Osmond Chia
Business reporter

Image source, Getty Images

As we mentioned earlier, the Pentagon has reportedly asked the White House to approve more than $200bn (£151bn) to fund the war in Iran, according to the Washington Post - but it would still have to go through Congress.

In December, lawmakers approved a record $901bn budget for US defence spending this year - but President Donald Trump has been asking for more.

He argued that the defence funding must reach $1.5tn in 2027 to address what he described as "very troubled and dangerous times".

The bigger budget would help the US build a "dream military" that will keep the country "safe and secure", Trump said in January.

So far, the price of the war has not been officially disclosed. Reports by numerous news agencies suggest that the US spent more than $11bn in the first week of its assault on Iran.

Image source, EPA/ Shutterstock

US President Donald Trump has just issued a long Truth Social post about an Israeli attack on the South Pars gas field in Iran on Wednesday night.

In retaliation for that strike, Iran attacked Qatar's Ras Laffan - an industrial area that contains the world's biggest liquefied natural gas (LNG) processing facility.

In his strongly-worded post, Trump says the US "knew nothing" of Israel's strike, and threatens an escalation if Iran attacks Qatar again.

"Out of anger for what has taken place in the Middle East", Israel "violently lashed out", Trump writes.

He goes on: "The United States knew nothing about this particular attack, and the country of Qatar was in no way, shape, or form, involved with it, nor did it have any idea that it was going to happen."

But Iran didn't know this, Trump writes, and that its retaliatory attacks on Qatar's Ras Laffan were made "unjustifiably and unfairly".

Trump writes - in capitals - that Israel will not attack Iran's South Pars gas field again, "unless Iran unwisely decides to attack" another innocent nation, which in this case was Qatar.

It Iran does strike Qatar again, Trump threatens that the US will "will massively blow up the entirety of the South Pars Gas Field at an amount of strength and power that Iran has never seen or witnessed before".

He adds that he doesn't want to authorise "this level of violence and destruction because of the long term implications" for Iran, "but if Qatar's LNG is again attacked, I will not hesitate to do so."

Former Director of the United States National Counterterrorism Center Joe Kent is being investigated by the FBI, multiple sources have told BBC's US media partner CBS.

The probe is in connection with leaks of classified information, CBS reports, and sources said it began before his resignation earlier this week over the war in Iran.

As we reported earlier, Kent has just spoken to conservative political commentator Tucker Carlson, who he told that the US-Israeli operation that killed Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei "was the last thing that we ever should have done".

CBS said the FBI had not responded to a request for comment at the time of reporting.

The Pentagon has asked the White House to approve more than $200bn (£151bn) in order to fund the war in Iran, a senior administration official has told the Washington Post.

The paper says that this amount would far surpass the cost of the Trump administration's campaign to date, and would instead seek to "urgently" increase production of critical weaponry expended.

Several different funding requests have been "floated" by the Pentagon over the past two weeks, and the Post suggests that the most recent iteration is "likely to stage a major political battle in Congress".

The US defence department and the White House had both declined requests for comment from the paper at the time of reporting.

Image source, Reuters

• Some hours ago, Iran reported that its South Pars oil field had been attacked, blaming the US and Israel for the strikes - who are yet to comment - and promising to "retaliate strongly"
• It has since struck Qatar's Ras Laffan, a city home to a refinery that Iranian state media had declared was a target. Qatar has described Iran as a "direct threat" to the region, adding that it "reserves its right to respond"
• Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia says it is "thwarting" an attempted attack one of its gas facilities, after four residents were injured by falling shrapnel in Riyadh and missiles have been intercepted in the UAE, which officials said were on course for a gas facility and oil field

• Israel says it is striking northern Iran for the first time in the conflict
• This follows the news that three Palestinian women were killed in a beauty salon by falling shrapnel after Israel's military had reported an Iranian missile barrage. A foreign worker also died in an agricultural village in Israel after missile fire
• The BBC's Security Correspondent Frank Gardner says trust is at an "all-time low" between Arab Gulf states and the Islamic Republic

• Most of the Iranian women's football team players who refused to sing the national anthem have now returned home, Dan Johnson writes from the Turkey-Iran border
• US President Donald Trump reportedly wants no more strikes on Iranian oil fields, according to the Wall Street Journal. His former counterterrorism official Joe Kent says killing Iran's supreme leader was the "last thing" the US should have done
• Iran's president has also reported that Israel has killed its intelligence minister Ismail Khatib in an overnight strike

The Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued a statement condemning in the "strongest terms" the Iranian attacks on energy facilities in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The strikes were a "flagrant violation of the principles of international law" and a "serious threat" to global energy security, the statement reads.

The ministry adds that "Iranian brutal aggressions" against neighbouring countries have "crossed all red lines", and emphasised the need for de-escalation in the region to "restore regional and international security and stability".

Earlier, an apparent Iranian missile strike hit Qatar's Ras Laffan industrial site.

Image source, EPA

• British Airways says the "temporary reduction" in its flying schedule in the region is ongoing. Flights to and from Amman, Bahrain, Doha, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Tel Aviv are suspended
• The airline is operating additional flights between London and Singapore and Bangkok to "further support" passengers
• Qatar Airways is operating a "revised limited number of flights" from 18 March to 28 March 2026, but warns the schedule could change with regulatory approvals and airspace conditions
• Emirates is operating a reduced flight schedule, with customers booked to fly through the region up to and including 15 April given the option to re-book to an alternate flight
• Qantas is offering "flexibility" for passengers booked on flights to, from or via the UAE, Qatar, Israel, Jordan, Oman and Bahrain, up until 15 April

The dramatic surge in oil and jet fuel prices as a result of the war is also impacting the costs of travel, with Qantas, Air New Zealand and Thai Airways among the airlines who have confirmed an increase in fares in response to rising prices.

British Airways owner IAG says it bought fuel in advance as protection from any short-term fare increases in the next few months.

Image source, HAZEM BADER / AFP via Getty Images

Ambulances rushed to a beauty salon in the Beit Awa area of the occupied West Bank earlier, when falling shrapnel hit a beauty salon. It happened shortly after Israeli military had reported it was hit with an Iranian missile barrage.

The Palestinian Red Crescent (PRC) had initially said four women were killed in the incident. Now, they have issued a new statement revising this figure to three.

Eight people are critically and moderately injured,including one person who was resuscitated at the scene, and another who needed an amputation before being taken to hospital, the statement says.

The PRC also said that crews "faced extreme difficulties and significant obstacles in quickly reaching the scene of the accident" due to closed iron gates which "directly and critically affected the time available to rescue the injured".

It stressed the "necessity for the occupying power to fulfil its responsibilities and to facilitate rescue operations and not obstruct them", referring to Israel without naming it.

A vessel in the Strait of Hormuz has reportedly been "hit by an unknown projectile which has resulted in a fire onboard", the UKMTO says.

It happened east of the city of Khawr Fakkan in the United Arab Emirates.

The UKMTO, a maritime organisation that acts as a central hub to receive distress calls from ships around the world, says all vessels should "transit with caution" through the region.

Iran has effectively closed the Strait of Hormuz, the world's busiest oil shipping channel, leaving many vessels and sailors stranded and in dangerous situations.

French President Emmanuel Macron says that there must be "a moratorium" on strikes that target civilian infrastructure, following the attacks on areas that produce gas in Iran and Qatar.

In a post on X, Macron says he spoke with Donald Trump and the Emir of Qatar, and it was in the "common interest" to implement a halt "without delay", particularly on energy and water supply facilities.

"Civilian populations and their essential needs, as well as the security of energy supplies, must be protected from military escalation," he says.

Image source, CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Joe Kent, Trump's top counterterrorism official who resigned this week over the war in Iran, is currently being interviewed by conservative political commentator Tucker Carlson.

Kent says the US-Israeli operation that killed Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei "was the last thing that we ever should have done".

"He was moderating their nuclear programme, he was preventing them from getting a nuclear weapon," Kent says.

"If you take him out, if you kill him aggressively, people are going to rally around that regime and the next ayatollah that you get, and I think this is the case by all data that we have with his son," he adds - referring to Mojtaba Khamenei who has been selected as Iran's new supreme leader.

A 30-year-old man has died in the agricultural village of Moshav Adanim following missile fire towards Israel, the country's emergency service, Magen David Adom, announced.

The man was a foreign worker, according to Magen David Adom, and paramedics found him on the scene without signs of life before pronouncing him dead.

Image source, Reuters

Four Palestinian women were killed by falling shrapnel in the occupied West Bank shortly after Israel's military reported another Iranian missile barrage, according to the Palestine Red Crescent.

Six people were also injured in the Beit Awa area near Hebron.

The BBC understands the shrapnel fell on a beauty salon, which is usually crowded with customers ahead of Eid.

Authorities in Abu Dhabi are dealing with two incidents of fallen debris following the interception of missiles, the city's media office says.

It adds that the missiles had been on course for the Habshan gas facility and the Bab oil field.

Abu Dhabi Media Office says no injuries have been recorded, but operations at the gas facilities have been suspended.

It is the latest energy site to be targeted, after an attack on Qatar's Ras Laffan earlier today. Iran had warned it would target several oil facilities across the Middle East.

Israel's Airports Authority has confirmed three private planes were damaged at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport in recent days.

In a statement it says: "The Airports Authority reiterates that the risks involved in operating in this area at this time were clarified in advance.

"Fortunately, at the time of the incident, the planes were empty and there were no injuries."

Trump wants no more strikes on Iranian energy sites after Israel struck facilities linked to the South Pars natural gas field today, the Wall Street Journal reports, citing unnamed US officials.

The newspaper reports that Trump supported the strike with the intent to send a message to Iran over the Strait of Hormuz, but is now against further such attacks.

But Trump could be open to more strikes on Iranian energy targets if Iran threatens or impedes the vital oil and trade route, the officials told the WSJ.

Israel's military says it has identified missiles launched from Iran.

"Defensive systems are operating to intercept the threat," it says, adding those in affected areas will receive instructions to their phone.

Verified footage shows vehicle in flames in Sidon, Lebanonpublished at 21:35 GMT 18 March

21:35 GMT 18 March

By Farida Elsebai and Thomas Spencer

BBC Verify has geolocated and confirmed footage showing a car on fire near the waterfront in the city of Sidon, south of the capital Beirut.

In a further image that we have verified, heavy smoke can be seen rising close to the Al-Zaatari mosque and offices of the Lebanese Civil Defence.

Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA) has published a statement today from former MP Salim Khoury, mourning the death of Fahmi Al-Shami, a member of Lebanese Civil Defence, saying that he was killed in an Israeli drone strike on his vehicle near his Sidon workplace.

We have approached the Israel Defense Forces for comment.

Yesterday, the IDF issued evacuation warnings for a village near Sidon and residents of Tyre, citing operations targeting Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon.

Image source, Getty Images

Tthe USS Gerald R Ford is preparing to leave the Red Sea for repairs in Crete after a fire on board injured sailors and caused significant damage, US officials have said.

It will travel to a US Navy base on the island for pierside repairs, authorities said, after a blaze broke out in the laundry facility last week and took hours to extinguish.

The vessel has been deployed for nearly nine months, and was sent to the region as part of US operations linked to the war with Iran.

Read more: US aircraft carrier to sail to Crete for repairs after fire on board

The Israeli military says it has started airstrikes on targets in northern Iran.

"A short while ago, the Israeli Air Force, acting on navy and IDF intelligence, began striking targets in northern Iran for the first time during Operation Roaring Lion," a brief message on its official Telegram says.