War in the Middle East: latest developments

Here are the latest main events related to the war in the Middle East:

Spain sends Cyprus protection

Spain will send its most advanced frigate to protect Cyprus after a drone strike on a British base on the Mediterranean island sucked it into the Middle East war, the defence ministry said on Thursday.

The "Cristobal Colon" 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 ministry said in a statement.

State TV says Iran hit US oil tanker in Gulf

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.

Second Iranian ship heading to Sri Lanka after submarine attack

A second Iranian warship was heading towards Sri Lanka's territorial waters Thursday, a day after a US submarine destroyed an Iranian frigate, a minister told parliament.

Media minister Nalinda Jayatissa said the second Iranian warship was just outside Sri Lankan waters, but gave no further details. Official sources said the vessel was carrying more than 100 crew.

Explosions heard in Doha, Manama

Explosions echoed over the Qatari capital Doha and Bahrain's Manama on Thursday, AFP journalists reported.

The Gulf countries have been targeted by repeated waves of Iranian drone and missile attacks following in retaliation for the massive US-Israeli air campaign against Iran.

Israeli strikes killed six people in south Lebanon

Israeli strikes killed six people in two southern Lebanese villages on Thursday, state media reported.

The mayor of a village in the Nabatieh region and his wife were killed in one strike, the National News Agency reported, adding that in a nearby village a strike killed two children and their parents.

Iraq's Kataeb Hezbollah says commander killed in strike

The Tehran-backed Iraqi group Kataeb Hezbollah said on Thursday that one of its commanders was killed in a strike in southern Iraq the previous day.

Ahmad al-Hamidawi, the secretary-general of the armed faction, mourned in a statement the loss of a "great commander", Ali Hussein al-Freiji, who had joined the group more than two decades ago.

Two sources from the faction told AFP on Wednesday that a strike hit a vehicle near the group's main base in southern Iraq, killing two fighters.

The toll then rose to three, including the commander.

One source described the attack as a "Zionist-US strike".

Fresh Israeli strikes across Tehran

Israel's military said in a statement Thursday it had "just begun a large-scale wave of strikes against infrastructure of the Iranian terror regime across Tehran".

Iranian news agency Tasnim and local media reported several explosions had been heard in Tehran Thursday morning.

It said the country had activated its defences in response.

Iran hits Kurdish groups in Iraq

Iran said Thursday it had targeted the headquarters of Kurdish forces in Iraqi Kurdistan with three missiles, following strikes on Kurdish regions in both Iran and Iraq.

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

Israeli strike kills Hamas official in Lebanon

Lebanese state media said an Israeli strike had killed a senior Hamas official on Thursday, the first reported targeted killing of a member of the Palestinian militant group since US-Israeli strikes on Iran triggered regional war.

Wassim Atallah al-Ali and his wife were killed when an "enemy drone targeted their home" in Beddawi, a Palestinian refugee camp near Tripoli, the National News Agency (NNA) reported.

Iran says US will 'regret' sinking navy ship

Iranian Foreign Minister Abas Araghchi accused the United States of committing an atrocity by sinking an Iranian navy ship off Sri Lanka.

"Mark my words: The US will come to bitterly regret precedent it has set", he posted on X.

Australia deploys 'military assets' to Mideast

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Thursday that "military assets" had been deployed to the Middle East as a contingency plan.

Albanese did not give further details, though local outlet SBS News reported they were planes.

Iran launches missiles at Israel

Iran launched a fresh round of missiles at Israel earlier Thursday, triggering alerts in several areas including Tel Aviv, according to the Israeli military and Tehran's state media.

Explosions were heard in Jerusalem after warnings of incoming Iranian missile fire, according to AFP journalists. Israel's emergency services said there were no known casualties.

Air strike hits Hezbollah stronghold

An air strike hit the Hezbollah stronghold of south Beirut early Thursday, after Israel had issued a warning to residents.

Elsewhere, three people were killed in a pair of Israeli strikes on vehicles along Beirut's airport highway, Lebanon's health ministry said.

Oil spill near Kuwait

A "large explosion" hit a tanker in the waters off Kuwait, causing an oil spill, British maritime security agency UKMTO said.

"The Master of a tanker at anchor, reports witnessing and hearing a large explosion on the port side then seeing a small craft leave the vicinity" off the Gulf state's Mubarak Al-Kabeer area, the agency posted on X.

Qatar evacuations near US embassy

Qatar has begun evacuating residents of its capital living near the US embassy as a precautionary measure, the interior ministry said, after Iranian strikes.

US Senate rejects bid to curb war

The US Senate rejected a bipartisan resolution aimed at curbing Trump's authority to continue military strikes on Iran, in a narrow congressional show of support for a conflict launched without explicit approval from lawmakers.

With Republicans holding a 53–47 majority in the upper chamber of Congress, the resolution fell short by exactly that margin.

Canada can't rule out war role

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said that he couldn't "rule out participation" in the escalating war.

"We will stand by our allies," he said.

Spain denies US claim of cooperation

Spain doubled down on its opposition to Washington's use of its bases against Iran, after Trump's threats of trade reprisals.

The White House said Madrid had now agreed to cooperate, but Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said its stance on "bases, on the war in the Middle East, on the bombardment of Iran, has not changed at all."

Turkey says missile from Iran destroyed

A ballistic missile launched from Iran and heading towards Turkish airspace via Iraq and Syria was destroyed by NATO air defence systems, Turkish officials said Wednesday.

Turkey's foreign ministry summoned Iran's ambassador.

A Turkish official, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, said the missile had been "aimed at a base in Greek Cyprus but veered off course".

China to send envoy to mediate

China will send a special envoy to mediate in the Middle East, Foreign Minister Wang Yi said.

Beijing is a close partner of Iran and has said it backs Tehran in defending its sovereignty, while urging the United States and Israel to cease their attacks.

Qatar ire

Qatar's PM Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani lambasted Iran's foreign minister during a call, accusing Tehran of trying to drag their neighbours into war.

Hormuz crew rescued

The Omani navy rescued 24 crew members of a container ship struck by missiles in the Strait of Hormuz.

Iranian forces claimed "complete control" of the strait a day after Trump said the US Navy was ready to escort tankers through the channel.