We can bring you some breaking news now after explosions were reported on two foreign oil tankers in the Persian Gulf near the port of Basra.

The head of the General Company for Iraqi ports says it has rescued 38 crew members from the vessels, and one person has died, in comments cited by the Iraqi news agency. Search and rescue operations are ongoing.

Ship tracking websites show the two tankers suspected of being attacked surrounded by rescue boats.

It's unclear at this stage what caused the explosions. An Iraqi security source in Basra told CNN that an Iranian boat rigged with explosives is thought to have hit the two vessels, however, the source added the investigation is ongoing.

The UK's maritime monitor also said it has received similar reports, while Iraq's State Oil Marketing Organisation expressed "deep regret" over the incident.

Oil ports have stopped operations following the attack, Iraqi authorities say.

Earlier, Oman’s navy rescued 20 sailors from a Thai-flagged vessel that was attacked in the Strait of Hormuz, about 13 nautical miles (24km) off the Omani coast, according to the country’s state news agency.

We'll bring you more on this when we get it.

Simon Browning
Transport correspondent

The war in Iran is costing the travel and tourism sector in the Middle East at least $600m (£448m) a day, according to estimates from the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC).

The travel body says the losses come from the reduction in international visitor spending due to the widespread disruption to air travel.

Large swathes of airspace across the region remain closed with a limited number of commercial flights operating.

WTTC had forecast international visitor spending of around $207bn in 2026 in the Middle East before the conflict began.

Gloria Guevara, President & CEO of the World Travel & Tourism Council, said that travel and tourism is one of the most resilient of sectors, "history shows that the sector can recover quickly, especially when governments support travellers through hotel support or repatriation".

Guevera added that WTTC analysis of "previous crises demonstrates that security-related incidents often see the fastest tourism recovery times, in some cases as quickly as two months, when governments and industry work together to restore traveller confidence”.

Airlines continue to change their schedules on routes to the Middle East.

Dutch airline KLM has cancelled all flights to Dubai until March 28th. A similar decision was taken by British Airways on Tuesday regarding its routes in the region.

Sarah Smith, the BBC's North America editor, spoke with an Iraq veteran and the mother of a service member who died in the line of duty about whether they feel action against Iran is justified or not.

The US will be contributing 172 million barrels of oil - nearly half - of the 400 million total barrels that the International Energy Agency announced earlier today its member countries will be releasing.

The release from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) will begin next week and will take about 120 days to deliver, the Energy Department says.

The US will be replacing these reserves with 200 million barrels within the next year, the department says.

Though the cost of replacing spent oil reserves often falls on taxpayers, the energy department says this replacement will come "at no cost to the taxpayer", without providing further details.

As of 6 March, the SPR holds about 415 million barrels of oil out of its total capacity of 700 million, according to data from the Department of Energy.

The Saudi Defence Ministry says the country intercepted and destroyed 18 drones in the country's eastern region.

According to the Saudi Press Agency, several have been destroyed over the last few days. The country has not shared what they believe the source of the drones to be.

A short time later, it was announced that a drone heading toward the Shaybah oilfield was intercepted and destroyed on the northern edge of the Empty Quarter.

Authorities in Dubai say all residents are safe and uninjured after a drone fell on a residential apartment building in the city's Dubai Creek Harbour district, causing a fire.

"Authorities have fully brought the fire under control, and all residents are safe. No injuries have been reported," the city's media office wrote on X.

The post did not mention where the drone came from.

Asma Khalid
Co-host, The Global Story Podcast

There are a lot of questions about how the war in Iran might unfold next – and questions about what the Trump administration calculated or miscalculated when it, alongside Israel, attacked Iran.

On The Global Story podcast, I sat down with Nate Swanson, a veteran of the U.S. State Department, who worked on American policy toward Iran for nearly 20 years, and he told me he doesn’t see a scenario in which this conflict truly resolves anytime soon. “I think for Iran, the short-term objective is to make this a war of attrition, which is not something the US likes to do and just draw out pain as long as possible,” Swanson told me. Swanson served under both Democratic and Republican administrations, including a short stint in 2025 on the Trump administration’s Iran negotiating team.

“Long term, though, at some point Iran has to come back and talk to the US … but I don't see that happening in the short term,” he added. “ I think Iran does not want to negotiate with the Trump administration again.”

The Iranians say they were in the midst of talks with the Americans when the strikes began this year, as well as last year.

You can listen to my full interview with Swanson on today’s episode of The Global Story.

In a post on X, Dubai's government media office says authorities are responding to an "incident involving a drone that fell on a building in the vicinity of Dubai Creek Harbour".

Dubai Creek Harbour is about 5 miles (8km) from Dubai International Airport.

Earlier on Wednesday, officials in the UAE city said two drones had fallen "in the vicinity” of the airport.

Dubai International is the world’s busiest airport for international passenger traffic.

This latest incident comes after a resolution drafted by Gulf nations calling for an end to attacks by Iran won the backing of the UN Security Council, as we reported earlier.

We'll bring you more on this developing story out of Dubai when we have it.

Nada Tawfik
Reporting from the United Nations in New York

The Gulf countries’ draft garnered the largest number of co-sponsors on record for a resolution – 135 countries backed it.

Bahrain said it showed this was not just a regional matter, but recognition of the vital importance of the Gulf for global stability and energy security.

The US said Iran’s strategy of sowing chaos and holding neighbours hostage had clearly backfired.

Nevertheless, Russia and China both said they had abstained on the vote because the resolution didn’t fully reflect the root cause and overall picture of the conflict in a balanced manner.

The text did not mention the US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran, which the UN Secretary General has also deemed a violation of the UN charter.

Russia also doubted the Gulf countries’ assertion that their territories weren’t being used to strike Iran.

Bahrain expressed sadness over that claim and said the Gulf countries had never been used to launch attacks.

Moscow’s competing draft - that instead urged ALL parties to stop fighting - failed to get enough votes to pass.

Iran accused those who supported the Gulf country’s draft of allowing political considerations to take precedence over the protection of the UN charter, calling it a stain on the council’s record.

Image source, Reuters

Back in Kentucky, where we earlier brought you some remarks by Donald Trump, the US president has now finished speaking.

We heard little from Trump about the war in Iran, other than that we shared in our earlier post about his praise for the US military and his claim that the conflict will ultimately "substantially reduce oil prices".

A little earlier, the UK government announced that another flight it's chartered to bring British nationals home from the Middle East is due to leave Dubai in the coming days.

It will be the sixth such flight arranged by the government from the region - so far, three have flown from Oman and two from Dubai.

Airspace remains closed across some of the Middle East and the security situation on the ground remains fast-changing, the UK Foreign Office says in the update.

As of Wednesday morning, officials estimate that more than 57,000 British nationals have left the region to return to the UK since March 1.

Samantha Granville
Reporting from Beirut

Image source, Adri Salido/Getty Images

This is the loudest night Beirut has had since the war began.

Smoke hangs over the city. Social media is filled with videos and pictures of orange flashes lighting up the night sky.

It’s not a sunset, but Israeli airstrikes hammering the southern suburbs.

Our BBC team was at dinner when our phones started lighting up at the table. First, Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets toward Israel. Minutes later, Israeli evacuation orders for the southern suburbs.

Walking home, the streets were nearly empty. A few cars, fewer people. Everyone already knew the soundtrack of explosions that would come next.

Image source, AFP via Getty Images

Oman's Civil Defence and ambulance authority is responding to the fire at several fuel storage tankers in the port of Salalah, state media says.

Earlier, the media said the tanks had been struck by drones.

Fire fighting operations are now under way, state-run Oman News Agency reports, but it "may take some time" to contain the fire.

Image source, Reuters

A few moments ago, someone attending the event at which President Trump is speaking appeared to collapse.

There was a pause in proceedings as first responders tended to the audience member, who was stood in a crowd positioned behind the president.

Our stream briefly cut away from the Kentucky venue, from which the woman has been escorted out of. Trump is now speaking again.

We'll continue to listen in and bring you any lines relevant to the war in Iran.

Trump is now touting the US military operation in Iran, saying the US destroyed Iran's navy and air force in a matter of hours.

"We won," the president said to his crowd of supporters. "In the first hour it was over."

He said the US has "knocked out" 54 Iranian ships in two days, then a few moments later said that number was 58.

It's a figure we have not heard before, and the BBC has not yet independently verified it.

The president added that Operation Epic Fury will "substantially reduce oil prices" and reduce the threat to the world.

"Our military has virtually destroyed Iran," he said.

As Israel launches a new wave of airstrikes on the Lebanese capital, Beirut, and the Iran-backed group Hezbollah fires a fresh barrage of rockets into northern Israel, we can bring you some of the latest pictures from the two countries today:

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

Qatar's defence ministry says today the country was subject to an attack involving nine ballistic missiles and a number of drones launched from Iran.

In a post on X, it adds that the armed forces "successfully intercepted all drones" and eight missiles, while the remaining one fell into an uninhabited area.

Speaking now in Kentucky, Trump says the US military is "better than any military in the world".

He adds: "I didn't know we'd have to show it off so much," in an apparent reference to the war in Iran.

Trump says he built the military as it is now in his first presidential term, and no other country's "comes close".

Nada Tawfik
Reporting from the United Nations in New York

Russia’s competing draft resolution has failed to get enough votes in the UN Security Council to pass.

Four countries voted in favour, two against and nine abstentions. Nine countries must support a draft in order for it to succeed, with no vetoes from permanent members.

Moscow’s text urges all parties, without naming Iran, Israel or the US to stop fighting and return to negotiations. It also condemns attacks on all civilians.

Image source, The White House

We're now hearing from US President Donald Trump, who is speaking in Hebron, Kentucky.

His remarks are unrelated to Iran, but we will update you here if he makes mention of the ongoing war.

You can also stream him by hitting watch live above.