning off the coast of the United Arab Emirates in the Strait of Hormuz, according to the British military.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations Centre issued the warning, saying the attack happened off Ras al-Khaimah, the UAE’s northernmost emirate on the strait.

The centre said the “extent of the damage is currently unknown but under investigation by the crew.”

Ships have effectively halted movement through the strait, the narrow mouth of the Persian Gulf through which a fifth of all oil and natural gas traded passes.

The US said it took out more than a dozen mine-laying Iranian vessels on Tuesday, after Tehran vowed to block the region’s oil exports, saying it would not allow “even a single litre” to be shipped to its enemies through the chokehold Strait of Hormuz.

In a post late on Tuesday on Truth Social, US President Donald Trump, who had earlier warned Iran of intense consequences “at a level never seen before”, said Washington has taken pre-emptive measures to respond to the threat Tehran had levelled.

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